𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐀
༻❁༺
The more we drove into Las Almas, the more Mexico's weather warmed up. The clouds were spreading out, showing the reason for the heat hiding behind them.
The sun was shining with a beautiful smile, right before she was set to go down the horizon and smile at a different city, and the breeze stroking my skin was making me sweat in my seat.
I didn't realize we had arrived until the truck came to an abrupt stop, thrusting my body forward. Rodolfo jumped out first and then helped me down, in all his gentleness that always collided with my pride.
When we passed by the entrance, Alejandro turned around and stopped me. "Order 121, I need to check if you got any weapons on you before entering," he said in Spanish.
I laughed and opened my arms to let him check me. "What a cheap excuse to touch me, Vargas."
He barked a laugh. "I don't need any excuses. I could have you begging for me in less than twenty-four hours."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure." As if he was that important.
Alejandro straightened and nodded to the security guard, who stood by the entrance to the base. "She's clear." The man grunted and let us in.
My temporary new home looked dirty but warm, with glimpses of green and beige across the walls, and a small scent of tires and dirt. The roughness of this place reminded me of those years back in the military service. I wasn't complaining, I think liked it a little too much.
I didn't have time to look around. Rodolfo said he needed to use the restroom while Alejandro shoved my back toward a doorway. "You can wait in that room, I'll go find Price and the rest," he told me and disappeared around the corner.
I sighed and made my way inside the room. The sight I came across made me stop right by the door. I wasn't alone in the room. There was someone, a male, sitting by the table that was in the far corner, sharpening the blade of his knife very delicately. He was covered all the way up, in black and grey, not leaving any sight of skin. I couldn't see his face, so I didn't know if he was also covered there.
Jesus, who was that?
The movements as he sharpened the blade were soft and controlled, yet with the way he was grabbing it, he looked rough and tough. The man gripped the handle and brought it closer to inspect the tip. When he was satisfied, he grabbed a cloth from the table and proceeded to clean the blade, slowly and tentatively. The blade shone and mocked me, because he wasn't paying any attention to me.
"Do you even know how to use that?" I spoke.
The man didn't even react, not even flinched nor glanced at me.
Why did I even want his attention? I couldn't even see his face from this angle.
I walked closer, and almost flinched when he raised the knife and made the blade hide inside the handle with an almost quiet sound. A black OTF knife, cute. It looked very tiny on his hand, but the grip was good.
The man pressed a button and the blade shot out, the sound louder this time. He threw the knife into the air. It spun once before the handle landed back on his hand. He whirled it around his finger twice and the blade hid again.
"I do," he responded to my question. I didn't even need an answer anymore. The way he threw the knife into the air and caught it almost perfectly, already told me what I had to know.
My feet came to a stop as soon as the man got up. I was closer than I intended. My heart rate sped up with the anticipation of finally meeting his face, all until I realized he was wearing a ski mask. His body turned to me. Slowly, his eyes met mine.
Brown.
Dark brown eyes under a skull mask.
His eyes were so much of that color, yet so blank it was unreadable. As if there wasn't any feeling behind them.
"And you are?" he asked me.
My mouth went dry, I had to lick my lips before speaking. "Can I see?" I pointed to the knife in his hand.
Skull man glanced down, his eyes came right back to me. He nodded his head almost shyly, I had to hold back the smile that threatened to form on my face. So intimidating yet so shy.
I stepped even closer to him and took the knife from his hold. It felt heavy on my hand and looked bigger than it was on his.
I pressed the button and the blade shot out. My excitement gave the best of me. I saw the stupid smile on my face through the blade. It was so clean that it nearly seemed like a mirror.
"Woah, she's perfect," I heard myself say. Was she as sharp as she looked? I pressed the tip down on my finger. I didn't have to put so much pressure. With just a brush, the tip of the blade cut through my skin. Blood flooded out.
I caught the way his body tensed, the way his arm moved ever so slightly to reach out to me but regretted it the moment it moved. I looked up at him and brought the finger to my mouth, sucking on the blood.
He was staring at me. His brown eyes fixed on the finger in my mouth. From this angle, I could see perfectly the way his pupils dilated. His chest expanded silently. I didn't understand why—oh wait. The finger on my mouth looked bad. Shit. I hadn't meant to make this seem like a tease.
My body tensed all of a sudden. "Valentina Herrera," I heard behind me, the poor pronunciation of the R's in my last name laughed at me. I already suspected who it was.
I took the finger out of my mouth and spun around. "Captain Jonathan Price." There stood the man from the picture on the TF-141 folder's first page. By the warmth in his eyes and the gentle smile on his face, he seemed nicer than I thought.
"Please, call me anything but Jonathan."
I chuckled as I stretched his hand. "Please, don't say my last name anymore."
He laughed and sent Alejandro a look. "You were right, I like her already."
"Told you, Cap."
I almost rolled my eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Captain."
"Likewise." Price's eyes went behind me. The little hairs on the back of my neck raised as I remembered who stood behind me. I still had his knife in my hand. "I see you've met Ghost."
"Ghost?" I glanced behind me. The skull mask man was the so-called Ghost? "Simon Riley, you say?"
"He goes by Ghost."
"Really?"
Ghost met my eyes. "Indeed."
"Of course." I gulped down and turned back around. "Where's the rest of the team? I'd like to meet them."
"They should be here by now." Just as Price finished his sentence, two men entered the room.
As I already knew, Johnny "Soap" MacTavish and Kyle "Gaz" Garrick were the remaining ones, both telling me to call them by their nicknames.
I faced Price now. "Shall you update me on your plans?"
"Yes, of course. Please, follow me."
"Tan formal," So formal. Alejandro tried to roll his eyes but failed. I chuckled.
I began to walk away but I couldn't stop myself from glancing behind me, at the masked man. He talked to Soap, or better said, listened to whatever he had to say. Right before I walked out, his eyes met mine. Just then I realized I still had his knife, now tucked in the back pocket of my jeans.
*ೃ༄
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