Chapter seven

Bucky’s flesh hand was tightly holding the girl’s throat, not letting her breathe or move. He pressed the feminine body against a wall between the doors to the bedroom and bathroom. Her feet weren’t touching the ground whilst he was trying to hurt her. He was looking into her eyes which were changing from dark brown until they were only black like the devil’s eyes. The transformation was truly a little fascinating. She gritted her teeth and tried to use her strength to push him away, but his metal hand swiftly grabbed the woman’s hands and pinned them above her head. The flesh thumb was pressed against the significant scar she had on the right side of her neck. “You fucking liar!” he growled loudly.

Izzy smiled at him even without breath. She managed to say something to him. “I guess you found out. Good boy,” she praised him and smirked. Even without air and being close to death, she had the strength to be a bitch with sassy comments.

“I finally know who you are! You are Hydra’s greatest creation!” he continued, making her squeal one more time. “Oh, your death is going to be so rewarding for my soul. I’m going to kill you with my flesh hand so I could feel your skin my palm days after you’re gone,” Bucky hissed, pushing his whole body against hers. “I knew I know you from somewhere. You were familiar. I even had dreams with you, that you were the darkness haunting me for nothing. We know how dreams can be weird. They are just a fantasy, a chaos in our heard while we are sleeping. However, after some research I did last night when I left your place, I discovered who you really are.”

The woman still had some seconds left before she would pass out from lack of oxygen. “Do you want a Nobel Prize for that?” she barely whispered. It was time to turn the tables. Her already fully black eyes closed and her body vanished like a dark smoke. Bucky’s blue eyes widened when he saw the show in front of him. It was like a magic trick. His fingers were suddenly holding nothing but air. He could feel her body disappearing away. The girl was gone and appeared a moment later right behind him.

He turned around to face her. The black eyes went back to its original color. Her wet hair was falling own over her shoulders making wet marks on the shirt. “Do you think you can take me back to Hydra?” he asked, still pissed off. Both of his fists were clenched, ready to hit her in the face. “I am done with them! I don’t belong to them anymore.”

“I didn’t want to give you to Hydra, you dickhead,” she scowled, holding her position to defend herself. “That was never my plan.”

“Oh, bullshit, little girl. I don’t believe a word you say,” he dryly gulped and took a deep breath. “Why should I trust you? How can I trust you? The only normal thing to do at the moment is to kill you. And believe me; I’m going to enjoy it very much.”

“Fuck, are you insane? Not that I’m scared,” she added with a normal voice.

“You are asking me? I think you are the one insane! Why did you take me to your apartment? Why did you want to help me, ha? It was all a plan, am I right?” he was constantly asking her something, but she knew any type of answer wouldn’t be enough satisfying for him. Bucky made a rapid move forward. Luckily, Izzy was faster than him and playfully dodged his attack. Taking his wrist, she pushed him down on the floor with a loud thud.

“Remember how you wanted to know how I do it? It’s easy,” she tilted over him and grinned, “I’ve been learning Aikido – a martial art no one has ever taught us back in Hydra,” and she winked at him. “This martial art is mostly for defense. When you know how to use your strength, you can take anyone down very easily. This is my secret trick soldier.”

Bucky reached for her leg and pulled her down on the floor. The girl sighed of surprise – she wasn’t predicting that move. The man climbed up her body and grabbed her by the wrists. “You little bitch…”

“Yes, that is my middle name,” she said quickly, smiling.

“You are going to tell me everything, or I’ll kill you slowly, painfully and the last thing you would see will be my face. Would you like that?” His face was only centimeters from hers. The blue eyes were filled with anger. The Winter Soldier was somewhere there, but it was still Bucky. He knew what he was doing and she knew he was trying to control his mind.

She started to laugh. “Oh boy, you are so stupid.” Those words only made him let one of her wrists go and punch her in the face. It made her stop laughing and be silent. A red fluid was leaking from her mouth. He even tore her lower lip with his knuckles. “You are so going to pay for this,” she hissed very slowly. Once again, the girl vanished like a dark smoke and appeared behind him, tightly holding his throat with her arm, not letting him go.

The brunet gasped, trying to get rid of the woman. He harshly threw himself backward, aggressively slamming her back on the floor. An unpleasant crack could be heard like something had broken in her spine. Izzy let him go, rolling her dark eyes from the pain. That did hurt. “Use your words carefully, Shadow. They can be your last.”

The black-haired girl spat saliva mixed with her blood on the floor. Those black eyes were already back, trying to scare him off. “How can you kill air? How can you kill someone who can vanish through your fingers?” she started to speak in Russian. “I am Hydra’s greatest creation, just like you said. I am known as the Shadow,” she was talking in English again. “Don’t you remember how they used to send us on missions to kill, to intimidate people? We were a team and you didn’t complain back then.”

“That never happened! I know what I did, but I did it alone!” he screamed, the wrath spreading in his veins. “All those missions, actions, I did it alone without you. You were my enemy and you still are! I was supposed to find you and kill you. The best thing to now do is to kill you. I must kill you. I have to do it!”

“Go ahead, try,” she spread her arms without giving a fuck or two, still lying on the floor. “I dare you, soldier.”

The man was a bit confused. “What the fuck are you, woman? Don’t lie to me,” she snorted. “You said I was unstable but look at you little girl. Not giving a shit about anything. You belong to a madhouse.”

Izzy sat up, stretching her legs and supported her body with hands. “First of all, stop repeating the story about killing me, it’s annoying. And just like you said – I do belong to the madhouse. I’m Shadow; I’m different than the rest of the people in the world, a weapon just like you are. I have amazing abilities and I’m not scared of you or anyone. They are scared of me. I’m not a good person. Why do you think the people in Rick’s bar respect me? Because they are afraid, they are scared of me. Don’t you remember the first time we met? I stopped Fat Joe before you could snap his neck. They didn’t do anything to me because they knew I would beat the shit out of him and his puppets. Once they tried to beat me up – once – and I had shown them what I was capable of. ”

“Should I be grateful for that day we met or that you stopped a fight? I can take care of myself,” he laughed at her. He started to walk around her, ready for another attack. “All I know is that you are a manipulative bitch who works for Hydra.”

“I-don’t-work-for-Hydra,” she gritted her teeth and said it slowly, angrily. “I ran away five years ago when I had the opportunity. I’m not their puppet anymore.”

He didn’t believe her. “You are lying.”

“And you are a big blind idiot. I’m not lying to you!”

Those words made him go crazy. “Fuck, stop it you…” When his hand squeezed her shoulder, she took him by the wrist and put both of the bodies into total darkness. Her ability wasn’t only transporting her body like a black smoke, disappearing from place to place. She could take anyone with her. Bucky saw nothing but darkness. His body was unusually light, but he felt her touch on his wrist. It was strange, making his stomach flip a little. It felt like he didn’t exist but he felt her the whole time. When his eyes blinked, he saw himself standing in the middle of a wet road. He appeared somewhere outside of the city. It was so quick, it made him gasp. Turning around, he was scanning the surroundings. He saw some trees, a green wet grass with no cars on the road. Where was he? Where did that girl put him? “What the fuck?!”

“You have two options,” a whispering voice said near his ear. When he turned to the sound of the voice, he saw the girl standing not far from him, her eyes looking into his. She was barefoot, wearing only shirt and shorts. Her hair was still wet. As he could see, she didn’t care about the cold. Even when the weather wasn’t pleasant at all, she was standing there without a move. Was he going crazy and not her? Was this really real? “Get your shit together and start thinking about the whole situation, soldier. Start talking and acting like a normal human being and not Hydra’s puppet and let me explain everything to you.”

“Says you – the one who needs to start acting like a normal person,” he responded obscenely. “You are the crazy one here, not me.”

Rolling her eyes and swallowing all the rude words she had on her tongue, Izzy continued. “Or you can leave and forget about me and everything. That’s why I brought you here. Once again, I’m giving you the fucking choice. But just remember, I was the one who got you out of trouble the last time. I took care of you when those two men from Hydra came to the bar. I took care of any Hydra man that could be in the city while you were lying on my couch unconscious. Oh, and I’m not even mentioning the fact you wanted to kill me that day in Rick’s bar when we were attacked. I did it all for a reason, Barnes!”

“I’m not going to thank you. You said not to.”

She would throw a rock at him if she had one in her hand. “Oh, how I want to just break your neck and kick you in the crotch at the same time,” her body was shaking from rage. Putting a strand of hair behind her ear, she huffed. “Fuck, Bucky, I couldn’t tell you anything because you were unstable! I needed you to find it out on your own. I can’t predict your moves or reactions.”

“Lies!”

“I’m not lying!” Her voice was echoing around them. “Imagine I would tell you about everything the day we met. You would call me insane and would run away.”

“It doesn’t matter what you say now – I don’t believe you,” he sighed.

With nodding, Izzy took a step back. “As you wish,” she whispered and subsequently, Izzy was gone.

. . .

Twelve young, scared girls were standing in the middle of a cold dark room that smelled like a rot. The windows were covered in mold and the cold air was easily getting inside. Each girl was barefoot. They didn’t allow them to wear any shoes or even socks. It was a punishment for them because they were all querulous and teary. The girls were wearing black and gray sports clothes, nothing colorful. All of them were waiting for someone to come into the room and start their training. Usually, it was a tall masculine brunet who had a metal arm with a red star on the shoulder. Little did they know they had a new teacher – someone who was crueler than the soldier, someone who didn’t have any feelings.

The door to the room opened with an unpleasant creaking sound. The girls stopped breathing and focused their eyes on the door, waiting for the soldiers and their teacher to come on. Firstly, two men dressed in military clothing stepped in, holding guns in their hands. Right after them, a young girl with very long raven hair followed their lead, all dressed up in leather black clothing with boots on higher heels. The first thing they noticed was a very visible scar on the right side of her long neck that was ending somewhere under the shirt and behind the ear. She had her hair braided in a very long ponytail and her hands were hidden behind the back. One of the girls – she looked like the toughest and strongest – took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes.

“Where’s the soldier?” she asked, her strong Russian accent was ringing in the woman’s ears when she stopped her steps right in front of the line of girls. She looked at the one who had the courage to ask the question. “Where’s the one who is supposed to train us?”

One of the men made a step forward but was stopped with the woman’s miniature wave of a hand. He didn’t say anything because he too was scared of her. Everyone in the Hydra facility was except the leaders and the Winter Soldier. She was unique, dangerous and fearless. The man dryly gulped and waited for her actions. When she took a step closer to the girl, the rest of them gasped and looked down on the floor, scared to keep an eye contact with her devilish, but beautiful face.

The raven-haired woman was very close to the tough girl, who kept looking into the dark eyes. With a blink of an eye, the woman gave her a very hard slap on the face that made her fall down on the cold floor. A loud painful sigh was heard from the girl. She had blood in her mouth and some of it was also on the ground. The woman slowly leaned to her. Reaching a hand, she grabbed the innocent one by her neck and gripped it strongly. She was immediately choking, eyes watering.

“No questions,” the black-haired woman finally spoke, the sound of her voice was soft and not at all intimidating. “This is what happens to any of you if you have questions, or are annoying or useful.” Before she could kill the one, she let her throat be and left her on the ground, catching her breath.

Taking a gun from a leather cover that was attached to the massive belt, she handed it to a random girl – no she forced her to take it. “Shoot this bitch,” the woman said roughly, not even looking at the chosen one. There was a massive silence after those words. It made her look at the girl. She was young, very young and her hair was short and blond. The little creature was probably only fifteen years old. That didn’t make the new teacher stop from the action. “Are you deaf? Kill her or I’ll kill you.”

The frightened girls were looking at the one who was holding the gun in one hand. Some of them were judging her, the rest of them were nodding as a sign of doing it. She was agitated, crying at the same time. With a shaking hand, she dropped the gun and it felt on the ground with a loud thud. “I can’t.”

The raven-haired teacher rolled her eyes and reached for the gun. The torture seemed to be over, but the truth was different. Having the gun in her hand, she approached the youngest one who was crying her eyes out. With a very swift move, she grabbed her by the head and spun it quickly. A loud popping sound from her neck was heard and she fell down like a ragdoll, dead. The girls gasped, shutting their eyes and covering mouths. That woman just killed a child. The dead body was lying on the cold ground with open eyes. Without any other words, she pointed the gun at the bleeding girl and shot her right between her eyes. The bullet flew through her head and the blood with pieces of grain and skin made a mess around her. The body was covered in a dark red liquid; even the nearest wall had a splash.

“This is what happens to you when you disobey the orders,” the teacher started to talk while she hid the gun back into its cover. “If you want to survive, you have to listen and do as you are told.” She turned to the remaining ten girls. “Your parents won’t save you; the God won’t save you because there is no God. Be good and you’ll be rewarded. Do this,” she pointed at the dead bodies, “and you’ll end up like this – dead on the ground.”

The door to the room unexpectedly opened and another person stepped in. The girls already knew the person that came there. It was the Winter Soldier, dressed in a black tactical suit. He was holding a file in his hand. “You are killing my girls,” he growled, eyes fixing at the woman with the scar on the neck.

“They are not your girls,” she hissed and rolled her eyes. “From now on, they are my girls and I’ll do as I please,” she turned to him and frowned, crossing her arms over breasts. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Handing her the file, he answered her question. “Mission in three days – just the two of us. Silent assassination in Warsaw – you will find the rest of the information in the papers,” he said monotonously, eyes meeting the dark one. “Don’t fuck it up, Shadow.”

She laughed a little, looking at the papers. “I am a professional, Winter. It’s you I’m worried about.”

With a huff, the soldier turned on a heel and went back to the door. “Don’t kill the rest of the girls or Orlov is going to kill you,” he remarked. “Have fun,” and he left the room, leaving the scared girls with the woman and guards alone.

. . .

“Yello,” Izzy accepted a call by pressing a button on her speaking device. She was lying on a cold ground, holding a sniper rifle between her hands.

~ Tell me again, what is your current job? ~ It was Rick. He was calling her from his bar in Charleston while she was on a roof of a building in Savannah. Luckily, he didn’t have many customers that night, that’s why he could help her with her mission. Edgar was standing next to him, his eyes looking into the laptop Rick had on the counter. He was holding a glass of whiskey in his hand and checking the digital map of a building.

It was something after midnight and the party was just about to start – and by party, it meant the mission from Izzy’s good friend – the boss of state Georgia, who will give her great money for this assassination when it’s done. Luckily, there weren’t many lamps on the street, so Izzy was perfectly hidden on the roof. She was wearing a very long black coat that kept her body warm. She wasn’t wearing much underneath it, only sexy lingerie and black stockings with high heels. Her hands were covered in leather gloves.

“Well,” she adjusted on the ground and looked into the telescope, “since I’m doing this all by myself,” she immediately heard a sound of a clearing throat, so she corrected herself. “Since I’m doing it without the soldier, my mission is to assassinate one motherfucker who’s pretending to be the biggest boss in Savannah, but isn’t.”

~ Just be careful, Iz,~ Rick sighed and turned to the laptop, clicking on another window. It opened a program with various cameras from a strip club.

“I always am,” she smiled a little and focused on the things she saw through the telescope. “Now, tell me what’s happening inside of the strip bar,” she said calmly, her eyes founding some guys in black that were supposed to secure the street and the entrance. “It wasn’t that easy to place the small cameras there while wearing almost nothing and be inconspicuous.”

~Oh please, I know you enjoyed it very much,~ he laughed and his eyes scanned the display of the laptop. ~Well, there are very hot young girls there and fuck, I can see one sexy dance happening right now. Well, hello…~

“Rick?” she stopped looking into the telescope and made a stupid grimace. “When it’s done, you can look at the girls all you want and masturbate. Can we now focus on this? I just want to kill the fucker and go back to my hotel room.”

~ Sorry, baby. ~

~ Where is this strip club?~ she heard Edgar’s voice. ~Well fuck me, those girls are hot!~
The raven-haired girl had to laugh. “Tell him I can hear him,” she playfully rolled her eyes and went back to her previous action. “And also, tell him there are better strip clubs than this one. I’ve seen the interior. It’s a mess. I’d bet all of my money that some of them are more prostitutes than strippers and that one of them definitely has AIDS. Tell Ed, one day, I’ll take him to New York to the best strip club – let’s say on his eightieth birthday.”

~There are four men going away from the club. It might be your target,~ Rick said suddenly, making the girl prepare for shooting. She put the right index finger on the trigger and waited. ~They should be out in five, four, three, two…~

When the men came out from the bar, she held the fire. There wasn’t the man she had to murder. It was only a group of young men, something over twenty-years-old that wanted to have a good time with ladies in sexy underwear. “That’s not them. Try to look for the VIP room. There are probably two gorillas standing there, holding guns in their hands.”

~Got it. They are still keeping an eye on the VIP room while that fat Asian is receiving a pretty lame lap dance, ~ the Raven commented. ~That is the guy you have to kill? Oh come on!~
“Shut the fuck up. You wouldn’t be able to do it no matter what, Rick,” she growled and relaxed, taking her head up from the gun. “We are different in this. I am able to kill anyone anytime. You, on the other hand, can only hurt someone, but not kill. And, if you want to argue with that one time, it was I who killed that fucker in your bar and not you. Yes, you shot him, but I finished him.”

~No more free vodka for you, young lady!~

“You wouldn’t dare!” she said it dramatically on purpose. “You can’t take away my baby!”

~Shut the fuck up woman, the man’s moving.~

A smile stayed on her lips. It was funny and she liked this friendly teasing. “I’m ready. Let’s make drama,” she looked into the telescope one more time and waited for the object.

Notes