"Damn it, Alfred! I swear you never pay attention to what I'm ever telling ya! You always doze off!"
Said Alfred's department manager for the New York Cities paper, Mr. Ericemdo. Alfred was currently working as an assistant for a photography section for the paper. It had always been a dream of his to work for the New York Paper just like his favorite super hero, Peter Parker. And just like his favorite web-slinging hero, he has to start out small and work his way up the latter. So that meant Alfred wasn't a photographer just yet. For a majority of his time he just worked as an assistant for his Cuban boss, Mr. Ericemdo, who Alfred couldn't stand at all. His boss was a big star in the office though. Most of his work got front page on the city paper, which was very hard to do.
When Alfred started working for the guy all he was assigned to do was refill his coffee and buy the guy his special Cuban Cigars at some discreet location Alfred always feared going to. Half of the time the Cuban wasn't even in the office! So Alfred would just sit in his little cubicle all alone, not risking leaving for he might get fired.
"Huh, what? Oh sorry boss! Just didn't get much sleep at all last night..." Alfred yawned while rubbing his eyes from the lack of sleep. He stayed up late waiting at the dry cleaners for one his boss's suits. Yes, he also had to run airings for his lazy ass.
"Sheesh kid, get some sleep will you? If you want to keep working for me then you got to be focused at all times! I don't pay you for day dreaming do I?" he said shaking his head at Alfred who was using two chairs in the office to lay down on. Alfred sat up and mumbled how he barely gets paid at all under his breath.
"Does this mean I get to do something today?" Alfred was almost excited but didn't have his hopes up. Most serious work he's done so far with a camera was cleaning the lens of his bosses camera.
"You do work everyday don't cha? You still got that shiny camera of yours, si? If not then go buy one. I need you to get some shots for me tonight. I'll pay ya too." He said fumbling for something on his desk.
Alfred sprung out his chair and twisted around to grab his over the shoulder bag, pulling out his Fujifilm FinePix A500. Not the best camera for his job but it was all he could afford. When Mr. Ericemdo saw the camera and shook his head. He then started writing something down on a piece of paper and handed it over to Alfred who grabbed it eagerly.
"122nd street north outer hal-" Alfred began reading it out loud.
"Hey whatcha doing kid!?" His boss cut him off by slapping the side of Alfred's arm. "Its on paper for a reason aint' it? Just follow these directions and it will take ya to where ya need to go."
Alfred rubbed his arm and stared at the address in confusion. The address was in a pretty shady part of the city that Alfred didn't recognize too well because of being told numerous times by friends to stay clear.
"Just what exactly am I taking pictures of? This location I hear isn't the best place to hang around. And at 1:00 am in the morning?" Alfred asked puzzled, scratching his head.
"I give ya one job and ya turn it down already? Thought you wanted this job kid." His Cuban boss said then reached for the paper from the boy's hands but Alfred pulled the paper back and clung to it tightly.
"No! I mean yes! I want this job! I was just curious that's all. I want just want to know what to be looking for exactly." Alfred wasn't about to let his only chance at proving himself go and moving up at work. If they needed him to go to the slums, then hell he'd do it.
Mr. Ericemdo eyed him suspiciously for a moment then looked around making sure nobody was close enough to hear what he was about to say.
"That location is a popular spot for meetings. Like drug deals, money exchanges, trade and so on. It's also a hot spot for the Mafia to meet up." He glanced around one more time and leaned in closer to young American man. " I got a tip from an insider of mine that a big exchange is going on tonight at that location with the Mafia... The Russian Mafia to be specific. If we get pictures of them caught in the act then this will be huge news kid! I'm talking about front page kind of news!" He smiled, nudging Alfred's arm.
Alfred couldn't get the thought of a front-page photo on the New York Cities paper with his name right there under it out of his head. Sounded pretty damn good to him. "Front page? That sounds big! But why are you sending me and not going yourself to get the photos?" Alfred asked.
"Eh, too much work." he shrugged. "So I count on you since you're my assistant, right?"
Alfred's face lit up and he grabbed his bosses hand, shaking it violently up, down, left, and right in all of the excitement. "Hell yeah, Sir! You can count on me for catching those dirty Russian's in act-"
"Eh, shut up kid, will ya!? You want someone else hearing of it and stealing your catch?" he said putting his hand over Alfred's month. "hmm-mm!" Alfred mumbled shaking his head.
"Get out of here. I have work to get done before tonight. Call me later about how it goes, kid. I'm counting on ya." Mr. Ericemdo said letting his hand drop from Alfred's month to place it on his shoulder.
"Yes, sir!" Alfred exclaimed but in a whisper then ran out the door, nearly knocking a few people over along the way.
"Don't die kid." His boss said shaking his head, watching the energetic blonde run out the doors.
Alfred arrived at the address given to him on the little piece of paper supplied by his boss. He made sure to arrive an hour before hand so he can sneak around the place and search for a good hiding spot and an escape route just in case things went south.
Parking his bike about half a mile out, he jogged the rest of his way there while keeping an eye on the alleys he passed and being ready if someone suddenly leaped out from one of them. When his friends told him this place was sketchy they sure weren't kidding. Old warehouses were crumbling down and the houses didn't look so livable but noises kept coming from inside them.
Alfred stopped his jog when he came up to a huge abandoned warehouse with large rust colored metal doors. Bricks were scattered on the ground all over and he made sure to not trip over them the closer he got.
He cleared his throat before grabbing the side of one of the doors and pulled, causing a loud stretching sound to fill the silent night air and warning the whole warehouse of his presence. He immediately stopped and squeezed himself through the crack, not wanting to open it making any more noise. The entire ceiling in the center o the building was made up of glass, though most of it was shattered and laying on the ground on the first floor. The light the leaked in was enough for him to maneuver around without needing a flashlight, which was good because Alfred had forget his.
After finding a staircase that looked safe enough to climb, Alfred made his way to the second floor to scout around for a place to hide with a good view of main level. He found a perfect spot behind some old crates that was against the railing over looking the spot where he assumed the mob would meet up. Once he laid down in a somewhat comfortable position, he carefully removed his camera and set it up at an angle pointed downward. He didn't know how long he stayed frozen in that one position until the sound of metal screeching made his head snap back up and he rubbed his eyes to clear his vision.
When he realized that the screeching he had heard was the front doors he quickly became more alert and turned on his camera and waited nervously for someone to come into view. He listened as he heard faint voices come from below. He couldn't make out exactly what they were saying because they seemed to be speaking a different language.
'The Russians' Alfred thought and grinned.
Soon enough there was a new voice coming from the other side of the building that spiked Alfred's curiosity.
"I can see now that the transaction will not happening as agreed upon. And here I thought Russians were ones of their word?" The voice from before said louder and Alfred was quick to catch on to his English accent. English mob perhaps? He didn't even know that they had one.
"I believe the deal insisted the presence of your trivial leader, did it not? In the end it was you all who did stand by their word. I was just prepared for your failure is all." The one who spoke then had a Russian accent so thick that Alfred had to concentrate on each word precisely.
"You expect him to be in the presence of you blasted barbarians? We know you and your cold-hearted nature. Don't think we didn't plan on you killing him at first sight." The English man said in disgust.
There was a deep, chilling chuckle that filled the tense room next. "I cannot refuse that killing your puppet stringer would make things run more smoothly for us, but sadly I cannot have that that kind of fun yet. Work before pleasure, da?" The Russian man stated in a way that made a shiver run down Alfred's spine and back up again.
"You bloody bastard!" The English man shouted and followed through with a few other curses and threats that really made Alfred re-think that men from England were supposedly proper all English gentlemen. Well that stereotype was busted!
Alfred sat and listened to him go on but listening wasn't going to get him on the papers front page. He needed to be closer to the edge to he could catch the people at an angle where the darkness didn't shield there faces. Just as Alfred was about to move up he heard a loud gunshot shatter the air and many more soon followed.
"Shit!" Alfred covered his head and got to his knees. He waited for it to end before getting up, grabbing his camera and crawling to a new spot to hide without being noticed. He crawled behind an old barrel and closed his eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down before glancing around his hiding spot to peer back down below.
The spot was in now gave a perfect new view of the first level and still kept him out of sight. He pulled his camera back out and looked through the lens to zoom in and get a better look of the whole shot out that just happened below. His fingers froze immediately once his view landed on a still form on the ground, pools of red creeping out from underneath it. Alfred gasped and jerked away from the camera. Apparently the gunshots had resulted with the murder of one of the men, but he didn't know which group that guy belonged to.
As uncomfortable and morally wrong it all seemed to Alfred, he knew he had to take a photo of the body and the crime scene for this job. The sooner he got this over with the sooner he could get the hell out of the warehouse and away from the cruel killers that lurked just below. The blond gripped his camera tightly and leaned back down to peer through the little hole. He zoomed in and out to get a good to get it focused before taking endless photos of the body, the blood, and the bullet holes of pillars around it. He tilted his camera back up and scanned the space for the others but they all hid within the surrounding shadows and away from the light. Alfred scooted a little close to the edge and zoomed back in.
Finally a person emerged from the shadows with a gun in hand and Alfred knew he couldn't have asked for a more perfect shot. He waited for his camera to steady and adjust itself on the person. Instead of immediately taking the photo of this stranger, Alfred found his finger twitching on the button once he realized who he was about to take a photo of.
The man he had in his frame was probably the most handsome man that Alfred had ever seen in his life. He wore a black suit with the first few top buttons of the jacket and shirt left open, exposing some of his pale chest. His pale skin shimmered under the moonlight making him look captivating and almost glowing to the naked eye. Alfred couldn't help but to trail his eyes up his chest to notice a pale scarf loosely slung around his neck with the ends thrown over his shoulder. His face looked so smooth yet with such strong bone structures and a strangely attractive large manly nose. He had long silvery colored hair that covered his forehead, and skimming his eyelids ever so delicately.
To Alfred this complete stranger of a man seemed to be the most perfect human being in that moment, it was almost un-real. He couldn't help but blush just by looking at the man. Being too memorized by the striking figure he couldn't find himself to move the camera away from him. Alfred watched as this mysterious handsome man lifted a gun that was in his hand to reload it slowly, steadily before placing in his jacket's inner side pocket. But what Alfred thought was weird about the whole scene was how the guy smiled during the whole act.
"Just what are you smiling about big guy?" Alfred whispered to himself.
Even after the man put the gun away and straightened out his suit coat he was still grinning to himself. Alfred felt weird and strangely aroused by the fact he was secretly about to take photos of this guy. Surely his boss wouldn't mind if he secretly kept a few. He licked his lips and squinted his eyes, aiming precisely then clicked the button and snapped a clear photo of the man who was still grinning.
Suddenly the silver haired man turned his head in Alfred's and flashed a pearly white grin before winking. Alfred tensed in his spot, too scared to move even a single muscle.
Impossible... He couldn't have… Alfred's heart began beating furiously in hear against his chest he swore it was loud enough for the other to hear it too.
"No photography allowed." A girl hissed before Alfred could react to the threating voice he felt a quick jab into the back of his head, making him drop his camera with a loud clank. Then he felt another whack made everything go black before his head hit the cold warehouse floor.