The Company

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There is only one door. It’s the only way in and out which helps me complete my job that much quicker. In the dark I sit in the arm chair and await the return of number 20.

I know everything about number 20 but I do not know him. I know all of his habits, routines and routes, no matter how often he changes them. Humans are a creature of habit, therefore, I know he will come through the door that I was positioned in front of within the next few minutes and I was ready.

When he opens the door the light from the hallway will not reach me but when he switches the rooms light on I will be the first thing he sees. A boy, maybe even a man, in his early twenties or late teens of an average build, dressed in black. That will be all his brain will have time to register. That is all the time I will give him.

The click of the front door echo’s first, the sound bouncing through the house. One, two, three, pause, click…I listen carefully, counting his steps…four, five, six, thump, seven, eight, nine, ten, click, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, click, squeak. The handle turns and as the door opens I lift my arm up to eye level and squeeze the trigger easily. The bullet leaves the guns’ barrel and silencer with a barely audible whoosh and I see his body fall to the ground before I hear the thump, all in slow motion.

The look of shock was still on his dead face as I stepped over him, leaving the gun on the coffee table, I was careful not to disturb the blood pooling around his body. My job was done for the night, cleaning up was someone else’s job. I walked through the empty house and out the backdoor so the neighbours wouldn’t see anything suspicious but even if they did someone would fix it and I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

Once I was a few blocks from the house I tapped a few buttons on my phone to send a message to the contact labelled cleaning crew and ditched the phone in a garbage can after hitting the ‘destroy’ button which sent a small electrical pulse through the phone frying its insides. With my head down I kept mainly to the shadows as I made my way back to my hotel room. It wasn’t anything fancy but it had a bed, a bath and a landlord that stayed out of my way which was all I needed. Soon I would be leaving and I would no longer be Jason Smith the young divorcee trying to get his life back together.

Pulling my jacket tightly around my body I skipped across the empty parking Lott of the hotel to room number 103, after taking a quick glance around me I stuck the key in the door and pushed it open. The hinges were rusty so it made a deafening screech as I opened and closed it. I flipped the light switch on and the dark room was swallowed by a yellow glow, revealing the yellowed wallpaper and threadbare carpet. The low hum of electricity filled the empty space around me; I threw the keys along with my jacket onto the double bed in the middle of the room.

The bed groaned under my weight as I kicked my shoes and socks off. I unclipped my watch, placing it on the bedside table and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me I turned the light on. The bathroom was as simple as the bedroom; there was a toilet, sink and bath tub. With a flick of my wrist I turned the taps on and stuck the plug in the drain so the bath would fill. Slowly I peeled of each layer of my clothing and discarded them on the ground without care before climbing into the warm water and sinking in until it lapped at my ears then turned the taps off.

At first I just rested there, getting used to the heat before I took a deep breath and fully submerged myself into the water. I Listened to the clanging of the rusty pipes as I closed my eyes and let my mind wander back to the job. Although we are taught never to dwell on a job once it was done, I found that I couldn't help myself. So I allowed myself this little time after a job to loose myself in my thoughts.

Images of the targets shocked expression flashed in my mind followed by glimpses of the portraits he had plastered in his study of a family. His family. Quickly I dispelled those thoughts and let my mind wander past that, first to the day I received his file, then further back to the job before, then further to my initiation and further still to THE day. The day Bloom found me, a 9 year old boy far too small for his age, stealing an apple from a pregnant ladies’ shopping bag. He saw me take it but didn’t stop me until we were in an alley, away from prying eyes. He gave me half his sandwich and took me under his arm as he led me to a white van; taking me away from the life I had been leading up until then and gave me purpose.

The muffled sound of a door opening and closing snapped me out of my thoughts. My body went stiff with anticipation as I listened for a second but didn’t hear anything because I was still under water. Slowly I lifted myself out of the bath tub, careful not to make a sound. I picked up the knife I had carelessly dropped on the ground alongside with my clothes and put my ear to the door and a hand on the handle, prepared to spring into action.

All I could hear was a faint rustling so I gripped the handle a little tighter to steady myself before I threw the door open and began to charge at the mysterious figure that was rummaging through my bag.

“Oh God” he said “put that knife away would you” he sighed without turning around.

“Alex?” I frowned as I lowered my knife “what are you doing?”

“Well right now I’m looking for the gloves I gave you last month” he sighed “why must you make my job so hard? Can’t you just wear gloves like every other robot?” Alex was a small, pale man in his twenties. He was what the company called a ‘cleaner’ since he cleaned up the messes us agents made. Cleaners called agents ‘robots’ since we were trained to show as little emotion as possible because it helped us ‘get the job done’ and emotions were just thought of as a hindrance.

“You know what I mean” I sighed and placed my knife on the bedside table “what are you doing HERE?”

“I’m here to celebrate of course!” he exclaimed with a toothy smile, holding an expensive bottle of scotch above his head. His eyes took in my naked body hungrily as he bit his lip.

“My 20th kill?” I raised an eyebrow as I took the bottle out of his hand.

“Ew” he shuddered in disgust at the thought, I poured us a glass each “no” he shook his head “I’m here to celebrate your birthday!”

“Huh?”

“Your 21st birthday moron!” he rolled his eyes “You’re finally legal to drink!”

“I’ve been drinking a long time” I passed him a glass and then brought my own to my lips savouring the feeling of the liquid sliding down my throat.

“I know, but now it’s not illegal! Ugh! Must you make everything so miserable?” he sighed as he took a sip of his own drink “so.”

“So?” I raised an eyebrow and leaned on the draws beside Alex.

“Do you want your birthday present?” he bit his bottom lip and batted his eyelashes at me, sending me a mischievous smirk as he stepped in front of me.

“I thought the scotch was the present?”

“Oh please honey, what fun would that be?” slowly he stepped towards me until my naked body was flush against his fully clothed one “I’m gunna make this a birthday you'll never forget” he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Oh really” I replied quietly with a smile playing on my lips “and how would you be doing that?”

“Like this” he trailed kisses down my body, starting at my ear and ending at my belly button. By now he was on his knees in front of me, he looked up at me with a smirk before he took me in his mouth. I gripped the edge of the dresser tightly with one hand and groaned, throwing my head back with my eyes closed, a look of bliss plastered on my face. He went faster causing another moan of pleasure to escape my mouth, I weaved my fingers into his soft, blond hair to keep him there as I enjoyed every second of his warm mouth around me. He always knew what I needed before I even knew myself.