Cinnamon

Chapter 1

Life is like those people that tell a joke (that isn't remotely funny) and the only one dying of laughter is the person who told the joke.

Yeah.

There are days I sit in bed and just think to myself....How the hell did I get caught up in all of this?

Seriously.

When I go frame by frame in my memory the shit doesn't add up. Yet here I am eating curry chicken in an underground military base that the government we work for doesn't even acknowledge.

It's all fun and exciting when you take the elevator ride into the depths of the Gobi dessert the first time around. You get to see the cool gizmos and gadgets, and the underwater firing range with the bad ass looking mini attack subs.

Yeah. That's how they get you.

Shit looks like something straight out of an action movie. They give the speech about "When all else fails, we don't". You get a peak at their secrets and you start to think that you're apart of something bigger. You begin to think your life will have a higher meaning attached to it.

You feel special.

If you choose to accept the invitation to join the most elite black-ops/special force organization ever known, or so they say, you'll eventually see that the shiny weapons and gadgets begin to lose their luster and appeal. You start to get annoyed with looking at the same stone walls everyday and you'll start sparring more often just so you can knock a motherfucker out. You'll also learn that it's a government agency. So, like all government agencies there is bound to be corruption, politics, and those using soldiers and resources to fund their own hidden agendas.
You'll start to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself...Was it worth it?

No matter the answer you come up with, the fact remains that you're not getting out unless they release you or bury you six feet under. Working for them means knowing their secrets and therefore no one is ever released to live a happy long life. The latter is the most likely option.
Just the thought of it made my shoulders sag with exaustion as I sighed heavily in front of my bathroom sink. The porcelain square was mounted to the gray cement wall with it's metal piping exposed. The pale gray wall color continued around all four walls. The mirror secured above the sink was carved into a perfect circle with a little bit of yellowing around the edges that gave away its age. There was nothing fancy about the mirror. There was no molding or frame around it. It was just there.

The cement floor beneath my sock protected feet was colored black as coal. Some kind of stain was poured over it to give a hint of shine and keep from scraping your bare feet. The two good things about it were the frosted glass shower that stood to my right and the freestanding soaking bathtub that sat to my left. There wasn't much room to move around and I have to keep all of my bath items in a small closet just outside the bathroom door. Then again, there are a lot of people out there who have far less than this, so I don't complain.

My room (on this base) contained everything that a small apartment would have. Right outside my bathroom door and a few feet to the right stood my entrance door with an electronic keypad and scanner on either sides. To the left of my door rested a short bamboo ladder that would take you to my library. To be honest, someone could easily just jump from the raised area down to the ground without injury. And my library was just an L-shaped wall about a yard and a half in both directions. The natural stone flooring was beautiful but murderous on furniture, so I ended up buying a hand stitched rug during a mission in Turkey. Two large bean-bag chairs served as seating. If you walked directly ahead from my front door you would pass my bed, and the door to my bathroom, with the pathway taking you to my living/kitchen area that kind of blended into one. There were no cabinets in my kitchen expect for the two under my sink and one under my counter top. There was a small refrigerator, a two burner stove top, and detached oven. There was enough counter top space for me to cook (the few occassions I actually did). A tiny kitchen Island which housed a metal sink and would have to be avoided if you wanted to get to the living room.
A flat screen television was mounted to the cave-like natural rock of the wall with a glass entertainment center below it. The only living room furniture was a three person couch that Dagger and I snuck onto base.