It was his first day as a free man after two years.
He had served time for being in possession of drugs. It had been a long sentence, but it had given him time to fully see the error of his ways. Inside, he had found religion. This was not just a case of seeing the light, but it had given him time to consider how badly he had lived his life. He had thought of all the people he had wronged, the sinful things he had done. Starting at the age of eighteen, when he had bludgeoned an old man late one night and taken his wallet. From that incident he worked his way forward, year by year, crime by crime, throughout his miserable life. He confronted all of it, using the strength he had found in his redeemer. Not only that, he had planned a way to atone for all that he had done, a way to wipe the slate clean.
His plan would make use of the leaps and bounds made in the time travel industry. While in prison he had done extensive research on the companies that provided these services. He had specifically looked into the most suitable provider with plans to visit them in the near future. It was still an extremely expensive service, used mainly by the very wealthy, but he had a stash. This consisted of the proceeds from robberies committed over the years. He had decided that it would not compromise his newly found beliefs, if the money was used for good; used to put things right.
Having recovered the hidden cash, he made an appointment with the chosen time travel agency. At the meeting he explained that he wished to go back to a specific, date, time and location. He had paid for an hour to allow his plan to be implemented in a careful and controlled manner, despite his only requiring a few minutes. The date was fourteen years earlier, when he was eighteen. The time was 8:50 am. The place was the pedestrian mall that led to the town’s largest department store.
It was a few days before the evening that he’d mugged and robbed the old man. It was the morning that the store had its most popular annual sale. It was close to a shop’s entrance where a large crowd would be gathering, waiting for the doors to open.
He entered the booth. He stood, while the technician completed the appropriate settings before leaving and closing the door. There was a flash…
A little shaky at first, he found himself standing at the prearranged corner, watching people turning into the mall. While he waited, he couldn’t help thinking about how his act of atonement would undoubtedly cause problems for the agency. This was something he had considered when the idea had first come to mind. His reveries were instantly dismissed when he caught sight of the teenager. He moved into the queue behind the boy. As they all neared the store the crowd became far denser and more chaotic.
Nobody saw the silencer being screwed on or heard its muffled pop. Those nearest were too occupied with the boy who had fallen to the ground, to notice the man mingle into the crush and slowly fade… to nothing.