The Silent Shadow || marvel

01- let the light in

BEFORE

Siberia, Russia 2008

The little girl they called the offspring lay on the cold and damp floor of her poorly lit cell alone and crying, per usual. She didn't have a name, only a few people knew her age, and she had never known life outside the HYDRA base she was born in.

She barely knew how to talk and the little words she did know were in Russian. Despite never being taught anything, the offspring was an observant toddler. She picked up a few words she had heard the guards say to her or others.

This time she was crying because she was starving. The last time they had fed her the usual meal of stale bread and hard cheese was almost two days ago. She felt the ache of emptiness in her stomach so much it made her want to vomit the inexistent food that she hadn't ingested yet.

The offspring was shivering in the 2 pieces of clothing she wore to cover her frail and bony body. An adult-sized tee shirt swallowed her completely, going down to her knees, and under that was a small pair of underwear. Both of which she had been wearing for years. They were dirt-covered, tattered, and scattered with holes.

Half of her floor was covered with feces and urine concerning the fact that she was barely let out to use the restroom. The other half had a small blanket on the floor where the girl slept at night.

Her thin wavy hair was matted beyond repair and clung to itself in a big brown clump that resided in the back of her head.

Her skin was as pale as the snow that fell softly in a cold cotton batting outside. Bruises and scars littered it along with smudges of dirt and grime.

Per usual, her wails of sorrow weren't attended to. The guards ignored her cries as they passed her cell. When she heard the scuffling of rapid running feet go by she cried louder in an attempt to be heard.

The footsteps were fast-paced like there was something wrong. This intrigued the young girl. She crawled towards the bars of her cell and attempted to turn her head to the side to get a peak at where they were running. They were yelling orders at each other in Russian and arming themselves.

Something was wrong, the offspring knew it although there was just no way for her to know what exactly. She sensed the panic in the air and the urgency in their steps.

"Ostavaysya s potomstvom!" a man yelled at eanotther pointing the her cell. (stay with the offspring!)

"Da ser."  The younger man responded to his  superior. (yes sir.)

He did as he was told and stood in front of the cell bars to the right of the offspring. This guard was new as no one had ever stood with their backs to the girl, let alone this close.

The offspring took this opportunity to attempt to acquire some attention. She slowly crept her skinny little hand through the bars of the cage and reached for the man's pant leg. This was easy for the girl as the bars were relatively wide. They're wide enough for her hands and feet to go through but not her body.

Once she had a solid grip on his pants she tugged down roughly, immediately gaining his attention. She opened her mouth to attempt to beg for food but before she could let out a syllable her face came into contact with the man's shoe. She let out a yelp as her small frame was knocked back from the momentum.