RED ASSASSINS ▹ NATASHA ROMANOFF [EDITING]

[19]

As I walked closer to her, the sound of twigs snapping emanated from my feet. I looked down and found a broken tree branch. My moment of folly caused the lady to spin around. I was dead, dead meat. Running towards me, I tried to duck all her blows. They kept raining on me, but I soldiered on. I wasn't going to give in so easily, especially not for another assassin. There was some sort of competition going on as I treated it like a contest of the fittest. She, however, treated it like an issue of life and death. There it was, the stark contrast of an optimist and a pessimist.

I whipped out my pocket knife and brandished it in her face. She didn't seem to be frightened, instead it gave her a surge of power. I got a kick in the abdomen and a fiery punch landed square in my chest. I fell to the ground in a heap. Lying there, I recovered from my daze. It was as if some natural instinct had swept over me- to not move and keep still until danger had passed. As the lady walked away, she said over her shoulder, "Puny. Pick someone your own size. No one messes with Klara."

At least I knew her name now, I thought to myself. I made a mental note to report it to Ivan once I had returned to the base. I stumbled and staggered through the dusty roads, finally reaching the entrance of the building. The rest of the girls were already waiting inside. Their only task was to spy on her, but not kill her. Why was I chosen?

Red, hot blood trickled down my forehead. It hurt, a lot. Ivan looked on, but instead of fussing over me, he coldly replied. 'Weak. Did you kill her?" I finally had enough of all these words. Madame B calling me Sloppy, Klara calling me Puny, and now Ivan calling me Weak. From his expression, I could tell that he was expecting her to be dead. My mind raced with the consequences of my failure. Everyone was staring at me. Unfortunately, I had let them down.

"I- I didn't kill her..."My weak and feeble voice trailed off,  before bowing my head low. My heart seemed to stop beating and fall to the pit of my stomach as I heard exclaims and gasps. Injustice. They could have done it too, why did Ivan choose me? They were all capable too, right?

"Natasha, you have let me down. Come here." He spoke in a solemn tone. He instructed for the girls to hit the sack, while gesturing me to follow him. I dared not look up, for I knew that the girls would definitely mock at me. I kept my hands behind my back all the while and my face was plagued with penitence.

Ivan spoke to me for a long while. "Natasha, I sent my best spy and assassin to kill her. And now, standing before me, she had come back empty-handed and with no news. I am disappointed in you, Natasha."