MW: And thus, I post something without my beta's consent (sorry SEK but I want you to just sit back and relax with this story—don't worry about it!).

Anyways, I'm starting another story. Basically what happened was that one day on my tumblr, I decided to make a post about a story idea I had ("I swear to my dog that one of these days I will write a fic where the tomato gang are serial killers and America and Cuba are the bickering detectives trying to stop them") and people demanded that I wrote it. So I did. I'm going to find time to write this somehow, so expect semiweekly updates. I'm going to do all of the editing myself so the wait time will be shorter. I also hope to get the majority of this story done before the end of summer because once school starts, updates will dwindle down into nothing.

This story is rated M due to some rather triggering things that will be happening not only in this chapter, but in future ones as well. Please read the warnings before each chapter just to avoid any bad situations, okay?

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the prologue; any kind of feedback is appreciated.

Story Summary: The thing about murder is that it's addicting. Once you see how beautiful blood is or how good it feels to be the victor, you just can't stop. Your whole body aches when you're not killing someone. The police should consider it a blessing that I'm only going to kill the bad people in this world.

Chapter Summary: Antonio and his siblings clean up a mess.

Warnings: Blood, strong language, incest-yaoi.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

-Prologue-

Three Years Ago . . .

"Earlier today, Roderich Edelstein was arrested and charged with the suspected murders of twelve young women. If found guilty, the 'Anon' killings will finally come to an end, allowing hundreds of young women to rest at ease. According to the police reports, Edelstein is accused of kidnapping women, typically ones with musical talents. It is stated that he would then torture them and record their screams." The news anchor on the television looked to the side, as if uncomfortable with what she was reporting. "Police then say that he used the recordings to compose music. The police were able to track the number of women he killed by the obituaries of his victims that he paid for anonymously, earning him the name the 'Anon Killer'. Police have yet to release additional information, but chief of police Ivan Braginski says that he is confident that they have found the right guy . . ."

Antonio sighed, looking away from his television and back down at his rag. "Let's hope that we're not him," he joked, scrubbing his rag back and forth on the wood floors. His white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his pants were hiked up to his knees. Antonio was a lean man, though his short curly brown hair seemed so very full. His green eyes seemed to light up as he flashed his cheerful grin to his three younger siblings: Tim, Alice, and Lovino.

Lovino was the one who resembled him the most. He was six years younger than him, a lanky lad fresh out of high school. Like Antonio, he had clear olive skin and gleaming green eyes. Even though his hair was the same shade of mud brown, his was mostly straight. Lovino scowled as he looked down at the floor, muttering about how weak the bleach was.

"Don't be so happy about this," Tim snapped, glaring at Antonio as Alice scooted closer to him. Unlike their brothers, these two were fair skinned and dirty blonds. Tim was rather huge and daunting, quick to flash a judgmental glare or curl his lower lip; while on the other hand, Alice was strong and feminine. Her wavy hair was cut off at her chin, framing her terrified features. Her arms shook as she stared down at the floor in reserved shock. The second Tim slung a warm arm over her shoulder, she croaked a sob and crumbled to the ground in tears.

All three of the boys immediately rushed to her aid, lifting her face out of the mess. As Tim held her, Antonio wiped the mess off her cheeks, hushing her in quiet tones. "Be careful Alice," he said, smiling pleasantly. "You don't want to get blood all over your pretty face now, don't you?"

Alice bit her lip and shook her head. "There's a lot of it, Toni," she whispered. "I-i didn't know that someone could bleed so much." Two silent streams of tears started to fall down her face, clearing away two lines of the blood.

He shrugged. "Neither did I. I guess we both learned something today, didn't we?"

"Antonio." Lovino nudged his shoulder, holding up a clean towel. He looked down shyly as he softly muttered, "She and I can finish cleaning this mess up. You and Tim go deal with the bastard. He's starting to reek."

Antonio ruffled his hair, singing, "Aw Lovi, you're so sweet!" He quickly leaned in and kissed his younger brother sweetly on the lips. Lovino did not back away- he immersed himself deeper in the kiss, sucking and biting. Alice and Tim did not flinch or bat an eyelid. They only parted when they heard Alice sniffle again. "Let's go, Tim!"

Tim patted his sister's shoulder once more before following after Antonio. They heard Lovino mutter weak reassurances as he wiped away the blood on her face. The men's heels clicked on the wood as they moved from the living room and to the kitchen. Tim silently flicked on the lights, illuminating the marble counters and red wood cabinets. A plastic painting tarp was spread on the ground and a limp corpse- still warm -laid on top of it, face down.

Antonio paused at the foot of the corpse.

Tonight had been the last straw. Romulus Vargas had screamed at him one too many times, struck his cheek one too many times, threaten to hit Lovino one too many times, breathed a breath one too many times.

The murder had been nothing more than a flash in Antonio's eyes- Antonio had shoved him back, grabbed the kitchen knife, and stabbed his old guardian in the abdominal. At that moment, Antonio did not feel the guilt or the weight of what he just did. He only felt relief. He no longer had to worry about that monster hurting his little brothers and sister any longer.

And now, as he thought more and more about it, Antonio could not help but to smile. It was over. All of his anxiety never needed to return again. Now, Antonio was free.

Tim stood at the sink and turned on the water. His eyes were narrowed in spite, his thin lips tightly pressed. "You know, Antonio, there was a better way you could have handled that," he said, squirting soap onto his hands. "You didn't have to kill-"

"And let him hurt me anymore?" Antonio bent to the edges of the tarp, folding the sides over the corpse. "Let him hurt Lovi? Let him hurt Alice? You-"

"He can't hurt me or have you forgotten?" Antonio shook his head. He hasn't forgotten. How could he forget? Ever since they were young, the siblings knew that there was something wrong with Tim. He would spend the whole day without realizing that he had a bleeding cut or a deepening bruise. He would glare up at Romulus and say with the utmost truth that the burns didn't hurt. Tim couldn't feel pain. He never has and he never will.

Tim turned the water off and testily snatched the towel off the counter. "What about Feli?" He asked. "Do you think he'll be happy when he finds out that his papa is dead? What do you think he'll do when he finds out? I'm sure as hell he wouldn't congratulate us."

"I did it for all of our benefit, even Feli's. Once he realizes that, he'll understand." Antonio looked up from his work and saw the hate and disappointed in Tim's visage. It broke his smile and created a sinking feeling in his chest. Antonio tucked the folds closer to the corpse, sighing, "But if you insist, we'll keep this a secret from him."

The line of the blond's lips seemed to grow even tighter. "Good."

They were silent for a long moment.

Somehow, Lovino was able to make Alice laugh.

"Go get the ski cables from the garage," Tim ordered, stuffing his hands into his jeans. He stalked past Antonio, roughly banging into his shoulder in the process. "I'll go get the shovels."

Like a lost puppy, Antonio followed Tim into the garage. They collected their supplies in silence, shivering in from the chill air of the garage. Once back in the kitchen, Antonio and Tim bound the tarp around the corpse with the cables. Ten they carried it outside onto the grass in the backyard. It was a pleasant night outside, save for a little cold wind. There was a new moon and clouds drifted over the stars. The brothers rolled up their sleeves and quickly set to work digging a grave.

They were quiet as they digged- they did not want to alert their neighbors. Blisters bore their way into the skin of their hands and dirt fought its way into their shoes. Huffing and puffing, they dug deeper and deeper into the ground until they had a grave four feet deep. Antonio was the first to stop, sticking his shovel into the ground and wiping his sleeve over his brow. "We've been at it for hours," he panted. "I think its deep enough."

Tim, however, continued to stab the blade of his tool into the dirt. "Well if you want someone finding him here . . ."

Antonio looked at the ground for a moment, pondering over their situation. He wiped his hand down his shirt. "We can put something over it," he suggested. "I mean, I was thinking about planting a tomato plant here anyways."

The other stopped digging. He switched his condescending look between the ground and the wrapped up corpse. Tim's thin lips were pursed as he thought about his situation. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Fine, but on one condition."

"And that is?"

He shot him one last glare, his green eyes blazing. "Promise me that you'll never do this again. Promise me, Antonio."

Antonio stared at him for a long moment before cracking a cheerful smile. He place one hand over his heart and another was held up in the air. "I promise."

MW: And thus, the prologue is over. I basically just had to set up a little background on our four siblings. I know that it's a bit fuzzy at some parts, but it'll all be explained in due course.

I don't know when the next update will be. I'm leaving for a trip on the 16th and wouldn't be back until July. I plan on updating FB before I go and WAS is on a hiatus until my trip is over. If any of you people want to get your fix on my writing between updates, go read "Within Ash and Snow" because I have so many things planned for it, but no one's reading it. *Shameful self-promoting*

Anyways, thanks for reading! Feedback will be very appreciated!

Notes

"El Verdugo" Spanish for "The Executioner".

Next Chapter: Three years later.

Thank you all for reading!