Supposed To

Chapter 2: Layers of Corruption

Hanging from the bottom rung of the fire escape I dropped into the alley. Straightening, I cocked my head towards a pile of stacked cardboard boxes. It was too perfect, the placement deliberate. 

"Seriously dude? How many times do I have to tell you I don't need backup?" I questioned, exasperated at his repeated refusal to just let me do my job.  

Apparently, he was also convinced that I couldn't see through his camouflaging skills and talking to myself because he didn't move. I needed to get a move on before my target decided to move locations, so I didn't even disguise my stomping as I moved to knock over the boxes. Only when I did so nothing was behind them. 

"Gotcha," he sing-songed creeping out from a slightly less suspicious pile of random garbage. Even with his mask, I knew he had the stupidest grin on his face. 

"No," I stated glancing at his hands together in a "please" gesture. "I don't care, you are not coming with me." 

"But you're always saying I need more practice, what better way to get practice than hands-on learning with a master at her craft?" He questioned and I knew that if his mask were off I would see puppy-dog eyes that rivaled Twain's. 

He had a point, no amount of practice was going to amount to real-life experience. Huntsman could hold his own against the local thugs and even bank robberies, but he was still a kid. The scum I went after was out of his league. 

Looking him up and down, I acknowledged that he had filled out the black suit clinging to well-formed muscles. Huntsman had originally wanted to go with the classic and patriotic red and blue: I shot that thought down quickly. Being so flamboyant especially when you fought at night with usually more than one attacker was just stupid. 

The skinny grief-stricken boy with terrified eyes was gone, but I knew if I looked closer I would see the scars behind his eyes. I would never forgive myself if another was added because of me. 

"No." I declared. He wanted to fight my decision, his hands clenching at his sides. But he respected me and my opinion too much to argue. He was a sweet kid. 

"However you did succeed in tricking me, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for a mission for us." At my concession, he was practically vibrating. I felt my lips tick up in a smile. "Thank you so much! I won't disappoint you." he promised. I nodded in acceptance and shooed him away. I needed to get moving. 

It took me about half an hour to arrive at my destination since I was doing my best to avoid my actions later being traced. It was a mansion close to the outskirts of town, my target was a crime lord who operated out of it, Mr. Arlo Miller, an unassuming name for a man steeped in crime and corruption. 

Today he had a meeting with several of his associates, his information wasn't exactly a secret, since the local police and government officials were in his pockets. He decided to hold the meeting at his home, a lovely mansion surrounded by trees.

Unfortunately for him, someone had put his head up for bounty on the Dark Web and I accepted. I wasn't sure who had probably a rival gang or possibly a political rival of the governor wanting to take out his main backer. To be fair I didn't care.  

Pausing at the wrought iron gate, I climbed a tree sliding out on the thickest limb to drop down to the other side. 

He was a bad guy, hurting the people in my city. Now that he was up for grabs on the Dark Web I had been given access to enough details to take him down. The money didn't hurt either, several of my vetted non-profits would appreciate the sizable donations. 

Now a couple of steps from the window I crouched down closing my eyes. It didn't take me long to pick up the lights coming from the other side of the wall a striking black outline surrounded by a couple of greens, greys, and reds. 

I had never explained my powers to anyone, but I had considered how I would. Everyone had an "aura" to me with two layers. 

The first layer closest to a person was an indication of their character bright white was generally someone who sought out being good, and black was someone who's agenda consisted of being self-serving to an extreme. Of course, most people weren't on either side of the spectrum landing somewhere in the middle of the gradient.

The second layer was an almost constant shift of colors to indicate someone's current emotions. The mechanics behind this one are more complicated since the colors didn't always mean the same thing, it depended on the feelings a person associated with the color. Not that I had a problem interpreting them, by "focusing" on that layer I would get a small dose of that feeling. 

Sensing the auras inside the room I quickly found the person directly impacting everyone else's, he was probably my target. I saw the aura next to my target start to take on an infuriated red, I smirked. Someone wasn't happy with Arlo. 

I gripped the red, I felt fury flood me at the atrocities these men had committed. Every picture and video I had dug up of innocent men, women, and children being violated, used as pawns and entertainment. Every devastated expression as their loved ones were killed in front of them knowing their fate. 

I took my rage and started packing it into the aura, watching it grow taking on a deeper red. I felt my feelings of anger dwindle, taken over by a sense of numbness. As I continued to shove the feelings in I began to experience resistance. There was no more room. But my prey hadn't acted yet, I needed to keep going. I gave another shove.

Then I heard it, shouting. And then a gunshot. Silence before panic ensues. Furniture being shoved around more yelling, more gunshots. 

I began to creep away, grabbing a few auras to increase the chaos and hopefully end more of their lives. It was time to leave though, my target's aura already fading to nothing. He was dead.

As soon as the first layer had begun to fade I knew there was no way of him surviving. The first layer is the essence of a person the only reason that would fade is if the person no longer exists. 

The trip back over the fence was harder, but not a problem. I sent a message that my task was completed and began my trek home.