Hit List

Mercy

We never wanted this. But we did it... We killed him.

My wife and I are contract killers by nature. In just 5 years, countless lives have been put into our hands, and we never hesitated to pull the trigger. Specializing in the art of assassination, it's like we're a real life rip-off of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

"Don't!"

"Help!"

"You'll get what's coming to you."

"You'll pay the price."

"You murderers."

"Have mercy."

Written above are just some examples of last words we hear before the silence. They're pretty much dumb to our trained ears now. I mean what's new? I get to enjoy a nice little slice of life with my wife and it helps us bond while getting that good cash. Almost no one knows about our killer lives. We were just ordinary businessmen in society's eyes, paying our taxes one limb at a time. That's where the line straight up draws in between literal and metaphorical. Sorry if I offend anyone with my bad puns by the way.

Anyways, recently we were met with a little speed bump. While on a contract back in Bangkok, killing off a drug cartel, my wife began to feel a wave of nausea building up inside of her well-conditioned gut. This was way out of expectation as we weren't really prone to any form of food poisoning (or at least that's what our tortu- I mean training, helped us with). There can only be one thing that we aren't immune to, and that is chemical manipulation by another one of our kind.

We conducted a little research, tracking down the clues to piece the timeline together. There were lots of "Nah, this cant be right", and "could this be it?" during our entire study session. Tools were used to pierce my wife, prod her, collecting samples of puke and other unmentionable fluids. I'll try my best to be family friendly here, although you ARE reading the jargon of a somewhat legal murderer. A legal murderer who's also pretty good at surgery, considering we can't risk having our identities exposed while on a mission.

Wife turned out pretty much fine in general though. It wasn't like whatever is in her is causing her life to deplete at an extended rate. We didn't worry too much about it for the time being. Did I mention we found the culprit? Ah, now this guy, he's really a dilemma.

"Oi Honey, so what should we do about him?", she asked, in a sad, defeated tone. All I could do was shrug my shoulders. We called him Sutef. Unlike anyone we had encountered, he was not related to any illegal drug company, not a serial killer on the loose, not a government official, not an enemy. He's nobody. He's just like any average person on this planet, hidden away in plain sight. He isn't on our contract killing bucket list either, and the bosses never mentioned anyone by the likes of Sutef. He was simply in our way, a slight inconvenience.

Not only that, we felt an automatic connection. A rather lovable kind. He was someone we didn't want to lose. So we did something that we never thought we would ever need to do. We consulted our family. Weird right? Of all people, the ones who took care of us, the ones most worried for our sorry assess. Not even asking our best friends in our respective daily work environments.

Undoubtedly, we were scrutinized horribly, for wanting to take an innocent life that had a bright future ahead of him. I knew asking for advice was pretty much futile. I know that the big guys up there will make us take action if they ever did find out about him. Since it was their job to make sure things move in the direction they wanted, no one should stand in their way. Anyone that slows them down will be out of the picture in a jiffy. We had to take matters into our own hands.

Risking it all, we walked right into the 'forbidden' place. A place where we reveal our true identities, for the sake of living on without a burden on our shoulders, for living on as per usual. Hiring another killer, I sent her into the room full of shadows along with my wife. Equipment buzzing around, I get myself mentally prepared to pull yet another trigger. We were finally meeting face to face with that little speed bump buried deep within us. I wait patiently outside.

5 minutes passed. My sweaty palms grip onto the insides of the pockets.

10 minutes passed. I started to doubt myself. I felt like charging in, standing firmly in objection to the death of a true innocent.

15 minutes... I realized that I had no choice. It must be done by now.

20 minutes... Dr. Caitlyn walks out with a nurse behind her. My wife, pale and cold, held on to that very nurse, tightly, in pain, unmoving.

"The abortion is complete...", said Dr. Caitlyn, in a soft assuring tone. I thank her for her hard work.

With tears running down our merciless cheeks, we held on tightly to each other, full of regret and at a loss for words. This was what we signed up for. This is the pain we have to face, no matter how much we resist.

We never wanted this. But we did it... We killed him.

Our own son.

~end~