Soul Stealer ~ (A Bucky Barnes Love Story)

Do You Remember?

The first thing I heard was shouting and what sounded like a gunshot.  A machine whirled to life and I felt myself being lowered, the capsule I was crammed into hitting the ground with a loud clank.  The ice had melted away, pooling around my feet in a frigid puddle that made my bare feet ache.  I couldn't stop my body from shaking, a biproduct of being brought out of cryo. Truth was the cold never really left you, not after being subjected to cryofreeze as many times as I had.  The chill settled into my bones, haunting me, even once I was thawed out.  It was yet another way HYDRA burrowed into my soul, torturing me for eternity. 

"Get her out!" someone shouted.

I struggled to open my eyes, the frost on my eyelashes making them stick together.  Sirens and alarms were blaring, chaos consuming the room which made no sense.  In all the times I'd been frozen and defrosted never had it been like this.  Normally it was quiet, somber even.  Doctors stared at screens and discussed protocols while armed guards stood ready near the exits. 

Next came the multiple injections of drugs used to jump start my dormant system.  The human body wasn't meant to leap through the ages in a state of suspended animation, but that was exactly what I'd done.  Only after I'd been cleared by the doctors would the guards drag me from the capsule.  It took hours for my body to regain its strength so until then I was deposited in a cell and left to rot until I leveled out. 

"I need...more time.  She's been in cryo for close to 10-years.  I can't just..."

The sound of a gun cocking stopped the man's excuse abruptly, but I was more focused on what he said rather than the manner in which he said it.

Ten years, I'd been in cryo for a decade.

That was by far the longest amount of time I'd ever been subjected to this hell, a result of a botched escape attempt. I'd expected my punishment to be severe, but this went beyond that. This wasn't punishment. It was condemnation.

The cryofreeze technology may stop your body from physically aging, but it didn't stop your mind.  While I wasn't awake, per say, I wasn't asleep.  I was aware of what happened to me.  I also dreamt and it was never pleasant. Being trapped in a nightmare for 10-years was a Hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Vaguely I wondered what year it was but I immediately dismissed the notion because it didn't matter.

"If she's not ready to walk out of here in five minutes you're a dead man."

My eyes fluttered open, vision blurry as I blinked rapidly trying to clear it.  The bright lights stung my eyes, and it took a few seconds until I could see through the tears.  Wiping away the moisture I noticed a short, balding man in a white lab coat fumbling with a syringe attached to a huge needle and a bottle filled with clear liquid.  Sweat dotted his forehead despite the frigid temperature in the room, a bioproduct of nerves. 

Surveying the room I frowned.  There were thousands of safety deposit boxes lining the walls, some open with the keys still in the locks and others still closed.  Solid, steel bars served as doors reinforced with large panels directly in front and to the side of me.  The ceiling was low with big, round bulbs that cast the room in an unnatural green hue.  It was obvious I'd been moved over the course of 10-years.  The last prep room I'd been in was nothing more than a glorified cave.

There were numerous high-tech, flat screen monitors displaying data, my data, heart rate, brain activity.  My entire life was on display.  That was how it had always been.  I couldn't remember a time when I was allowed anything resembling privacy.  I was a science experiment before I was even born. 

My eyes skirted across the room, panic increasing exponentially when I failed to recognize a single detail.  When I saw the man clad in all black tactical gear I sucked in a harsh breath.  He stood a few feet away, a gun in his metal hand, his other tucked protectively against his side.  He kept his weapon pointed at the doctor who was frantically working, but his intense blue eyes never left my face.