Secrets Leave Scars [EDITING]

10 - Ache

Marcus leads us to the interrogation room where the gunman sits, tied up to the chair and gagged. "No one has touched him yet, so... who wants to go first?" Marcus grins evilly. Ivy is the first to raise her hand, Omar second. "We're not in kindergarten just go do it," Marcus scoffs. Ivy takes the lead while the rest of us watch.

She tears off the gag and grabs him by the throat. "Where did you come from?" She growls. The man says nothing, his face turning beet red. The veins on his face grow when he starts gasping. Ivy continues, gripping his neck tighter. Just before he passes out, she releases him. His head falls onto the metal table in front of him as he pants for air.

"Eh," Omar says, watching from afar. "That was nothing." He struts over to the captive and strikes his face. The blow knocks over the chair, the man with it. Omar lifts the chair upright and punches him again. Blood smears on the man's face as he continues coughing. "I believe she asked you a question," Omar grunts, holding the man's face upright while pointing to Ivy. The man sneers angrily. He spits the blood out of his mouth and onto Omar's face.

"Alright," Marcus interrupts them. "Let's let someone else try." He fixates his eyes on me, motioning for me to go. I take a nervous breath before walking towards the criminal.

His eyes are dark and evil. "Who are you," I ask. He watches me but says nothing. I slam my hands on the table, startling him. "Who are you!" I say again, louder this time. The man chuckles and spits again, this time on the floor. I look back at Marcus, giving up.

"Keep going," Marcus says sternly, his eyebrows furrowed. "You haven't even touched him."

I look back at the bloodied and bruised man in front of me. "I recall that I put a bullet through his knee," I say, turning back to Marcus, arms crossed against my chest. "I found him, shot him, and held him down until your guards put him here," I continue, staring directly into his eyes. "I'll let the others have a turn." I smirk, stepping back in line.

The room goes quiet, except for the gunman's occasional whine. "Go! Whoever's next," Marcus commands, angrily.

We all watch as Trinity tries, and fails. Finally it's Axel's turn. He stealthily pulls out a knife from his sleeve and jams it roughly into the mans hand. He groans in pain, the screams echoing through the room. "Where'd you come from and who the f*ck are you," Axel questions him calmly.

"I'm not telling you anything," he yells through gritted teeth.

"Ok," Axel shrugs. He twists the knife stuck in the man's hand and another scream echoes. "Try again."

Marcus nods approvingly as the man breaks. He says he's a hired assassin, not apart of any mafia. Axel moves onto the next hand when he refuses to say who hired him. The man trembles in the chair as he cries loudly.

"R-Russians," he stutters through his screams. Marcus smiles at the man grimly, before slicing his throat.

I look around at the other recruits who are completely unfazed. I stay quiet in my shock, watching as a pool of blood forms on the floor. I take long, deep breaths, praying I won't vomit.

***

Marcus had guards clean up the body and led us back to the training room. Axel held his knife in his hand, blood still dripping as he went. I felt sick to my stomach when the washed off blood filled the entire sink.

"Clearly we're gonna work more on interrogation tactics, but as recruits you won't be doing much of that anyways," Marcus explains. He keeps talking but all I hear is the loud slash of skin and the horrific screams.

I've seen death as an agent. It wasn't new to me, but this process was. A gun shot ends the pain quickly, it's simple. This was a different kind of death that I haven't witnessed before. This kind made me ache.

"Isobel." I jump when Ivy nudges my shoulder. "He's talking to you," she whispers, nodding towards Marcus, who's staring angrily back at me.

"I'm sorry what," I clear my throat uncomfortably.

"If you aren't going to listen to me then there's no point in you being here," Marcus states, glaring at me.

"I'm sorry I got distract-"

"I don't care." My biggest pet peeve is when people interrupt me. I take a deep breath, trying to control myself.

"Gosh what a dick," I think.

"I asked you if you've shot a gun before," he repeats himself.

"Yes," I say, confidently.

"Then why did the bullet end up in his knee?" He asks. I hear Trinity chuckle stiffly.

"Because if I killed him we couldn't interrogate him," I answer, calmly.

"Right!" he exclaims sarcastically. He walks towards me slowly. "Except, we didn't interrogate him did we?" He stops, close enough to me that I can smell his cologne. "It looked more like you gave him an interview," he scoffs. "You sat there asking him questions."

"I wanted to give everyone a chance," I reply, gritting my teeth angrily.

"You don't call the shots here sweetheart," he continues, furrowing his brows farther. "I do. I'm the boss. If I want to give everyone a chance, I'll give everyone a chance, but only if I want to."

"Sweetheart?" I laugh in his face. His eyes widen with rage as he lunges at me. He jerks my arm roughly, forcing it behind my back. I'm caught off guard and stumble. He wraps his other arm around my neck, putting me in a choke hold. I pull at his arm with my free hand, but his grip is too strong.

"Don't make me knock you out again, sweetheart," he growls into my ear, pushing me off. I cough as I fall to the floor.

He turns to walk away as I regain my breath. I swing at him but arms latch around me, holding me back. "Come back you son of a b*tch!" I yell out angrily at him, kicking my legs to break free.

"He's gonna kill you Isobel please calm down," Kol whisper-yells. My breathing slows as I catch my breath. He subtly loosens his hold on me as I calm down. The room gets quiet as Kol returns to Marcus's side.

"We'll proceed training same time tomorrow," Marcus's voice echoes. He smiles at me cunningly, while dusting off his 2,000 dollar suit.