Pov: Olivier Roche
A white ceiling.
A ridiculous headache.
A bandaged foot.
A cast around my arm.
Blinding white lights.
I couldn't open my eyes. They were too sensitive to the brightness. All I could do was listen to the sound of the dripping liquid coming from the IV that was attached to my hand.
I tried to fight my shutting eyelids to have a look around. The room was all white and almost empty. It could be a hospital, but I couldn't see or hear any nurses or patients around.
Pervasive languor washed over me as I faded into dreamland, uncaring of my current whereabouts and timeline.
***
"He's moving," a woman softly spoke, "He woke up."
I opened my eyes and saw a short chubby woman with her brown hair in a bun watching me. She was wearing a soft-hued brown suit deriving of a shirt, jacket, and pencil skirt stopping right above her knees. Next to her was a contrastingly tall guy about my age, standing in a defensive stance. His skinny arms were crossed and his face was stuck in a scowl as he stared me down.
"Hello, sweety. Are you alright?" the woman asked me in English, fixing my bed up and delicately providing me with a cool glass of water.
I stared at the cup for a moment, then drank, welcoming the refreshing feeling of my once sandpaper-like throat healing.
"Where am I?" I spoke, holding my throbbing head as I gave up on moving. My right arm was in a cast and I couldn't budge.
The woman looked at the guy next to her worriedly, then smiled back at me when he didn't help her. "There's nothing to be worried about, dear. Do you remember what happened before you passed out?"
If they're not agents, I can't tell them anything.
"Who are you?" I asked, barely calculating anything over the periodic thud in my head.
"I'm Priscilla. Priscilla Monroe," she answered, taking the cup from me.
That didn't help.
How do I ask her if she's an agent without asking her if she's an agent?
"Then who am I?" I voiced, causing her eyebrows to shoot up to the north pole. She smiled awkwardly and rushed to the other guy's side, pulling at his shirt. He clicked his tongue and fixed his collar, taking a few irritated steps towards me.
"Memory loss?" he asked, leaning his head back and shoving a hand in his pocket. He sounded like he'd rather be anywhere but here.
"Just tell me who I am," I sighed and rubbed my eye. Thinking itself was painful, so I didn't need an interrogation right now. "Why am I here? What happened?"
Ew, I need to wash my face..
"You look like you remember who you are," he said, checking some papers on the desk next to mine, "You're at Black Galaxy, unit 1. Your arm broke and you have an injured foot. It's 1 am. Your nurse is busy with a mission. She should be back any minute."
What's with his choppy sentences. Is he giving me a report?
Wait.. I'm at Black Galaxy?
How and why am I alive?
And my arm broke? When?!
They're not wearing their uniforms which means it's been a while after the battle. How long was I unconscious for?
"What happened to Scarlett?" I asked, finally remembering the men who had disappeared along with her. Though I knew who I was, I still had a blotchy memory.
"She's alive and well, dear," the woman answered, coming up to me and fixing the pillows when she took note of my uncomfortable neck.
Like I'd trust you.
Black Galaxies.
I'm in more danger than I thought.
"What happened at the battle?" I asked, tightly shutting my eyes as sudden pain surged through my head. What I really wanted to ask was 'who won?'
Agent Monroe brought a bucket of lukewarm water and a cloth. I didn't stop her when she washed my disgusting face.
"You just woke up. It's better that yo-" she was speaking but got cut off by the guy.
"You don't have to be so nice to him. They destroyed so much of our ammo," he spit out, walking away from me, "Stop asking questions and rest your brain." He tilted his head towards the door so the woman would follow him out.
"Wait, you're going?! I'm supposed to stay here?" I asked, trying to get up but failing after moving an inch.
"You're free to come.. If you can," he laughed, shutting the door.
"At least turn the lights off.." I whined and the woman hopped in, dimming the lights and leaving me in a perilous looking room.
"Good night," she whispered, smiling reassuringly though her next words made my heart race, "The Vipress will visit you shortly."
Hell no.
There's no way I'm staying here.
I have to-
As soon as I stepped out of bed, pain spread through my bandaged foot and I understood why running away was impossible.
The Vipress, though notorious for her madness, was the cynosure of all eyes for her striking beauty.
I didn't care if she was the most attractive woman on earth. None of it mattered if she was going to be the last thing I ever saw. It wasn't worth it.
According to the rumors, she experimented on live human beings and added charms to her bracelet every time they died. She was also the woman who poisoned Scar and left all of our doctors in disarray.
I heard that she was in charge of all the new toxins Black Galaxy was working with. If that was true, it would make her one of their most valuable assets, which also meant she was one of the most dangerous.
Meeting her is like asking for murder. I don't want my IV to be filled with poison..
I tried to step out of bed again but ended up with the same outcome, so I lay down and counted sheep, hoping to fall back asleep before she'd arrive. What did she want with me anyway? I was a random agent who wasn't serious enough about my job to get to their level.
After about an hour, I realized she wasn't coming and I had been pranked. My poor heart had to go through so much just because Black Galaxies had no mercy on a patient.
Where was I?
Sheep number 5675.
5676.
5677..
5678...
This isn't working.
I attempted to toss around, but the IV tube constrained me and so did my bandaged limbs. The sombre room wasn't enough to lull me to sleep since my mind was racing with all sorts of questions. It took everything in me to calm myself and hope for the best rather than imagine scenarios of my teammates' death.
Too late.
I'd always had a wild imagination.
What happened to Scar?!
Are agents Pak and Venus alright?
What about my other friends?
They won't tell me anything..
Are they hiding the fact that everyone is dead since I'm a patient and shouldn't be shocked?
I don't even want to think of that possibility.
But no. If everyone died, I should have died too, right? Right?!
As I was biting my lips and suffocating in anxiety, heels tapped on the floors and approached my room.
My heartbeat skyrocketed once more and I wanted to hide under the sheets. If that was the Vipress, then it was the end of me. I wouldn't even get the chance to know if my teammates were doing alright..
The sound of clicking stopped and my heartbeat did too when the knob jiggled. I couldn't see the door on the darkest side of the room, but I definitely knew that someone was about to enter. I crawled into myself as fear devoured me and the door creaked open.
I might just be the only guy in my agency who never wanted to meet the Vipress. Everyone else would label me as lucky, but I'd give anything to switch bodies with them right now.
Slow taps on the ground could be heard, but I was only able to make out a figure of a woman in the dark. She was wearing an incredibly sparkly dress, obviously here after visiting a bar or party.
Wherever she had come from, I hoped it had left her in a good mood because my life depended on it.
As she walked around in the dark, I completely shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Maybe she'd get bored and leave if she didn't get any reaction from me.
From when I'd peeped, her body seemed to be exactly like how my teammates had described it. This was definitely the Vipress, though I wasn't sure why she was visiting me.
Can she hear my heartbeat?
It's so loud.
Am I shaking?
I hope not.
My ears were the only organs I could rely on, but they noted nothing but the vibrations of glass tubes clicking when they hit each other. She was probably messing with the table of medicine on the other side of the room.
Please just leave.
This isn't good for my heart.
Being in enemy territory is terrifying.
I don't even know what they want from me and why they're 'nursing' me back to health.
The clicks of her heels neared my bed and stopped next to my IV pole. I squinted my eyes open a tiny bit and found her back facing me. She had a syringe in her hand and added some type of suspicious liquid into the bag.
I'm going to die.
I shut my eyes again, knowing she'd turn around any second. Fortunately, my instincts were spot on as I felt her heat right in front of me in a second.
No matter what happens, don't move.
You're alseep.
You're dead.
The back of her hand softly landed on my forehead and I just realized how feverish I'd become due to my nerves. My breath hitched.
She's.. She's going to find out.
She then felt my cheek, retreating and leaving me sweating. Just as I thought she might have left, I felt her breath on my ear.
"Open your eyes," she whispered.
I'm doomed.
My paralyzed body hardly let me raise my eyelids as they slowly searched for the other person in the room. I moved my head to the left and there she was.. staring at me.
The rumors weren't exaggerated.. at all.
She had the kind of body that would give models and influencers things to become insecure about. She wasn't short or extremely tall, and had a nice tan and flawless skin.
For a second, I got star-struck. I had never seen such a captivating person before, at least not at first sight.
However, my trembling heart knew better than to gawk. I couldn't even have a look at her face. This was the Vipress, the crazy woman who lured you in and killed you. Now that I saw her, I understood why my friends called her a seductress. She lived up to her name.
After a moment of me staring at my bandaged leg, she gave out a throaty chuckle and walked to my bed, holding up my chin and pulling it towards her face.
I'm so scared.
I sucked my lips in and took a deep breath, finally looking into her..
Glass eyes.
SHIT.
"Y-you're.." I gulped, my breathing uneven as her nude lips contorted into a smirk. I had never seen her without a mask before. If I'd known she was the Vipress, I wouldn't have been so rude to her till now.
She had a mole right above her lip on the right side of her face. Her nose was delicate and small, although combined with her whole face, it didn't look innocent. She had long lashes and huge light green eyes, fox shaped and slanted upwards with smokey eyeshadow on.
Long story short, she belonged on the cover of a magazine and not in front of my face, giving me a heart attack.
"You're.. You're not the Vipress, are.. are you?" I stuttered, finally mustering up the courage to speak. My eyes then focused on her wrist and surely enough, the rumored charms were there. My question was answered without her words. Yes, she was beautiful. Beautifully deadly, that is.
"Olivier Roche?" her amused voice asked while she slightly dug her nails into my cheeks. I felt like a helpless prey as two focused eyes studied my face like they always did. Maybe she was sizing me up before she swallowed me whole. Was that where her name had come from?
She stepped back, staring at me with occasional blinks and the inception of a smile on her face.
What is she so happy about?
I nodded, squeezing the sheets underneath me. If what she'd injected into the IV was really poison, I was dying as she played with me during my last seconds. This girl had a mental issue and I was about to become one of her countless victims.
"Miss me?" she asked, holding my rigid face with her merciless hand again.