The sink was staining red.
I was washing my hands in the restroom to clean the blood off my hands from a recent target. They were worth $21,000.
High reward for low effort.
As I ran my hands back and forth through the increasingly hot water, the steam that emanated began to fog the mirror. I could no longer see my reflection. I focused my gaze, staring intently into the blur of my image on the wall, trying to see clearer as if I still had the sight of both eyes left. But as the calluses on my palms began to blister from the scalding hot water, I flinched for a moment, losing track of the sight I had set on myself.
I couldn't see myself anymore.
"That was her flaw. She cared too much about the useless concept of 'friends.' In reality, friends are just another term referring to pawns."
The words of another person were echoing around my head. They were from memories of the past I'd kept stored away for quite some time. I shut the thoughts away, not ready to face the past just yet.
I should go back.
I dried my hands and fixed my eyepatch in a clearer mirror adjacent to the one I'd been using. Unlike my first makeshift one, this eyepatch that Soho got me sat comfortably on my face. It also looked more natural to the average bystander.
I pushed past the doors to leave the restroom, back out into the neon liveliness of the Waving Kitty bar. Making my way back to a booth, Soho sat there waiting, greeting me with a table full of shareable food platters.
"You don't mind do you? I was craving nachos." She placed my debit card on the table and slid it towards me.
"So you went and ordered the whole menu?"
She giggled in response. "Don't you have $20k rolling in from today? I'm sure this wouldn't even make a dent on your account."
I rolled my eye, grabbing a chip and munching it down as I brought my card to the bar. "Hey, Draz, give me Soho's bill."
He slid the receipt over, grinning proudly. "That delivery job is paying well, isn't it?"
I scoffed. "Needs to pay better to deal with Soho's impulsive cravings."
Draz laughed. "Say, are you two a thing at this point?"
"A thing?"
"You know. Like, partners…?"
I flushed red with embarrassment, finally understanding what Draz was getting at. "Delivery partners. Coworkers. Nothing more."
"Not even friends?"
I hesitated for a moment. "S-Sure."
"Alright, brother." He smiled, handing back my receipt copy as I finished paying. When I returned to the booth, half the nachos were already finished.
"Alright, so who's the next one?" Soho asked me with her mouth half full.
I pulled out an envelope I'd brought along. Inside was a letter. We read it together.
{ $21,000 has been wired to your debit account and will take approximately three business days to be made available.
This leads us into your 72nd target.
NAME: Dante Hade
FRACTAL: Infrared Heat Emission
- Can emit infrared heat from chosen pores around his body like a heater
- Can specify the level/amount of heat emitted
- Body can conduct heat with properties akin to metal
- Not Fractal Activated
I have no photo provided for your target, but I do have identifiable information about him. He's been seen working as a volunteer at the Sunnyside Orphanage on the outskirts of downtown Melysia. 5'9, short brown hair. During the winter months of every year, he provides warmth to the orphans since the orphanage lacks the funds to install a proper heating system. With the current drop in temperature in Melysia, it is safe to say he should be making his rounds over there.
Good luck. }
I looked to Soho's expression to try gauging her thoughts before she could speak.
"So how do we kill him in the quickest way possible?" Were not the words I expected coming out of her mouth.
I stuttered. "I-I'm not sure."
Why is the target an orphanage volunteer?
I already had the blood of nearly a hundred lives on my hands, yet I couldn't help but feel hesitant in looking at this new target's profession. My targets had always been independent, individual people living somewhat monotone lives. I never second-guessed removing them from the picture because it never seemed like it mattered to anyone else. But with this new target, it was clear whose lives would be affected besides the victim.
But who the hell was I to feel bad about something like this?
I've already taken the innocent lives of many who'd probably had children of their own. This is no different.
I was a hypocrite, living a hypocritical life with hypocritical thinking.
I have no right left to feel bad about what I'm doing. I'm a murderer who's destroyed the lives of many. There is no room left in heaven or on earth to consider even an ounce of my guilt.
I gripped the letter tightly in my hands, nearly scrunching it.
It's too late for me to turn back and repent.
"We isolate him from the children. Use his Fractal against him somehow, make it look like a—"
"—Freak accident?" Soho interrupted me. Though, she'd finished my sentence knowing exactly what I'd say.
"Yeah, freak accident…"
She chuckled. "You say that about every target."
I immediately tried to justify myself. "Well, we can't make it look like it was done with intent, right? That's how we've gotten this far without getting caught—by making all of them look like accidents."
"I know." Soho began to snack on the fries. "It's just funny. I've only recently noticed you always say things like that."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Things to take away from the cruelty of our actions?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you just guilty? Is that why?"
I couldn't respond immediately to this one. I had to stop and think.
Have I always been doing this? Trying to make what I'm doing sound less gruesome and wrong than it truly is? Am I trying to spare my guilty conscious that much?
"Is that important?"
"Nah." Soho waved it off. "These fries are bomb though."
Her sudden change of topic helped me steer away from the heavy topic. "Are they?"
"Yeah. Here, try one." She tried to feed me. I grabbed it from her hand and ate it.
The rest of the night was more-so casual. Soho went on her usual rambles about random things she'd experienced and I listened. We also quickly went over a plan to execute the new target in the most efficient way possible. Soon, the night had fallen. Waving Kitty was empty and Draz was performing closing duties. I said bye to both him and Soho and went back to what I now considered home—the abandoned storage unit in a part of downtown Melysia that nobody remembered.
When I undressed and flicked-off the lights, I was submerged into the usual cold darkness I slept in. Except this time, there was this unwelcome feeling of negativity eating away inside of me.
The guilt was unbearable.
Something inside of me was trying to resurface but I swallowed heavily to keep it down.
There's no use, Klyson Rainer. You aren't the man you used to be anymore.
I'd finally fallen asleep after shutting my subconscious thoughts away.