Redemption

This is part of a new thing that I’m doing where I have people pay me $3 and I write them a short story based off of a sentence or a single word. You can get your own here

Geldrich Landmeyer wasn’t a jealous man. He wasn’t evil, manipulative, or sloppy. What he was was careful. He carefully slipped on a pair of pristine white gloves. No fingerprints would be left after he was done. He slipped a pair of knives into a secret pocket in the gloves. He wouldn’t need them. However “Prepared” was his middle name. He’d be dead before he was caught without at least six knives on his person.

His target was no one special, though when people pay you to kill, everyone is no one special. The target was a man, as most of his targets were. The buyer wanted him dead for “revenge reasons.” Most of his targets were the same. This was a routine job. Geldrich liked routines. It made his life feel simple. Orderly. The same buttered toast with jam for breakfast. The same cup of tea. These are the things that brought Geldrich joy.

The target’s name was Abaneezer Yellowhart. Geldrich didn’t care. Geldrich only cared that he was dead after today. He unsealed the window of their 5th floor apartment and crawled in. The house was meager. Photos of family and kids hung over the wall, showing a life that had been lived by someone who had settled down.

A thought appeared.

Odd.

Normally these missions went without a hitch. In and out without a second thought or a second glance. This photo gave him pause. It was a simple photo of Abaneezer with a husband and two kids at the arcade fun complex. There was a smile on the kids face and a candid nature to the photo. He took a closer look at all the other photos. Each one had that same look of joy, same look of happiness on their face.

No.

The mission is important.

L.Y. wasn’t paying pennies for this man. He was paying hundreds of thousands of credits. But for what? For a small family of four just trying to get by. Geldrich didn’t know where this sudden rush of emotion came from. Geldrich didn’t like it.

He refocused himself. Took a deep breath and walked into their sleeping quarters. The couple was sleeping on separate beds, as was tradition in the Order of the Sun. He easily found Abaneezer and pulled out his knife.

He took a deep breath.

He held the knife above his victims throat.

He hesitated.

That smile. That damnable smile. The kid’s smile permeated through Geldrich’s mind like poison, taking the blank slate image of this man and filling it with story. He tried to push it out of his mind but to no avail. Thoughts and theories swirled through his head until there was nothing left but a clear picture. Abaneezer was a loving father who took care of his kids.

Something that Geldrich wished he had.

He couldn’t take that away from them.

The assassin sighed and walked out of the room quietly, leaving the door slightly open. It was unfortunate really. This failure would surely sour Geldrich’s reputation.

But for some reason that he was just coming to terms with in his heart, He didn’t care.