Why you shouldn’t trust people in the dark…

It was dark and cold outside. But in a small and almost empty bar, a pleasant fire was heating up the room. There were barely people outside, because the news that king Limsey was dead, just reached the ears of the village people.
Shadow was one of the lucky few who blocked out the emotions of what was expected of a man in a time of mourning.

He was sitting in a brown, leather booth, close to the bar. He was drinking bourbon and was watching the other few men who decided to come and have a drink. The hat with the long feather he usually wore was lying next to him on his table, close to his hand.
He hadn’t taken it off out of respect for the king. He had taken it off to wash off the blood that was sticking to his face. When he was clean, he decided to keep the hat off, in case the blood on there messed up his face again.

A man approached Shadow He was fat and very clearly didn’t care about the way he smelled. His clothes were raggedy and curved out his fat rolls too well; the clothing was fitting too tight around his body.
“Can I help you, sir?” Shadow asked, a sneering tone in his voice, while his lips were pulled into a forced smile. The man shrugged and sat down across from him. He took another sip of the cheap beer he had been holding. “You seem like something is troubling you.” His voice was deep and rasped through the air. His accent made it clear that he was a local.

“The only thing that is troubling me is the scent you carry with you.” He spat. Shadow didn’t care about the way people saw him. Instead of the growl he was expecting, the man let out a thundering laugh. Shadow tensed up at it. “You’re an honest man, I’ll give you that.”
“I’m glad you find my honestly so amusing.” He gave the man an annoyed and careless glance.
“I like honest men. It’s better than all the crap they say to impress each other.” He took a sip of his drink.
“So? What is it you do for a living?” He stared at Shadow with too much interest. It annoyed him.
“I’m an assassin.” He answered. His voice sounded just as careless as he was about this fact. It paid well. He wasn’t ashamed.

“That so?” He hummed and took yet another long sip. “What’s your latest job been like?”
That made Shadow sit up. No one had ever asked him that question before. His eyes started glittering with excitement. He loved the last request he had been handed. He was finished already.
“I’m glad you asked.” He straightened his back, smirking.

“It all started when I got a letter from an old man. He knew he would be killed soon, and he wanted to make sure his death was going to be revenged.  So, when he did get murdered, he gave his oldest the house, his middle born his money and the youngest the mission to find his murderer and kill him. He gave me the heads up in case I didn’t want to work for such young, annoying boy.” He sipped his drink and smirked at how the man was devouring every word he spoke.

“The son hired me, as the letter said he would. I was prepared for it. I had already done brief research on who this old man was, so it wasn’t hard to find out who killed him. Then his youngest, Jeffrey came to me and hired me, as planned.” The Fat Man put down his beer. He was intrigued.

“I didn’t tell that naïve little boy a thing, however. I just worked and got more money through scamming him. It was good.
Then on a certain night, Jeffrey was at my door after he found out who was on the target. He claimed that he didn’t want to be responsible for this murder. He just wanted to have a normal life. But I ignored him. I signed the contract his old man made, so I couldn’t back away. Now comes the fun part.”

He stared deep into the Fat Mans eyes, making sure he paid attention. He did. He took a deep breath to raise the tension and anticipation.
“I told him he could either try and stop me or shut up and work with me. He made the wrong choice.” That was the first kill in this godforsaken village. That boy had been annoying.

“I took his money and left to the palace- Yes, the palace.” His smirk grew when he saw the eyes of the man across from him widen.
Shadow got onto his feet, smiling. “Did you care for the king, my good man?” He grabbed his hat and put it onto his head. The man gaped at him. He nodded, mouth still open.
“Hm…” Shadow hummed. “It’s such a shame, isn’t it? Such a bright man. Gone so soon. They say it was murder, right?” He licked his lips unconsciously.

“Isn’t life funny? One day you’re just a man, and the next, you are the murderer of a king.”
He shifted so that the light of the fire fell on his head. There were still drops of thick, red blood sticking on his face.
“I’m sure you know what happens if you tell someone, big guy. Thank you for listening.” He bowed, his smirk growing wider.

It was only then that the Fat Man noticed the eyes of the man he had been talking to. They were close to yellow. They were intimate and got under his skin. They seemed to know everything. Every little detail about his life. It made him shiver. Then they were gone, and all he saw was the back of the assassin. He greeted the barman on the way out, but the Fat Man stayed in his booth, silenced.