3: Despair [3]

After the announcement informing about their test ended, Vlad and the girl had gone silent in their respective positions, both the kids didn't talk about the situation or discuss about a way to escape but instead had their eyes locked with the other.

When the duration of the test reached half-time, the girl slowly stood from her kneeling posture which in turn caused Vlad to be vigilant and stand up from the bed.

"I-I won't go back." The girl murmured under her breath, Vlad bit his lips as he clenched his fist tighter. "I won't go back there!"

The girl charged ahead while announcing the start of the fight with a shout, she pulled back her hand, curled it into a fist and came in for a hook.

Vlad stepped to his left dodging the punch without thinking, after all the bullies he had encountered in the slums for the past month, he Instinctively knew how most of them fought, almost every time their fight began with a right punch.

Once he missed the blow, he used his elbows to push the girl against the bed as he stepped out of her way, the girl's shoulder was smashed in the wooden cot making her grumble in pain.

He tried to put some distance between them but she recovered faster than he thought, she stood up with a roar and rushed towards him with her nails aimed for his eyes.

"Stop!" He shouted to her incoming figure and went in for a punch.

He planted his right fist across her face surprising her with the move, the blow made her stumble back while holding her face.

She growled in pain as rage took over her, she gritted her teeth trying to not let the pain get to her, she once again came in for a punch and this time it connected with his chest but still didn't do much of a damage to him.

He growled as he caught the girl by her hair and kicked her in the gut. "Stop hitting me!"

The girl fell on the ground holding her stomach, she curled under his feet while coughing out her drooping saliva.

"No, I won't go back." She muttered while using her left over strength to raise again.

Vlad grunted, annoyed by her stubborn nature, he caught her by her neck and pinned her against a wall, she began to wheeze in for air as he choked her.

The girl used her nails to scratch his hands in an attempt to escape from his clutch but Vlad shook them away and gave her a headbut.

"Stop fighting!" Seeing her struggling under his grip, Vlad pulled her head towards him for a moment before smashing it against the wall.

"Arghh!" She suffered in pain.

"Stop!" He bashed her head in the wall again and again till her hair became a bloodied mess, her eyes slowly twitched and her iris moved back as her body went limp but Vlad didn't stop, he kept smashing her skull against the rock without bothering about the scratches and pain. He let go of her only when he heard the sound of the metal door creaking open.

Vlad gazed at the entrance and turned his head towards his former roommate, he stepped back from the body and gulped down the rising bile as he looked at the blood in his hands.

["Congratulations children, you are survivors."]

As soon as the voice finished speaking, a soldier clad in the black uniform of Hydra entered his cell with a pistol pointed at him, the man looked at the corpse lying against the wall and turned towards him, he lowered his gun back to its sheath and gestured him to come forward and Vlad obeyed.

"What is your name?" The soldier asked as he took out a notepad from his belt.

"V-Vlad Drako." The man wrote in his name and followed with more questions.

"Age?"

"14."

"Where are you from?"

"Polesta."

"Romania?" Vlad nodded completing the procedure.

"Get out." The man pushed him out of the room and closed the door.

He roamed around the corridor for a moment not knowing what to do, so he waited for the guard to come out, after a few minutes the door opened once again, the soldier stepped out of the room adjusting his pants and togged Vlad towards a big dome at the back of the building.

Vlad's eyes wandered through the group of boys waiting inside the big structure, most of them were crying while holding their knees together, some of them were extremely silent as they stood still, while he was searching for his blonde haired friend.

He found Jona weeping at a corner of the dome, he had a large cut on his cheek, it was dripping blood all over his rags, he winced at every breath of air as it stinged.

"Jona." Vlad called his name as he sat behind him. Jona threw himself at Vlad, he hugged him tighter while crying out in tears.

"I didn't want to do it Vlad, I killed him." Jona muttered as he sniffed in.

"We did it, Jona." Vlad pulled him back and smiled. "We survived."

"I killed him, Vlad." Jona cried harder as the words left his mouth, Vlad cupped his face with his hands and locked eyes with his.

"You didn't kill him, Jona." Vlad shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. "He died because he was weak."

"What?" Jona asked as his eyes cleared a little.

"Yeah, you didn't kill anybody, they couldn't prove themselves because they were weak, you did what they asked because you are strong and he died because he was weak."

"He was weak?" The guys turned towards the source of an unknown voice beside them, their eyes landed on the petite figure of a girl, she had long green hair with a hint of blue on it, her eyes were red in the tips, streaks of tears were clear on her face.

"Really? He died because he was weak?!" The girl asked him once again but this time she crawled towards him and engaged closer, their faces were inches apart, Vlad narrowed his eyes at her advance. He took a long breath to collect himself and answered.

"Yes, didn't you hear what that man said, we are talents and they are trash, if I can eat everyday then I would prove myself, I didn't kill her, I made her stop hitting me." Vlad reassured and slowly nodded to himself as he came to reason with the death of the girl.

"I didn't kill him. Hehe." The girl chuckled, wiping her tears. "He was trash. Hehe."

"You are weird." Jona muttered.

"He is more weird than me." She said pointing at Vlad.

"I'm not." Vlad replied with a glare.

"Hehehe." The girl didn't bother with his glare and giggled.

"Who are you?" Jona asked.

"Me?" The girl asked, pointing at herself and the boys nodded in unison.

"Ophelia Sarkissian."