Мишка ✦ 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐰

𒊹𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𒊹

2016

Nataliya ended up on her own in a room. The brightness of the lights hurt her eyes and the walls were a clinical white. She quickly noticed the mirror on the front wall of the room. Clearly two way. There were also several  strategically positioned cameras so that the room had no blind spots. Nataliya was being watched. The only other exist besides the door she came in through which was now locked was a window at the top of the far wall. It let in natural light but it was too high up for Nataliya to see what was outside. She was going to struggle to escape through the window without getting caught. There was also a table in the middle of the room with two chairs either side of it and in the corner under the window there was a camp bed. No doubt an interrogation room. Though it felt more like a prison cell.

She knew she couldn't trust them and now Nataliya was trapped in a room she couldn't get out from. She sat down on the floor exhausted, drew her knees up to her chest and stared at the mirror on the wall knowing someone was behind it. With no concept of time Nataliya had no idea how long she was sat there for. Waiting. She waited for so long that the light from the window had began to fade into an orange hue. Dusk. Nataliya waited in anticipation for something. Anything. She didn't know what she waiting for but she was sure something was going to happen to her eventually.

If they wanted to kill her it seemed odd to keep her alive and waiting for so long she thought. Maybe they were waiting for her. For her to do something. Waiting for her to try and escape. Maybe it was a trap? Thoughts raced through Nataliya's mind in a haze.

She was so fare away from home. No not home. The Red Room wasn't a home but it was the only thing she knew. Everything beyond it's walls was alien to her. Now she was lost in a world she didn't know yearning for familiarity. Despite a deep hatred for the place Nataliya missed it and found herself wishing to go back. Wishing to be handcuffed to her bed just so she could escape the exhaustion she was facing.

Maybe she'd be trapped forever. Lost in eternity of white walls and headache inducing lights. Still she waited. The anticipation making her sick.

After what felt like an eternity the door opened and Nataliya jumped to her feet. A man walked in silently and placed a tray of food on the table in the middle of the room then just as quietly as he had come in he left. The door shutting behind him followed swiftly by the click of the lock. Nataliya stared at the food for a few minutes. Observing every detail of it like she was trained to do. Even if there wasn't a risk of it being poisoned Nataliya was too terrified to eat. She wasn't the slightest bit hungry despite having not eaten in over a day. She felt sick with nerves. She didn't trust them either. So she didn't touch the food and went back to sitting on the floor.

In the passing hours the food on the table went cold. Nataliya however didn't move. She stayed motionless on the floor like a statue. She sat perfectly still for so long her legs had become numb. The light outside the window disappeared completely and then came back. Nataliya had sat there all night.

Finally the door opened again. Nataliya didn't even look up to see who it was until she heard the sound of the chair scrapping on the floor. When the red haired girl looked up there were bags under her eyes and her once perfectly neat braids now had hairs loose from them. She almost looked dead. She recognised the woman sat in the chair looking at her. She was the same woman from the plane.

Nataliya dragged herself off the floor and walked towards the table. She stood opposite the woman but wouldn't sit down. "My name is Agent Maria Hilll. I have a few questions to ask you" the woman explained. Nataliya continued to stare at her blankly making the agent shift uncomfortably in her seat. Agent Hill pulled a brown file from her lap and placed it on the table. The girl watched her intensely as she opened the file revealing the first page. "We retrieved this from the Red Room yesterday. It's your file" Maria pushed it towards the girl. The child stepped backwards at her movements but soon stepped towards the table again and despite her obvious reluctance the girl sat down opposite her.

Nataliya didn't touch the file on the table but looked at it closely. She studied the words and the photograph of herself that was paper clipped to the page. The image showed a picture of herself from when she was much younger. The light was still in her eyes then. She looked innocent. The text on the paper spoke about her parentage. Oh how much she missed her parents. It spoke about her abilities as well. The part that caught her eye though was her name. "Nataliya Elena Romanova" it read. Nataliya didn't know she had a middle name. Her middle name was more than likely named after her mother's sister Yelena. Her mama always spoke fondly of her sister and now Nataliya found out she'd even named her daughter after her sister. "Have you seen this before" Agent Hill questioned the girl as she was reading the page. Nataliya looked up and stared at her. She hadn't. She had no idea this file had even existed.

"zachem tebe zadavat' voprosy, kogda ty uzhe vse obo mne znayesh'" Nataliya muttered quietly in her mother tongue. She knew the agent wouldn't understand what she was saying yet she asked it anyway. The girl turned the page in the file over and continued to read the following pages. Every detail about her life was recorded in this file and it was now in the hands of the enemy. They knew everything about her. Even things Nataliya didn't even know about herself. why do you want to ask questions when you already know everything about me

"I know you're different from the other girls. What they did to you was inhumane. Torture even. I'm sure your mother misses you a lot" Maria Hill spoke softly. Sympathetic almost. Nataliya pushed the file away from herself at the agent's words "My mother is dead" she seethed angrily in her thick Russian accent. The woman looked taken back by the girl's words. Surprised. For a moment a look of contemplation washed over Maria Hill's face as she thought to herself. "That's why she never told us. They told her you were dead" the agent muttered more to herself than to Nataliya.

They had lied to both of them. The Red Room was so cruel they lied to them. Told them the other was dead to stop them searching for each other.