Jonathan Mayers: Origins

Prologue

The evening commuters were starting to move in droves, flooding the streets of New York on their way to the subways or to a restaurant in order to get a quick bite to eat before beginning the journey home.Most of the faces flashed by too quickly for one to view them properly, but the few that were able to be distinguished bore the look of a tired but satisfied individual after a long days work.

Walter Cain, seated at a window in a small, nondescript cafe on a street corner,took in all this in while munching on a ham and cheese sandwich. His eyes flickered not just on the faces of not just those passing by outside, however, but also on those of his fellow patrons in the cafe itself. He did this out of habit, as his old job and the old life he had previously required that he be aware constantly of his surroundings, and those in it. Cain absentmindedly shook his head as he took another bite of his meal. He was happy that that was all behind him, and now he was focused on caring and providing for his wife, and his newborn son, who was only 4 months old.

The bell at the top of the door alerted all those inside that they would be joined by someone new, and Cain disinterestedly turned his head to view who it was….and froze.

In his 30 years of life… he had never really felt fear. His old occupation just didn’t make allowances for it. But now…he could feel something unsettling moving in his stomach; and he was certain that it wasn’t the sandwich.

Cain suddenly realized that his days were numbered, and that he would die…very…very soon.

The newcomer was young, possibly 19 years old, and tall, around the 6’3 mark, with shoulder length brown hair, and light brown eyes. The clothes he wore were not designer, but at the same time they weren’t cheap; black jeans, a light blue T-shirt underneath a black jacket. This was the kind of person you would glance at on the street, and never think about ever again. You could have mistaken him, as almost everyone in the cafe did, for a college student, or an intern at some firm in the city. Most of the patrons mumbled “Good Evening” in response to his greeting, and a few heads nodded at him as he took a seat near the counter, and began talking to one of the waitresses.

Only Cain knew that he was anything but a college student.

“Maybe it was all just a coincidence,” he thought to himself, but then immediately berated himself for even letting the thought slip through his head. There were no such things as coincidences; he of all people, after everything he went through in his past life, should know that.

Walter, at that moment, was certain that the kid was sent by his former employers to terminate him. He had been expecting them to send someone, granted, for he was aware that he had been one of their greatest assets, and besides, no one just walked away from that line of work, especially with the knowledge he possessed.

However, he wasn’t expecting them to send HIM.

Walter Cain breathed in, and allowed himself to calm down. He knew now that his time was limited, but he calculated that he had at least a few more hours. The kid was most likely working on his own, and besides, he was safest in here, with him, in the cafe together with all these people.

Cain closed his eyes, and let a small smile escape his lips.

He knew that his new-found adversary wouldn’t attempt anything in here of all places, that he knew it was a poor place for elimination of a target.

He was certain that the kid knew.

After all…Walter was the one who taught him the basics…of how to kill.