In the Shadows of Legends - A Winter Widow Story

Chapter Seven

You know the movies where the protagonist is tied down and they slowly open their eyes? The screen tries to show it to you with blurry images and blackness coming from the top and bottom to meet in the middle? That's exactly how it felt. I woke slowly, there was no startle or jump. Just slowly trying to force myself up. I couldn't place my location. It seemed like the same room I had been in, but just a little bit different. I couldn't quite name it.

I tried to focus, remember what had happened but it was all blank. There were memories of the mission, watching as James escaped and I fell behind, and then waking in the first room, but after that it was all gone.

The click of the door alerted me and a familiar face stepped in but I couldn't place them. Dark hair, with a long face and a nose that had obviously been broken at least once.

"So you've awoken. How are we feeling now?"

I groaned and tried to sit but the jingling of chains held me down.

"Where am I?"

"I'm sorry, but you won't receive those answers from me." He smirked and pulled a pen out of the blue scrub top he wore. "Your first session seems to have worked well though. I believe it is time to try again."

"Again? What-what are you talking about?"

"Once again Miss Barnes, you will not get answers from me."

He shook his head and clicked the pen, pulling out a clipboard he wrote a few notes down and then moved to the computer. I watched trying to gather any information but my mind was still too foggy to store the information or make any sense of it.

A second click drew my attention to the door once again. A short blonde haired woman stepped in, followed by two others dressed in green scrubs with matching caps.

"Is she ready?"

The man nodded and the woman smiled and stepped towards the bed. "Then let's get going shall we?"

The woman's voice was sweet and sounded kind but I could hear the lies dripping from it. Like licking a spoonful of salt instead of sugar. She played a part and that was it. She had no intentions of being kind to me. 

She unlocked the breaks on the bed and pushed towards the door. The man who had entered before her swiped his card and unlocked the door. Together they wheeled me into a new room, a chair with a large machine sitting behind it took up most the room. I knew that chair. I had seen it in my Dad's files. They were going to turn me into him. I couldn't let that happen. I shook my head and thrashed, trying to break the restraints but nothing worked. 

One of the technicians pushed a needle into my neck and once again my eyes grew heavy. By the time I came to I was strapped to the chair, the machine lowering over my face. The last time I remembered feeling anything like that had been the bomb. Searing pain ripped through my body. I tried to move, to get away but the straps of the chair held me tight. My breathing sped up trying to cope for the pain.

And then all at once it was over. I was standing in the training room at Avengers Tower. Music played from the speaker but I couldn't place the song. 

"You ready Dasha?"

I jumped, startled by my name. I turned to face whoever had spoken and found myself face to face with James. Well almost James, he was much younger, maybe 10 or 11. His blue eyes sparked with humor. He wore a loose black tee shirt and sweats. His hands were wrapped with white tape. He circled my position, raising his fists.

"Ready to beat you? Yeah." My voice was younger too. As I lifted my hands I noticed they were missing several of the scars they now had. Like James I had taped my wrists, though not as neatly as his had been. I glanced at the mirror across the room and stared at my nine year old face.