One night, a baby boy was found by a member of the assassin's order. The assassin took him in and presented him to the Assassin Order, who trained to be one of them from birth. At a very young age, the boy showed a great talent for the assassin profession. At the age of thirteen, the boy was sent on his first assassination task; He executed it perfectly and without a stir. The target was found three days later, no evidence could be found about who killed him. It appeared that the boy knew nothing about his target, but in fact, he knew everything. He was well aware that the man was the old governor of North Dakota, corrupted by power, planning on trying to overthrow the president and take over; the boy knew that the ex-governor was a socialist and was impeached for some of his law proposals. The boy knew the ex-governor even had a family, but he didn't care, the boy knew the Order instructed him to kill, so he killed. These actions earned him the name Azra'il, The Angel of Death. As Azra'il grew over time, so did the number of his assassination count; Azra'il has never failed a single task, ever.
The only problem is that Azra'il is uncooperative when it comes to working with other assassins. He still gets the task done, but the other assassins come back ashamed. When asked, they would explain how when they made a tiny, microscopic mistake and Azra'il would make them stop on the spot and leave them behind; Azra'il was brought before the Order because of this. When he was asked, Azra'il said the reason for leaving them behind is because they risked the succession of the task, and he had to leave them behind to ensure success. So from then on, Azra'il worked alone.
Until one day…
Chapter 1
Azra'il entered the church silently, disguised by the crowd, and quickly hid within the shadows; his target dwelled inside this holy building, the charlatan. The target was a middle-age preacher who was a Templar member, and a pedophile; Azra'il was informed that the preacher would be in his chambers with a courtesan; he was specifically instructed not to harm the courtesan, but he may execute the preacher in any way he wishes. The target would be reachable through the fourth window from the left on the fifth floor on the south side of the church. Azra'il surveyed the outdoor surroundings, measuring the number of guards and watchmen; he soon found a pattern among them. As soon as the third armored guard passed, Azra'il quickly passed by to the unprotected side of the church just before the Eastern watchman turned his head. With time of the essence, Azra'il quickly scaled the church without a sound; he had no trouble location the entrance point, with all the noise of two people making love coming from it. Azra'il quietly grunted in disgust when he saw the preacher making love to the courtesan against the wall across from him, but he did not let that deter him from completing his mission. One moment, the courtesan was staring at the ceiling, praying that the disgusting preacher would not want to kiss again, but then she heard the sound of steel piercing flesh, and felt a liquid splash against her. She looked down to see a blade prodding from the preacher's throat and his blood covering both of them. She watched the blade retract from the preacher's neck and the body fell to the floor. The courtesan stared at Azra'il for the longest time, and then he turned to leave.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Azra'il?"
Azra'il froze in his tracks; no one outside the Order has ever addressed him by name. He turned and faced the courtesan. Azra'il took the time to analyze her appearance; everything from her feet to her well-groomed blonde hair. Her beauty was unmatched by any other woman Azra'il have ever seen, but he was obligated to the Assassin Order and swore to himself to never let emotions control him.
"How do you know my name?"
The courtesan smiled and began to walk towards the bed and grab her belongings.
"You are very legendary, within the Order, of course,"
Azra'il remained silent as the courtesan moved about the room.
"The Assassin Order instructed me to distract the preacher so your mission could be successful."
Azra'il grunted in disproval as the courtesan approached him.
"I did not need assistance, I work alone."
Azra'il turned to leave, and the courtesan grabbed his arm.
"The Order commands you to take me with you!"
Azra'il glared at the courtesan menacingly and she released his arm out of fear. Azra'il looked around for a while, put his finger against his lips, and motioned for the courtesan to follow him. She nodded and Azra'il exited the window; in one jump, Azra'il flew from the church window to the roof of the next building. He turned and held up his hand to tell the courtesan to wait. As soon as the western watchman looked away, Azra'il signaled for the courtesan to jump; she did so and cleared the edge of the roof. Azra'il caught her so she didn't fall.
"Thank you; I'm Isabelle by the way."
Azra'il merely nodded, grabbed Isabelle by the back of the upper arm, and continued running. Azra'il and Isabelle silently glided across the rooftops undetected and jumped down into the entrance to the Assassin's Order where they were greeted by many silent assassins. Azra'il grabbed Isabelle again and led her to the Order Council. He angrily opened the council doors and pulled Isabelle through; the council turned their attention to Azra'il.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?"
Azra'il motioned to Isabelle, fuming in anger. The council members turned to each other and murmured; Azra'il became angry but restrained himself from shouting.
"The council is well aware that I work alone."
Abhay, the leader and speaker of the council, replied to Azra'il with a calm voice.
"The council is indeed well aware of your preferences of performing your tasks, which is why you were not informed about Isabelle assisting you; why do you think we explicitly told you not to harm her when you know we cannot leave witnesses like her alive?"
Azra'il stood silently in realization; Abhay was right, the Order never allows eyewitnesses, only when the witnesses are grouped. A group of witnesses was far less dangerous than a single eyewitness; a group of witnesses can leave a large margin of error and contradicting stories, whereas an eyewitness is one story and could be easily followed. Azra'il could only bow his head.
"What is my next task?"
Abhay smiled and chuckled as he spread his arms open.
"That's what sets you apart from the others, Azra'il, you complete one task then ask for the next one; very well, if you wish for another task, return Isabelle to her brothel."
Azra'il looked at Abhay then Isabelle and quietly groaned in disgust. He did not want to go to that whorehouse, but he dare not refuse the Order. Azra'il simply nodded and turned to leave.
"Azra'il, do not bring attention upon yourself."
Azra'il faced Abhay.
"I never do, like you taught me; people will see me, but never notice me."
Abhay smiled, Azra'il bowed his head and left; Isabelle quickly followed him. Azra'il got outside and stopped; he faced Isabelle with no expression.
"Which way is it to your brothel?"
Isabelle merely smiled and led the way. Azra'il followed her for about an hour before they finally approached a building. Azra'il stopped in his tracks, but Isabelle grabbed his wrist the same was he grabbed her arm and guided him into the brothel; they were instantly greeted by many women with puffy hair and fans. The inside of the brothel was completely different from the outside; the inside was brightened with chandeliers, exposing the bright, various colors of the rooms and halls. There were many winding stairs made of marble with brass hand rails; whatever the courtesans were doing, they were getting good money from it. Azra'il looked to his right and saw that Isabelle was gone! He listened to the many heeled shoes clacking against the tile floors and located Isabelle's footsteps in the hall ahead. Azra'il followed the sound of her footsteps and a courtesan bumped into him; he felt her hand search him, she was trying to pick-pocket him! Azra'il quickly grabbed the courtesan's hand and time seemed to slow down.
"You're not going to gain anything from me, wench!"
Azra'il looked around to see the other courtesans staring at him, and then Isabelle stepped forward. She smiled and began to clap; the others joined her. Azra'il released the courtesan and stood in confusion.
"Congratulations, Azra'il, you are the first assassin to pass our little test."
Azra'il now understood why the Abhay sent him to the brothel, to test his talents of being an assassin; his senses went to high alert, Isabelle began to laugh.
"Relax, Azra'il, nothing is going to happen now."
Azra'il pretended to relax, but his senses were still high; Azra'il was not going to let them get the best of him.
"What happens now?"
Isabelle smiled and resisted a laugh.
"You have a choice; you can stay here for a while, or you can return to the Order."
Azra'il knew instantly this was another test, a test of his purity and nobleness. He bowed his head in respect, even though he had none for them, and turned to leave. Azra'il was about to open the door when there was a loud banging on the door.
"Isabelle! Isabelle! I know you're in there, you cheating bitch! I saw the man you walked in here with!"
Azra'il looked at Isabelle and hid; it was a former client of Isabelle's, obviously drunk, but nonetheless, Azra'il could not risk this man exposing his existence. Isabelle gently opened the door and the drunken man barged inside.
"Where is he, huh? Where's that man I saw you with?"
Isabelle tried to calm the man as Azra'il silently came out of hiding and slowly approached the man from behind.
"Sir, this is a brothel, men come in here all the time."
The drunk was infuriated and started cursing.
"They don't when you've been closed for two hours!"
Isabelle was about to speak, but the drunken man slapped her across the face; She protected her face and fell to the ground. The man was about to stand above her when he felt a tap on his shoulder; he turned around a received a blade into his mouth. He stared at Azra'il in horror as he died; Azra'il retracted his hidden blade and the drunk's body fell to the ground. Isabelle looked up at Azra'il in shock and slowly began to rise; Azra'il offered his hand and helped her up.
"Thank you, Azra'il."
Azra'il nodded and looked at the body on the floor.
"I shall get rid of the body."
Azra'il moved towards the body, but then Isabelle grabbed his arm.
"My courtesans can take care of that."
Azra'il nodded.
"Very well then, I'll leave it to you."
Azra'il turned to leave, but then Isabelle turned him and pulled him into a kissing embrace; Azra'il broke away as soon as he grasped the situation. He quickly wiped his mouth.
"What the hell was that?"
Isabelle gave a slight, shy smile, the kind that most men would find very attractive; of course, Azra'il was not most men.
"It was a thank you; for protecting me."
Azra'il narrowed his eyes.
"I was not protecting you, I was protecting my existence, or lack thereof."
Isabelle's smile faded and she nodded.
"Ah, yes, of course."
Azra'il bowed his head and left with many questions in his head. Was he really protecting his existence, or was he protecting Isabelle? Why did Isabelle really kiss him? And why was there a brief second where Azra'il enjoyed it? Azra'il had to shake those questions out of his mind as he entered the Order's doors; he approached the Council and bowed his head.
"Azra'il, you have returned rather quickly, was Isabelle returned safely?"
Azra'il nodded his head silently; he dared not speak for fear of accidently blurting out one of his questions.
"There were no complications?"
Azra'il was about to nod his head, but stopped and faced Abhay and the rest of the council.
"There was a man."
The council began to murmur but Abhay quickly silenced them.
"A man, you say?"
Azra'il nodded his head.
"Yes, a man; he was quite drunk and barged into the brothel; I quickly went into hiding before he could see me and he approached Isabelle,"
The council looked around at each other; Abhay motioned for Azra'il to continue.
"The man stuck Isabelle; for fear of my task being unsuccessful, I acted quickly, and took his life."
Some of the council sighed in relief, where the others began to murmur more urgently; Abhay had to give several threatening glances to finally silence them.
"What has been done with the body?"
Azra'il looked up at each of the council members as he answered.
"The courtesans are taking care of it."
The council became outraged and Abhay began to lose patience with them.
"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!"
The council quickly silenced and Abhay looked at Azra'il with a glare that Azra'il has never seen before.
"Azra'il, your next task is to return to the brothel and ensure the disposal of the body! Burn it to no existence, I don't even want the ashes to exist!"
Azra'il bowed and quickly left.
"Azra'il, this is your first time, so I'll leave you with a warning; never leave the bodies of your victims with others, targets or otherwise."
Azra'il bowed again and left swiftly to the brothel; he made it there quicker than the first time with Isabelle, and for the first time, Azra'il began to question himself why. He was moving quickly for the completion of his task, of course, but there was some part of him that thought he was returning quickly for Isabelle. He did not have the patience to knock, so Azra'il just entered the brothel. He was instantly greeted by Isabelle.
"Why, hello Azra'il; you're back rather soon."
She began to giggle, but Azra'il waved his hand.
"Stop with your little games, where is the body?"
Isabelle stopped giggling and became serious.
"I told you, we're taking care of it."
Azra'il glared at her, but he could not glare at her like he was able to with everybody else for some odd reason.
"It is my kill, my responsibility; where is it?"
Isabelle nodded, understanding what Azra'il meant.
"It's in the furnace, burning its final ashes for the fifth time."
Azra'il quickly ran to the basement and saw the furnace burning; he saw a metal buckle that the drunk was wearing earlier. Azra'il ascended the stairway to the main floor and moved towards the exit.
"You should really learn to trust people more, Azra'il."
He turned and faced Isabelle.
"I never trust anyone, that's how I work, and that's what I've been taught."
Azra'il slightly bowed his head and left; he quickly closed the brothel's doors behind him and ran into the darkness.
Chapter 2
Coming Soon!