ONE

She never thought she was capable of it. In fact, she was positive she wasn’t. But that’s what made this the perfect job. That’s what made this time different. Before now, Jess had always done exactly what she was capable of; nothing more, nothing over the top - but nothing less either. She did what she knew she could get away with, what she was used to doing. It was her comfort zone, really. Always walking that fine line between her best work and that of which she never tried. Not to say that she couldn’t decide if she wanted to venture into the more difficult tasks, because that just wasn’t the case. She walked the line, and she walked it comfortably. It was her own line, and she never intended to cross it.

Why should I? She thought. I do my job, and I do it well. My pay is absolutely fabulous. I am happy, my customers are happy, and well, anyone who isn’t happy, well - we all know what happened to them.

The more she thought about it, the harder it was for Jess to figure it out. Was she really doing what she wanted anymore? She didn’t know. Jess told herself not to be ridiculous- that she did what she was good at. But then she countered- who’s to say that she couldn’t do more - that this job would be out of her league? She thought about it again, playing out the scenario in her mind until she could stop, fast forward, and rewind whenever she wanted - until she could pause and resume as if the plan were a movie rental. After all, it had begun to seem that easy. She went over the plans again in her mind, gripping the layout tightly in both hands, as if at any moment it might slip out of them to be consumed by the cabin fire in front of her - crackling and grumbling, hungry for more fuel.

Jess had killed many seemingly innocent people in her lifetime, without a twinge of guilt ever to follow. It seemed weird, even to Jess, that she never feel the slightest bit of remorse for these beings. After all, it wasn’t as if she were heartless or anything. Actually, on the contrary, Jess had an amazingly kind heart. She had this certain air around her that seemed to draw in even the coldest of strangers. People instantly felt touched by her presence; drawn to her in a way that was unexplainable in words. It was exactly the trait needed for this kind of job, and she knew it. Her personable character was exactly what made Jess the perfect killer.

Some argue that there is no such thing as perfect murder, and that without the perfect killing; the idea of a perfect killer is ludicrous. Jess disagreed. I am the perfect killer, she said to herself. This is going to be a perfect killing. THE perfect killing. The time is now.

Jess knew that this was it. She knew that her dream of becoming a top hit man depended on this. How could she advance to the top if she couldn’t even knock out this simple task? The number one rule has always been to never let the killings become personal. This was a job, not some sort of obscene cold-blooded kill. But that wasn’t even what bothered her. Murder had become a game to her - some sort of sick and twisted version of checkers or battleship. It wasn’t even a kill or be killed scenario, she didn’t fear for her life. This was merely the ‘I told you so’ that she longed to get out during her youth, this was her way of getting back at the world - each life not as a killing, but as a victory.

Jess walked over to her full-length mirror, on the side of the bed opposite of which she slept. She did her best to appear confident, in hopes that with that accomplishment, she might actually become that way as well. Jess began to prepare herself, and she spoke aloud as she tried out different ‘confident’ poses in the mirror. This is my game. This is my kill; it’s my win. I am not going to give it away, she swore. With that, she pulled down her covers, slid in between her royal blue satin sheets, and turned out the light. I can’t lose. I won’t.

Jess drove over to the small brown building where Tim Collins worked. It was old, run-down, and was in dire need of pest control service. She ignored its inconveniences, and stepped inside. Immediately, her nose protested, tweaking her usually eye-catching smile into a most undesirable grimace. It’s going to take more than a bit of rotten take-out to turn this ass around, Timmy. She continued forward. Jess made her way to the elevator and pressed the discoloured button, which immediately retaliated by latching sticky remains to her finger - left by another who clearly had every intention of aiding the building in living up to its disgraceful standard. Jess remained still for a moment, sensing that someone was behind her. She turned around to find a middle-aged man whose features -no doubt- showed that of a man who had spent years serving his country; his eyes weary from his own life experiences. She watched as the man reached for his jacket pocket. Her immediate instincts told her to grab her own pistol and hold him at gunpoint, assuming that in seconds that would be her own fate if she did not act quickly. Instead however, Jess stared blankly at the man with the look of a stunned deer - caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. The man pulled his hand out of his left pocket, now grasping a handkerchief. He looked up at Jess with kind eyes, and extended it out to her as a peace offering. Before taking it, Jess hesitated for a moment, and the stranger began to chuckle. Dear god! She thought. I almost pulled a gun on this man, and all he had wanted to do was offer me something to clean off my finger. I am getting way too nervous - if I don’t calm down, I’m going to end up doing something stupid. She wiped off her finger, and preceded to hand the handkerchief back to the man, but he insisted that she keep it.

How dare him! Her mind began raging. Treat me like some goddamn damsel in distress. As if I need looking out for - he’s the one who needs to look out! I almost shot him! Jess was both enraged and embarrassed. She could think of nothing else than to take the elevator to the correct floor, get the job over with, and get out of there.

Following a muffled ‘ding’ sound, the elevator doors parted to make way for JessShe really hoped the veteran would wait for the next one, but had a feeling that he might follow her.

As she stepped into the elevator, one of her pumps got stuck in the small crevice where the doors open. Again, she was going to appear the damsel in distress, which was enough to make her want to blow off the man’s head just for trying to help her once more. God, I’d make a terrible wife, she found herself thinking as he freed the high-dollar pump and held it out to her. “Thanks,” she muttered, trying to sound sincere. He stepped into the elevator with her, and she let out a sigh. After checking for residue, Jess pushed the number eight button on the elevator and closed her eyes, waiting impatiently for it to reach her floor.

The friendly stranger stepped off on the sixth floor, and wished her a good day. When the doors opened and Jess arrived at the eighth floor, she stepped off feeling more than ready for a kill. It was after all -another win- and nothing more. It was her paycheck for the week, and she was most definitely looking forward to it.

It didn’t take long for her to find Mr. Collins’ office. Though she had never been inside the building before, the hunt was made quite easy, considering that all office lights had been switched off on the eighth floor, save for one.

This is going to be incredibly easy. Five more minutes, and I’ll be back on my way home - job completed. She was feeling quite confident.

Jess made her way to the end of the hall - prepared to slip into the office through the small space where the door was left cracked open. Though the light was dim, she had every reason to believe that someone was inside. Tim Collins - soon to be her next trophy. Let’s do this! Just as she readied herself, wrapping the fingers of one hand around the weapon on her hip, a shadowed black figure cross-faced her from behind.

Immediately, blood began to pour from her nose. Caught by surprise, Jess was both shocked and sickened at the sight of her own blood loss. Instinctively, she brought her hands to her face, cupping the area around her nose where the blood continued to flow down her face.

The dark figure shoved Jess into the frame of the doorway, where the dim office light reflected on the mysterious stranger. It was just enough for her to identify him: Timothy Collins.

Great. Just when I thought I had it down, just when I finally began to feel unstoppable - this jackass has to screw everything up. Now I’m going to end up being the one in the goddamn body bag.

Tim pressed his body tightly against hers, pinning her against the wall in a most uncomfortable position.

They were just inside his office now, and she knew that no one was going to come to her rescue. This light was the only one on throughout the entire floor, perhaps even the whole building.

Jess could hardly breathe. That son-of-a-bitch was holding his entire body weight against her, tweaking her limbs in directions that they were never meant to bend.

“How’s the family?” He asked. Jess spat in his face. “Go to hell.”

“Alright fine. If you don’t want me to play nice, then I won’t. So instead, I’ll be completely honest with you, and I shall seek only to please myself, without worrying about your well-being”

Jess opened her mouth to speakbut was immediately silenced by the knife that had suddenly managed to appear in Tim’s hand, now pressing against her lips.

“Shhhhh” He whispered. There was no telling what was going on in this asshole’s head. Jess could think nothing other than that she was about to die - and she was probably right.

Tim kept his body weight pressed against the woman’s small frame. He hadn’t noticed before, but she was incredibly beautiful. This was all new to him; Timothy Collins had never had complete control over a woman before; he became thrilled at the idea of that changing.

He kept the knife pressed up against her lips, and began breathing heavily into her ear. Though he did not intend for it to happen, he found the whole experience quite arousing. A gorgeous woman coming to kill him, catching her in the act, pinning her against the wall so that she would be unable to escape; the knife had even been conveniently placed where it would be within his reach the entire time. Yes, he was a lucky man.

“Alright pretty baby, I’m gonna share with you something you don’t deserve.”

Jess protested. She did not come here to fall victim to this son-of-a-bitch. Deciding that he would adhere to her request, Tim made a quick change of plans. “Alright,” he agreed. “No sex. You look tired anyway. Sweet dreams, my darling,” he chuckled. With that - he wrapped his burly hands around her throat and began to choke her. In a matter of minutes - she would be dead.