Shadow Killer

One

By the age of fifteen, I was the perfect little pawn for HYDRA. Every order that was given to me, I would complete without fail. I was yet to leave the Hyrda compound, as I was still too young, but they gave me practice missions on my trainers. Each practice mission, I would complete with ease, although they were designed to be simple. At fifteen, my strength was unmatched. I was able to take down fully grown men without so much as a scratch.

This newfound strength was because of a new injection they gave me. The same man was there watching as I was administered with a pale blue, glowing liquid. They said something about enhancement, but because of the first injections, I had no choice but to tune it out. After that injection, all physical skills and abilities were enhanced; strength, aim, speed. There were no apparent signs of my improved skills despite these enhancements, much to the doctor's delight. I assume to create a sense of ease and complacency in the enemy, to create a false sense of security, that I was no threat. How very wrong they would be though.

Eighteen. I was lethal and dangerous. I was a killing machine without so much a drop of remorse or guilt in my blood. I was given a hysterectomy, which further minimalized any emotion. It also meant that I was now of a more suitable age to be subjected to intense torture, alongside those orange injections. A sizeable new machine was an addition to the medical room, as I previously called it. Now I simply refer to it as The Room.

Once a week, the doctor would pump the orange substance into my arm, before turning on the machine which would send electric and convulsive shocks in through the head clamp. At the end of each session, I rendered hyperaware of my surroundings and what was being said, but with very little control. After each session, the man who brought me to HYDRA, whose name I have come to known Alexander Pierce, would give me a mission.

I was able to leave the Hydra compound clad in a black suit with a face mask on, covering my mouth and nose, with my blonde hair in a tight braid travelling down the centre of my head and back. Whenever I was to leave the Hydra compound, I was escorted by a pair of soldiers to an aircraft. Depending on the task at hand would depend on the length of time it takes to achieve it. Sometimes they were quick, and I was back before dusk. Other times, it would take a week or two at most.

The tasks were simple. Sometimes, I would simply monitor a person, watching their movements. Sometimes, more often than not, I was tasked to kill. To be the assassin, I was trained to be. A simple shot in the head was not enough. My first mission was a failed assassination, fortunately, it was a practice mission, to see how I would react in an unknown outside environment. A single headshot would normally be enough to kill someone, but circumstances were not on my side. The target lived, due to the bullet being slightly skewed. Aided by advancing medical technology he would be able to live, but at a decreased ability in life.

I was given a second chance. He was released from the hospital and into a more permanent care facility, where I ensured that I finished him off. It was a more gruesome kill of mine. A long serrated knife was used to slit his throat, as well as it being used to gut him. I returned back to the HYDRA compound with his heart in my hand. Alexander Pierce was both pleased yet heavily disturbed as I dropped the heart on his desk.

Assassinations became more frequent. Most of the time, my missions consisted of taking only one life, yet outside environmental actions from surrounding people could not always be easily predicted, so more often than not I would take more than one life. No matter the kill, it had no effect on me, since I only saw it as a task. I suppose the youngest life taken; a three-year-old would make anyone sick. I simply kicked the body out of the way so I could leave the building.

By age twenty, I had countless assassinations under my belt. Something one should not be proud of, but I could not feel any form of remorse, regret, or guilt. To me, I had a job to do. I suppose the amount of control they had over me and suppressing every inch of free will, meant I had lost every ability to feel any form of emotion.

One day I was escorted down to another floor in the HYDRA compound. I was guided through many corridors, each one identical to the last. One soldier led the way while a second soldier followed us, aiming a loaded weapon at my back. Despite the level of control over me, there was little trust, and many of the doctors or HYDRA leaders who saw me were partially fearful that one day I would lash out. If I wasn't training or completing a mission, I would be surrounded by a pair of soldiers, who would place a large electric collar around my neck. The collar emitted small and frequent convulsive shocks, enough to keep me from reacting out. It was used to control and confine me.

They took me into a room very similar to that of The Room somewhere above. An oversized chair and machine sat in the centre identical to my own, but the only difference was a large cylindrical chamber in the far side of the room stood. Stood to the side next to an unknown doctor was Alexander Pierce. On the chair sat a foreign man, one who I have never seen before. He was introduced to me as Asset 01, while I was introduced to him as Asset 02. He sat there strapped down to the chair, staring at me with cold dark eyes. Long scraggly hair fell around his face, shadowing his eyes. His left arm was replaced with a metal arm adorned with the red star symbol of HYDRA. Asset 01 was my new partner, in which we would accompany each other on our tasks.

Asset 01 and I completed many tasks together. Neither of us would speak a word to each other; that was liberty neither of us had. These tasks with Asset 01 were more significant than any of the previous jobs I had. Each target was a political figure who was considered a hindrance to Hydra. The missions were still the same concept, to take their lives. Each life taken was another assassination I could add to my belt.

After each task was completed, we were escorted back to the HYDRA compound. We were escorted to an office first, where we would tell Alexander Pierce about the mission's success. Each time he would smile before telling the soldiers to escort us away. I was escorted to mine, while Asset 01 to his own. I did not care for my new partner, just like he cared very little for me.
Today was no different. I was strapped down to the chair with the metal clamp attached to my head, an orange needle shoved into my arm, and electrical shocks passed through me. I was then escorted up to Alexander Pierce's office, where I would meet Asset 01. There we would be given our mission before being escorted out of the Hydra compound to execute it.

"Your mission today, is to kill Nick Fury."