The Hitman part 1 death and rebirth
By
Kyle James Smith
It was a warm sunny autumn afternoon in September I was just driving back to the precinct after grabbing a caramel frappe from my favorite coffee shop. Good song going on the radio, roof down, shades on today was going my way. Easing my way into the parking lot of the precinct I put the Lamborghini in park turned off my radio and grabbed my cup of Joe heading for the front doors. An orange leaf from a nearby tree fell on my jacket sleeve I grinned a little gently pushing it as I walked up the steps. As I was reaching for the door handle the door opened and one of my best officer buddies was opening it he was seasoned about mid-thirties pretty easy going kind of guy. "Oh hey there Joe" I smile giving him a fist bump "Hey Jack" He smiles back at me returning the bump. "So returning from break?" he asks me smiling. "Yeah but hey good seeing you" I smile back. "Good seeing you too" he smiles back as he walks off and I head in going to the elevator and heading up it to my office on the third floor. I disembark waving at all my officer buddies walking by finally making it to my office I take a seat in my chair getting onto my computer. I log in starting to check my emails and I get a call on my cell from my wife smiling I answer it "Oh hey honey" I smile answering. "Hi baby" she responds back to me. "So how is Alex holding up?" I ask smiling into the phone. "Oh he has taken a liking to peanut butter hint hint I will have to give him a bath later" She giggles into the phone. "Well hey I should be off work in a couple of hours so I can spend the rest of my night with you guys." I smile into the phone. "Alright I love you Jack we will see you later." She smiles into the phone. "Alright baby I love you too." I smile back as I blow a kiss through the phone before hanging up the line. I get a call on my desk phone from Chief Ron "Oh hey Ron what's up?" I ask. "We brought in one of Orion's cronies." He says. "Alright lock him up I got to set up an interrogation for him tomorrow." I say. "Alright he is all yours and I sure as hell don't want to talk to him." He giggles. "Alright goodbye chief" I say. "Goodbye" He responds and the both of us hang up. I tinker on my computer for a little while before checking some of my emails and deleting all the unwanted ones. I take a look at my pocket watch and grab my coat from off my chair and throw it on and grab my car keys from off my desk. Walking out of my office closing the door behind me straightening my black tie and heading for the elevator pressing a button as soon as the doors shut for the ground floor I wave at all the desk sergeants and head out the door to the parking lot, I pull out my keys from my pocket to my Lamborghini and I open the door and step into the car closing it up and starting the engine. Heading out of the parking lot and onto the road I put it in gear and switch on the radio. As I am driving down the road I notice my phone ringing but I hang it up and keep on driving as I keep going a massive black van is pursuing me and I try to lose it in the traffic through the streets. But it's no use it keeps following me like a fly so I decide to pull into an ally but as soon as I do one more black van is coming at me from the front. I open the door making a run from my car into an abandoned warehouse near the ally I came into I run up a metal staircase into an old room. I quickly open the door and slam it shut looking out the window cautiously at the ally below. Some men come out of the vans in black ops armor and black suits looking all around in the ally a few come into the ground floor of the warehouse I ran into I keep the light off in the room that I am in and hide myself under an old table in the room. I quietly move to the window in the room pulling my hand gun from my coat pocket. I load a clip quietly readying myself to pick off some targets. I point cautiously out of a cracked opening in the window squeezing the trigger I hit one in the back of the head he drops all the ones outside turn to the dead body but when they turn to the window they see nothing I am crouched on the floor. Then about a minute later I hear automatic fire hitting the window shattering the glass and hitting different objects in the room meanwhile the guys who came into the warehouse are coming up the stairs and two of them start slamming themselves against the door trying to break it down. I am still crouched under the table light still off then they break down the door and charge into the room and two of them drag me by my legs down the stairs to the ground floor below. "Come on you asshole." Says one of them as my head hits the stairs on the way down to the ground floor. Four of them hold down my arms and legs as I struggle to get free but my efforts are futile. Soon the ground floor is surrounded by men in black ops gear and I am on the floor powerless to do anything. One man comes into the warehouse carrying a machete in his hands looking down at me as I struggle he clicks his tongue three times "Oh Jack you fucked up bad bringing in one of our best earners and thinking you can just let it slip by? Wow it's so nice to know that LA's finest is so Johnny on the spot about these things but unfortunately like all great men a price eventually has to be paid." Men start splashing gas all over the floor of the warehouse. "Also all good things must come to an end namely you and all that you hold dear you have been a pest in Orion's side for far too long and soon you will be no more than a memory." He says as he brings the machete close to Jacks face between his eyes. Then he gives one of the men holding Jack down a signal with his head and they hold Jack down tightly and slowly he begins to saw into my arm words cannot describe the excruciating pain I was feeling surge through all my nerves going into overdrive the blood seeping out the veins bursting and the bones breaking and snapping "Ahhhhhhhhhh oh holy mother fucking shit ah fuck!" I was yelling out in pain. As he got to the other side and just threw my arm off to the side I am down on the ground holding my bleeding stump. He signals for the other men to leave and his last words are "You look like a man who takes himself too seriously you want my advice?" Pulls a cigarette lighter clicking it on "You need to lighten up" throws it down turning the gas into a massive blaze all around me still in pain I struggle somehow to get onto my feet. Holding onto my bleeding stump I limp run up the stairs back to the room I was in and get on my cell calling my friend Joe "Joe the building is on fire and I am bleeding like hell I need help man please." He responds "Tracing the GPS in your phone now" I hang up with him as I do I look out the window of the room and the flames getting higher and higher I make my way up to the roof of the building and I run over to the fire escape. Somehow with one hand I climb down it to the sidewalk I begin coughing like crazy and a lot as I see my comrades cop cars pull up I fall to my knees onto the sidewalk and I fall flat on my face. I opened my eyes slightly to the sight of white lights and men in green hospital gowns rushing me my eyes close again and I drift back into where I was before opening my eyes. Joe along with my best officer buddies are all sitting in the waiting room one of the doctors comes in Joe immediately stands up and walks over. "Doc how is he how bad is it?" he asks. "Well his lungs suffered a lot of internal damage from all the smoke he inhaled and also his arm is completely gone." Explains the doctor "Is there anything that can be done for him doc?" asks Joe. "We have recently made massive strides in the area of cybernetic implants with patients plus there could possibly be a way that he could still breath but not have to use his damaged lungs." Says the doctor "All I want is my old friend and comrade back." Says Joe "We promise we will do everything we can in our power." Says the doctor Joe shakes the doctors hand "Thank you" says Joe and he and his buddies walk out of the building as I remain in a very deep sleep in my bed thinking of my wife and kid wondering how they are then suddenly I remembered I was still holding onto my cell. It rings but I ignored it a few minutes later I listen to the voicemail that was left on it. "Oh my Jack but the order to scare your wife and daughter was so trivial I just had to order them to be killed to make the sting to you hurt even more so don't expect to be going home to anyone anytime soon but you will live with your regrets and failures for the rest of your life enjoy them while you can." Says the voicemail I hang up as tears fall from my eyes and I cry myself to sleep. As I am sleeping that night I am having dreams in my head of my wife and child in a burning house and I am powerless to get them out or to save them I eventually cry and cry so much that I just pass out with those dark thoughts in my head unable to leave like horrible memories from the past. I remain asleep all through the night and the next day not even stirring when the doctors come in to wheel me off to the surgery. As I am wheeled down the hallways I think off what had happened and I retain one thing in my head that when I get out of this the men who did this to me are going to pay we go through some white doors and I breath in the smell of metal operating tools and latex gloves snapping on doctors hands as multiple wash their hands getting ready for what laid ahead. I opened my eyes once only thing I remember seeing was the doctor's masks and their eyes looking down upon me as one put the mask on my mouth and I whispered "Sleep" in a matter of milliseconds I was out the doctors were moving around one was readying a plasma torch and another was readying some complex looking cybernetic machinery another one was prepping an attachment piece so the arm could slip on easier and two doctors were preparing the breathing mask I would wear on my nose and mouth. In a matter of minutes the surgery began "Steady, steady" said one of the doctors to the one who was fastening the attachment for the arm on my stump. As one doctor is getting ready to fasten the arm on one of the doctors asks "That arm has a fusion reactor in it doesn't it?" he asks "Yeah" says the other one. As the arm is fused onto the attachment one of the doctors says "Wow miraculous" the one with the plasma torch begins to weld the upper part of the arm to the attachment piece and within a matter of two hours the surgery was over as I was wheeled out one of the doctors slipped the mask onto my face I remained asleep unaware of everything that had happened. The next morning I awaken slowly opening my eyes and I flex my robotic fingers slowly I rotate my eyes noticing the black mask on my nose and mouth then I lift my arm looking at the black metal plating all around it and the black metal hand. Am I on something? I think to myself and I turn my head to notice the door was about to open so I lay back again on the bed and the doctor along with my officer friend Joe walk in. The doctor says to my friend "Keep it brief he needs to sleep." "Alright then" says Joe I slowly sit up in my bed and put out my hand and Joe clasps it then we do a fist bump "How you holding up robot man?" he asks smiling laughing a little and sitting in one of the chairs and the doctor walks out of the room. "Well feels a little new to me but I think I can get the hang of this in time." I say in a somewhat mechanical throaty voice. I sit up a bit more flexing my arm marveling at the feel of my nerves with the electronics inside the arm itself. "So what is it like?" asks Joe. "Different but in an extremely intriguing way it's so fascinating how far modern medicine has come." I say then look over at Joe. "Well get well soon Jack we all miss you and wish you all a speedy recovery." He says then we fist bump again for the last time and he walks out the door and the doctor that was in the room earlier comes back with his tablet computer and he comes over to my left bedside. "So shall I give you the rundown on what's what with your new additions to your body?" he asks in a polite manner. "Yeah sure go ahead doc." I say "Well your arm not only will it give you the basic motor functions of a human one but your strength in your left arm has surpassed that far above that of a normal human you will be able to crack through brick walls if you were in a fight you will have no trouble with laying down some punches and uppercuts also there is a surprise hidden inside of it but I will leave that for you to find in time trust me on this your mask takes the oxygen normal people breath and purifies it specifically for your throat and lungs taking out all harmful chemicals in ordinary city air." He says "Well looks like I got some catching up to do." I say "You will be released the day after tomorrow." Says the doctor "Okay was there anything else you needed to tell me?" I ask "No but your friend wanted me to give you these he said it was all they were able to salvage to keep the memories of your wife and kid." The doctor says as he hands me two photos with the corners slightly singed a little I flip them a little in my fingers one of them is a photo of the three of us at the beach the other is me and my wife's first kiss on a fall day on a bench in our favorite park. I cry a little four tears falling from my eyes as the memories of those photos flow through my head like a floodgate I put the photos down on the side of my bed. I cry myself to sleep that night and I have dreams of how life used to be before all this shit hit the fan. The next day I slowly open my eyes to the sun shining through the blinds in my window I turn my head a little so that I am level with my sheets and my bed I hear a knock at my door and Joe my officer buddy walks in with a grocery bag and a bag with a Starbucks logo on it. "So do you need some help getting out of the bed?" asks Joe as he closes the door to my room then my doctor knocks on the door poking his head in "I will need to disconnect all your wiring so you can move" he smiles "Oh ok doc let's do this" I smile under my mask as he walks in and Joe takes a seat and the doctor carefully turns off all the monitors and other machines I swing my legs over the side of the bed rubbing my face a little. The doctor has me sign his tablet and Joe hands me the bag with the clothes and I go into my bathroom and change as I do I slowly look at my face and arm in the mirror marveling at the transformation that had happened not being able to get the voice from that voicemail out of my head. I throw on the shirt jeans and shoes and I come out of the bathroom and Joe asks me "Hey I got you this" he hands me caramel frappe from Starbucks and I press a button on the mask and I sip it slowly feeling the warm liquid slip down my throat as I breath closing my eyes smiling at the awesome familiarity. Of my favorite coffee beverages of all time Joe asks me "You ready to go bro?" "Yeah" I reply. I sign all my stuff on the doctor's tablet regarding all my medical stuff and Joe and I leave the room and walk out of the hospital to the parking lot where his car is waiting for us. He pulls his keys from his coat pocket I squint my eyes a little as the feeling of the sun hits my eyelids. We hop into his car and drive off I remain silent mostly as I look out the window of the converging traffic on the road reminiscing of the memories of my wife and child a tear slowly comes to my right eye. Joe looks aside and pats my shoulder "Hey man if you ever need anything I am here for you as a friend you know that right?" he asks me. "It just hurts still so damn fucking much" I say trying to fight back the tears. "I feel you buddy" says Joe we pull up to a massive apartment complex "I got a surprise for you man come on." He smiles as he gets out of the car and closes his door and I follow suit closing mine and he locks the car with his electronic key. He goes through the golden revolving door and I follow as he walks up to the front desk and I'm following alongside him. He rings a small looking brass bell and a lady in a blazer, jeans a t shirt and boots she had red hair pulled back into a bun. "What can I help you with today gentlemen?" she asks in a kind calm demeanor. "Mr. Jameson here would like to see his new home." Says Joe "Very well" She says she grabs my card key from a wall of them and leads us to the elevator I follow behind Joe and we step in the doors slowly going tight shut. Joe presses the button then pats my shoulder and I look at him giving me the thumbs up and I return the gesture nodding my head a little. "Wait till you see the surprise the guys at the station got for you" Joe smiles at me as we arrive on the floor and we walk out onto the floor heading about halfway down the hall Joe pulls the keycard from his jacket pocket and we stop at a door with the number A117 above it. He swipes the key on the lock and door opens automatically. We walk in I look all around it's quite a welcome sight some wonderful old paintings a kitchen will all the things required a shelf of some worn books is against a wall. There are two massive windows a flat screen television and two couches with a coffee table in the middle of them. "Oh wow Joe you got me a house this is awesome" I smile at him "Yeah man it's all yours" he smiles patting my shoulder the lady hands me my key and Joe says "Well I think I will let you get settled in see you man" "See you" I smile at him we knuckle bump and he goes back to the elevator I step into my apartment closing the door behind me. I walk down the stairs to the living room I look all around at the stuff around me the boxes with things still in them some of the furniture laid out my posters and paintings up. I sit down on the couch in the front room and I take out the pictures my friend gave me at the hospital and I cry a little but at the same time I smile remembering all the good times that were there. A few minutes later I hear a knock I get up slightly confused and I walk to my door I look out the peephole but see nothing I open the door. All I see is a massive black coat and hood "Who are you?" I ask somewhat confused. "May I come in?" the voice said it didn't sound harsh or grouchy it was calm and still like a pond in the spring time. I move aside the figure steps into my apartment and I close the door. The figure steps in and down the stairs past me it looks out the window and says "I know who murdered your family and I know what this monster has stolen from you I would be willing to help you get to the bottom of this if you will trust me" the figure turns and I make out two eyes from under it the figure pulls the hood down they eyes are brown a dark brown she is a female with a small yet innocent face. Hair like the night sky her skin dark yet beautiful like an old painting she removes the massive coat revealing her outfit she is wearing a red and black corset-like top with black fingerless gloves dark pants with shreds across the legs red boots black leather armbands and a katana gleaming on her back. "Who are you?" I ask her somewhat startled yet intrigued. "My name is Yuki I am an assassin I know the men who murdered your family and left you to die I am willing to help you get back at the ones who did this to you." She says to me "Well how do I know I can trust you?" I ask her she moves lightning fast to me pulls her katana putting it to my throat "Because if I wanted to kill you I would have done it already plus I got a score to settle with that asshole." She says to me backing off with the katana sheathing it. Suddenly I hear a knock at my door when I turn to go to the door to answer it Yuki says "Bad guys are outside the door if you want to live you will do what I say turn off all the lights then open the door." She instructs me I nod to her then turn off all the lights quickly then open the door hiding behind it some men in dark suits with gloves and automatic rifles walk in one closes the door but they don't see me or Yuki. I am hiding under my coffee table while Yuki is crawling on the ceiling she grabs one from behind by the neck and kills him without him making a sound. I slowly move behind one covering his mouth and break his neck the other four are looking around noticing two of their comrades are missing then Yuki waves her right hand speaking in an ancient tongue vines come out of the floor and grab one by the legs and drag him across the floor into a closet. The other three guys start firing their guns in random directions but neither of them can see me or Yuki I off two of them with my robotic arm and hand and Yuki stabs one and cuts the head off the other without the final guy knowing what just happened. I smack him hard in the back of the head with my fist "We keep him alive we need to know what's what with these guys" I say "Fair enough then" says Yuki. We tie him into a chair in my living room he wakes up a few minutes later looking down at his bindings then at us "What are you two going to do to me?" he asks "We will save the for later but for now we have some questions first off who were the men who murdered my wife and kid and left me to die?" I ask him. "You honestly think I know?" he says sweating a little bit "Why would you go through all this trouble to want to kill this man?" Yuki asks him "Well uh well uh" he stutters sweating a lot more now. "Listen if I wanted to kill you I would have done it already but the question right now is who do you fear more your boss or me?" I ask him slowly taking off my breathing mask showing him the massive scar on my face. "Holy shit it's you." he says stunned "Yeah your bosses lackeys left me to die in the inferno of a building but also one of your buddies sent me a voicemail" I say I pull out my phone and turn on the voicemail list and the voicemail plays. When it's finished the man's face turns pale white "His name is Orion he runs one of the biggest military contract firms in the world he is connected with lots of people in high places and so forth he also has a lot of dirty secrets." he says "That is all I know that is all that I know." He says stuttering sweating a little I nod my head a little then I turn around and lightning fast I hit him clean in the jaw with my robot fist and he goes out cold. Yuki looks over to me "Well what is your next move?" she asks me "I am not the man I was everything has been taken from me but the deaths of those who suffered will not be in vain." I say clenching my fist tightly "I will become a force one that will strike fear into the hearts of those who would hurt others I will become a name that all men will fear and tremble when they see me." I slowly put the mask back on me I look over to Yuki with a cold glare in my eyes "Whether by my bullets or my hands they will die." I say I go to my room and come out a few minutes later in a shirt and tie slacks shoes dark grey goggles with dark green lenses "Hey Yuki can you summon weapons?" I ask her. "Yeah what do you want?" she asks snapping her fingers. "Just two regular handguns" I say "Alright then" she says and two pistols gently float down from the air into the palms of my hands. "I will be the hitman." I say coldly pulling the goggles over my eyes putting the pistols into my trench coat pockets Yuki puts a hand on my shoulder "I will be glad to fight by your side on this" she says "Well you are more than welcome to join me" I respond back. She sheaths her sword and I turn around to face her "Well where would you like to start with this?" I ask her "Do you have a computer?" she asks me. "Yeah follow me" I say we walk to my computer desk in my room and she takes a seat in the black leather rolling chair moving the mouse to bring the screen back on. She uses the cursor to log into my internet and Google's Orion organization looking at it curiously. "It looks like they got a lot of contracts with the military and they have a lot of deep pockets and people in high places." She says browsing through their website "Well do they have lots of scientists that work for them to make sure their experiments go unhitched" she says "Well looks like we should pay one of their labs a visit" I say "Does that sound like a good place to start?" I ask her "Yeah and from the looks of the Google map here it looks like there is a lab not too far from your apartment complex just a few blocks south of here" she says. I button up my trench coat "Well shall we go?" I ask her "Yeah" she says before switching off my computer standing up from the desk after she walks out with me I close the door to my room and we head for the front door of my apartment. Meanwhile in another part of the city in a massive white many windowed building a man in a dark shirt suit coat, pants and shoes is sitting facing a massive window looking out at the city a man in a dark suit white shirt and tie walks into the room. "You wanted to see me sir?" he asks the man at the desk.