Consciousness creeped into my mind like a thief through the night. My mind was working a mile a minute, struggling to comprehend the predicament that I was in. The last thing that I remembered was radioing Knight to let her know that I had infiltrated the compound and then-

“I know that you’re awake.”

He had gotten the drop on me.

I slowly opened my eyes. Everything had a reddish tinge to it, meaning that I still had my helmet on. I took a relieved breath. That was good. It meant that I was secure. In that moment I felt childish, like a kid that hides under the covers because everyone knows that the monster can’t get you if you’re completely hidden.

But what most people don’t know is that there are many, many monsters out there. Each one is different, and with this one- hiding may be a death sentence.

“Long time, no see,” I responded as casually as I could. “How have you been, Tower? Do you even go by that alias anymore? I think that I’ll just call you Ivan for now.”

“Like you’re one to talk. What is it that they call you now? Rook? I’d say that Ten suited you much more.”

I huffed a laugh, “No one’s called me that for eight years.”

“Right, not since that night,” up until then he had been circling me, but he stopped and squatted in front of the chair I was handcuffed to. “How long had you been planning to sell me out? Hmm? Since the beginning?”

I couldn’t help but look down in shame, “Bosnia.”

“Right, you couldn’t handle it could you?”

“She was a child!”

“And you were weak!” He shouted in my face, I did my best not to flinch. He narrowed his eyes at me. “All you had to do was eliminate her, but instead, I had to clean up your mess.”

He gave a dark chuckle, “You know, at first I couldn’t understand it. I took you off the streets, I fed you, I taught you to fight, I treated you like family, and you sold me out.” His words were laced with venom, “But then I thought about why you wanted to be called ‘The Ten of Swords’.

“Originally I had thought that you wanted to take after me, ‘The Tower’. It represents destruction, disaster, and danger, but also freedom and liberation. Do you know what the Ten of Swords means? Of course you do.” He leaned in so close that I could smell his awful cologne, “What it means is painful endings, deep wounds, and betrayal.” He said the last word with such distain that I actually flinched.

I summoned all the courage I could muster. “If that’s what this is about then kill me already.”

He laughed. Actually laughed. “Oh no no no! I was never going to kill you!” He flicked on the monitor next to him. The screen showed five people, “Instead, I’ll just eliminate your team.”