5th June, 1925

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining and the sky was the prettiest shade of blue that London had seen in weeks. People danced down the streets and spent time with their loved ones which resulted in melodious laughter and chatter overcoming the city for all to hear. The city folk, young and old, walked with a new bounce in their stride, holding their heads high with large smiles plastered across their faces. The feeling was infectious and there was no cure.

The Williams family was just like any other regular family. They were taking advantage of the beautiful day by spending time out in their spacious backyard that was getting trampled by their 5-year-old daughter. The sun shone warmly down onto the young girls face as she ran around the lush green grass, chasing after her dog who barked happily as he outran the girl's chubby little legs.

The cool summer wind blew her long chocolate hair out of her face and a cheerful grin adorned her pink lips. Her gleeful laughter filled the air as she tumbled onto the grass and her bouncing pet ran back and laid next to her. 

Her parents watched from their porch, carefully sipping from their piping hot coffees as a smile was helplessly mirrored on their own faces. They let out a little chuckle as their daughter played with the German Shepherd who happily yapped as he chased with the young girl.

"Allie darling, don't you think it is time to have breakfast?" The mother spoke whilst being enclosed in her husbands loving embrace. Her head laid back against his chest as they watched their precious baby girl run over to them.

"Yes, Mama!" The girls shouted as she waddled along inside with her dog following closely behind. Together they bounded into the kitchen and sat in their designated spots, the kitchen table and the mat by the door, and awaited their food.

"So baby girl, what do you want to do on your special day?" Her father questioned as he walked into the kitchen and took his place at the table. The newspaper was almost immediately pulled out and his eyes skimmed over the most recent news.

"I want breakfast Papa!" The girl remarked as she curled her fist and brought it down lightly on the table. The dog in the corner perked his ears at the sudden sound but made no effort to get up as the young girl was known for being quite loud.

"Darling, what did I say about banging your fists on the table?" Her mother announced as she entered the room holding a hand to her hip and raising her eyebrow. The little girl mumbled a quick apology and her mother instantaneously dropped her serious facade and pressed a loving kiss on the child's fat cheeks. "And voila, a beautiful breakfast for the beautiful birthday girl!". The little girl smiled and immediately began to devour her food.

The mother took her place at the table and delicately began to eat her meal. "Has there been any news on that... group yet?" She said in between bites of food.

"Nothing in the news which is as expected but there have been whispers in France and Wales. They seem to be growing swiftly but remain hidden well under the radar." The man replied nonchalantly, trying not to show any fear as the stories that surrounded this group were infamous and are not for the faint of heart. 

Even he was worried about the rapid growth of the group but knew better than to show it as his wife experienced enough worry for the both of them.

"There has to be something that we can do! Somebody has to stop them before they do something drastic and are put on the front page of every newspaper!" She argued and released an exasperated sigh. Her hands immediately went and pulled at the dark tendrils of hair on her head as she attempted to calm herself down for the sake of her daughter.

"I know darling, but we just finished one war it would be ludicrous of us to start another one when we are finally at peace." He replied evenly whilst he gently folded the newspaper in half and placed it on the table. 

He then took his wife's hand in his own and rubbed soothing circles with his thumb on top of her tan skin. " Now since we aren't at work, let's forget about it yeah? Focus on what's right in front of you." He said lovingly and brought her hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her delicate skin, immediately replacing the tension in the air with happiness.

"Mama, why are you sad?" The girl announced as she hopped down from her seat and walked over to her mother with open arms. Her mother engulfed her in a hug and pulled her up onto her lap, gently stroking her hair.

"I'm not sad darling, I'm just grateful for having you and Papa." She responded with a smile and cuddled her baby girl.

Life is a complex thing. Life gives you family and friends, it awards you with love and happiness. It's sacred. It is something that is so valuable to some, yet can mean so little to others.

But it also has the power to take it all away. It can replace your happiness with pain, your love with hurt, your family and friends with memories of people that you once knew. Life pushes until you break, just to see you put yourself together before doing it again.

Life is a pandora's box. You will pull out item after item creating a chaotic sequence of dull, joyous, painful or dismal moments that make up your life's story. And each moment is connected by a thin string of time, but it will never be able to predict what come's next. You just keep pulling out moments from the box and hoping for the best possible outcome that may never happen.

This little girl had no choice in who's daughter she would be, or what childhood she would have. She would be born on June 5th, 1920 to loving parents who treasured her, which made her a very lucky child. 

But on this day, no one in their right mind would trade their place for hers.

June 5th, 1925 was a Sunday, which meant that most families were going to Sunday morning mass to celebrate God. As it was the little girls birthday, her parents decided to miss mass and spend more time with their daughter. Her Grandparents, however, were devout Catholics so they were going to go to church in the morning then they would spend the rest of the day with their grandchild. This meant that the churches were alive with people but their neighborhood was eerily quiet.

The Williams' had also just moved into their new house in a relatively small neighborhood. The house they moved into is quite big but is very old and they had yet to start renovating it. The horrid green paint on the walls was chipping off and the kitchen was filled with appliances that only worked once you had aggressively smacked them and let out a string of curses. 

As the house was so old, there was little to stop the imminent threat that laid outside unbeknownst to the family, and it was the perfect scapegoat to cover their tracks.

"Come on darling, it's time to meet Grandma and Grandpa!" The father spoke gleefully as he plucked the girl out of her mothers hold and took her to the coat rack so she could put on her coat. "Love, can you put the dog outside please?" He yelled at his wife who had already shared the same thought.

"Already on it!" She yelled back and is followed by the slam of the backdoor. She walked outside and put the bouncing dog in his kennel before returning back inside, ready to go spend the afternoon with her family. 

Then suddenly a bang resounded throughout the old house as the front door fell off its hinges and men clad in dark uniforms pushed their way into the house.

"LOVE, TAKE ALLIE AND RUN!" The husband screamed as he made his way to the cabinet in the dining room and pulled out a loaded shotgun without a second of hesitation.

The little girl wailed as she could sense the hostility in the air and the sudden change in atmosphere. Her mother hurriedly scooped her up in her arms and ran upstairs into one of the guest rooms. 

She bounded up the stairs, throwing caution into the wind as her main focus was the protection of her most loved possession, her daughter. She pushed open the door to the guest room and placed her daughter in front of the large closet that resided in the far corner of the empty room.

"Ok Allie, we are going to play a game of hide and seek. I need you to hide in that closet and not make a sound. Those men downstairs are trying to find you and you won't let them will you?" She paused and the girls shook her head in understanding, silent tears still ran down her face despite not completely comprehending what is actually going on. 

"Good girl, don't come out unless it's Mama or Papa that's calling you alright? We both love you so much, beautiful girl." The woman cried and placed a kiss on the little girl's forehead. She then opened the door to the closet and pushed the girl inside before closing it back shut again. 

Once she knew that her daughter was safe, she ran off into the other room to find her handgun and protect her daughter.

Both the man and the women put up a good fight as they have something to fight for, their daughter's survival. They didn't have the abilities to hold off the copious amount of men that had broken into the house and rushed at them with the one purpose, to take their lives. 

Gunshots that were fired in rapid succession resonated throughout the house and the screams of their targets were soon heard, indicating a successful mission.

David and Coleen Williams perished protecting their beloved daughter, and their little girl remained hidden in a closet upstairs, unaware of the heartbreak that laid for her just downstairs.

However, the men hadnot fully completed their mission yet. They searched the house, room by room looking for the little girl. And before long, one man noticed the unnatural sniffles that were coming from the guest room.

He cautiously moved his way into the room with his gun clutched tightly in his hands and silently motioned to his teammates to follow. They all loosened their grip on their guns once the room had been cleared, realizing that the daughter was hidden in the closet. 

The man slowly opened the door and found the little girl in the corner of the closet clutching onto her coat that laid over her small body.

"Hello... Alexandra is it?" The man spoke softly, trying not to scare the girl as he bent down so that they were at eye level with each other. The girl cowered away from the man, moving even further back into the closet.

"Hey, there's no need to be afraid of me. I am a friend of your parents! Did they never tell you about me?" He questioned and watched as the girls shook her head, still not trusting the man.

"You sound funny..." The girl whispered but made no move as all the men were scaring her.

"That's because I am from a place called Switzerland, have you ever heard of it?" He asked again, pleased that he got the girl to at least talk to him. Once again, the only movement she made was a slight shake of her head.

"It's a place far far away where everyone is happy. But now I am living in an even better place called Germany." He replied, trying to maintain conversation. When he didn't receive a response from the girl he stood back up and looked at the men who were still holding their guns up at the closet. He spoke harshly to them in a language foreign to the girl and they all nodded their heads and filed out of the room without a word.

"So Alexandra, would you like to come out of there now?" He said as he lowered himself back down to the ground carefully.

"My name is Allie and my Mama told me to stay in here until she or Papa comes back." The girl mumbled almost inaudibly as she raised her head to watch the man that was speaking to her.

"Alright Allie, but I'm friends with your Mama and Papa so they would trust you with me." He motioned for her to come but she made no move to come out.

He was just about to drop his hands in defeat when she stood up and walked out of the closet, passing the man who was watching her with wide eyes as she sat on the bed in the room.

"Allie, we are going to take you back to a place that will be your new home. You are going to go to school, learn new things and make new friends! Doesn't that sound great?" He exclaimed gleefully as he scooped the girl up into his arms and took her downstairs, avoiding the death and mess that he and his group had left in his wake. The little girl nodded her head and rested it on his shoulder as she was carried into a new life and away from everything that she had known.

"Oh, I forgot, my name is Arnim but you can call me Zola." He whispered into her ear before placing her into a car and driving off, away from the house that was now alight and burning down into ashes.

. ☾ .

Alexandra Williams had been thought to have died in the fire along with her parents. Nobody had heard the attack take place as everyone had been at church in the morning but they had all arrived back home to the devastating news of the deaths of the Williams family. Her Grandparents waited at the little shop in the city where they were supposed to meet with the family, but they never arrived.

When they drove to their house to see what had happened, they were crushed when they only found a pile of ashes, bricks and an area of land that was once home to their children and grandchild. Their deaths had been blamed on the faulty oven which had caused a spark and caught alight.

The only things left of the Williams family was their pet dog that watched the house burn down from his kennel. The city mourned the death of the young family and nobody had thought to question the unfortunate cause of death that they had suffered. Nobody looked for the little girl who was taken from her home and joined the new German organization called HYDRA. And soon, nobody would remember the name Alexandra Williams as she was thought to be dead to the outside world.

. ☾ .