Tainted Soul

Tainted Soul-Prologue

I couldn’t remember the last time I was this bored. You would think that with the profession that I have, I would have a little more to do than camp a skyscraper building for an hour or so. Albeit, not many people got to do it while staring through a sniper scope down at the streets below while dressed in all black to blend with the night sky. But still, sitting in silence didn’t appeal to my nature very much. I quickly got tired of spotting randomly people touring the streets, rating them mentally. Although I did see one guy walking with a self-important gait that made me want to shoot…

“Ben, get ready.”

I nearly jumped as a sudden voice came from my ear piece. “Good God, Lucy, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Just focus on getting ready to shoot. They’ll be coming out of the club soon, so you’d better not miss.”

“Right, right. I just aim for the guy Riley’s talking to, then take out every one of the guy’s harem. I’ve done this before, Luce.”

“And yet you always manage to screw up each time.”

“Ain’t screwing up if it’s on purpose, sweetheart.”

She didn’t respond, and I grinned. I prided myself and making people speechless.

I took a deep breath as I pushed my tinted glasses further up the bridge of my nose and repositioned my sniper, right toward the club. Wind was right and the distance was unmoving. It was all I needed to know—my natural skill combined with the scope’s detailed aim made me unlikely to miss my mark.

I licked my parched lips as a group of people came to the doors and pushed them open, walking out into the midnight darkness with a drunken atmosphere. I felt jealousy crop up in me; Riley had the best role in this stupid operation. He was there, laughing with the group of people at some joke that was no doubt impossible to comprehend for the sober. His cheeks were flushed, but I doubted that he was completely out of it. We didn’t get stoned nearly as easily as other people. But the same was true for the fat bastard laughing with Riley. He wore a nice looking husky sized tuxedo with the coat unbutton and a loose tie. He had unshaved stubble underneath his chin and a mildly wrinkled face. And yet, somehow, this guy had a harem of women surrounding him, giggling and clinging onto his arms as they stumbled on the sidewalk toward the limousine parked nearby. None of them noticed that the traffic on the street had been blocked off, so no one could get in by car. Of course we couldn’t work in a populated area without some precautions.

The fat man was getting ready to enter the limousine, raising a hand in farewell to Riley, my cue.

I pressed the trigger firmly and watched as the fat man went down to his knees, then slam his forehead against the limousine before hitting the ground. A perfect shot to the head before he noticed a thing. One down, seven frightened succubi to go.

None of the remaining women could pace themselves, frantically screeching horribly as the searched the skies, apparently unfamiliar with the idea of snipers. Only one managed to look in my direction, but it served to only get them a bullet between their eyes.

“How’s that for messing up?” I gloated as the last one went down.

“Pretty bad.” Riley replied. He was standing by a limp body of the limousine driver with a knife protruding from its chest. All signs of drunkenness were gone. “Count the bodies.”

I did, and cursed aloud. Only seven bodies lied on the sidewalk in a pool of greenish ooze that was supposed to be blood. “I was distracted by the smell of booze and loose morals.” I said bitterly as I began to search around for any movement of a fleeing girl. None of the others had tried to run, why had this one? “Why did you stop her?”