Chapter One: Overcast

The Sound of Silence came on the radio as Halt drove into the most populated area of Araluen. The song was just begging him to sing along, but he stayed silent. It was the Sound of Silence, after all…

"Hello, darkness, my old friend… I've come to talk to you again."

The sky must've inspired the radio station to play that song. It hadn't rained yet, but it was going to. It was so overcast that Halt predicted it would rain by the time night fell, but for now, it was still. Everything was still. There was nobody outside, and the few people that were outside were walking with their backs hunched and mouths closed.

Halt found the local Tesco store at 3:06, on a Saturday, in Araluen, England. He was exactly 24 minutes ahead of schedule. The sooner, the better. If things went like he'd planned, he could be in and out in three hours, or less. Even when the reason for the job was so very unusual, the process in which he would carry it out was not. Nor was his subject. Nor was the sky. The clouds always seemed to be like a grim reaper standing over him when he left for a job; staring at you and waiting for your heart to stop, but in the meantime you carried on. Halt had seen that grim reaper swoop down and take people, and yet it always just stood above him; staring; watching; doing nothing. It was a constant comfort telling him that he would get his chance. It was going to rain for him someday, but for now it would remain overcast.

Halt pulled into a parking space, and waited a few moments for the song to finish.

"And whispered in the sound… of silence".

As he stepped out, he felt the wind blow and carry the strands of his tangled black hair with it. His dark green hoodie kept him from feeling the coldness of the air, until he walked through the doors of the store and it was warm again. He thought of the photo he'd seen of his target, and his profile, and kept that in mind when he searched up and down the aisles. He was looking for two things; the first: something easy and quick to get, but not so futile that it would be weird for him to go out of his way for it. The second, and what he was really there to see: Will Treaty.

A bag of instant coffee was his answer to the first question. If he had to get something, he might as well make it useful. The second, he didn't need to look for. It found him.

He found his person of interest renewing the stock of spices and sauces, down that same aisle. Halt didn't let himself have more than a second of a glance in his direction, and he spent that glance wisely: on his face. He was the first person he wanted to see, but suddenly he became the last. Suddenly his heart was begging his feet to carry him away, when he looked at his face, and felt guilt overtaking him.

On his way to 801 Seacliff Street, he turned off the radio. He flipped out his cellphone- his other one, and dialed the first number he had on speed dial. He knew what he was going to say before the other line picked up, two rings later. "I have arrived, and the target is confirmed to be here. Everything is according to plan." The man on the other side hung up seconds later.

Inside 801 Seacliff Street, he found everything but what he was there for. It was clean, but as he searched more and more, Halt saw that the cleanness was just a façade. Nothing inside that house was clean. The owner kept it up for appearances, but if you opened a drawer, you would see that all the junk he didn't want to put away was just shoved inside. In his room it was no different. However, all that was irrelevant as he could not find what he was looking for.

After an hour and a half, he left the same way he came: through the back door. He didn't have to pick the lock on the way out. He let his target's angry, barking dog out of the room he had locked it in, so that there would be absolutely no trace that he was there.

He walked out, and headed to his car. A chill caressed his cheek. The air was cold, but the sky hadn't rained yet, so he figured he was okay.

When he returned to the store, Halt chose a smart position on the other building that faced Tesco, on its right side. It was 4:49. He had ten minutes.

Even though it was close to time, there were two reasons why he didn't take out his equipment yet. One, his target may take a few minutes to gather his stuff and/or clean up before he left work, so that would amount to fifteen minutes rather than ten. That is, if he was even going to be able to get off in time. Two, he couldn't take the risk that somebody would see his gun and call the police.

So he waited.

He thought back.

"Can I help you find anything, sir?" he asked him, as Halt faked looking around for something else to buy.

"No thank you," Halt said, almost under his breath. He held up his instant coffee to show him that he got what he came for.

His target smiled. "I like that stuff too. It's good, isn't it?"

"It is."

"There's a Starbucks nearby, just by the way," he said. "It's pretty good, if I should say so myself. ..You're not from here, are you?"

Halt spared him a glance, and shook his head. Their eyes met for half a moment before Halt turned away again. The smile his subject was giving him was off-putting, and confusing, and wrecking.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," his target said, suddenly kind of worried. "I'm getting too friendly. Excuse me."

"It's fine. You were right. I'm visiting a relative," Halt replied.

"Oh, I see." Will's smile was back, and welcoming like he was holding out his arms and pleading him to come into his embrace. "I hope we don't disappoint. Have a good day, sir." He took the rest of his boxes to restock the store, and left Halt. After Will switched aisles, Halt snuck a peek down the next one he stopped in. No longer was that Will. That was his target, now, the person he'd heard about; eyes turned down and filled to the brim with nothing. Not even a fake smile that he flashed towards normal people like Halt could fool himself, or Halt, when he looked at him when he wasn't shoving all the junk into the drawers. Now that he'd seen Will, and the smiling, youthful attitude he gave off, he could never look at him the same again when that smile faded and all that was left were the broken pieces of what was once a genuine happiness inside him.

Halt let out a small breath, or a whimper- but he refused to call it that, for a reason he didn't know. Maybe it was to alert him that his heart was breaking, when his nervous system couldn't feel it. Will heard it, and he turned his head to see who had made it. Halt disappeared out of his sight quickly, and left to pay with a straight face for his instant coffee, coffee that seemed more futile than anything else now.

Halt's target walked out of Tesco at 5:06 pm, on a Saturday, in Araluen, England. His gun was already uncased, and he just had to lift it up onto his shoulder, and aim. Nobody else was outside on the streets, looking at him. There was no chance that anyone would see him. If anyone was going to catch him, it was Will.

He kept his target's face in the middle of his scope. The point of intersection on the X stayed put right in between Will's eyes. As he moved, the gun moved, and Halt's finger stayed put hovering over the trigger. Just the slightest movement, and his target would fall to the ground. Or maybe he'd stay on his feet for a second. Maybe he'd be dead before he hit the ground, or maybe he'd be sent flying against the side of his car.

Halt banished those thoughts from his mind. Just pull the trigger. That was all he was hired to do. He wasn't hired to think about him.

Will paused before entering his car, because he had to dig through his pocket for the key, then fit it in and unlock it. There was Halt's perfect chance.

What would it look like when his body fell to the ground?

"Sorry if I offended you," his target said, suddenly kind of worried. "I'm getting too friendly. Excuse me."

Halt squeezed his eyes shut, but that only made the flashes of his target's face clearer. The smiling front that was so tragic, Halt could feel his chest caving in. The distance that he put in between them didn't matter, and he felt like he was holding the gun to Will's forehead, and Will was looking right at him. He imagined his finger slamming down on the trigger, and the light in his eyes going out for good. His muscles squeezed together but refused to fall down on that trigger.

He heard a rumbling noise, and he opened his eyes. Will was driving away. His target was leaving.

Halt lowered his gun from off his shoulder. He promised himself tomorrow. Tomorrow he'd do it.

He found an apartment for the night. Only right before he got into bed, with all his thoughts of the day that actually felt more like a dream than a day, he remembered that it'd never rained.

"And whispered in the sound… of silence".