Outsider

Ten

Runaway.  That's what I'll be, a runaway.  Despite the long, grueling hours with Hydra, excitement was creeping up inside me for I knew that Oliver was planning our escape.  We would run away, maybe live in the woods, and we would collect books.  That was our plan, for I always enjoyed my lessons with Papa and Oliver admitted that he did like reading.  And we'd live happily ever after, just like a fairy tale!  That was our story, or at least the happy ending I envisioned for us.  The perfect world I created for Oliver and I would give me a spark of joy in the midst of Hydra.  No matter how much calloused hands I got from climbing, or how many blistered feet from being en pointe, I stayed optimistic about our future.  It was true that my last escape attempt failed miserably, but this time Oliver would be with me and we would succeed.

But, as per usual, life threw us a curve ball.  Oliver and I were assigned our first mission together, and we would leaving the Hydra facility for the first time in over a year!  A gala was to be held in St. Petersburg in three weeks time, and Oliver and I would pose as the children of a business official played by a Hydra soldier.  But, we would have to gather the names of a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attending the gala who were supposedly tracking the location of our base and would be attending the gala as well.  All we were told is that S.H.I.E.L.D. was a chaotic organization that we had been quietly invading over the years.  I was over-the-moon ecstatic- not for the mission part of it- but I was naively thinking that this would be our time to escape.  One night while I was conversing with Oliver, I said, "I'm excited to get out of here, permanently."

Oliver shook his head and replied, "They'll be watching us like hawks when we're on our mission, it's too obvious.  But there is something we can do to help move our plan along."

"What?"

He leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear, "I overheard an officer saying that there will be people at the hotel we'll be staying at who have access to boarding passes for a drug trafficking boat."

"Why would they be at the hotel right now?" I asked Oliver.  

 "I don't know," he admitted, "But we will have to go get those passes if we have any hopes of getting off the continent.  The organization, Crimson Night, that they work for is probably used to trafficking kids-"

"Kids?"

Oliver smiled and said, "Well, we are still kids, Elissa.  If we went anywhere involved with the government they'll just put us in foster care, and Hydra will likely be able to find us again."

"So the drug traffickers are safe?" I concluded uncertainly.

My friend's face grew solemn and he said firmly, "No one is safe.  We only have each other to trust, that's why we'll get out together."

However, in the excitement soon to come my mind would be ridden of any thoughts regarding our escape.

 Sooner than I expected, the time came for our mission to commence.  I was given a suitcase with all the 'essentials' Hydra thought I needed:  Civilian clothes, a gala dress and heels, toiletries, and my weapons.  

My weapons consisted of the handgun I mainly used in training, and a knife which looked delicate yet deadly.  I held the knife and stroked its sharp blade, slicing a small sliver in my index finger.  Grinning, I knew that if the knife could cause my body some damage with barely a touch, then I could only imagine what it could do at its full force.  That didn't terrify me like it would've a year ago, instead it made me happy.  I paced around my cell, thrusting the knife at invisible threats that existed only in my imagination.  In a way, it felt good to be powerful and capable of damage, because then I would have some authority.  Then I would have some control over my life.

We were ushered up the same elevator I attempted to escape in many weeks ago.  This time, however, I made it past the first three feet of ground.  I wanted to run, jump, and spin around just to let my hair blow in the wind, but I had to hold myself back and march orderly down the gravel-and-snow-mixed pathway like the soldier Hydra was training me to be.  I saw two cars at the end of the path, both looked expensive and stealthy.  But, a sack was thrust over my head before I could see the inside of the car, preventing me from seeing the outside world as we drove off to Russia.