Silent Table

During a dinner party in the final days of September, there was a man by the name of Michael Tret who as looking for someone else there named, Eric Wron. To everyone else at the part, Michael was an ordinary chef who was friendly with his neighbors and spent most of the days at his store helping his customers. What most people didn’t know was that Michael was also an assassin who worked for a criminal syndicate known as the Shadow Mask.

Michael had been sent on a mission to find someone that the organization was hired to kill. From the information that was given to him, all Michael knew about his target was that he was a businessman that had ran afoul with his neighbors that now wanted him dead. “Isn’t that something,” thought Michael, “all he needed to do was stay quiet and he could’ve stayed alive for a little while longer.” He then continued to search around the mansion where the party was being held walking through and past crowds, looking for anyone who matched the appearance of his target.

Holding the envelope that he was given earlier by his employers, Michael was looking for someone who was about five foot and ten inches tall with brown hair and a scar on his left cheek. “There are a lot of people here with facial scars,” thought Michael, “the target must’ve thought that this would’ve been an ideal place to hide as there are many war veterans here.” Walking around the main floor, the assassin continued to search for about ten minutes before deciding that the target wasn’t in the area and decided to go upstairs.

“Even if I don’t find him here,” thought Michael, “this party isn’t that bad. The host, named Fred Yuer, throws decent parties. I could stay here for another two hours before reporting back to my boss that we received terrible information. We won’t be paid afterwards though and will have to wait another month or two before we receive more information and where to find the target.”

Michael continued to search the second floor for his target, including the guest bedroom which was open to the guests. “I wonder why they bothered opening this room for the party,” thought Michael, “the guests usually make a mess there and the host will have to spend days in order to clean up the mess.” Michael continued to search for his target, hoping that he would find him drunk or incapacitated. He even searched the bathroom in the guest room but didn’t find him there. “If I don’t find him in another thirty minutes, I am going back to my employer and telling him that we received terrible information. I have been searching for him in this party for almost an hour now.”

Suddenly, the assassin found someone who matched the description of his target in the dining room on the first floor. Looking at the envelope again, the assassin confirmed that he was his target. “I found you,” said the assassin to himself, “finally, I am going to get paid handsomely for your head.” Michael then slowly walked down the stairs, hoping to find his target in an isolated area where he could quickly dispatch him.

As Michael approached Eric, Eric then announced that he was going to have a private meeting with a few people. Michael was annoyed at the development but stayed calm and hoped to catch Eric at a more opportune moment. To his surprise, Eric also announced that he and his friends were also going to play a game and picked a group of random guests for it, which also happened to include Michael. “This is interesting,” thought Michael who was also suspicious at the development, but because he didn’t expect much from Eric, agreed with go along with it.

Knowing that this could be his bet’s chance to get alone with Eric and finish the job, Michael followed the others as they went to the meeting room and began to grip his garrote which he held in his left pocket. “What is he up to,” thought Michael. As Eric brought the guests into the room, he then told them what the game was about.

“Hello everyone,” said Eric, “the game we are going to be playing while my friends are having a meeting is that you will think of something related to a topic that we are picking, which is food. Then, me and my friends will pick what you are thinking after you give us four clues. That will be the game, so think of something creative.” Michael groaned when he heard that as he disliked games, but went along with it. “Also, one of us will have to guess it alone when it is your turn.” Needless to say, Michael’s ear perked up when he heard that.

Eric then announced that they had ten minutes to think of a food, which Michael, even though he didn’t like the game, decided to go with pizza as it was the first food he could think of. “When will it be my turn,” thought Michael, “hopefully, the person questioning me will be my target.” The game went on for an hour with Eric’s friends taking guests to a different room to guess what they were thinking.

Michael was being to lose patience and considered leaving. “I am just going to tell them that I need to use the restroom,” he thought, “good enough excuse to leave. Suddenly, Eric called his name, and his annoyance turned to excitement as he walked into the meeting room with Eric.

“Hello, guest,” said Eric, “I am now going to guess what food you are thinking of.” Michael smiled a bit, gripping the silenced pistol that he also carried in his left pocket. Deciding to go along with the game first, he told Eric that the food he was thinking of was from Italy, a popular food in the USA, contained tomato sauce and was high in calories.

“Now that is too easy,” said Eric, “we still have ten minutes. If you want, we can talk about something else.” Michael agreed as if he could, he would talk to his target before he dispatched them. “Well, what do you want to talk about?” Michael responded by saying that he wanted to talk about hobbies.

“Hunting is one of my hobbies,” said Michael to his target, “I hunted deer for most of my life, and I think it is something that people should do at least once.” Eric then asked how he hunted deer. “You first, of course, need to have your rifle and clothing ready. I recommend rolling in the leaves first so that not only will you be able to blend in with the forest in your fatigues, but you will also smell like the surrounding environment, so the deer will not notice you approaching them.”

“That is interesting,” said Eric, “one of my hobbies is fishing. Yes, it will take a lot of patience, but I think it is worth it. I have fished with poles before, but I thikn fishing using traps is something that could be more effective if one has an idea of what they are doing.” Robert seemed confused by what Eirc was saying.

“All you need is the right bait and environment, and then you will capture your quarry,” said Eric, “even the most adamant fish can fall for the right trap.” Before Michael could react, Eric took out a silenced pistol that he was hiding and quickly shot Robert in the chest. “You have fallen into my trap. What your employer probably didn’t tell you was that I used to be in the army, and saw you coming the moment you walked into the building.”

The last words that Michael heard was Eric calling for the mansion staff to clean up the room.