Wow, that was faster than I expected. But I'm pretty sure it's just luck. There's no way this is happening a second time.
A couple of things I feel I should, or at least would like to clarify on. First, the holsters that Elena wears aren't gun holsters, they're spring loaded holsters meant more for darts. Second, the nickname Elena has for the Spy was one she gave to him when she was little, which is why it's a little awkward I guess. But I haven't completely forgotten my Spanish. Third, it came to my attention that people in Spain probably don't speak English very fluently. But if I made them speak Spanish, nobody except myself and people who know Spanish would understand, so just go with it.
...Anyway, here's chapter 2. It's much shorter than the last one, which was like a combination between a prologue and the first chapter. Characters may still be a little off, but I'm trying.
Enjoy!
That night Elena had a dream that a bunch of thugs were threatening her to tell them how many mice she exterminated with her poison darts.
Her eyes fluttered open and for a brief moment she was confused about where she woke up. Why was she in her old room at the villa? Then it all came back to her. Spy came to visit. Father was taking a mercenary job. Father got attacked by thugs and was injured. Spy came to the rescue. Elena decided to take the job instead. And so in a paranoid state that she would be attacked by more thugs along the way, Elena was too shook up and exhausted to head back to her own apartment and stayed at the villa that night. What a crazy night. Or was it a dream? No wait, it really did happen.
The Spy didn't object to Elena's proposal not to return home and even chose to stay in one of the guest rooms instead of going to the hotel he was supposed to stay in. After what had happened neither of them was in any mood to go anywhere and just wanted to get some sleep. They were going to have a long day ahead of them today.
Crawling out of bed, Elena stretched and opened the closet to find an extra set of clothes to change into. But since everything she had was at her apartment, the closet was empty. So instead she went to the master bedroom, where the attack took place, and picked out some clothes that her mother used to wear. Even after almost 11 years, her father didn't have the heart to get rid of them or just about anything else Angela owned. Surprisingly, the clothes fit, even the pants. Strapping the dart holster back on to her wrist, Elena went downstairs.
When she got to the kitchen, she noticed the Spy was already there, reading the newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee. He glanced up at Elena to see that she was taking a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator once she turned the stove on.
She turned her head toward him. "I'm just going to guess that you haven't had anything yet today."
The Spy set the paper down. "You guessed correctly."
Elena quickly fixed some scrambled eggs and a piece of toast for each of them. "Well, I'm not exactly the best cook so… don't complain about it tasting bad."
He muttered something that Elena couldn't exactly make out. Something about it at least tasting better than anything that anyone could make at… Teufort was it? As they were eating, the Spy went over the plans for the day. First, they would head to Elena's place so she could pack a few things. Then they would visit Mr. Ramirez at the hospital before they had to catch their flight to New Mexico at 2:20.
When they went out to the garage, Elena noticed a sleek, red sports car that definitely belonged to the Spy. It was so stunning it made her father's Mercedes Benz, which was parked next to it, look old and run down. She opened the garage door while the Spy pulled his car out. Once Elena closed the garage door, she got in the car and they were off.
"Señor Tío, do you know where to go? Or do I have to give you directions?" she asked him.
The Spy took his cigarette out of his mouth. "No, I think I have a general idea."
Elena coughed, waving the smoke away from her face. She couldn't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. She had known the Spy for several years and had to put up with the smell whenever she saw him. Even now she still couldn't handle it and would make it known to him.
Not many words were said during the car ride. Elena had many questions to ask the Spy about her new job and what she would be doing. It was true she was worried and nervous, but she pushed those feelings out of her thoughts. She had to have a clear mind if this was going to work out. Elena didn't know what these other 8 mercenaries would be like, but she was sure they didn't want a scared young woman on their team, even if said woman was a professional bullfighter.
The Spy took another puff from his cigarette as he pulled his car next to Elena's apartment.
Elena, lost in her thoughts, didn't notice that Spy had stopped driving. How would these teammates treat her? Would they accept her, or would they look down on her?
"Elena."
Would they see her as part of the team, or would they do everything they could to make her quit?
"Elena."
Even worse, would they think of her as just a pretty face and possibly even try to- no! She was not about to let any of those things happen.
"Elena!" The Spy nudged her shoulder.
"Huh?" she jumped.
He looked out the car window. "This is where you live, no?"
"Y-yeah… I was just… Hmph! I was just surprised you knew where to go." She said with a slight sarcastic tone. With that, she got out of the car and walked up the steps to her home.
•●•
Elena didn't know how much time she had to pack her things, so she tried to be as quick as possible. Grabbing a suitcase from her room, she pulled out three sets of clothes (one a little nicer than the other two, more for business purposes, she wanted to be prepared), an extra pair of shoes, and a toiletry bag (because she still wanted to be prepared for the worst) and packed them in the suitcase.
Those were the essentials, and she still had some extra space in her suitcase. So she found her mother's diaries as well as her own and her flamenco fans. Elena didn't know why she wanted to take the fans, but she felt compelled. She also got out an old pendant, with handcrafted beads and a dark-green stone in the center. Her father gave it to her as a gift when she was 16, saying it was an old Ramirez heirloom that was passed down from each generation. She treasured the necklace, wearing it almost all the time, even during bullfighting matches, and it eventually became a good luck charm. Elena tied it around her neck and hoped some of its good luck would help in this new line of work.
There were still a few more things she wasn't about to leave behind. Heading down to her basement/laboratory, she was relieved to see everything was the same way it had been yesterday. Elena put together a kit so she could make more poison darts and put both the spring-loaded holster on her wrist and the one she left here in the case. As she was closing the case, she heard a voice.
"Trying to put on a brave face, aren't you Elena?"
She turned around to see the Spy standing in front of the door way.
"Maybe." She muttered, thinking back to why she made that snide comment toward him.
The Spy looked around, observing the strange vials in the room until he saw a dead mouse on the floor with a dart in its body. "I'd bring those poison darts you were working on if I were you."
"Already have that covered." She said, slinging the bag with the data notes over her shoulder. "I have one more thing I want to get before we go."
Back on the main floor of her house, Elena opened a closet and brought out yet another case. In the case was a slender, pale-green revolver with an even darker green grip. An intricate Spanish pattern was engraved on the barrel. On some occasions, she would accompany her father (and sometimes Spy as well if he was in the area) when he went target shooting. Elena rarely ever participated at first, mostly because she didn't have a very good aim. When she got this revolver, it was a perfect fit for Elena and she started practicing more until she became a precise and accurate shooter.
"Would it be alright if I brought this with me, Señor Tío?"
The Spy closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "I don't see why not."
She held back her urge to jump in happiness. Instead she just nodded and gave a small smile. "Thank you." Elena closed the case and got all her things put together.
Before they got out the door, Elena stopped to realize there was one last thing she had to do before they left. "Wait."
Spy turned around. "Forgetting something?" he asked with a hint of impatience.
Elena nodded. She dashed to the counter, rummaging through her drawers until she found a piece of paper and a pen and quickly started writing.
"There's this guy who wanted to get coffee with me today. But since I'm leaving, I won't be able to. I should probably tell him I'll be gone for… some time. Would it be suspicious if I told him I was going on a worldwide bullfighting tour?"
The Spy didn't show much interest, which Elena didn't mind. She was only doing this because it was polite. "As long as you don't tell this person what you're actually doing."
"I don't think he'd believe that either." Finished with her note, Elena took her things outside and taped the note onto her door while the Spy put everything in the back of his car.
As she hopped back in the car, she looked back at her house one last time. "I really wasn't looking forward to having coffee with him anyway." She said to herself.
•●•
"Mr. Ramirez isn't taking visitors at the time, Miss. His condition is still critical and he needs to sleep." The woman at the desk told Elena. The Spy sat in the waiting area reading some sort of catalog while Elena was talking to the receptionist.
"I understand but… I really need to see him. This is the only time I can. I'll be as quiet as possible." Elena didn't know when she would get another chance to see her father again.
The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Are you related to Mr. Ramirez in any way?"
"I'm his daughter."
"Oh…" the receptionist whispered. She must have known what had happened to her father, as her eyes seemed to tell Elena how sorry she was. But the woman's expression quickly changed. "Room 120." She said. "And try not to disturb him."
"Gracias." Elena motioned for the Spy to follow her.
When they found room 120, Elena silently hoped that her father would be asleep. She didn't want to have to tell him what she was doing. She had no idea how he would react, if he would accept it or think her a fool. Elena slowly opened the door to find her father lying on a cot with his eyes closed. He was fortunately still asleep. There were bandages with a hint of red wrapped around his gun wound. Aside from light peeping through the window, the room was dark, with the sound of a machine quietly beeping. Elena stared at her father's injured body. She couldn't help but feel terrible for arguing with him and felt that this was her fault. Maybe things would be different if she had just let him go. But she couldn't change it now.
Elena took her father's hand and squeezed it. Her voice wavered as she whispered to him, "Adiós, Papá. I'll come back. I promise." She kissed his cheek and left the room.
The Spy didn't follow Elena stayed with Pedro a few more minutes. Elena wondered why he would need to stay longer than her, unless he was speaking to her father. As she waited for him just outside the room, the Spy finally closed the door.
"It's time, Elena."
•●•
"Did he say anything to you?" Elena asked the Spy as they were on their way to the airport. He didn't say a word so she decided to drop the subject. Elena could see the airport in the distance. Her body tensed as they were getting closer and closer. When they finally arrived, Elena was confused when the Spy drove past the parking lot and toward the takeoff area.
"Wait… aren't we supposed to check in instead of heading straight toward the planes?" she asked him.
"We're not taking any normal flight."
"But-" the Spy cut her off before she could finish.
"We're taking a jet."
"A jet!?"
He didn't seem at all surprised by her exclamation. "Is that a problem?"
"No…" Elena said. "Not really." Perks for being a spy I guess, she thought to herself. Elena didn't want to say that she was extremely prone to airsickness. But she didn't want the Spy to find out either if she were to suddenly throw up her breakfast.
Parking right next to the jet, the Spy got out of his car and started talking to the pilot. They were still early, but they were apparently the only passengers so they could leave when they were ready. And they were. Boarding the jet, Elena looked back at the city she called home. She was unsure when she would return, or if she even would return at all. She didn't want to think about that.
A part of her couldn't believe she was actually doing this. The other part of her felt it had to be done. But once she stepped on that plane, she knew there was no turning back.
Taking her seat, Elena started searching for a doggy bag, not wanting to take any risks. Next to her, the Spy noticed her clutching it in her hand. "I don't think you'll be needing that." He said to her.
Elena could feel the jet engine starting. They both fastened their seat belts. "How do you know? We're about to take off, and takeoffs are always the worst." Elena shuddered as she tightly gripped the arm her seat.
"Don't underestimate this pilot's skills."
Don't underestimate my airsickness, she thought.
The jet began to speed up, preparing for take-off. Elena's stomach churned, she was about to lose her breakfast. But she couldn't, when she realized that it was just her nerves. A few minutes passed. She was just fine, and they were in the air, on the way to New Mexico. As she relaxed into her seat, she put the doggy away, since she wouldn't be needing it… at least not until the landing.
"Señor Tío…" Elena began, but then shook her head. She would have to discard that childhood nickname for the Spy from now on. Elena also reminded herself that she would have to be strong. And if she couldn't… maybe she could put on an act. That had to be better than being weak and afraid.
For Elena, the best way to start was to collect information. "Spy, something I've been meaning to ask- what exactly will I be doing in this… job? I should be as prepared as possible."
The Spy lit a cigarette and Elena inwardly groaned. The jet didn't have any rules about smoking. Another thing for her to take note of was that she would have to get used to that awful smell.
Pulling out some papers, the Spy started filling Elena in on everything.
And there you have it. Next chapter, we're switching away from Elena's point of view... Because now we're getting to something much better- the other mercenaries' perspectives! Hooray!
I just realized that they might also be out of character too. Yay...? XD
Reviews are appreciated!
