Mia opened the door of her motel room and shuffled in, throwing her bag to the side carelessly. It was cosy and small; the bed seemed to be made of dark oaky wood that spouted out dark patterns along its surface. A black carpet covered the floor, and it worked well with the light, cream walls that gave a touch of life to the mostly darkly decorated room. If she wasn't under the certain circumstances, she would've found the room to be comforting and nice to stay in.
She heard Daniela and Lorenzo coming up right behind her, so she swiftly moved out of the way, scooping up her bag again as she walked, and headed over to the window and shut the blinds, not wanting anyone to start peering in and seeing exactly who they were.
Daniela and Lorenzo dropped their bags to the side before Daniela pulled out two other keys, one for her and one for Lorenzo. Lorenzo closely examined his, showing off his still shaky hands.
"Lorenzo, are you OK?" Mia asked as she turned from the window.
"I'm just a little..." Lorenzo started, not even sure how to describe what he was feeling, "on edge."
"It'll pass, trust me," Mia promised, offering him a small smile. He took comfort in it and allowed it to put a few of his worries at ease, at least for now.
Daniela, who had been texting for the past few seconds, put her phone down and glanced up to the pair.
"My contact said he's going to meet us tomorrow to give us what we need," Daniela stated.
Mia nodded before turning away from the pair, taking off her jacket. She pulled the photograph from the pocket and took another glance at, a million thoughts drifting through her confusing pool of a mind. If the person that took the photo of her worked for Orabella, then Mia knew that this conspiracy was much more personal than she had initially thought.
"What's that, Mia?" Lorenzo's voice pulled her from her thinking.
"Huh?"
"That," Lorenzo said again, nodding to the photo in her hands, "what is it?"
Mia looked down at it before shoving it into her pant pocket. "Nulla."
"Daniela could you give us a moment, per favore?" Lorenzo asked. Daniela gave him a slight nod before exiting the room, shutting it behind her, leaving them in just each other's company.
"What's going on, amico?" Lorenzo asked Mia, wandering over to her.
Mia sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was start indulging in her wild theories based on one woman she saw, nor did she want to start talking about the painful past that she seemed to find popping up more often in the last few days.
"Mia, I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me," Lorenzo persisted. He knew he may sound relentless and pushy, but he wanted to be there for his friend and he wanted her to know that she could trust him. And it would also help in taking his mind off his missing brother for a little while.
"Lorenzo, just drop it," Mia said coldly, moving past him. She threw her bag on the bed and started rummaging through it, pulling out things such as toiletries and the other changes of clothes that Daniela had supplied her with.
Lorenzo slammed his hands down onto her bag, startling her. He pushed down, making sure she couldn't keep sorting through it.
"Why do you always put up a wall, Mia? I've said time and time again that I'm here for you, but you won't let me. You're one of the few friends I have and I'm pretty sure that is vice versa," Lorenzo said, his eyes burning into Mia's head which was faced down, avoiding his harsh, truthful glare.
Mia tried to think of an answer, but she just couldn't think of anything to say. Not when her mind was being tugged away to those dark corners she never dared to dip into.
She was only 9 years old, still just a child. She was sat in her small room that reeked with a tangy smell that resembled damp and something more sour and vile. She was sprawled out on her old creaky bed that screeched with any small movement. The moon was high in the sky, piercing through the crooked curtains that were lazily put up over her window. The sound of the front door opening and then slamming shut startled Mia. She shifted from her bed, moving slowly over to her bedroom door as she listened to the murmured talking taking place between what sounded like her mother's voice and a man's voice. A man that sounded familiar, yet she couldn't match a face to the manly, deep voice.
Something was slammed against a counter which was followed by a string of curses, the voice laced with anger. Mia cracked open her door slightly. She saw her mother in the kitchen, grasping the man by his black jacket, holding him closely as she spat out rage-induced threats into his face. She could see the burning fury within her eyes and it frightened her.
Her mother's eyes glanced over to the door and caught Mia's gawking. She began screaming at Mia before she slammed the man's head against the cabinet beside them. She started for Mia's room, gliding across the kitchen and into the hallway with long, quick, sinister strides.
Mia threw herself away from the door just as her mother kicked it open mercilessly.
'I told you to stay in bed, ragazza stupido!' her mother yelled, taking her palm across Mia's face.
Mia's eyes instantly watered at the harsh stinging on her cheek. Her hand shot up to clutch her face, choking back a sob.
'Now stay in here or there'll be conseguenze!' she then said, gritting her teeth together.
Mia caught a glimpse of a shiny looking small gun at the side of her mother's pants. But before she could take it all in, she took another slap at Mia and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Mia was left in darkness as she stumbled over to her bed, sobbing quietly.
A deafening gun shot burst into the atmosphere which was quickly followed by a wet thud. Mia froze in fear, the tears streaming down her cheeks and onto the sheets beneath her. She grasped her duvet and yanked it over herself, hiding away from the reality around her.
"Mia!" Lorenzo's voice floated through her ears as the tear-jerking memory began to fade away from her mind.
Mia blinked away the stray tear, fighting back the urge to let herself cry in front of her friend. But it still didn't convince him that she was fine, the look on his face was evident of that.
"Just talk to me. Please," Lorenzo then said, his voice grew softer.
Mia finally met his stare and saw the genuine care in his eyes. She then faced down again, biting back the tears that were fighting to break from their ducts.
"Talking about my mamma..." Mia said, her voice shaky and on the obvious verge of having a breakdown, "it's painful, Enzo. I've told you before why. So just leave it."
"No, you've told me that your mother was cruel to you, you never explained exactly how. And it's something that's obviously plaguing you. Why can't you talk to me?" Lorenzo said, moving in closer to her as he snaked his arm around her and gently rubbed her arm comfortingly.
"Because she was a cruel person and it pains me to even think about her!" Mia shouted. She could hear her voice breaking and it made her even more uncomfortable; she wasn't used to letting herself become so vulnerable, in front of anyone. "She was a thief and a murderer, Lorenzo."
Lorenzo was taken back by the sudden reveal. In the past, he had only been told by Mia that her mother was just a harsh woman that never showed her any care or love. But he wasn't expecting that. It made him understand more about why Mia was so closed off about her past and about her family.
"Shit..." he said, not sure what to say at all.
"There you have it," Mia said as she sniffled, "now can we please leave it alone?"
Lorenzo rubbed her shoulder again before pulling her in for a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She returned the gesture, nestling her head in the crook of Lorenzo's neck. They stood, entwined together for a good minute. He rubbed her back and stoked her hair and hoped that by displaying his genuine compassion and love for Mia it would help make her feel better, even if it was just by a small bit.
"Thank you, Enzo. I'm fortunato to have you in my life," Mia said as she calmed herself down. Being in Lorenzo's arms really helped ease the hurt within her and she was glad to have him with her, to help ground her and keep some sort of happiness and kindness in her life.
"I'm always going to be here for you, amico," Lorenzo promised before pulling away.
Mia looked at him with a small smile, the sadness on her face slowly fading away. She hoped that now she had told him what her mother really was, they could put the whole ordeal behind them. For her own sake and wellbeing.
Lorenzo smiled back at her before his eyes drifted to the side where he noticed a familiar looking folder hanging out of Daniela's bag. Mia noticed his intrigued glance and followed his gaze, not sure where he was looking exactly.
He moved past her and headed straight for the bag. Leaning down, he quickly unzipped it and pulled out the folder, standing up again.
"This is the file I was telling you about," Lorenzo said, turning to face Mia, "the file I found at Daniela's house."
Mia joined Lorenzo's side and saw the old KGB logo on the front of it. Curious, she took it from his hands and flipped it open to the front page. Her eyes scanned over the information, a lot of which is redacted.
NAME: PETROVNA, NIKOLINA
ALIASES: TATIANA SOKOLOV, NADIA DMITRIEV, CRIMSON SHADOW
Before Mia could read any further, the door swung open and in came Daniela. It took only a split-second before Daniela raced over to them and snatched the folder out of Mia's hands. She then backed away from them, an angry expression forming on her face.
"I said to stay away from my things!" Daniela said angrily, clearly irritated with Lorenzo's persistence and intrigue.
"Why do you have the file of the Crimson Shadow?" Mia asked, her own voice laced with curiosity that didn't seem to be disappearing anytime soon.
Daniela stuttered, struggling to think of what lie to give them.
"I'm confused, what's the Crimson Shadow?" Lorenzo interjected, confused with what Mia was talking about and why Daniela was acting extremely suspicious about a file.
Daniela gave Mia a look that explicitly read as she wasn't going to tell him anything. Sighing, Mia glanced over to Lorenzo.
"It's not a what. It's the alias of a person," Mia said. "The Crimson Shadow is a rogue assassin that killed her superiors before going dark. She killed multiple Russian government officials, but she went completely off the map. It's been years since anyone has even come close to finding a trail on her."
Lorenzo's eyes glanced back and forth between Mia and Daniela, his mouth agape in shock that someone like that actually existed and wasn't just in the American action movies he watched from time to time.
"The CII was working on the case," Daniela finally spoke, "because they got word that she was in Italy under another alias, this time called Lorna Petrelli. Why she would be in Italy we don't know, but I was assigned to the case. That was until I got pulled off due to it not going anywhere and I was instead placed on this case we're on now."
"Will you be going back to this?" Mia said, nodding at the file that Daniela kept closely to her chest.
"Once we stop Orabella and find out what Project Vindicta is, I might be back on the Crimson Shadow case. But for now, that's not the goal. The goal is to get into Craco so why don't we get some rest?" Daniela explained to them before scooping up her bag.
"Is there anything more to that old case?" Mia asked, making Daniela pause in her tracks. "Anything we should know?"
"Everything is out on the table now. That's all there is to know," Daniela said without turning back. She then exited the room, closing the door behind her.
"What do you think?" Lorenzo asked quietly, worried in case Daniela was lingering outside of the door.
"Looks like we have no choice but to trust her at this point. She hasn't let us down just yet," Mia said, pursing her lips. She had to admit that Daniela seemed to be just as much as a target as herself and Lorenzo were and the guards they had encountered back at the market seemed intent on killing Daniela. So they really just had to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust her.
*
Daniela walked down the motel corridor and headed for her room when her cell phone began buzzing in her pocket. She stopped and started fishing around for it. Once she felt her fingers feel the cold metal of the phone, she grasped it and pulled it out.
A text message flashed on the screen, so she moved the phone closer to her eyes, so she could properly read it.
REMEMBER, IF YOU DON'T DELIVER US TO PROJECT VINDICTA, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED.
Daniela gulped as her eyes glazed over the text; she felt her stomach churn with the unshakeable feeling of dread filling her insides up. She was expecting more time, but she clearly didn't. Daniela knew she'd have to work quick or else she'd be in extreme danger.