Julia rushed past the beaten walls of an old, run-down factory, barreling through the broken doors where she followed a dark figure. She caught a glimpse of black hair when she reached around the bend, the man disappearing beyond another turn. Julia ran down the dark hallways, taking a short cut so she could intercept her fleeing target.
Red and two other agents had gone to the other side of the factory, planning to break in via a roof access and split up from there. Julia came to an abrupt stop when she reached a wall, the path leading down to only one direction. The figure had seemingly disappeared.
"You seem frustrated." A voice she didn't recognize spoke out from somewhere in the darkness. Her head snapped to her right where the hallway led to, taking cautious steps as she followed the voice. She tried to ignore his commentary, walking further down the passageway until his talking died out. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she noticed something on the floor. She crouched down to pick up what looked like a red rose petal. There were hundreds of them scattered on the floor, creating a path leading down the seemingly endless, eerie corridor. Following the path with her guard up, she reached a porcelain white door.
The door stood out amongst the worn down, shredded scenery of the abandoned factory. With her hand on her pistol, she kicked the door open and propped her gun up.
What she saw made her stomach lurch, and her heart stop.
Beyond the entrance was a white laboratory, stark and sterile like the door leading to it. Everywhere she looked, there were containers filled with blood. In the middle of the room was a male body on a stainless-steel table, the form shriveled up and emptied of its contents. Next to it was another table filled with dissecting utensils, which had dried up blood and visceral matter on them. Julia swallowed down the bile that threatened to come up from her stomach, mortified by the sight before her. Someone had removed all his organs and drained out his blood, putting them in the containers that surrounded the room. And from the looks of it, they hadn't finished cleaning up.
She needed to leave this place.
As she took one step back, the heel of her foot banged into something, warning her that she was no longer alone. As quickly as it happened, arms snaked around her, trapping her as they gripped her tightly. She dropped her gun, watching it slide impossibly far from her. She was thrown into the wall, the back of her head slamming against the ceramic tile and leaving her disoriented. Before she could look up, a cold, sharp metal pressed against her neck as the person standing over her breathed on her shoulder, increasing his grip on her. A dark chuckle sounded through the ringing of her ears, causing her heart to pound and her body to feel cold.
"You're next." The low voice exclaimed before brutally dragging the blade across her throat.
Julia shot up from the bed and released a long scream, ripping herself from her dream. Within seconds, her room door was kicked open to reveal her parents holding up their guns, ready to shoot whoever didn't belong. They searched the room, lowering their guns once they concluded that it was a false alarm. A tear ran down Julia's cheek as she felt the entire surface of her neck, relief washing over her when there was no large gash on it. She was still taking short, heavy breaths as her parents sped towards her. Her father wrapped a reassuring arm around her, and her mother kissed her forehead.
"It's okay, sweetie. It was just a bad dream." Emma chanted, rubbing Julia's shaking arms. She shivered as she remembered how the body in her dream looked like.
It had Anthony Palmero's face.
"I know...I know." Julia panted, her voice shaking as she shook her head, trying to clear the fright from her body. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm herself down. "What time is it?" Julia asked, feeling drained from the dream she just had.
"Two in the morning, sweetie." Aiden answered hesitantly, running his hand down his daughter's hair. "You have a co-ops mission in six hours." Julia groaned, irritated with herself for having such an intense nightmare just 5 hours before having to get ready for an important mission. She took a few deep breaths before slowly lying back down on the bed.
"Sorry, I'm good now. I'll try to get some sleep." She assured them, stealing the last few words out of her father's mouth. Her parents watched her wearily, no doubt concerned with their daughter's mental state.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Her mother broached carefully, exhibiting an aura that had Julia wanting to reveal everything about her haunting dream. But if she did that, it'd show that she was overly affected by Mortifer, and they'd be even more inclined to keep things from her. She knew they were the root cause of her nightmare based on the theme of her dream, but she couldn't avoid to miss out on learning more about their target.
"No, it's fine. It was just a bizarre dream." Julia insisted, waving her parents off as she lied through her teeth. Whether they believed it or not, she wasn't sure, but they didn't press her any further as they pulled the heavy covers over her body before kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight, sweetie." They whispered in unison before walking out the room and closing the door behind them, peering back at her once more. She laid in the dark for a good half hour before her eyelids began to feel heavy, and soon, she fell asleep without another nightmare disturbing her.
But even in her slumber, she couldn't help but feel that something in the shadows was watching her.
֍
"Julia! Hurry up and come down!" Emma shouted at exactly seven o'clock sharp, just before Julia managed to tie her hair up in a high ponytail. She left her fringe alone, allowing it to hang freely as she shoved her trusty knife into the waistband of her pants. She grabbed her bag filled with mission necessities off the floor and headed for the stairs, barreling down them. Walking into the kitchen, Julia found Red sitting on the counter, eating an apple from the bowl next to her.
"Morning, Red." Julia greeted, noting how the skin of the apple matched the color of Red's hair. "Morning mom, dad." She added, kissing her parents on the cheek. Red hopped off the counter, taking another bite of her apple before walking over to Julia.
"Who went to Délice?" Julia inquired as she looked through the cabinets, not glancing at the table again to avoid the desire to steal the tempting package she had asked about. She sighed after she couldn't find anything immediate to eat, wondering if she'd be able to convince Red to stop at a coffee shop before starting their mission. She turned to see Red raising her hand.
"I did," she sang, grinning at Julia. "It's for you—"
"I love you!" Julia cried, rushing to hug her. "Thank you." She quickly walked to the table and grabbed the bag, looking inside. A tightly wrapped sandwich and chocolate almond croissant sat inside, the aroma wafting up into her nose. She peered at the iced coffee drink that sat next to it, grinning at the gift before growing suspicious.
"What's the catch?" She asked, slowly placing the food back on the table in case it suddenly blew up. Red rolled her eyes and laughed.
"I heard you had a rough night, so I brought something that would make you feel better." She explained, raising an impressed eyebrow at her. "Props for being cautious, by the way." Red added, but Julia already had the brioche sandwich unwrapped, taking a small bite to savor the taste. She couldn't help but moan because of the deliciousness, and when she finished the bite, Red motioned for her to go out the door.
"Bye," Julia bid her parents farewell, carrying out the 'E' longer than necessary. They rolled their eyes but wished her luck, seemingly relieved by her burst of energy. She closed the front door behind her and continued to follow Red, staring out into the near empty streets.
A black cargo van was parked just outside the front of the gates of the house. Behind it was a beautiful 2010 red Ferrari that made Julia stare in awe, admiring its sleek body. Of course, Red being her wonderful self, led Julia to the suspicious van. It was an improvement from the mailing truck that was used during the last mission, though it certainly crossed them off the list of all things suspicious. Red opened the back doors, where Julia met the familiar faces of her teammates.
Blind folded.
A strip of dark material appeared over her eyes, knotting around the back of her head. Out of reflex, Julia swung her leg to hit whoever it was that did it, her foot easily being caught by someone's hand.
"Calm down, Julia!" Red laughed, gripping her ankle tightly. "It's part of the training from last time." Julia relaxed and climbed inside the van.
"Training while on a mission? That's crazy."
"It's killing two birds with one grenade."
"I'm pretty sure it's two birds with one stone." Julia clarified, sipping her coffee. She heard Red close the doors and climb up next to her.
"Grenades are more effective." Red quipped, stealing a piece of Julia's sandwich as she felt her tug at it.
"Anything is effective when you've got your hands on it." Julia pointed out, leaning her back into the wall of the vehicle as the van roared to life. "You are the one who killed someone with two magazines and a picture frame."
"We never speak of that again." She stated seriously, blowing out a low whistle. "I got into so much trouble for that." The van made a sharp left, making Bryan bang his head against the van window with a grunt while causing everyone else to almost fall forward.
"Ow." He hissed out just before the group heard a faint apology coming from the front. Julia was sure that everyone's eyes had widened at the voice.
"Isaiah's driving?" Julia and her teammates screamed, quickly holding onto something more stable.
"Do you not remember the last time he was driving us?" Michelle asked Red, her voice slick with fear. "We were almost killed! Right, Julia?" She nodded vigorously.
"What? Everyone made it out safe!" Red defended, pausing for a moment. "Okay, so he crashed the car into a lake and Steven almost drowned, but that's because those assholes shot at our tires. My baby tries his best." She reasoned, stunning her trainees into silence. The van stopped before the sound of the doors opening met their ears, signaling their arrival. The group was likely at Steven's house, the last person in Julia's team who they needed to start the mission. Julia heard Red shuffle out of the van, close the doors, and dash to Steven's house.
"This ought to be good." Bryan said, laughing a little. "Steven is always so amusing."
"If only we could see his reaction." Michelle chimed in, sounding disappointed. None of them dared to untie the blind fold, for they didn't want to face Red's wrath.
"I don't know—I think his words alone will be enough."
"Just imagine his facial expressions." Julia offered, taking another sip of her coffee. The van's doors creaked open a minute later for Steven to enter.
"Hey guys—w-what the hell? Ah!" Steven was cut off by a loud bang and groaning soon followed. "Ow! What was that for? And why are we blind folded? Red!" His childish voice squeaked, making the rest of the group roar with laughter. They were all the same age, but he seemed to be the only one who hadn't entirely matured yet.
"That would have been so much better if we saw that." Michelle wheezed between laughs.
"The van's bugged, so we'll watch it later." Red said, likely with a smirk, before she shut the doors once more. Julia didn't hear her step in, so she must have gone and sat at the front with her boyfriend. She shifted her weight so she could sit more comfortably.
"Why do I always get hurt?" Steven asked himself as he somehow found Julia's half-eaten sandwich and began eating it. She rolled her eyes behind her blind fold and took a large swing of coffee.
"Go ahead Steven, you can have some of my food." She stated sarcastically, listening to him chew softly. "Thanks for asking and sharing with everyone else." The group chuckled before blindly shuffling around, sitting closer to one another.
"No, thank you." Steven emphasized just as sardonically, somehow locating her shoulder so that he could pat it gratefully. That was what the two-hour car ride consisted of—sarcasm, crashing into one another every time Isaiah made yet another sharp turn, someone stealing food and precious coffee, and bonding.