Black (Part 1)

Davis looked at the clock on the screen. It read 4:57 a.m. That figures, he thought, it never lands directly on the hour when I check. It really was of no consequence, but Davis' brain doesn't let the little details slip by. He is a queer sort of man. The walls of his room are black and covered with white sketches scribbled messily over the walls. For a man of intense order and meticulousness, he has little care for his walls. They are merely for his expression and a place for his ideas to pop out. He returns his focus to one sketch in particular that has bothered him for some time.

It is dated 2005, but he doesn't remember drawing it, and he remembers everything he draws. Even more peculiar, this sketch was drawn neatly where all the others were not. Again, this fact was nothing of consequence, just an irritating incongruence that stuck out in Davis' head like a beacon on a clear night. No matter, Davis thought. I'll deal with it later.

Davis shifted his attention to his current rough sketch. His computer monitor gave the only light for him to draw by. It was how he liked to draw. The darkness helped him think, and his white drawings allowed for him to give some reprieve to his moody thoughts. His current sketch showed a man struggling up a mountain. Blood dripped from his fingers where he had needed to claw his way up an incline. Trees lined a narrow path and the sun had the look of a face laughing at the man's plight. Davis named this sketch Inevitability since it represented, to him, the inevitable failure of all men to succeed in their most desperate desire.

Davis located an empty spot on his wall and grabbed his white marker and set to work on filling the space with his new drawing. Right as he uncapped the marker, a chime came from his computer speakers. He walked back to his computer and read the message he had been sent: "Local job. Three. Fifteen minutes, tops. $100,000. Y or N?"

Davis hit reply, typed a "Y" and hit send. A few seconds later, he received a second message. "3000 Rochester at 0130 tomorrow." Davis deleted both messages and returned to his drawing. It only took him twenty minutes to finish the drawing. Afterwards, he recapped the pen, undressed, and climbed into bed. When his head hit the pillow, he went to sleep. His last thought was a run through the information and possible scenarios of his assignment the next night.