Nightingale: The Vigilante || EDITING

Chapter Seven

Flashback Part Three:

Wires ran down my temples and arms, hooking up to a large computer monitor. I sat in a metal chair, my hands resting on the cool steel table. I was alone in a four wall mirrored room, my leg twitched nervously. An opening in front of me was revealed, Commander Scott walked in the room and taking a seat across from me. He had a small file rested on the center of the steel table with my name on it and other useless information I already knew, like my birthday and where I was born.

"So," the commander broke the silence, "you know the drill. I ask you questions, the monitor detects if you're lying or not, and if you are," he pauses as he flips the monitor on. The screen blinked on, revealing a dark graph with bright lines monitoring my brain waves, heart rate, and blood pressure. "If you are, you will feel unpleasant. Moral of the story: don't lie to me. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

Commander Scott opened the file and took out a pen from his H.I.E.P. cargo jacket. "Do you enjoy yourself here at H.I.E.P.?"

"Yeah, I enjoy being out in the field and learning new things."

The commander's eyes drifted from me to the screen, my vitals were normal. "Good, you past the sample question. Now I am going to ask you questions you already know the answers to. What's your full name?"

"Olivia Ann Johnson."

"When were you born?"

"May Fourth, 1992 in Los Angeles, California."

"Tell me about your family."

"Pass," I hissed. Slow beeps came from the monitor, the bright lines rising slightly.

"Johnson, you know you can't pass on a question I give you. Those are the rules."

My vitals were rising. I was starting to feel discomfort where the wires were stuck to my body, almost as if they were trying to muster pain. "It's a delicate subject."

"I understand that," Commander Scott sighed, "but I need you to answer truthfully. Tell me about your family, please."

My throat felt extremely dry. The wires felt like they were burning my skin. I wanted to rip them off, but my hands wouldn't move. "My brother should be graduating college in a few months."

"That's a start," he said to calmly for my taste. "What about your parents?"

"Their dead." My eyes burned as the words escaped my mouth. The lines on the monitor began to drop down like normal. "It was- it was a few weeks after school had gotten out. I had just escaped middle school. I was walking home with my brother to our old apartment. We had gone to see a movie together. He actually just got his acceptance letter to a university in Ohio so we were celebrating. We got back to our apartment and were waiting around for our parents to get back from running errands." I felt a tear roll down my cheek, quickly brushing it away. I hated appearing weak in front of other people, especially my boss. "There was a knock on our door. Three cops came and told us our parents were murdered two blocks away. Their belongings were missing, wedding rings, anything that could be sold for money. I remember my brother trying to comfort me, but I pushed him away and isolated myself to my room. I wouldn't come out for weeks. I wouldn't eat. Then I found out about H.I.E.P. and enlisted the minute I found the advertisement."

"See? You got through it. You're a tough girl, Johnson. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"They don't, sir," I smirked back. He chuckled and took down a few notes on the papers.