Chapter 36 - Iryna M-------

Faust hailed the taxi and asked the driver to take him to the northern area of the city. Luckily, the taxi driver can understand simple english like 'souvenirs' or 'north'.

After a few minutes of travel, the driver dropped him off on a busy street. He looked around and saw many tourist strolling around taking pictures. It's surprising to see these kind of scenario in a country in the verge of civil war.

Somehow, he found one particular street familiar but he wasn't sure why. He's never been to a european country yet this scene looks incredibly familiar to him.

He continue to walk down the street as he search for clues on places of possible encounter like bullet holes or tire marks on the road.

Along the way, he tried to blend in with the crowd to keep a low profile. From time to time, he bought some souvenirs and went to one shop after another. He also bought a cap for a simple disguise.

He was already at the end of the street looking around when he heard some small commotion back where he came from. He saw a young 10 year old girl ran past him chasing a cat down across the street.

--

Valentine Mansion, Virginia.

A van pulled up not far from the gate. The driver was looking through the window with a binocular.

"Looks like there's no one there, even a maid. All lights are off." He muttered.

"Are we going to stormed in?" A man from the shotgun seat asked.

"We're still waiting for a go signal from above, once we received the order, we're going to break in and burn this place to the ground."

"Sigh, this Mansion is simply a paradise yet we're just reducing it to ashes? What a pity."

"As long as you value your life more than anything, there's nothing to regret on what we're going to do."

"I know, Man. It was just a nag, I know our priority."

"That's good to know. Now shut up and wait for orders."

--

In the busy streets of Sokovia, 5 military vehicles sped along chasing a civilian car escaping from them. The chase was intense and there were some gunshots rang from time to time.

Inside the civilian car that was escaping. A blonde woman can be seen driving the car. There wounds all over her body and bruises on her face. She was panting heavily and her eyes showed and aggressive light.

She was swerving left and right trying to avoid the gunshot from the pursuers behind.

Her name is Mary Walker, a sergeant in the United States Army and her squad was stationed in Sokovia. Eventually, they were attacked and captured by the Sokovian Armed Forrces. They were locked in prison, tortured, raped and was forced to watch her team mates die one by one in front of her.

This causes her to have an emotional trauma at the same time, she refused to accept the fact that she'll die in that prison. She created a split personality in an attempt to cope with the trauma. She now have two personalities inside her head which is Mary and Walker.

Mary was her gentle side and was triggered when raining.

The other one was Walker which adapted to the pain and suffering she experienced. She was brutal, ruthless and decisive.

Eventually, the time has come for her to be executed by the Sokovian military. She switch to Walker persona and broke free while killing the soldiers in the prison. She eventually made a contact with the United States Army and there supposed to be an extraction team from Umbrella Corporation who will help her get out of the country alive. But things went south when the two parties met to the agreed rendezvous point. Apparently, there's an ambush from unknown men gunning down the extraction team.

Thankfully, they managed to find a cover and Walker met the lady boss of the extraction team named Margaret. They managed to get away and but not for long. They were being pursued relentlessly so they made a difficult decision to separate and went different ways. Walker being the bait to lure them away while the few men who survived with Margaret will leave the country with their lady boss. Their mission ended up failed because of an unexpected enemy they didn't know.

At first, Margaret didn't want to leave Walker alone because she was their mission. But Walker didn't want to waste time and argue so she went forward to make Margaret fall unconscious while her men carried her to safety.

As a bait, she successfully lured them away and now she was being chased by the Sokovian military while in her Walker persona.

She drove the car to a more populated area for cover as she planned to blend in. However, the situation suddenly change when a ten year old little girl rushes out of the street to chase a cat.

Everything happened in just a few seconds. Fortunately, when the girl was about to get hit, a guy wearing a cap managed to jump in and pulling her to his embrace before rolling over to the opposite side of the street. She sigh in relief somehow but she couldn't stop to check what happened to the two. With no other choice, she could only continue her escape.

--

As Faust noticed the commotion behind him, he saw a girl, about ten years old who was running after the cat rushing out of the street.

He didn't pay any heed at the little girl at first but he felt the ground tremble a little, a sign when a vehicles are coming. Then he heard a screeching tire from a distance and it was coming towards their exact location. He saw a speeding car being chased by the Sokovian military.

If this continues, the little girl will be ran over by the speeding car.

Without any hesitation, he activated his Overdrive and lunges at her with all his strength. He took her in his embrace in mid air as the car went past them then they rolled to ground upon landing on the other side of the street while Faust protected her head. But because of the momentum, his head bumped into something hard. He had no choice. He saw it coming but he didn't regret his decision to get hurt. If he avoided it, it's the girl's head that will hit it instead.

'Thud'

He felt dizzy and his vision went blurred. He was feeling sluggish and he can only barely see anything. He also felt the girl in his arms cry and she struggled getting out of his embrace. As his vision started to get dark, he felt someone shaking him. He heard the girl's voice telling him something but he couldn't understand as she was speaking in Sokovian language. He heard her calling someone and probably her brother because he heard a young man's voice.

He felt is body being lifted by the arm and finally he can't hold on anymore. He fell unconscious.

On the other hand, the two siblings were in panic specially the young girl as they don't know what they're going to do with Faust. They were speaking in their own language as they argued.

"Brother, what are we going to do? Is he still breathing? We have to save him. He save me from getting ran over by that speeding car! Brother, please think of something."

"Oh shit shit, what did I tell you. Why did you have to chase the cat?!"

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know this was going to happen. Please save him."

"Oh my god, okay okay.. uhmm yeah I know what to do. We can only let father and mother know."

"What?!! What if they blame me?!"

"Well, do you want him to be saved or not? Come on, let's go home. Don't worry, I got your back sis."

The little girl can only nod and accepted her fate but she was more concerned for the guy who saved her.

Surprisingly, they managed to lift him up despite their size. Fortunately, they took his things with him including the smartglass. After making sure nothing left, they hurriedly went home after carrying the unconscious Faust on the young man's back.

When they came home, their parents were there waiting for them. The two siblings quickly told them what happened on the streets.

The father carried Faust to the sofa and checked if there's any blood. Fortunately, there was only one but it's just a small wound in his forhead. Then there were bruises and scratches in his arms.

They let him lay there to rest as they talked on what happened. The mother nursed Faust and put some ice pack on his head to reduced the swelling.

She also clean the bruises in his arms and legs and cover it with bondage. After cleaning Faust she left the living room but the little girl stayed, still staring at Faust's handsome face as she watched him sleep. She suddenly blushed but then she noticed a scar at the base of his hairline going an inches down to his forhead. She traced the scar with his fingers and asked quietly "Why did you save me?"

After some time, she heard her mother's footsteps coming back from upstairs so she hurriedly left the living room.

A few hours later, Faust was jolted awake. He was panting like crazy while beads of sweat trickles down his face. He look around hurriedly trying to see where he was and it looks like he was in a living room.

"Where am I? Where is this?"

Then he heard someone speaking. He turned to see a middle age woman in sweater with cup off tea in her hand sitting in a chair by the fireplace. He was sure he heard her speak to him in english with a thick Sokovian accent.

"You are finally awake young man. My name is Iryna and the mother of the little girl you saved earlier." She smiled as she approach Faust.

"How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Oh! uhmm.. I'm okay I guess, just a light headache." Faust winced from the pain in his forhead while rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you sure? You should rest some more. By the way, I would like to thank you for saving my child young man."

"My name is Faust ma'am and it's nothing really. It's not a big deal. Someone had to save her, right? I just happen be at the right place and time so I rushed in and saved her."

"It might be nothing to you, but it's a big deal for me as her mother so thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. We don't have much to offer so I can only offer something to eat or drink. Do you want to eat anything?"

"No ma'am it's okay really. By the way, how did I get here?" Faust refused as he still have things to do.

"My son and daughter brought you here. My son carried you here with my daughter in tow a few hours ago."

"A few hours ago?!! How long was I unconscious?"

"Not much, about four hours I think."

"Oh shi--, err I'm sorry for the language ma'am but I gotta go. I need to do something important."

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm just in a hurry I hope you forgive me."

"Well, if you are really insist, I won't hold you any longer. Your things are at the table. Please check them if there's anything important missing. Once again, thank you Faust for saving my daughter. You don't know how much this means to me."

Faust smiled and said "Your welcome ma'am. Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious."

He checked his phone and saw it was full of missed calls from Angel. He wore his smartglass and made sure he didn't forget anything before walking out of the house. Iryna accompanied him just until he walks through the door before returning inside.

As Faust was closing the door, he saw the little girl curled up sitting in the stairway crying.

Faust smiled and he knows that she felt guilty about what happened. He approached the little girl and crouch in front of her. Then he gently patted her head and said,

"Don't worry too much. Look! I'm okay now aren't I?"

Then she lifted her head and look at him as she sized him up.

He was stunned to see a pretty young face. She had a long wavy black hair. Her skin was light and smooth, and the shape of her face is oval.

Her facial features were exquisite. Her eyes was round with long eyelashes. She looks like a doll.

"Look, I got to go now. Don't cry anymore okay. Here, I bought this from an old peddler earlier. Keep it." Faust gave her a red crystal pendant that look like a ruby but he didn't know what crystal it was.

After shoving the pendant in her hand, he wiped her tears and patted her head once again before he left running.

This made the girl blushed and she couldn't help lowering her head in bashful manner. Of course, with Faust's handsome face coupled with his green eyes and the fact that he saved her like a knight in shining armor, she couldn't escape having an interest in him. She couldn't move because of nervousness and shyness she felt when he patted her head in gentle manner.

After making sure he was gone, she went inside to tell her mother that Faust already left.

"Mother, the guy already left. He gave me this."

Then she showed the red crystal pendant in her hand.

"Ohh looks like my darling already received her betrothal gift."

"Mother, it's not like that. I also don't know why he gave me this when he saw me crying."

"And why are you blushing? Hmmm." Iryna asked teasingly.

The little girl replied with a red face "No I'm not. By the way, do you know his name?"

"Yes, darling. He said his name is Faust. Maybe someday you will get to meet him again." Iryna winked as she teased her daughter.

"So it's Faust.." The little girl muttered as she stared at the pendant in her hand while engraving his name into her memory.