Chapter 3

'Cesar' was arrested. It was just a random guy in a mask, the gang and the police were surprised at the effort, Sebastien Bernard, had put into making the mask and putting the costume together.

The crown in the museum was real, and he was going to sell it for it's worth. He told the police that he was "inspired by the work of Vincenzo Peruggia", the mastermind behind the Mona Lisa Heist all those years ago. He was going to have copies made of the crown and pass them off as the real crown, as well as selling the real crown for millions.

He had broken into the Louvre to attempt to steal an old statue, that he could also forge.

The gang returned to the hotel. Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby sat in the bar, whilst Daphne was up in the room, discussing the evenings events with her sister; who had crashed through the roof and attacked Sebastien Bernard.

"I'm waiting." Daphne said, stubbornly; her arms crossed over her chest like she was scolding a naughty child. Sara sat on the bed, her hands in her lap and she stared at the floor.

"Does this have anything to do with what Andrei Vladivich said the other night?" Daphne asked, Sara nodded, "A little bit."

"Well." Daphne said, impatiently.

Sara sighed, "Remember when I told you that my mother died when I was born?" Daphne nodded.

"I haven't been totally honest with you, well actually I intentionally missed the next part out." Sara said. "What?" Daphne asked. "I was fostered by a couple when I was a few weeks old. When I was 4, I ran away from them, I didn't like them that much." Sara began, running her hand through her hair, "I was placed into another foster home, then another and another."

Daphne continued to stare at her.

"Until I found my final foster home, when I was 7. They had another foster daughter, Magda, she looked after me, when she was home; most of the day she was out, she told our foster parents that she was volunteering at an animal shelter, but I knew she was lying." Sara sighed, "One day, I followed her. She walked through the city and went into an abandoned building. At first I thought she was part of a cult, but it really wasn't."

"What was it?" Daphne asked.

"Magda was part of 'group', that's what she called it. She was planning on running away from the foster home. They found me watching them from behind some boxes. Thanks to Magda's, they offered to train me." Sara said. "Train you?" Daphne asked, Sara nodded.

"I thought it was just a small group, you know like an afternoon class; turns out there a few in most states." Sara said. "What?" Daphne asked. "Groups of assassins." Sara said, Daphne's eyes widened.

"They trained me, I didn't realize they were assassins until I was 10, and Magda told that me had to kill someone."

"Did you?" Daphne asked, Sara remained silent. Daphne sighed heavily, her heart sank and she collapsed into the armchair on the other side of the room. "What did you do?" Daphne asked.

"It was Alan Reginald, the owner of a corrupt business in the city, I killed him. But I agreed with what they told me; they were a group of assassins, scattered across the country. Their goal was to rid the world of corruption, greed, violence, and create a better world. Not just for humankind, but for the planet. The group's founder suffered a great loss when his parents, brothers and sisters were killed in an apartment building, which was blown up by the orders of the council members of a city in Oregon. In the building's place, a members club was built; for the rich." Sara said, her words getting heavier as she spoke.

"They trained me to fight, until I was 15, and they took me in. The foster parents died in a car crash on their way home from dinner with friends. As cruel as it may sound; I didn't like them that much. They trained me, not only to kill but to look after myself; I spent many nights sleeping outside with nothing but the clothes I wore, I learnt how to read maps, follow compasses, I was taught other languages, cultures and histories of other countries. I trained 7 hours a day, 6 days a week and on the last day of the week, I spent hours reading old novels. They even tested me at night when I was asleep, and I slept with one eye open every night."

Daphne sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Magda died at a protest in Washington, she was trying to stop the demolition of another apartment building, but the town's Mayor had it blown up whilst she was inside. He was murdered by the group members less than a week later." Sara said.

"What was the group called?" Daphne asked. "I can't say." Sara said, Daphne gave her a look; the look that sisters give each other when they want to know something that the other sister is hiding. Sara sighed, "They call themselves The Assassins for Justice."

"The Assassins for Justice?" Daphne asked. "They're doing it for a better world." Sara said, Daphne shook her head.

"Recycling, reducing the use of plastics and peaceful protests are things that create a better world, the 'Assassins for Justice' are killers, Sara!" Daphne exclaimed. "I know that." Sara said, trying to remain calm.

"If you know, why didn't you leave them?" Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at her sister from across the room. Sara sighed, "Because I...because I kind of agree with what they had to say." She said, Daphne stared in shock.

"Ending corruption in the world is the start to a better world." Sara said, "I know it sounds crazy-"

"It sounds insane." Daphne interrupted.

"I know it sounds crazy," Sara repeated, "But they're doing it for the greater good."

"There are better ways of going about this, Sara." Daphne said. "Look, I know the older sister is supposed to be the wisest, but I've been trained by some of the best, highly skilled people in the country." Sara said. "I used their resources to find Dad. And I found you, and Thalia. Even though she hates me, she's still my sister." Sara said gently. "It sounds different coming from me, I've killed people, you haven't." Sara said.

Daphne didn't say anything, something tugged at her heart and her eyes drifted from her sister, to the glowing lights of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, she remembered something from years ago; when Thalia was 21, she brought Daphne to Paris for her first vacation without her parents, she was only 12.

"Daph?" Sara asked, "You haven't killed anyone have you?"

Mississippi - 4 years ago

The gang stepped into on an old steam boat, several police officers followed them. Guns pointed around the room. "Like, she's here somewhere, watch your backs boys." Shaggy said, a bandage wrapped around his hand following an incident earlier on the boat.

Daphne, Velma and Fred went one way with some of the officers and Scooby and Shaggy went the other way with the other officers.

"So, uh...what does she look like?" An officer asked. "Like a 500-year-old witch." Shaggy said. "Ru-hu." Scooby added. The officers exchanged looks as they followed the man and his dog through the boat.

"Like, uh...do you know how many people she's turned into frogs?" One of the officers asked, Velma rolled her eyes, "She didn't turn anyone into frogs." She said, "She turned them into zombies." The officers exchanged looks, one of them rolled their eyes.

There was a creaking coming from the other end of the corridor, Daphne, Fred, Velma and the officers stopped in their tracks, guns raised.

A door slowly creaked open, and they stepped towards the door. Behind the door was a dark room, the police officers flashlights lit up the room, and they'd found two of the missing women, who were tied up back to back and gagged. Their faces sweaty and their eyes frantic as they tried to speak through the gags, but it came out muffled.

Suddenly, they heard a cackling, the officers shone their flashlights around the room, and they found the witch standing in the corner. She wasn't like any of the other 'witches' they'd encountered, those were just men and women in cloaks and pointy hats with broomsticks. This witch was in fact a real witch, the gang had seen her turn a man into a zombie, and she wore a long black lace dress, black fingernails and she had markings over her face. Though she still cackled like a witch.

"Shit!" One of the officers exclaimed, suddenly from out of the darkness, zombies stumbled towards them from behind the witch. "What do we do?" One of the officers asked. "Kill them their zombies!" Another officer said. "No!" Daphne exclaimed, "There might be a way to help them!"

"Alright, shoot them!" The officer exclaimed, the officers opened fire on the zombies; they fell to the ground groaning in pain.

They noticed that the witch was gone...then there was a poof of black smoke and she appeared behind Fred, "I saw you earlier, you and your...friends watching me." Her voice was hoarse.

"Hey!" An officer shouted, pointing his gun at the witch, she turned to him; and with a simple motion, she broke the officers neck and he collapsed to the ground. Suddenly, the guns were ripped from the hands of the officers, and then thrown against the wall. The officers were thrown to the other side of the room, crashing against the wall.

The two women squealed, the witch turned and smiled at them. She knelt in front of one of the women, her eyes turned black and she began mumbling something. Suddenly, the woman's face turned pale and her eyes looked glassy and she began moaning like the zombies did. The other woman tried screaming, but the gag was stopping any sound coming out.

Velma pulled a gun out of her pocket, "Change her back! Now!" She exclaimed, the witch only smiled, and in a second, Velma was flown into the wall, collapsing next to the police officers.

Fred went to attack witch, but she grabbed his neck, squeezing firmly. "Fred." Daphne gasped. "Daphne." Fred gasped, trying to pull the witch's hands from his neck. "You're going to die." The witch said, so focused on Fred that she didn't notice Daphne pulling a knife out of her pocket.

"Fred, move." Daphne said, quietly. Though the witch had hold of his neck, Fred was able to duck to the side as Daphne threw the knife, which struck the witch's heart. Her hand slid from Fred's neck, he gasped for air, Daphne wrapped her arms around him.

The witch screamed before the markings on her face started to glow red, and she burst into flames, she was only on fire for a few seconds, before she crumbled to a pile of ash where she stood. The zombies, including the woman who had just been turned into one, began screaming, then they went quiet and limp, and black smoke came out of their mouths. They looked less like zombies, though their skin was still pale and their eyes were still glassy.

"They're dead." Daphne gasped, "I killed them."

"No, you didn't it was her." Fred said, pointing to the pile of ash. "We could have made her change them back!" Daphne exclaimed, "But I killed her, and I killed them too."

"Daphne?" Sara asked, Daphne quickly wiped a tear that fell down her cheek. "What is it?" Sara asked, Daphne took a deep breath, "Some of it...you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but we've killed before." She said, Sara narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out if Daphne was telling the truth, when she realized she wasn't lying, her eyes softened.

"Fred keeps a gun in the bedside cabinet at home." Daphne said. "So do I." Sara said, "And I keep a pocket knife in my boots."

Daphne pulled her pocket knife out of her jacket, then she sighed, "Are you still...with the assassins?"

"I haven't been with them since I started looking for Dad, they can handle things themselves." Sara said. "I guess that's how Andrei Vladivich knows you?" Daphne asked, Sara nodded, "He was a former member, he used their resources to find the Fabregé egg." Sara said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was scared that you wouldn't want to know me if you knew what I really did."

"If you'd told me the day I met you, I probably wouldn't have wanted to know you. But for an assassin, you're not that bad a person." Daphne said, Sara smiled. "I guess Thalia will have a different view. We've never told anyone about...killing." Daphne said, "We usually let the police take the 'credit' for that; none of our families know, but I'll keep your secret, if you keep ours."

Sara nodded, she climbed off the bed, pulled Daphne out of the arm chair and wrapped her arms around her. "I promise, sis."

Daphne smiled, "Want to get a drink?"

"I'm dying for a vodka!" Sara exclaimed "Me too." Daphne said. "Well, I guess that's another thing we have in common." Sara joked.

After a week of sightseeing, and no more mysteries, the gang were on the plane ride home; ready to plan a wedding.

The End