Off With Their Heads

Prologue

It was a dark stormy night in New York City when Dante Underwood stumbled out of the alley and took off.
He was scared out of his wits and was blinded by the rain as he continued up the street.

Behind him he could hear a laugh. But not a joy filled laughter. No... this was mad laughter, that of a crazy person.

Dante could hear something scraping against the concrete behind him and he looked back. A big mistake.

He slipped and fell forward onto the wet ground. He scrambled to get up but a heel dug into his back pushing him back down.

He heard the laughter again as someone flipped him over. He look up at the person. A woman, no older than 30, was smiling maniacally. In her hands was an axe.

Thunder rumbled as lightning cracked across the sky, momentarily making her axe shine.

The girl laughed again, as red tendrils wrapped themselves around Dante keeping him on the ground, as still as a plank of wood.

She spoke for the first time since the chase began and said, "Dante Underwood, you have commited evil doings in this city, and I, the Red Queen, sentence you to death."

Dante Underwood was unable to scream as the girl brought her axe above her head, and whispered, "Off with your head." With one swift motion, she swung the axe down and sliced clean through his neck.

She laughed as she brought up the axe and licked some of the blood off the blade. She bent down quickly and tucked something in Dante's pocket.

Turning on her heels, she took off back down the street, leaving the body for someone to discover in the morning.