The next morning I awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside. Opening my eyes sunlight hit them, forcing me to close them again. My face was warm, but the light penetrated my eyelids, making it difficult to fall back asleep.
"Wake up" Harrison said, nudging my cheek.
I pushed him away, rolling over in my bed. My face became cold, and I opened my eyes again, sighing. I sat up in my bed and looked over at Harrison struggling back onto my bed.
"What'd you do that for?" He asked.
"I was trying to sleep," I said, "but now I'm awake"
"How much did you drink last night?" Harrison asked.
"Enough to give me a minor hangover." I replied, rubbing my head, "Whatever. It's not that bad"
I got up out of bed, still fully clothed from last night. Oops, I thought, looking down at myself.
I went downstairs to the tavern and ordered a breakfast sandwich and a glass of milk.
"Ye had a good time last night?" The bartender asked.
"I think so" I replied.
The bartender laughed a croaky, deep laugh, "Ye think?" He asked.
"What did I do?" I asked, "I can't really remember"
The bartender smiled, "Ye may not wanna remember" He replied.
I sighed, finishing my sandwich, "Alright" I said, gulping down the last of my milk and standing up to leave.
I dropped a few lien on the counter, "Thanks for the meal and the room" I said, leaving the tavern.
As I left the tavern I heard small paws scurrying behind me. I turned around to see Harrison charging towards me, his small legs carrying him as fast as they could, which wasn't very fast.
"You aren't leaving me behind this time!" He called, hopping onto my shoulder and catching his breath.
I sighed, "Alright" I replied, finding my moped and driving around what was now revealed in the daylight to be a small town.
I pulled off my sunglasses, looking around for someone who would give me a job.
"What about him?" Harrison asked me, pointing his nose towards a man with a shaggy, dishevelled face.
I looked at him, seeing myself asking him if he wanted anyone dead. "Nah," I replied to Harrison, "the dude's just a dead beet. All he wants is money and food" I stopped in front of him. He eyed me strangely.
"You need anything?" I asked him, knowing the answer already.
"Just some spare change, if you have any" He replied.
I reached into my pocket, pulling out twenty-five lien, "Is this enough?"
He took it, a smile reaching his lips, "Thank you so very much, kind sir" The man said, stuffing the money into his pocket and running towards the tavern that I'd been staying in.
Must be a center for food or something I thought, starting to move again.
"So you still do good things here and there, do you?" Harrison asked.
"I got money to spare," I replied, "he doesn't"
We biked around for about an hour before I ran into someone with some anger welling up inside of them.
"Excuse me ma'am," I started. She turned to me, her face red with anger.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I'm curious as to why you're angry" I asked, once again knowing the answer. Her fiancé had been murdered by a thief in an alleyway. Sure enough, that's exactly what she said.
"I could take care of that for you," I told her, "for a price"
"What kind of price are we talking about here?" She asked.
"Quite a bit," I replied, "meet me behind this shop here in an hour if you're interested" I gestured to the building next to us with a flick of my head.
"I don't need an hour," She replied, "I'll meet you back there now"
"I like to give my clients some time to think, so take the hour" I told her, noting the name and location of the shop and driving off.
"Think she's going to take it?" Harrison asked me.
I paused, "She is," I replied, "I know. She'll probably regret it afterwards, but that's all that I know"
"Then why did you ask her about it?" Harrison asked me.
"The future can be changed," I replied, "either she's going to refuse through some change in events, or she's going to go with it and deal with her own regret. It's not my job to deal with the aftermath of my actions, only the job itself"
Harrison didn't say anything after that.
An hour later I arrived behind the building. Sure enough, the woman was there too.
"So?" I asked.
"Give me more details," she replied, "I want to know those before I say yes"
"Alright," I replied, "well, obviously I'd kill the man. I'd need to know where he found and killed your fiancé, and also your price range."
The woman paused, "Well," she started, "um"
"Remember that this man's blood will be on your hands." I said, "Can you live with that?"
She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, "Yes," She decided, "yes alright. Um," She looked around, "Well the thief found my fiancé in an alleyway on the other side of town, between Jim's Pizzeria and The Popper's Emporium of Assorted Salts"
"Prices?" I asked.
"Right." The woman said, "How much are you asking for?"
"Well," I started, "without the location of the man, that's a little extra. I'd say…" I paused to think, "…about five to seven thousand lien would do the trick"
"A little on the expensive side, wouldn't you say?" The woman asked.
"I'm killing people," I said, "trust me it doesn't feel good. I need some compensation"
"Fine," The woman said, "so is five thousand the lowest you'll go?"
"I'm not sure if I'm okay with that low. Maybe six thousand five hundred?"
"Six thousand?" The woman bargained, "Does that sound fair?"
I paused, then nodded, "Sure," I replied, "I'll go with that" I knew that if I kept persisting that the price would only go down.
"I'll get that do you when the deed is done" The woman told me.
"I'm sorry ma'am," I started, "but I try to minimize the amount of contact that I have with my clients, so I'm afraid that you will have to pay me upfront"
She stared at me suspiciously, "I'll be sure to tell you when the deed is done. I'll even show you the body if you want afterwards" I added.
The woman sighed, then opened up her purse and wrote up a cheque of six thousand lien for me. She handed it to me, "There," she said, "make sure you are thorough with this, and don't even think about cheating me"
I took the cheque and slid it into my jacket pocket, "I'm staying up at The New Mug tavern," I said, "You can find me in room 1. Don't worry; I won't be leaving any time soon"
"You'd better not" The woman said.
I'd be here a while, I knew that for sure.