9 The Series of Misfortune

A teenager could be seen hidden behind the shadows as he stealthily trailed a middle aged man. He took out a file to confirm on that man identity. A photo of Mr. Hendrix can be seen on top corner along with his bio-data, daily routine, and his movement habits. So far everything he had observed from that middle aged man seemed to matched perfectly as written in the folder.

"Target confirmed. Awaiting orders…" he spoke into his earpiece.

"Proceed with the plan…" A husky voice replied.

He removed the earpiece and kept it in his pocket along with a pair of gloves he was just wearing. In order to cover up his distinguished appearance, he put on a beanie and scarf revealing only his eyes. Slowly he walked towards the unsuspecting man, took out a fifty dollar note, and started dashing towards him.

"Hey Sir, please wait a moment!" He shouted towards the man supposedly called Hendrix.

The man turned around and looked at the fully covered up boy, puzzled why he shouted at him. He was dressed rather poorly with some parts of his clothes being patched up rather crudely. A few seconds later the youth stood in front of him, trying to catch his breath before continue speaking.

"Sir, I think you dropped this." He held out a fifty dollar note.

Hendrix looked at him suspiciously as he clearly recalled that it was almost not possible for him to drop any money on the floor. He always had an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder which made him very particular on how he handled his things. Nevertheless, he gave the boy a warm smile.

"Thank you, lad. You can keep it as your reward for being so honest…"

"But Sir, my mother always said that we must not take other people's things…"

"I am gifting this to you for being so polite and well-mannered, I'm sure your mother will not mind. Have a pleasant evening young lad..." Hendrix smiled again.

The boy quickly ran over before he could turn away and grabbed his hands. Thanking him before joyfully heading off the opposite side of the road with that fifty dollar at hand. He quickly ran off into a dark alley and the moment he was out of sight, the boy took out his earpiece again and spoke into it.

"It is done."

"Good, leave the area and remove all tracks before heading back…" The husky voice responded.

He started walking towards the nearby slums, quickly took off all his scruffy looking clothes, beanie and scarf, revealing beautiful silver hair and a rather luxurious outfit underneath it. Those worn-out clothes were thrown into one of the fire-pits those less fortunate people were relying to keep themselves warm at night. He watched as that attire finished burning before leaving and disappearing behind another dark alley.

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Once the boy was nowhere to be seen, he took out a bottle of disinfectant and rubbed some on his hand where the teenage boy had touched. While he was cleaning up his hands, he was reviewing the entire ordeal.

While it was very dark and even though the boy was completely covered up, he recalled seeing a strand of silver hair slipping out under his beanie.

'Could it be… I must be overthinking things…' Hendrix thought to himself before shaking his head and left.

However, he felt odd ever since that teenager touched his hand as he proceeded to head home. He felt as though something within him was missing but could not really tell.

'I might be just too stressed out and overthinking things…' He though and pushed those uncomfortable feelings aside.

It was starting to drizzle and from the subtle thunder sounds, a storm might be arriving soon. He quickened his pace and headed off. All of a sudden, rain started pouring very heavily and he was soon completely drenched. A child accidentally dropped his ball while running to take shelter causing it to roll towards the man who was also doing the same. Due to poor visibility, he did not noticed the rolling ball and accidentally stepped on it.

He tripped and fell flat on his face in the middle of the main road next to the path walk. A pair of bright lights suddenly blinded his eyes followed by tyre screeching sounds...