Prologue

[WARNING: This store has a lot of gore! This chapter included, so you've been warned! There's some pretty fucked up shit, but as I said in the synopsis, no r*pe and stuff like that. Just killing and a somewhat detailed description of a dead body. Also, this is a work of FICTION, so some things will naturally be exaggerated or simply impossible. Anyways, enjoy the looooooong prologue (3821 words. The normal chapters will be 1200-1500).]

"Honeeey! Where's Julia's toy unicorn? She can't seem to find it." A female voice came from upstairs.

Maximilius, who was sitting in the couch watching TV, heard this and shouted back, "Go check her wardrobe! I've found it there a couple of times in the past!"

"*sigh* Why a 3-year-old needs so many clothes is beyond me..." He quietly said to himself.

A while later, the same voice shouted from upstairs, "Found it! Thanks!"

Max softly smiled and shook his head slightly. He already knew that the toy unicorn was there because every time this happened, it was in Julia's wardrobe!

Suddenly, the program he was watching on TV turned into a news segment.

*BREAKING NEWS: The deceased bodies of the U.S. Secretary of State, Charles J. Lawson, along with his wife and 4-year-old son have been found near Hillman Bridge this afternoon at 3:28 pm by a civilian nearby who chose to remain anonymous. Charles Lawson and his family had been missing for 6 days and were kidnapped out of their home last Tuesday. It is believed that the famous assassin organization, The Black Hand, was the one responsible for this tragedy. Local police are working together with Homeland Security in a conjoined investigation to find the ones responsible and bring them to justice. We at the Paragon Tribune offer our prayers and condolences to the families of the deceased.*

"Shit..." Max's face turned serious after he heard the news. "These guys are getting more and more ambitious as the days go by."

"Nat! Get down here!"

A little while later, a gorgeous middle-aged woman came walking down the stairs. Wearing some comfortable sweatpants with a coat, she neared Max and hugged him behind the couch as she read the news.

"Jesus..." She sighed and looked at Max, "Don't you think about doing anything. I'm serious."

They had been together for 9 years, so Natalee had already acquired the ability to read Max's thoughts.

"Nat, they're killed a kid. A 4-year-old kid. This is the second time they did something like this since I left. If I don't do something, this will keep getting worse."

"I know, honey. But you already left that life behind. It's outside of your hands now. Think about Julia... I don't want her to be raised without a father and I sure don't want to become a widow."

Max thought about her words for some time before replying, "You're right. I'm sorry for even thinking about it..."

Nat slightly smiled at this and said, "You have to remember that it's not your fault. Their blood is not on your hands."

"I know, it's just that ever since I left, they've been doing more and more contracts, and are now even going after the big guys. I am well aware of their ability, and I know that if a contract comes on their way with the right rewards, they can even kill the leaders of a nation. I just can't help but think if this is some kind of message for me..." Max said.

Natalee walked over and got down in front of him, eye-to-eye, and said, "Max, this is NOT your fault. You have-" She was interrupted by a knock at their door.

"Did your order something?" Nat asked.

"No... Grab Julia and go to our room. Drag the table that has my laptop to the side and put your thumb on the wood tile that's a little darker than the rest. That'll open the room where I keep my guns. Go inside and lock yourself in with Julia. Hurry!" Max quickly got up from the couch and said to Natalee.

"You have a gun room?! You said you only had your handgun now!" Nat was thoroughly surprised and said with a pissed expression.

"This is not the time, Nat! Please, hurry!"

"Alright, but we're gonna have a conversation about this later!" She said before running up the stairs and doing as she was told.

Max quickly walked over to one of the chairs in the living room and removed the cushions. He then opened the cushion with the zipper on it and removed a black Glock 17 from inside it.

Walking to the door, he made sure the gun was cocked, loaded, and in safe mode before hiding it in his waist.

He then finally opened the door, but not fully, as he did so to not expose the right side of his waist where his handgun was.

Outside were 3 muscular white men with bulletproof vests carrying 9mm handguns on their waists and powerful assault rifles on their hands.

"Are you Maximilius Vinsant?" The man in front asked with a deep voice.

"Yes. Who's asking?" Max asked with his right hand already on the gun, prepared to remove it and fire at any moment.

"Homeland Security. Mr. Vinsant, you're going to have to come with us. There has been a threat to your life."

"Please elaborate." Max asked.

"Not here. Please quickly pack your most necessary belongings and come with us."

"Can I see your badge first?" He wanted to make sure.

The 3 men quickly grabbed their DHS badges and showed them to Max, finally removing his suspicion.

"Alright. I'll have to bring my wife and daughter too." Max said and closed the door before they could answer.

He hurriedly ran upstairs and entered his room.

"Nat, it's Homeland Security. They say there has been a threat made to my life. We're gonna have to come with them. You can come out now." He said looking at where his hidden gun room was.

In a few seconds, the room opened up and there was a clear image of a bright, highly technological room with 3 of its side walls covered in all types of guns, ranging from a simple handgun to a monstreous .50 cal sniper rifle.

"Grab your phone and some of Julia's stuff. Also, remember to bring her toy unicorn. I'll be waiting for you downstairs."

Natalee walked out of the room with Julia on her shoulders. Both had a somewhat scared face.

Natalee nodded at Max and ran all around the house, grabbing everything she needed.

She had already been with Max long enough to know that the tone he used was one of severity. Knowing his background, she knew that any measure he took was the right and the safest one for all for their family.

In less than 3 minutes, the 3 had gathered in front of the door. Julia was on Natalees arms holding her dear toy unicorn.

"Let's go." Max said. He was carrying a backpack with Julia's favorite toys and food inside along with 5 magazines of ammo for his handgun. He still stealthily carried his Glock in his waist.

Walking outside, they were greeted by a large black USV in front of their house, so they walked over and entered the back seats.

Inside, 2 of the men were in front with one on the driver's seat and another on the passenger seat. The other one was in one of the backseats, Max being in the middle with Natalee and Julia to his left.

"Where are we going?" Max asked.

"An undisclosed blacksite. You probably know about the death of the U.S. Secretary of State and his wife and son. Carved on their bodies were the following words: 'Maximilius Vinsant is next. Ass: The Black Hand'. Do you have any idea on why The Black Hand would target you?" The man in the passenger seat told them.

"No idea." Max said.

'I knew it. But why would they announce their next target? That's not the way they do things. That just makes it easier to take safety precautions to protect the target's life. Unless they already knew that Homeland Security would take me to a black site. I took every possible precaution to clear my name, so with their recourses, it would take them too long to find my whereabouts. They used Homeland Security to track me down and will probably attack us on the way to the black site or as we get there. It's not farfetched to say they have people in Homeland Security or even in the White House. No... they aren't using Homeland Security to track me down, they are Homeland Security. Fuck, these guys are just playing with me. They could've killed me any moment now.' Max quickly thought.

As a former member of the assassination group The Black Hand, Max had already completed hundreds of contracts. He was the most lethal and accomplished assassin in the entire organization. Ever since he was 19, he was a member of their organization. He left at 32, due to him falling in love with Natalee. Not wanting to put her in more danger than necessary, he left The Black Hand.

But, it's not that simple to put that life behind. The Black Hand had spent the entirety of the 8 years since his departure silent about him. There were no assassination attempts or anything, which made Max even more suspicious about their activities.

Unfortunately, after 8 years, they finally made their move. Which is to say they had 8 years of preparation to think of the perfect plan to lure and kill Max.

Knowing him, they knew that every precaution was not enough. Which is why they only made their move after 8 years.

But they failed to recognize one simple thing. They weren't the only ones that had prep time.

As Max analyzed his surroundings and the people inside the car, he noticed that the man to his right had his right hand in his waist the whole time. He also realized that every road they took was completely empty. With not even a single sign of life.

With his incredibly honed senses and instincts, he quickly acted.

"Put this in your and Julia's ears." He shushed and gave them 2 pairs of earpieces.

Natalee stealthily put them on and closed her and her daughter's eyes.

In less than a second, Max removed his handgun from his waist and removed the safety on it.

Before the man inside the car could act, Max placed his gun beneath his chin and fired a round.

BANG!

Both men in the front seat were grabbing their guns, but Max was faster.

BANG BANG!

3 headshots.

Naturally, as the car's driver was now dead, the weight of his limp body made its way to his feet which was on the accelerator, and the car madly gained speed, quickly crashing.

CRASH!

Max and Natalee were pulled out of the car because of inertia, but thankfully they had their seatbelts on. Natalee used all of her strength to hold Julia close to her, which saved the little one's life.

Max opened the door to his right and kicked the dead body of the Homeland Security soldier out of the car, and left the car himself.

He ran to Natalee's side of the car and opened the door.

"We need to leave here! They were probably going to ambush us a few miles up ahead. Let's go!" He quickly explained why he did what he did and urged Natalee to leave the car with Julia.

Natalee nodded and exited the car. Max then grabbed the backpack that had Julia's toys and his magazines and closed the car's door.

He then grabbed the dead soldier's assault rifle and began running behind Natalee.

They were in the middle of a highway, but somehow, it was completely empty, so they began running in the opposite direction to where they were going.

"Nat, those guys were with The Black Hand. I couldn't notice it before, but their handguns weren't the standard issued Homeland Security firearm, the Glock 19 Gen5 MOS. They were The Black Hand's modified Glock 17." Max explained as they made a run for it in the middle of the empty highway.

They didn't take the car they were in because the crash was so intense that the engine in the front of the car had been completely destroyed, making the car useless and probably making it catch on fire or explode in the next few minutes. It was a miracle that neither Max nor Natalee had passed out from the crash.

Little Julia, who was on Natalee's shoulder, had begun crying and wasn't understanding anything, so Natalee had to calm her down by playing with her toy unicorn.

They ran for 10 minutes straight, with no pauses since their lives were at risk.

But then, Max heard the sound of cars.

He looked over his back and saw 3 cars coming at them from the direction they were previously heading, only confirming his hypothesis that they were going to ambush him.

Since a little over 10 minutes had passed, The Black Hand had gotten suspicious and made their way up the highway, quickly seeing that the men they sent to bring Max and his family had been killed.

"Shit!" Max cursed under his breath, "Nat, they're coming. There's nowhere to hide here. Lay down with Julia."

Max did a very quick breathing exercise to slow his heart rate down, making him have pinpoint accuracy.

He pressed his assault rifle, which was an AR-15 with a standard 30-round magazine and a marksman scope. on the small concrete barrier that separated the 2 directions in the highway.

The 3 cars were approaching them at fast speeds, so Max had to act fast.

Aiming at the driver in one of the cars, Max traced him with his scope and shot a bullet.

BANG!

One was down.

The man in the passenger seat quickly took control of the vehicle, but he soon received the same fate.

BANG!

The car lost traction and crashed on one of the 3 cars that were coming, decreasing the number to only 1 functional car.

BANG BANG!

Max killed the men in the car.

Seeing that he had dealt with the problem, he looked at Natalee, who was lying by his side with tears in her eyes, and couldn't help but feel sad and guilty for her current condition.

'Why did a perfect woman like her have to marry me? She could've had a calm life with another man, but she chose a former assassin. This is all my fault.' He thought.

He pushed those thoughts aside and put his rifle down.

He hugged her and Julia next, "I'm sorry."

Natalee didn't say anything back and just kept weeping with Julia in her arms.

Behind him, a man was silently approaching with a gun in his hands. He had come from the car that was hit by the other one. The drive and passenger had been killed by the crash, but he was still standing.

"Look at that. The man formerly known as the Phantom Reaper hugging his dear wife and child. Now that's ironic." A hoarse voice came from his back, which made Max release the hug and go for his rifle that was near his feet, opening a clear line of sight from the man to Natalee and Julia.

BANG BANG!

2 shots were fired.

Max had his back turned to Natalee and Julia, but since the bullets didn't hit him, his mind thought of the worst.

In front of him was an elderly man with balding grey hair and a grey goatee, wearing an expensive suit with a silenced pistol in his hand, that was now aimed at Max's head.

Max quickly grabbed his rifle and shot the man in his stomach before he could shoot him.

He got up and removed the pistol from the man's hands and removed every type of weapon in his body. There were knives hidden in his socks, another pistol in his waist, and magazines on his suit pocket.

With the man dominated on the ground and gunless, Max went behind him and was finally able to see the scene in front of him.

Natalee and Julia lying on the ground, with part of their brains and skull on the asphalt, and their heads with gigantic holes on top of them. Blood was squishing out of their open heads and their noses, creating a massive pile of blood beneath them in seconds.

"No no no no! NO!" He cried out as a raging pain came to his heart. It wasn't physical pain, but an intensely emotional one of having the people he cared about the most dead in front of him.

"WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?! YOU COULD'VE JUST KILLED ME!" He kicked the elderly man on the head with his foot and yelled.

He could recognize this man anywhere. He was the head of The Black Hand, Laurentino Valesse. The man who was the only father figure he had in his life. Ever since he had become a part of The Black Hand, Laurentino fed him, gave him a home, and gave him money.

"Haha..." Laurentino laughed in a sickly manner, "I just wanted to see you suffer. No one leaves The Black Hand without consequences, son."

Max was speechless. His brain was running at full speed, remembering the moments he had with his wife, Natalee, and his young daughter Julia.

The burning pain in his heart only grew stronger with this.

As strong, focused, and deadly of a man he was, he couldn't help but shed tears.

He had no parents as he was raised in an orphanage until he was 18 and left. His surname was given to him by the Head of The Black Hand. He only had Natalee and Julia.

They were the only people he cared about.

His former life as an assassin made it impossible for him to create ties and have friends since he suspected everyone of being a member of The Black Hand.

Only Natalee was able to break through his wall of paranoia and caution.

But now, she was lying on the asphalt, with part of her brain 3 feet away from her head. And so was his 3-year-old daughter, still with her toy unicorn pressed against her tiny arms, but it was now tainted in a deep red color.

Anger surged from the depths of his heart and soul. A rage so intense that his rational mind seemed to have been turned off, and instead was replaced by murderous wrath.

He kicked Laurentino in the head again with full force, dizzying the old man.

He then grabbed one of the knives that were on Lauretino's body and placed the old man's right-hand flat on the asphalt.

Swinging the sharp knife to the ground, Laurentino's right pinky was cut off.

"AAAAHHHHH!" The old man screamed in pain.

Then Max cut his ring finger.

Then his middle finger.

After he was done with his right hand, he chopped it off entirely.

But Max's revenge had not even started.

He moved on to Lauretino's left and did the same actions.

The whole time, Max didn't say a word and only listened to the old man scream in pain. Lauretino's scream was music to his ears, and every time he screamed, Natalee and Julia's image appeared in his mind, making him cry even more.

Done with Laurentino's hands, he moved on to his feet.

He chopped off every toe in Laurentino's body and finished off by cutting both of his feet. Slowly. He wanted Laurentino to feel every nerve in his body screaming, every muscle shaking, and every bone being sawed off by a simple knife.

By now, 10 minutes had passed since Laurentino's gunshots. The old man was almost in a state of shock from pain and from loss of blood.

Max's emotions were still in full bloom, and he was still not thinking straight, which meant Laurentino had to suffer more before his inevitable demise.

By the end of the 2 hours that it took for Max's anger to subside, Lauretino's body had been entirely mutilated.

80% of the bones in Lauretino's body had been broken by Max placing them in weird angles and stepping on them. All limbs had been cut off. His scalp had been removed, his skull broken, and his entire brain removed from his head and spat on by Max.

He was never violent to anyone. All of his assassinations had been a clear bullet to the brain. A painless death. But Laurentino had done something unforgivable, so his death was far from painless.

Saying it was an ugly sight was a vast understatement.

Max's entire body was covered in blood, from his face to his toes, but not one drop of it was his.

Finally, after everything was done, the moon had already risen and the sun had set.

That day a rare lunar eclipse was happening.

The moon had a reddish hue.

It was a blood moon.

Max was sitting near Julia and Natalee's dead bodies, crying as he held their cold hands.

He was destroyed.

He felt that no other option was available to him.

He couldn't live after what he had witnessed and what he had done.

He only wanted to be reunited with his family and to live a calm life in the afterlife.

But he knew where he was going.

Natalee and Julia were good people. Natalee had accepted his former life and helped him turn into a normal citizen, and most importantly, she had loved him.

They both had kind souls.

But he didn't.

For him, it was obvious that if an afterlife exists, he was going to the worst place.

But he felt that even that possibility was better than living in the already living hell his life has become on this very day.

Getting up with much effort, he walked to the silenced pistol that was on the ground near Laurentino's body. He wanted to at least die by the same gun as his family.

He grabbed it, looked at Julia and Natalee for some time, and aimed it at his head.

He looked at the moon and couldn't help but think that it was beautiful and appropriate for this day.

A red moon.

This was one of the few times in his life that he had ever seen one.

He reflected on his life for a bit. How his life had only ever been used to remove others from this world. He felt as if the world would have been better if he was never born.

His only pride was Julia and Natalee, but now they were gone.

Clearing the tears from his eyes, he gazed one last time at the full moon and unloaded a round on himself.

BANG!