100,000 or the girl? (Chainedkitten & BlisteredBlood)

The night sky twinkled brightly with far off stars, and the moon was at it’s peak, round and full. The craters were easily visible in the amount of like the moon reflected from the sun. To anyone unawares of what was going on within the Ambassador’s house, the night would seem peaceful and serene. But Asa knew differently. The night held a terrible foreboding of tomorrow’s events. Her father was poised to push through a new bill at the UN summit meeting about restricting crime through the countries. His bill offered a harsh but plausible means of eradicating organized crime drug shipments between countries. If it passed then organized crime would have to change how they did everything. The blockades that would be set up, the numerous security checks, and of course, the punishment if caught were so extreme that it caused a lot of unrest. But Norway had already implemented this process and crime had shot down 80% in two years, making their home country one of the safest in the world.

But all great plans came with a price. And Asa knew exactly what would happen if her father insisted on calling a vote to pass this bill tomorrow at the summit. Already he had been threatened by all the major crime organizations. Three hits had already happened. Of course they had all been caught before her father had been killed but they had all been close calls. It wasn’t a joke. Her father could very well be dead by next eve. And the thought frightened Asa.

It wasn’t exactly that her and her father had ever been particularly close, sometimes downright hostile. But Gardar was her only family left. And at twenty years old she still needed his support to live. It might have been different if her mother hadn’t died four years ago. Since then the distance between her father and herself had grown almost unbearable. Gardar and loved his wife more then he could ever love his daughter.

But it was alright. Asa had her books and her dreams. She was smart and gentle, her name fitting her personality. It meant ‘healer’ and her mother had often told her that her presence was a balm to people’s spirits, despite the fact that she did not look like a traditional Norwegian with a svelte body and long straight blond hair. No, Asa was shorter, with wavy dirty blond hair and a somewhat hourglass figure instead of the tapered long body shape that her mother had. Her mother used to laugh that Asa was built like her sister, shorter but just as sweetly curved.

Twisting away from the balustrade and her thoughts, Asa went into her bedroom, laying down and curling up upon a lounger. Her stomach churned in unease and for some reason she knew that something bad was going to happen very soon. The feeling prickled over her skin and ran up her spine. After a shiver of dread she jumped up and went to her armoire and pulled out a pale white silk dressing gown and pulled it over her nightgown. Throwing on some kid slippers she exited her room and walked down the oriental carpeted hall towards the wing the held her father’s bedroom.

The job was simple. All Vincent had to do was to just go to the Norweigan Ambassador's house, place the silencer's muzzle against the back of the old codger's head, pull the trigger, then get the fuck outta there. Besides, if you were caught on this job, the ogranization would deny everything about your existance.

Vincent knew he had the capablity to pull this off without a hitch. He had the ability, the physique, the mentality, everything. Speaking of physique and giving the devil his due, this guy could've been chisled out of stone. He was also a tall sort as well, standing way over six feet tall and weighed about 320 pounds, all of it in brick-solid muscle. Tattoos adorned his massive frame, each one making his visage that much more menacing to look at. On one bicep, there was a pair of Japanese characters written authentically in kanji lettering on it. Roughly translated, it meant the words "Man-Monster". On the other arm, was a Samoan tribal wrap that encompassed the entire arm, reaching up towards his shoulder. The broad back of this individual was also marked, but with an extravagant depiction of the savior Jesus Christ hanging from a cross with the words, "Jesus Saves" written from shoulder to shoulder. A scar bisected through his right eyebrow, reaching down towards his cheek. This scar was a constant reminder of the time when one target tried to fend the big man off with a butcher knife, only to have his throat slashed by the same weapon in response.

The outfit he was dressed in tonight was the traditional black assassin's garb, black coat, black shirt, black pants and shoes as well as a ski mask with shades to cover his eyes. Secrecy was of the absolute importance here, and any mistake here and it would cost him dearly. Not only the $100,000 that was being offered, but also his life. After all, this was an ambassador from the United Nations for god's sake.

After climbing over the 10 foot redbrick wall and landed quietly on his feet, Vincent looked from side to side to observe his current surroundings. So far, everything was quiet here. There didn't look to be anything standing out or looking to block his path, so onward Vincent went. However, he took slow and cautious steps as he advanced towards the house.

Something just felt wrong. But Asa had no idea what it was exactly that she was looking for. Or perhaps it had been nothing and she was just wandering around for no reason at all. Which was entirely possible. More likely then the fact that she might have sensed danger in this huge town home.

Wrapping her silk covered arms around herself for comfort, her slippers made little noise as she descended a staircase that led to the green room and then out to the gardens. The strong scent of flowers was heady in the air as she passed through and went outside. Her white garb made her standout against the dark background of the night. Outside was eerily still and silent, making her normal breaths seem loud and grating.

The feeling of impending doom was getting stronger and with a thick swallow Asa turned and ran back into the house, locking to door. As if that small measure would do anything. If someone was really here and had gotten passed the security cameras and the guards then this would do nothing.

Turning she ran back up the staircase and wondered what she should do. What if there was nothing? The guards would look at her like she was an idiot if she said she sensed danger. She wasn’t even trained to sense danger so the likelihood that they’d believe her was small. But perhaps her father would. With that thought in mind she headed to her father’s wing of the house and to his room.

Vincent continued working through the courtyard, despite he was silently cursing the fact that this place wasn't just like any of those townhouses back in the States. Oh no. Judging from how the layout of the house looked, the place looked like a fortress and rightly so. According to how it looked from his standpoint, it looked as though there were guards crawling all over the damned place. However, the training Vincent received either gave him the edge in terms of keeping his movements quiet and controlled or going for the sweet spot AKA the abdominal vein, fourth one down from the middle of the spine. Nasty place to get cut, in anyone's estimation.

Once Vincent got within closing distance of the house, he attracted one of the guards' attention by making the sound of a dying dog, causing him to come over to the bush that Vincent was hiding in. As the guard looked around, trying to find the source of the racket, Vincent sprung from his hiding place, grabbing the guard and silencing him with a well placed stranglehold, knocking him out cold. Between either silencing his opponents permanently or temporarily hardly mattered much to him. Besides, the main objective was the ambassador and nothing more. If there was any collateral damage incurred along the way, they'd just give him some bonus bucks depending on how clean the dump was.

Vincent soon crawled out of the bushes, glancing down to his watch. It had been abuot three hours since he took the job of dealing with this little problem that the major crime bosses were having, and the time limit was that he had four hours to get into the house, get to the ambassador's room and do the job. That meant he had about an hour left on the clock. Time was of the essence here, and there was a high risk of getting spotted. However, chances had to be taken and mistakes weren't affordable. But be damned the consequences, Vincent had a job to do and he was going to finish it to the very end.

Vincent looked around to the front of the house, seeing that there wasn't really any hopes of getting in through that way. Furthermore, it would be career and physical suicide to even attempt going in through that way. He'd just as soon walk into a death trap should that be the case. But the back way... Now that was something else.

Where one door closes... Another opens. He thought as he began to sneak around to the back of the massive townhouse.

Asa was positive that something was going to happen and it just made her nervous. She paced the halls of her father’s town home, waiting for something. She managed to find herself wandering all over the place. Back to her room, the kitchen, the study, the library, everywhere. As if one small girl could actually fight against an assassin. But she was still not willing to let the guards know that she was nervous. She technically had no concrete reason for why she was so upset and on edge.

After wandering around for twenty minutes Asa plopped into an antique lounger in the hallway. She had walked the house over and over again with no result. She had seen nothing to make her nervous, there was nothing out of place. There was nothing! Frustrated and wishing she was back in her bed, Asa headed back towards her room, passing by her father’s on the way.

Vincent moved around to the back of the townhouse, being mindful to watch for how the cameras and the guards moved all while keeping to the shadows and only stepping out of them to deal with any and all potential threats that came his way. Once he made to the back, he peeked around the corner, seeing only two guards here. Fortunately, there were no cameras of any sort here, so at least now he could make his entrance. But he had to do it in world record time, even though an hour runs pretty slowly.

Vincent slowly slunk down into a crouch and reached into the coat, withdrawing a Mk22 Hush Puppy that was equipped with a silencer, eliminating ay noise or flash. The bitch about it was that he had to cock it back each time the weapon was fired, but at least the tranquilizer ammunition used for it could knock someone out either slowly or instantly, depending on where the victim was hit, be it either the head or heart for an instant KO or arms or legs for a slower approach. Vincent didn't really have any time to mess around, so the instant one had to be used.

Stepping from around the corner, Vincent held the silenced pistol up to one guards' faces and fired one tranquilizer shot straight into his skull, dropping him to the ground immediately. The other guard glanced over to his fallen partner then glared at Vincent who only quickly cocked the Hush Puppy back and fired another shot, this time tagging him above the guard's left eyebrow, dropping him in the same manner. With no more interference, Vincent slowly walked up to the back door and wrapped a gloved hand around the doorknob and gave it a quiet twist. He grinned to himself when he found that the back door was unlocked. With another twist, he opened the back door and allowed himself entry into the ambassador's house.

Now came the $100,000 question... Where was he in this place?

As Asa was walking back to her room she heard a click. Turning around sharply she tried to determine how she knew that noise. It took her a few moments but she realized it was one of the back doors. One of the back doors right next to her father’s quarters! Turning around, while praying that it was just a guard, Asa ran. If there was an intruder she needed to know, she needed to warn her father!

With her heart beating in her throat, yet with a light step that only comes from being a small female, Asa ran down the hallway and paused at the top of the darkened stairs. Waiting. Whoever it was if they were headed for her father’s rooms they would have to pass the stairs and she would be able to see them, telling her if it was a guard or an enemy.

What was only a few moments seemed like hours as her heart raced and her hands trembled. Then a large imposing figure came into view. A man, one who was being nearly silent and cautious. He was not wearing the suits that the personal guard had to wear.

Asa gasped.

The sound was like a shot in the night and Asa ran for her father’s room. It was an intruder! She was so scared she couldn’t even shout for the guards. Like her throat was blocking her voice and no matter what she did she couldn’t scream.

Once Vincent was inside the house safe and sound, the real part of his mission began. Now all he had to do was to find the ambassador and get him to change his mind... Even if it meant blowing his mind clear out of his skull to do it. Besides, that bill he was planning to pass would put a REAL damper on his boss's... "entrepenurial" network. Sure it was illegal, but at least he was an honest business man who never wanted to hurt a fly. That was, unless if it landed anywhere near his high-dollar suits. That was when he brought out his flyswatter.

But back to business. Vincent was now inside that house, scoping everything out from side to side, up and down after having put the Hush Puppy back into his coat and withdrew another pistol: This one in the form of a .45 caliber M1911A1. And of course, he took out a silencer for it and twisted it on. He soon found out that it was getting a little stuffy under that ski mask. Giving off a small groan as he did this, Vincent pulled both the shades and the mask off of his face and closed his eyes for a moment then reopened them, exposing a startling pair of intelligent dark brown irises anyone had ever seen. But then again, no one has even seen his face so far.

But something would soon catch his attention. A woman's gasp. Vincent suddenly snapped his head upwards toward the direction of the gasp and spotted a female up on the second floor, visibly terrified of him before taking off like a gunshot.

"Dammit...!" He hissed. He couldn't afford to have his cover blown, not while he was SO close to having a nice chunk of change in his pocket. Vincent would give chase to the girl, his face fixed with an iron look of determination.

Asa ran down the hallway, running into a wall when she took a corner too fast and couldn’t manage it. A porcelain vase wobbled off the antique table and smashed on the ground. Looking behind her she ran faster till she came to her father’s door. Her hand shaking she managed to pull the door open and run inside.

“Father!” Calling out to him, Asa fumbled along the wall trying to find a light switch but as soon as she flicked the light on the light bulb sputtered and went out. Terrified Asa crept to her father’s bed. “Father wake up!” Shaking the robust man in horror, the young woman kept looking over her shoulder waiting to see the man’s large form taking up the door frame.

Groggily the fifty some odd year old man woke, sitting up in bed and pressing his palm to his forehead. “What’s going on?” Grumbling in protest from being awakened his sleepy eyes focused on his satin clad daughter.

“Father, it’s another assassin. He’s coming, get up; we have to get out of here.”

Her words would come too late.

Indeed, her words came far too late. Vincent had already entered the room, his tall muscular frame casting a looming shadow of malice as he stood in the doorway before slowly stepping inside.

"Well, well... Ain't this a sight?" Vincent spoke softly as he stepped inside, his eyes closed and the muscles of his left cheek pulled back, smirking with a dark amount of mirth as the pistol he held hung low and at his side. "Mr. Ambassador of Norway... or whatever the hell your name is. You've done something that really pissed off my boss in order to send me out all of this way." He began his case as he stepped closer to the pair while keeping his eyes on the ambassador.

"However, I don't really have time to explain how you pissed my boss off. So now, I would like to introduce myself. Name's Vincent I'll be your executioner tonight." He said in a rather cordial manner then lifted the .45 up to take aim at the ambassador as he laid there in the bed.

Sitting up in bed, Gardar looks at his would-be-assassin. “Whatever they are paying you I can pay you double.” But for some reason Gardar was pretty sure that that wouldn’t stop this man. “How about… we make a trade. You don’t kill me but I’ll still let you take a life.” Smiling he puts his hand on his daughter’s shoulder and pushes her forward. “Take hers.”

Horrified beyond words, Asa looks back at her father. “Father but…” She couldn’t believe that her father had suggested such a thing. But why would this man want to kill her instead of her father. He could easily kill them both.

“Hush Asa. You can take her in exchange for my life. Do as you please. Asa your sacrifice will allow me to continue to make changes in the UN. As to now you haven’t done much and unfortunately do not seem to be going anywhere. This way you can contribute to global change.”

Shuddering, Asa looked up at the huge assassin with wide eyes, wondering what his choice would be.

Vincent still held the pistol up, aiming it at the ambassador and listened to the counter-offer he laid on the table. He would instead offer up his daughter, the same woman who seemed so terrified of him to begin with in order to allow him to continue his work. The more that he thought about this, it seemed to have sweetened the deal. However, his employers were calling for blood. His blood, to be precise.

Vincent smirked again as he cocked the hammer back on the pistol. "You know the old saying, old man. The more things change... The more things stay the same. How about I take your daughter instead..." He answered, taking Asa by the hand and pulling her off to the side. "And you just die." He added, pulling the trigger, shooting the ambassador in the skull.

With a cry as her father’s skull exploded, Asa turned away from the sight. But because her arm was held by the assassin the only way she could physically turn way towards him. But the sight of blood spattering and bone exploding was entirely too much for Asa. It made her so nauseous that she turned and threw up all over the assassin’s boots. Her stomach purging it’s self of her dinner.

“Oh..” She whispered in misery and wiped her mouth on her nightgown sleeve. Tears ran in full strength down her cheeks. Not only because her father had just been murdered but because he had been willing to give her away to save his own skin, effectively killing her in the process. He had actually said she wasn’t worth anything. And for a moment Asa wondered if this man would have taken her had her father not suggested it.

It was hard to mourn for a man who cared so little about her welfare. It was her father for Christ’s sake!

Vincent would then slowly lower the pistol once the job was done then slipped it in his coat. Glancing downward, he saw that the girl vomited on his boots, doing nothing to sour his already dreary mood.

Sighing, Vincent would then stand Asa back up onto her feet. "Alright, come on. You're with me now." He directed as he began to take her out of the bedroom and out into the hallway once more while leaving the corpse in the room to rot.

Before heading out the way he came in, he once more filtered around in his coat for a moment and produced his cell phone then glanced at his watch. He only had about 20 minutes left had that old codger not bothered him with the details. He then pressed a few buttons on the phone a few times before lifting it to his ear.

Several rings later, Vincent spoke.

"Yeah, it's me. Job's done."
"Very good. We'll have a car head your way to pick you up." The man on the other line spoke.
"One more thing. I'll have a passenger with me." Vincent answered.
"And who might this be?"
"The ambassador's daughter."

There was dead silence between the two for a moment.

"Yeah. I got the ambassador's kid." Vincent repeated again.
"Excellent work, Vincent. We'll see to it that you're very well compensated for your serivces." The man on the other line answered.
"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure the car's waiting on us when we get there." Vincent spoke, soon hanging up.

Just because her father seemed to care nothing for her didn’t mean that Asa was going to go quietly. Especially after that phone call to whomever it was. “I hope you killed all the guards because nay you didn’t are about to be here.” Opening her mouth she screamed as high and as loud as she could. No way was she going to voluntarily go with this monster. She would not be another death, and she would certainly not be raped!

As soon as she started screaming for help she yanked on her held arm, though she knew it would be futile. The man was huge, easily more then twice her size and his arm wrapped around her wrist with finger length to spare. Struggling more she tried to break through the weakest part of his hand, being his thumb. Even though she was sure it wouldn’t get him to let her go it might slow him down long enough for the guards to get here and shoot him.

Once she got the screaming and pulling going she set about to kicking his knees, his ankles, and any part of his legs she could reach. She would have gone for his groin but that would require her to get close enough to him to knee him and she wasn’t willing to do that.

Vincent glanced down at Asa and scowled bitterly at her for a moment before silencing her with a stinging backhanded slap to her face. "Oh, you shut up already?!" He snarled after backhanding her forcefully. "The guards can bring as many as they want. I don't care what they do." He added, his tone low and growling.

"Now keep quiet." Vincent ordered as he hoisted Asa up over his shoulder and began to carry her out.

The hard blow she received was enough to daze her out of her mind. Her head was throbbing and her eyes hurt. She was enough out of her mind to not be able to function enough to call out. Vincent’s expert shooting and coving his area made it so that no guards had heard her momentary scream. Thrown over his shoulder she gasped as her midsection struck his shoulder hard.

“Oh… you… you’re an ass.” She gasped out as he carried her off into the night. When the car came there were no guards to stop them so stuffing her in a limo wasn’t a problem. Her head hit the large man once more as she rolled with the force of the impact. “Oh..” Asa whispered again in pain.

Vincent snuck around the same way he came in, carefully studying the same movements of the guards then made an overly athletic dash to the front with almost no interference. Even if there was, an expert shot to the head, chest or knee would keep any of them relatively busy.

Vincent rolled his eyes at Asa's remark before speaking again. "I've been called a lotta things, kid. That ain't the first." He answered.

Minutes passed before the limousine pulled up to the front of the house and upon arrival, Vincent stepped to the back of the vehicle and opened the door, placing Asa inside first then himself. After all, it was ladies first.

Vincent gave a small sigh once he was inside and the car door was shut. The driver's window slid down, showing the face of the limo driver who looked back at the pair.

"Where to?" The driver spoke.
"My place. You'll know where it is. Besides, I need a drink after all of this." Vincent answered, looking off to the side for a moment.

Still dazed Asa’s head lolled against Vincent’s shoulder. In an effort to regain control she closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her eyes. “Oh, let me go you big jerk.” Moaning she slides over the leather seat trying to get to the other door. Her long fingers reached for the opposite door handle, but when she looked out the window the car was going so fast she knew that if she jumped she’d crack her head open.

Swallowing hard Asa curls up on the seat and moans again. How did this happen? Asa was a good woman, helping people, being nice, how did she end up being kidnapped by some mad and crazy assassin?

Vincent didn't really say much as he sat in the limo, always keep his eyes away from Asa and instead glancing out the window in almost revered silence. Her other remark simply rolled off of him almost effortlessly, shrugging a shoulder and arching an eyebrow in response.

"You can hate me all you want, kid. Doesn't alter the least of the fact that I had to carry out what I was ordered to do." Vincent eventually spoke after a few more moments of silence then glanced over to Asa as he talked.

“You shot my father… right in front of me. And then you kidnapped me for no reason! You didn’t need to take me, you had done your job. What am I, an extra perk?” Tears gathered in her eyes as she sat up and looked at Vincent. “Why is bringing me with you even important? Let me go. My father obviously… cared nothing for me. I won’t even say I saw you.”

Looking at him she touched his hand as the car slowed, obviously getting to wherever it was they were going. “Please, just let me go. You don’t need to do this. There will be so many people looking for me. You might get caught as people try to find me!”

"Actually, that's where you're wrong. No one even knows I exist here in Norway and I intend on keeping it that way." Vincent answered with a shake of his head and an arched eyebrow. "You are right about there being an international search for you, but no one's finding a damn thing connecting me to the murder. I made certain of it. And besides, judging from your father before I shot him, it looked as though he didn't care about you in the first place." He added, looking up as he saw the safehouse they were soon approaching.

"In the meantime, keep quiet. We're here." Vincent demanded roughly as he gripped Asa by the hand and waited as the driver came around to the back to open the door for the two. Once it was open, he effortlessly pulled her out of the back of the limo and went straight for the safehouse door with her in tow.

The futile pulling at his grip did nothing, and she knew it would not. But she wasn’t meek and she didn’t want to go quietly. She stayed silent because she knew that that was more likely to get her a beating. And if she could avoid it she would. But she wouldn’t be a meek woman to be beaten down this easily.

As he dragged her into the safe house she looked around. One lurking figure whose eyes rested on her actually made her feel more uncomfortable and unsafe then this hulk of a man did. As they passed him in the hall she looked back at him for a moment to find him still staring at her.

“Oh god, I’m in hell.” She whispers to herself, too low to be heard by anyone else. Eyes wide she watched where he led her.

Once the pair was inside the safehouse, (and suffice to say, it didn't look half as bad as some suggested) Vincent only casted a harsh glance at her for a moment before glancing down to his boots which were still slick with vomit. Before he even stepped inside the house, he removed the boots and left them outside, knowing to deal with them later.

The living room the two came to was rather well designed for a place such as this. Once there, Vincent offered Asa the loveseat with a small push onto it before heading to another room in the house to change his clothes. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly thrilled to still have the stink of vomit on him.

The whole matter would be accomplished in about several minutes before he finally returned from the bedroom, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, track pants with a white stripe running down each pant leg and white running shoes.

"Thanks for ruining my boots." He scorned Asa with sarcasm as he returned.