MARIEL

9~ Olivia ~

She lay in the darkness, which was broken by the moonlight entering the window, curled in the fetal position beneath the sheets. Finally, she felt comfortable, as she had immediately shed the evening gown, showered off the gore and had slipped on short, black spandex and rid herself of the restricting wire bra. Yes, she physically felt comfortable, but mentally she felt drained.

Tira realized as she lay there that she had no regrets for what had happened that night, that she did not even feel sorry for the agents that had died, but she did, indeed, feel tired of the mental games Aleksey liked to play with her, and apparently his country.

Tira felt she had earned her purpose in life. She wanted her purpose. And here she was, alive as the most desired human tool in the country (and now, probably, world), still waiting for Aleksey to reveal her fate.

Her phone lit up and she saw it was a text from Aleksey.

'The world wants you, Agent 4!'

She stared at the phone for a moment before responding. 'Am I an advertisement or am I an agent?'

'Well, both.'

Tira typed, 'How do you expect me to perform as an agent if everyone knows who I am? I promise you someone took a photo tonight.'

'I'm not stupid, Tira. We disabled all the phone cameras and searched everyone to make sure no other media technology could be used.'

'How'd you do that?'

'We used technology that emitted infrared rays with encoded data that temporarily disables the cameras.'

'I don't understand what the fuck that means but good night.'

Another text from Aleksey. 'You did well tonight, as expected. Tomorrow we will talk about where you are going for your first assignment.'

'Will I be in Russia?'

Aleksey did not respond. After several minutes of waiting, Tira set the alarm on her phone and closed her eyes. The images of the night flashed through her mind, and once again she heard the sounds of the agents screaming, of necks snapping, the cage rattling, and it seemed to become louder in her mind as she became lost in the memory that affected her as much as remembering a trip to the grocery store. Then, she heard a soft knock behind her, creaking hinges, and the soft click of her bedroom door closing.

Tira's heart rate increased at the smell of familiar perfume. She heard soft footsteps behind her but did not turn from her position. The bed shifted as Olivia sat beside her and placed a cold hand on Tira's bare shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked quietly.

"I'm fine. Trust me."

Olivia's fingers traced circles on Tira's soft skin. "Are you sure?"

Tira rolled to her back and stared at the dark-haired woman sitting beside her. Olivia still had her serving outfit on, but the bowtie was gone and her hair fell loosely about her face and shoulders. The white shirt's first few buttons were undone, and the shirt was untucked from the black skirt.

"Olivia, I'm surprised you're here."

"Why?"

"You know why. What I did tonight does not phase me. But what you saw me do... is horrible. I'm sorry you were subjected to that."

Olivia bent her heard and remained silent for several seconds. "It scared me. And it was horrifying to watch. But - " Her hand returned to Tira, this time touching the strands of blonde hair near her cheeks. "- I was mostly scared for you." Her voice became a whisper and she bent closer.