Operation: M.I.A

XXI // Wake Up Call

I can actually feel my pulse in my head. I try to reach up to rub my forehead, but I soon figure out that my hands are restricted behind my back. I open my eyes slowly, afraid of the blinding lights that could possibly be before me. But it is dark.

I am sitting cross-legged on the floor, slouched over. I sit up straight and stretch my aching back. This must be what an extreme hangover feels like. Well, not the tied up part.

My eyes are adjusting to the blackness and I can make out the contours of the wooden floor. I look around. "Z-" I try to whisper Zander's name, but my voice seems to be missing. I clear my throat quietly. "Zander?" I try again.

I wave of anxiousness washes over me when I realize he is nowhere near. I can feel myself panicking. I attempt a deep breathe, but breath in musty air and end up coughing.

I hear faint scuffling, and it sounds like heavy booted foot steps. I quiet my breathing to listen. Footsteps are getting closer, and I decide they must be coming for me. I will take them by surprise. I slouch over again, and pretend to be drugged, once more.

A series of swear words and violent words are exchanged. Whoever it is, they are making no effort to sneak up on me. Granted, they probably think I am still knocked out from the dart.

I hear a door swing open and I keep my head hung low. Light floods into the area and I feel exposed and vulnerable. The footsteps do not continue straight for me like I thought they would. Instead, the sounds stop at the door and I hope the people do too. The slam of the door tells me I am right, and I am abandoned in the darkness.

I raise my head slowly, but I freeze as I hear quieter footsteps make their way across the room - but not towards me.

Is this another prisoner? I hear a moan and some other unordinary sounds coming from the corner and give up on trying to figure out what is happening.

Then I sense a small source of light from beneath my eyelids. "Decklynn," a male says in an excited whisper and the person rushes over to me. I open my eyes and raise my head, aware that I have doing otherwise would give me no useful advantage.

But I don't need an advantage, because it is Zander. He lands hard on his knees beside me after practically running towards me. He attacks the ropes that tie my hands back and soon I am free. I notice that the dim lighting is coming from a lantern he had lit. The room is practically all wood, and lacks any furnishing. He meets my eyes and I can sense the relief that has come over him. "What happened?" I ask, curious as to what could have made him so worried about me.

"You didn't feel the tranquilizer dart?"

"I did, but that's all I remember before I blacked out, and I just woke up before they tossed you in here. By the way - where is here? I don't-"

"Shh," he calms me, muting my rambling. "I have no idea where, but what I do know is they are interrogating us for information about BOSS."

I shake my head. "If Karina turned, wouldn't she provide them, whoever they are, with all the information they need?"

Zander considers this as he looks deep into my eyes. I study the way he looks as he thinks. He nods his head slowly in agreement and I note the strong lines of his jaw.

"You are right. This is bigger than Karina," he tells me.

I know I have not fully come to terms with Karina's betrayal of us. It is out of character. It is preposterous. She has always seemed so loyal to the company and to every spy she has ever trained. It makes me wonder if she had already gotten herself involved with whatever trouble we are now caught up into when she was training me. How much of her negative traits did I learn without knowing it?