Chapter one: The Target

I take a deep steady breath and aim my bow and arrow. It only takes a few seconds until the arrow hits and kills the guard. What an easy kill for what's supposed to be a highly guarded building. It's only been about an hour and I have already reached the third and final floor of this building completely undetected, although it did take a lot of effort to make it this far. Only a few rooms left and I should be in my targets office. My name is Mason Rivet and I am an assassin. I was sent here to assassinate a man by the name of Edgar Chambers. This man is a Templar agent and is responsible for the murder of 9 unsolved homicide cases. He also threatened the police force to make sure 4 of these cases were closed. The other murders were never discovered and so they put missing by the police. I need to make sure this murderer is brought to justice and pays for his crimes.

The Templars are an organization of people who aim to make a perfect world, but this "perfect world" is a utopia created by those who believe freedom will only create chaos and greed, so they wish to destroy it. They believe order and control can create a world where everything will be peaceful. A Brotherhood was created to prevent the Templars from ever succeeding. They are called the Assassins. I am a part of this Creed. We are a group of assassins who wish to protect the freedom of the people and to allow the growth of humanity

With a few silent kills, distractions, rigged cameras, and hacked computers, I make it past some of the final rooms quickly. Shit. This could lead to some problems. I'm in a vent that is just below room with at least ten guards. This is as far as the vents go, which means the only entrance to Edgar's office is the door. I could probably take out all these guards in a few minutes, but not without making a huge amount of noise. There has to be another way. I might be able to kill them individually without them noticing. No, it would be to obvious, they would notice something's going on and would probably evacuate Edgar before I get a chance to make my move. Maybe I could sneak right past them. No, that wouldn't work either. There are guards posted in front of the targets office. They would see me and sound the alarm. I don't have enough time to get a guard outfit either. Plus I doubt they would believe I was a real guard anyways. Fuck it. I'll just have to try the frontal approach. They will be too busy with me that they won't be able to alert anyone that I'm here. I just hope Edgar doesn't make a run for it.

I drop down from the vent and quickly launch arrows into the throats of three different guards. They're completely alarmed by this and before they could even do anything I pull out my revolver and shoot two of them. Five down. Now they have a mixed emotion of fear and anger. I bet they're not too sure what they just saw was real. Two of them come charging towards me, but they're blinded by their anger that they don't realize they're about to run into my hidden blade. I pull the blade out and kill one of them but the force of his body pushes me back. Before I can get my balance back the other guard tackles me to the ground but by doing that he has ran into my blade. GRAAHH! All of a sudden I feel a raging pain on my back. One of my arrows must have fallen out of my quiver and struck my back. It's not a serious injury but it sure as hell hurts. I think one the same guard is on top of me because I'm feeling a huge amount force pushing me to the floor. He punches me for about a minute straight until I take an arrow and jam it into his neck and kill him. Only two guards left now. I kill one of them with a revolver and then point an arrow to the last one. At this point he is crying and begging me to spare him. Unfortunately I can't leave any witnesses. I apologize and kill him as painlessly as possible. Now that that's over I can get to Edgar's office

I enter Edgar's office and am welcomed by a gunshot and the smell of gunpowder. The bullet hits the wall right beside me though it's not surprising. I think that was just a warning shot, but I am sure that is the last one I'll be getting from Edgar.

"LEAVE NOW OR ELSE THIS TIME I WON'T MISS!" Edgar shouts.

"You will be dead before you get a chance to fire another bullet." I say.

"Why are you here anyways? I deserve to know that much at least!"

"9 innocent people are dead because of you and for what reason? Because they knew too much about who you really were and who you are now? Because they were in your way to the rise of your power or was it because they didn't agree with your idea of a better future? Or was it that you were so FUCKING terrified of the threat they presented that you had to pull the trigger and murder them as if they had nothing better to do than ruin your bullshit future, as if they had no one that would notice something was going on? Do you plan on killing them to? I know for a fact you intend on killing 4 other people and I cannot allow you to continue. Edgar Charles, you have committed unforgivable crimes and you must pay for your crimes with blood!"

"How do you know all this!?"

"It does not matter anymore. All that matters right now is that you die."

"And what makes you any better, assassin? You must have killed so many people by now. Why do you deserve to live, what makes you so much better that you can just ignore your crimes and believe you can still pass judgement on others and decide who lives and who dies? ANSWER ME!"

There is nothing but utter silence for a few minutes. I've been asked this question so many times. It's not like I haven't tried to let them live, but each time is always the same. I spare someone's life and they promise to stay off the grid. They stay silent for a few months. Then I hear of awful crimes, murder, Templars, and a name I hope I was hoping I wouldn't hear again. People have died because of my misplaced mercy and all I can do is feel guilty and fix my mistake. I've learned that for people to live freely and happy, some people must die. This is why I became an assassin. Still that doesn't excuse murder.

"WELL? … I SAID ANSWER ME!" Edgar screams out, terrified of what will come next.

"Are you done screaming?" I'm not going to play these games with him.

He's petrified. He knows he is about to die and that there is nothing anybody can do about it, and that these will be his final thoughts.

Before I can do anything a whole group of guards come bursting out of the door. Fucking hell. They must have realized something was wrong and came up here immediately. They're all pointing guns at me. I don't know how I can get out of here and get Edgar. I realize there's only way I can get out of this. I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this.

"Clara …." I utter.

There's nothing but silence for a moment. A few seconds later a huge explosion erupts and the guards start panicking. I rigged up a bomb on this floor that would only activate if I were to say a secret pass-code. Clara was a friend of mine, and it was because of her and my family that I joined the brotherhood. I did this as a last resort just in case Edgar was escaping or if something else had gone wrong. The explosion will kill almost everyone on this floor, even if they were just civilians. Luckily there are no civilians on this floor so only the guards will die, but that doesn't make this any better. I still need to get out of here and kill Edgar. I charge toward Edgar and run through the window behind him. We are both dropping through the sky plummeting to the ground. I am holding on to Edgar to make sure he doesn't get away and then I open a parachute, knowing something like this might happen. Holy shit. I think one of the guards just shot the parachute. They did. Edgar and I start falling down.

"OHH DAMMIT!" I yell out as I fall to the ground.

The fall didn't kill us but I did just fall on my knee knee. Other than that I think I am ok beside for a few cuts and bruises. Then I realize Edgar has disappeared. Gone. He must have ran when we fell. No. Wait a minute. I see him now. He is trying to escape but I won't let him. I get up, limp towards him and fire an arrow. It gets his back and he falls down. I walk toward him and see him crying, so I decide to end his misery.

"Do I really deserve this, assassin? I would have made this world a better place. A place where there is order and no chaos. I was trying to make this a better place." Edgar says, dying in my hands.

" Your idea of a better place is wrong. It is a utopia. A place without free will. A place where no-one but the Templars are actually free. That is not a better place." I tell him.

"Freedom will creates chaos and war. Order creates peace and no need for violence. Why can't you see that?"

"You're wrong. Free will creates diversity, ideas, and choices.. emotions like fear, grief, frustration, happiness, completeness, love and so many more. These are what make us who we are. This is what gives us humanity. I hope you will understand this in the afterlife."

"Only the future can tell who is right. It is unfortunate that I will not be there to find out the answer."

"Edgar Charles, you lived a life of greed and power and was blind to the truth. May you find a better way of life in the afterlife."

Those are his last words before he dies. I leave his body a few blocks from here so someone can find it and decide what to do with the corpse. I hear police sirens. I don't know if i should stay here and fight or hide. I have to decide quickly before the police find me or the body.

I run.

End of chapter 1