Off the coast of Bordeaux

8:37 p.m.

Sullivan excused himself from the dance floor and kissed the hand of the young maiden he danced with. He took a stroll around the party, going past the band. He nodded to one musician and looked up to the second floor where another band played. The other musician acknowledged him and he sauntered off to meet Rain in a corner. They shared a glance and Rain excused herself to match his stroll.

He adjusted his bowtie and took a glass of champagne from a server. Then the two of them shared a toast and grinned.

“To a job well done.”

“To a job well done,” Rain replied.

They joined glasses and drank. Rain reached into her red mini bag that matched her dress and twisted open her lipstick. The lipstick glowed before transforming into her signature weapon, the Executioner’s blade. They slammed their glasses to the ground and Sullivan leaned against the wall.

The musicians opened their musical cases and removed the hidden lids below the instrument’s molds. Beneath each lid rested a fully automatic weapon with bountiful amounts of ammunition. The assassins assembled the weapons under the guest’s noses as the others continued playing. Both bands opened fire.

8:39 p.m.

Gunfire erupted just outside Ulysses’ sitting room. At first Lyn thought it was mere firecrackers. But her experience and accustom to war didn’t fool her. She was already moving with her weapon drawn and looking for threats. The gunfire continued and screams echoed towards the bow of the ship. Though the sudden gunfire left her mind dubious, one thing was for sure. Sullivan didn’t mention this in the plan…

She passed a few panicked guests running for safety to the other end of the ship. Some jumped overboard into shark-infested waters. Dorsal fins cut through the water’s surface in search of prey and snatched a few people below the surface. Lyn continued moving, pushing past the frenzied crowd towards the gunfire.

Sullivan! What the hell is going on!

8:44 p.m.

Rain delighted in partaking to the ongoing slaughter. She killed indiscriminately and without mercy with her oversized blade. She dismembered limbs and chopped people in half. The half semi-circle carved in her blade decapitated quickly and effectively. Blood painted her face and dress like a painter spilling his paint. The dogwood floor was nearly unrecognizable with its new crimson coating.

She guffawed and continued swinging her blade in every direction, blood flying in the air. A fleeing man and his wife slipped on the floor before being cut down with one stroke. Rain licked the blood wetting her blade and smirked. However, it did little to satisfy her blood lust. In fact, she grew angry at the musicians for not killing fast enough.

The musicians swarmed the ballroom, tactfully stepping over corpses that covered the floor. Hot brass clattered to the ground and gun smoke filled the air. Bodies fell like heavy sacks of sand and the screams intensified. Rain decapitated the congressman known as the silver fox for good measure as he crawled for safety. She picked up his head, its eyes still fervently wide and mouth gaping before giving it a lustful kiss.

She rested her blade upon her shoulder and spun in a circle. The slaughter and chaos around her was like music to the ears. Sullivan stood towards the back of the room, still leaning on the wall.

Rain looked over her shoulder and told him, “I haven’t had this much fun in ages!”

Sullivan chuckled.

8:45 p.m.

Lyn ran as fast as she could. She felt something wrap around her ankle with a grip like iron that stopped her cold. She looked down where a wounded elderly woman lied. Streams of blood ran down her forehead and bullet wounds riddled her legs. Judging by her attire, she must have been a server. She crawled with all the strength left in her body. Tears rolled from her eyes and her grip weakened.

“Please… you have to help us… Please-!”

Lyn stifled a scream and broke the woman’s grip. “There’s nothing I can do for you!”

She sprinted towards the calamity past the ruined deck and ballroom. The emerald pool dyed red with blood and corpses floating face down in it. Shattered glass littered the floor with trays of food and torn banners. The continuous spray of gunfire continued. However, she heard fewer screams and more splashes as people jumped over the railing. Godfrey’s face came to mind, and she took a minute to inspect the corpses. But there was no sign of the old butler or Kalen.

She exhaled sharply. Thank God…

Her sprint led her to the yacht’s bow. There she saw Rain with her blood stained blade and Sullivan next to her. A group of gunmen surrounded them on both sides. The others drifted past her to execute any surviving passengers. Pops of gunfire burst behind her. A woman screamed and Lyn heard another pop. She was muted.

Towards the edge of a bow was a group of guests, all huddled together. Their faces were drained of blood and terror ruminated in their eyes. Kitchen staff, crew member or guest. It didn’t matter anymore. They were, in fact all on the same boat together. Sullivan stepped forward, cornering them against the bow. Only a thin railing stood between them and the sea.

Two men left the huddle and fell to their knees before Sullivan. One of them, the angry chef Lyn, met earlier. The other, a portly business man balding at the crown of his head. They gripped and tugged at Sullivan’s pants and pleaded for their lives.

“Sir, please…” Chef Mactavish said. “Spare us. We’ll give you anything you want! Was it the service! Did you not like the food! I’ll fix it-!”

The chef glanced at Lyn standing behind Sullivan. He pointed at her with an accusing face. “Her! It was her wasn’t it! You little bitch! You fucked this up didn’t you-!”

Rain lowered her blade and split him in two. A speck of blood latched onto Sullivan’s pants. The cornered guests shrieked with mortified countenances.

Sullivan made a face. “Rain, these were my favorite pants…”

Rain smiled. “Oops, my bad.”

“How can you say that!” Lyn said, rushing to his side and tugging his collar.

Sullivan swatted away her hands and pushed her back. He pulled the fresh rose from his pocket and took a deep inhale.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Lyn yelled at the top of her lungs. “Why are you doing this Sullivan-!”

He closed her lips with a finger and stroked her hair. “My dear Lyn. I want you to see the grand finale.”

He pulled her behind him. Rain and the other gunmen stepped back as he raised both arms. Sullivan’s body illuminated with a sharp brilliance. What consumed him next was a Promethean fire that melted the floor below him. He directed the power towards his prisoners and in a flash, vaporized them to nothingness. His power spread across the yacht like a raging fire, incinerating everything in its path. For a moment, Lyn thought night turned to day.

She opened her eyes, and it was dark. Sullivan turned to her and smiled, his suit and body unfazed.

Lyn whimpered and fell to her knees. “You’re- You’re a monster…”

Sullivan shook his head and placed the rose on her lap. “I will miss you my sweet Lyn…”

She felt a warm wash of blood flow from her gut. Lyn gasped and looked down to see a gaping wound carved into her abdomen. Rain smirked, her sword plunged into the yacht’s deck coated with fresh blood. She looked at her palms, covered with blood. Her blood.

Rain used the blunt end of her sword to shove her against the rail.

Lyn wretched blood that splattered against the floor. Sullivan’s cinnamon eyes and golden curls were the last things she saw.

“Sullivan… I trusted you…”

Rain pushed her over the rails, sending her plunging to the icy cold abyss of the ocean. Rain lingered over the rails for a moment. Satisfied, she scoffed and turned back to Sullivan. Sullivan wiped the dots of blood from his face with a handkerchief.

“Now then, business as usual?”