Lone Wolf

Chapter 2

Come the next morning, I memorized the address on the letter before burning it and setting off into the city. I eventually arrived at a large skyscraper office building. I walked inside and asked the lizard at the reception desk for anyone with the initials IAL. He handed me a small, silver key and pointed to the nearby elevator. I was a little confused at first, but I chose to go along with it and walked inside the elevator. The only spot where the key could fit was a small keyhole below the button panel. I inserted the key and turned it, and suddenly, the elevator started going down.

"How can that be?" I wondered. I was already on the ground floor and judging by the buttons on the elevator, the building didn't have a basement. For several minutes, the elevator made it's decent, going what felt like hundreds of feet underground, until it finally stopped, and the doors opened to reveal a long hallway lined with portraits of people of many different species, and judging by their clothes, different time periods as well.

A white tigress with black hair down to her shoulders and dressed in a grey suit, holding a clipboard stood in front of me as the elevator doors opened. "Name, please." she asked. I took a few seconds to answer, since I was still recovering from having discovered this place. She scribbled something on her clipboard as she spoke "Ah yes, we've been expecting you. Please follow me." As I followed her down the hall, my attention switched from painting to painting lining the walls.

"Excuse me, but who are these people?" I asked, gesturing to the paintings.

"They are the best of the best within our organization, our hall of fame, if you will." the tigress answered.

"What organization is that?" I asked.

"The International Assassination League." she replied.

It was at that point that I realized what IAL stood for. "Wait, your organization or whatever you call it...kills people?" I asked. We came to a door at the end of the hall, and behind it was a balcony overlooking what looked like a NASA control room, people at hi-tech looking computers typing furiously, and in the center of the room was a metal pillar covered with TV screens, showing what looked to be news stations from various countries. The tiger woman led me to an office overlooking the room, inside was a well-dressed panther man sitting behind a polished black desk.

"Ah, Mr. Hajeck, please have a seat." the panther man said.

I sat in a chair as the tigress left the room. "My name is not important. You can just call me the Chief." the panther man said "What is important, is what my organization can offer you. I'm sure you know by now what it is we do?".

"You're assassins, you kill people." I replied.

"Well, you're half right. We're not just any assassins, we're the top killers for hire in the world, and we don't kill just anybody, we kill people who are poisoning global society, people who deserve to die, like Mr. Anton Rosenberg, for instance."

"How do you know about that?"

"We have our sources. I have to admit, even for an amateur, that was a very impressive kill. The police still haven't been able to find any leads. The reason why we invited here is because we were wondering if you would be interested in going pro."

"You mean you want me to become a professional killer?"

"Yes. Like I said, it would only be people that the world would be better off without. Also, accept our offer and you'll see it can be quite rewarding to do the world a favor time and time again, and not just spiritually, if you get my meaning. So, you can start your life anew, or go back to hustling poor saps for pocket change. It's your choice."

He held out his hand. It didn't take me long to decide. I admit, I was still feeling a little awkward after discovering this secret agency. But on the other hand, I was being given the opportunity of a lifetime. We shook hands and from that instant, my life has never been the same.