Vines clawed their way through the cracks in the brown speckled, red stone, crawling toward the sun trying to stay alive. They clung to the walls with their dear little lives, vulnerable in the real world. A small child walking with his mother reached out to touch the vines, wrapping his small fingers around the stem and gently pulling. The vine wasn't strong enough to hold onto the wall and fell, laying limply on the ground, defeated.
The mother pulled her child along quickly as it was getting late. The sun was setting over the horizon falling behind a small hill in the distance scattering shades of orange and red all over the sky. Johan stood watching as the mother hurried on being the last of the people to leave. He smiled to himself. He could now watch as his plan unraveled.
He began walking into the historic building as the sun shed it's last rays of light on the world, turning the sky a shade of purple. He stopped at the bottom of a long winding staircase, looking up into the darkening sky now beginning to be splattered with stars.
From the bottom of the staircase Johan could here the faint sounds of someone whistling near the top. Johan began his ascend of the stairs, taking his time and moving quietly. As he neared the top the whistling became louder, Johan just hoped that this was the person he was looking for.
It was. He was turned facing away from Johan, his navy blue janitor suit making him invisible against the night sky. He swept his broom back and forth keeping perfect time with Johan's heartbeat. He was whistling a familiar tune that sounded oddly like a nursery rhyme from Johan's past, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. But there was no time for pondering over a silly tune, there was work to be done.
Slowly and carefully, Johan began taking small steps toward the man, careful not to catch his attention. He walked up right behind him, the man continuing his work not even realizing Johan was there.
Johan reached out his hands, placing them on the mans shoulders and holding him in place. The man's body stiffened and he tried to crane his neck around so he could look at who was holding onto his shoulders, but was unsuccessful of any movement.
"Who are you? What do you want? We're closed for the day, come back tomorrow," whispered the man unsteadily.
Johan could tell he was trying to remain calm, but the shakiness of his voice gave him away. Johan leaned forward putting his mouth close to his ear.
"My name is unimportant," he whispered directly into his ear, "But I know that your's is Xavier Talhomn. You have a beautiful wife and a daughter that looks just like you. You live in a poor community and your wife works during the day as a waitress and you work here during the night."
The man's body began to stiffen more and his hands clenched into tight fists. His breathing picked up and ,Johan being so close, could feel his heart pounding in his chest. A smile broke across Johan's face, he had Xavier right where he wanted him.
"Wh-who are you?" he stuttered, obviously terrified," H-how do you know so much about me? What do you w-want?"
"There's something I need you to do for me, Xavier. If you don't your family will die." Johan leaned in closer and whispered the last part slowly, letting it sink in.
"Wh-what? I'll do anything, just don't hurt my family!" Xavier was completely frightened now and on the verge of screaming.
"Good, very good."
Johan slipped a note into the pocket of the navy blue jumpsuit, and let go of the mans shoulders. He stepped back and slowly made his way backwards towards the stairs. He remained facing Xaviera just in case he decided to turn on Johan. He didn't.
"Follow these instructions carefully and your family will not be harmed," Johan finally turned away trusting the man wouldn't turn on him.
"Fine."
The mans hand was shaking as he reached into his pocket and extracted the piece of paper unfolding it and holding it up to his face to read. Johan walked down the stairwell into the dark and away from the man who had fallen to his knees and his body was shaking with dry sobs.
The gun felt cold and light in the palm of his hand. He stood outside the house in the dark, watching through the front window of the house, as a man and women silently ate their dinner. He lifted the latch on the white picket fence gate and slowly opened it so that the hinges did not creak, giving him away. He shut it quietly, gently putting the latch back in place and started slowly down the dark path toward the house.
It was moments like this that every person he had ever killed flashed through his mind. The lives he had ruined playing like an old broken film in the back of his mind. He reminded himself that this was the life he had been trained to lead, the life he had chosen. He could have taken a different path in life, turned good by getting a well paying career and started a family, but he hadn't. He had taken the wrong path, it was what he had wanted and it was too late to go back now.
He stopped at the stairs glancing back at the window where the couple were enjoying their dinner, the last meal they would ever eat. He took the steps one at a time and stood right in front of the door. He slowly lifted his hand and rapped three times as hard as he could. He hid the gun inside his jacket as the man opened the door with a smile.
"Why hello there. Can I help you?" asked the old man still smiling.
"Can I come in for a minute and ask you a few questions?" Johan asked innocently returning the smile.
"Sure."
The man stepped out of the way, still holding the door and extending his arm to invite Johan in. This was it, the moment Johan had prepared for. The smile on Johan's face grew even more, but it was not because the man had so generously agreed like he probably thought, but the fact that this would be very easy.
