A/N: chapter 1! YAY! anyway, some of you might have realized, this is cross-posted on , so, yeah... ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 1

Vash checked over his security system once again, checking in with each person posted around the large mansion. Everything was set. There was no way that anything was getting in…

"Perimeter, what's your status?" Vash asked, watching each monitor and the man on camera.

"Delta team, clear."

"Alpha, clear."

"Bravo, secure."

Vash leaned back in his chair, content with the way things were set up at the moment.

"What's the point?"

Vash turned to look at the speaker, only able to see a tuft of blonde hair above the back of the chair. His employer was sitting there in front of the blazing fireplace, sipping some kind of amber liquid. He just sighed and turned back to his monitors, watching intently for anything that dared to cross into the camera's path.

"He'll still get in… You can't stop him," Alfred said, taking another sip of the alcohol. "No one can stop him…"

"Him?" Vash asked curiously.

"I was afraid that if I told you before you wouldn't take the job…" Alfred said calmly. He looked into the fire as it crackled, almost seeing himself burning in the depths of hell. "I never should have hired you…"

Outside the house, unbeknownst to the two men, someone was there. The guard perked up slightly at the sound of movement on the roof. He cocked his gun and waited silently.

Just then, he saw the other guard that was on the roof fall off and into the snowing ground, already dead.

"Who do you think is coming for you?" Vash asked, a slight twinge of fear in his voice.

Alfred took another sip of his drink, letting the cool liquid slid down his throat. He knew he was going to die and he knew that every man that was guarding him was going to die as well. Men with families, wives, children…

"You may have heard of him…" Alfred said with a sigh. "His name… is Arthur Kirkland."

Vash chuckled slightly at hearing the name. That man was a pirate of myths and legends.

"You find that funny?" Alfred asked, his voice with no hint of joking in it.\

"He's an urban legend, sir," Vash said, turning back to his monitors. "You American's have one sense of humor. It's almost sad… That man died years ago."

"Really?" Alfred asked, his voice still that dead serious tone that made Vash flinch. "Then someone must have brought him back from the dead…"

Vash just shook his head, partly to show he didn't believe Alfred, and also partly to get the image of a corpse walking around amongst the living. It was a very scary sight for the Swiss, and it made his watch the monitors even more intently.

"You know, Vash, when you've done the things I've done, you make a lot of enemies…" Alfred started, refilling his glass. "My private security detail, the best money could buy… This nonexistent man killed 14 of them in half an hour."

The guard ran over to his buddy, quickly checking his vitals. But it was too late. The guard bowed his head, sending the dead man his prayers. But it was just short as a blade was plunged through his neck, spraying the white ground with red.

The figure pulled the knife out of the man's neck and slowly wiped it off before walking into the house. It slowly climbed the steps, not out of caution, but out of supremacy. It was wearing skin tight red leather pants and red leather studded straps were wrapped around it's hands and halfway up it's forearm. But above that, it was covered in shadows.

"I barely got away," Alfred continued, oblivious to Vash's shaking behind him. "I spent the next two days in Monte Carlo wondering, why he let me go…" Alfred stared into the fire, as if he was still pondering the question but knowing he'd never get an answer. "And then he came for me."

The figure stood on a table before jumping into the rafters of the house. It was easy for the lithe assassin to jump silently from beam to beam before it came across another guard.

The guard had it's back to the red clothed assassin, oblivious to the slaughter that was behind him in the house. He seemed rather lax as piercing green eyes watched him.

The assassin jumped down onto the guard, silently pinning him to the ground, covering his mouth while it plunged it's blade into his back. It watched as the fountain of blood shot up from the wound as it removed it's blade like a spectator would watch fireworks.

It slipped silently by, continuing farther into the house.

"I was under the protection of the Hand itself, who sent their best. Although, they seemed more interested in killing Kirkland than in protecting me," Alfred said, chuckling a little at the memory and Vash's ignorance. "He cut them down like wheat. Took maybe 10, 15 minutes max." Alfred paused for a second while he let his words sink in. He watched the fire still, as if the red and yellow flames would give him some kind of answer. "I… didn't really think why I kept getting away. So here I am… And now I understand him."

The figure walked down the hallway in slow strides, a pile of bodies behind it. There was a halo around the figure as it walked with it's back to the lights. It's blades glinted dangerously in the faint light, giving the assassin an even more dangerous aura.

"He wanted me to feel this. What it's like to have nowhere to go… Nowhere to turn…"

A small beeping broke both men out of the trance the story put them under. Vash flipped on his headset and watched the monitors carefully. He stared wide-eyed as he saw no one on the screen, and that was the problem. He was able to see each of his team members on the monitors before. Now they were empty, and one of them had the front door swinging wide open.

"How's your perimeter doing now?" Alfred asked, knowing the answer without even looking. He knew that Kirkland got in; he always knew the blond assassin would get in. He was impressed at how quickly the man was able to get inside.

"Delta what's your status?" Vash asked, right before the first monitor went black. Then the second went black and then the third and fourth and he panicked. "There's no signal! Son of a bitch…" Vash started calling out to the groups while Alfred continued his little speech.

"You know, the better the assassin, the closer they can get before you know they're here," Alfred said in a calm voice.

"Alpha, Bravo, report!" Vash snapped into his headset. He was able to catch a glimpse of something in the shadows on the last screen before it too went blank. Every one of the screens switched to a static before Vash flipped a switch to turn them off.

"Ah, fuck…" Vash hissed, picking up his gun. Just then, a machine gun was heard firing at something just outside the door before it abruptly stopped.

"Be careful what you do… Cause God is watching your every move…" Alfred sang softly and in a creepy voice that made Vash doubt his employer's sanity. He then said in a very creepy and sing-songy voice, "He's he~ere." Alfred sighed and then took another sip of his drink. He went back to staring at the fire before he said, "You know, they say that Kirkland whispers in your ear before he kills you."

"Alpha, Bravo, report!" Vash snapped into his earpiece as he walked over to the door, gun in hand.

"It's too late for your boss, Vash," a distinctly British voice said through Vash's earpiece. "But it's not too late for you."

"Jesus Christ!" Vash cried, ripping the earpiece from his ear and throwing it on the floor. He was really scared now and held up his gun with a shaky hand. Alfred just sighed.

Vash jumped again when he heard the door handle creek. Vash stared at the hand in horror as it started to move ever so slightly. With a loud cry, he opened fire on the door with the machine gun in his hands. He blew holes through the wooden door, sending splinters flying everywhere.

Alfred just shut his eyes and sat there calmly. He knew it would take more than just that to kill Kirkland.

Vash tossed the empty gun aside and pulled a pistol from his belt as he walked over to the door. He cautiously looked through one of the bullet holes, his eyes darting around like mad. In an instant, he was looked at eyes brighter and greener than his own. He sputtered as he felt a blade plunge into his stomach. Blood started to come out of his mouth as the blade was pulled out and retreated back behind the door. Vash stumbled away from the door before he collapse on top of his monitors, dead.

Alfred opened his eyes and carefully took a sip of his drink, knowing that this would be his last. He nearly drained the full glass.

The door flung open, sending in such a powerful gust of wind that it made the fire flicker like crazy. Alfred could feel his little hair tuft being whipped around with the wind and he knew who opened the door. He just sighed, not even bothering to turn around.

He could see Kirkland walking into the room with his mind's eye, as well as hear his footsteps. He could imagine the haughty blond walking in, daggers in hand. He could almost picture finely toned muscles rippling beneath the skin tight, sleeveless red turtleneck that the Brit was associated with. He could see the golden blonde hair glowing in the light of the fire and his forest green eyes glowing with a murderous intent unlike any he'd ever seen before. Alfred took a deep breath, knowing that this was the beginning of his end.

"Here we are at last," Alfred said, a sigh in his voice, as if he was sad to see this chase end. All he heard in response was Kirkland exhaling. Alfred lifted his glass a little, using the smooth surface of the cup to see Kirkland's reflection. "Guess it's all true. The red outfit, the knives—" As if to emphasize his words, Kirkland flipped the blades out, showing Alfred his silver weapons with a deadly shing. Alfred sighed and looked at the knives in the glass. "So what happens now? You just going to kill me, straight out. Just cold?" Alfred silently cocked his gun, ready to turn around and shoot the bastard behind him.

"Don't worry. Death's not that bad," Kirkland said, his light British accent clear in the silent room.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Alfred asked, his voice devoid of any emotions. He jumped slightly when he felt spiky hair tickling his ear.

"I died once," Kirkland whispered in Alfred's ear.

Alfred's glass shattered on the floor as Kirkland slowly pushed the blade through Alfred's back. Alfred looked down to see a half an inch of the silver tip poking out of his chest, blood slowly dripping down the bomber jacket he wore. His vision began to get blurry as his head lolled to the side as his heart stopped beating.

Kirkland just pulled his blade out, not a single readable expression on his face. He flipped both blades back to that they rested against his arms and the hilts pointing downward. Without a single glance back, he walked out of the mansion, not caring about the blood of bodies and acting like they weren't even there.

So, love it? hate it?

did anyone happen to notice my Death Note reference in there?

i could SO see Al doing that in that situation, JUST to be creepy!

poor Vash, he was the first character to die...

no offence to any Vash fans, i just think that he would be the one Al would call to guard his house.

yeah, so chapter two will come soon!