Death (Part 1)

Drap

Drap

"Hah, hah."

Irina's eyes looked around her with a sense of alertness. In the midst of heavy rain and lightning striking the land, Irina, who had been running all the time, finally decided to hide behind a bush in a small forest near the quiet village road she had previously passed. Her breath was ragged as Irina weakly leaned against the branch of a large tree to see the many torn wounds on her body.

Irina should have known that her meeting with Ava would upset Dominic. To be honest, Irina was also surprised. Why is it that after trying to keep Alexa away from Dominic for so long, the man is only taking real action against her now?

Since waking up this morning, Irina has been followed by various types of people who try to kill her every chance they get. However, killing a former special soldier doesn't seem easy for them. Even after her car was hit hard, Irina was still able to escape, even with injuries almost all over her body.

She couldn't ask anyone for help in this foreign country. The police wouldn't help. Irina had tried asking them for help before. Everyone acted as if they were obedient to Dominic just because the man had a lot of money and position on his side.

Thinking back to Ava, Irina smiled slightly. Ava is her first friend at the orphanage, which is rarely filled with women. They faced many life-and-death situations together. Because their lives are far from peaceful, the two of them have promised to help each other until death do their part.

But yesterday, Ava no longer saw her as a friend. Her face was full of hostility when Irina tried to talk to her. In a world where Irina could finally be free as they wished, Irina did not expect that in the end, she would die without being able to fulfill her promise to Ava and Jake.

"Hey, I'm going to save you from that psychopath guy, okay? We're also going to find a way out of the groundless accusations set on you. I... I know you would never kill General Hugo, Ava. I'm going to look for proof that all those crimes were done by someone else. I'll also gather whatever evidence you need to make you believe that you were with the wrong person all along. So, until I gather everything and see you again, don't kick me out, okay?"

Irina chuckled as she replayed her memories until blood started to come out of her mouth. In order to find out the truth that Irina wants Ava to know, she has been an escapee from the military for years, accepting any job just to eat every day. Irina kept running and fighting all the time because she had to help Ava escape from the crazy man.

However, months after she escaped, Irina suddenly met Ava again, who was already with Dominic. Ava cruelly chased her away and asked her not to see her again like today. Since then, Irina has changed her life goals. She wanted to kill Dominic when she had the chance. That way, at least, she can bring Ava back, even though maybe not as her friend anymore.

Irina tracked Dominic and Ava all the time until she finally received news that Dominic was locking Ava in his house for some reason.

Irina didn't have a chance if she had to break into the house with full security as Dominic had. She could only continue to wait, waiting for the day when Dominic would come out again to take care of her business.

After disappearing from people's radar for a long time, Dominic finally really returned to society one day. With all her efforts, Irina finally found out that Dominic would be having lunch with someone at a restaurant for the first time. Irina spent all her money to get in there, only to find that the person Dominic was eating with was once again her best friend.

Worse than ever, Ava admits she's married to the bastard and doesn't remember her. Ava even has a new name. Alexa, she said at the time. There was no longer a trace of the Ava she knew in Alexa. Except for his eyes, which are as sharp as ever, and his moles, which still attract a lot of attention.

"Sigh... I'm sorry, Jake. I... ugh, I can't look after your wife anymore," Irina regretted in her pain. Her body had lost too much blood, and her pursuers didn't seem to want to give up until they brought her body before Dominic.

Tiredly, Irina's head looked up to see the gray sky that witnessed her death. In the end, she was destined to die alone, without anyone to mourn her death like her other friends.

"I'll cry if you die, Irina! Don't you dare to die before me! We... we have to live until we're old and have a peaceful life, stupid! Sob, we have to live until the end and gain the freedom we haven't yet gotten. That's our promise, right? No one can break that promise, Irina."

Tears started to fall when Irina remembered how sad Ava was when she was shot and almost died in the middle of her second mission. Irina has no one in this world apart from her friend, who lives together in the orphanage. At that time, Ava was the only person who would cry for her in the middle of the battlefield.

That's why Irina is willing to sacrifice anything just for Ava. Ava has helped her a lot since childhood. Ava gave her the hope, strength, and dreams that had been missing in her life. They have promised to continue living and helping each other until the end of their lives. After what happened to Jake before, Irina didn't want what happened to Jake to happen to Ava too.

Her blood-stained hand slowly moved to take something from her pocket. Irina pressed each number with difficulty before she slowly put her cell phone close to her ear.

Every second seemed to be a torture for Irina. She wasn't even sure whether the person she was calling would still answer the call or not. That person would know if Irina called him. Irina always used a number with a special series of ending numbers to call that man, and only that person knew this secret.