Stockholm Syndrome? - Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Felix's POV
I was an early riser. From an early age I liked waking up early in the morning. When I did my training in Russia, it was drilled into me. There were only 24 hours a day, if you can get the maximum number of hours to do your job, the better. Waking up in the wee hours of the morning became a part of me. I was a light sleeper. The slightest noise woke me up. My reaction time was faster than most men my age.
I had no active mission, so I should have spent the day relaxing, but I had other ideas. The sooner I got rid of my target the better. There was no point in waiting. I had waited long enough for the day I would get my revenge.
It had haunted me every day; a face filled with so much pain and bitterness my heart couldn't take it. It had been imprinted on me, rendering me unfeeling. It had reduced me to the cold-hearted killer I was. The image had pummeled and pulverized my childhood and in turn molded me into something entirely different.
When I woke up I went into the shower, later making breakfast for myself and sitting in the living area. I switched on the TV but elected to view visuals from one of my cameras, the one in the boy's room.
I already knew his schedule from watching him often, but I wasn't certain if he stuck to it now that he was on summer holiday.
The room came into view. The boy was still sleeping. He was tucked under the covers, his head showing only slightly. His hair was tousled. I looked at my watch. It was only 6:25 am. In about 5 minutes his alarm would go off. That was if he intended to go jogging that morning like he always did.
I focused on my eating for a while and hoped the boy was going jogging that morning. The camera I had set up in his house was limited to his room. I wanted to carry out surveillance outside his home environment, see the kind of person he was outside. I had started watching him about two months back; with the exception of the month I wasn't available. I had never physically interacted with him.
About 5 minutes later I heard the sound of an alarm. Archer tossed and switched it off without even looking at it. He turned back and covered himself with the sheets. I was about to concede stalking him while he jogged when he kicked the covers off himself and got out of bed. He yawned and stretched himself. He went into the bathroom briefly and came back into the room.
I took a sip of my orange juice as I watched him change into his jogging clothes.
If he was someone else I wouldn't have minded having him in my bed. The boy was well-built, with contours that were well-defined. He exercised regularly, making him not only toned, but a little ripped. The skin covering his torso begged to be touched, something that surprised me enough to make me choke on my juice. I had seen him with his clothes on most of the time. I knew how pretty his face was. I hadn't known just how attractive he was undressed.
Blue jogging pants, white t-shirt written 'run' and blue sneakers later, he was done. He accessorized with a watch and an ipod. He took too much time if you ask me, like he knew I was watching him. But I knew he couldn't have known. I had placed the camera discreetly, and it was way too small for him to spot it.
He left the room and I left my post. I grabbed my phone and enabled the house alarms before exiting the premises. I had chosen my Mazda 2 that day. It was cheap and small enough not to stand out and the last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself.
I drove to where I knew the boy passed on his route, hoping he hadn't changed his route. It was at a park. Few people were there. A crazy thought crossed my mind and I dismissed it, all in good time. I parked and got out of the car.
I was dressed for a morning jog in black jogging pants, a blue nylon t-shirt and blue sneakers. I had my black hair hidden under a beanie. I leaned on my car. It occurred to me that the boy may have passed already. After looking at my wristwatch I concluded he couldn't have. Unless he was sprinting, he wouldn't be there for two minutes, give or take.
I bent to tie my laces and caught sight of movement near me. I unbent and was greeted by a smiling face.
"Hi".
It was a lady maybe in her early thirties.
"Hi".
"Are you new here? I don't think I have ever seen you"
I internally groaned. The last thing I wanted was attention and I had just gotten that.
I smiled at the woman. "Yeah. Getting old so I thought I should start exercising", I said.
"Don't be silly. You look anything but old", she said smiling. It was a flirting smile, something that only served to irritate me further.
"Well, I feel old", I said.
"Want to join me? I'm Carly by the way", she said.
"I..." I said and closed my mouth, distracted by something. My target had just jogged by.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Axel. I would rather not. I might slow you down", I said.
"Oh...um, I don't mind. I'm not in a hurry", she said.
I was losing sight of my target. Damn this stupid freaking woman!
"I jog alone. I prefer it that way", I said firmly, not leaving it to interpretation or questions.
"Oh, okay then. Nice meeting you Axel. Hopefully we'll meet again", she said.
I nodded and bent to tie my other shoelace. I would need to sprint to catch up with m target. Great!
I took off in the direction the boy used. I could still see him, but he was far from me. I increased pace gradually, trying not to make it obvious that I was chasing after someone. The park was large and there were a couple of twists in the route Archer used. I wasn't deterred though. Archer ran in laps, which meant at some point he was going to take a break before he ran back. I would catch up to him by then.
My eyes were fixed on him. I was gradually getting closer to him. I reduced speed, just to make sure I didn't get too close. The sun was slowly rising, creating a red hue in the sky. The air was fresh and refreshing. I briefly forgot about my target and focused on my breathing. It was therapeutic jogging early in the morning. My heart beat a little faster and my breathing quickened.
Up ahead, I spotted Archer sitting on one of the benches. He was taking a drink from the bottle he'd come with.
My mission that day was solely getting closer to him, but not interacting with him. It was meant to be almost a simulation of the time I would complete my mission. I wanted to see just how easy it was to get close to him. I had a simple plan on how I was going to complete my mission, and it wasn't set up for that day.
I ran nearer and nearer to him. As I passed him, temptation gripped me and wouldn't let go. I felt the desire to interact with the boy, to do more than I had come to do. It was a bad idea. It could potentially ruin my plan.
Against my better judgment I stopped, leaning forward as if I was struggling to breathe. It was a simple move that I hoped he wouldn't miss.
I actively pushed air in and out of my lung, putting my hands on my knee. One bout of coughing later and I had caught my target's attention. I knew him well enough to know what would catch his attention.
"Hi sir, are you okay?" he shouted from where he was sitting.
I lifted my hand up. "I'm...I'm fine", I shouted back, my sentence interrupted by voluntary coughing.
"I have water if you want some", he shouted.
I straightened and put my hand on my chest, walking slowly towards the bench he was sitting on. He scooted for me to sit and handed me his bottle. I took slow sips of the water and calmed down.
"Are you feeling okay? Should I call someone?" he asked urgently.
"I'm fine. It was just my asthma acting up. I should have taken that into account when I decided to run", I said.
He nodded and looked at his watch. I couldn't describe how I felt sitting there with him. He had no idea who I was. I on the other hand knew him; his hobbies and his friends. I knew his grades and that he was a star midfielder.
"Thanks for the water", I said, drawing his grey eyes back to me.
"No problem", he said with a friendly face.
It was almost therapeutic. He was staring at the guy whose mercy he was going to beg with kind eyes. He'd shared his water with someone whose life he had helped shatter. It would be an injustice to not enjoy that moment and what the future held.
I smiled and he smiled back. The moment deceived him. He didn't know why I was smiling.
"I've never seen you around", he commented.
"Yeah I don't really jog. I recently went to a herbalist who gave me some tea to drink and promised my asthma would be history. You know the outcome", I said giving him a slight grin.
"Hm", he said and nodded at the same time.
"I take it you jog often? You sped by me and still look like you just came out of the shower. Then again, you look young. 16?" I said.
He chuckled. "I play soccer, so I train quite often. And I'm 18", he said.
"Ah. I can't be competing with 18 year olds", I said.
He shrugged. "You don't look old. I'd say you are 25?"
"I would rather not say", I said.
There was some silence, which was broken by the sound of a timer.
"I should get going", he said and stood up. He was about to walk away when he turned back to me. "Can I take your picture?"
I frowned. "Why?"
"I'm an avid photographer. I'm going off to college out of state soon so I'm capturing a lot of my memories here, the place in general and the people I meet. It's just for a collage. I have pictures of other people in my phone if you want to see", he replied enthusiastically.
He'd just "helped" me out so I felt bad about refusing. I would have to get that phone and erase the picture later.
I shrugged. "It's fine, you can take it".
He took out his phone and took a picture of me. I don't know why I did it, but I smiled in the picture, revealing the dimple I had. Archer showed me the picture before he bid me farewell. I looked at him as he ran away from me.
I would have to move my plan closer. Now that he had a picture of me, I had to move faster before that picture disseminated. I knew how the police operated. They would look at people he had contact with before his demise.
I continued watching him until he disappeared. I realized something. I was getting sloppy. My previous missions had been clear-cut and flawless. I didn't interact when it wasn't necessary. With the boy I did the opposite. I didn't have to talk to him, but I did it anyway.
I was acting out of character. The personal nature of the mission changed the rules. To fully receive gratification from it I would have to open my heart, face my past. I had started on that journey. It explained why I wanted to interact with the boy.
I groaned. I had to put my plan in motion before I ruined things.
"Axel, hi!" I heard a voice.
I looked to where the jogging path was. Carly was standing there waving her hand.
"Hi", I shouted back.
She made the small journey to where I was sitting. She sure didn't give up. She got to me.
"Tired?" she asked.
"A bit", I replied nonchalantly.
"You ran like a sprinter. Maybe slow down next time?"
"You are right", I said. She hadn't been there long and I was already tired of the conversation.