The Black Rose

Chapter Twelve

***FLASHBACK***

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

The heartbeat monitor were attached to her chest, keeping track of her heartbeats. Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Don't show fear. Her heartbeats remained steady while her fingers traced the cool steel sword in her hand. She couldn't see anything. Her eyes were blindfolded with the familiar silk kerchief. Don't show fear. Listen. Smell. Taste. Feel the hard leather handle in your hand. Inhale. Exhale. Hear over her own heartbeats.

Then she heard it. The almost silent footsteps. What direction was it coming from? The footsteps stopped. Th-th-thump. Her heartbeat escalated for a second. Ahh.

Just about negative forty-three degrees from her position.

Her heartbeat steadied itself. Th-thump. Th-thump. Don't show fear. She can smell him now. His clean-shaven aroma. His cockiness. This was the test. Her against the best. The slight rustle of his clothes warned her that he was moving. The sound of his sword coming out of its sheath. Th-thump. Th-thump. Her heartbeats continued to fill the arena. A slight breeze wooshed around her. Suddenly a clash of steel filled the air as Rose sprang into action.

Her sword collided with his sword, feeling the brunt of his strength behind it. Th-thump. Th-thump. Just don't show fear. Listen. Think of his next move. His feet are turning. Does that mean he's pulling back? Does that mean he's going to jump over her? Smell him. Oh he's definitely going to flip 360 degrees over her. Rose spun on her heels as he sprang over her. Her sword flew in a blur, stopping just an inch before beheading his head. Th-thump. Th-thump. She succeeded. She passed the test. Applause filled the arena as her heartbeat monitor switched off.

"Aurélien Emerwen Rose is our most promising experiment. She had outsmarted many of our best spies and is quite attuned to her senses," a male voice filled the arena. "As you can see... her heartbeats maintained steady as danger approached her. You can be well assured that our millions of dollars were well spent."

She felt his cold unforgiving hands on her face before he ripped away the silky blindfold. There he was. Her spymaster. The only male figure she had looked up to in her entire life. Her eyes squinted as it adjusted to the glaring lights and then she noticed the man standing next to her spymaster. She noticed the greying hair, the crow's feet around his eyes, the sharp beak-like nose and his thin lips. He wore a dark blue suit with a light blue tie. There was an American flag pin on his suit jacket. As he observed her slowly, a small gasp escaped his lips. "Her eyes?"

"Well yes. Her eyes are simply an unfortunate side effect of genetic engineering. But it is easily overlooked when you look at all the other attributes. Isn't she magnificent though? She's a result of decades of DNAs being warped and combined together." The spymaster chuckled. Rose stood patiently, not finding it strange that she was being talked about like she was simply a doll.

"Genetic engineering," The stranger mulled over the possibility. "Does she not have any parents?"

"Oh no. No parents. No family. No familial connection. She was made in a petri-dish and was carried by a surrogate. We had a wet nurse for her until age three. Frankly I think this girl right here is the best weapon America had ever invented. By age 4, she knew how to wield most weapons. By age eight, she learned how to speak six languages quite fluently. By age ten, she was already hardened to all forms of torture, including waterlogging and sexual abuse. Her IQ ratings are well over 130." The spymaster bragged. Rose exhaled, knowing that she had made him proud.

The stranger seemed quite uncomfortable. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this girl was basically stripped of all her basic human rights. This girl never knew true happiness. "But she's a female. Do you truly think she is the best fit for this job?"