Chapter One:
Chapter Title:The Fall of House Laurel
Notice
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or places is purely coincidental.
***
The sharp crack of a gunshot shattered the silence.
Within seconds, the Laurel Estate descended into chaos.
Bullets tore through the grand hall from every direction, splintering marble pillars and shattering stained-glass windows. Smoke curled through the once-majestic mansion, carrying with it the suffocating scent of gunpowder and blood.
What had once been a sanctuary had become a battlefield.
Bodies littered the polished marble floor, their blood staining the white stone crimson. Some still clutched their weapons, while others lay frozen in death, their lifeless eyes staring into nothingness.
Then the gunfire ceased, a heavy silence settled over the hall. One by one, the surviving intruders turned toward the grand staircase.
A lone figure stood at its peak. A woman dressed in black, twin blades rested loosely in her hands, fresh blood sliding from their edges.
The sound echoed through the silent hall.
No one dared move, no one dared breathe.
Because every person standing there knew exactly who she was.
Annalisa Laurel.
She stood motionless, her slender figure framed by smoke and blood. Her porcelain skin remained untouched despite the massacre surrounding her. Long raven-black hair cascaded over her shoulders, while a pair of icy blue eyes swept across the hall with chilling indifference.
She looked calm but too calm. Like a queen standing over a kingdom that had already fallen, yet beneath that composed expression lay an ocean of grief.
Everyone was gone.
Her family...
The servants who had raised her...
The guards who had devoted their lives to House Laurel...
Every one of them had been slaughtered, she had left the estate for only a few hours and when she returned.
There was nothing left to save.
Only blood.
Only death.
Only regret.
Her fingers tightened around the hilts of her blades. She blamed no one but herself. She had believed the Laurel Estate was untouchable, she had believed no one would dare challenge the Laurel family, but reality proved her was wrong.
A bitter smile touched her lips. "So this is the price of my arrogance..." The grief in her heart slowly gave way to something colder.
Something far more dangerous. It was rage, cold, silent and unforgiving.
Her breathing steadied. The trembling in her hands disappeared, only one thought remained.
Kill them, every last one.
Without warning she moved.
She became a blur.
The nearest intruder barely had time to react before a silver flash swept past him.
A sharp line appeared across his throat, his rifle slipped from his grasp. A heartbeat later, his body hit the floor.
"She's behind us!"
Gunfire erupted once more, bullets tore through the air, but Annalisa was already gone. She weaved through the barrage with impossible grace, each step light, each movement precise. Her black dress fluttered behind her like a shadow as she closed the distance between herself and another gunman.
His finger tightened around the trigger, but he was too late.
Her blade flashed and blood blossomed across his chest before he even realized he had been cut.
He collapsed without another sound.
Another rushed toward her with a combat knife, she met him head-on. Steel clashed.
For the briefest moment, sparks danced between their blades, then she twisted her wrist.The man's eyes widened a second blade slipped beneath his guard and pierced his heart.
He gasped, his lips parting as if to speak but no words came only blood.
She pulled her blade free and stepped aside as his body crumpled beside her.
One after another, they fell.
Some died before they could raise their weapons, others never even saw her coming and to the surviving intruders, he was no longer a woman, she was death wrapped in black.
Within minutes, the grand hall fell silent once again.
Blood stained her dress clung to her hands.
It dripped from the tips of her blades yet the look in her eyes remained unchanged it was cold and empty as though every life she had taken meant nothing.
Only one man remained.
He stumbled backward, his pistol shaking in his trembling hands.
"P-Please..." His knees gave way.
"I-I have a family..."
Annalisa raised her sword, there wasn't the slightest flicker of mercy in her eyes.
The blade began to fall.
Then.
The massive doors exploded open.
"Don't move."
The voice cut through the hall like a blade.
Annalisa's arm froze mid-swing.
A masked man stepped into the mansion.
One arm was wrapped tightly around a young woman, while the other pressed a pistol against her temple.
Blood dripped from beneath his sleeve.
His breathing was ragged with fresh cuts covered his forearm, and one side of his mask had been cracked, it was obvious.
He hadn't captured her without paying the price.The young woman struggled against his grip despite the gun aimed at her head.
Her silver hair had come loose, falling across a face streaked with dirt and blood.
A shallow cut marked her cheek.
One sleeve of her dress had been torn away.
Yet even now...
Her fingers refused to release the bloodstained dagger clenched tightly in her hand.
Annalisa's pupils shrank.
"...Eliora."
The younger woman's head snapped up.
Their eyes met for a fleeting moment and neither sister spoke.
The masked man laughed.
"So."
"The famous Annalisa Laurel."
"It seems even monsters have something precious."
He dug the barrel deeper against Eliora's temple.
"Drop your weapons."
Before Annalisa could move
"No!"
Eliora's voice rang through the hall.
"Anna, don't listen to him!"
"They're lying!"
"They'll kill us both!"
The masked man's eyes darkened.
Without warning the back of his pistol struck Eliora across the face, she stumbled but didn't cry out.
Instead...
She glared at him.
"You call yourself a warrior?"
"Using hostages?"
"You're pathetic."
The man's expression twisted.
"You little..."
He grabbed her hair and yanked her backward the gun pressed harder against her temple blood trickled down the side of her face.
Annalisa's heart clenched.
"Eli..."
Eliora smiled.
Even now...
She smiled.
It was the same smile she'd worn ever since they were children. The smile that always told Annalisa...
"I'll be okay."
But this time...
It was a lie.
"Anna..."
Her voice was calm.
"So what if I die?"
"Don't kneel."
"Don't throw your life away for mine."
"You..."
"...are a daughter, a warrior of House Laurel."
There was silence, the words struck Annalisa harder than any blade.
The masked man chuckled.
"Touching."
"But let's see if you really mean that."
He cocked the hammer of the pistol and immediately Annalisa's hands trembled.
Slowly she released her swords, one struck the marble then the other.
"There." Her voice barely escaped her lips.
"I did what you wanted."
"...Let her go."
The masked man stared at her for several long seconds.
Then...
He smiled.
"Very well."
He loosened his grip.
"Go." Eliora frowned, she didn't move.
Something felt wrong.
She looked at Annalisa.
Their eyes met.
Both sisters understood.
It was a trap but before either of them could react, the masked man shoved Eliora forward.She stumbled, Annalisa instinctively rushed toward her.
Three steps was enough.
The gunshot echoed through the mansion.
Time froze.
Annalisa felt something warm splash across her cheek and her eyes widened.
"No..."
Eliora's body jerked violently before collapsing into her arms. A crimson stain spread across the back of her dress blood flowed between Annalisa's trembling fingers as she desperately pressed against the wound.
"No..."
Her voice quivered.
"No... no... no..."
"Eli..."
Eliora winced, her breathing growing shallow.
Even then she still smiled.
A weak, fragile but Beautiful smile.
"You..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"...still make that face whenever you're scared."
Fresh tears streamed down Annalisa's cheeks.
"Don't..."
"Please don't talk."
"You'll be fine."
"I'll get you help."
"I'll"
Eliora slowly shook her head. Both sisters already knew the truth. There wasn't enough time with the little strength she had left, Eliora slowly raised her hand not toward the wound, not toward Annalisa's tears.
Instead...
She curled her little finger.
Annalisa stared at it.
Her vision blurred.
"...You remembered..." Eliora whispered.
A broken sob escaped Annalisa's lips.
How could she forget?
When they were little, whenever one of them was frightened, they'd hook their pinkies together.
It was their promise.
"No matter where life takes us..."
"We'll always find our way back to each other."
Through trembling hands, Annalisa wrapped her little finger around Eliora's.
Their promise.
One last time.
Eliora smiled.
"...Promise me..."
Annalisa nodded frantically.
"Anything."
"Please..."
"Anything..."
Eliora's eyes slowly drifted toward the blood-covered ceiling.
"...Don't let..."
Her voice faltered.
"...them..."
A faint cough escaped her lips.
"...take..."
She turned her gaze back to her sister, for the last time.
"...your heart too."
There was silence.
Annalisa's lips trembled.
"I promise."
"I promise..."
"I swear it."
Eliora smiled one last time.
"...I know."
Her little finger slowly slipped away.
Her hand fell.
The warmth left her body.
And the light faded from her eyes.
...
Silence filled the hall.
Not even the wind dared to whisper.
Then
"ELIORA!!!" Her scream shook the mansion, it wasn't the scream of a grieving sister.
It was the cry of someone whose entire world had just shattered.
Annalisa gently brushed a strand of silver hair away from Eliora's face.
Then, with trembling hands...
She closed her sister's eyes.
"I'll find my way back to you..."
"...I promise."
She carefully laid Eliora upon the bloodstained marble.
Slowly she rose to her feet, the tears were gone so was the grief.
The woman who stood there was no longer the Annalisa Laurel the world had known.
he two remaining gunmen exchanged frightened glances before turning to flee.
They had barely taken three steps.
"And where..."
Her voice drifted through the hall, soft enough to send a chill down their spines.
"...do you think you're going?"