Cerna Dira
Chapter One: Obluda
(AN: This is my first Monster fan fiction, please review, it will help keep the story going, and probably get you longer, more frequent chapters as well.)
Vienna was beautiful in the spring. Or at least, that is what many of the ants were saying. The swarms hustled about as Johan scanned the streets, looking for dead eyes, blank minds, and empty souls. This was a new country, and since his disappearance from the hospital Johan had yet to gather any new pawns. Not that it would be a difficult feat, not at all. In fact, the waiter at the cafe where Johan was sitting seemed to be just the right amount of downtrodden; his courteous demeanour obviously put on for show.
The waiter's name tag said Hermann, and as he came around to top off Johan's coffee, Johan spoke up, "It must be nice being a waiter in such a beautiful city, Hermann."
"Sure, sure. It's wonderful," mumbled Hermann in thinly veiled sarcasm.
"Oh? You don't sound very convincing. What don't you like about it?"
"Doing the same thing all day, everyday. It can get boring."
"Yes, I suppose that eventually all the people would start to blend together, and start to seem rather meaningless."
"I just wish I could do something less monotonous, and with more excitement. Unfortunately I don't have of the skills for such a thing."
"Really now? I'm sure we could find your calling."
"We? Are you offering me a job or something?"
"Well, I suppose you could say I am an entrepreneur of sorts..."
_ Hermann was a rather large fellow, and he cut an imposing figure. Unfortunately, the man was fairly inept at using any kind of firearms other than a shotgun, and there enlied the limit of his usefulness. Johan had managed to gather quite a few other lackeys, but most of them would never be anything more than pistol carriers and errand boys. However, Johan knew a higher caliber of killer would reveal themself eventually.
Johan had "obtained" a medium-sized house in the country. The official owner, Rolf Zuckerman, was a terrified old man chained to a wall in the basement. The only thing keeping alive was his willingness to sign documents and pay taxes. Of course, that would change as soon as Johan found a stable source of income.
The black market in Austria was not as large as the one in Germany, but it did have some more "eclectic" options, what with the various surrounding countries. Johan was attending a business meeting of sorts, discussing the best options for extortion, blackmail, theft, and the main draw, assassination.
"I'm telling you, this Schafer fellow is the cheapest assassin around!" Spouted Adam Fischer, an arms dealer who was such an idiot it amazing that he could function in such an industry.
"Certainly, but assume that price and means do not matter. Who is the most effective?"
"Well, technically Schulte, but he's not really a traditional assassin. More like a mess maker who takes out an extra ten people just for the hell of it. And he'll take out his employer if he doesn't think he's being paid enough. Does weird shot with the bodies, too."
"And how might I find this Schulte?"
"You have to leave a bathtub full of blood out in the street, and then he shows up a mile north of it one week later."
