promise | mitch rapp.

II

Ana's tense shoulders came to a rest after Irene told her she could take her blindfold off; they were in the woods after Irene had made her pack her things to go to a program. Irene and Ana held eye contact for a few seconds; she had become close with Irene while she spent her time at the holding cell. They pulled onto the side of the road, having a large gate that needs a password to open, the driver pressed on the keypad, the black metal doors coming open. They drove through, it was muddy since it had rained recently, there was tons of trees and it looked as they were in the middle of nowhere.

They drove through a long trail, leading up to a large cabin with a man standing outside smoking a cigarette, as they came to a halt Irene stepped out of the car. She wore heels walking into the mud. Brave. Irene and the man standing outside the cabin she assumed was Stan Hurley stood there, He had a thin figure with tense shoulders and multiple scars around his face. Ana fiddled with her fingers, expecting there to mostly be men older than her, she kept reminding herself what she was doing all of this for. She wasn't scared of dying or fighting, it's more letting the people who died in the explosion down. She was going to make sure the people who killed her family laid awake at night knowing Anastasia Gold was coming for them.

Irene walked back to the car, opening it as she sat back down comfortably. "Prove me right, Gold." She said, a sincere look in her eyes. "You got it." Ana smiled at her, grabbing her duffle bag and opening the expensive leather car door, stepping into the mud around the car almost felt like quicksand. As soon as she stepped out and closed the door, they drove off.

"They're not coming back." The older man said, stepping down the staircase to Ana who was making eye contact with him the entire time. "What the fuck are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing your little pretty girl makeup and doing your hair? You had some shit happen now you want to go kill those mean big scary terrorist." He spat; she squinted her eyes trying to see what he was on about. "You want go home? Fuck, I'll drive you my own damn self."

She continued not to say anything, only making eye contact and her ignoring him made him only confused. "What makes you think you can go through my selection process? You don't look like you fit the part." Stan said, looking Ana up and down. She was slim but taller, her arms and thighs had gotten more muscular, but they would be nowhere near what the boys were.

"Permission to speak, sir?" Ana finally spoke, "yes fucking say something." He was rude, but that was most likely why he was so good at his job. "I think you'll figure out very quickly I can make it through whatever bullshit you want to put me through." She said, using the same tone he had been using the entire time. Stan cracked a smile, clearly liking her attitude. "There's an empty spot for you if you can keep it. Like to see what you've got." He said before another man grabbed her shoulder, leading her down another trail.

She had boots on, but she could feel the wet mud as she walked. There were so many trees she couldn't see when they even stopped, or if they did stop. She began to get lost in her thoughts as they continued walking through the forest, it was a long trail leading to a small cabin she could see in the distance. She realized what was happening in that moment, she was going to become an assassin, if she made it through. Seven months ago, she was a nobody, not looking for trouble, just getting into college. The thought she had about her parent's murder was how could they do that to somebody so innocent, now all she thinks is how dare they do that to her family.

She got to the inside of the cabin, there was under ten boys there and one of them being the exact one she had saw with the two CIA guards. The man who was walking her there left as she got inside, she walked towards the empty bed and placed her bag onto it, knowing Stan was going to be ready for us to practice skills, she needed to get ready. The men stared at her, she assumed they all had the same thought, and it was that a woman was joining them. Fucking assholes.