Preview #1: The Assassin

By Azrael's Servant

I did what I was told to do. Nothing more, and nothing less. Once given the name and approximate location of my target, I picked the appropriate weapon and set out to do exactly as I was told. And when I found my target, I aimed... and down they fell. Simple as that. They never knew what... or who... hit them. I vanished the instant I pulled the trigger, and left no trace. Well... if I was hired as a sniper, that is. More often than not, I got close to my target. I played with them, forcing them to trust me. As a friend, or as was the case with women, a lover. When I was close enough, and left alone with them, I struck. A quick bullet, right into their brain. They never had to suffer long.

My name was Chaise Morgan, and I was a universal assassin.

I looked like the kind of person who wouldn't so much as swat at a fly, at first glance. After a while, though, you could almost see past my innocent appearance. And the girls went wild at the bad boy underneath it all. My looks made it easy to fool everyone, really, and women in particular. Men thought I was ‘just a kid,' someone they could trust. Earnest and eager, a space traveler looking for new places to see, that's what they thought I was. At first. Soon enough, they could start to see the shrewdness under the 25-year-old innocence. They could see the fire in the deep brown eyes, they could see the years of training hiding within my body. I could flick my long, dark-brown hair almost as well as any woman, and that usually made my ‘friends' laugh. And I couldn't stand being laughed at. They usually didn't last long after they laughed at me. Bang! They found themselves staring down the barrel of a loaded gun... or two.

But it was a lonely life, really, and a real, true lover would have made it all worthwhile. Just for kicks, once, I visited a psychic. I asked her if I'd ever find true love. She said she knew who I was, and all that I'd done. She even listed off the names of the men and women I'd killed. Then, she told me that my true lover would be the one who could look me in the eyes, even as I held the gun to their head, and not show any fear.

I never forgot her words. Every time I aimed a gun to a woman's head, I searched her eyes, her body. Each time, I saw the terror appear, then grow. And I fired. I imagined the lover I knew I'd find someday... she'd be beautiful. She'd look at me, and say she understood, that she wasn't afraid. And she'd say it without breathing a word. She'd say it with her eyes. I'd toss the gun to the side, and hold her... tell her I'd been looking for her forever. I might even give up being an assassin for this woman.

But time and time again, I watched the fear come back.

I once thought I'd found her. I was sent to kill a young princess by the name of Karia... she was the princess of the planet Yiranea. For months, I courted her... I thought for sure she was the one. But right before I killed her, I saw it. The horror in her eyes, and the sudden realization that I was going to kill her. I was disgusted. I shot her twice. Once in the head, and once in the heart. When I walked away, I swore off love forever. I still searched the eyes of my victims, but I never saw anything but fear.

Until now.

I pinned the boy against the wall; watched his body pressing flat against it. I held the gun to his head. "You idiot," I laughed, "You really thought we were friends!" He closed his eyes slowly, then reopened them just as slowly. This was the mayor's son, strong and true. A beautiful little thing, really, a few years younger than I was. His name was Anaji, meaning "Little flower" in his language. A language I had become quite fond of, might I add. His eyes, sharp amethysts, slid past my shoulder to his dead father's body. We had worked together to kill his father. Anaji's father had abused him. And now, the little flower would die. When he heard the click of the bullet sliding into place, he looked into my eyes. And I looked back.

...There was no fear in his eyes.