Mr & Mr Hitman

Meeting and Murder

Chapters will be shorter now.

...

Samuel walked silently back home, still reflecting and thinking hard about who the famous Vixen could be, and how he would react when he would find out his identity upon checking the news.

He got so engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly forgot to take a turn to the right. As he took two steps backward, now on the right track, he realized that Cameron wasn't in front of him anymore. At first, he thought that the latter was just walking rapidly to avoid conversation, but later, he figured out that he was the one walking slowly.

After internally facepalming himself, he scurried away, impatient to turn on his television, not able to even unlock the door, as he fumbled clumsily with his keys.

"Mrs. Henry, here, presumably the famous serial killer going under the name of 'Vixen', might just be the real deal..."

Samuel furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the live interview. "Impossible," he whispered. She looked way too formal and calm to be his rival. And even if she was what she pretended to be, why would she easily let herself be caught?

The show caught his attention again when he heard the next line, "Unfortunately, Mrs. Henry, you aren't the only one claiming to be Vixen, as a lot of different people want to benefit from the popularity of the murderer, you included," the interviewer then turned to the camera, leaving the woman's mouth agape, "If you're another one of those various frauds, please refrain from creating any scene, but," he paused, "If you're the real one, please do contact me, I'm very much interested in your cases."

Samuel flicked his tongue, disappointment readable on his face when he suddenly heard a knock on his door. "Yes?", he shouted, while marching to the entrance.

"Yo loser," Priscilla Anderson, the single woman living on the second floor, greeted him with a bored expression, chewing on her gum.

Priscilla was an Australian young woman, renting the floor just below Samuel's for more than seven months now. Some time before, she asked Sam if he wanted a part-time job at the club she's working at, for the simple reason that they were short on staff. Male staff to be precise. But she was also suggesting for another serious reason.

"Hi loser," our main character replied back. "What's up with the cookies?", he inquired, pointing at the box of biscuits in her hands.

"Heard we got a new neighbor?", the older woman asked. "Just a little gift for the kid."

Samuel widened his eyes, "You're offering a gift to someone?"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, "Hurry up and come with me, my girlfriend is waiting for me."

This time the man hung his mouth open, "You have a lover? You?", he blinked.

"Will you shut up and come with me-", Priscilla was cut off, when she noticed a silhouette in the corner of her eyes.

Cameron was standing at the top of the staircase, his eyes shuffling between the man and the woman in front of him.

"Well hello there kiddo-", Priscilla tried to speak when another female voice cut her off. "Babe?", another woman appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Baby, why did you come out-", and for the third and final time, the Australian woman was interrupted.

"Why is all this happening in front of my door?", Samuel queried.

"Oh how sweet of you to invite us inside.", Priscilla grinned. "Come, babe. Come, little guy. We'll get to know each other," Sam didn't have time to react when both women pushed their way inside his home.

Cameron was about to return inside when he heard, "You better descend those stairs right now if you don't want me to carry your ass down here kid," making him hesitantly enter Samuel's room.

"So, introductions," Priscilla clapped her hands, her 'girlfriend' sat on her lap, while Cameron sat at the far end of the couch, not uttering a single word all along. Samuel had gone to fetch some booze and snacks, a little smile creeping on his face, dopamine rushing to his brain at the sudden yet cheery company he had.

He finally joined the others in his living room, a tray full of sweet, salty, and sour, candy or crisps in one hand, and a pack of six beer cans in the other.

"I am Priscilla Anderson. Currently thirty-two years old and working as a waitress at 'Lion Den's'," the oldest one in the room spoke, twirling her locks around her finger, her plumped lips slowly moving as she chewed on her gum, nudging her lover to talk.

"Candace Campbell is my name. I am thirty and share the same occupation as her," 'Candace' finally spoke up, her appearance was completely different from her lover. She had a blonde ponytail, and her skin and lips were relatively lighter than Priscilla. The only thing matching on them were their black rings on their engagement fingers on their left hands.

"Why didn't I hear of you before-", Sam was cut off by the woman he called 'loser' earlier.

"Manners young man."

The protagonist gulped down, "The name's Samuel Thompson, twenty-eight, working as a manager for a little company."

The 'manager' job he was talking about was obviously fake, but he couldn't just reveal his real occupation like that. This made him a little sad that he had to lie but he smiled a little when he heard the youngest in the room talk.

"My name is Cameron Taylor, twenty-six years of age, currently unemployed."

The two men noticed a sudden spark of hope in Priscilla's eyes, "One does telework and the other one is unemployed. Honey, I think we got our two male waiters."

"Don't go deciding by yourself," Samuel sighed as he opened a can of liquor, throwing some crisps in his mouth.

"Are you interested, kid?", she turned to Cameron.

"I mean, I don't have anything against it, but-"

"Are you agreeing to work in a club?", Samuel's eyes' sockets were disturbingly wide open.

"Leave him. At least that's one down," Priscilla smirked at Samuel's response.

"Count it as two," he mumbled, somehow feeling like he had some kind of responsibility for the other man. He retrieved three more beers for his guests who didn't serve themselves yet, noticing how concentrated Cameron appeared, as he watched the silent news. 'Silent', because Sam turned down the volume when he went to open the door.

"Oh, this," the owner of the flat grabbed his remote and increased the volume. "They still haven't caught him yet."

"How do you know it's a 'him'?", Cameron turned to Samuel, who was sat on the sofa to his left, popping his beer can open.

"I'm just taking a wild guess here since they said it was most probably a man behind these murders," our main character spoke.

"For real though, they've got to have a reason to be doing all this," Priscilla related.

"It's still scary how you don't know if one day you'll be the victim," Candace added.

"First, seeing how his pattern of killing is irregular and almost randomized, I'd say he's doing that out of sheer sadism, but paying attention to his formality, he's most probably getting paid to do so-", Samuel bit his tongue when he felt like he said too much, meeting with the shocked expressions of the women and the glare from the man.