Bloodstains and Betrayal

January 21st, 1850: Smolensk, Russia

I had been at my uncle's house for two days when he finally told me.

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"You can't tell anyone, not even Eva. Do you understand me?" My uncle sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. What could be so important that I couldn't tell his wife? Was he having an affair?

"I understand ."

He gripped my shoulders and stared into my crimson eyes.

"Я убийца. (I'm an assassin.)

"You mea-"

"I kill people Madelyn" He said quietly, flashing his hidden blade to my neck. He quickly retracted the blade again, walking over to a bookcase.

"Let me guess, that leads to your secret base when you pull the red book. Nice one Nikolai." I laughed, doubting him. He dully looked at me, pulling a red book off the top shelf.

"Arrogant little girl." He smiled playfully. "It's the blue book."

He reached for the book slowly. As he tipped the side of the book, the bookcase spun to the side.

"After you."

"Holy shit." I murmured. Taking a step inside, I was instantly awestruck. "So you really do kil-"

He didn't let me finish.

"Yes."

I gulped, stepping back from him. He reached out to me, but I slid further backwards.

"Пожалуйста, не бойтесь ребенка." (Please, don't be afraid child.) He frowned in our native language. "Someone has to kill the bad people. Especially if they're killing others."

"So you don't kill the good people? Ever?" I asked, sounding like a scared 6 year old.

"I don't kill the good people." He laughed, ruffling my brown hair. "Now come here, I want to show you something."

I sighed in relief, as dumb as it sounds. Trailing behind him quietly, he walked up to a statue of a girl my age.

The statue was purely made of polished red garnet, my birthstone. She wore actual clothes, fitted perfectly on her sides. The shirt was pure white, a red collar with gold trim peeking out on over the original collar, also pure white. It stopped at the waist line in the front, flowing down further in the back. What looked like a plated shoulder pad rested on her left shoulder, a leather strap draping down from each shoulder. A wide crimson belt wrapped around her stomach. It had a silver figure in the middle resembling an 'a', surrounded by vines and two leaves blossoming from the sides. The sleek black pants were rather simple, topped off with a giant white bow in her hair. The bottom of the statue read:

'М. Маркович' (M. Markovich)

"That's me isn't it..." I shivered, looking fearfully at my uncle. That was our last name, and no one else in my family had a name starting with 'm'.

"If you chose to accept it."

"Nikola-"

"Don't you want revenge? Don't you want to make him pay for what he did? Don't you want to avenge your family?" He inquired. "This is your chance Madie. Put that cloak on, and you'll be an assassin. You'll have your revenge."

"... I-I-I'll... I'll do it."