Jake sat on the edge of the roof, eating a apple.
He watched the streets below, four stories down, with little cars passing and fewer people. But he didn't care about those things. He only cared about the car parked in front of a shop and its owner.
"Where are you, you little shit..." He mumbled to himself. He went to bite his Apple again, but found it was just a core, so he threw it over his shoulder. Then he heard the store door open with a jingle of a bell.
He looked at the store and saw a man walk out, keeping his head low. "Bingo." Said Jake with a grin. The man got into the car and drove off, with Jake following him by the rooftop.
He jumped from roof to roof, sometimes across the streets to the other roofs when the car turned in the opposite direction. The car finally pulled into a shack of a house, windows boarded up, white ain't peeling off the walls, and a screen door hanging on it hinges. The roof had a sort of patch job, a hole covered by just a couple of boards.
"What a shithole." Thought Jake as jumped down from a neighboring houses roof. The man hurried inside, the sound of a door locking could be heard as he closed the door.
Jake crouch walked to under a side window and looked in. The man stumbled into view a turned on the lights, revealing a dirty kitchen. He opened a rusted looking fridge and pulled out a can of beer.
He opened it and light yellow foam poured out the top, but he still drank it anyways. He did this multiple times until he stumbled out of the room, obviously drunk.
Jake waited a couple minutes before moving around to the back. He found the backdoor to the house, which was in no better shape than the front. He turned the doorknob, and the door came off its hinges.
"The fuck dude?" Jake propped the door up against the wall and walked inside. The first thing he noticed was the stench of the place. "Oh shit. seriously, the hell?" It smelled of rotten food and a bad shit, like he used the whole house as his toilet.
He heard the sound of a TV playing, so he made his way towards the sound. He came to a corner that turned into the room that the TV was in, and peeked around it.
He saw the man just sitting in an armchair, staring at the TV. Silently, Jake walked up behind the man, pulling out his black gun. When he was right behind the man, he places the end of the gun at the back of the man's head. He noticeable flinched, but kept sitting, letting out a defeated sigh.
"Nothing personal, but you gotta die." Jake was about to pull the trigger, but the man spoke up in a gravelly voice. "About time." Now Jake was confused.
"Um, what?" The man just laughed softly, with no humor behind it. "Haven't you noticed that I have no value in my own life anymore? I've given up. Thrown in the towel."
"Ok, so I can kill you then?"
"Yes. Just one fa-" Jake pulled the trigger, making a hole in the man's head, leaving a splattered mess on the TV. "Sorry pal, but I don't do favors."
Jake walked out the front of the house with a sack with blood seeping out of the bottom, and a beer from the fridge in the house. He opened it, and took a sip before spitting out the drink. "Trying to commit suicide with this? Brutal." He tossed the can to the side and called in his bike. A minute later, his bike rolled up, and he hopped on it, heading to cash in his reward.
When he arrived at the warehouse, he found cinder sitting on a crate with her legs crossed, about eight feet in the air, looking at him with an amused expression. "Did you take care of it?"
I smiled and threw the bag forward, it's belongings coming out. Roman walked around the corner of the box looking up at cinder. "The dust is set and lo-" he looked down at the thing on the ground, jumping back. "Holy shit!" He yelled in surprise.
The head of the man was on the ground, a hole going through its head out between the eyes.
"This is proof that he is dead." Cinder raised her eyebrow in question. "Why didn't you just take a picture?" He shrugged. "My scrolls battery was dead."
"Doesn't mean you bring the fucking head!" Yelled Roman angrily. Cinder raised her hand
to silence him. "He does have a point, though I admire your ability to track a target. He's been under my radar for a while."
Jake gave a confused look. "Really, cause this guy was easier to find then a drunk at a bar in the night."
"I see. And did he say anything to you before you killed him?"
"Yeah. Said he had given up on living and wanted a last request."
"I see. And did you give him that last request?"
"Didn't give him a chance. Shot him through the head before he even said a couple words."
Cinders face turned to one of surprise, then laughed. "Aren't you a cruel and merciless killer."
"I don't DO requests. Less time it takes to do a job, the better."
Cinder nodded her head before waving her hand. A white fang soldier walked out from behind the crate, holding a black scroll.
"Please take out your scroll, mr..." Cinder opened her hand out to me.
"Simmons."
"Well, can you take out your scroll Mr. Simmons?"
Jake took out his scroll, and the White Fang soldier walked up and tapped the top end of his scroll on jakes, a little bing being heard.
"The payment has been transferred to your account. Hope to do business with you again." Said cinder, waving him out.
Jake gave a small nod and walked out of the warehouse, towards his bike. He got on and sped off into vale.
"Maybe I should put the rest of my cash in my account." He thought to himself. "But first, a base of operations."
Jake drove through vale until he found a cheap looking apartment building, named The Sleepy Hunter. He parked his bike in front and walked in, the place smelling like a retirement home. He walked up to the front desk, which was vacant, and rang the bell on it.
"Coming!" Called a female voice from around back. A girl, no older than him, came running out from a room with the label employees only on it. She wore white short sleeved with a dark green apron, with the initials SH written in cursive and gold on her chest. She wore navy blue jeans, and white runners. Her hair, which was white with black streaks, was tied back in a ponytail, going down to just between her shoulder blades. Her eyes, to jakes surprise, were a dark, but somehow kind looking, red.
"Sorry, I was doing some paperwork, like bills and stuff, so sorry if you had to wait long." She said glumly, hanging her head with her hands crossed.
"Ok, well if you can give me a key to a room, you can get back to your paperwork." Said Jake, giving her a funny look.
"Oh, right! Sorry, give me a moment." She walked back through the door, and came back a moment later with a key in her hand.
"Just go to the room with the same number as the key and make yourself at home. House cleaning comes at noon, so just leave out your dirty towels and clothing, and they'll be back clean within the hour." She said as she handed Jake the key.
"Within the hour? Wouldn't it be longer?" Jake asked, slightly confused. She looked down, her expression turning to one of sadness. "There is only a few people taking residence here, so it takes less time to clean. It also means that pay isn't well either."
He nodded, and grabbed into his bag and pulled out some lien, and traded it for the keys. He walked away towards the door leading to the rooms as she counted the lien.
"Wait!" She called as he grabbed the handle. He turned and found her leaning over the desk with her arm out. "This is too much. More than double the cost." Jake nodded. "I know." He went to turn the handle.
"But why?" Jake sighed and turned to her. "Because I know what it's like to be short on money that needs to be payed." He walked through the door and closed it without another word.
Halfway down the hall, he came to realize what he had done, and felt a feeling all too alien to him.
Pity.
"Huh." He shook off the feeling and continued his way to his room.
