Millie sat on her bed, her knees brought up to her chest as she rested her head in her arms. The emotions had finally taken over and now they were not letting up. She'd managed to compose herself all the way home from the courtroom but now, as she sat alone in her room, she felt like she could open up. The tears had fallen, anger had consumed her followed by fear, frustration and finally emptiness. She'd thought over every second of her night in that room; how she'd heard her first gunshot, heard someone beg for their life, heard people die, watched as gunfights ensued. The fear and panic she had felt were unrivalled. She'd never felt that scared. She constantly thought she was going to lose someone. She was on edge every second. That mission had changed her life and she knew it wasn't for the better. The anxiety she'd managed to quash had now returned and reminded her of every failing in that mission as well as her life.
Once again, her phone ringing caught her off guard. She didn't even hesitate as she answered, in a trance from the lack of emotions left for her to expel.

"Millie." Eli's voice rang out. Millie shut her eyes as if to try and give herself the strength she needed talk to him. "I hear my surprise saved your ass. You're welcome." She rolled her eyes at his cockiness, although this had always been his forte.

"Yeah, thanks Eli but I'm really not in the mood for-" Millie began but she was cut off.

"We need to discuss the plans of payment." The words haunted her, bringing back memories she'd tried her best to force into the shadows of her mind. She'd never forgiven herself for being so stupid as to get herself tied up with Eli to begin with. She had wanted to help a lady in her office who was claiming she was subject to abuse but was too scared to give anyone the messages she had received. After speaking to someone who knew someone who knew someone else, she was introduced to Eli, a seemingly handsome, young hacker. He was smooth, saying all the right things to make her think she was getting a good deal and so, when he said he could anonymously hack the information and send it to the police, she was more than happy to accept. Discussions about repayment would only be done after the mission was completed, so Millie had barely been bothered when the conversation finally arose.

"I want you and I to work closely together, Millie. Very, very closely." He'd said, bringing up the bile from her stomach. Millie scrunched her face up but knew there was no way she could get out of this agreement. She had to do it.
It felt like she'd sacrificed more than she needed to for this woman but when she'd managed to get a restraining order and the man was being looked into for inappropriate behaviour, it had made her feel a little better. Still, it took her three months to work off Eli's debt - according to him and his calculations. Millie had ended up working for him, learning a few basic tricks to assist him as well as being his debt collector. She'd had to be harsh, get into uncomfortable positions that had danger written all over them, all for Eli. Despite all that, the worst part of the whole ordeal was Eli himself. He thought he was allowed to own Millie during that time and spent a lot of the time trying to flirt with her and get her to like him. The attempts had been flawed and failed badly but he never gave up. When that three months had finished, she finally felt free; she moved town, changed her number and started again - but for some reason she kept Eli's number just in case. Millie vowed to never use it again after what she had put up with, yet here she was on the phone to him once more talking about what he was owed.

"Eli, please, just give me a day to wrap my head around all this..." Millie pleaded, dread filling her body as the realisation of what she had done finally hit. She'd made a deal with the devil, sold her soul for two soldiers she'll never see again.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a day to collect your thoughts. I hope you appreciate quite how much trouble I could have got into helping you this time. This was a costly mission. I'd say a year of your services would be fine." Eli knew he was pulling the puppet strings for now so he pushed his luck knowing Millie couldn't argue. She sucked in a sharp breath and choked on it, coughing heavily.

"A year?!" She managed to croak out as she rushed to grab some water, drinking it to calm her throat of its coughing fit.

"I hacked into government hardware, the radios, cctv of a building, electrical boards..." he listed off cockily, knowing Millie had no room for manoeuvre. She sighed as if she'd already given up.

"Fine." She said lowly, feeling like she was talking to Lucifer himself. "What kinda of things will I be helping with this time?" She asked, hoping to prepare herself better than the previous time. Her gut wrenched as the memories shot to the forefront of her mind, reminding her of the torture she'd endured under Eli and quite how much she hated him.

"Same as before." He kept it vague. "I've got some debts that need collecting, some small jobs you could take over... who knows, maybe you'll be able to help with another one of those big jobs if they come up. You were quite a natural with the bank." Millie straightened where she sat as he brought back more of the hidden memories.

"I'm not interested." Millie snapped, fed up of him toying with her emotions. Eli let out a strong laugh, letting her know he was the boss of her for a year now.

"You have no say in the matter. See you tomorrow."