Elizabeth woke up in panic to the alert of the alarm. Someone had broken in. She started to panic. She began to hyperventilate with wide eyes. She remembered what she was taught, taking deep breaths through her nose, out her mouth. In the nose, out the mouth. She repeated this a few times to herself until she began to calm down. She continued with the deep breaths as her parents had practiced with her. The instructions her parents had taught her were coming to her mind. She hurried into her closet swiftly and silently, and covered herself in all of the contents.
It was just Hydra, nothing her parents couldn't handle. They were the best. Her parents had worked for Hydra but they quit for a reason she didn’t know. She closed her eyes and tried to stay calm. Deep breaths. Her parents never explained why they were always so worried about our safety and Hydra. They always said,”You're too young. When you grow up we'll tell you and you'll understand. You're only five years old, sweetheart, you can wait awhile." She was almost six. She wanted to know so badly. She had a right, it was her family too. Why couldn't they just tell her? It couldn't be that bad.
She could hear footsteps from outside the door. The noise of the footsteps went creaking down the hall to her parents room. She held her eyes tightly shut and sucked her thumb. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. She tried to stay calm but she wanted to scream and cry and run away. Maybe it was just another practice round. It couldn't be real right?
And then it didn’t seem just for pretend anymore. She flinched as her mom screamed. A few silent tears escaped her as she tried to hold them back. Be brave. She could hear her mom pleading to the person, pleading for her life, for my life, for them to just let us go. She heard another scream and then silence. She could hear her heart pounding, even though it felt dead as if she had been the one that got killed.
She heard the footsteps again and then her door creaked opened. She closed her eyes even tighter, willing for this to all just be a horrible dream. For it all to fade away and for her to wake up in her bed. For this horrid nightmare to end.
She bit her thumb so she wouldn't let out a scream. More and more tears escaped her eyes, streaking her cheeks. Happy thoughts... Happy thoughts.... She let out a small squeal. She slapped her hand over her mouth. She didn't dare breath and everything was silent. She heard the closet door open with a quiet creak.
Nothing. She could tell the contents of the closet were being removed. More tears fell down her cheeks, falling off her chin, and into her lap. Finally she broke the surface. She looked up straight into the man's eyes. He had a mask over his mouth leaving his eyes and forehead bare. The mask looked like a muzzle.
*
The kills had been easy. Few quick movements had the mission almost complete. The target was three people and two were down, no survivors. He’d gone up the old creaky stairs, rushed into a dark room and was faced with two large watery eyes of a child. She had her thumb in her mouth and her eyes her filled with tears. She had the most desperate look on her face. Her cheeks were stained with tears. He had never killed a child before. She looked so innocent. He actually felt…bad for her. He shook his head out of his haze. What was he doing? She was his mission. Everyone in the house gets killed. He looked back into her eyes. He had his knife raised ready to stab her just as he had done countless times before. Cold and calculated.
He could do it, he had to do it. But those eyes staring at him like she’s just lost everything that had made up her world. He felt the waver in his hand as something broke through his conscious. His hand dropped down to his side. The knife fell out of his hand with clank as it hit the floor.
*
The man looked broken, he looked desperate but it was like he didn't know what he was desperate for. A small sparkle of hope spread through the girl. It was dead silent except for the sound of him breathing. His breaths were shaky. She kept looking into his eyes. She saw something glimmer in the moonlight coming from her window, catching her attention. It looked like it was coming from where his arm would be.
It was silvery metal. He turned away putting his hand up to his ear. "Are they dead?" Someone asks through his earpiece. He looks over at the girl again. A moment that felt like forever as he stared back at her, searching for something she didn’t know. "Yeah. They're dead," he says gravely.
He quickly turns around and starts to walk toward her bedroom door. He glances back at her. "I'm sorry," he whispers knowing she probably wouldn't hear him. She was still watching him. She didn't make a sound or move at all. She listens as his boots trail through the door and downstairs. He walks out through the front door. Elizabeth was still staring at her door.
She stood there for at least half an hour. She stepped out of the closet as if she was coming back to reality, her eyes looked dead and dull. She looks down at his knife and picks it up carefully; curiously. There was blood on it but she didn't seem to care. She walks over to her bed and lays down. She grabs her blanket and a stuffed animal and curls into a ball. She has the knife in her hands which was getting sticky, but she didn't care. She held it tightly as she drifted off to sleep.
