The Kingdom Ch. 01

After nearly a minute, I came to the conclusion that I had to back out of this. My undercover operation had gone far enough. I needed to call the woman back and tell her that something had come up and I needed to leave. I hustled toward the doorknob and twisted it open. Rushing outside, I was surprised to see that Annabelle was still standing outside my door talking with one of the guards. She turned towards me with her eyebrows raised.

"What's the matter, love?" she asked, seemingly concerned.

"I... I've made a mistake," I stammered, ditching my Irish accent. "I'm not supposed to be here. Something's come up. I need to leave."

"Oh dear," Annabelle replied, her furrowing her forehead in thought. "Alright. Well, come inside and tell me what's going on."

She turned back to the guard and said quietly, "Give me a minute." Then, she walked back over and pushed the door open, motioning me back inside. Begrudgingly, I accepted her invitation and walked stepped inside the room. It was at this moment that I felt something sting the side my neck. I gasped and shot my hand upward to my neck. But I instantly felt the Annabelle's arm wrap tightly around my torso, holding my hands down to my side.

"What the-" I said out loud.

"Cold feet numb the rational mind to reason," Annabelle said quietly into my ear.

Instantly, I felt disoriented. She had injected me with something! My knees suddenly gave out and my vision blurred. I felt an arm lift my legs from behind the knees. And another arm supported my back as I toppled backwards. Annabelle now cradled me in the air, shushing me as a mother would her child. I struggled against her as best I could, but I was rapidly losing strength.

Right before I lost consciousness, I heard her whisper to me in a faux Irish accent, "Good luck out there, lassie." Then everything went dark...