Lies and Marital Ties

Prologue: Fatal Blades and Late Night Escapades

The frigid December night air surrounds me as I keep my gaze trained on the cameras. It's a quiet and calm night - for now - and despite being sheltered by the thick trunks of the surrounding forest, the cold wind still finds me. It ruffles the few dark strands of hair that have fallen from the tight bun at the base of my skull, forcing them to lightly dance across my neck and face, causing goosebumps to break out all over my skin. I shake them off and continue to keep my eyes forward, my ears open, and my breathing steady as I stay crouched down on the ground and out of sight.

Anytime now.

And sure enough, within a few minutes, the red blinkers on the surveillance cameras stop flashing. I wait a couple of seconds to make sure that it's not a malfunction or, not that I think it's possible, a trap. However, my confirmation that the system is in fact down comes in the form of one word, "Done," over the earpiece in my left ear. I press my gloved index finger to the device and give a quick and whispered "Thanks." And then I'm moving.

I stay crouched down as I make my way closer to the estate. I stay in the forest, taking advantage of the cover it gives me, I just move closer to the tree-line in order to get a better view of my target.

The mansion is large, stupidly so. Only one person lives there so I know the size of the building isn't about convenience or necessity, it's about showcasing the money and power he has. It's all a pissing contest. And if I'm begrudgingly being honest with myself, he looks like a top competitor.

The house is five stories high and made from bricks of varying shades of gray. The back of the house, which I am currently scouting, has a total of eight, yes eight balconies, two on each floor except for the first, all of which are black and made from metal. It's the same metal, as I know from being here before, that makes up the front gates as well as the massive porch at the end of the obnoxiously long driveway. The massive black wood double doors that lead into the house are equally annoying and the interior of the house matches the exterior. It's all grays and blacks and stone - meant to impress and intimidate. All it did was make me roll my eyes. He couldn't intimidate a fly if he tried. Like I said, he did it all for show, and the location of the estate proved just that.

The idiot decided to build his house in the middle of nowhere. When I visited - against my will - he bragged about how everything would "fall apart without him" and what an "important person he was," and that because of that, he needed "optimal protection." It took everything in me not to scoff in his face. Those are the reasons however, that his house was located here - about an hour out from the city on a plot of land that is completely surrounded by thick forest. Little did he realize, because he's actually stupid, that rather than give him protection, the woods would give it to others, like it was doing for me now. Hiding me and my bad intentions from view. The irony of it all satisfies me and urges me to move forward.

Despite having been here before, and having been able to explore the interior because I "accidentally got lost on the way to the bathroom," I wasn't lucky enough to be able to slip away and check out the outdoor grounds of the estate. That would have been too suspicious. Because of that, I had to come here early tonight and examine the surroundings. I knew from my wandering inside that his bedroom was on the right side of the house on the fifth floor. I also know that the glass doors situated in said bedroom lead to a balcony at the back of the house. A balcony that I'm currently looking at from my spot behind a tree.

However, it wasn't until tonight that I was able to make note of the guards, which would be my biggest obstacle. I knew there were over twenty at the front gate, and having been working my way around the estate with the cover of the forest, I also know that he has only positioned five guards on each of the other three sides. It doesn't escape my attention that he has put the most amount of guards at the front of the house because he doesn't think that he needs protection on the other sides; most likely because he believes his precious forest will protect him. It annoys me that he is that stupid, but at the same time I can't complain because it works in my favor. The less guards the better - less trouble to deal with on my way to my target.