Scarlet Silence

Chapter 5 - Goodbye to the End of Beginning

TW: Language, violence, mentions to violence, mentions to abuse, aggressive behavior

The next day, Anzhelika was brought out of the cell where she had been kept overnight so she could sleep on a bed, back to what she called "the annoying blue room." She was still extremely irritated, having barely slept the last night.

A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent cuffed her wrist to the table and then left Anzhelika to her thoughts. The paper clip she had used to pick the lock for the handcuffs previously was taken from her, and she was not happy about it.

Five minutes later, the door opened. Maria walked in with a smile on her face; Anzhelika rolled her eyes as Maria sat in the chair opposite.

"So... Anzhelika," she said.

Anzhelika's eyes widened. How did she know her name? That was all it took to scare her; she immediately looked for an exit.

"Calm down, kid," she said. "We just want to talk. We understand your name is Anzhelika Lukyanova. We know you came from the Red Room; we know your mom was called Irina, and your dad was called Vyacheslav."

Anzhelika frowned. Maria knew more about Anzhelika than Anzhelika knew about herself.

"We just want to talk, okay? Let's start with your mission. What were you doing in those abandoned buildings?"

No response.

"I know you understand me. Listen, kid, I want to help you, but I can't if you don't talk to me."

Anzhelika snapped.

"What, you going to kill me if I won't?"

"No, of course not-"

"Oh, stop with that shit. You're lying, you and your whole organization are fucking liars!"

Maria raised her voice a bit. "Hey, listen, I get you don't have a proper sense of rules, but here we have respect for people in authority."

Anzhelika scoffed, "I don't believe in authority."

Maria sighed, "What do you believe in?"

"Fear."

"I think you'll find that's not how the real world is run, Anzhelika."

"What is it then? Respect? We both know that's not true."

"What I'm trying to say is that it's more complicated than that. We're not going to hurt you because it's against our morals. Do you know what a moral is, Anzhelika?"

Anzhelika thought hard before responding, "People value principles about what's right and wrong."

"Exactly. Can you see what I'm getting at?"

"Madame B said also people are sick and that it was up to me to save my country from those people or our world will go to be chaos."

Maria sighed, exasperated.

"I know she told you that, but does that mean it's true?"

Anzhelika scoffed, "What, so she was lying then?"

"That's exactly what I mean. You were lied to, Anzhelika. We want to help you. So please tell me what happened."

Anzhelika desperately looked for any signs of deceit on Maria's face—maybe her tone slipped, or her body language changed anything. But there was nothing.

"No..." she mumbled.

Logically, it made sense. Anzhelika was smart enough to see it—the sparks of resentment she felt towards the Red Room when they made her kill Nadzeya, when they tortured her for sparing another girl when she was seven years old, when they practically prostituted her on missions.