A very short man stood outside the busy market in the sand-filled city – Cairo. The city, obviously, was the 16th largest metropolitan areas in the world. The air was stiff and humid, causing the already not-so-clean air to be further polluted by the sticky smell of sweat.
A traditional Arab scarf was circled around his head and neck. With his short and slim body features, from a far distance, it was impossible to tell if he was a male or female.
Though he didn't show it, he was quite excited to get back to the 'sand castle' that has now, finally been finished being re-constructed. He had recently just caught two teenagers for his experiment for the measure of pain.
He walked swiftly towards the sand castle, his feet treading into the moist sand. The edge of his mouth curled up, a sly smile now plastered his face.
AR~AR~AR
"I'm going to get you out of here, ok?" Alex Rider's deep voice rang out in the cell.
He was furious, though he his voice was calm and even. Getting himself into this situation was bad enough, but this? MI6 had not only lied to him from the start, they had brought another innocent teenager's life to danger – as if one isn't enough.
She was only eleven for Gods' sake! The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. His vision blurred, his thoughts seemed to freeze.
"It's okay. You go first, I have things that they wanted me to research." Her soft voice answered.
Alex's heart clenched. It was their very first encounter, but he learnt a lot about the girl even though she didn't talk much.
From her attentive and professional combat moves, he could tell she was trained in MI6 for quite a long time. The way she talked and the few emotions that shone through her eyes told Alex more than he wanted to know – she was forced into this 'career' too. There was something about her that Alex felt, she seemed sad, helpless – it was as if she had given up the hope to continue living. She devoted herself to this career, even though she didn't want to.
Alex had no choice. He was on a mission of his own; he had to let her go on her own. He nodded, "Ok, wish to see you around some time," he said.
Wish… she thought, such a far away promise.
AR~AR~AR
Alex escaped just in time. Keys jingled as the cell door swung open, revealing the person who brought them here in the first place.
"Ah. Melody, here you are." Razim's voice bounced off the slippery walls of the cell, "Oh? I see that my other experiment is no longer here. But that's okay, I will get him again." Though his voice didn't show it, Melody saw a brief flash of anger and annoyance in his eyes when he realized Alex was gone.
Adjusting his round glasses, Razim walked over to Melody, who had once again, taken up the act of a frightened and innocent 11-years-old, who knows nothing about MI6 whatsoever.
But they both know that it's a lie.
She wasn't frightened. She wasn't innocent. And she knows everything about MI6 – she was their most loyal and effective agent after all.
Perhaps it's an unsaid knowledge for everyone – that well-known professional assassins and spies, they were all fantastic actors too. That was who they were – nobody. They acted all their lives, being people who they weren't.
"Are you ready, little Melody? I promise you this will be the first time you've gone through so much pain in your life." Razim showed no sign of excitement or satisfaction, just the calmness of going through yet another one of his experiments.
"You're sick. You're crazy." Melody spat. And you are wrong. I've been through enough pain in my life. More than I can endure. You won't hurt me. Not with your filthy experiments.
AR~AR~AR
Flashback
"You dirty creature, do not touch me." He slapped her hand away roughly, before turning away and walking off.
"Dad…" Melody whispered in shock.
He stopped. "Don't call me 'dad', I am not your dad."
"Dad! No matter what Mel thinks, it's not her fault that Mom died. Everyone loves her, why don't you?"
Melody spun around and tripped. Before she knew it, her brother was kneeling by her side, clutching her hand tightly, and reassuring her that everything was all right.
But everything wasn't all right.
AR~AR~AR
She was strapped to the chair, her feet dangling despite the fact that she was tall for her age.
Razim licked his dry lips, his fingers fiddling with the instruments eagerly. He chose a sharp scalpel and wiped it briefly on the edge of his shirt, making extra effort to show Melody that the metal object was more important to him than she did. Melody didn't mind, really. She didn't need anyone; she was good on her own.
AR~AR~AR
Everything became worse.
Two weeks after that, her brother was gone. Disappeared.
No matter how many evidences the police gave her, she couldn't shake off the feeling that it had something to do with her dad, especially after she started working at MI6, knowing that everything could be faked. They incriminate anyone.
No one knew this – she was quite certain that even the all-knowing MI6 didn't find this out – but she joined and helped MI6 on these missions were partially because at last, she wish to find out the truth about her brother. That one day, she still wants to go back to a normal life… with her brother.
AR~AR~AR
Her grip tightened ever so slightly on the handle of the metal chair as the first stab of pain jolted her out of her reverie.
She realized that the pain from the memory inside her was more painful than the sharp pain in her stomach.
AN: Happy Birthday, Alex. I don't know if this will be a one-short or not.