Outsider

Seventeen

I hated it when Papa had to hunt.  I knew it was necessary, but I still hated to see the poor animal dead.  Especially with their blank eyes, not looking in any direction.  Eyes that no longer saw, eyes that witnessed their life end only a few short minutes ago.  Usually I could read what someone was thinking by their eyes, even the animals, but not if they were dead.  And when I wiped away the fogged up water on the tube, it was as if I was back at home; staring at a dead animal's eyes.  

The Winter Soldier sat there, eyes gazing nowhere.  He had a mask covering his face, but his metal arm was as bold as ever.  But, his eyes...  They were not dead and emotionless in his usual way, they were dead in a way that they had just witnessed their life end only minutes ago.  I leaped back, practically tripping over my flailing feet.  Yet, once I recovered I put on a brave face and faced the evil, malicious Winter Soldier.  Tapping the glass gently with my finger, I waited for him to lunge at me.  

Nothing happened.  

Next, I knocked on the glass, making a slightly louder noise.  Again, nothing happened.  It's like he is frozen or something, I told myself.  But, that's impossible!  How could anyone survive being frozen?  Then, I remembered what my father told me about magic.  Hydra must be using strange magic to keep the Winter Soldier alive while frozen!  However, I could not think of why- why would you freeze your best assassin?  

Speedily, I darted back and forth between the other tubes, using my sleeve to wipe away precipitation.  I saw more empty faces, all looking like dead animals.  Needing more information to solve this mystery, I kept staring around the room, scouring for data.  And soon, plain as day, I came across a book.  It lay on the control panel, its brilliant scarlet red colour contrasting with the dark room.  The cover had a solitary black star in its centre.

As I approached it, I noticed the book looked old with yellowing pages.  Tenderly, I lifted it up and looked inside.  I had no idea what to expect, obviously I didn't think there would be pictures of rainbows and unicorns!  But, I didn't really expect what I received.

Most of the pages were Russian, although I picked out a few words that were in German from what Papa taught me.  Page after page, I tried to make sense of the foreign words; until on the very last page, I saw English.  Then, I saw my name.

Name:  Elissa Joelle Fleur
Born:  September 1st, 2002- Aged eleven
Parents:  Noah Heinrich Fleur, Valentina Camille Fleur- Status:  Deceased
Has been completing the Black Widow training program.  Excelling in knife skills.  Adequate candidate for the memory wipe protocol.

Reading further, I caught Oliver's name.

Name:  Oliver Jakob Lasse
Born:  March 31st, 1999- Aged fourteen
Parents:  Mikko Clark Lasse, Kirsten Mikaela Lasse- Status:  Alive
Has completed the Hydra Soldier training program.  Excelling in agility and stamina courses.  Adequate candidate for the memory wipe protocol.

Both children are scheduled for the week of October 6th.

The book fell to the floor.  My legs gave out and followed suite.  My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach.

October sixth was next week!

I guess I fainted, because the next thing I remember is waking up on the cement floor, my body slightly damp from the precipitation.  Clutching my woozy head, I whispered, "Shit,"  For a while I just stared at the book.  Hydra was going to wipe Oliver and I's memories- everything we loved in life would be gone.  The thought of it kept me frozen in place, until eventually tears poured down my cheeks like a rainstorm.  "We have to get outta here," I choked shakily.  I had to get to Oliver, tell him what was going to happen.  There would be no more time to plot a perfect time to escape, we just had to run away from Hydra.  We had to get to Russia and hop on the Crimson Night boat.  Quickly, I ripped out the last page of the book.  I had no idea why I was doing it, but it just seemed important.  I placed the book back in the spot I found it, hoping no one would notice how I maimed it.

Then I climbed back through the vent, a bat out of hell.