The man stumbled back, hitting the wall, blood spilling across the front of his shirt.
“You’re Elena.” He whispered, as his breath shortened. “How did you do it?” he whispered. “How did you get your memories back?”
Elena shrugged. “That’s a mystery to both you and me, Soldier. But it doesn’t matter. Because now that I have my memories back I’m going to do the one thing I should have done a long time ago. I’m going to take him and the whole fucking organization down once and for all.”
“You can’t take down the organization.” The man whispered. “And you can’t take down Abel. It’s too strong. Abel’s too strong. And you’ll just end up signing your own death certificate in the long run.”
“Maybe.” Elena whispered. “But maybe I have what it takes to defeat him. He’s taken too much from me, soldier. I have to at least try. He’s taken everything from me. He’s taken everything from my sisters. And so help me, if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll make him suffer for what he’s put us all through. Getting my sisters out. Taking down the organization. Taking down my father. Now that is something that is worth dying for.”
“For your sake. I hope you’re right.” The man whispered. “I hope you’re right that it really is worth dying for. Me. I would never cross Abel, because in the end, he always wins. He’s the one worth dying for, Elena. Not taking down the organization. He has a vision. And that vision, is amazing.”
They were the last words that would ever come out of his mouth.
Elena watched, listening, as his breathing suddenly stopped.
Reaching a hand forward, closing his lifeless eyes.
Sadness washing over her.
He was just a man, she thought to herself. Forced to do whatever Abel asked him to do. He didn’t deserve to die. No one deserved to die. But he had died believing that Abel really did have a vision for the world. A better vision. Abel had brainwashed him. Made him believe that the new world Abel was trying to create would be better.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.
Something grabbed her by the arm.
She gasped, turning her head.
Staring down into small, wide eyes.
“Dimitri.” She whispered.
“Who are you?” the boy whispered.
Elena bit back the laugh that rose in her throat. She was really getting tired of that question.
“I’m a friend.” She whispered.
Overhead, she heard footsteps.
“Did you hear that?” someone asked.
“Someone’s here.”
“How can someone be here? Everyone is supposed to be dead.”
“Come on.” Elena grabbed the boy by the hand, and they raced across the room, hiding underneath the staircase.
“Who are these people?” Dimitri asked.
“Shh.” Elena pressed a hand over his mouth.
Feet descended down the stairs.
“There’s no one here.” A man was saying. “You’re just being paranoid.”
“I’m not paranoid, Erik, someone’s here.”
“Stop it. Let’s go. We have a mission to complete. He’s counting on us.”
Erik.
Elena listened to their feet climb back up the steps, listening to the sound of that voice. It was so familiar.
And then she remembered.
Back to that day she and her sisters had been in that dark room.
The man who had hit her sister. The man who had raped her sister.
Her blood ran cold.
“Dimitri. I need you to stay here.” She whispered, taking her hand away from the boy’s mouth. “Can you promise me that?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to save your family.” Elena whispered.
“Wait.” Dimitri grabbed her by the hand. “How do you know my name?”
“I told you. I’m a friend.” Elena told him.
She climbed out from underneath the stairs, and stared up above her at the winding staircase.
Damn, she thought to herself, swallowing. That was a lot of stairs.
She took a step forward.
The stair creaked under her weight.
She froze. Stopping. Her whole body shaking, waiting for someone to come barreling down the stairs and attack her.
Except nothing happened.
Her hand wrapped around the railing.
She took another step forward, continuing up the stairs.
She climbed stair after stair, every nerve in her body seemed to stand on end. Memories flashed through her mind, and all she could think about was killing the man who had hurt her sister in the worst way possible.
She couldn’t imagine going through something like that.
She would die if anyone ever dared to hurt her like that.
Her foot reached the top of the stairs.
She turned her head, staring into the darkness of the house.
And stared at the man who lay dead in the living room.
God, she hated this life! She thought to herself. She hated it! She hated all the death. She hated feeling evil. She hated feeling as if she was no good to anyone, but most of all, she hated the fact that she was a killer. It had to stop. All the killing. All the death. All the chaos, it had to stop. It had to stop now!
She turned her head.
And almost screamed, when she found herself looking into the eyes of two young girls.
Tanya and Maya.
She raised a hand to her chest.
“Jesus.” She whispered. “You scared the bejesus out of me!”
“What are you doing up here?” Maya asked.
“At least you didn’t ask who I was.” Elena muttered under her breath.
“What?” Tanya stared at her.
“Never mind.” Elena shook her head. “I’m here to help your father.”
“Some men took him in the office.” Tanya whispered. “They were yelling. Screaming. Saying all these terrible things.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want my father to die!”
“I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Elena told her, taking her gun from the small of her back. Checking the bullets.
Three left.
Damn. She thought to herself. Why hadn’t she brought more ammo with her?
Because she hadn’t expected this. She hadn’t expected to be in the middle of all this chaos. She’d been sent to do one thing. To kill an innocent man, but instead she was going to help save him.
She blew out a breath.
She just had to make her bullets count.
“You what!” Maya gasped, staring at her. “How? How can you help save him? You’re just a girl!” she whispered the words. “There are scary, scary men in this house. Men with big guns, who are bigger than you! You can’t take them all down!”
“Actually I can, and I will.” Elena told her, lifting her head, staring at her. “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’m weak or helpless, Maya. Actually it’s quite the opposite. Plus I know these people. I know how they think. I know how they act, and I know just how to take them down. Until about twenty minutes ago, I was just like them.”
“You were just like them?”
Elena bit back the laugh, as the girls stared at her, all wide eyed. “Yes.” She whispered. “Only now, I can finally think freely for myself and help save your family, but in order to do that I need to know that you girls are safe. Your brother is downstairs, hiding underneath the stairs. Go with him, and for goodness sake, please don’t come out until you see me. I don’t need any more blood on my hands.”
The two girls stared at her for a moment.
Than finally they nodded.
“Be careful.” Maya whispered, grabbing Tanya by the hand and pulling her towards the stairs.
“Always.” Elena muttered under her breath.
She watched as the girls walked towards the stairs, watching as Tanya stopped at th
e top of the stairs. Turning to look at her.
Elena stared back at her.
Then suddenly Tanya broke free of her sister’s grip, racing down the hall, lunging towards Elena and wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug.
Elena gasped, caught off guard. Not sure what to do. What to think, than slowly she wrapped her arms around the young girl.
“Thank you.” Tanya whispered. “Thank you for helping my family. No matter what you might have been twenty minutes ago, you’re a hero to me. You’re saving my family.” She whispered, before stepping back and following her sister down the stairs.
Elena watched them disappear, a lump forming in her throat.
She was not a hero, she thought to herself, no matter what Tanya told her. She could never be a hero. She had done too many bad things in life. She had taken too many lives. She had let her father take control of her. She was not a hero. She was a monster. Plain and simple.
She crossed the hallway, leaning against the wall and bowed her head, listening to the voices.
“What do you want?” Victor was asking. “What do you want from me?”
“What everyone wants.” Erik whispered. “We want you dead, Victor.”
“Dead? But why? Why? I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s not what the world’s going to think.” Another man told him. “You see, Victor, everyone thinks that you are a traitor to your country. That you have been building bombs and selling them all around the country. They believe that you’ve been building and training armies. Sending them throughout the country and destroying major cities. Chicago. New York. Las Vegas. San Diego. The list goes on, and you are on every agencies most wanted list. It’s such a shame too. You were such a good FBI agent. One of the best.”
“I’m not a traitor.”
“Maybe not.” Erik whispered. “But soon, you will be, once they see the note.”
“What note?”
“A note saying how you used to be someone, but today, you can’t stand to even look yourself in the mirror. You’re going to sit here and write to your family, apologizing for all the mistakes you’ve made, but that they don’t deserve you. You are going to write about how you hate this country, and built bombs to destroy it. You’re going to tell the world about the armies you built to destroy this country. That you no longer have that love for this country that you had when you were an FBI agent, and then you are going to take this gun and pull the trigger.”
“But, I never did any of that stuff! I’m innocent.”
“That might be true. But the man responsible for this doesn’t want to be found yet.”
“I don’t know—“
“You want us to start shooting at your family?”
“Please—“
“Then start writing!”
A thump sounded in the office.
Elena froze, her head shooting up.
“Maybe that will give you some motivation.”
She pushed away from the wall, and stepped into the room.
“Stop.” She whispered.
Erik’s head shot up. He turned, his eyes widening, when he saw her standing in the doorway.
“Elena!” he cried, a smile crossing his face. “What are you doing here?”
“I think the better question is, what are you doing here?” Elena stepped further into the room. “You’re interfering with my mission, Erik.”
“Your mission? This is my mission.”
“Really?” Elena frowned, holding a finger to her lips. “Now that’s interesting. I guess Abel must have gotten mixed up, because I have been ordered to kill this man.”
“Well, then go for it.” Erik stepped back, gesturing towards Victor. “Do Abel proud, Elena.”
Elena raised her weapon.
She pointed it at Victor, staring at the blood that streaked down the side of his head, and narrowed her eyes. Pulling the trigger.
The bullet flew through the air.
And hit the man who was holding a gun to Victor’s head, right in the middle of the hand.
“Son of a bitch!” the man swore, the gun dropping from his hand.
“You bitch!” Erik flew around the desk.
Elena pivoted, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him against the wall. “No, you’re the bitch!” she shouted, pressing her hand against his throat. “You sick, son of a bitch. You raped my sister!”
Erik froze.
“You remember?” he whispered.
“I remember everything.” Elena whispered. “Everything.”
“But that’s not possible. We gave you a drug. A drug that wiped away all of your memories.”
Elena laughed. “One thing you forgot, Erik. Not everything lasts forever, and now that I have my memories back I can do the one thing I’ve been waiting a long time to do.” She lifted her gun, cocking the trigger. “I can finally kill you.”
“Not today you’re not, Elena.” Erik whispered.
A click sounded in Elena’s ear.
She froze.
And turned her head, staring into the barrel of the gun that was pointed right at her head.
“Back away, Elena. Back away slowly from him.” The man whispered, blood running down his hand.
Elena laughed. “You guys just don’t get it, do you? I don’t take orders from you anymore.”
She brought her elbow back hard, jabbing the man in the stomach with her elbow.
He lurched back.
She spun on her heel, jumping in the air, sending a kick to his face. Watching as he stumbled back, hitting the desk.
Behind her, Erik lunged forward, grabbing her by the waist.
Elena threw her head back, the back of her head connecting with his jaw.
He stumbled back.
Two more men raced into the room. Holding their fists up in the air.
Elena raised her head, staring at the four men.
“You can’t fight us all, Elena.” Erik whispered, staring at her. “You’re all alone. Abel is going to be so disappointed in you. You were his favorite. You did everything so perfectly. It’s a shame he’s going to have to learn just what kind of traitor you are.”
“Except, she’s not alone.”
“What?”
Erik turned his head.
And the sound of a rifle shot echoed in the room.
Elena raised her head, staring at Victor, as he lowered the weapon. One of the men falling to the ground in front of her.
She turned, lunging towards Erik.
One of the men grabbed her by the arm.
She jerked it free, kicking them in the stomach. Jabbing her fist into their throat. Then she lifted her gun, pulling the trigger. Twice. And watched as the two men fell to the ground.
“I guess it’s just you and me, Erik.” She whispered, dropping her gun to the ground and raising her fists in the air. “I don’t need a gun for this. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. And it’s time for you to pay.” She lunged forward.
He dodged her fists, his arm snaking out, and grabbing her by the back of the neck.
Elena winced, as he jerked her forward.
“You really think you can beat me?” he whispered.
“I know I can.” Elena told him, raising her hand, a knife laying in the palm of her hand. “Game over, Erik.” She whispered, jabbing her hand forward, and plunging the knife into his chest.
He gasped, stumbling back
Blood appeared on his shirt.
His hand loosened around her neck.
And he slid to the ground, slumping against the wall.
“You know, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.” Elena whispered, as she walked towards him. She bent down, gripping his chin in the palm of her hand and staring into his eyes. “You’re a monster, Erik, just like my father is and lord knows you deserve to die. But before you die, I have one very important question to ask you. Am I right? Is my father responsible for all this chaos?”
A smile spread across Erik’s face.
“And a gold star to you.” He whispered, his breathing coming out in ragged gasps. “He’s going to rule the world, Elena, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Say hello to your sister for me.”
Elena saw red.
Anger rolled through her body.
She raised her hand, smashing her fist right in his face.
Blood spurted from his nose.
And he fell to the ground, completely motionless.
“Damn, girl, you are one scary woman, you know that right?”
Elena turned her head, staring at Victor as he rounded the desk. A laugh escaping her throat. She slowly rose to her feet.
“Yeah, I guess I am.” She whispered, holding out a hand. “Thanks for the help, Victor. I’m Elena.”
“I know who you are.” Victor told her, raising a brow at her. “I know about your whole family. I’ve been investigating you people for weeks now. Ever since I saw that first explosion on my television. You’re defying Abel? That’s a bold move there, lady. He’s going to kill you when he finds out.”
“I know he is.” Elena whispered, staring at him. “But someone’s got to do it. He can’t win. He’s a monster and needs to be put down.” She stopped, lifting her head. “Just how much information do you have on him?”
“Enough to put him away for life. It’s why he sent those men here to kill me. He knows I’m on to him. What I can’t figure out is you, though. You’re different. You’re not like him. You actually have a soul.”
“Thanks. I think.” Elena muttered. “Come on, let’s go find the rest of your family.”
She turned and walked out of the room.
A second later, the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the house.
And a scream sounded a second later.
“Daddy!”
They stopped at the top of the stairs, as Maya came racing up them, throwing herself in her father’s arms.
“Maya!” Victor wrapped his arms around her, then stopped, staring at the blood on his hand. “Maya?” he pulled back, staring at the blood that streaked down her left arm. “Maya, you’re hurt!” he cried.
“This woman shot me, Daddy.” Maya whispered, tears rolling down her face. “She shot me, then grabbed Mom and took off with her.”
“A woman?” Elena whispered the question, leaning down to roll up Maya’s sleeve and stare at the wound. “It’s just a flesh wound.” She told her, pulling off her sweatshirt and wrapping it around Maya’s arm. “Just press this to the wound, okay? It’s going to hurt for a little bit, but you’ll be okay. Now you said a woman?”
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