JIEQIONG WOULDN'T SAY SHE HAD A NICE AND NORMAL CHILDHOOD GROWING UP, BUT SHE HAS TO SAY SHE IS BOTH PROUD AND ASHAMED THAT SHE IS WHO SHE IS NOW.

GROWING UP LITTLE JIE HAD NEVER REALLY RECEIVED MUCH ATTENTION FROM HER PARENTS. NOT THAT IT BOTHERED HER MUCH. BEING AN ONLY CHILD HAD ONLY MADE HER BECOME THAT GOOD AT PLAYING ALONE, HAVING FUN ALL ALONE LOCKED UP IN HER ROOM, WATCHING CARTOONS AND READING BOOKS. HER FATHER WAS NEVER REALLY AROUND MUCH, BUSY WITH WORK, HER MOM WOULD SAY. HER MOTHER, HOWEVER, HADN'T BEEN AROUND IN JIEQIONG'S LIFE FOR LONG.

LITTLE JIE HAD CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL ONE DAY, ONLY TO DISCOVER HER MOTHER'S LIFELESS BODY, SLIT OPEN, A FEW GUNSHOT WOUNDS ON HER STOMACH, A LOOK OF PURE DESPAIR, HELPLESSNESS AND HORROR ON HER PALE LIFELESS FACE, AND BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE. OH GOD, THE BLOOD. THAT WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME JIE HAD EVER SEEN THAT MUCH BLOOD IN HER LIFE. AND CERTAINLY NOT HER LAST.

SHE THEN HEARD HER FATHER'S VOICE, THEN SHE SAW HIM. A CLOTH IN HIS HAND AS HE TRIED TO WIPE OFF THE BLOOD FROM THE KNIFE THAT HE WAS HOLDING. JIEQIONG HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND HER FATHER'S WORDS WERE A BLUR TO HER. SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER THE DETAILS NOW, BUT SHE REMEMBERED HIM CALLING OUT TO HER, SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT HE DID WHAT HE DID OUT OF PURE LOVE AND IT WAS TIME FOR HER TO JOIN HER MOTHER SO THEY COULD BE TOGETHER, FOREVER LOVED BY HIM AND SAFE FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD. IF YOU ASK HER NOW, SHE WOULD SAY IT WAS PURE BULL. BUT AT THAT TIME, SHE WAS TERRIFIED. AND SHE DID THE ONLY THING SHE THOUGHT WAS LOGICAL. THE ABANDONED GUN THAT WAS BESIDE HER MOTHER’S LIFELESS BODY WAS IN JIEQIONG’S HAND IN NO TIME. HER GRIP ON THE GUN WAS SHAKY, BUT THE LOOK IN HER EYES WAS FIRM, HARSH AND DETERMINED, EVEN WITH THE TINY HINTS OF TERROR FLICKERING IN THEM.

PERHAPS HER FATHER SAW SOMETHING IN HER EYES THAT TIME, OR MAYBE HE JUST SIMPLY DECIDED TO KEEP HER ALIVE JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT, BUT THINGS WERE DIFFERENT FROM HER EVER SINCE THAT DAY. SHE WAS 8 THAT TIME, AND IT WOULDN’T BE THE LAST TIME FOR HER TO HAVE A GUN IN HER HAND.

THAT WAS ALSO THE DAY WHEN SHE FOUND OUT HER FATHER WAS ACTUALLY A SOCIOPATH SERIAL KILLER WHO HAD BEEN TERRORIZING THE STREETS, ALSO KNOWN PUBLICALLY AS 'THE GRIM REAPER', AS HE OH-SO-PROUDLY CONFESSED TO HER. ALL THOSE TIMES OF HIM NOT BEING IN THE HOUSE WERE ALL BECAUSE HE WAS OUT, BUSY HUNTING AND KILLING THOSE WHO HAD BEEN UNFORTUNATE TO BE HIS VICTIMS.

FROM THAT DAY ONWARDS, JIEQIONG WOULD COME HOME FROM SCHOOL TO FIND HER FATHER WAITING FOR HER. EACH DAY WAS A NEW LESSON FOR HER. SOMETIMES IT WOULD BE HIM TEACHING HER HOW TO CLEAN GUNS, OR HOW TO THROW KNIVES, OR THE HUMAN BODY ANATOMY, THE FASTEST BUT MOST PAINFUL WAYS TO KILL A LIVING BEING, HOW TO GET OUT OF A CRIME SCENE WITHOUT LEAVING ANY TRACES OR TRAILS BEHIND. DIFFERENT TRAINING, DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGE EVERY TIME. QUITE SOME SPECIAL AND UNUSUAL KIND OF FATHER-DAUGHTER BONDING, YOU WOULD SAY. AT FIRST SHE HADN'T UNDERSTAND WHY, AND SHE HAD BEEN TERRIFIED, BUT SHE KNEW HER LIFE WAS ON THE LINE. IT WASN’T HARD TO PREDICT WHAT HE WOULD DO IF SHE WERE TO DISOBEY HIM AND HIS ‘TRAININGS’. YET AT THE SAME TIME, STILL A KID WHO LOVED IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE NOW THAT SHE WAS FINALLY RECEIVING HER FATHER'S ATTENTION, PART OF HER WAS JUST GRATEFUL THAT HE WAS WILLING TO SPEND TIME WITH HER. EVEN WHEN IT MEANT HAVING TO SIT THROUGH HIS VARIOUS LESSONS. SHE WASN’T SURE HOW TO COPE WITH HER FATHER'S UNIQUE WAY OF BONDING, YET SHE FOUND HERSELF GROWING INTERESTED EVERY TIME HE TAUGHT HER SOMETHING NEW, CERTAINLY THINGS THAT A KID HER AGE SHOULD NEVER EVEN BEGIN TO KNOW OF.

YEARS PASSED BY IN A FLASH, AND BEFORE SHE KNEW IT SHE WAS ALREADY AN EXPERT ON ALL THE THINGS THAT A NORMAL LAW-ABIDING HUMAN BEING SHOULDN'T EVEN BEGIN TO think OF.

SHE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL SOON, AND YEARS OF BEING WITH HER FATHER'S UNIQUE TRAINING AND EDUCATION HAD CHANGED HER FROM BEING HER USUAL BUBBLY SELF INTO AN ICE COLD PRINCESS. SHE NEVER TALKED MUCH, NEVER SMILED FIRST, ONLY OCCASIONALLY WITH A TRUSTED FEW. SHE HAD GROWN PRETTIER, MOST DEFINITELY. HER CHIC LOOKS AND QUIET PERSONALITY SEEMED TO DRAW PEOPLE IN TO HER, IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE SHE WOULD HAVE PEOPLE LEAVING HER CHOCOLATES AND LOVE LETTERS IN HER LOCKER. THAT HAD PISSED OFF SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN HER SCHOOL, WHICH LED TO THE RANDOM SNIDE REMARKS AND COLD SHOULDERS FROM HER CLASSMATES. SHE DIDN'T REALLY MIND THAT, BUT APPARENTLY THAT HAD SET ANOTHER MILESTONE IN HER JOURNEY OF FORBIDDEN TRAINinGS.

HER FIRST KILL WAS ACTUALLY AN ASSIGNMENT GIVEN BY HER FATHER. HER FIRST VICTIM WAS THE GIRL WHO HAD BEEN -TALKING HER FOR A WHILE. AS USUAL, JIEQIONG DIDN'T COMPLAINT MUCH, SHE DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE WHEN SHE PERFORMED THE ULTIMATE MOVE THAT WOULD TAKE THE GIRL’S LIFE, MUCH TO HER FATHER'S DELIGHT. AND JIE WOULD BE LYING IF SHE SAID SHE DIDN'T LIKE THE SWEET TASTE OF REVENGE AFTER SHE SAW THE GIRL'S LIFELESS BODY.

FROM THEN, HER FATHER STARTED GETTING HER MORE INVOLVED IN HIS HUNTS. NOTHING SEEMED TO MAKE HIM HAPPIER THAN HER BEING THE ONE WHO TOOK PEOPLE’S LIVES. SHE COULDN’T EVEN BEGIN TO REFUSE TO HIS RIDICULOUS REQUESTS, AS SHE KNEW REJECTING HIM COULD VERY WELL RESULT IN HER OWN DEATH. SO SHE CAVED. SHE WOULD FOLLOW HER FATHER ALONG TO HIS LITTLE TWISTED ADVENTURES TO THE DARKEST, SHADIEST PARTS OF THE CITY, SEEING AND LEARNING ALL THOSE STUFF THAT SHE SHOULDN'T BE KNOWING. AFTER SCHOOL TIME WHEN NORMAL SCHOOL STUDENTS WOULD SPEND HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS FOR EXTRA STUDY SESSIONS, SHE WAS WITH HER FATHER LURKING AROUND IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY, LOOKING FOR THEIR NEXT VICTIM. LATE NIGHTS WHEN KIDS HER AGE WOULD SPEND THEIR TIME DOING WHATEVER STUFF THAT THEY DO, SHE WAS LEARNING ON WAYS TO PERFECT A KILL AND HOW TO ESCAPE A CRIME SCENE WITHOUT A TRACE.

SHE HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT IF HE DIED ONE DAY, SHE WOULD BE FREE FROM ALL THIS NONSENSE. AWAY FROM ALL THIS RIDICULOUSE PLAYING GOD GAME THAT HE FORCED HER TO BE A PART OF. BUT REALITY WAS ALWAYS DIFFERENT FROM EXPECTATION.

SHE WAS 16 AT THAT TIME, AND SHE HAD CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL TO FIND HIS FATHER'S DEAD BODY, AND MUCH TO HER DISMAY AND HORROR. APPARENTLY SOMEONE HAD KILLED HIM, IN A SIMILAR WAY AS HER MOTHER'S DEATH, MOST PROBABLY DONE IN SPITE AND MOCKERY. SHE WASN'T TOO SURPRISED TO SEE HIM DEAD, IT WAS JUST THAT SHE HAD GROWN NUMB TO WATCHING PEOPLE DIE ALL THE TIME, AND HER FATHER HAD ALWAYS BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD AT PISSING THE WRONG PEOPLE OFF. TEENAGE JIEQIONG WASN'T PLANNING ON GETTING REVENGE ON HER FATHER'S DEATH, BUT LOSING HER ONLY FAMILY LEFT IN THIS WORLD HAD WRECKED HER MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY ONCE AGAIN.

tHOUGH BEFORE HER PLAN OF VENTURING INTO THE UNDER WORLD EVEN WORKED, SHE WAS ARRESTED. ALL OF HER FATHER’S CRIMES WERE PUT ON HER, DESPITE HER PROTESTS AND DESPERATE PLEAS THAT SHE WASN’T INVOLVED IN EVERYTHING. SHE BARELY MANAGED TO ESCAPE DEATH SENTENCE WITH HER CONVINCING LIES OF BEING FORCED AND THREATED BY HIM TO DO THE DIRTY DEEDS. THE COURT WAS CONVINCED, AND FACING NUMEROUS CHARGES, SHE STILL GOT THROWN INTO PRISON DESPITE STILL BEING UNDERAGED AT THAT TIME.

LIFE IN PRISON WITH OTHER CRIMINALS OR LUNATICS DIDN’T DO TOO GOOD FOR HER, BUT SHE MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE FIRST FEW MONTHS WITH HER TRICKS OF MANIPULATION AND FEW FLASHES OF HIDDEN KNIFE HERE AND THERE. JUST WHEN SHE THOUGHT SHE WOULD WASTE HER ENTIRE LIFE ROTTING AWAY LOCKED IN A CELL, TWO STOIC-LOOKING MEN DRESSED IN DARK SUITS CAME LOOKING FOR HER.

AND THAT WAS THE STORY OF HOW SHE GOT RECRUITED, WENT THROUGH NUMEROUS TRAININGS, BECAME ‘AGENT J’ AND ENDED UP AS ONE OF THE TOP ASSASSINS OF A SHALL-NOT-BE-NAMED INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.

SHE KNEW SHE WAS ONLY CHOSEN BECAUSE OF HER SKILLS AND EXPERTISE, BUT ALSO MOSTLY BECAUSE SHE WAS AN ORPHAN, A CRIMINAL, TOTALLY DISPOSABLE. SHE WORKED FOR THE AGENCY FOR YEARS, WELL INTO ADULTHOOD. FREEDOM WAS REGAINED, AND IT WAS A JOB THAT PAID WELL DESPITE THE STRESS AND PRESSURE THAT CAME WITH IT. BUT IT WAS ENOUGH FOR HER, A DANGEROUS LIFE BUT A SATISFYING LIFE NONTHELESS.

UNTIL SHE MESSED UP HER LAST ASSIGNMENT. SCRATCH THAT. UNTIL THE AGENCY MESSED IT UP FOR HER. LONG STORY SHORT, DUE TO WRONG INTEL FROM THE AGENCY, SHE ENDED UP KILLING THE WRONG PEOPLE. THAT ASSIGNMENT HAD BEEN URGENT, AND CERTAINTLY VERY LAST MINUTE, SHE HADN'T HAD ENOUGH TIME TO RUN ENOUGH BACKGROUND CHECKS AND PERFORM HER USUAL ROUTINE, BEFORE SHE WAS FORCED TO PERFORM HER KILL. BUT THAT WAS ENOUGH TO PISS OFF THE WRONG PEOPLE. AND JUST LIKE WHAT SHE HAD EXPECTED, THE AGENCY COMPLETELY DESERTED HER. THERE WAS NO EXTRACTION PLAN FOR HER, NO BACKUP, NO RESOURCES, NO NOTHING. SHE WAS COMPLETELY ON HER OWN.

REFUSING TO TAKE THE FALL AGAIN FOR A MISTAKE THAT WAS NOT ON HER, SHE RAN. SHE SPENT A LONG TIME ON THE RUN, SURVIVING. WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT GRAYHAVEN, SHE HADN’T PLANNED ON STAYING LONG. BUT THE PLACE HAD DRAWN HER IN, FOR SOME REASON THAT EVEN SHE COULDN’T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND. PERHAPS SHE HAD SIMPLY THOUGHT THIS COULD BE THE PERFECT PLACE FOR HER TO BLEND IN, SEEING AS THE PLACE WAS FULL WITH CRIMINALS LIKE HER.

IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE SHE VENTURED OUT INTO THE UNDER WORLD ALL OVER AGAIN, UNDER THE GUISE OF LOOKING FOR ASSIGNMENTS AS WELL AS MONEY, PUTTING HER BEST SKILLS TO USE. HER CURRENT ALIAS WAS MERELY A PLAY ON HER REAL NAME- SEEING HOW SOME PEOPLE COULDN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO PRONOUNCE ‘JIEQIONG’ CORRECTLY, AND HAVING A MALE-SOUNDING NAME IN THIS MALE-DOMINATED FIELD DIDN’T SOUND TOO BAD OF AN IDEA.

SHE NOW WORKS AS A FREELANCE ASSASSIN, KEEPING A LOW PROFILE SO THE AGENCY WOULDN’T COME KNOCKING ON HER DOOR ANYTIME SOON. SHE KNOWS BY NOW THEY WOULD HAVE FIGURED THAT SHE IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE, AND THAT THEY WOULD COME FOR HER. TO THEM, SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH AND IS ANOTHER THREAT THAT HAS TO BE ELIMINATED. HER EXPERTISE ISN’T SOMETHING THAT SHE IS ALWAYS PROUD OF, BUT IT IS PROBABLY THE ONLY THING THAT SHE IS GOOD AT. AND SHE KNOWS ONE THING FOR SURE, SHE ISN’T STOPPING ANYTIME SOON. PEOPLE ARE HUNTING HER DOWN, WAITING TO TEAR HER APART, AND THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO PROTECT HERSELF. THIS KILLING MACHINE THAT SHE SEES IN THE MIRROR COULD BE HER ONLY HOPE.