A Dark Facade: Chapter One
A Dark Facade: Chapter One.
He was a family man, always looking after his wife and 3 daughters with the utmost care. Never batting an eyelash at a request they made. He worked an everyday job: menial and repetitive in order to put food on the table. Every Friday night at 7:30, he liked to watch the football and every Sunday afternoon, he would go out to lunch with his darling Emiline.
However, underneath this facade was a dark past.
Each night, he would get a page on his pager with a name, place and price on it. He would head out with his sniper and do what must be done. These people were dangerous. They needed to go down.
He didn’t know what these people did but if the Halifax said they needed to die, that’s what he did. He killed them. He would then take their possessions, burn them and throw the body in a meat grinder. The system didn’t have a single flaw.
Bad people died, he got money and his family were looked after.
Until that dreaded night. He woke on the couch to that familiar "beep" that signaled the arrival of another name, place and cost. The words he saw on the screen shocked him. Chilled him down to the core.
"Joseph Worthington."
In other words, his boss at the Halifax. He couldn’t do it. Never had he felt fear about a kill but this one was definitely something to worry about.
Joseph Worthington was renowned to be a cold blooded killer when he wanted to be. A normal man at home (like everyone else at the Halifax) he was a black belt in several different types of martial and was skilled with snipers, handguns, shotguns and even rocket launchers. He was the most deadly of all the Halifase.
Yet there it was, clear as day on the screen, Joseph Worthington.
He then looked down to see how much it was worth. The figure on the screen made him clutch his chest. That much would be more than he gets paid in 5 years!
But he still couldn’t do it. Joseph Worthington was his ally and long time friend.
Logically, there was only one other choice: run.
He packed his things and sprinted out the front door towards the Mercedes Benz parked in the driveway. He would drive for 10 hours, then call home and tell his darling Emiline that he was on a business trip.
But he never got to the car. He was ambushed by 3 men in black jumpsuits and balaclavas. They picked him up and threw him roughly into the boot of the Mercedes and drove off. He tried to tell which way he was going: Left, right, left, right, right, left, but it was impossible to keep track.
After what felt like an age, he felt the car come to a halt underneath him. The boot was violently thrown open and he was torn from it in a rush. He was carried into what he could only assume was some kind of shack near a lake. He was thrown onto a chair in the middle of the single room and the questioning began...
"Halifase 11039?"
"Yes, that’s me."
"What did the pager say?"
He figured cooperating with the attackers was the easiest way to get out of here alive.
"It was asking me to kill Joseph Worthington."
"And are you going to do it?"
"No"
"Sorry, wrong answer. Let’s try again and this time, you’re going to know that we have your family and the only way they’re going to get out of this alive is if you kill Joseph Worthington."
He started hyperventilating. They had his family? His darling Emiline?
"If I do this, you must promise to let them go..."
"Deal. Are you going to do it?"
He knew he didn’t have a choice.
"Yes. I am going to kill Joseph Worthington."
However, underneath this facade was a dark past.
Each night, he would get a page on his pager with a name, place and price on it. He would head out with his sniper and do what must be done. These people were dangerous. They needed to go down.
He didn’t know what these people did but if the Halifax said they needed to die, that’s what he did. He killed them. He would then take their possessions, burn them and throw the body in a meat grinder. The system didn’t have a single flaw.
Bad people died, he got money and his family were looked after.
Until that dreaded night. He woke on the couch to that familiar "beep" that signaled the arrival of another name, place and cost. The words he saw on the screen shocked him. Chilled him down to the core.
"Joseph Worthington."
In other words, his boss at the Halifax. He couldn’t do it. Never had he felt fear about a kill but this one was definitely something to worry about.
Joseph Worthington was renowned to be a cold blooded killer when he wanted to be. A normal man at home (like everyone else at the Halifax) he was a black belt in several different types of martial and was skilled with snipers, handguns, shotguns and even rocket launchers. He was the most deadly of all the Halifase.
Yet there it was, clear as day on the screen, Joseph Worthington.
He then looked down to see how much it was worth. The figure on the screen made him clutch his chest. That much would be more than he gets paid in 5 years!
But he still couldn’t do it. Joseph Worthington was his ally and long time friend.
Logically, there was only one other choice: run.
He packed his things and sprinted out the front door towards the Mercedes Benz parked in the driveway. He would drive for 10 hours, then call home and tell his darling Emiline that he was on a business trip.
But he never got to the car. He was ambushed by 3 men in black jumpsuits and balaclavas. They picked him up and threw him roughly into the boot of the Mercedes and drove off. He tried to tell which way he was going: Left, right, left, right, right, left, but it was impossible to keep track.
After what felt like an age, he felt the car come to a halt underneath him. The boot was violently thrown open and he was torn from it in a rush. He was carried into what he could only assume was some kind of shack near a lake. He was thrown onto a chair in the middle of the single room and the questioning began...
"Halifase 11039?"
"Yes, that’s me."
"What did the pager say?"
He figured cooperating with the attackers was the easiest way to get out of here alive.
"It was asking me to kill Joseph Worthington."
"And are you going to do it?"
"No"
"Sorry, wrong answer. Let’s try again and this time, you’re going to know that we have your family and the only way they’re going to get out of this alive is if you kill Joseph Worthington."
He started hyperventilating. They had his family? His darling Emiline?
"If I do this, you must promise to let them go..."
"Deal. Are you going to do it?"
He knew he didn’t have a choice.
"Yes. I am going to kill Joseph Worthington."
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