The Mouse and The Monarch

6

~MOUSE~

The acrid stench of gunpowder hung thick in the air as chaos exploded around her.

Ophelia's heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing like the ringing of gunshots that surrounded her.

The metallic taste of blood clung to her lips and coated her throat with iron.

"Mouse, we're taking hits!" The urgent voice crackled through her earpiece.

He was scared.

But Ophelia couldn't move.

Her body was paralyzed as the man on top of her held her down, his dagger in her back.

"Ophelia!-" The words reverberated in her ears, the distress in her teammate's voice turning her bones to ice.

Then she heard it.

The telltale bang and shake of an explosion.

All she heard was static on her comms.

Nothing but silence.

Tears rolled from her glazed eyes.

Her mouth open in a silent scream as blood poured from her lips.

Gasping for air, feeling the blood filling her throat and mouth, Ophelia fought to move.

She couldn't.

The man atop her drew a gun, the cold metal glinting ominously in the dim light.

With a sickening thud, he brought the weapon down, smashing it across her face.

Pain exploded in her head as blood began to fill her vision, turning the world red.

She was drowning.

Then there'd been nothing but silence.

Hours upon hours of silence.

She struggled to breathe.

Blood surged through her lungs and dripped from her mouth as her chest constricted with each gagged breath.

Dead, glassy eyes of the fallen staring back at her, their faces slack.

He'd left her to choke on her own blood, his knife still in her back.

She was going to die.

Slowly.

Alone.

In silence.

Ophelia's senses jolted her awake, catapulting her from the grip of a nightmare into the harsh reality of the dimly lit room.

Gasping for breath, tasting the blood in her mouth, she felt the cool sweat clinging to every inch of her skin, her heart racing with fear.

The room, shrouded in shadows, seemed to come alive with unsettling shadows dipping and blurring around her.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ophelia spotted the distinct figure of someone standing over her.

Leaning over her.

He was back to kill her.

Panic surged through her veins, a primal instinct propelling her into action.