The Truth and the Lies

Chapter 1

Beep beep beep beep...

Jack reached over to his left and groped in the dark for the snooze button on his alarm. The position he was in required him to twist his whole body around to reach it. Slamming down on the snooze button, Jack sat up. He leaned his head against the headboard and stared up at the ceiling.

Darkness fell around him like fog, the small bit of dawn's light seeping in through behind his window shade. The man stepped onto the cold floor and walked across his room to the door.

Jack stepped into the bathroom and carefully turned on the light. Light blinded his eyes, making him blink once or twice to clear the sudden temporary shock of the brightness.

He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment. A man of 5'6 with brown hair and a buzz cut. His skin a light brown and olive green eyes. He'd blend in fine with people. He looked like a normal man. Great. His height, although not tall, would have to do. After all, you can't really control your height. Especially if you are not tall enough for most men.

After a warm shower, Jack put on a suit he had in his closet. Although he hadn't worn it since college, it fit snugly around his figure.

He was interviewing for a position at Elliot Rockwell's company. If he got this job, he'd be able to get close to the man. Which would probably be great for his information gathering.

And he needed Elliot to trust him. Which, according to Jack's calculations, would probably be pretty difficult. From what he'd heard, the man was ruthless and untrusting.

Actually, the only things he'd known about him had come from Officer Greyson. And other secret police files he'd found when doing his research.

Jack finished getting ready for the interview.

The moment he stepped out the door, a cold, strong wind blew past him. The walk to the train station was cold. Despite it being a mid October day, it was too cold for Jack to be fully comfortable. He regretted not wearing a coat, but he was already on the train platform by then. Too late to go back.

The company was on the fifth floor of a building near South Loop. Disguised as a normal tech company, they had lots of connections but also happened to hire regular people. Like Jack.

Jack lived in the suburbs. He was close to the city. He could take the train into work. If he got the job.

The train pulled up. Take the Purple Line to Howard, then either switch to the Red Line or stay on the express, depending on the time. He'd switch over to the Red Line anyway later on for convenience. A difference of a few blocks. Wow.

He stepped onto the train and grabbed an empty seat. The smell of smoke wafted towards him. Fuck, the guy next to him was smoking. He could switch to the Red Line at Howard.

"Doors closing.." the voice (of Lee Crooks) said over the train's speaker.

Jack sighed and leaned back against the seat.

A few minutes later, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out of his pocket and picked up. It was his sister, Mira.

"Hey Jackal. Me and Cami were wondering if you wanna come over to our place today. We invited Noah and Avery."

Avery was Jack's childhood friend. They'd been friends since they were like six but he hadn't seen Avery in person since he was a junior in college. They'd called recently and texted, but they hadn't really seen each other for a while.

Noah was probably Jack's current best friend. He was his roomate in college- at least for his last few years- and they kinda just really bonded for a lot of reasons.

"Hello to you too. And sure, what time is it? I should be home by-"

Lee Crook's voice interrupted Jack's statement, "South Boulevard is next. Doors open on the left at South Boulevard."

She laughed, "You'll be home by South Boulevard? Great. Meet me at our place at like 7:00."

They continued to talk. As a kid, Jack used to fight all the time with his little sister. Over the smallest things too. But eventually, as they matured, they got closer.

And in high school, something happened and Jack was glad, for once in his lifetime, that he had her. She was funny and sweet and had matured a lot. 

And now she couldn't bother him on a daily basis because she lived with Camilla.

Camilla was her girlfriend. Honestly, Jack knew close to nothing about Camilla other than the things Mira had told him.

When the train stopped, Jack stepped out onto the platform. It was crowded. Near the end of rush hour, the stations tended to be crowded.

He walked to the building. It was a large building, not quite a skyscraper, but maybe nine or ten floors.

As soon as Jack stepped into the lobby, an elevator door dinged open. A tall woman with black hair stepped out. She nodded at the lobby man. 

Jack stepped inside the vacant elevator and pressed the button for the 5th floor. The elevator slowly started it's descent upwards. 

When it stopped at the 5th floor, Jack stepped out and walked over to the door labeled Benerock Inc. The name of Elliot's company.

He stepped inside. He had gotten a keycard from the lobby man, which he used to unlock the door. A woman sitting at a desk looked up. She had long, light brown hair and curtain bangs. A nameplate on her desk said 'Rebecca'.

"Hi.. Uh I'm here for the interview," Jack started.

She had a cold voice, like ice, "Oh. For Elliot's assistant? Yeah he's in his office. You probably haven't heard about him, signing up. Uh as a warning, he's kinda harsh on new employees. And he probably won't accept your application unless he really likes you."

Jack sighed. This would be harder then he thought. He faked a smile, "Ah. It's okay. Thanks uh... Rebecca?"

The woman pointed him towards him towards Elliot's office.