Agent 7. The Shadows: Part I

▪️◾️Chapter One◾️▪️

Panic rolls in my gut as I rush from the car to the elevator and again as I run down the hallway, once I make it to his floor. My heels hardly carry my racing feet.

My eyes close briefly when I make it to his hotel room door. I suck in a breath, stealing myself for his awaiting fury.

I swipe the hair off of my shoulder that has stuck itself to the speckling of sweat along my neck and then smooth down the errant hairs around my face.

I open my eyes and look over my shoulder, down the long corridor, as if there's a chance someone is waiting in the wings. A knight in shining armor eager to save me. But there is no one.

The desolate hallway mocks me with its ornate light fixtures and echoing silence. All I can hear is my labored breathing and frantic heartbeat.

I swallow another calming breath and smooth down my inky black hair one last time before swiping my key card he delivered with the dress.

~~~~~~~~

When I finally work up the courage to push open the door and step through the threshold, I discover the entire hotel suite to be drenched in darkness and an uncomfortable silence.

I pause, unsure of what to make of the scene before me.

It's not like Vladimir to swath himself in silence like this. He's not one to be left alone to his thoughts, instead he drowns them out with fútbol on the television or classical music at a volume louder than necessary.

This eerie quiet is unsettling.

The door creaks as it slowly closes behind me, shutting me in. A stagnant smell of copper fills the space causing my nostrils to flare. I let my gaze trail across the stillness as I creep my way into the living room. The uneasiness growing like a tumor within me, I have to force myself to put one foot in front of the other.

"Vladamir?"

He doesn't answer. I step through the entryway and into the living area.

"Vladimir?" Shakily, I call out again.

A sound from across the room scrapes against my senses. I recognize it immediately. It's the distinct clicking of a gun as a bullet is loaded into its chamber. A frightening echo that seems to reverberate off the walls and sends a chill down my spine.

I freeze, just as my eyes meet a dark-shadowed man sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. He's wearing a tuxedo and a sinister glare.

And then I see the blood.

My gaze catches on the pool of red as it seeps out from a lifeless form at the killer's feet. A shiny silver gun sits in the intruder's lap as he looms over the dead body.

Vladimir.

Vladimir is lying haphazardly face down and his head is turned at an odd angle.

I scream a blood-curdling sound.

Oh god! I'm going to be sick.

"Make another noise and you'll join him in death." The intruder's accented voice is as deep and menacing as his words. He points his weapon at me and my body involuntarily stiffens.

I believe his threat, Vladamir's lifeless body is enough to scare me into submission. My legs tremble and a whimper escapes me as the man's thick Italian accent meets my ears once again.

"Vladimir didn't want to do as I say and it got him in trouble. You don't want to get in trouble too, do you?"

Trouble? No. I shake my head vehemently. Please God, no.