Masked Emotions // Dream6d

Chapter 5

Warning: Strong language, mention of injury, blood, mention of death

     " It says not to scream," a voice whispered. Vincent elbowed the intruder in the gut and he doubled over in pain. The servant whipped around to face the man.

     " How did you get in here?!" Vincent asked, his eyes darting around the room. The door hadn't been tampered and his room had no windows. The masked man shrugged.

     Finally, the smaller man's eyes landed on some clothes shoved into the corner in a frantic attempt to hide them. Vincent pushed past the stranger and picked up the clothes, recognizing them instantly. " How did you get a servant's uniform?!"

     " You ask a lot of pointless questions," the man said. " I'm not going to answer any of them."

     " How long have you been in here?!"

     " I planned on a little bit longer, but since you just had to come back so quickly, maybe five minutes," he responded, despite his previous comment.

     Vincent shook his head, still baffled at the man's presence in his room. " Why are you here, exactly?"

     " I'll tell you, but you can't rat me out to your boss."

     The servant frowned. " My boss? Why-"

     A knock came at the door and Vincent eyed the man. " How did you-"

     The man shut himself in the servant's closet, cutting him off. He edged closer to the door and cautiously opened it. Just as the stranger had predicted, his boss stood in front of him.

     The older man greeted him with a grim nod and began with a cheerful, " We think we know what happened."

     Vincent's heart almost stopped. " What?"

     " We think there was a hitman hired to kill the King. We're not sure why Darryl was involved, but we're working on it," his boss said. " The King's... connections... think it's a hitman from a neighboring kingdom by the alias of 'Dream'."

    Dream.

     The man hiding in his closet was called Dream?! How horribly unthreatening. His boss continued, " They call him that 'cause he puts everyone to sleep before taking out his target."

     " That would make sense," Vincent agreed, half-listening. His attention was focused mostly on the man in the closet. The hitman in his closet.

     " All of that makes sense except for one thing." His boss' eyes seemed to glaze over, recounting something horrible. " Why isn't the King dead? Why is Darryl the only one hurt?"

     Vincent's stomach fell to his toes and his throat closed. He was the only one in the castle who could somewhat answer that question. His boss snapped back to reality to finish his thought, " Either way, the King has posted more guards. Just thought I should warn you to be hyper aware during your work."

     The servant sighed. The guards might keep the hitman away, but it would also mean more for the staff to avoid. The boss moved on to the next door, to deliver the same news, and Vincent shut the door. He released a breath, relieved to be done with that exchange. " You can come out now."

     " Guess you know who I am, now," the masked man said. His tone almost sounded joking. Vincent felt none of the humor.

     " So that is you," he commented. He ran a hand through his brown hair. " Dream isn't very intimidating."

     " I didn't pick it," Dream responded. " My name sounds nice out of your mouth, you should keep talking."

     If Vincent was confused before, now he had no idea what was happening. Honestly, it felt like a fever dream. Maybe he ingested some drugged food? " Why are you trying to kill our king if you're from somewhere else?"