Darkened Shadows

Chapter 1

It's quiet; an unusual adjective for this place. Usually the air is filled with the screams of the other test subjects. They're never around for very long, for some reason, I'm the only one Hydra has kept over the years, or I guess, the only one who's survived this long.

I've been here for my entire life. I grew up within these concrete walls and linoleum labs. I have never seen the sun or felt fresh air on my skin. All I know is the stagnant smell of mildew and the burning scent of chemicals. I'm not even sure of how old I am, time is pointless here.

I would tell you my name, if I had one to give you. I'm known as 51437, or Shadow, but I don't want that to be my name. I want to be something other than Hydra's plaything, but I'm not sure that I can ever escape. Hydra's got me on a tight leash. Other than the Winter Soldier(whom they lost), I was their most prized possession. They've molded and shaped everything about me except for my mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was next on the agenda. There is so much I don't know about myself: for example, my wings.

I don't know if I was born with wings or if Hydra gave them to me. The one time I tried to sneak into the archives to find my file, I was caught and severely punished. Note for anyone who was wondering: whips fucking hurt. I received 20 lashes for my insubordination and a sense to never step out of line again, well, at least to that extent. I'm always doing some little, tiny thing to annoy the guards, but just the guards. I'm absolutely terrified of the scientists and the things they could inject into my body.

The scientists have already done so much to me. I grew up in a laboratory with the constant fear of the days when they would have something new to try on me. They gave me powers and trained me to kill. I hated it. I didn't want to be a pawn in their game of world domination. I didn't want these abilities, but I didn't know anything different. Who would I be outside of this compound? What would I be? Sometimes I like to imagine having what I'd think to be a normal life, but the best I can come up with is just a young girl growing up in Hydra that doesn't get treated like an object to be abused.

I'm sitting in my room. It's essentially a holding cell, but with four walls instead of three and metal bars. I still can't leave of my own volition, however. I'm only let out for training and experimentation. Experimentation doesn't happen as often as it used to, but training was a daily routine. Hydra wanted me to perfect my powers and my physical abilities, but they didn't want me to be too powerful. That's why they put a shock collar on me. Like a dog. That way, if I decide I'm done their shit, they can say, "think again bitch!" and shock the shit out of me. Training mainly consists of strengthening my powers.

I can control shadows. Essentially, if there's darkness within an area, I can manipulate them to do what I want, sorry, what Hydra wants them to do. When I use my powers, I've been told that my eyes turn black and that the longer I'm using them, my veins start to turn black as well. Pair that with my pitch black wings, the guards have started to call me Demoness, or Angel of Darkness just to piss me off. Speaking of my wings, Hydra doesn't give me many opportunities to use them. Unless it's a day where they bring me to the high-ceilinged room to do flight training, they keep my wings in a stupid harness that I can't unlock. Keeping them so confined hurts, but it's nothing compared to the training I have to do.

A harsh scream cuts off the eerie silence-one of the others. I've never seen them, I've only ever heard their pain. It may seem harsh, but I'm just glad that it's not me that's getting whatever treatment they're giving to the unlucky soul screaming. The screams never scare me. Why should they when I've been hearing them for my entire existence?

The scream abruptly ends, and so does a life. It's nothing new, but it's still sad. In some ways, I envy the others. They get to escape. Sure, they're dead and the last thing they saw was probably some creepy-ass man in a lab coat staring down at them, but at least they're finally at peace. I'm stuck in this eternal hell of existence as Hydra's favorite guinea pig.