Natalya stopped by the hotel only for a few
minutes, enough time to pick up whatever she had brought along with her to that
damn place and then get out of there as fast as she could. She put it all in a
small suitcase with wheels and practically ran down to the reception in order
to pay whatever she owed. It wasn’t something she did often, but she had been
made to pay for dinner in her room, as her target had not being available that
night. He was too far for her to follow him as he had to.
The woman asked for her receipt. As she was
grabbing her wallet to pay the reception man, she realized something in just a
few seconds: a man wearing all black had suddenly stood up in the living room
in front of the reception. Almost at the same time, a tall woman with hair as
white as snow, had entered the hotel almost as if she was the impersonation of
the wind. Their presence made Natalya feel nervous. Something was going to
happen, she just knew it. She extracted two bills from her wallet and tried to
seem innocent.
The moment the reception man received the
bills from her hands, Natalya heard the first shot behind her. As fast as she
was, it had been impossible to save her luggage entirely. She pulled to the
left just in time and then ran away from the lobby area, trying to get away
from the scene as fast as possible. Screams came from the area she had just
been in and she knew there were bodies there. One of them was probably the
young man that had given her that damn dinner’s receipt.
It was difficult to run with boots on but
Natalya was very agile and fast. So fast, that people in the kitchens were
surprised to see her run past them, minutes before the two assassins would come
running after her. She was fortunate enough to find an exit through the depot
were fresh vegetables and meat were received every morning from various markets
around the city. She ran past workingmen carrying big crates and didn’t stop
until she actually saw traffic and passersby.
The hotel was
located on the most sought out part of the city, where all luxury commerce had
found a spot to lure everyone. Not only people that could actually afford to
buy any of that stuff but also the ones who liked to see what opportunities
others had in life. As it was a Saturday afternoon, the place was packed. The
main street of that area was filled with families and couples, with tourists
and salary men and women trying to find a good place to have a beer and maybe
do something else afterwards. And among them was Natalya, running for her life.
She knew she
had to hide but the first thing to do was to know where her assailants were.
Both of them were pretty easy to pick out in a crowd but the street was so
crowded and Natalya was substantially smaller than most people. That had always
worked in her advantage but it could also be something of a hurdle. She decided
to enter a clothing store and run upwards, towards the tallest point of the
structure. Sure enough, one could get a great view from the area from the men
underwear section.
A young woman
looked at her and asked if she could help her. Natalya was breathing heavily.
She tried to smile and said she was just looking for some boxers for her
husband. The young woman smiled back and attempted to show some of the newest
models to Natalya. The woman stopped her by saying she was going to look around
first and then decide on something. The young lady nodded and told her that she
could look around all that she wanted, even in the changing rooms.
The girl walked
away leaving Natalya confused. What had she meant? She turned around quickly,
remembering why she was inside of the store. Sure enough, she saw the silver
mane of the woman that had killed so many people in the hotel just minutes ago.
In the distance, Natalya could hear the sound of several ambulances, probably
rushing to the place. She hoped the body count was low, as those people had
nothing to do with everything that was happening. It was all her fault.
She started
wandering around the store, in order to not look suspicious. She looked at some
male underwear, some of them with fun textures and prints but she wasn’t really
interested. She was remembering what had happened just over a day ago, when she
had stolen a series of documents from a rich man’s mansion, a very rich man
that was suspected to have links with several terrorists groups that would give
him the advantage if they were capable of reaching the higher spheres of power.
Natalya had
been sent to retrieve the information, as the people that had hired her had an
interest in it. She had been ordered to copy everything she had and take it
back herself to be given in person. They had also asked her not to use the
Internet, make phone calls or even talk to any people beyond the necessary
communication. Then, she remembered the young boy from the hotel and realized a
tear had come down her face. As she cleaned it off her face, she felt something
warmer. Natalya realized what the young woman had meant before, about the
changing rooms.
She walked down
one floor and entered the changing rooms with a blouse and a skirt she had
grabbed without even properly looking at them. She was assigned a stall and it
was then when she realized that one of the bullets had come way closer than she
had imagined. The projectile had burned her cheek, leaving a red line below her
right eye. She still had her purse hanging around her body, so she took out
some tissues and tried to clean her face as thoroughly as she was able to.
Natalya came
out of the store half an hour after she had entered. She decided the best thing
to do was to get to the airport. Her flight was still some hours away and it
was a priority to get the information back safe. After all, her business was
danger and that wasn’t the first time she had been shot or had actively been
targeted by someone. She walked for a bit until she found a big avenue. There,
she stopped a taxi and asked to be taken to the airport. The man had doubts but
she paid up front.
Arriving in the
airport, Natalya thought that it was possible that she could be getting older.
She was not the same age as when she had first entered that line of work. She
had been trained and recruited because she was agile, both mentally and
physically. But now she felt as if everything was getting a little bit too fast
for her. Besides, she kept thinking about the boy in the hotel and that had
never been an issue before. She had seen many bodies in her life but had never
been specially affected by them.
After
checking-in, she rushed to the security checkpoint as her flight was leaving in
less than twenty minutes. However, she stopped the moment she saw that damn
blonde hair again. And it was impossible to run away from that situation. So
she pulled the gun hiding in her purse and started shooting. Everyone around
was screaming and running but the two women were just hunting for each other.
They were doing what they had been doing for years and it was too late for them
both to stop.
Both ran out of
bullets and a physical confrontation ensued. Punches were thrown back and
forth. But then, experience appeared in the form of a selfie-stick lying on the
floor. Some scared tourist had just left it there, in the middle of the
shooting.
Natalya grabbed
it, removed the part that holds the camera with a powerful pull and then
impaled the blonde woman with it. The warm blood on her hand made her feel
alive but also scared. She had never been scared before and it couldn’t be the
best of signs. Not right then.
