Assassin

Prologue

Duke Reanski was in the study of his mansion. It was a large room with several bookcases, a desk in the right corner and a black, leather red-trimmed chair was placed next to an elegant fireplace. Duke Reanski sat in the black chair with a book in his hand. He listened to the crackling of the fire as he read. Just as he was about to turn the page, he heard a loud thud come from the hallway. The Duke looked up from his book and stood up. Placing the book on the seat of the chair, he walked to the door.

Opening the door, Duke Reanski peeked his head out and looked out into the hallway. At the end of the long hallway was what looked like a man on the floor. Recognizing the man as one of his servants, Duke Reanski ran down the hall. When he reached the man he stopped in his tracks. The servant laid on his side, blood pooling from a nasty gash in his neck onto the beige carpeted floor. Duke Reanski covered his mouth with his hand, the copper smell of blood becoming too unbearable for him.

He then heard a scream come from what sounded like one of the guest rooms. The Duke made his way around the corpse, careful not to step in the blood, and ran down the hall. As he turned the corner, he ran into another of his servants. "S-sir," the servant stuttered before falling forward. Duke Reanski caught him and laid him down on the floor. The servant had what appeared to be two stab wounds in his chest. "S-sir," the servant choked, crimson blood dripping from his mouth.

"What happened?"

"H-he was t-too fast… I t-tried to… stop him. H-he killed Tay-lor. S-sir… you must… get away," the servant said weakly, coughing up more blood.

"Hang on! I will get you help."

"G-get out… now," the servant said urgently before his body went limp.

The Duke bowed his head and then looked up angrily, 'What the hell is going on here!' Duke Reanski got up and continued down the hallway. The dying words of his servant echoed in his head. There was no way he'd leave and let the rest of his servants get slaughtered. Halfway down the hall, he stopped by an oak door on the right side. He looked around, then cautiously opened the door. He quickly crossed the threshold, closing the door behind him. He traversed the room and shuffled through a nightstand that sat by his king sized bed. In the drawer, Duke Reanski found his pistol and ammunition. He loaded the firearm with shaky hands. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself as he finished loading the pistol and snapped the rotary barrel back into place.

The Duke turned around and then heard another muffled scream. 'What's going on here,' he thought to himself as he made his way to the door slowly. He peeked his head out and looked quickly down both ends of the hall. Satisfied no one lurked on either end, Duke Reanski stepped out into the hallway and continued down it. He turned the next corner and saw another servant. He had his back to the wall and his head hanging forward. Blood stained the white wall behind him. Duke Reanski felt the servant for a pulse but found none. 'Damn, how can this person kill so quickly,' he thought to himself as he continued down the hall. The gun flet heavy in his hand and he tried to control his nerves.

He stopped midway down the next hall by a door labeled kitchen in bronze. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside. His breath caught in his throat at the sight. One cook was on the floor, blood staining his white uniform as well as the light grey floor. Another was bent over the marble counter, throat nearly cut through. A third lay half out of a potato bin, a cleaver next to him, as if he tried to defend himself. A fourth was lying on the opposite end of the kitchen on his chest. He had multiple stab wounds that dyed the whole back of his uniform red. Pots and pans lay in disarray on the floor and counters. The white walls had a numerous amount of blood splatters everywhere.

Feeling nauseous at the sight, the Duke quickly left the room and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the door with his eyes shut, breathing hard. His body trembled with fear and sadness. 'Who would do such a thing,' his mind screamed. Hearing footsteps, his eyes shot open and he looked around. He held his breath and listened intently. The sound was coming from the end of the hallway to the left. He held the gun close to his body and readied himself. Suddenly one of his servants came around from around the bend. Both men let out a surprised scream and jumped.

"Sir!"

"Terry, you're still alive," the Duke said, relieved that he hadn't shot him.

"Yes sir, I heard screaming. What's going on? Everyone is dead," Terry exclaimed visibly shaking.

The Duke put his gun in his robe pocket and walked up to the young servant. "Is there anyone else alive in this mansion that you've seen?"

"N-no sir… everyone's dead. There's blood everywhere. J-Justin. You should have seen him sir.. H-his head.. It was… down the hall," Terry said in a state of shock and horrour.

Duke Reanski grabbed the servant by his shoulders and shook him. "Get hold of yourself! Let's try and get out of here.

Terry looked at the Duke, tears in his eyes, "Everyone's gone, They're all dead and we're next."

"Look, we need to get out of here. In order to do that, you need to pull yourself together. Do you understand?" Terry wiped his eyes and nodded. "Good, now come on," Duke Reanski said as he lead the way down the hall. As they walked down the next hallway, the Duke asked, "Did you happen to see who did this?"

"No, I was in my room when I heard the screams. I went to investigate and found everyone dead." They then heard footsteps coming closer. "D-did you hear that sir?"

"I did," Duke Reanski said stopping in his tracks, "it sounded like it came from behind us." They both exchanged uneasy glances and then turned around. At the end of the hall stood a large, black dog. It had dark purple stripes on its legs and big, red glowing eyes. It's claws were colored purple and razor sharp.

"What the hell is that thing," Terry shouted in terror.

"I think it's a chain," the Duke answered astonished, "but whose chain is it? I've never seen it before. It can't be a trump!" The chain growled and then charged at them. "Run," Duke Reanski shouted as he turned and fled. As he turned the corner, he heard a blood-curdling scream. The Duke stopped halfway down the hall. Looking behind him, he saw the chain standing at the end of the hall, covered in blood. "Oh, God!"

The Duke grabbed his gun and aimed it at the chain. He tried to steady his shaking hands and prepared to fire. He pulled the trigger and missed. The chain growled and charged at Duke Reanski. Scared the Duke dropped his gun and turned to run away. Before he could move, he felt sharp claws dig into his back. He let out a cry and fell forward, landing on his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting when he heard footsteps. The Duke opened his eyes to see a dark brown boot in front of his face.

The Duke looked up to see a man looking down at him. He was dressed in a red silk shirt and black pants. Over his red shirt, he wore a black trench coat and a white ruffled scarf around his neck. "Well, well, what have we here," he said, flicking his black, shaggy hair with a white gloved hand.

"Who are you? What do you want," the Duke asked struggling to free himself of the chain holding him down.

"Who I am is none of your concern, buddy," the man said coolly as he put his foot on Duke Reanski's shoulder. "What you should worry about… is begging for your life."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why," the man asked then laughed. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at the Duke's head, "Because I've been hired to kill you. Any last words?"

"Please! Please, don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want. Who ever is paying you, I'll double it," Duke Reanski exclaimed on the verge of hysterics.

The man laughed and said, "Boy this is so much fun!"

The Duke looked up and said, "What?"

"It's all a prank buddy! I'm not going to kill you!"

"Really?"

"Nope, just kidding," the man said and then pulled the trigger.