Lost In The Shadows (A Sarah Barton Sequel)

Chapter 3

(Sarah's POV)

How did I get here? That question is no longer important. I was standing on the roof of a building, overlooking an unnaturally quiet street. There were very few people out and about this late. I guess 4 p.m. was just too late to be out around here. I was in an unnamed town. Unnamed to me, at least. They never told me city names. Or country names for that matter. I didn't appear to be anywhere near the facility, however. There was no snow. It came back to me suddenly why I was standing on the rooftop of a building wearing a uniform fit black suit, covered with pockets and hidden weapons. Supposedly, James Barnes was going to pass through here, or near here. My job was to snipe him, one clean shot through the skull, then leave his body for Sin to take care of. I didn't know how long I've been up here, but nobody on the street has noticed me. Nobody ever looks up. I check my pockets to see if I have anything. My hand brushes over a paper. It's the photo of James. My brain brings me back to the dream of 'Bucky', who looked similar to James. What if they were the same person? God, why was I even giving myself this option! It didn't matter if his name was James or Bucky, as long as his life ended today.

By any means necessary. Any.

Something below me caught my attention. It was a man wearing what seemed to be an overcoat. I will admit, not very strange, it was extremely cold outside. What made me look closer was the way he was moving. His motions were sharp, tense. He was looking for something. We then made eye contact. James Barnes stood before me and seemed to know I was out to kill. He took off running in the opposite direction. I flung my rifle over my shoulder and ran after him. I surprised myself, jumping from rooftop to rooftop came easy to me, though I had never done anything like it before. He suddenly stopped in an alleyway. He thought he had lost me. He had something else coming. I took careful aim, soundlessly removing my gun from my back and took careful aim. Right before my finger could pull the trigger, he moved. I tried to shift my aim to his new position, but it was too late. My gun fired, but missed its main target, instead hitting his right shoulder. He felt it, and fell down, grasping his elbow in definite pain. I heard a voice in my head that sounded strangely similar to Sin.

"Finish the job, Seven."

Something else in my mind told me to stop. Wait. Think. I let my gun fall to the rooftop I stood upon. I had to figure out why they wanted this 'James'. I had to know more. Two sides of my mind screamed at me, telling me different things. One part reminded me of all the consequences I could face for disobeying a direct order, given by Sin herself. For one second, however, I heard a new voice. One I had never heard before. A quiet one, but it stood out to me. It was familiar. It told me to jump down. It told me to hold off his death, learn about him. Listen.

I did as it told me. I landed gently next to him. I held no weapons in my hands. My pockets, however, were a different story. He backed away from me, dragging himself into the light. I remained in the shadows of the buildings. I was finally able to get a good long look at him. He looked no older than thirty, had long, dark hair, and a scruffy beard. What really got me was his eyes. Blue-green and seemingly full of pain and grief. They looked like my eyes. He continued to back away, his shoulder bleeding profusely. My aim hadn't been too bad, I may have hit a vein. His overcoat had been thrown off when I began my chase. My eyes ran over his uniform that was ever so similar to my own. Was he... No. Enough doubts, I need to ask him myself. Though my mind screamed for me to stop, I went a step further. My hands went to my goggles I wore. I pulled them over my head and truly saw the world around me. His eyes widened. Lastly, I gripped my mask. The strap in the back came off easily enough, I threw it down in the alley dramatically. To hopefully install enough fear in him that he would answer my questions. I knew I was forbidden to show my face to any of my targets, forbidden to even speak to them, but he couldn't report me to anyone if he was dead, so I saw no harm in doing so. His jaw dropped. He seemed, shocked. As he gripped his shoulder to stop the bleeding, he looked up at me and ripped my entire world apart with one word. One name. One word was all it took to break me. I didn't know what or who he was referring to, but it brought something back. Something resurfaced in me. Something buried away.

"Sarah?"

(To the ones that read this) THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING! Thanks for reading and I'll see you in Chapter 4! (: