Urban Hunting

I pause upon stepping foot on solid ground, taste the sea salt on the soft breeze. It's rare that I come to Nova Veritas and this is the first time I've come on business. Rumour has it that an assassin school is in the city, one of the towers near the center, so when the email arrived in my inbox I was surprised. My clients are a research facility, Altair or something similar, and my targets a pair of young women, a nosy journalist and an intern the lab had hired. Their mistake.

It takes some time to get settled, I *politely* discourage the attentions of the staff at the hotel I've booked into, but the view of the city from the balcony is amazing. It stretches out to the southeast, landmarks from its long history just visible among modern constructions. Turning away I pull out my laptop, plug in the USB stick handed to me at the airport. A computer program, a backdoor into the city's camera network, loads and I flick through the multitude of feeds, making a promise to extend my stay once the assignment is done.

It's a simple one, just an elimination job, but I can still feel my heartbeat increase as the thrill of hunting settles upon me. I'm going through the cameras watching a park in the east of the city when someone catches my eye, I open the photos provided in the email, and a grin flashes across my face when I match the face in the photo with the one I can see in the camera feed.

Nova Veritas is one of those places opposed to the car, a tramway provides transport instead, but it comes across as fitting with the city's character. I step down onto the cobblestone street outside the park, take a moment to get my bearings. There's a small gate set into the wall a few paces away, from the little grove on the other side I guess it's for people wanting to be discreet, and the hinges are silent as I push the gate open. I quickly walk along the path, smile at the few people I encounter, and nearly stumble when my chosen target comes towards me.

Katherine Moreno is young, just into her twenties, and clearly views herself as desirable, her crop top and skirt leaving acres of bared skin for the sun to tan. I feel her eyes on me as she approaches, I'm quite the catch myself, and her jog slows to a walk.

"Not seen any come into the park this way."

I glance behind me, eyebrow raised.

"I'm new here."

A risque smile appears on Katherine's face as she runs her gaze over my form.

"Want to fuck a local girl? It's a well-known fact that we're the best."

She leads me off the path, constantly glancing back to make sure I'm following. There's a little sway to her stride, her skirt swishing against the back of her thighs, and I quicken my pace, press myself against her back. She giggles as I wrap an arm around her slender figure, doesn't react when I cop a feel of her breasts.

Slowly I retrieve a switchblade from the pocket of my trousers, carefully work it open. Katherine is still leaning against me, excited sighs slipping out from between her lips, but she struggles as I cut her throat, torn between chasing a final high and trying to escape. I let her go and step back, watch her stagger for a moment before dropping to her knees and then to the ground. The pool of blood stains her skin and crop top, turns the white fabric a vibrant red, and I'm taking out my phone to take a photo when her death throes come to an end.

I make it back to the hotel without incident, efficiently clean the switchblade in my suite's bathroom. I email the photo of Katherine to the address provided, a few minutes later my bank account is that bit larger, and return to the laptop, scanning for any trace of my second target.

It takes a bit longer but I find her emerging from a dim alleyway. Checking maps of Nova Veritas I place the alleyway only a few streets away and stand, patting myself down to ensure the subtle tools of my trade are on me.

The smells of food stalls are thick in the air as I wander towards the alleyway, my eyes open and searching for my prey. Bits of info flash through my mind as I walk, Stephy Brooks is eighteen and slim, a bit of a genius if this research facility has her. I spot a flash of brunette hair among the darker tones of the locals, angle towards it, and then she's right in front of me. She's buying lunch she'll never eat, a cute grin on her face, and pays no attention as I amble past.

I reach the entrance of the alleyway she'd come from, glance over my shoulder, and in a smooth motion spin 360 degrees. I pull out a silenced pistol as I do, instinctively pull the trigger, and have tucked it away again before Miss Brooks has even slumped forward. I snap a hasty photo of her corpse as a confused crowd assembles around her, joining it and acting as confused as everyone else.

I'm eventually able to leave the scene, go on a long winding route back to the hotel, and a sense of fulfilment comes over me when I'm paid for the murder. I power down the laptop, slip it back into its back, and reach for the catalogue in the bedside cabinet, a listing of all the prostitutes currently employed at the Sunset Bay hotel. Time to see if Katherine's claim is true.