Mystery ~ MV1

017. An inferno among the waves

[Agent A]

The rhythmic impact of my running shoes against the old cobblestone path matches the pace of my heart and echos through the empty streets. Vendors and tourists have long since packed up and retreated from the shadows that spread once the sun goes down.

Each step sends reverberations through my body, the thundering beat of my heart fills my ears as I push myself faster and further— as if I was trying to outrun that memories that seemed to plague me these past few days.

I couldn't tell if it was the date approaching like a predicted natural disaster or the deeper meaning of leaving Max behind had to me.

Either way I couldn't stop running. Running from the emotions I didn't want to face, running through the physical pain because it was easier than the emotional agony.

Luke had offered to run with me—not because he thought I was unsafe at this hour —but because deep down I think he saw the brewing storm in my eyes when I announced I was leaving. I could see it in the concern that pulled at his face as I brush his offer off, closing the door yet still feeling his eyes pointed at my back.

My lungs burned as I finally stopped, catching myself against the metal railing overlooking the Mediterranean coast. The waves lapped at the sides, the ocean spray cooling against my skin.

My knuckles when blanch as I held on, bracing myself against the metal as I stared down at the saltwater below me- the refreshing ocean spray barely does anything to my flushed skin as I lean over the railing.

I see my reflection among the dark waves, but my emotions morph it until I see my father staring back at me. I was always reminded of how much I looked like him, people thought they were doing me a favor when they said that, but it only ever made my skin crawl and feel heavy.

My breath becomes ragged as the warm light from the lamppost bleeds across the surface of the dark waves, and suddenly I'm fifteen again— watching my entire life literally burn up in consuming flames. The light licks at the ink-black waves as the flames once did to the night sky.

I see it all in horrifying clarity.

The rising smoke that filled my lungs as I fell, knees hitting the dirt while I watched the angry flames crack and shatter the window of my sister's room. Elena had asked me to braid her hair the morning, something about wanting it to look like mine yet I refused— too angry at my dad to consider she'd never be able to ask again.

I would've braided until my finger bled if I had know I wouldn't see her to her tenth birthday the next week.

I can still feel the heat against my skin despite the coastal breeze. I can feel it on my face, so intense and raging that it signed my eyebrows  that night.

My dad words flashed through my mind then just as they flash behind my eyes now.

"You're better than this life Sydney, you deserve better than it!"

His words ring in my ear, reverberating around my skull until it's painful.

He didn't want me to join the CIA, to follow his footsteps that he claimed led to a very lonely life.

I was young and ignorant.

He had it all, why couldn't I have it the same?