Sphere of Influence
Prologue: Very Little Wishes
by crimsonwraith

Version 1.01

It wasn't supposed to end this way.
We were supposed to run away to Italy and live together in a quiet village by the countryside
Grow a vineyard and Sell wine.
We would have been our best customers.

We were supposed to raise three children, and I would have let you name all three of them.
We were supposed to be a happy family.
That was how it was supposed to be.
That was what you promised me.

But we always knew it wasn't meant to be.

The gun smoke had barely settled, but already I can see how much reality disagreed with our wishes.
How much it seemed to hate us.

Don't cry.
Please.
I hate it when you cry.
You stare at me with those baby blues as I lay my shaking lips over yours.
Our final kiss.
Even that wasn't meant to last.

I felt your final breath upon my blood soaked skin;
It felt warm.
But that was all.
That was last time I felt you.

How I long to be by your side again.
Just one last time...

Two Years Later...

Cold. That's the way she liked it.

Her food.

Her showers.

Her men.

She told herself it helped her to focus on the task at hand, to drown out ambient noise, but she knew she was just lying to herself. She also knew that this was the only way she can survive now that he was gone.

Stepping out from the shower, she reached for a towel and began to dry herself off in front of the mirror. She could barely recognize the girl standing there. Her long black hair draped unkemptly over her shoulders. Scars marred her skin from her legs to her arms. The four stitches just above her heart reminded her of the last time she let anyone close to it. But what frightened her was the pair of sickly yellow eyes staring back at her. They had long since lost their lustre though where it went, she cared not for it.

After drying herself, she reached over to the pile of clothes neatly stacked upon the counter. It was a paedophile's dream. The white sailor shirt with aquamarine collar and matching shirt, along with the bright ribbon made her sick to the stomach. What was even worse was that girls actually wore this. She made a mental note to herself to shoot the man who designed it.

But her thoughts didn't count for much. Despite her silent protest, she wore the debasing outfit and tied the ribbon neatly around her neck. For a while she just stood in front of the mirror, eyeing the ribbon. It was red. She always hated that colour. Suddenly the phone began to ring. Sighing languidly, she paced across the apartment to the phone on the kitchen counter and picked up the handset.

Sharon speaking,' she spoke into the phone.

'This is Delta Source-'

'Oh, it's just you... Find out who made these... sex costumes and have an extermination squad delivered to his address.'

'Be serious, agent Stevenson.'

'I am serious!' she hissed into the speaker. 'The next time you question me, I'll shove my foot so far up your ass the sweat of my toes will quench your thirst, do you understand?'

There was a hesitant silence over the speaker. 'U-Understood,' the voice stammered. 'Anyway, those sex costumers, as you so elaborately put it, has been modified as per your instruction. We have also sent you your orders. Have you received them?'

The girl reached over a set of documents on the counter and began to leaf through the pages. 'Is this all I have to do? Tail some pampered cheerleader and her boyfriend?'

'Crudely speaking, yes. Your primary objective is to monitor the Pilots of Units 01 and 02.'

Sharon smirked. 'Is that it? I mean... do you want fries with that?' she said sardonically. The line died, leaving only a hollow beeping to sound over the speaker. Swearing beneath her breath, Serena slammed the receiver on its base, turning the phone into a smouldering pile of plastic.

She quickly paced back to her living room and stopped in front of a drawer to open it. Inside were two things. A Glock 26 and a picture frame of a young man holding a vibrant young woman in his arms. She picked the Glock and placed it in her bag before sliding the drawer shut. Then paused, sighing to herself.

'I'll see you later... Alan.' With this, she spun around and walked out the door. Leaving nothing behind but the silence and the dead.

To be continued.