Dancing For Demons

Massacre

The darkness swallowed Anastasia and she fell into a world of nightmares. Moments from her past, haunted her like the long forgotten ghosts of a different world.
She was eight years old and had been given her first gun. As she fired it, the recoil and the noise caused her to drop it and it clattered to the floor. A man in uniform lifted his walking stick and hit her in the stomach. She doubled over, coughing. Then she stood up and turned to look at the target. A perfect shot that had flown five metres and made a hole in the target's head.

She was nine years old and she had been given her first person to kill. The girl before her had failed to kill the person and her blood was splattered on the ground where she now stood. Raising the gun she fired. The figure crumpled to the ground and his blood mixed with the other girl's. Anastasia didn't even blink.

She was ten and they had just finished a survival course in the Arctic. Although her whole body was freezing and starving, they made every trainee run ten miles before being allowed on the aircraft. One girl collapsed halfway, coughing up blood. The others ran past her without a second thought.
As the helicopter rose off the ground Anastasia looked out to see two men dumping her body in the river. Another failure.

Floating in her world of memories, Anastasia barely noticed as her worst memory that she had pushed down to the dephs of her mind slowly floated to the surface. Even though she had killed and killed without mercy, this memory reminded her of the friends she used to have, if you could call them that.
It was the day of her eleventh birthday and unkown to Anastasia, the last day of the program. Out of the fifty girls that six years ago had been part of the program, only nine of them remained. And only one of them could continue.
The room they were put in was a circular room with one way glass walls that you couldn't see through from the outside. Each girl was ordered to stand at regular intervals around the room. A single dagger had been placed in the centre, its sharp blade reflecting light around the room. Over the tannoy, Madame Orlov's voice spoke addressed them all as one. "You have almost completed the Ghost program. However, there is one test left for you to complete. The last person in this room still breathing will become the ghost. Do not disappoint, girls."
The silence that followed was one of shock. Many of the girls had expected to complete the training program together and go on to work as Hydra's assassins together. However, they knew what Hydra demanded.
No one moved for thirty seconds. They were waiting for the first one to attack and one girl took her chance. Sprinting forwards, she grabbed the dagger and sliced the nearest girl's throat. The six years of training and surviving were ended in an instant. The others moved into attack, however they were smarter and kept away from the knife. The knife gave an advantage they all desperately needed and three more girls fell before the remaining five girls, worked together to bring her down. They delivered vicious kicks to her torso and legs in an attempt to bring her down. Her bruised and blood body finally collapsed on the floor and the knife clattered down beside it. The four girls leapt for the knife, sliding over blood and dodging bodies.
From the edge of the room, Anastasia patiently waited as the girls killed each other. The last girl, disposed of her opponent ferociousely and then turned to face Anastasia, the knife in her hand. Behind her blood dripped down the wall.
Clutching the knife tightly, the girl waited for Anastasia to make the first move. They circled each other like vultures, their eyes showing no weakness or fear. The girl was covered in her opponents' blood and a smirk from her showed her confidence. But Anastasia knew confidence would be her downfall.
Using the element of surprise, Anastasia struck first. She feinted with her left hand and swung with her right, but the girl blocked her and delivered a savage kick to her chest. Unfazed, Anastasia pounced on the girl and knocked her to the ground, sending the knife across the room. Weaponless, the girl panicked and threw desperate blows at Anastasia. They were sloppy and slow and she blocked them easily. A few blows to the head and the girl was out cold.
Knowing the only way to carry on was to finish her, Anastasia walked over to the knife, picked it up and returned. Then with a heavy sigh, she brought the knife downwards and pierced her heart. The girl she had once trained with and lived with, died instantly.
Standing up, she walked to the centre of the room and waited for someone to come or something to happen. She heard a hiss of gas and looked around to see where it was coming from. She saw nothing.
Her muscles felt tired and the knife slid from her hand., but she made no effort to pick it up. Her eyelids drooped, but her brain didn't register what was happening.
Then the world turned sideways and she saw figures in masks approach her, just before everything went black.

Anastasia woke up suddenly.
The blinding light made her blink and she tried to shift her position, but found herself unable to do so. As her eyes came into focus, she was able to recognize the room she was in as one of the medical rooms. Her mind slowly remembered and realised why she was here. Something must have happened when she had that injection.
The door opened and someone entered. They removed her breathing tube and checked her vitals. Then they spoke to her. "Would you like to sit up Anastasia?"
Anastasia nodded and was helped to sit up by the person. "I am afraid that you had an unfortunate reaction to the injection you were given. Your body's immune system decided to attack it and it almost killed you. However Hydra are glad that you are still with us and stronger then you were before. It may take you a while to adjust to your new abilities, but you need to listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you." The woman produced a chain with a metal box attached to it. Three interlocking triangles had been painted on it in black, the symbol of project ghost. The woman opened it and showed Anastasia its contents. "Theses pills combat the negative effects the injection you had cause and will keep you alive. Take one every morning and do not forget." Then the woman walked out.
The metal chain felt cold against her hands and so she clipped the chain around her neck.
Reflection was something that was frowned upon by Madame Orlov, but Anastasia did it anyway. She thought about the dreams she had and the memories they brought of her disfunctional friends and their relationship. It had been nice to have someone to train with and compete against. Then Anastasia realised that she could have this again with the winter soldier, if Hydra allowed. They could become the world's most dangerous, unstoppable assassins and bring Hydra to victory against the group called the Avengers.
But suddenly Anastasia realised that just maybe she didn't want to kill the Avengers. They had been extremely nice to her, all things considered.
Anastasia pushed the thoughts away. They were her mission and Hydra had taught her that the mission always came first.