She stared down the stairs in horror. The thought of what she had just done brought shivers to her spine. Looking down at the bottom of the stairs she could see the body of a small child. She could see the body of her sister. Slowly she walked down the stairs. Careful not to fall and careful not to let go of the doll she held tightly to her chest.

Fear ran throughout her body as she got closer and closer to her sister. The overwhelming fear almost stopped her from getting closer. But she had to see. She had to see what she had done for this little doll.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she could see that her sister was definitely dead. There was no hope at all that the body lying before her could be alive. Her neck had contorted horribly. She could see a bone protruding from the delicate skin of the child. Blood had pooled all around the body staining the white dress she wore. A dress just likes that of her killer.

She stood over the body in shock. Not a word could be uttered from her lips. All she could do was stare at her sister with wide eyes. What she had done, what she was capable of doing brought fear into her heart. Suddenly she heard something behind her. A door was shoved open violently and then a scream. She recognized the scream of her mother.

“Madeline, Madeline what have you done!” Mother yelled at the top of her lungs and ran towards the body of her dead child. She held the child in her arms crying over it. “Go get some help, hurry!”

She couldn’t do as her mother told her. All she could do was stand and stare at her sister. She couldn’t even tell her mother she was sorry. The words wouldn’t come to her.

“Madeline can you hear me!” She screamed angrily glaring at her daughter. “What have you done to her. How could you do this to me!”

Madeline awoke with a start. Her heart was racing and her body was covered with sweat. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at the clock. Only three a.m. much earlier than she would have liked. But sleep wasn’t an option anymore. She couldn’t go back to those dreams.

Getting out of bed Madeline grabbed the robe she had thrown on the floor the night before. She put the robe on over her nightgown as she walked downstairs. Lazily she made some tea and sat on a sofa facing the window. Looking out from her penthouse she could see the entire city. It was so early in the morning yet it was very full of life. She yearned to be out there enjoying all life had to offer. But that would never happen. Her life of freedom was gone and it would never be back again.

*************

Nikita sat back on the bench and put her sunglasses on. Sitting on a hill overlooking the park she could see everything and everyone. There were children playing and people on their lunch break eating on the grass. Everything was so serene. Nikita just sat and enjoyed it.

Suddenly a voice interrupted her trance. “Nikita do you see him yet?” It was Birkoff getting impatient.

“No not yet.” She scanned the park again to make sure. “I don’t think he’s gonna show up”

“Well why don’t you stay a little longer and maybe he will.” Birkoff broke the communication and left Nikita in her own world.

Looking down on the park again she couldn’t see the man they wanted. He was a high ranking government official who had recently resigned from his office. Apparently just before he resigned he received a very large sum of money in his bank account. Section has suspected that he was selling information to an outside group. With the money they were sure of it. Nikita had to bring him in so they could find out what information was sold.

Out of the corner of her eye Nikita saw something. It was him, he was walking towards a park bench with his lunch in his hands. Not on time but he did show up just like he did every day.

“Birkoff I got him.” To an outsider it would seem she was speaking to thin air. But if you looked very closely you could see she was talking to the Comm unit stuck in her ear.

“Ok Nikita. I’ll tell you when.”

Her senses heightened and her heart started beating a little faster as she got ready. Nikita watched as he sat on his bench and started eating. It seemed he was oblivious to what was going on around him. He didn’t even notice the men in black coats wandering around him.

“Nikita go.” She heard and started walking toward their man. He didn’t even look up as she sat next to him.

“Hello, beautiful day isn’t it?” Nikita said in a relaxed voice.

He looked up and smiled at her. “Oh yes it is. It’s very nice.”

“It’s a shame you won’t get to enjoy the rest of it.” She said as she pointed her gun at his ribs being careful not to reveal it to any onlookers. He looked at her confused for a moment then noticed the gun pointing at him. A realization of what was happening came over him. “Why don’t you come with us quietly.”

Two men in black clothing appeared and took the man by his arms. He didn’t resist he just went with them. He knew that resisting would be futile.

“Where are you taking me?” His voice was shallow scared.

“You’ll find out soon. Don’t worry everything will be just fine.” Nikita followed as he was taken into a van never to see the outside world again.

“Birkoff we’re coming in.”

*************

The heavy metal door swung open and Madeline walked into the white room. Sitting in the interrogation chair was a man. His eyes were bloodshot. He had obviously been crying. She could see sweat glistening on his forehead and soaking into his shirt. He was afraid, just as he should be.

“Mr. Loftus,” She said with a soothing voice. “I have some questions to ask you.”

His body was trembling as he watched her. He knew what was to come if he did not cooperate. “Why do you want me? I don’t know anything!”

Madeline smiled. “We know you have been selling information. We know you have received a great deal of money for it. What we don’t know is who you told and what exactly you revealed to them.”

He calmed down a little bit as he realized he had been caught. “If you are so smart why can’t you find all this out for yourself!”

“We are going to find out Mr. Loftus. That is why you are here. We will do whatever it takes to get this information from you. I am very serious when I say that.”

Loftus looked very sternly at her. “I won’t tell you a thing. They will kill me if I do.”

“Yes you will tell me.” Madeline walked behind the chair. “Or else we will kill you. There is no way around that.”

“Well if your going to kill me anyway why should I tell you anything!” His fear was turning into anger as the conversation went on.

“Because Mr. Loftus if you don’t tell me your family might come to some harm.” Madeline pointed a remote control to a monitor across from them. It blinked to life showing a white room just like the one they were in, but inside this one were two other figures. It was a woman and a child. They were both strapped to chairs just like that Loftus was in. The child was crying and the woman was talking trying to soothe him.

“What are you doing to them!” Loftus tried to get out of his restraints but it was futile he would never get out of them. “You wouldn’t hurt them! They’re my family!”

“Yes Mr. Loftus.” Madeline turned the monitor off and stood in front of him again. “We will do whatever it takes to learn what you know. Even if it means killing your family.”

“Please don’t hurt them.” He looked at Madeline with sorrowful eyes.

“If you tell us what we want to know your family will go free. If you refuse us they will be tortured and killed.” Madeline said bluntly.

“Ok, fine I will tell you everything you need to know. Just don’t hurt them.” Loftus decided to resign to his fate.

“Very good.”

***********

There was a strange feeling in the air as Nikita came into section. As she strolled through the halls and into the heart of section she saw why it was so strange. There was nobody there. Only Birkoff working at his station. Not even Ops was watching over them.

“What’s going on?” Nikita asked as she sat next to Birkoff at his computer. “Where is everyone?”

“Michael went to Paraguay with his team. There is an emergency there and most of sections recourses have been sent there.” He continued typing not even looking at Nikita. “Madeline wants to see you in her office.”

“Do you know what this is about?”

“No.” Birkoff said. “But I bet it is pretty important if you have been held behind from the Paraguay mission.”

Nikita stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Ok I’ll see ya later Birkoff.”

Thoughts raced through her head as Nikita walked to her meeting with Madeline. She couldn’t figure out why she would have been held behind from Paraguay. As far as she knew she wasn’t in abeyance. She pushed the thoughts away and decided it couldn’t be that bad if she had been called in.

The office door swooshed open and she saw Madeline and Ops sitting across from each other. Both of them had smiles on their faces. It was a strange sight for Nikita to see a smile on Ops face.

As soon as they noticed Nikita their smiles faded to the stern cold demeanor that was so common in section. “We’ve been expecting you.” Madeline said.

“Is something wrong?” Nikita stood at the door waiting for the invitation to come any further.

“Come sit down Nikita.” Ops stood up and gave Nikita his seat.

Nikita sat and watched both of them. Their faces were stolid. She couldn’t figure out what was going on. Ops took his place behind Madeline and put a hand on her shoulder.

“A matter of extreme urgency has come up.” Ops began. “I doubt you’ve ever heard of the M9 project?”

“No I haven’t.” Nikita gave them a confused look.

*************

“The M9 project was created to program the perfect operatives.” Madeline broke in. “They take juvenile offenders and train them much like you were trained. They are basically programmed to do all the things you do. They are raised in this environment and it is all they know. With these M9’s Nikita you would be outdated. They can do anything you can do but better.”

Nikita’s mind raged at the thought of children being raised in this sort of environment. It was horrible and inhumane. Children being killers was not right. She chose not to say anything knowing it wouldn’t help the situation. She has known the ways of section long enough to know it wouldn’t help.

“For certain reasons the project had been shut down for twenty years.” Ops said. “But according to Mr. Loftus it was reactivated without our knowledge.”

“Ah so there are certain things you don’t know.” Nikita stated with a little grin.

Ops just glared at her and continued. “Apparently Mr. Loftus and his cohorts took it upon themselves to reactivate the project. Only a handful of people knew about the project. But they are dead now. One of the subjects for the project has escaped and in the process of escaping destroyed the M9 compound and anyone having anything to do with the project. Mr. Loftus was the only one to survive.”

“So you want me to go get the escapee?” It was more of a statement than a question. “And I guess you want him back alive so you can use him for your own needs.”

“That’s enough Nikita!” He pounded his fist on the table. “It is none of your concern what is done with the subject. All I want you to do is get the subject back.”

Nikita sat back in her chair knowing it was no use to fight section.

“There is one problem though.” Ops straightened his shirt and went back to his calm demeanor. “Loftus has given the location of the subject to Logos. Now Logos is a relatively new terrorist group trying to make a name for themselves. It will help them a great deal to obtain this M9. We have to get the M9 before they do.”

“Will I be working alone?”

“No, because of her expertise on the subject you and Madeline will be working together. I do not want any foul ups, and bring the M9 back alive!” Ops eyed Nikita as he walked out of the room.

Madeline who had been sitting silently the whole time gave Nikita a little smile as the door shut. “Well it looks like we will be working together again. I must tell you I have been looking forward to working with you.”

**********

Nikita smiled back but was weary. She knew there was always something behind what Madeline did and said. She had learned a lot of tricks from her but there was still a lot Madeline had up her sleeves.

“This is the M9 we are looking for.” Madeline swiveled her monitor to face Nikita.

What Nikita saw shocked her. It was the face of a young girl. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen. She had brown hair and brown eyes almost what she would have thought Madeline looked like when she was younger. But the thought of this little girl killing so many people was something she could not fathom.

“Don’t judge her by her looks Nikita.” Madeline knew exactly what she was thinking. “She is a very well trained killer and will kill you if she finds that necessary.”

“She is just a child!” Nikita stood up her face was red with anger. “The section would be so cruel as to have this child work for them? That is wrong!”

“Nikita sit down!” Madeline raised her voice, which was a very rare thing. “You don’t need to be worrying about what section does with her. All you have to worry about is getting her and coming back alive.”

Nikita sat down but her anger did not subside. But she did manage to hide it. One of the things she had learned from Madeline and Michael. It was something you needed to know how to do in section. Mask your feelings. It was taking time but she was getting better at it.

“This M9 has been part of the project for ten years. She has excelled in everything she has done. Part of the reason we want her back. We do have a general location on her but Logos has a few days lead on us. We have to find her before they do.” Madeline stared right into her eyes. “If they get her she will be the greatest threat we have ever faced. I do not want that to happen.”

Nikita’s mind went back to the work at hand. “So where do we start looking?”

“The M9 compound was in the New England area. We think that she will still be around hiding out somewhere. We will be leaving within the hour to search.”

Nikita got out of her seat and headed toward the door. Just as she was about to step through she paused and turned around. “By the way does she go by a name other than M9?”

“Yes,” Madeline’s face changed almost saddened. “Her name is Sarah.”

***********

They had been driving for what seemed an eternity. By day they searched by night they rested and tried to figure out where to go next. Madeline and Nikita had been to ten small towns in ten days. With nothing to show for it. Everywhere they went there was no sign of Sarah.

According to the information Mr. Loftus had provided Sarah had to be somewhere in the area but they were not sure where. The search had been narrowed down to twenty small towns in a very rural area. So far all they had found were farmers and some dirty old men that liked to sit on their porches and reminisce about the “good ole days”.

Today they were driving again to another farm town that didn’t seem to hold any promise to Nikita. The constant driving was getting tiring but at least it wasn’t uncomfortable in the car that section had provided. It was a large luxury vehicle with comfortable seats and air conditioning. Something she was relieved about. The sweltering heat outside the car was enough to melt the skin off of her bones.

Nikita sat in the passenger seat as Madeline drove. The entire trip Madeline had been very quiet. Not even offering any small talk as they went from town to town. She wore almost the same outfit she had worn in section. A suit with a skirt and some heels. Nikita couldn’t imagine how she could walk around constantly in such an outfit. Especially in such a rural area.

Nikita had opted for a more comfortable ensemble. Just some pants and a T-shirt. Although even in those clothes she couldn’t get comfortable in the unbearable heat.

“What makes you think that she will stay in this area?” Nikita asked trying to break the silence as they headed for their next destination. “If I were her I would have left long ago.”

“She is going to stay put for a while and wait until she feels it is safe to go somewhere more permanent.” The car sped up and they passed trailer truck that was probably headed for the same town. “But she won’t stay for long. Our search window is closing, and if we don’t find her soon we never will.”

A quizzical expression appeared on Nikita’s face. “How is it that you know so much about Sarah? I thought all the records had been destroyed.”

Madeline smiled a little bit. “It is something that I would do. So I am assuming that she will do the same.”

“Not everyone is like you Madeline.”

“No, not everyone.” She said. “But Sarah is.”

“How do you know that?” Nikita’s questions were verging on to an interrogation.

“I know. Trust me.”

Nikita decided to stop this line of questioning. Knowing that it wouldn’t get her anywhere. She sat back in her seat and watched out the window at the giant tree’s passing by.

“We’re going to hit the next town soon.” Madeline said. “When we get there I want to split up and search. We’ll check around and see if anyone has seen her. This way maybe we could go to another town today.”

“Ok.” Nikita’s thoughts wandered to the girl that they were searching for. “Sounds good.”

*************

She noticed the woman as soon as she walked in. Sarah sat in the back of the diner enjoying her coffee when she saw her. A tall blonde woman who didn’t look like she fit in here. She wore a tight white T-shirt that you could almost see through and some black pants that seemed a few sizes too big for her. The woman also wore sunglasses that didn’t come off even when she sat at her table. It was almost as if she were trying to hide her eyes from the outside world.

The woman was completely different than anyone else in the diner. She was surrounded by farmers and farmers wives who were all staring at her. They looked shocked to see someone like her in there midst. She sat quietly looking out the window ignoring all the onlookers.

“Have you seen a woman around here? She has brown hair and is wearing a suit. I was supposed to meet her here.” Sarah heard her ask the waitress with an exotic voice.

The waitress shook her head no as she poured a cup of coffee in front of her. The mysterious woman thanked the waitress and went back to staring out the window.

Sarah smiled. “So she’s looking for me too huh?” She thought to herself. Her heart beat a little faster as she got up from her table. She crossed the room and sat across the table from the woman.

“Hi there.” She said nicely. “I’m Sarah. May I ask what your name is?”

She could see that the woman recognized her. She paused before answering. “Nikita.”

“Well Nikita. I’m going to ask you to leave.”

“You know I can’t do that.” Nikita put her hand under the table. Probably getting her gun. “I’m going to have to ask you to go with me.”

“No,” Sarah almost laughed. “I’m not going anywhere! And I will only ask you one more time to leave.”

She heard a click as a gun was pointed at her under the table. “Please Sarah. I’m doing this for your own protection. There are people out there that want to hurt you.”

“Oh you mean those men that were here the other day?” She took a sip of Nikita’s coffee. “They were a couple of fools. I took care of them already.”

“There will be others coming for you, and it would be best if you just came with me.”

“You’re a persistent one Nikita.” She stood up from the table. “But I am not going back. I would die before I would go back there. You don’t understand what it’s like.”

“Where are you going to go then?”

“I’m going to my place. And you’re coming with me.”

“Don’t be silly Sarah.”

“I already have your friend you know.” Sarah smiled knowing she had the upper hand. “The woman you asked the waitress about. She was here earlier and I have her hidden away now. If you don’t give me your gun and come with me I will kill her.”

“What did you do with her?” Her voice was filled with concern.

“Nothing…yet.” She took the gun out of Nikita’s hand. “Why don’t we get going now huh?”

“Fine.” Nikita gave in. “But we aren’t here to hurt you. You don’t need to be worried.”

Sarah pulled Nikita out of her chair. “Sure! You’re all bloody liars. I will not go back to that!” They walked out of the diner. Sarah following Nikita. “Take me to your car.” Sarah commanded.

“What are you going to do now Sarah?” Nikita asked. “What do you need with us?”

They stood out side the car. Sarah opened the door and motioned for Nikita to get in. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

Before Nikita knew what was happening she was hit on the head with the butt of the gun. Quickly she faded into unconsciousness.

************

Nikita woke up with a terrible headache. She felt like a fool as she realized what had happened. “Damn! I should have been prepared for that!” She thought to herself. She tried to rub her head but couldn’t. She seemed to be tied to a chair. Her hands were tied behind her back.

She could hear some sort of sound. It sounded like someone was grunting. Looking up she saw where the sound was coming from.

Madeline’s hands were tied to a hook in the ceiling and Sarah was using her as a punching bag. But the grunts weren’t coming from Madeline. She remained silent throughout the beating. The grunting was coming from Sarah who was punching as hard as she could with no reaction from Madeline.

“Sarah stop it!” Nikita yelled. “You don’t need to do this!”

Sarah gave one last punch and Nikita could hear a cracking noise as she broke one of Madelines ribs. “Ah I see sleeping beauty is awake.”

Madelines face was bleeding from several different wounds. Her eyes weren’t even open. She might have passed out during the beating.

“Let her down Sarah.” Nikita said calmly.

“No I’m not going to do that.” Sarah sat down on a small chair in the corner and wiped her brow with a towel. “I need to know a few things and you two are going to tell me.”

“Please just let us go and we will take you back to where you will be safe.”

“I’m perfectly safe here.” She waved a hand gesturing for Nikita to look around. “I don’t need you two to take me back.”

Nikita scanned the room. The walls were wooden; it looked like they were in a log cabin. There was nothing in the room except a few chairs and a table, which had an arsenal of weapons on it.

“I see you’ve noticed my little collection.” Sarah said. “Those gentlemen from Logos were kind enough to bring those to me.”

“What happened to them?”

“I took care of them. I buried them out in the woods. No one will find them.”

“Where are we?”

Sarah stood up and looked out the window. “This is an old cabin that I found. I think it used to be a hunting cabin. But it is abandoned now. Don’t worry we’re out in the middle of the woods. You can scream as much as you want and no one will hear you.”

“Sarah at least let me see if she is still alive.” Nikita was almost begging.

“Not to fear she is still alive. I wouldn’t kill her so soon.”

“What are you going to do now then?” She tried to wrestle her hands out of their bindings but they were too tight. Sarah pulled a chair up and sat face to face with Nikita. “Do you understand pain Nikita? I mean what it can do to people, what it can make people do?”

***********

She just stared defiantly at Sarah.

“I think your friend enjoys pain. As a matter of face I think she rather enjoys it. She hasn’t said a word since she’s been here. I’m hoping that you will be more cooperative.” She went to the table and picked up a knife. “I’m gonna try a slightly different method with you Nikita. Hopefully it will work out well.”

“Don’t do this Sarah!”

“I’ll do whatever I want!” Her face grew red with anger. “I will not go back to that hell Nikita!”

“I’m not asking you to go back to the M9 project I want you to come with us.” Nikita continued to try to get through to Sarah but to no avail.

“I will not go with anyone!” Sarah held the knife tightly in her hands. “Do you know what they did to me? Do you know how they took me from my home in the middle of the night and forced me to do as they say! I was only three years old and I was taken from my mother and father!”

Her mouth opened in shock. “I didn’t know that. And I can’t help what they did to you before. But I can help you now.”

“I don’t need your kind of help! I want you to see something.” Sarah turned around and lifter her hair. Nikita could see two small dots on the back of her neck. They looked like two pinpricks about an inch apart. “Do you see that?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“When we don’t do what they say they gave us shock treatment.” Sarah put her hair back down and sat in front of Nikita again. “Those are where they placed the electrodes on my spine. For hours they would shock us until we did what was said.”

“I’m so sorry.” Nikita said solemnly. “I didn’t know.”

“They trained me well Nikita. But I will never go back to that way of life. I don’t want to kill anymore.”

“But you killed everyone at the M9 compound. And you killed the men from Logos.” Nikita said.

“And I will kill you.” Sarah’s voice was filled with determination. “But that will be the end. I don’t want it anymore.”

“How do you know it will end at this? It is all you know. How can you live a normal life now?” Nikita was speaking out of experience.

“I know it will be hard but I can do it.”

“But…” Nikita began.

“Stop it!” She held the knife to Nikita. “I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t work! I will not change my mind about any of this! And I will not change my mind about what I am going to do to you!” Sarah stepped closer to Nikita knife held firmly in hand. Nikita tried to move away but was held in place by the chair.

“I want you to tell me a few things.” Sarah said in a calm voice.

“Don’t do this!” Nikita was full of fear. “Please!”

She held the knife against Nikita’s arm. “Who do you work for?”

Nikita sat silently waiting for the oncoming pain. “Who do you work for?” She asked again.

************

When there was no response Sarah sliced into her arm. Nikita screamed loudly and struggled. Blood poured down her arm and dripped from her fingertips.

“I will cut you until you bleed to death if you don’t tell me what I want to know.” Sarah held the knife threateningly in front of her face. “It will be a lot easier if you just talk.”

Nikita spat in Sarah’s face. “f--- you!”

“Fine,” Sarah didn’t bother wiping her face. “Be that way.”

She drove the knife into Nikita’s leg. This invoked an even louder scream from the tied up woman.

“Will you tell me now?”

“f--- you!” She screamed her eyes welling up with tears.

“Nikita you have to cooperate!” Sarah’s voice rose. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore!”

Suddenly a ringing sound took Sarah’s attention. It sounded like an alarm going off in the room.

“Goody goody.” Sarah went to the window. “It looks like we have some more visitors. Perhaps someone to rescue the two of you.”

Nikita couldn’t speak. She could barely keep conscious the pain rushed throughout her body. Her head sagged and blood poured from her wounds.

“I’ll be right back ladies.” Sarah grabbed a handgun from the table and went out the door.

“Nikita! Nikita wake up damnit!” She tried to open her eyes but couldn’t. She could feel the life draining out of her.

“Nikita! Goddamnit wake up!” Slowly Nikita lifted her head up to see who was yelling at her. Though tears blurred her vision she saw it was Madeline, wide-awake and trying to get her attention.

“Madeline…” Nikita whimpered.

“Snap out of it! We have to get out of here!” Madelines voice rose with every second.

“I can’t get out of this.” Nikita struggled to get out of her bindings again. “I’m tied too tight.”

“Can you move closer to me?” Madeline asked.

Nikita tried using her body to move the chair, but with every movement pain rushed through her again. Madeline got her answer from the screams Nikita gave her.

“Ok. Hang on I’m gonna untie you.” Nikita watched as Madeline lifted her legs with amazing agility. She wrapped her legs around the rafter, from which she hung and lifted her hands above the hook. Thus releasing herself from her bondage. She undid her ropes then turned her attention to Nikita who had passed out.

“Wake up!” Madeline slapped her across the face leaving a bright red mark. It was enough to bring Nikita out of her unconsciousness but nothing in comparison to the pain from the injuries she had sustained earlier. “We have to get out of here before Sarah comes back.”

Quickly Madeline untied her. “Why don’t we just wait for her to come back here and get her then?” Nikita asked. She tried to stand up but couldn’t stand on her wobbly legs. She fell to the floor with a thud.

“Look up there.” Madeline pointed to the corner of the room. There was a small package of explosives and wires connecting it to explosives in other parts of the room. “That is probably her failsafe in case something happens. I would bet that she has the trigger on her. If she feels it is unsafe she’ll blow us up before we even have a chance.”

“Madeline.” Nikita’s voice was growing weaker. “I’ve lost too much blood. I’m dying, you have to go on without me.”

“No!” Madeline picked her up off the floor. “You’re coming with me! Don’t give up so easily.” Madeline went to the arsenal of weapons Sarah had on hand. She picked up a small gun then went back to the wounded Nikita. Putting Nikita’s arm around her neck she helped the wounded woman to the door.

They both jumped when they heard the sound of a gun fired nearby. “We have to hurry. She’ll be back soon.” Madeline said.

Together they went out into the woods. They traveled in the opposite direction of where the gunshots were heard. Very slowly they made their way deeper into the woods. Nikita hanging like a rag doll next to Madeline.

“Madeline! Nikita!” Sarah’s voice echoed from behind them. “Don’t try to run! I’ll find you!”

“Oh, no.” Madeline murmured. She picked up the pace a little trying to increase the distance between them and Sarah.

Another gunshot was heard. This time it was much much closer. “I’m coming for you!” Sarah cackled at them. Unexpectedly Nikita fell from Madelines arms. A bullet wound ripped through her shoulder. She lay face down in the dirt. She wasn’t dead but would be soon without some help.

Nikita fell into unconsciousness. Death was very close at hand.

************

Madeline turned to see Sarah standing triumphantly with a smoking gun in hand. “She’s dying Sarah.” “I know. You will be joining her very soon.” She took aim at Madeline.

“Please Sarah. I don’t want her to die.” “So you would rather take my life instead?”

“No I don’t want to do that.” Madeline’s voice was calm and soothing. “I want to help you.” Sarah’s face grew red with anger. “How are you going to help me? By taking me back to that hell!”

“No, no I don’t want to do that. I know what you’ve gone through, I don’t want to do that to you again.”

“What do you know about what I’ve gone through! You know nothing about it!”

Madeline gave a small laugh. “Oh I know about the M9 project all right.”

“Were you part of it?” Sarah was growing curious. She put the gun down.

“You could say that yes. Put the gun down and we can talk.”

“Why should I trust you?” She asked. “For all I know you were one of the people who did this to me.”

“You can trust me because I want Nikita to live.” Madeline put her attention back on Nikita.

“Why do you care so much about her?”

“Because she is a good person. She has the humanity and compassion that we never had.”

“Very well.” Madeline could see tears welling up in her eyes. “But I can’t go back there! I’ll die before that happens!”

Nikita awoke with a face full of mud. It was in her mouth and eyes. All she could remember was pain. A pain that was still with her. Nearby she could hear voices talking. But she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

She turned her head to see what was going on. Standing next to her was Madeline. She was speaking to Sarah who seemed to be crying.

They hugged each other then Sarah ran off into the woods. The next thing she knew there was the sound of an explosion. It was the cabin they had been trapped in. But Sarah hadn’t gone in that direction. She had gone the other way.

Nikita tried to speak. To ask Madeline what was going on. All that came out of her was a grunt.

“Come on Nikita we have to go.” Madeline picked Nikita up and carried her off.

***********

“How is she doing?” Michael stood next to the bed where Nikita lay. Madeline was next to him staring intently at her.

“She’ll be fine.” Madeline said. “She’ll need to rest for a while but she will live.”

“Nikita is lucky.” Michael said softly. “Sarah took out three of my men from the rescue team. I barely made it out alive.”

“She would have gotten you too if she really wanted to.” Madeline stared coldly into his eyes. “You’re the lucky one.” They both turned their attention to Nikita as she rustled in bed. Slowly she opened her eyes as if it hurt to even lift her eyelids. She looked up at both of them and smiled.

“Michael,” her voice was harsh and tired. “Could you leave us alone for a moment. I need to talk to Madeline.”

Michael gazed at her for a moment then nodded his head. “Of course.”

When Michael was out of earshot Madeline got closer to the bed. “How are you doing?”

“As well as could be expected.” Nikita looked angelic against the white bedclothes and sheets. “What happened?”

“Well something came over Sarah and she went back to the cabin. It exploded soon after. I’m assuming she killed herself.”

“But I…” Nikita knew she saw Sarah run away from the cabin.

“Nikita.” Madeline grabbed her hand for emphasis. “Sarah is dead. She went into the cabin and was killed.” She understood what was going on. For some reason Madeline was protecting Sarah. If section thought she was dead then no one would be looking for her anymore.

“Why?” That seemed to be a question Nikita asked a lot since joining section.

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do!” She tried to sit up in bed but winced and fell back when the pain erupted through her. “I need to know Madeline. You can give me at least that.”

“Very well.” Madelines face softened all of a sudden. “But no one knows this. Not even Operations.”

“Go on.” Nikita urged.

“Sarah is exactly like me when I was her age. Given I put myself in that situation, and she was taken forcefully. I didn’t want her to go through what I did. I couldn’t save myself. I had to save her.”

“Are you telling me that you were part of the M9 project?”

“Yes that is what I am telling you.” Madeline closed her eyes and pushed back the tears that started to flow suddenly.

“After I killed my sister I was taken and put in the project. I was the first successful graduate of the project. And I had thought the last. Until Sarah…”

Nikitas mind was reeling at what she had just learned. She understood Madeline much better now. She almost pitied her. But it was hard to pity someone that was so cold and almost evil.

“What is she going to do now?” Nikita asked. “Sarah is just a girl.”

“She will survive. Right now she is going to find her parents.” Madelines thoughts went to the girl and envied the life she was going to have.

“Do you think she will find them?”

“No.”

“Why is that?”

Madeline turned cold again. Returning to the same woman Nikita had known for so long in section. “They’re dead”

The End

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