Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Sixteen

January 3, 1973

"Do you know why you're here, Mr. Riley?" a man questioned in his thick Russian accent.

He slowly paced back and forth in the small open space of the room, barely showing himself in the small circle of light that emitted from the singular light bulb that hung from the concrete ceiling. Mr. Riley, a top agent of the rising organization called S.H.I.E.L.D., sat tied securely to a chair in the center of the room, also barely within the light's reach. He had just awoken from his unfavorable predicament just a few minutes ago; though he didn't remember how he got into the chair, he knew why. He kept his head low, refusing to acknowledge the uniformed man questioning him.

The uniformed man stopped pacing at his silence, then leaned forward directly in front of his face. "You're here because he told us a little secret that you've been keeping."

He pointed to his left, directly at another man who had been standing in the shadows, watching the scene. Riley locked eyes with the man, recognizing him instantly. Disappointment and anger overflowed his mind the longer he stared at him. I should have known I couldn't trust him. He thought.

"How does it feel knowing that you are completely and utterly alone?" the uniformed man questioned lowly with a smirk.

Riley snapped his head back around to look up at him from his sitting position with a glare, but continued to say nothing.

The uniformed man chuckled, darkly. "So, Mr. Riley, how about we make this easy with you telling me what you did with Project 817, or better known, as Project Zola."

"I ain't telling you shit." Riley spat, gritting his teeth. "You and your gang of terrorists will die with him."

"Ah, so he does have a voice." the man chuckled, then stopped pacing. "Since you are unwilling to cooperate, though I tried to make this easy. . . perhaps you need persuading."

He made a gesture with his hand towards something behind Riley with a viscous grin. A pair of golden eyes instantly appeared in the darkness, directly behind Riley. Before he could make any kind of movement, his restraints had been torn apart and he flew forward in his chair with a loud grunt.

He quickly turned on his back with wide, fearful eyes as he looked upon the black-haired female that stepped out of the darkness. Her brows were tightly furrowed together, creating a distinct line between her brows. Deep, dark shadow cast underneath her seemingly glowing golden eyes, and her cheeks almost looked hollowed by the way the light hit her high, sharp cheekbones.

He scooted himself back a couple of feet as she stalked towards him. "What the-"

Before he could finish his sentence, she lunged forward and harshly gripped his ankle, digging her claws deep into his skin and bone. He yelled out in pain, but was cut short as he was thrown to the side, and hit the wall with a loud smack. He felt a couple of his ribs crack at the impact. Pain shot through his body, so much that he couldn't even let out a scream; the only sound that came out was a heavy, deep exhale.

The woman, who he had now recognized as the Hydra assassin Tigris, quickly made her way back towards him and roughly gripped him by the front of his shirt. He let out a cry of pain as she harshly lifted the top half of his body up, and dragged him back to the center of the room in front of the uniformed man. He let out another cry of pain as she dropped him back down onto the cold, concrete floor, and dug her claws into the first couple layers of skin on his scalp to pull his head up to look at the man, helplessly.

"Now. Tell me how to revive Project Zola, and your life may be spared." the uniformed man rasped, peering down at the beaten

Riley furrowed his brows as he held back tears. "I-I. . . c-can't."

The uniform man let out a low hum, then nodded towards Tigris. She instantly slammed his face into the concrete, breaking his nose with a loud snap. He let out a cry of pain, scrunching his face at the sudden impact.

"I am growing impatient, Mr. Riley." the uniformed man sneered.

Riley didn't hold back on the tears now, letting them fall down his cheek like a waterfall. Blood ran down from his nostrils and his scalp, mixing with the tears. His deep brown eyes were fogged, indicating that he was losing consciousness. Tigris saw this, and harshly twisted his arm back, instantly dislocating his shoulder. He let out a sharp yelp in pain, regaining consciousness.

"Stop!" he screamed, desperately.

"Answer my question, Mr. Riley, and it will all go away." the uniformed man replied.

Tigris slipped a handgun from her tactical belt, roughly pressed it to the side of Riley's head, and placed her other hand underneath his jaw, keeping his head up as well as her claws dangerously close to the sensitive places on his throat.

"You have exactly five seconds, before she either pulls the trigger, or tears your throat wide open." the uniformed man stated, furrowing his brows. "Five. Four. Three-"

"IT'S ON A HARD-DRIVE!" Riley screamed for his life, then brought it back down to a defeated whisper. "I. . . I downloaded it all onto the hard-drive and wiped the system. . . "

"Where is it?" the uniformed man questioned.

Riley glanced down, silently cursing himself for giving in. "In my desk. In the bottom left drawer."

The uniformed man smirked with an evil look in his eye, then nodded to Tigris. "We appreciate your cooperation."

And with that, Riley was dead with a quick, clean swipe of Tigris's clawed hand.

~

"Congratulations on your first debut, Captain Schwarz. You have made your father very proud." a grey-haired man congratulated.

"I promised him that I would not let him down," Captain Schwarz replied, walking down the hallway alongside the older man with his hands behind his back in pride. "I was impressed by Tigris's work. I had not expected her to be as. . . obedient to every command I gave her."

He glanced over his shoulder to look at her as she followed behind them with a monotone expression on her face. She did not lock eye contact with him like he wanted her to, though he only took the gesture as encouragement. He wanted to see just how far his commandments could go with her. If she is truly bound to do everything she was told, then he could make her do anything he wanted; and as Captain, he didn't need permission.

"Yes, yes. She has a perfect record. As long as we always ensure she remains under our control, she will never fail." the older man replied, stopping once they reached the end of the hallway. "I suppose it is time for her to be put back to sleep. I will take her-"

"No. There are a couple more things that I need her for. Once it is completed, I will return her myself." Captain Schwarz cut him off.

The older man gave him a slight look of suspicion, but chose not to question it. "Very well. Then I must be off. I will see you in the morning, my boy."

Schwarz did not reply as he watched the older man walk back down the hallway where they had come, then turned to look at the female assassin with a nasty smirk. "Mne budet tak veselo s toboy."

I will have so much fun with you.