Sinco Sy made his way towards the dark basement of the Pecerve Hotel. He gave a straight look on his way, not giving any glance. He weighed the gun on the pocket of his hood. He strolled through an old iron staircase before he entered the wide basement. He traveled the surroundings— several cars were parked. At one corner of the basement, he saw a janitor doing the thrashing of garbages. He approached him.
“Excuse me,” he said in a croaky voice.
The janitor turned to face him.
“Hello Sir” he greeted.
“You may go home now.”
The janitor felt confused about the stranger man in front of him. He narrowed his eyes on him, but the man’s gazes were unstable. His face was unrecognizable by the black cap he’d worn coupled with the black sunglasses.
“I’m sorry, but what is it again Sire?”
He studied the man in front of him— he looked like an Asian.
“You’ve worked too hard today. You deserve a price. You may go home now and rest early,” said Sinco.
“With a full respect Sire, but may I know your name? I am the night-shifter, my duty hours will end at 8 in the morning. It is still 2:00 AM. I’m afraid I may get fired of my irresponsibility,” he reasoned.
“My name— you wouldn’t wish to know. Proceed on what you are doing.”
Sinco left the janitor bewildered.
Meanwhile, the janitor was finished segregating the trash bins. He moved his way from the basement.
Sinco continued strolling his shoes. He looked at his wristwatch— 2:03 A.M. He flipped open the top of the watch and displayed a compass. The pointer pointed in the direction of the north. He grabbed the phone in his wallet and opened the GPS. He tracked them.
From the very most corner of the basement stood three men. They were all wearing black. One, a tall big man was wearing a black sleeveless revealing his bulging muscles; his hair was curly long which extended down his neck; he was carrying a knife in his pocket. The other two were smaller men. One was with a medium height; he wore a black coat, and black pants; and a bonnet in his head. He hid his hands on the pocket of his coat— sweating and quivering inside him. While the last man was the coolest. He didn’t display such behavior. He wore a casual checkered t-shirt and casual shorts with reading glasses on his eyes. He was calm doing some stuff on his phone.
“The GPS says, the boss will be here any minute,” said the man wearing reading glasses on the two men.
Both spoke nothing. They waited a minute until Sinco arrived at his destination.
“Let us see what we got here,” Sinco enunciated in a cold tone.
He scrutinized the two men except for the man in reading glasses— his assistant. His eyes were pretty sure that the two men were soaked in the gym. The bulging muscles of the tall man spoke of it, while the other man was more like a newbie. His eyes could easily determine his vulnerability. He was so much lesser than lame.
“Won’t you introduce your boys, Rupert?” He turned towards his assistant.
“Yes of course—”
Rupert was about to continue opening his mouth when Sinco made a stop signal on his right hand.
“I don’t care of their names. New Puppies don’t receive their names exactly at birth. Their owner mostly named them by their characteristics and behaviors.”
He moved his eyes to both men. The big tall man seemed to not feel any fright, while Sinco could sense the panic on the other man.
“What’s the news?”
He gaped their eyes.
“I’m sorry boss—” the man with the black coat spoke.
“The news?” Sinco’s voice hardened.
“We’ve missed the target,” said the long-haired man in orotund.
Sinco eyed them. He appreciated the man’s lacking of scare in front of him, while the other man was almost to tear down.
“Who’s the gunman?”
None of them replied. Sinco moved his feet neared to them.
“I assume it’s you.”
His face was an inch apart from the man in coat pointing his forefinger on the man with gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry boss. But a man in all black arrive. He got her first before we arrived at the location,” lied the man.
His eyes were shaking as it threw a gaze on every corner only to escape from Sinco’s sharp glower.
“I bet Rupert paid you here a handsome pretty price,” his voice lowered down.
He moved backward and hung his arm on Rupert’s shoulder which Rupert directly understood was a bad omen. The man in the black coat’s panic was reduced.
“Boss, I promise success by next time.”
Since smiled mischievously at the man in a black coat.
“I appreciate your optimism. Now, I’ll give you an advance bonus.”
Sinco placed his left hand on the pocket of his hood. The man smiled in relief— but— in an instant, Sinco pulled the gun from his pocket, and pulled the trigger. A loud bang was released in the basement followed by the faint fall of the man in the black coat. He fell face-first on the basement floor. None of the men reacted, not even the man in black sleeveless.
Sinco grimaced seeing the unmoved man. He liked his fearlessness. That’s exactly what they were looking for.
“Rupert, finish this mess. Profile him. I need his profile submitted neatly to the institute before sunrise.”
He left both of them, proceeded his shoes to the car waiting for him. The engine began to crunch. He drove away.
***
Flickering lights from tall buildings, hotels, motels, subdivisions, street lights, bars, restaurants, markets, and every architecture and infrastructure stood amidst the nocturnal borough blended the sheen of the night sky. The disappearance of the sun did not hinder for the city to shine like daylight. Jasmine glanced at the watch on her left wrist— 2:30 AM. The duller the radiance of the moon made the city lights brighter.
A memory of her childhood days ran across her mind. She never lived in town. Her Papa built their humble broad abode on the heart of the province. There, he managed to raise flocks and sowed seeds of edible plants. He was a farmer, but she guessed he’s more than that. Their farm was no ordinary. It had a wide ranch, plantations, water irrigation systems, and a place wherein various species of flocks and herds were domesticated. It was more like a hacienda. As a kid, she wondered where did they get all those money. Her Papa could afford them a wealthy and comfortable living. She had never seen both of her parents go to work, nor did she ever see any workers in their place. It was like they were owning an empire without slaves, only the three of them. She once lived in a huge luxurious mansion, perfectly suited for her being the princess.
Then, sometimes she aroused in the dusk of the night, craving foods, wanting to pee, or fueling her thirst. She walked down through the long circular stairs made of marble to the vast kitchen. Since she was a child, she called for her parents. That was the first time, she snatched them disappearing amid the dusk. They’ve gone to somewhere else. She searched them in their room and went to every room of the house, but they were gone. She ended up lying hopelessly on the sofa but woke up in her bed the next morning. It happened several times, but she ain’t got any chance to ask them.
One day, news flooded in town— her Papa’s unknown death. She only once saw her Mama mourning embracing her Papa’s stuff, but she never spoke anything to her The desire to comfort her Mama stood frozen in herself. On behalf of confusion, she stayed there with her until she fully recovered.
After her Papa’s death and Mama’s healing, everything changed. She once caught herself peeking at the broken glass window of her room, no longer a princess, but a poor little girl hungry to see the bright lights of the sky that once conveyed an emblem of hope. Now, the tiny glow of the horizon she discovered came from the city lights. Funny of her that she once thought that it was also part of Dianna’s dwelling. The doom had already stormed in their life, killing her hope. The nightmare she wanted to forget remained ghosting her every sleep.