Black Winter Prequel: The Tempest

VI - Patience

There are times that it takes resilience to backtrack; sometimes, it's not cowardice to retreat than sacrifice one's life-find another route to victory.

To fight Mr. C's men earlier would be idiocy considering Lazuli's position. The backup team was all dead, and she just discovered that after she parkoured down from Mr. C's three-story mansion.

The path on her feet faded as it led into the darkness of the forest, yet she needed to follow it to lose Mr. C's men. Even if there was a moon tonight, its silvery rays would not pierce the trees' impenetrable canopy. The darkness pressed in on her from all sides, and her body screamed for her to run.

Her sense of smell was sensitized, the loam in the earth and the rotting leaves made the atmosphere close and thick. The dimness nurtured a sense of claustrophobia inside her even though the woodland stretched unbroken for miles.

"I will fucking kill him, Frost," Lazuli muttered as she finally settled inside a space of a tree hallow, hiding herself. The thickly packed trees loomed high above but remained still despite the icy breeze that continued to flow around her.

"I'm going to send you a backup, but all A's are out on a mission right now, can you wait at least six hours? How's your wound?" he asked. Lazuli almost forgot about it. The pain started to throb in her guts as she remembered the bullet she took in her stomach. The pain was deep and warm, but certainly not in a subtle way. It felt like someone drilled a hole in her stomach, and every movement felt like a nail bomb exploding her innards.

"It's not so good, I think," she mumbled as she applied pressure on her wound to stop the bleeding.

"You didn't follow your orders; you sent our men to their pointless deaths. You almost lost your life because you lost your focus. What's wrong with you?" He always sounded the same, but Lazuli was pretty sure that Frost was furious.

"I thought it was the right time," Lazuli sighed. She totally failed the mission, and it was the first time it happened to her. She wasn't able to send anything from Mr. C's laptop since the transfer was interrupted.

"I told you to work on your patience," Frost sighed, disappointed. He was already mentally counting the flight time from Seattle to Nevada. Five minutes-if he would not find a backup, he would go there and provide it himself even if he just got back from a mission and bone-tired.

"You know me," she gasped as pain lanced through her. She could feel the cold sweat as she drew back, coughing some blood. She rested her back to the tree. "I'm dying," she smiled bitterly.

"Well, you're not allowed to," Frost said quietly. All people knew him for being the coldest, most patient, and impassive person. Still, it was the first time he clenched his fist too hard it turned white as he looked for any agents he could send for the Tempest-his first-ever friend in Ares.

"Need me?" someone finally answered him.

"I know you just finished your mission, but I have an emergency," Frost breathed out.

"Not so you to panic," he laughed at the other line. "What's up?" he asked.

"Rune...she needs you."

***

Trouble never sends a warning-because if it did, Lazuli shouldn't be bleeding to death right now. She already wanted to rest, close her eyes, and get the freedom she'd been dreaming of. But after uncovering all that information he found on Mr. C's, she couldn't even let herself die in peace.

Her knuckles were white from clenching her fist too hard. She gritted her teeth too hard from the effort to remain silent. Her hunched form exuded a hatred that was like acid - scorching, slicing, compelling. Her face that was supposed to be pale now from losing blood was still red with suppressed rage.

She remembered one of her previous colleagues in Lucrece-Anna. She was younger than her for two years when they started, which means she was just thirteen at that time. She was Asian, a Filipina, and barely spoke English. She said they promised her a waitress job and she didn't expect it to be like that at all. Lazuli knew she was a victim of child trafficking, but she kept silent since she didn't want any trouble.

They both went through the same training, but one day she just disappeared.

Days after that, news broke in their place: an Asian child, no organs: corneas, kidneys, liver, heart, subcutaneous tissues...whatever that can be sold at high prices have been completely taken out and emptied from her was found in a dumpster.

She never saw it and confirmed it was her until she found her photo on Mr. C's laptop.

"I remember there was a splotch found inside her nose, Frost. Do you understand what that means?" she asked grimly.

Frost was quiet for a moment. "Her eyeballs were extracted while her heart was still beating. She was alive when her other organs were taken out."

"She wasn't the only one I saw there. There are hundreds of photos-bodies-I was supposed to be one of them if you didn't save me back then," Lazuli sniffed. "I cannot die like this. I need to kill him."

I cannot die. With that thought in her mind, she forced herself to stand as she heard some gunshots in a distance. Her feet stepped on the crusty leaves as she ran from tree to tree in that dark forest. With each step, an unpleasant pain shots in her gut...but she didn't care-or rather, couldn't. She needed to fucking run.

Her heart beats frantically on her chest. Her breath came in small spew. Behind her, she could hear at least three of them-Mr. C's men.

Her lungs and heart were pumping, but the air didn't seem to be enough as she sprinted forward, panic and adrenaline trembling in her exhausted limbs.

Being chased was nothing like the movies. The star looked heroic, sexy, and in command of the situation. The Tempest still looked sexy, but she definitely wasn't on top of the situation as she stumbled and fell.

"We found her, boss," one of the men reported on his radio-definitely to Mr. C.

"Mr. C said we should bring you back alive, but it wouldn't hurt if we would have a taste of you, right?" One of them laughed. His lobster skin was dashed in dirty grey. He had a look of who once had muscles, broad over the back and thick in the neck. A muzzle of a gun peeks below his shirt line.

"Why not? I am horny anyway," Lazuli forced a seductive smile. She knew she wouldn't be able to fight with them by judging her situation-wounded and unarmed. She needed to buy some time-for what? She wasn't even sure. Frost said she needed to wait for six hours, and three hours just barely passed.

There was so much more to survival than the tenacity of the flesh. She got her lines ready-admire their cocks and beg for more. But the moment they unbuckled their belts and unzipped their pants, she realized she would rather die fighting than do it with them. She couldn't do it with anybody else but him-Rune.

She got a twig ready, closed her eyes, and cleared her thoughts. 'Punch a hole to the carotid' Frost's voice resonated inside her head. Punch a hole to the fucking carotid. Punch a fucking hole to the fucking carotid.

She was about to counter when a strong arm stopped her. It was swift and robust.

"Sorry for making you wait, darling," Rune smirked at her as she opened her eyes.

"Thanks fucking god, Rune," Frost finally sighed on the line.