Chapter Two: Mason's Past and The Brotherhood

"Nice to see you again, Mason, I heard there was a small explosion at the new Abstergo building not too long ago. What a shame." Jack says.

Jack is part of the Creed, just like me, but he was born into the Brotherhood, I joined at the age of 19. His full name is Jackson Williams, he is about 28 years old, a year older than me. He's a skilled assassin and is dedicated to the Creed. He has long straight black hair and is dark-skinned. He is pretty tall and is a little slim. He mostly wears collared shirts and a hooded black coat with blue jeans and tennis shoes. As far as I know, he mostly just keeps tabs on the Templars and reports their recent activity, but I'm still new here so I don't know for sure if that's all he does. He's a lawyer who works for a company called "Finest Meals" but it's really just a cover. He's technically our lawyer in case any of the assassins get into any trouble, but most of us stay off the grid. I've heard he's a talented killer but I kinda hope I never end up on an assassination mission with him. I can't imagine him being a killer, but I'm sure he has spilled his fair share of blood.

"Yeah, a real tragedy…." I say. I actually do mean it, since I didn't actually want to bomb the place, but I doubt he believes it. "Wait- do you mean it's on the news already?"

"It's been two hours. Almost every news reporter around here has their fingers on this as if it's the news of the century. By the way, do you think this could have been avoided?" He says, almost like I planned to blow up the floor.

"Not unless whoever did this was okay with his assignment becoming a suicide mission." I mummer. I wish I could tell him "What did you want me to do? There were about a dozen guards pointing their goddamn guns at me, and I wasn't planning to die for a lowlife like Edgar." This secrecy was all Jacks idea. I don't like having these meetings at a bar, either. If it were up to me, I would just have these meetings at sewer or an abandoned warehouse. Hell, I'd love to have a building where the Creed could grow, but then we would be too exposed. Besides we're too small a group to even need a building. We're not exactly large in numbers.

"Let's just hope it doesn't happen again." Jack and I have not really been getting along, but that's because I'm still new.

I only just got here about a month ago. I use to live in Canada at a place called Saltbeam City. I was part of the Creed there, until they sent me here and told me Time City needed someone like me. I'm part Canadian and part Salvadoran (My dad came from El Salvador to Canada where he met my mother and raised me there). It was because of my family and my childhood friend, Clara that I decided to become of the Creed. We lived a pretty normal life and didn't have much to complain about, except for school. As a teenager, I was picked on alot at school and I would get in trouble with the school. One day when I was at school I got into a fight with some assholes who about a grade higher than me. It was painful and felt it lasted for hours but it was only actually a few minutes. I thought I was going to end up in the hospital until some of the teachers sent them to detention. A girl named Clara called the teachers and told them what was going on and came as soon as they could. She tried to help me up but I tried to keep it together and tried to get up on my own. I ended up going to the nurse, but Clara still followed me and asked me if I was okay. I wasn't in the for talk, but she kept following me. Eventually, I gave in and decided to give her a chance. We walked home and Clara asked me if she could come over my house for a while, because I told her about my collection a show I use to watch. Clara was a girl about my age with brown hair and white skin. she would always wear a huge scarf and clothes that would reference shows and books and games that she liked. She was very smart and was placed in advanced classes. I was just lazy student who played video games and watched anime and kept to himself. I never imagined I would be friends with someone like her. We would hang out all the time and watch shows and play video games and just talk about anything and everything. She would make fun of my orange hair and I would tease her about her ridiculously long scarf, which reached to her hips. We became best friends and my parents treated her like part of the family.

10 Years ago

One day, a new mayor was elected but within a few days, he was missing. A new mayor was elected and made several new rules that would make our lives a living hell. The school schedule became longer, and we were required to have very high grades and had to wear a uniform. Everybody above the age of 16 was required to have some sort of job no matter what the current situation with the person was. We also had to be at our homes by 8 pm with very few exceptions. There were several other rules just like these. The punishment for breaking these rules was being sent to some kind of camp. I would always wonder how the mayor was able to pull bullshit like this and not get noticed. We were a small city but I still expected someone to catch on. A month later the mayor was killed in public and things got crazy, but eventually everything just went back to normal.

At this point Clara started feeling suspicious about everything that was happening and started talking about government conspiracies, but I never really believed her. I had no idea at the time but she had just discovered the hidden war of the Assassins and the Templars. She started talking about how the mayor was somehow connected with a drug company called Abstergo. This went on for months and every few weeks Clara would uncover some new facts about Abstergo and found several connections to group called the Templars. She would post these crazy theories about the Templars and Abstergo working together on the internet. I always teased her and said we were being watched. One day while we were walking home we noticed that there was a man in a suit following us and we started getting paranoid. We started running and the man chased us. When he got within Clara's reach I tackled him to the ground and at that moment I thought I was going to die because there was a gun pointed to my face. My head started filling with thoughts of confusion, regret, and fear. Then he fell to ground with a knife shoved to his back.

There was a man behind him who just stared at us for minutes. He had just killed that man and saved our lives. This man is a complete stranger and yet he was ready to kill for us. Then he starts running from us, but without even thinking Clara and I start chasing him. We were in an abandoned warehouse when he stopped and we realize he has been leading us here all along. I didn't it know it until we were there but his face was completely concealed. He was wearing a trench coat and was wearing a hood on his head and a bandanna covering almost his entire head except for his eyes. If anything, he kinda looked like a hit-man.

"You must be Clara…" The man said. He stared at Clara for so long and she looked so terrified. I wanted to protect her so badly, but I couldn't move a single limb, my mind wouldn't let me move and I felt like I was going to watch Clara die.

"Ye-y-yes that's me" Clara explains, stuttering and shaking.

He then stared at me and his eyes widened. I realized I was holding a pencil I had in my pocket as a weapon and I was shaking so much. I must have holding tears back because he started apologizing. "I'm so sorry I must be terrifying you to death. Please take a seat." He then sat down crisscross on the ground and pulled out food enough for all of us. Clara and I had no idea what to do, or what was even happening, so we decided to just sit down on the floor. He then handed us some food and we ate for about 5 minutes silently. "I bet you must be wondering what just happened." He then takes the hood and bandanna off and revealed himself to be a pale young man with short brown curly hair. Me and Clara just stared at him with surprisement. I think we both didn't know what to expect. "My name is Kevin. That man was going to kill you, Clara." Clara's eyes widened with surprise, but I think we both knew that.

"WHAT?!…But why?" Clara screams this out at first, but then she lowers her voice.

"Because you know too much…. Clara… the Templars… they are real and they want you dead." Me and Clara were surprised by this. This was the last thing that was on our minds and now it's the most important thing we have just discovered.

"What do you mean?!"

He then explains to us about the Templars and the Assassins. About everything. He tells us how the Templars began practically at the beginning of civilization and how the Assassins rose to stop them. He told us about Altair, Ezio, Connor, and several other assassins who have helped- no, saved us countless of times without us even knowing. He told us countless names of Templars; these were people we would never expect. Robert de Sable, Rodrigo Borgia, Charles Lee and the list goes on.

"There were scared that you would start convincing people that there was something going on, so they wanted to get rid of you"

"They were going to kill me, just like that?! They were just going to shoot me and Mason just like that?! HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!? I WAS JUST CURIOUS AND NOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT ME DEAD!"

"Please, calm down. They're not going to kill you, or your friend, Mason. Me and the brotherhood will make sure of that."

"How do you know we will be safe? If what you say about these people our true, they could just make us disappear or send us to prison for something they just made up? What about our parents? Our they safe?" I asked all these questions, feeling like an asshole. I wanted to trust these people, but all of this was unbelievable and just so surprising. And these Templars sounded serious. I doubted that these Templars would just give up and let us live.

"What do you propose then, Mason?" Kevin asked. Both Clara and Kevin were paying full attention to me, wondering what I was thinking.

"What if …. What if I become an assassin?

Present Day

I decide to leave the bar because I don't really feel the need to stay if they don't need me.

"Hey why don't you have a beer with us? I mean, if we're going to kill people together we might as well get to know each over a few drinks?" The man next to Jack blurts out.

This sends chills up my spine. Why the hell would that dumbass say something like that? Jack doesn't seem to give a single fuck that he practically spilled our secret. What happened to secrecy? The man next to Jack is called Marcus. He's also an assassin. He joined the assassins two years ago, but I don't know why he joined. He's four years younger than me, making him 23. He's pretty immature, but he's very talented at what he does. He works as a news journalist and makes sure no one catches on to us, whether that being completely erasing anything that could connect to us off the internet or getting rid of people who are suspicious of us (I don't mean by killing them, by the way). He basically keeps us off the grid. He is also a skilled killer and knows how to use just about anything as a weapon. He has black, bushy hair and a stubby beard and has olive skin. He's always wears a black leather jacket and plain white shirts with brown boots. I've only talked to him a few times, but it seems as though the other assassins have are either annoyed of him or respect him, usually both.

"Would you stop talking? And what the fuck happened to secrecy?" I whisper, hoping no one payed attention to what Marcus just said.

"Oh come on! This place is practically empty! Besides, they're all too drunk to understand a single word and, if they do, they'll just assume we're talking about a game or something!" Marcus is trying to explain but he just sounds like a dumbass.

I look at Jack to see if he's going to comment on this." Are you even going to say anything?"

"Just have a drink with us. Marcus may be an idiot, but he has a point." Jack simply says.

"Sure." I order a beer and start drinking. "Why the hell are we having a meeting at bar anyways?"

Jack starts explaining. "I told you already. Hiding in plain sight. We're safe here, trust me."

"I guess that does make sense." I decide not to argue about this because, odds are, we're still going to have meetings at this bar. "Is there something you guys wanted to talk about?"

"Relax, Mason, we just wanted to have a drink with you, is all." Jack says.

"Actually that's a lie. We need to talk. Let's start with some small talk, okay?" Marcus whispers. At least he's honest. "So Mason, how are you finding Time City to be. Is it anything like Canada, where everyone is nice and drinks maple syrup?" Marcus says, teasing me.

"I hope you know that's not true. You forgot about that part where people love hockey." I say, playing along with his joke. Marcus chuckles and takes a sip of his beer. "I still have to get used to not seeing the Mounties, I'm going to miss them." Marcus cracks up, spitting his beer out of his mouth.

"That's hilarious. I can't wait to make fun of Canada some more." Marcus says. "Where are you living anyways?"

"In an apartment I rented out a few days ago. It's small, but comfy" I say.

"You're not keeping that flashy outfit of yours there, are you?" Marcus says, asking about my assassin robes.

"OF course not." I wouldn't keep something like that where I live. Someone could find it and expose me. My outfit consists of large black hooded coat with a small green pattern, tracing along the coat, the bottom flap also ends with a small triangle figure, sorta like Connors. I also wear a black shirt that has the 'Wings of Freedom' symbol(It's from a show I watch). I have black dress pants, converse shoes, and a sling backpack with a taunting face sticking it's tongue out drawn on it. I use a pocket watch to keep time and I also use it to hide my poison. My weapons consist of a bow and arrow, a hidden blade, a few knives, and a revolver. I also use a small hacking device for, well, hacking just about anything. It kinda looks like a large pen. I would tell Marcus not to call it "flashy" but it is pretty noticeable. If I'm gonna kill someone, I might as well as look nice.

"I keep it in the sewers…" I tell Marcus and Jack. I've been using the sewers as a hidden base for my equipment. It smells, but it does keep my stuff from being found.

"I bet you kept it in the sewers at Canada, too…. speaking of Canada. I have some news." Marcus says. I know that we're done with the small talk, because he has a serious look on his face. "Apparently some unwanted company followed you here. Templars. About four of them. Marcus has my full attention right now. I came here because I was asked to help, but instead, all I brought were more problems.

"What are their names?" I ask. I feel that it's my obligation to kill these people so I need to know their names.

"I'm still working on it, but I know one thing for sure. And that's that we are going to need more assassins if we're going to live." Marcus says, worried. I thought everything was under control at Canada. The brotherhood practically had most of the country secured, but I get the feeling that these people don't fuck around.

"What can you tell us about these Templars? Jack asks.

"Well, I think they came to Saltbeam City with hopes of finding Mason, and decided to follow his tracks. That's all I know for now" Marcus explains.

Jack stands up and puts on his coat. "I'm gonna go to my office and do some digging. Keep me posted. And Mason, here is a list of known Templar that we need some investigating on. I need you to go find some more information on them so we can deal with them. I'll see you guys later." He slips me a piece of paper with the list of Templars, but I decide not to look at it until I go home, just in case we're being watched, and then he leaves the bar.

"I better get going too. I need to tell the other assassins about this. Mason you should finish you drink and get some rest. You've had quite a long day today considering you just killed a man today." Marcus says, smiling, knowing that it irritates me when he blurts things out like that. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, but you're meeting the other assassins tomorrow. I'll show you where to find them okay" He then proceeds to hand me about $30."Pay for our drinks when you leave okay? Thanks"

I quickly finish my drink and pay for the drinks and leave. There are so many thoughts rushing through head. Who are these people? How do they know me? What do they want with me? How much they know about me. By the time I walk home I can't sleep at all. I just lay on my bed for about four hours until I decide to turn on my television. Some kind of cooking show is on, but I'm not paying any attention. About forty minutes I realize there's mail for me from Canada on the counter. It doesn't have a name so I decide to just to open it. It's a letter asking about how I'm doing, but there is something odd about it. I then realize there's an encoded message. I'm trying to decipher until I find out what it says without even needing to finish.

You need to run away before they kill everyone. I don't want you to die.

I burn the paper and go back to bed. I don't sleep for the whole night. What have I just gotten myself into?