1: Despair [1]

Monday 19th, August 1940.

Within a fertile valley in the country of Romania, surrounded by the high mountains, lies the inhabited region of Polesta. A large tributary for a river flowed through the valley, the crisp blue water providing life to all beings within the region. As the light of dawn showed upon the harmonious territory, the rooster's cries awoke the peasant class to the beginning of a long day of hard work.

The day started on the town by the rays of sunshine dispersing the thick fog looming over it.

The people of Polesta were already in the streets, the men rushed to the hunting groups with a flintlock rifle hanging on their back followed by a group of young boys holding torches and carrying staples while the women on the other hand were busy in the many fields.

If somebody gazed at the wide farm lands they would notice a young boy with long messy black hair standing out from the rest of the group, he was playing with a carved wooden horse next to a woman harvesting the wheat crops.

The woman slowly stood up from the ground and wiped the sweat trickling over her forehead, a breath of cold air escaped her mouth as her eyes landed on the boy.

"Vlad, go home and wake up Eda."

"Hmm." Vlad nodded silently and followed his mother's words, he dropped the wooden horse and began to walk away from the grasslands.

"This kid." The woman muttered as she shook her head and stepped out of the muddy ground, she picked the toy from the floor and made sure to keep it safe under a tree.

Following a sand road he reached the small marketplace of the village which was also the entrance of the town, many eyes landed on the lone figure of the young kid making his way in the almost empty street and one of these gazes had a petty malicious intent hidden in it.

When Vlad was about to take a turn at a street corner, a silhouette no taller than the boy himself jumped at him from behind, it bonked in the kid's head and moved into his view.

"Haha." It was another boy with short blonde hair, he held his gut while chuckling at the sight of Vlad holding his head. "I got you, Vade."

"Jona, stop doing that." Vlad mused his lips together while pouting. "And it's Vlad, not Vade."

"They sound the same." Jona said, folding his arms under his chest while huffing up in pride, like to prove he was correct.

"No they don't." Vlad shook his head with a plain face and continued to walk away from the market street but Jona clutched his hands making him stop.

"Where are you going? Let's play Tag!" He smiled widely while pulling Vlad's hand.

"I can't, I have to wake my sister." Vlad replied with the same emotionless face and loosened his hands from Jona's grip.

"What after that? Shall we play?!" Jona asked as he followed Vlad.

"Fine." Vlad grumbled at the puppy eyes his friend was giving him and nodded.

For a brief time, the child duo shared a moment of silence as they walked side by side towards Vlad's home, the silence would have continued if not for one of them breaking it.

"Does your leg still hurt?" Vlad asked, pointing at the red cloth wrapped around Jona's ankle.

"Not that much but it stings every time I bathe." Jona snickered with a smile.

"You never bathe." Vlad replied with a cheeky grin.

"That's true." Jona affirmed without any shame while breaking a chuckle.

Vlad shook his head in silence, he never understood how his father was friends with Jona's, considering both of them shared a similar trait of shamelessness.

"You are an idiot." Vlad commented. "How can you even walk into a bear trap?"

"Hey!" Jona yelled, he pouted his cheeks before repeating the same excuse he said multiple times before. "My father hid it under sand, I didn't see it."

"Still doesn't explain why you would try to steal food from a trap." Vlad said, making Jona pout harder.

"Hmph." Jona turned his head away from Vlad and stayed silent.

Their steps halted once they reached Vlad's home, Jona nudged him to be soon and waited outside. Vlad's house was considerably bigger than most of his townsfolk, he moved towards his sister's room, which was at the far end of the house.

He opened the door and walked in, the room was totally dark as the sunlight was blocked by a curtain covering the window, he slowly pulled it down and the room became bright revealing the figure of a teen girl snuggling into her bed.

"Eda, wake up." Vlad shook his elder sister, she grunted and cursed him at every touch but he didn't mind as it was something she does everyday, finally after a minute she sat up on the bed with a scowl on her face.

"You are ugly." Vlad politely mentioned.

"Shut up brat." She smacked him on the head and cried out loud, slowly she collected all her messy dangling hair and combed them. "As a good young brother, get me a bowl of water."

"Is there a way I can stop being your brother?" Vlad asked sarcastically but instead of a reply he was smacked in the head once again.

"Go get it, you idiot." Eda pushed him out of the room and shut the door, Vlad let out a sigh and returned back with a jar of water.

"Can't you do it faster?" She asked.

Vlad passed the water and waited till she gulped it all down before replying. "Can't you do it yourself."

"Don't talk back to the elders."

"Don't make a kid work for you." Vlad replied with a smile.

Eda narrowed her eyes and glared at him and he returned her glare with the exact same force.

"You brat." Eda gritted her teeth, not taking her eyes away from her brother for one moment.

"I spit on your drink." Even before he finished his words, Vlad was running out of the room.

Jona was waiting patiently outside, he flinched back in surprise when the door suddenly barged open, the figure of Vlad rushed out of the house and ran away while shouting. "Run! Run for your life!"

Jona didn't understand why Vlad was running until he saw a silhouette emerge from the building, a shiver ran down his spine as he noticed the fuming red cheeks of Eda, he yelled her name and followed behind his friend.

"Stop you brats!" Eda screamed in anger but the young duo was already out of her sight.

After escaping from the clutches of an enraged monster called Eda, the boys ran towards the river side, they both stood on a wooden bridge next to a fishing spot while panting for air.

"What did you do?" Jona asked, his hands were pressed against his knees as he wheezed in the air.

"Nothing."

"Your sister is crazy." The blonde boy chuckled.

"That's true." Vlad immediately nodded, he took a large breath to calm his racing heart and sat down at the bridge with his feet over the running water.

"Did you know 'that' country people are coming to ours." Jona sat next to him and informed Vlad, making him squint his brows.

"Which country?" Vlad asked in doubt.

"You know that one, hmm." Jona scratched his head trying to remember the name but he couldn't. "That one with a lot of stars in it, the teacher even said they are bad people."

"Stars?" Vlad mused before he raised his eyebrows. "America? America people are coming here?"

"Yeah! Them, Amrica." Jona squealed in joy as his friend got the name right.

"How do you know?"

"The old man from the radio, I heard it yesterday when my father took me to Carpathian." Jona explained.

"Hehe." Vlad suddenly chuckled with a proud smile and it didn't sit well with Jona.

"Why are you smiling?"

"My father said he would get a radio when he comes back." Vlad's smile widened as he saw his friend gape in shock.

"No way, will you let me hear it? Please!" He knelt on the wooden floor and pleaded.

"Fine but it's only because you are my favorite friend."

"But.. I'm your only friend." Jona tilted his head in confusion as Vlad's smile vanished.

"You don't want to hear the radio."

"I'm your best friend." Jona beamed up.

"No."

The day passed on sooner than they thought, the boys played in the fields catching one another and by noon they climbed up a small plateau to gaze at the whole town and Vlad came back home by evening as he noticed the sun was about to set.

As soon as he opened the door, a broad figure of a man stood before him with a smile on his face, Vlad squealed in joy and launched himself into the arms of his father.

"Did you get the radio?" He asked.

"I'm sorry Vlad." His father apologized with a sad smile. "I couldn't get one, they were all sold out."

"It's fine." Vlad shook his head looking at his father's face.

"But I got you this." His dad took out a gun made on wood and passed it to him.

"Wow!" Vlad clutched the gun and pointed it towards his father, he made sounds of bullets while making an action of shooting his dad.

"Ahh." His father acted his part and fell back while mimicking pain.

"Hehehe."

"Hahaha." The father and son laughed to their heart's content as the sun vanished behind the mountains.

A few hours went by and the whole town was silent. Inside Vlad's home, the family was in the dining room waiting for the steaming hot bowl of stew to cool down.

"Mom, I don't want carrots." Eda said pointing to the floating orange piece of vegetable on the dish.

"No, you should eat it." Her mom replied sternly.

"Dad." She grumbled to her father.

"Listen to your mother, Eda." He instantly shook his head while pointing to his wife next to him.

Vlad stared at Eda for a moment before turning to his mother. "Mom, I don't want carrots."

"Oh that's fine honey, you can eat the meat." She said while cupping her son's cheeks.

"What?! That is what I just said." Eda yelled.

"Eda, he is a kid." His father backed him, she growled as she saw him sticking out his tongue with a smile toward her.

"You little-." Before she could finish her words, the family was thrown towards a corner of the room by a wave of air, followed by a huge explosion.

Vlad blinked slowly as the world around him went quiet, he saw Eda trying to pull him up while screaming something but he couldn't hear her.

His eyes darted towards the figure of his father, who had red stains all over his clothes, he was pointing his flintlock out of the window and was shooting but he was thrown back by another explosion that knocked Vlad out.

—---

"Urgh." Vlad groaned in pain as he woke up. He blinked slowly as the view before him cleared up.

He was in the middle of the town square surrounded by boys his age, he tried to stand but he couldn't, he looked down and found himself tied with a rope.

He turned his head and gazed at everyone around him and all of them were tied exactly like him, his eyes wandered around the crowd until they landed on a certain blonde head.

Vlad tried to call Jona but he didn't respond, his friend, who was always cheerful had lost his smile and it was replaced with immense fear and shock.

He stopped his attempts and looked around once again, they were in an open space in front of the residence of the town chief, on his left something was burning that caught his attention, he narrowed his eyes and looked deeper.

His eyes widened while he screamed in terror but the cloth inserted in his mouth muffled it down, he panted for air while watching the corpses of the town's people burn before him and there were two corpses that he knew, his father and his sister.

He cried with his face planted against the ground, his tears dropped on the floor as his body shook in rage and agony.

"Arghhh! Let me go!" His eyes darted towards the voice of a woman, she was being dragged into the chief's residence without any clothes on her by a man.

Vlad squinted his eyes and saw the man clearly, he was wearing a sand coloured dress with multiple designs of green and gray over it.

That's when he noticed a large group of men roaming the streets and a couple standing behind, they all had the same clothes as the man and they carried a large gun in their hand that resembled a flintlock.

"Please! Let me go! I beg you!" His eyes widened as he heard that voice, his mother was being dragged towards the chief residence by another guy, she was naked and was bleeding from wounds all over body.

The guy stopped for a second as a hint of hope came back to his mother's eyes but it quickly diminished as he slapped her across the face and pulled her in.

Vlad didn't know what came over him, he used his knees to stand up in a swift and ran towards his mother while screaming at the guy that hit her but before Vlad could reach him, a fist was shoved into his gut throwing him back at the ground.

He grunted in pain as the air in his lungs were knocked out, he couldn't recover from the first blow as a kick to his chest followed after that.

The guy moved away from him, leaving the kid to wheeze for air, Vlad opened his tear filled eyes and watched as the foreign men walked into the residence, one after the other.

He cried harder as he heard his mother scream for help, while he lay there unable to do anything, he turned around and sat up wincing at the pain from the punch.

Vlad took a deep breath trying to relieve some of it but it was not helping, as he opened his eyes, he saw a figure thrown out of the chief's house.

Its hair was messed up, blood all over its face and body, there were several cuts on its breast and stomach.

Vlad screamed over his lungs as he watched his mom crawl towards him, while leaving a trail of blood.

She knelt on the floor with what remaining strength she had and embraced him into a hug, Vlad's face was twisted in shock and horror as he was unable to understand what was happening.

An hour passed by and Vlad found himself under a roof with his mother next to him, she was covered in an old rag that hid her wounds and body.

She was keenly staring at the door that was guarded by two of the foreign men, she waited until they were distracted and used it perfectly to get him out of the rope.

"Vlad." She said his name as she cupped his chin and pulled him closer, their foreheads were against each other and they locked their eyes. "I want you to go to Bucharest, do whatever you have to do but get there."

"Mom, let's go together, let's go!" He wrapped his arms around her neck and cried.

"Shhhh." She pulled away and checked the door, the guards were still not there. "I can't Vlad but you can, please get there, promise me."

"Mom." Vlad cried harder, planting his face against the bloody rag.

"Promise me." She whispered.

"I promise." He sniffed in the air, wiped the tears and steeled his eyes with a new resolve.

"You are a good boy Vlad." She ruffled his hair and patted his head slowly. "Run, once you hear a boom."

She turned around and began to speak with the other women in the shelter. All the children and women were pushed into this single house, so it was easy to spread a message and convey their acceptance.

A moment later all the women nodded together and stood up, they moved towards the entrance as quietly as possible and checked for the soldiers outside before rushing out of the room.

The children panicked at the sudden situation, some cried, some gazed around in confusion while most of them were too shocked to react.

All their heads darted towards the door as they heard a gunshot and it was followed by a bunch of them, Vlad gritted his teeth while he was waiting for the explosion.

A shock wave hit them followed by the sound of a blast, bigger than anything they ever heard on that day, Vlad pressed his hands against the ground and slowly stood up as the dust began to settle.

He coughed out and turned around to look at the shelter, a part of its wall crumbled into the side and the whole building was beginning to destabilize.

"V-Vlad?" He flinched at the mention of his name and turned around, Jona was finally out of the shock, he was blinking in confusion while gazing at the premise.

Many of the children were running out of the building, most of them towards their respective homes, Vlad grabbed Jona's hands and pulled him to his knees.

"Let's go, Jona!" Vlad yelled, he dragged his friend out of the room and ran towards the forest.

"Vlad! Where are we going?!" Jona asked.

"Bucharest." Vlad answered as he ran towards the old wooden bridge that connected the village with a hill road.

The young duo soon reached the high plateau and stood on the very top while gazing at the state of their town, smoke trails were coming from various places, gunshots heard every moment, cries of children echoed through the valley.

A teardrop at the very end of his eyes was about to trickle down but Vlad wiped it, he clenched his fist, turned around and began to climb down the hill to reach the other side.

It took the boys six hours to walk out of the forest and reach the nearest road. They could have gotten here in a couple of hours but Jona's wound made him slow and Vlad had to mostly drag him on his back.

"Which way?" Jona asked as they looked at either side of the road.

"This way." Vlad pointed towards his right and moved forward, Jona grumbled as the tiredness caught up with his petite body.

*Honk! Honk!*

Both of them jumped in distress at the sound of a horn behind them, they turned around in fright to the sight of an old car, Vlad pulled the trembling Jona behind him and stood straight as they saw a figure get out of the car.

"Ye kido, whatcha doing here?" The unknown man inquired before his eyes narrowed.

The man in front of them was skinny, he was wearing a long black cassock, brown tint glasses on his face and a silver christ cross hanging in his neck.

"We are…" Vlad trailed off, unable to come up with an answer.

"What? Where ya going?!" The man walked towards them with a stern gaze.

"Bucharest." Jona yelled in fear as he saw the man come closer.

"Bucharest ye? In this nigh? Yor parents are morons." The man sighed, shaking his head, he reached into his car making the boys tense but he took out a loaf of bread from the many he was carrying. "Wanna one?"

Like nodding in affirmation both their tummies grumbled in hunger, they held it in shame as the man broke into a laugh.

"Haha, have it ye." He gave them the loaf and chuckled as they both chumped it into pieces and gobbled them up.

"Thanks." Jona muttered, earning a brow raise from the man.

"I'm Keller, Pastor, I'm gonna Bucharest too, wanna hop in?" Vlad and Jona looked at each other before nodding at the Pastor's offer.

—---

It has been a month since Vlad and Jona stepped in Bucharest, the situation on the big city was not much different from their town, people were panicked, most of them were leaving the city to a place away, war has came to their country and the civilians stopped receiving information, their communication with the outside world was cut and it brought down total anarchy.

Crimes were high in the wealthy neighborhood but fortunately and unfortunately for the kids, they stayed at the slum streets, picking food from trash and sometimes stealing from an old Baker, food wasn't their immediate problem, the church fed them quite well thanks to pastor Keller but it didn't last long once the nuns and chief pastor decided to move out of Romania and seek shelter on Vatican.

Vlad was left in the streets to die and the hunger had taught him a valuable lesson, do anything you should to survive. Jona and him were not the only kids that were orphaned, a large number of children roamed the roads, searching for jobs and begging for money.

Even the rusty, abandoned residence Vlad found in the edge of the city limits was crowded by the young refugees that came from different parts of the country. Jona hated them for trying to take the place his friend managed to find but he couldn't say anything as they were not really any different from others.

It was one such morning on the cramped compound, all the boys were out on the street, trying to pick anything edible from the garbage while some planned to steal, Vlad and Jona stayed behind as they had some left out food they got yesterday night.

They were eating their fill, when they heard the sound of rapid footsteps approaching them, their eyes darted towards the open door, a figure popped out of the corner making them flinch.

It was a young girl with short red hair, she was wearing a long khaki oversized frock, it was torn in the corners with threads popping out.

"Please help my mother, she can't breathe." She muttered with a pleading gaze.

"Huh? What did you say?" Vlad asked with his head tilted in confusion, he had never seen this girl in this part of the city before and it was surprising for him to hear someone ask trash pickers like them for help.

"My mother, please help her!" She yelled out, their eyes locked for a moment and Vlad noticed the tear drops at the corner of her eyes waiting to pop out.

"What do we get for that?" Jona asked with a gruff.

"F-Food, my mom makes a cafe, I can get you food!" She clutched her fist as those words got the attention of the boys, they both looked at each other before nodding.

"Fine, let's go!" They hopped down from the broken floor and followed behind her.

She led them to a house in the middle of a road leading out of the town, her steps halted in front of a small hut, she nudged the boys to go in and followed behind.

As soon as Vlad stepped in, he noticed the place was plain, not a single soul was in there but before he could ask the girl, a hard wooden bat hit his head from behind.

"Vlad!" He fell face first against the floor, while the darkness surrounded him, all he could hear was Jona crying his name and a bunch of men walking into the hut.

He closed his eyes and fell into the arms of Morpheus.

—---

When Vlad woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar vehicle, he looked to his side and Jona was next to him with a group of children beside him, tilting his head down, he saw his hands cuffed together by a chain.

"Get out!" A man wearing an all black suit yelled and pulled Vlad out by the chain.

He jumped down from the truck and landed on his feet, he assessed his surroundings and locked his eyes with the tall buildings before him.

"Come on!" The man began to pull him towards the building, Vlad didn't bother to resist or put up a fight, he went along with the whims of the guy and followed along.

They walked for a few minutes until the man stopped in front of the tall structure, before him was a short man with glasses on his face, he was surrounded by a group of figures wearing the same black suit, they all had a gun pointed at the children as the short man stepped forward.

The man pulling him let go of Vlad and saluted the short man before stepping back.

"Children." The short man said with a thick German accent, he smiled as he watched the kids shiver under his gaze.

"Welcome to Hydra."