Ava's blood instantly ran cold and her stomach twisted painfully into knots as she clasped a trembling hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to retch.
"Hmm?" The man hummed. "Cat got your tongue, Ava dear? Or don't you recognise my voice anymore?"
Ava opened her mouth to speak, but it was as if her tongue was made of lead. "It's… been a while, sir." She croaked, trying to keep the shiver from her voice but the rest of her body betrayed her.
She held onto her phone with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut, attempting a deep breath. 'Calm down, Ava… he's not here… he's not here…' She repeated, trying her best to console herself.
The man on the other end laughed. "So you haven't forgotten me, after all!" He said heartily. "Have you been well?"
Ava let out a silent breath, trying her best to force a smile but she couldn't even manage that. "I've been… well. You… don't seem too bad yourself."
"Well, you could say I've been in a rather good mood recently…"
Ava tried to sound as neutral as she could. "I can tell–"
"But then again," he said suddenly with a sigh. "My mood almost turned sour some minutes ago."
Ava gulped. "What... what happened?"
The man sighed again. "I received a terrible report."
Ava stopped breathing. "What… report?"
The man's voice suddenly turned serious. "That you were the one who shot at the Alrosa girl… and you missed."
Ava's heart took a deep dive and her hands started to tremble so badly she almost let her phone slip. Her breath started to come out in short gasps.
"You didn't do that on purpose, now did you, Ava?"
Ava nearly let out a whimper. "I… I promise it was an accident, Sir."
'Please believe me…' She gasped.
There was silence over the line for a long time, so much that Ava felt like she was suffocating.
"Well, it doesn't matter." The man finally said. "You'll be back here soon anyway and you'll retake lessons if that's what it takes to get you back in shape."
Those words ripped her barely maintained composure yo shreds.
"No!" Ava screamed, choked. "I'll… I'll do whatever you want! I'll do it right! So please… no more lessons…"
'Not lessons… not lessons please...!'
"...You've obviously gotten rusty, Ava... but we'll discuss that in more detail when you arrive. I'm expecting you soon." The man hung up immediately after.
Ava collapsed heavily to the floor, quivering all over. Her shirt was damp from all the sweat.
'I don't want to go back… I can't go back… please…'
_
In a dimly lit, damp room a man sat tied to a chair, his mouth gagged as he glared hotly at a little girl, who looked to be about twelve years old, and a tall man beside her who stood in front of him.
'Take this, Ava dear.' Xandro called softly, taking out a small gun from a holster by his side and handing it to her. 'You've practiced a lot with this haven't you?'
Ava nodded, a little lost at what he was getting at. 'Yes.'
Xandro smiled. 'You can shoot a target without missing, right?'
Ava swallowed, dread clawing at her throat. '...Yes.'
'Excellent!' Xandro praised, gently taking hold of her shoulder and pushing her forward to face the prisoner properly. 'This is going to be the next part of your lesson… I want you to shoot him.'
Ava's eyes widened. Her grip loosening on the gun as she turned her head back to look at him. "I… I can't."
Xandro raised an eyebrow in genuine confusion. 'What do you mean you can't? He is a target.'
'But… but he's–'
'But what? He's human?' Xandro laughed, a kind of crazed laughter that reverberated through the walls of the room. 'Look, Ava darling, that man sitting over there is nothing less than scum. You can't use the word ''human'' to describe him.'
Ava shook her head intensely, her eyes already moist. 'Ple–please sir, anything but this…'
Xandro rubbed his temple, letting out a long, tired sigh. He clapped his hands once. 'Bring her in.'
The door to the damp room opened and two suited men walked in with a teenage girl with choppy black hair and dark eyes held between them.
The girl looked about seventeen years old, and her eyes were filled with fury as she glared at Grahm, like she was capable of tearing him limb from limb with just her gaze.
But she couldn't talk, her mouth was gagged. She could only look towards Ava sympathetically and her eyes seemed to say, 'I'm sorry…'
Ava staggered back a few steps. 'Kiera…?' Then she turned sharply to face the man beside her. 'What is Kyla doing here?!'
Xandro smiled. 'She's here as leverage.'
'Leverage…?' Ava echoed, her mind buzzing.
He couldn't really mean that, could he? There was no way he would hurt Kiera just to punish her…
But even that thought didn't seem to convince her enough. Horror Still settled at the base of her stomach… something was going to go wrong.
'You need to be strong, my dear Ava. Now, pull the trigger on that scum,' He ordered, taking another small gun out of a holster at his other side and pointing it in Kyla's direction. 'Or I'll plant a bullet in your friend's head.'
Ava's knees nearly buckled. 'You… you can't do that!'
Bang!
Kiera let out a blood-curdling, muffled scream, rattling Ava's mind. She collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud, her hand over a bloody gash in her leg.
Xandro had fired the gun without even flinching and it had grazed her leg, just short of piercing her bone.
'Try me.' He said coolly.
'Kiera!' Ava cried, nearly dropping the gun and running to her but a strong grip rested on her shoulder.
'Shoot the damn scum, girl.' Xandro threatened icily. 'Or I'll pass a bullet through your friend's head. This is your last warning.'
'No! Please don't!' Ava screeched. 'I'll do it… I'll do it…!'
She sharply turned to the prisoner, who stared at her with a strange emotion in his eyes, the trembling hand holding the gun pointed at him.
Tears clouded Ava's vision, streaking down her cheeks. 'Don't look at me like that… I'm doing this for Kiera…' She told herself over and over again. 'I don't want Kiera to die!'
Her shaking index finger hovered over the trigger.
Bang!
_
Ava doubled over and vomited, her entire body shivering from the impact of the memory.
'Those damn lessons…' She thought, curling into a ball on the ground and trying to calm her buzzing head.
She laughed humorlessly. Maybe two years away from him had made her forget how incredibly cruel and vicious Xandro could be.
Two years apart had probably made her forget the emotional toll those lessons took on her.
Ava's body suddenly stiffened. Between going back and experiencing all that again, putting the only family she had in danger because of her weakness and entering that absurd deal with Eitan Berger…
There was no doubt about which decision was wiser.
Ava had made up her mind.