Greystone (BTS Fanfic AU)

Rumor says they're bulletproof

"Please! Don't do this!"

The man's voice pierced through the stagnant, musky air in the small empty room. I stared down at him as he pathetically wept, drenched in blood. "You really want to live, huh?"

"Of course, I'd do anything! Please!"

I took one last glance at the pitiful soul at my feet and sighed. "Consider this a blessing." I swiftly slashed his throat and the room quieted. Quickly picking up the limp body and slinging it over my shoulder, I took one last glance at the bloody puddle on the stone ground. This was getting too familiar, too common, too boring.

Walking through the house's eerie basement hallways always gave me a chill, as if to remind me that I'm always being watched. The air was crisp and stung my nose and the sound of the body's dripping blood softly filled the air rhythmically and erased the hallway's usual dreary silence. Wide mahogany doors stood at the end of the hallway and as I slowly approached it, the doors swung open, releasing a gust of painfully cold air.

"Oh, Kair. Is that—"

"Yeah, it is," I interrupted as I tossed the body on the floor. "If that's all for today, then I'm going to grab something to eat in town."

"Hold up," a large slender hand grabbed my wrist as I turned to leave.

"What?" I asked, looking up at the six-foot man behind me.

His dark eyes were shaped in a way that made it seem like he always knew something that I didn't and it frustrated the hell out of me. His strong jaw and dark brown wavy hair contributed to his dark charm and mysterious aura. Normally, he would be considered at least somewhat attractive in many people's eyes, but it was hard for me to see anyone besides a monster. Therefore, I stared at his defined nose while talking to him in order to keep my calm (and sanity).

"This is boring," he sighed. "You used to always have this scared look whenever you were assigned a target. Where has that small girl gone?" He jokingly asked as he scanned my small face. After a moment of silence, he continued, "well, since you seem quite unamused with your targets recently, why don't we kick things up a bit?"

"What do you mean?" Something about the way he said it sent chills down my spine.

"Well, we've just been paid a pretty hefty chunk of cash for another target. But this target may be a bit too difficult for someone as young as you," he provoked.

"I can do it." I clenched my fists. He practically picked me off the streets just to raise me to be his private killing machine, so it was definitely frustrating when he undermined my abilities.

He gave a slight chuckle. "So you're willing to kill the king?"

I stared blankly at the floor for a minute. Sure, I had lost count of the number of people I've killed. And sure, I've been trained to kill for the past 14 years since Orion first picked me up when I was five. But doubt crept into my mind when I thought of the guards, the constant eyes, the physical barrier blocking off the castle. The king had been somewhat paranoid (almost as if he thought he'd be assassinated) and built a thirty-feet sleek Greystone wall around the castle with only one known entrance which is constantly protected by highly trained guards. Additionally, each portion of the wall had a watchtower with more guards. No commoner had even seen the inner grounds of the castle, not to mention the castle itself. How would I even get inside the castle in the first place?

As if reading my mind, Orion said, "I have no doubt that you'll be able to get inside. It's just something else that'll probably be more than a bit difficult for you to overcome."

Still staring at the floor, I asked, "what?"

"There's a rumor. An interesting one in fact." He let go of my wrist and reached up and ran his fingers through his sleek dark hair, as I impatiently listened. "Rumor says that the king has seven knights. Not just any of those ordinary guards that stand at the castle walls. They're said to be the strongest, fastest, smartest fighters and strategists throughout the land. But the thing is... no one knows who they are. Apparently, whenever the king comes into town, they disguise themselves as one of his annoyingly numerous guards and accompany him, so no one will be able to tell who they are. Heck, no one even knows if these so-called knights are male or female."

"Huh," I replied, quite unimpressed. "Well, that's probably just that—a rumor. If His majesty really did have such incredible, almost superhuman, knights, why would he even bother to build the wall or maintain such a ridiculous amount of guards in the first place? I think it's just a rumor the palace spread to scare the masses. After all, royalty relies on at least a little bit of fear. Either way, I'll do it. I'll head off tomorrow morning."

I turned to leave once more while running through possible strategies and lies to get access to the castle.

"Be careful, Kair," Orion laughed. "Rumor says they're bulletproof."

I rolled my eyes.