Before You

This would be the last night I ever spent chasing a lie.

Tonight I followed him back to his apartment. I have been tracking him for almost an entire month; watching his every move, eavesdropping every conversation, pulling files of people he’d meet with, all the way down to the last hour before he popped a couple of Valium and passed out into a drug induced coma.

What some people do just to sleep at night.

The large two bedroom apartment was located in Park District; the richest part of the city. It was lavish, clearly something a middle class man like himself couldn’t afford. I did some background research on my current target, revealing the fact that he’s been lying to his wife about his place of work, putting in hours at a supposed night shift job at the factory. In actuality, he’s been meeting with an alleged drug lord. I know what you’re thinking. What’s a guy like me doing, following around some middle aged douche with bad intentions? No, I don’t work for the cops. I’m not some vigilante out to keep the city safe, or help others make peace with their inner demons. I’m what polite society would call a monster.

His name is Daniel B. Richmond. I know he has a wife and little girl, both parents deceased. Dan’s a compulsive liar, cheater, and murderer. It was this man who I had in my cross heirs, waiting for the precise moment which I’d end his life.

Just like he helped end my family’s over a decade ago.

I took a cigarette out of the breast pocket of my jacket, and lit it quickly after I shoved the small box back into it’s familiar place against my chest. I took a drag and exhaled it into the still air, gazing up at the starless night sky. My eyes wondered to my surroundings. The abandoned building which I decided to perch on hasn’t been used in years. Inside, dust had settled and collected on the floor boards; a dank, musky scent filled its air. The stairs leading up to the roof were falling apart and creaked when the slightest bit of pressure was applied. The windows were boarded up and warped from the weather; it’s orange and red bricks started to chip and become dull. The rooftop was full of dead leaves and debris, and besides the occasional rat, it was completely desolate.

I shifted my weight, feeling loose pieces of concrete roll under my shin. They lodged uncomfortably between the floor and curve of my knee but I didn’t move again. After years of training you learn to deal with pain, no matter how agonizing. I set my focus back in the scope, watching Richmond as he bends over to sit in a dark red upholstered armchair. He pulls a newspaper up to his face, blocking my view of his balding head. My finger on the trigger relaxes when I no longer had a perfect shot. The increasing drop in temperature had me pulling my jacket closer. It’s standard issue for most Elites; long, trench style, made of some sort of smooth leather or latex. It’s virtually useless as any kind of armor, serving mostly just as a uniform and something light to move in.

Something catches my attention and I advert my eyes to a tall, blond woman in her mid twenties. Judging by her much younger, more attractive appearance, she’s been in it from the start because of the money. Or who know’s, maybe it’s because Dan has a ‘great personality’.

But I doubted it.

The man had lowered the black and white pages, revealing my previous target, but I hold back. I can’t kill him while she’s there; I’d be spotted too quickly. My waiting game continues. I watch as they seemingly pantomime to each other. I see their lips moving but all I hear is the cacophony of car exhaust and horns from the street below. Even at 11 p.m. the traffic flooded the streets like it was rush hour. Thats city life for you.

The lack of a smile on her face tells me she’d rather be down the street at U-Foria, ‘the worlds first six star night club’. She may be years younger but the struggle to keep up the act wears on her face, creating frown lines and a feint crease between her brow. I see Dan yell something inaudible, and a small girl emerges from the room opposite the kitchen. With auburn hair, she looks nothing like him and I wonder if blonde had a few of her own impromptu escapades while he was away on his own ‘business’. It appears the girl is holding something up, smiling. After a moment he takes the paper from her. His features stay in a grim line as his eyes dart over white rectangle. She waits by him patiently, scanning his face while her mother leaves the room again. My trigger finger tightens, threatening to release the bullet in his head but something stops me.

In my years of training, it was my boss’ goal to help me become unstoppable. My need for vengeance only fueled my desire to push through the obstacles, both physically and mentally. I was willing to go through the grueling hours in Room 55, where they showed pictures and videos no normal person could sit through. The first time I’d done it, I lasted thirty five minutes before throwing up whatever I ate that morning. This continued on til I could sit there for hours in the dank smelling room and kept down the eggs and bacon I ate that morning. It took a while, but finally, no tears came to my eyes, and my heartbeat wasn’t racing. I was what the Organization called a Trainee at the time. I didn’t know a lot, but I knew enough to get noticed.

A year later, after I had obtained the next rank of Hit Man, I was sent outside HQ. My first task was going out with other Hit Men that were lead by one Assassin on a mission. This mission involved delivering a message, but what our group leader had in mind was that actions spoke louder than words. We entered a mans home while he was away. We slaughtered his entire family, even killed the dog. We made sure it was messy. You’d think after the traumatization I’d been through with my own family being murdered, that this act of violence would have some affect on me. But it didn’t. With out hesitation I shot a woman. I shot her children and afterward, I felt nothing. Not guilt, not sadness, not even satisfaction...nothing. The only thing going through my head was that every step I took brought me closer to my revenge, even if it meant taking down someone else’s loved ones.

That night, I had passed my initiation.