Fearless

by Nicole Coverdale

  “Because I would rather everyone forget that ratchet name.” the Director whispered. “It’s a time that I would rather like to forget, especially since he was the reason I became an orphan.”

  Silence descended on the phone.

  “So what are you saying?” she finally asked. “That Dominic is behind these attacks?” She laughed. “Oh, Victor, you sure are a jokester aren’t you? Twenty years ago, when Dominic put together that organization, well it was a dark time for our country. The country was in ruins, and it took a long time to get it back to where we are today. And now, everything is being destroyed again. I can’t go through this again, Victor, and as much as I would like to say that you’re right about Dominic, I know that you are wrong. Why have I been visiting him? Because I want to remind him of all that he’s taken from me. I want him to look me in the face and see the damage he caused, but unfortunately Dominic is not to blame for this. He’s dying, Victor! He’s in a nursing home, surrounded by police officers and suffering from brain cancer. There’s no way he can be responsible for this.

  “He has a son.”

  “Who’s a teacher!” The director whispered into the phone. “Don’t make him into a bad person, Victor. He’s done a lot to overcome the shadow of his father. He’s got a family. He’s got a wife. He’s got children. He’s a good man.”

  “A man who’s the son of a terrorist.” Victor muttered. “Come on, Director, why are you being so blind about this? You don’t think he’d want to get revenge for his father? You don’t think he’d want to pick up where his father left off? You don’t think he has the same thoughts about the world that his father had?”

  “I think you’re grasping at straws.” The director whispered. “And I can’t support you on this, Victor, because you’re wrong about this. You are very wrong.”

  “I’m not wrong.” Victor told her with certainty. “But it’s your problem if you don’t want to look into this. Remember, you’re the one who called me. You’re the one who asked me for help. I didn’t come looking for you. You came looking for me. I’ve been out of the business a long time, Director. I had no interest in coming back, but this is my country. This is a country I grew up in, and I felt as if I owed it to help bring the man behind this to justice. I have a family, remember? I have a life. And I’m happy. Remember, you came to me.”

  “I know, and I appreciate all that you have done, but I think it’s time we part ways once and for all. You’re not the same man you were years ago. I’m not the same person I was years ago. Go back to your family, Victor. Go back to your life.

  The line went dead.

  Elena took the ear piece out of her ear.

  It dropped from her hand, falling off the rooftop, and into the chaos below her.

  Victor was investigating the bombs?

  He was a retired FBI agent?

  What the hell was going on here?

  She stared off towards the house, and the door to Victor’s study suddenly flew open and his son Dimitri came flying in.

  A smile spread across Victor’s face.

  He reached down, lifting his son in the air, twirling him high above him.

  They were both smiling, laughing.

  A tear streaked down Elena’s cheek.

  And she felt a crack deep in her memory.

  “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

  Thirteen year old Elena walked into the kitchen, setting her backpack on the table. Her sisters followed behind her, only they kept their bags on their shoulders.

  “Spaghetti, Elena.” Kiana told her, turning away from the stove to give her eldest daughter a smile. “And meatballs. And garlic bread. And salad.”

  “Sounds yummy!” Irena piped up from next to Elena.

  Kiana laughed, her eyes landing on the back pack that lay on the kitchen table. “Elena, what have I told you about setting that filthy thing on the table?”

  “Sorry, Mom, I forgot.” Elena pulled it off of the table.

  “Why don’t you girls go get cleaned up and help me set the table? Maybe you could even help me cook a little?”

  “You’ll let us into the kitchen?” Elena raised a brow at her mother. “I’m sure Dad will love that.”

  A look flashed in Kiana’s eyes for a split second, then it disappeared just as fast.

  Elena frowned, staring at her mother. Something was wrong. She’d felt it for the last couple of weeks. Her parents weren’t their normal selves. Her mother wasn’t laughing like she used to. They didn’t act like they were husband and wife anymore.

  “Mom—“

  The door behind her swung open, and their father walked into the room.

  “How are my girls!” he shouted, dropping his briefcase on the floor.

  “Daddy!” Elena turned, racing across the room and flinging herself in her father’s arms.

  “Elena!” He swung her up in the air.

  She squealed in excitement.

  “How would you all like to go outside and play a game of volleyball before dinner’s ready?” he asked, setting her down and staring at his other daughters. “You mother can handle the kitchen by herself, I assume.” He looked at Kiana.

  “Of course.” Kiana whispered.

  “Come on girls!”

  The memory came back to her in a second.

  A sharp pain stabbed her in the chest.

  She gasped, as the last eight years suddenly came rushing back at her.

  The night, she’d watched as her mother had been taken out of their home, and out of their lives forever.

  The sight of her father laying on the floor, surrounded in a pool of his own blood.

  The men in masks, who had threatened their whole family.

  She remembered waking up in that dark, small room with all of her sisters.

  She remembered the fear.

  She remembered the panic.

  She remembered Irena’s screams.

  She remembered the sight of her father in that arena, the mastermind behind an organization that was designed to kill innocent people.

  The years of training she’d gone through.

  Every punch she’d taken from her father.

  Every scream those men had screamed in her face.

  The hours she’d spent in that dark room with no windows, studying up on every language there was to know.

  And the men and women she had been sent to kill.

  Their faces flashed in her mind.

  She stumbled back.

  Panic rising up in her.

  “Oh God. What have I done?” she whispered out loud to herself, staring across the distance at the family that was now sitting at the table. Tears running down her face.

  Realizing that she had turned into the one thing she had vowed she would never become.

  A monster.

  She raised her hands, staring down at them, feeling suddenly very sick to her stomach.

  What had he done to her? She wondered to herself. How had he turned her into this person?

  He must have drugged her, she thought to herself. Raising her head. Staring off into the darkness of the night. It was the only way he would have ever been able to get her to kill all those innocent people. She had vowed to herself that she would never become a monster, but she had. She had become a monster.

  A tear streaked down her cheek.

  All she had ever wanted was to have a nice, peaceful, normal life. She’d wanted to finish school. She’d wanted to stand up on that stage, and be handed that diploma. She’d wanted to go off to college. To enroll in medical school. She’d wanted to go to prom. She’d wanted to date. She’d wanted to go out and see the world. She’d wanted to build a family. She’d wanted to have her very own happily ever after.

  Except, happily ever after didn’t exist.

  He had made sure of that.

  He’d put her under a trance.

  Put some kind of drug inside of her.

  And now, she was remembering everything.

  And she would be damned if
she killed another person for that man.

  A man she had once called her father.

  “No more.” She whispered into the darkness. “No more will I kill for you. Especially an FBI agent.”

  She dropped to the ground.

  Dismantling the rifle, and sticking it back in the duffel bag.

  Suddenly furious at herself. How had she allowed him to do this to her? How had she allowed him to convince her go against everything she believed in? And why now, of all times, was she suddenly realizing what she was doing? What she’d been doing? The monster she’d become? The monster her father really was? Why now?

  “It doesn’t matter, Elena.” She whispered, as she zipped the bag closed. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you finally realized what was going on, and it probably couldn’t have come at an even better time. He sent you to kill a freeing FBI agent! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’d be in if you had taken that man down?”

  More trouble than she could ever imagine.

  A sob rose up in her throat.

  She raised a hand, muffling the sound. Not wanting to be weak, but dammitt, she was so tired of this! So tired of being her father’s puppet, without even realizing she was. He had taken so much from her. He had made her into a monster. He’d made her sisters into monsters. He’d had her kill innocent people, and right now, all she could think about was walking through those doors of the organization, and looking him right in the eye. She wanted him to know that she knew everything. She wanted him to know that she was done. That she was no longer his soldier. That she finally had a mind of her own.

  And more than anything, she wanted to look him in the eye, as she pulled that trigger. Watching as his body fell to the ground. Blood seeping from his wound, as he stared at her. Realizing that he had not made good on his promise. That he had not broken her.

  Except that wasn’t option.

  Not yet.

  He still had her sisters.

  And she knew that would be the one thing he would use against her.

  She had to get them out!

  She rose to her feet.

  The sound of tires squealing filled her ears.

  She turned, looking across the street at the house, watching as a black van rolled up to the house and five men dressed in black jumped out and raced into the house.

  A moment later the house went completely black.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Elena rose to her feet, the sound of a scream echoing in her ears.

  They were Abel’s men, she realized, as she stared down at the house. Leaning her hands against the ledge of the rooftop. He had brought in back up.

  He didn’t trust her? She thought to herself.

  Or was he just worried that she would fail?

  It didn’t matter, she told herself. For years, she had been completely oblivious to what she had been doing. For years she had been killing innocent people, and for what? Because her father told her to? Because she thought she was doing the right thing? Because she had believed she was helping save the world?

  A laugh escaped her mouth.

  Save the world? Now that was a pile of shit, she thought to herself.

  Her father had never wanted to save the world.

  He hated this world.

  He hated the people in it.

  It was the reason he’d pulled her out of school. He didn’t want her to be associated with anyone he saw unfit to be in this world.

  She remembered that day well.

  That day she’d come home from school, seeing her mother in the kitchen. Wanting to teach her daughters how to cook, and her father racing in as if he knew what his wife was up to. Instead talking them into playing a game of volleyball.

  The next day, an electric fence had been built around the perimeter of the house. She was no longer able to go to the beach. She was no longer able to see her friends. She had become her father’s prisoner.

  He had never wanted to save the world.

  He wanted to control it.

  He had wanted to be the top dog in the world.

  And he had tricked her into helping him.

  But today, was the day everything changed.

  Today was the day she was going to make a difference.

  Today, she was going to do the one thing she wished she’d done a long time ago.

  She was going to fight back.

  And she was going to save that family.

  She turned, and raced across the rooftop, her hand wrapping around the handle of the door, and she jerking it open.

  Her hand wrapped around the railing, and she trotted down the steps, her feet clicking on the concrete steps.

  And she burst out into the silence of the night.

  She stopped.

  She turned her head.

  Staring at the flames all around her.

  She heard a scream, and the sound of a gunshot echoed in her ears.

  Her head jerked around.

  And she watched as an old man fell to the ground, a man in black standing above him, his weapon dropping to the ground.

  “You’re a monster.” She whispered, before she even realized the words had escaped her mouth.

  The man started, jerking his head around.

  “Who are you?”

  “You mean, you don’t know?” Elena felt a smile spread across her face. “I thought everyone in the organization knew about me.” A snicker escaped her throat. “Abel refers to me as his most dangerous weapon.”

  The man’s eyes widened.

  “Elena.”

  He reached for his weapon.

  Elena reached behind her, grabbing the gun that lay in the small of her back, swinging her arm around and pulled the trigger.

  The man gasped.

  Blood spurted from his neck.

  And he fell to his knees on the ground.

  “You’ll never get out of here alive.” He gasped, staring up at her. “They’ll kill you, for defying Abel. You’re not supposed to have a mind of your own. It’s against everything he believes in.”

  “I know it is.” Elena whispered. “He likes us thoughtless. Following orders. And it was today, I realized, that he needs to pay for what he has done. He needs to pay for what he’s turned me into. He’s taken everything from me, so now, I am going to take everything from him.” She lifted her hand, pulling the trigger one more time. “Good bye.” She whispered.

  She turned, and raced down the street. Dodging bodies that lay in the middle of the street. Shielding her eyes from the blood and guts that lay on the ground. She veered around the heat of the flames that threatened to eat her alive, and skidded to a stop in front of the doorway.

  She drew in a deep breath.

  And stepped into the house.

  The place was pitch black.

  She held her gun in front of her.

  She blinked, her eyes adjusting.

  The sound of movement sounded from the middle of the room.

  She swung around, raising her weapon.

  And froze, when she saw the little boy hovering behind the couch that had been flipped upside down. Staring at her with wide eyes.

  Dimitri.

  She smiled at him, bringing a finger to her lips.

  The boy smiled back. Nodding. Then his eyes widened, he pointed behind her.

  Elena turned her head.

  And a fist slammed into the side of her face.

  She gasped, stumbling back.

  “Who are you?” A man shouted, charging towards her.

  Elena dodged out of the way.

  His hands reached out, grabbing her by the waist, and threw her across the room.

  Elena’s body hit the wall hard, and she crumbled to the ground.

  “Ouch.” She whispered, raising her head. Watching as he walked towards her. “Damn, that hurt.” She raised a hand to her head.

  She pushed herself to her feet.

  Her gun, she realized, glancing around her.

  She spotted it, in the m
iddle of the room.

  “Who are you!” the man shouted again, grabbing her by the throat, and slamming her against the wall.

  Elena winced. Pain rolling through her body.

  “You mean you don’t know?” she whispered against his fingers as they dug into her throat. Barely being able to breathe. “Why is it that no one seems to know who I am? Doesn’t Abel tell you anything?”

  “I don’t care.” The man whispered, pulling out a knife and tracing it against her cheek. “Because, you’ll be dead.” He whispered, thrusting the knife towards her.

  Elena jerked free of his whole, bringing her knee up hard and kicking him right in the stomach.

  He gasped.

  He stumbled back.

  “I’m not the one who’s going to die today!” Elena shouted, racing towards him. She lunged forward, slamming him against the wall. “I have spent too long doing his dirty work. Today, I am finally my own person. I finally remember who I am.”

  “Except you’re not your own person. You may have your memories. You might be able to think. You might be able to feel, but you will always be his.”

  His hand shot out, grabbing her by the wrist.

  He twisted her arm.

  Elena winced, spinning away from him.

  His leg raised, the heel of his foot catching her in the knee.

  She gasped, a cry escaping her mouth as she dropped to the ground.

  She lifted her head. Watching as he raised his foot.

  She rolled out of the way, the heel of his boot just grazing the side of her head.

  Her vision blurred for a moment.

  She felt blood in her mouth, from where she’d bitten her tongue.

  She lifted her head, watching as he walked towards her. Lifting his foot.

  He was going to kill her, she realized, trying to rise to her feet.

  And she felt something cold against her hand.

  Her gun.

  She wrapped her hand around it, swinging around, and pulling the trigger.

  “I am not his. I will never be his.”