Maya nodded. “She heard the gunshots up here, and freaked, grabbing my Mom who’d been hiding in the kitchen and ran outside. Before she left, she turned and shot at me!” tears rolled down Maya’s cheeks. “Is she dead?”
“I hope to God not.” Elena whispered, rising to her feet. “Because I am going to go find her and bring her back to you.”
“Be careful.” Victor whispered, staring over at her. “These people are dangerous.”
“Believe me. I know.” Elena whispered, staring at them hovering on the steps before turning away and trotting down the steps.
A pain stabbed her in the chest.
Tears filled her eyes.
She quickly pushed the feelings away. Pushing away the sentiments, and jumped down the last few sets of stairs. Silently laughing at Tanya and Dimitri who were looking at her with wide eyes, before turning and racing across the living room into the darkness of the night.
That family was a blessing, she thought to herself as the light chill of the night hit her full force.
They were so lucky to have one another.
And she was going to try her damnest to make sure they still had something worth to live for. Each other.
She turned her head, staring down the sidewalk.
Staring at the fires that streaked the city.
Watching as buildings fell.
The people who lay, motionless on the ground.
And her eyes widening at the now crowded sidewalks.
At the traffic that crowded the streets.
Everyone was trying to get out of the city.
She didn’t blame them one bit.
She raised her head.
And she caught sight of a hooded figure dodging through the crowd of people, her hand wrapped around the wrist of a young woman.
Sonya.
She turned and raced down the sidewalk.
She bumped into a young lady.
She barely missed running over a young boy.
And dodged around other random people.
She watched, as the woman cut across the street.
Elena pushed through the crowd.
Horns honked at her.
Bright lights blinded her.
And she watched, as the woman pulled the door open, turning to look at her.
The hoodie fell from her head.
Her long, blonde hair rolled down her shoulders in waves.
And a scar lined her left cheek.
Elena gasped, stopping in the middle of the busy street.
Someone screamed.
A horn honked.
Bright lights blinded her.
And she turned her head, just as a taxi slammed right into her hip.
She cried out, her body propelling forward. Hitting the hood of the taxi. Her head hit the windshield, staring at the wide eyes of the driver just before she rolled off and hit the hard black top.
“Oh my God!” Someone screamed.
“Jesus, are you okay?”
“What were you doing out on the street?”
“Didn’t you see all the cars?”
“We should call an ambulance.”
“She needs to see a doctor.”
“God, is she suicidal?”
Elena lifted her head, turning, staring at the faces that crowded her. Pushing away the hands that reached toward her.
“I’m okay.” She whispered, pushing herself to her feet. She lifted her head, staring at them. “You should get everyone out of the city.” She whispered, staring at the man in a police uniform. “It’s going to be completely destroyed soon.”
Then she turned, and hobbled across the street.
Her feet hit the sidewalk.
And she stopped, turning back to stare at the people behind her. People who had been worried about her.
Abel had been wrong, she thought to herself. The people of this world were not selfish and inconsiderate. Some of them still cared about those around them.
Abel just wanted what he’d been looking for, for years.
A reason to take over the world.
Only he was not going to get to do it.
Because no matter what, she was going to stop him.
Even if she died trying.
Her hand wrapped around the door and she pulled it open, disappearing into the dark building.
And she stopped, staring above her at the stairs.
“Damn.” She whispered, her hip throbbing in pain. She held a hand to it, breathing in deep breaths.
“Come on, Elena.” She whispered to herself. “You can do this. You know you can do this. You’re tough. You’re strong. And there’s a woman counting on you up there. Now get your ass up those stairs now!”
Her hand wrapped around the railing.
And she walked up the first step.
Pain rolled through her body.
But she ignored it, taking another step.
Finally, after what seemed like forever she reached the top of the stairs.
And pushed out into the darkness.
The wind blew at her, nearly knocking her off her feet.
And she lifted her head, staring at the woman who stood on the opposite end of the room. Holding the arm of Sonya, near the edge of the roof.
“Carmella!” she screamed. “Don’t do it!”
The woman turned her head, and Elena stared at her sister for the first time in eight long years.
For as long as she remembered, Carmella had been the nicest, sweetest young girl. She’d wanted to know everything about the world. She’d often told Elena how she wished she could go around building houses for the homeless so they didn’t have to live on the streets.
The thought had made Elena proud.
Now though, staring at her sister, she saw a blankness. A coldness that she had never wanted to see in her sister.
“Hello, Elena.” Carmella whispered. “So nice to see you.”
“Carmella, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to complete a mission. Just like you. Only unlike you, I’m not going to fail. I saw what you did in there, Elena. The men you killed. Abel’s men. You’re a traitor, and now, because of you, this woman has to die.” She held her closer to the roof.
“No!” Sonya screamed. “Don’t do this!”
“Oh, shut up!” Carmella shouted, lifting a hand, slapping Sonya across the face.
Sonya’s head jerked back.
Carmella let go of her.
And she fell in a heap, onto the ground.
“So weak. So pathetic.” Carmella whispered. “I should kill you right now.”
“Carmella, pleased don’t do this.” Elena begged. “You’re better than this, Carmella. You’re such a better person than this. I know. Because I’m your sister.”
“I don’t have any sisters.” Carmella whispered, lifting her head and staring at her. “I am a soldier. And it is time for you to die, Elena.” She whispered, raising her hand, showing Elena the gun that lay there. And she pulled the trigger.
Elena dove to the ground, the bullet whizzing past her ear.
“You’re not going to kill me.” She whispered.
Carmella laughed. “Oh, Elena, you think you know everything about me, don’t you?” she whispered. “Correction, you think you know everything period!” she rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how tired I got of hearing your name in the organization? All Abel ever did was talk about you. How you could speak any language fluently. How you could take any man on, and win in a fight. It didn’t matter if you had a weapon or not. He always told us about your strengths. How you had changed. That you were the perfect soldier. That in the gun range, you could shoot off any weapon and hit the bull’s-eye. I got sick of it!” Carmella shouted. “I want to be better than you, Elena, and I will be.” She whispered. “I’m going to kill you.” She whispered, before pulling the trigger again.
Elena rolled out of the way.
The sound of bullets echoed in her ears.
And she watched as C
armella pulled the trigger again. And again. And again.
The moment she heard the chamber click she knew it was her chance.
She jumped to her feet, lunging towards Carmella, and grabbing her by the wrist.
“Looks like you’re out of bullets, sis.” She whispered.
“Don’t call me that!”
“You’re my sister!” Elena shouted, staring into Carmella’s eyes. “I love you Carmella! I have always loved you. It’s not your fault what he’s turned you into. I have always done what I thought was best for you. I have always put you and all the rest of you ahead of myself. I have always loved you, and that doesn’t change now.” She whispered. “Because I’m doing this for your own good too.” She jerked Carmella’s arm, the sound of her wrist cracking through the air.
“Ouch!” Carmella screamed. “My arm. My arm! You broke my arm!”
“You’ll survive.” Elena whispered, letting go of her arm. “Come back to me, Carmella.”
Carmella stared at her, then she lunged forward.
Elena dodged out of the way, Carmella’s fist just grazing her cheek.
And she watched, in horror, as Carmella’s feet slid on the rooftop.
A look of horror appeared on her face.
And she slid right off of the roof.
“Carmella!” Elena screamed, lunging forward.
And watching, as Carmella’s body fell off the roof, flying through the air and landing on top of the car that lay far below. The sound of the crash echoing in her ears, and the car alarm sounding throughout the city.
“No!” she screamed, tears rolling down her face.
She dropped to her knees.
Her sister was gone.
And it was all his fault.
A cry of outrage left her throat.
Behind her she heard a sob.
Her head jerked up.
And she stared at Sonya, sitting behind her, her arms and legs tied together with rope.
“Good God.” Sonya whispered, as Elena squatted next to her, extracting a pocket knife and cutting away the rope. “That was terrible! Just terrible! She was your sister, and she doesn’t even remember you?”
“One of the joys of the organization.” Elena whispered, rising to her feet and staring off into the darkness. “Sonya, you and your family have to get out of here. You have to leave this city and never come back. I might have been able to save your family this time. But they’ll be back. There will be more men coming for you, and trust me, they won’t stop until they have killed your entire family.”
“How do you know so much?”
“Because I used to be one of them.” Elena whispered. “But I’m not anymore. Now, you have to go!”
“What about you? What are you going to do?”
Elena turned her head, staring at her.
“I’m going to destroy him.” She whispered. “I’m going to destroy him. Everything he loves. And everything he holds dear, if it is the last thing I do.”
Sonya stared at her, then she turned and raced across the rooftop. She turned, stopping a moment to stare back at her, before opening the door and disappearing out of sight.
Elena leaned down, staring down below her. Watching as Sonya ran down the sidewalk, and into the waiting arms of her husband in front of their house.
A smile crossed her face.
They were safe.
And she was free.
She was her own person.
And she had one goal.
To take down her father, and the entire organization.
Even if it killed her.
“I’m coming for you.” She whispered into the darkness.
Chapter Three
God she hated him.
Elena stepped off of the private plain, her feet touching the long, bright green grass, and lifted her head. Watching as Abel walked towards her along the air strip, a huge smile plastered over his face.
“Elena!” he cried, walking up to her and engulfing her in a big hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
Elena gasped, feeling his arms tightening around her.
And suddenly she felt as if she were suffocating.
His arms were around her so tight.
The smell of him was nauseated.
And it took every ounce of goodwill she had not to kick him right where it mattered most.
How many times had she hugged him like this?
How many times had she had to look in those bright blue eyes of his believing that everything he said was the truth? How many times had she been a sucker for punishment?
The thoughts whirled in her head.
Her hands tightened into a fist.
He had destroyed her.
He had hurt her.
He had betrayed her.
He had hurt their entire family.
Breathe, Elena. She thought to herself. Just breathe. He’ll get what’s coming to him. Don’t you worry. He’s going to get what’s coming to him. Just you wait.
She pulled away from him, forcing a smile to spread over her face.
“It’s good to be back, Abel.” She whispered. “How is everyone else?”
“Everything’s going just fine.” Abel told her, placing a hand on the small of her back, and walking with her down the airstrip to the black car that waited for them. “All the other soldiers are finishing their last bit of training but I don’t expect them to be as successful as you have been. You’ve helped me with so much, Elena.”
“I’m just glad I can help make our country better.”
The words felt dirty coming out of her mouth, now that she knew the truth about Abel.
Now that she knew that he was the one responsible for building the bombs.
Now that she knew he’d been building armies to destroy the country.
Now that she knew he’d trained her to destroy the country.
Now that she knew that he had been lying to her for years.
Now that she knew exactly what he was capable of.
“Oh, Elena, believe me you are.” Abel stopped next to the car, opening the door for her. “I trust the mission was a success.”
“Oh yes. It was.” Elena whispered, sliding into the car and stopping. Staring out the window into the wilderness suddenly saddened by the lack of buildings.
The country was in shambles.
Ever since the bombs had been going off, destroying houses, buildings, even people and their families. People had been forced to move away trying to find a better place to call home, but she wasn’t even sure if that was possible here anymore. Jobs had been lost to so many people. Children weren’t allowed to play outside anymore. It was too dangerous, and land itself was just bare. There was no such thing as freedom anymore. Everything had changed.
And she had Abel to thank for it.
How could he live with himself knowing what he had done?
Knowing the lives he had taken?
The lives he had destroyed.
She wanted to kill him now. Right now.
But she couldn’t.
He needed to stay alive.
He needed to suffer, just as he had made her suffer.
Plus, she needed to find out more. She needed to know more about his long term plan.
And there were still her sisters. Still under his influence. Not knowing what they were doing.
“He’s going to rule the world.”
Erik’s words rang in her ears.
She turned her head, looking at Abel.
“I was a little surprised to see Erik and Carmella though.” Elena finally whispered, turning her head to look at Abel. “I thought the mission was a solo mission.”
“It was.” Abel turned his head to look at her. “But Erik came to me with some concerns about the mission. He wanted to be there, to have your back, just in case if anything went wrong.”
“And Carmella?”
“She was the wild card.” Abel’s eyes narrowed. “Something had been off about her all week. She’s always been t
he weak one around here. She couldn’t build enough muscle strength. She wasn’t fast. She couldn’t even learn the languages. Then three days ago something changed. She was winning in her fights. She learned the languages. But she wasn’t ready for active duty yet. The words didn’t sit well with her, and somehow, she talked Erik into taking her with them. I hope they didn’t cause too much trouble for you.”
“Worse.” Elena whispered. Turning her head and staring out the window once again. “Victor was ready for them. He killed them before I could get the shot off.”
Silence filled the car.
Abel reached over, squeezing her hand.
“Well, that’s just a price that some of us have to make for the greater good, Elena. Sometimes lives are taken way too soon, but it’s a way of life. For all of us. The mission always comes first.”
“Yes. The mission.”
Elena pulled her hand away, and folded them in her lap, still remembering the look on Carmella’s face as she’d fallen off that roof.
It was something she would never forget.
Taking a life, that was not an easy thing to do. Not at all.
The car came to a stop, and they slid out of the car.
They walked through the gates of the organization.
The sounds of people working filled her ears.
In one area of the arena, two girls were fighting in the ring.
Torianna and Esmeralda.
Another was practicing throwing shooting stars at targets.
One bounced off the target, and landed just in front of her.
Elena stopped, reaching down to pick up the object.
Irena raced towards her, stopping, her breath coming out in heavy pants.
“Elena! You’re back!” she whispered, stopping in front of her. Leaning her hands on her knees. “I don’t know how you got this all down so fast, Elena. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to master it.”
“Of course you will, Irena.” Elena whispered, laying a hand on Irena’s shoulder. Completely aware that Abel was watching her every move. She had to be careful. She had to be very careful. One wrong word. One wrong move and he would know that she knew everything. He would know that she had her memories back and he would surely kill her. She could not let that happen.
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