Turning Point
"Regrets are not inherited. Regrets are those elements of life that seek to undermine our enthusiasm and our willingness to assume a life filled with new discoveries and the attainment of goals. Let not your regrets be your undoing but instead your vehicle to learn from what did not work. With every misstep or mistake comes the opportunity to rise above; to learn; and to achieve."
- Byron Pulsifer
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After Joya and her followers found two of their members dead, the group of assassins immediately gave chase.
"Fuck!" shouted Joya furiously. It turned out that it was not that easy to paralyze Nadja. That girl was really tough and as slippery as an eel. Joya always hated Nadja for never being able to surpass her abilities.
"Find her!" shouted Joya looking frantic.
They traced the drops of blood that splattered along the road. It was very easy to follow Nadja's running direction, they thought. But as soon as they arrived in front of a dark and closed church, the traces of blood disappeared. Just gone, vanished and Nadja seems to have never been through that road.
"She must have been gone with one of the cars that passed by," one member analyzed. Joya impatiently immediately ordered to follow.
"This time I want her dead!" she shouted furiously. Her wrath had reached its peak.
***
Nadja's eyelids moved and slowly opened. Her head was throbbing in pain and her body was limp as if it had lost its energy. Nadja opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry. When she tried to lift her head, the world seemed to spin and Nadja lost consciousness again.
**
The pain in her stomach made Nadja wake up again. This time she felt much better. Just a pain in the stomach that is unbearable. Hunger began to give a warning to her system. She looked around and realized she was in a hotel!
"Red Conrad," Nadja muttered as she read the logo on the notepad on the small bedside table.
The room she now occupies looks very luxurious with a complete and spacious minibar.
'Who saved me?' The last time she remembered being in a church and nearly shooting a bullet in her head.
'Am I dead?' Nadja thought.
The woman got up and touched her thigh, the wound was gone. Nadja suddenly ran in front of a large mirror her size and took off all her clothes. Not a single wound was left. Only tattoos adorn her body and arms. Nadja carved her arms with permanent images, from the shoulders to the wrists.
Nadja's goal is to cover up some of the wounds she received when she received the punishment. Again, Nadja also checked the nails that had been pulled out, and miraculously everything was back to normal!
The woman thought that she had gone mad and was hallucinating. But the clothes she was wearing still left bloodstains that began to dry.
Nadja tried to digest and think of a logical explanation for this whole incident. How could she possibly recover so quickly twice? At least she had to spend hours on the operating table to stitch all the wounds.
Nadja decided not to wear her clothes anymore. Everything looks tattered and smells fishy. She opened the closet and found some clothes, which, strangely, fit Nadja's size!
While keeping a question, Nadja puts on clothes while looking for clues, such as notes, that can explain who the mysterious helper is.
She didn't find a single note. Her eyes were fixed on the laptop and also the cell phone lying on the television table in front of her. Hesitantly she opened the laptop and the gadget automatically turned on. A video appeared on the screen and Nadja pressed the play button.
"Nadja Romanoff, welcome back to life as a free human. Maybe you will have a lot of questions. But be patient. There will be time to explain. Well, I have an emergency situation, but I'm just going to shorten our introduction. Call me, Fidelis. I am someone who has a vision of saving humans from threats they don't deserve. Contrary to your previous assignment, this time I will offer to work as a rescue agent. There will be a pretty fantastic salary and you are free to determine who you will save first.
This offer is a free choice, not an obligation. Although I would be glad if you decided to accept this noble job. Send a message via the cell phone next to the laptop. There's only one number, and that's the number I'm directly connected to. Now enjoy your time well, eat, drink whiskey or wine, whatever. I paid for everything; you can get whatever you want. Well, that's all for our introduction, I'm waiting to hear from you."
The video is just audio with a visual of a white dove flying by the beach.
Nadja repeated the video several times. The content remains the same. Nadja also mastered technology well. She was trying to find out when the video was made and from the file properties, it was only about an hour ago. The user or author who created the unknown video is also not tracked.
A rumbling roar from her stomach made Nadja delay sending a message to reply to all the surprise that she just received.
Nadja immediately ordered food to room service. As she considered what she would decide, she stood on the hotel's luxurious balcony and stared at the twinkling lights scattered below.
Nadja took a deep breath. She was in the president suite class which was located on the fifteenth floor. Her mind was full of wild speculation, but Nadja had smelled a sense of relief. For the first time in a long time, Nadja burst into tears so hard!
Is this her new life? Is there still a chance for her to achieve a normal life and start tracing her origins?
The phone vibrates and Nadja runs, forgetting about all her sadness. She quickly opened the message.
'Nadja, if you don't want this job, then there are some provisions for you to start a new life. Check the drawer on the left.'
Nadja pulled out the drawer and piles of dollar bills filled half of the drawer. Nadja is getting more and more amazed. Finally, she thought, there was no other choice at this time but to accept and think about the next plan. Don't know what the real motivation behind all this excessive help is, the woman wants to know it clearly. Her fingers typed a reply.
'If I say yes?'
The answer from Fidelis came straight in.
'Open the drawer on the right.'
Nadja opened it and found her passport and complete identification. Her name has not changed. Apparently, her savior was influential enough to dare to take Nadja Romanoff who is a fugitive from Serbia's biggest syndicate, without a disguise!
One email coming in.
'Save Gabriel Castain. Location in International Falls, Minnesota, US. Address: Westwood Road 101x No.10'
A photo of a girl, who is about twelve years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Very beautiful girl.
'What's wrong with this girl?' asked Nadja, sending a message via her cellphone.
'The assassination target of a cult of priests. Now is the time to save lives and not be the angel of death anymore,' replied Fidelis.
Nadja briefly remembers her conversation with Katya. She refuses to be the monster she has been living with all this time, maybe this is a good start.
'I'm in!' Nadja sent an immediate reply.
There was no reply from Fidelis again. The doorbell rang and Nadja immediately opened it after peeking through the door. Room service is standing outside to deliver the food. After giving tips, Nadja closed the door again and ate warm food which now tasted much more delicious than before. Maybe this is the beginning of a new life where she can make redemption for her past.