Corrupted - The Tigris Series Book 1

Chapter Twenty Six

February 12, 2003

It was a cold night in Siberia. The blizzard was ruthless and unforgiving. No one would dare to step outside for anything; not even the female assassin herself, for even she knew that she could not get far through the thick snow.

Though, she didn't need to.

She had planned her arrival perfectly, avoiding the storm before they had even seen the first fall of a small, delicate snowflake. She had been assigned to end the life of an ex-hydra soldier, who had tried to hide after betraying his team two days prior. Tigris had found his place of hiding with minimal effort, and now hid within the shadows of the house that had belonged to the man's brother.

Her mission was to kill the man with no witnesses. It didn't necessarily mean that she needed to kill his brother as well, but if the circumstances called for it, then she was ready to do just that. Though, she would have to be strategical; the scene was meant to look like they had died in their sleep.

She had waited patiently for the two brothers to finally go to bed. They were paranoid, naturally, of what Hydra had planned to do with them. Though, they were confident that no one would ever find them this far into the forest. Somehow, they had forgotten to be rid of all of their electronics. So finding them wasn't nearly as impossible as they had thought.

It was well past midnight before the man had gone to bed. His brother had stayed up to keep watch. It would be proven fruitless, however, because the female assassin was already in the almost completely emptied bedroom. There was nothing but a mattress and a lamp. No dressers, pictures, or even a curtain to cover the window. The closet was empty as well, with a missing door. Tigris resided there, seeming to defy gravity as she used all four limbs to keep herself up against the ceiling. Her raven black hair was tied up in her signature high ponytail, slicked back against her scalp perfectly. The ponytail was braided so tightly, that it almost felt like a staff. It was easier to keep her long hair under control this way, with no strands sticking out in any way.

She didn't dare to move until she heard the faint snores escape the man's mouth, indicating that he was asleep. She carefully climbed down, using her claws to keep her movements slow and controlled. Her feet had landed on the hardwood floors so delicately, not even her own ears could pick up a sound. She stepped closer to the unconscious soldier, taking out a syringe from one of the many pouches on her belt. She knelt down next to the man, and carefully stuck the needle through his bicep with expert precision to make it as painless as possible. Once the poisonous liquid was emptied, she placed the syringe back into her pouch and silently stood back up, peering down at the now dying ex-hydra soldier. She took just a moment to ensure that the poison would work, but unbeknownst to her, that was a moment too late.

An arrow shot through the nearby window, headed right for her head. The Tigris was quick to react, and turned to catch the arrow just a mere centimeter from her forehead. A tiny beep emitted from the head of the arrow, catching her off guard. Before she could process what was about to happen, the arrow exploded, sending her flying across the room and through the thin, wooden wall. She landed directly in front of the man's brother, who had been running to see what was happening after the loud noise of the broken glass from the window.

Tigris's face burned from the damage of the arrow, and she could feel blood running down the side of her face from the impact of the wall. She didn't have time to fully process it, as a gun was now being pointed at her face. She quickly rolled on her back and kicked the man's hand with the fun to the side, causing it to fire at the floor above her head. She then twisted her body around, catching his legs between hers, and harshly twisted herself around to flip the man down to the floor.

Her ears picked up the sound of another arrow ripping through the air, aimed for her head. She was quick to catch that one too, and used it to stab the man on the side of the head before he could recover from the fall. With her target and the first witness now dead, she had completed her mission.