Chapter 14

When he got to the Waltz of the Dead and parked his car, Wilhelm appeared by his side. Wilhelm was Andras's right-hand man, on top of being a top-notch killer, he got everything done especially the little stuff that he despised doing, but he was entitled to doing as Master Mabuz. On his way to his office with Wilhelm following behind him, Andras greeted a few other passing killers including, Gair Campbell, the torture room killer whose target he had taken not too long ago, and Jasper Foss, who looked much more docile than before his little swimming exercise. Andras carried himself with ease and a distinct cold sharp aura that made it hard to greet him directly even among the killers, only the topmost batch could meet his frosty silver eyes.

Sitting behind his desk, and looking at the amount of paperwork that had piled up, he looked at Wilhelm questioningly. He knew full well that even if he was gone for almost a week, it didn't mean this much could have piled up. They were a very self-sufficient type of organization that didn't require that much paperwork to be present. Actually, the lesser the amount of paperwork and evidence of erasing present, the better it was for them. Wilhelm in understanding replied, "Killer 26, contract miscarried." Taking a moment to recall who Killer 26 was and their portfolio, he gestured for Wilhelm to explain further by tapping the pen that was in his hand twice.

After the brief explanation, Andras had an overall understanding of the situation. Tapping his pen a few times as he thought of how to deal with this situation, he finally came to a conclusion as he put it down. He moved from his chair behind the desk and sat on the sofa in his sofa. This movement was enough to tell Wilhelm that he was to bring Killer 26 to the office.

After a few minutes, a woman with olive skin and brown hair walked into the office. Wilhelm had brought her and seeing the woman who was now seated in front of him, Andras waved a hand towards Wilhelm which dismissed him. The only people now in the room were Master Mabuz and Killer 26, Beatrice Gibbons. Beatrice was wearing a red low cut dress that showed plenty. With a face of frostiness, he asked Beatrice, who was sitting in a way that allowed him a maximum view of her goods, "Off-target kill?" She felt a slight shiver run down her spine when she heard his cold murderous tone. However, she kept her best poker face as she was after all a killer who had experienced a variety of situations during her almost 5-year career. "Unexpected visit" Andras's mood darkened at her reply. Unexpected she says, but it obviously was all calculated by her.

Her earning contract was that of an influential steel company's CEO. The shareholders wanted him to be replaced as he was starting to invest in projects that seemed to be a waste of money to the majority of them. However, due to the fact that the CEO held the majority of the shares, they were unable of going against him. With his death, they could buy up his shares and then decide between themselves who held similar ideals, the next CEO. On the night of the kill, which was supposedly Beatrice and the CEO's one month anniversary, Beatrice had laced her lips with poison after she herself had taken an antidote. She had that night given him, the kiss of death. However, apparently just as she was cleaning up the body, the hotel room's door was knocked. She opened the door and having closed the bedroom's door, welcomed the room service man to set the table and serve her food. It would usually be no problem to do such a thing, however, when the man had come in he had left the door open. While she was distracted with her meal being served, a young man had welcomed himself in and had directly gone to the bedroom.

When her food had been set and she had tipped the room serviceman, she finally went into the bedroom and found the young man who was in shock of the dead man on the bed who was, in reality, his godfather. Seeing that he needed to be silenced for the contract to be carried out to perfection, she had wasted no time in giving him a deep poisonous kiss.

There was something off with this breakdown of the happening. If only one fact is added to this whole scenario, it will all fit into place perfectly.

Master Mabuz's expressionless face was nowhere to be seen as he smiled a toothy smile towards the poisonous flower sitting in front of him and stated, "I'm no fool." Then suddenly the smile fell from his face and his eyes glaring into her hazel ones, he got up and slowly walked to her as he spoke.

"The godson, your off-target kill, was your plaything. Having gathered that he would be erased not long after you had taken care of your target, you invited him that night to the hotel room. Maybe you even gave him a call and acted as if you were in distress of 'some kind'. You were waiting in the bathroom when he walked into the hotel room that was left open after the room service, so he could easily let himself in. As soon as he came into the bedroom, you jumped into his embrace crying, catching him off guard you gave him the kiss that became his last as he breathed his last breath and fell to the floor. Dead."

Beatrice did not reply or respond in any way to Master Mabuz, who was now standing right in front of her. She even refused to meet his gaze as she looked to the side instead. Wanting to see her fearful expression, Andras grabbed her chin harshly and turned her face to look towards him. He then continued, "Your selfishness to kill your own plaything by your own hands, has created extra work for me and has tarnished my name. You have brought down the level of the Waltz of the Dead and the professionalism of every killer in the organization. If you present yourself to be such a waste one more time in front of me, there will be an off-target kill under my name too." Beatrice's eyes had slightly become watery due to the intense killing aura that was threatening to squash her very soul, but she kept her tears at bay because she knew well that if she did cry, she would really be killed by Master Mabuz. Satisfied by the look in her eyes, Andras let go of her chin harshly and if, by telepathy, Wilhelm opened the office door and gestured for Beatrice to leave. She wasted no moment to get up to her heels and walked out as fast, but unhurriedly as she could, in order, to preserve the little image that she had remaining. Hell knows how many times, she had tried to seduce this Master of hers, but had failed each time. This time she had not only failed but had also been threatened and warned that if she had one more misstep, it would be her last.

Looking at the extra paperwork created by the selfish wantings of a pathetic and useless woman, Andras struggled to maintain his calm temper, but eventually sat down and got right to it. Wilhelm sat on the sofa in the office as Master Mabuz worked, this was their routine. Thinking back to Mater Mabuz's reaction to the pile of work, he found it a tad bit odd. The Master liked to work, sure he would always ask about the increase and reprimand those who had caused troubles and problems to the regular operations of the organization, but it somehow felt different this time to him. He couldn't really put his finger on it until he took into account the happenings of the previous day. Was Master Mabuz possibly in a hurry to go back to his house due to the presence of whoever it was that he had bought those clothes for? It couldn't be, could it? He couldn't help but look at Andras with a questioning gaze. The sharp instincts of Andras allowed him to notice his gaze, but he decided to not elaborate until Wilhelm, the quietest man in the whole organization voiced it himself. In the end, he never did and Andras was never questioned.

With an off-target kill, there was a need to examine all properties and situations to get rid of the body in a clean manner while at the same time finding and bringing forth a good enough motive that justified the sudden disappearance of the said off target. As the kill was done on impulse or with little to no planning, it usually created a chance for a killer to slip up or leave evidence. That is why it is a headache for what in most cases it would end up with the police. Well, every kill did, but being unprepared for a police investigation due to an unplanned kill is what made the police have the upper hand in most cases. Andras had at least give it to Beatrice for not being a complete fool, as her handling of the overall situation was not too bad. However, this only further showed that she had every intention of killing the godson of the steel company CEO, and that is something the organization did not tolerate while a killer was on duty. The off-duty kill was another matter on its own, as it did not relate to the Waltz of the Dead. It was their private matter until the time it affected the organization, Andras did not want to know about. This being said, Andras still kept a good watch on every 30 killers in the organization because at the end they were present and living under his killer organization.

After having dealt with all the paperwork, Mater Mabuz had to go and monitor some of the special rooms in the Waltz of the Dead. It was a thing he had to do from time to time in order to keep everyone in check and to maintain his influence over them. To the people in the observation room who were now in the presence of Master Mabuz, this was really their unfortunate day. They would have left the room, but Master Mabuz always had the habit of standing in front of the observation room door as he observed the happenings inside the rooms. That meant that they couldn't even turn to look at him, so to get up and leave, that would really be impossible. He would stay and observe not more than 5 minutes, but for those present, this was longest the 5 minutes ever. The man's aura should not be underestimated.

This man who they called Master Mabuz, was generally younger than the majority of the other killers, but they were fully aware that he was the Master for a reason. His killing aura and skills that a few had ever had a chance of witnessing were on a level way beyond them and he was still so young. They all feared the type of man he would come to be by the time he was in his 40s. A lot of them deep within their mind thought evilly to themselves, "If he lives that long, that is."

After the observation check-ups, Master Mabuz returned to his office and called in some of the killers that he had observed. They were asked a few questions about their targets and overall their condition so far. This was done to just keep a bit of personal connection between him and the killers as he was well aware that he was ruling their interest by money and fear. The money part wasn't a problem, but he would like to change ruling fear to one of respect and loyalty. He could see that the progress was there, but slower than he had wanted it to be. Slowly and steady wasn't all bad was what Andras's thought was as he saw the last killer get up to leave his office.

Checking his watch, Andras saw that it was already past 2 o'clock. He sighed internally, the last thing on his schedule today, was to meet those people. He ran his hand through his hair and got up from his seat. He readjusted his tie and then with a piercing glare and his maximum killing aura, he walked out to go and meet them with Wilhelm following him from behind.