Madeline woke up suddenly by a loud bang. Her eyes snapped open and she immediately shielded them with her forearm. She groaned softly, but kept her eyes open slightly to accustom herself to the light. She heard voices coming from somewhere and they were getting louder. Her eyes finally adjusted to the light, and it took her a minute to realize where she was.
How the hell did I manage to fall asleep here? She wondered as she stood up from the bed of the cell she had wandered back to. Tentatively, Madeline poked her head out of the doorway. Coming down the hallway, she saw the strike team. No doubt, the Asset was with them if their formation meant anything. Brock was leading them and noticed her as they walked by.
"Let's go, Sleeping Beauty." He chided her as the group walked past. Madeline rolled her eyes, but followed behind them. Albeit, a few feet away. The group headed down the hall until they entered into the main room that held the, what Madeline now dubbed, "torture chair". The strike team disbanded, leaving the Asset standing in the center of the room. Madeline stood by the entryway and leaned against the wall.
"Sit down." Brock demanded harshly. The soldier turned his back to the chair, and lowered himself down. He stared blankly ahead at the entryway, waiting for further instruction. Madeline found her gaze fixated on the dried blood that trailed out of the corner of his mouth.
"Доклад миссии." A voice from behind Madeline rasped. She jumped in surprise as she turned her head and saw two men walking towards the soldier. One man was her father, but the other one looked like some kind of military man. He was dressed in a military outfit, but Madeline didn't know enough about the military to guess what his position was.
"Целевая задача устранена." The soldier replied, his gaze never diverted; he never made eye contact. He just stared straight ahead, unblinking. The sight of it unnerved Madeline a bit. Once she regained her composure, it registered in her brain that they were speaking another language. She made eye contact with her father, and he nodded slightly as if to say "we'll talk in a bit".
"Good work." Pierce said. Madeline's eyes shifted from the soldier, to her father, and back again.
Since when does dad understand...what language is that? Ukrainian? Romanian? Russian? The night was beginning to overwhelm her and her shoulders felt heavy and tense. She wondered if every night would be like this. She wondered what she had gotten herself into... But if her dad could do it, then so could she. ...Couldn't she?
"You know what to do." Her father stared at Brock, causing the man to nod ever so slightly in response.
"Get up." Brock said harshly as he motioned at the man with some kind of nightstick in his hand. The man stood up quietly and the strike team surrounded him again. They began to lead him out of the room.
"Wait!" Madeline felt the words spill from her lips before she could stop them. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face her. Except for the soldier.
"Maddie? What's the matter?" Her father asked, giving her a look of disapproval. Madeline bit her lip and looked down for a brief moment.
"Sorry, dad." She apologized as she took a few tentative steps towards the men surrounding the soldier. "But he's bleeding. Shouldn't he be checked out by the medical team?" Her eyes fixated on the soldier.
A woman from the medical team approached the strike team and two of the men stepped aside to allow her access to the Asset. She placed her hands on the sides of his face and gently pressed around the area of his jaw line. After a moment, she turned to Pierce and nodded.
"Minor jaw fracture, Sir." She stated. Pierce nodded to the strike team, and they led the soldier down the hallway. Madeline looked down, feeling like she had done something wrong. After a few moments, she looked up and saw her father smiling at her.
"Dad?" She asked, fidgeting with her fingers with uneasiness.
"You did good, Maddie." He said proudly. Madeline furrowed her brows. "Wanted to make sure you knew what to look for when you start working on him."
"You were testing me?" She asked in shock. "What if he had been seriously hurt, dad?!" Her voice raised. Her dad quickly walked over to her and grabbed hold of her arm to guide her into one of the holding cell rooms.
"Maddie," he began, letting go of her arm, "at home, I'm your father. But here, I'm your boss. I love you, hon. But leave your emotions at home for this job." He instructed her. His tone was strict, but his eyes were soft.
"I'm sorry, dad... It's just all so overwhelming." She looked down sadly. Her emotions were coming in waves, and she kind of just wanted to go back to sleep to help process everything.
"Don't worry, Maddie-bear. I'll give you a little leeway. But don't tell anyone." He smiled and hugged her lightly.
"I'll do my best." She looked up at him as he let her go.
"I know you will." He nodded. There was a brief pause. "One more thing." Madeline tilted her head to the side. "You're going to need to learn Russian."
Three years had passed since that night, and Madeline was still pretty much just as in the dark as when she had started. The only things that really changed, were the fact that everyone was three years older and she was fairly competent in speaking Russian.
Well, she also had her own house. Technically, it was a ranch house that was owned by the company her dad was the boss of. It hadn't been used in years, but was kept in working order. Madeline had spent the better part of a weekend fixing it up and giving it some TLC. It was about thirty minutes away from town, but Madeline actually liked it. She could see the stars at night, and the quiet was so nice. Especially after a long day at work.
"Hey mom." Madeline said as she sat on the back porch with a glass of water. She stared up at the stars. "I miss you." Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she took a sip of water. "I wish you could see me now. I've been working with dad for the past three years." She smiled at the stars. "I'm also in college. Or rather I'm finishing up. Just a few more classes until I get my bachelor's in nursing!" Madeline waved her hands in the air and laughed softly.
"You'd be so proud of me..." She sighed and looked down at the ground. She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Where did you go? Why did you leave?" Madeline brought her gaze back up to the sky. "Wherever you are... I hope you know that I still love you. I'm not mad at you for leaving." She let out a long, heavy sigh.
Madeline stood up and took a long drink from her glass before heading back inside. She locked the door behind her and put her glass in the sink in the kitchen. Her gaze wandered around the kitchen, and fell to the framed portrait on the far wall. Madeline walked over and stared at it. It was a family picture; the only family picture that she had.
Madeline, her father, and her mother. She was a beautiful woman. Madeline's father would always tell her about how she looked so much like her. Except for the fact that her hair was a little lighter than her mother's. Her mother had dark brown, almost black, hair, piercing green eyes, and a...rather curvy figure. Madeline used to get made fun of in grade school because people saw her as "fat". It wasn't until she hit puberty that she filled out and everything looked different.
It had been eighteen years since her mother left. Madeline was just three years old, and she didn't remember anything really. Her dad would tell her stories when she would lie in bed. However, looking at the picture now... Madeline couldn't remember any of the stories. She was just too overwhelmed by the crushing loneliness she was feeling. She missed her mom. That was it.
Madeline stared at the photo for a few minutes before heading to bed.
That night, Madeline had a fitful night's sleep. She tossed and turned in bed, waking up every so often, and had dreams that seemed so real and vivid that every time she woke up she had to catch her breath and calm herself.
At some point, Madeline bolted up in bed. Her breathing was heavy, and sweat made her hair cling to her skin. She looked around the room, realizing again that she was safe in her bed. Her mind was racing and she knew she had just had a nightmare. Trouble was, she couldn't remember anything about it. The harder she tried, the more it slipped away.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" She wondered aloud in frustration as she got up out of bed. It was quarter after three in the morning and Madeline sighed before she headed into the kitchen.
The soft glow from the light over top of the stove provided Madeline with enough illumination that she didn't need to blind herself with the main light. She walked over to the cabinet, grabbed a glass and filled it with cold water from the tap. Without hesitation, she down the entire glass and took several deep breaths. She filled up the glass again and turned around to head back to bed, but stopped in her tracks.
There, in the doorway, was the silhouette of a person. Madeline felt her heart pounding in her chest. Her mouth went dry as she clutched the glass in her hand. Nothing happened for what felt like hours; they just stared at each other. Finally, Madeline found her voice.
"Wh-Who are you?" Her voice cracked with fear. Naturally, the figure didn't respond. It just stood there. "What do you want?" She asked, not expecting an answer. However, Madeline thought that if she asked it questions, she could buy time to figure out a plan.
"Madeline..." The person said. Its sudden speech started her, and she jumped back in fright. The glass in her hand slipped and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces. Madeline looked down at the broken glass, then snapped her attention back to the figure in the doorway.
But there was no one there.
Madeline woke up in a sweat, her hair clinging to her chest and face. She was breathing heavily as her eyes scanned the room. The morning sun was shining brightly through the window and, for a moment, the young girl was confused.
"A...dream...?" She wondered as she reached up and pulled strands of hair off her face and chest. But it felt so real... Madeline got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to wash her face. She looked at her reflection and sighed. She faintly heard beeping from the kitchen.
Get some tea, Maddie. Get some tea and just relax. She told herself.
Madeline couldn't help the weird feeling she felt as she walked into the kitchen. The strange dream she had was still fresh in her mind. She did her best to push the thoughts out of her head as she made her way toward the cupboard.
"Ahh! Christ!" Madeline hissed in pain. She lifted her foot off the floor and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. She sat down and rested her foot on her knee. Gingerly, she reached down and pulled something out of the ball of her foot.
Glass; stained red with a bit of blood. Madeline gasped and dropped the shard on the floor as if it had just scaled her. She jumped up from the chair and looked towards the middle of the floor.
Pieces of shattered glass were scattered on the floor.
Доклад миссии. - Mission report.
Целевая задача устранена. - Target eliminated.