Julie

A dull pain was forming in the back of my skull as my memory slowly started coming back - the last thing I could recall was phoning Adalynn's mother as I was struggling to stay hidden from the men who had eventually caught me after a brief escape.

My senses were slowly coming to life as I realized my hands were strapped to a metal chair, bound with some form of belt like material. I hung forward, my head low, it was too much work to sit up straight.

My body ached, and trembled, begging me to surrender. My heart pounded inside my chest, the ringing in my ears was consistent.

My left eye was swollen shut and my right cheek bone was badly bruised. A trickle of blood had gone down my lip, originating in my nose, my lower lip was split and I could taste blood. I was on the verge of giving up.

"Sir, there is no point. She won't answer any of the given prompts." A shaky voice echoed through the vents, followed by two pairs of footsteps.

"Why do you think I'm here?" The voice was hoarse, "get lost, make use of yourself. I won't be long."

The doubled footsteps became one. And stopped.

Air-locked doors hissed open. Silence sat heavy in the air for a moment till someone slowly paced in. My ribs felt locked, so tight I couldn't breathe. What was going to happen to me? I was going to die.

"They really did a number on you," his voice low as he held back a snicker. He pressed two fingers under my chin to raise and survey my face. I yanked my head back and drooped again, hanging my head low and towards the floor.

"Alright. Let's not play games." Thin metal legs of a chair, scraped against the floor.

Keeping my face to the floor, I opened my eye to find a very expensive pair of shoes pointing back at me.

"Julie. Why're you making this so difficult?" He paused, tapping his fingers on the chair he straddled. I sat motionless.

"You know what you did was wrong, and we need to fix it."

I bit my tongue. My daughter was not an it. I did not track her for this long, and fight so hard, just to find her and lose her again. I sat quietly, waiting for another smack.

"We don't have all day." His voice dropped, getting deeper with irritation. The energy in the room, emitting from this man was only getting worse and worse. Progressively more violent.

He stood and slammed the chair to the ground, I flinched in response.

I looked up and all my fears seemed to come true. It was Vlad. Vlad Zelger. A heartless, merciless, piece of shit who knew the law couldn't get to him because he was in the name of science and the people he kept around. He has sought out to kill me and my daughter for years, and now he had me, he was just one step closer.

"Doctor Bates has already connected with her, in less than twelve hours we will have eyes and ears on her and she will end up just like you. Either working with us or being worked for us."

I sat up, my face heavy. Fear was burrowed deep within my eyes, and pinched between my brows. He turned his back to me, turning his face to show a despicable grin - as if he was satisfied with the reaction he was finally getting.

Instant regret.

He turned to face me again, dark black hair, stubble stretching down his chin and a sharp pointed nose, dark brown eyes and furrowed brows, "ah yes. You did all that work, all that searching, just to lose her again. How does someone manage to do that?" He scoffed, caressing his stubble.

He put his hands on his hips, and took a few steps away and began pacing. What was he trying to get?

"If you know where she is, what do you need from me?"

"A breach."

Zero hesitation. What if he did know? How did he know where she was?

"You'll let me go? You'll never contact me again? And I'll be finally let go from The Ultra?"

He tapped his chin, "its a hard bargain, but I can work with what I can get. We will delete your contact, eradicate your file, and erase you from our system. You won't have to worry."

One game after another. And now I was a part of it. I was going to play chess and if I didn't watch every single move from now on, I would lose. Losing was not an option.

"She's at the camp correct?" He nodded. "Where everyone is sent?"

"Yes."

I held back a smirk.

I bowed my head and my pawn was in play.