I apologise that this is so late. I have no excuses.

As my body strode briskly along the corridors, I stood up in my prison, and dried my eyes, trying to push my feelings away.

"This is unacceptable." The cold voice from my nightmares snapped. Inside my prison I froze. Furan was here! I started to shake, and waves of terror coursed through my veins. I couldn't face him today, no, no. I hugged my arms to my sides, and looked around, searching for his cold eyes.

"I'm sorry sir," another voice came through the slightly ajar office door, which lay a few paces ahead. I suddenly realised, with a slight feeling of stupidity that it was only a video conference.

As my body strode further towards the doors, I slowly let my arms fall back to my sides. My body stepped silently into the room, and I shut my eyes, just as an image of furan entered my vision. A cold prickle made its way slowly up my spine, as I stepped behind the commander. I slowly opened my eyes, ensuring that the man on the screen was kept out of sight. Even the sheer sound of his cold voice had sent haunting memories back. I didn't think I would be able to keep control of my own emotions if I saw him.

I took in my surroundings, like I had been taught. The commander was sitting awkwardly in his seat, and he, like me, was avoiding eye contact Furan. He was twisting his hands together nervously, a sign he regretted failing his task.

"We had no idea that the submarine had tracked us to the island. We were unprepared for Darkdooms intervention." The commander's voice shook slightly, and I felt a vague sense of pity for him.

I slowly raised my gaze, clenching my hands into fists to brace myself. I felt helpless using this method to calm myself, but right at this moment I was willing to take any method, even if I hadn't used them since I was young.

Furan was sitting upright in front of a polished oak desk, his hands folded neatly in front of him. His gaze was like steel, and he stared at the commander without mercy. Before he even opened his mouth I heard his voice, from my younger years, harsh and cruel.

"What was that?"

"Still it is peck peck peck!"

"She's going to be dangerous."

"AGAIN!"

A single shriek escaped my lips, and I pulled myself back into reality. The past was in the past. It didn't mean it hadn't happened, but I needed to move on. Right now I needed to keep my mind clear of the past, and focus on getting myself out of this mess.

Furans voice cut in, but this time in the present, just as hard and as cruel as in my memories.

"You allowed Nero and the boy to escape, and all that you can offer as an excuse is that you were unprepared?" My body stepped forward towards the commander, who was still wringing his hands under the desk. I didn't blame him.

"We spent months planning this operation, and now it had been jeopardized because of your stupidity." Furan looked me dead in the eyes, and I instantly recognised what he meant. Even though I hated the commander, I still didn't want to kill him. As my body unsheathed one of my katanas I looked up at Furan. His eyes were cold, and free of emotion. My body positioned the katana and spoke.

"Maybe next time you won't be so stupid" My body snapped in Russian, as the katana broke through the commander's chest. He inhaled sharply, and fell to the ground, his eyes wide with shock. My body pulled the blade out of his chest, and a few drops of scarlet blood fell to the plush white carpet. I looked up at Furan, a sick feeling spreading through my chest. How I hated being his evil puppet.

"Find them" Furan snapped. My body sheathed the katana, leaving a slight smear of blood on my sheath. Ugh. Why didn't my body at least shake the blade? Now I would have to clean the sheaths before their next use. So inconsiderate.

Furan looked at me, and I saw a glint of pleasure in his gaze. He was obviously pleased that he could control me at long last.

"I don't care what it takes. Overlord wants the boy alive, but the others are entirely expendable."

Yeah. Very sensitive. Expendable is a very nice way of saying, "Kill them, unless the opportunity is perfect to take them. Which is only about 0.01% of the time. So, just kill them."

"I have faith in you my little Raven. This is, after all, what I trained you for."

Fury boiled inside of me. I was not his "little Raven". I was, and still am a strong independent woman, who does not need to be told what to do. I am not little. I am a grown woman. And most importantly, I AM NOT HIS RAVEN! Has he not heard of INDEPENDENFCE! I gritted my teeth, and wished I could make him expendable.

"Understood." My body confirmed, whilst sealing the deal with a nod. "Do we have any information yet on where they are heading?"

I held my breath whilst I waited for his response. Despite wishing for them not to be found, I was hungry for information.

"No, but we have come up with a plan to force them to surface." Furan replied. I slowly exhaled. That was better than a straight out yes. Hopefully Nero and the others would have a plan to evade Furan's men.

"And when they do," Furan continued, "I will relay their position to you".

And get me to kill them, I finished the hanging sentence.

"I will have a Shroud prepped for immediate take-off," My body replied. "Is there anything else?"

I sincerely hoped that there wouldn't be anything else. I just wanted to do was curl up and sleep. I could not remember ever feeling so drained of energy, and so powerless in all my days.

"Yes. Make sure that H.I.V.E. is fully secured. We cannot afford any more mistakes and we may yet need the people we have captured there. Now I need to go and relay this news to Overlord." Furan let out an almost inaudible grunt of displeasure. Obviously he was not pleased at having to report to the big boss.

"I doubt he will be pleased." I doubted Overlord would ever be pleased until he had total world domination.

Furan stabbed at the connection button on his desk, and the screen faded to black. My body exited the office, and started to bark commands through my not-blackbox at the poor people on the other side. It appeared that it would take another hour for a Shroud to be ready, and my body was not pleased. As my body strode briskly towards the security control rooms, I realised that it would not be wise for me to watch. I would be locking down the only place I have ever truly felt at home, from the only people who I cared about.

With this thought in mind, I allowed myself to lie down on the floor. I curled myself up defensively, in an attempt to stop the nightmares that were sure to plague me. As my eyes grew heavy, my body's harsh typing sounds became the rhythm of my thoughts.

Type type type click. Type type type click. Type type type click. Type type type…

Blackness.

It only takes 15 seconds to review a story, and it makes my day! Please review! :)

If the next chapter isn't up by February 1st them please bug me via PM.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!