The Path that led to Nowhere

He had been told that they'd died in a plane crash. But the fact file had stated otherwise. Ivan Romanov stood in the snow, his legs feeling like lead and his nose turning redder; but he didn't care, occupied by his thoughts which were like a swirling mass in his mind, raging with several emotions. They had lied. Having snuck into the 'forbidden room' had revealed the file that defined him, although he had faced severe repercussions for the act from the head matron. The contents of his file had shocked him: his parents had been working as paid assassins in an international criminal organisation and Ivan had been delivered to the orphanage by his distressed uncle when Ivan's parents had been shot down fifteen years ago by the FBI.

After a year of keeping this information, he had suddenly received a letter out of the blue from an unknown person, asking him to arrange a meeting at the local café. Having experienced thugs earlier in life, he knew better than to keep his distance from a place where the friend of his serial killer of a father was supposed to be present. He looked around waiting, watching the Big Ben strike 4 in the morning.

While a few other people trudged towards their workplaces in a groggy trance, Ivan stood on high alert keeping his head ducked low beneath his beanie. He lifted his head slightly to take in his surrounding; apart from a few commuters clothed in heavy jackets, a glowing neon sign advertising the lowest gold prices, a navy-blue sedan and the numerous traffic lights blinking uselessly in the deserted street, nothing seemed quite out of the usual. The local café opened, and he observed the people going in. He was too engrossed in the act that he didn't detect the person who had crept up beside him and had touched his shoulder. Ivan spun around and launched a karate punch at the new comer, only to touch thin air.

''Sharp reflexes, just like your father.'', chuckled the man who had just dodged Ivan's punch as naturally as breathing ''How about we grab an espresso?'' and he walked ahead without a backward glance.

The army veteran, obvious from the numerous scars on his face and the barrel chest, introduced himself as Dimitry Sharshakov and explained Ivan's history. He talked about the criminal organisation, the W.O.L.F, that his parents had been a part of and how they had sacrificed themselves to save the organisation. Moreover, he told his own history and his friendship with Ivan's dad. In the end, he asked Ivan the elephant in the room: would Ivan join the W.O.L.F? Upon agreeing, Sharshakov told him of the island 'Nowhere', located in the Pacific, where the headquarters of the W.O.L.F was based. Ivan realised his life's aim and went with Sharshakov onto the Path to Nowhere; little did Sharshakov know of the 3-D mask that 'Ivan' was wearing, embedded with cameras. The FBI was on the move.