Chapter 1

Cryogenic freezing: A process in which the human cells and tissue are frozen to sub-zero temperatures in order to prevent cell death and preserve the body. For countless decades, scientists have made attempts to perfect this technique so that, one day, they may be able to send someone into the future or save a loved one by delaying a fatal illness. Yet no matter how many experiments they do, the results end up the same. The subject is frozen to death… Or so as everyone thought.

Around twenty years ago, a scientist by the name of Boskonovitch had begun the Cold Sleep Project after his beloved daughter had departed from him. He had wanted to find a way to preserve his daughter's body which would allow him some time to find a way to revive her. He received two young women as his test subjects, sisters to be exact. Although only one was needed, the younger sibling had willingly volunteered herself to join her sister. She didn't state her reasons, so Dr. Boskonovitch could only guess that the young lady feared to be alone in a world without her sister. However, with a sharp tongue, the brunette had also demanded a certain circumstance as well. She had asked to be woken up from her cold-sleep at the same time as her sister. The doctor obliged and then for his daughter's sake, he put the two siblings to sleep…

"And you're saying that they survived?" A broad shouldered man sat at his desk as another man, who appeared puny in comparison, was finished telling him about his findings.

The smaller man nodded and pushed his glasses back up the rim of his nose. "According to my research, yes. Both sisters survived their cold sleep and, as asked, they were woken up at approximately the same time which was around two years ago."

"I see…" The man sat up straighter in his seat as he was taking in all this information. As founder of SPETSNAZ, Aleksander had, for years, been trying to accomplish the process of the cold sleep. Yet now here he was, being told that someone had already beaten him to it. Surely it must be some kind of mistake. "This Dr. Boskonovitch, did he leave any notes on his experiment?"

The scientist shook his head, disappointed. "Unfortunately, no. He was executed before he could record his data. The few notes he had left behind were only on his subjects." The old man pulled out from the file he was holding, a stack of papers. He presented the papers to his superior who was immediately greeted by the face of a beautiful young woman.

Aleksander stared at the picture in awe before reading the name that was written right below it. "Anna Williams…"

"Yes sir. She's the younger sister who volunteered to be put to sleep, if my memory serves right." Aleksander flipped through the pages and found that there were no other profiles besides Anna's. The scientist seemed to know what was on his mind and quickly added, "If you're looking for her sister's, it doesn't exist." The bigger man raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Nina, I believe her name was, lived a life of secrecy long before the day she was put to sleep. No information of her was ever known."

Turning his gaze back towards the picture of Anna, the SPETSNAZ founder began to study the brunette. Perchance this young woman had knowledge of what this Dr. Boskonovitch had done to her which resulted in a successful cryogenic freezing. He would have, however, preferred to have another one of his test subjects to question, but this Anna would have to suffice. All he had to do was find her which, for SPETSNAZ, wasn't going to be a problem. Leaning back in his chair, Aleksander called out unexpectedly, "Sergei."

As if from out of nowhere, a soldier stepped out from the shadows of the room, nearly giving the elderly scientist cardiac. The scientist looked him over and immediately took notice of his raven black hair, ghoulish pale skin, and the most noticeable of all, his empty, cold, steel-colored eyes. One glance at him and the senior felt himself fearing for his life. Aleksander on the other hand seemed unbothered by his sudden appearance and casually began explaining what he wanted from the Special Forces soldier.

"I have an obligation for you, Sergei." Even as his superior spoke to him, Sergei did nothing to reply or even show he was listening. He stood motionless and unmoving, appearing more like a statue than a human. The scientist who dared to take a glance at him was sure he couldn't even see the man breathing! "I want you to retrieve Anna Williams for me." He handed the soldier Anna's profile and slowly Sergei accepted it without giving it a second glance.

Aleksander looked over his soldier and began to recall some of his recent captures. All of his victims had become bloodied, bruised, and some had lost the ability to talk. Though the founder could care less about the condition of his subjects, when they were as important as Anna, he couldn't afford to lose her. "But Sergei," he added, "There will be special circumstances when capturing her." He interlaced his fingers together as he began to explain strictly, "I do not want you to be treating our subject roughly. I want information from her, information she may not give me if given the treatment you normally deliver."

Although being gentle wasn't his forte, Sergei nonetheless nodded. He would use brute force if need be. After all, if the target refused to talk once questioned, he knew of other ways to make them speak. Besides, she was only a woman. They always did prove to be less stubborn when it came to releasing information.

Aleksander interrupted his thoughts as he said, "Now, you may leave whenever you are ready. And," he added sternly, "remember what I told you."

Sergei nodded then mechanically began walking out of the room, the information on Anna rolled up in his hands, and his superior's words still echoing in his mind. Except as soon as he closed the door behind him, the soldier shook away the thoughts. He would do things his way. It was in his nature as soldier, after all, to use brute force when needed.

After Sergei left the room, Aleksander let out a sigh and settled back down in his seat. Seeing how exhausted his superior appeared, the scientist couldn't help but ask, "Is something wrong, sir?"

As he massaged his fingers over his forehead, the buffer man whispered, "I believe I've just put the wrong man on the job." He recalled the look on Sergei's face as he left. Sure, it was blank and expressionless as it usually was, but that was the problem. None of his words had reached the man's ears.

The scientist gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean sir?" He recalled the physical appearance of the Special Forces warrior and couldn't see a man like him failing at capturing a single woman. "I'm sure he'll do fine when it comes to capturing her."

Aleksander shook his head in response. "That man only understands destruction…The White Angel of Death is what he's called. Our target will be lucky if she loses only a few limbs when she's brought to us…" As he thought about it longer, Aleksander was beginning to regret his decision of choosing Sergei Dragunov as her abductor.

Entering the research laboratory below the SPETSNAZ headquarters, Sergei was preparing his search for Anna Williams. With his footsteps echoing off the metallic flooring, the soldier approached the main computer where a young man sat drinking a cup of coffee and gazing, tiredly, at the bright screen before him. At the moment he was to be keeping watch of any changes that may be taking place within their recent subject. So indulged with his job, he didn't even notice when Sergei was standing right behind him until a stack of papers was thrown down on the table.

Jumping in surprise at first, the man quickly turned around to see who had entered the laboratory undetected. Upon spotting Sergei glaring down at him with his cold eyes, the young scientist gulped down the coffee that he stored in his cheeks then quickly turned his gaze down towards the pile of papers Sergei had crudely thrown over his research notes. There was no need for Sergei to explain. The young man understood what needed to be done as soon as he caught a glimpse of Anna's picture. "I'll look her up right now, sir."

Vigorously typing on the keyboard and entering a few passcodes here and there, within a few seconds, Sergei watched as the screen that once held nothing but words become filled with the picture of his target, Anna Williams. Judging by how many pictures there were of her, Sergei could already tell she wasn't going to be much of a problem to find. This woman ventured everywhere and clearly didn't bother to keep a low profile. It seemed as though wherever she went, someone was bound to learn her name. He studied all of the pictures before him while the scientist went digging up information of her whereabouts.

After a few minutes of digging, done by the scientist, and gazing, which Sergei was performing, the young man pulled up a screen of his findings. "Aha! Here we go!" The screen he pulled up consisted of a picture of Anna wearing a ring girl outfit standing in what seemed to be a covert gambling area. Turning his chair around so as to face the soldier, the man explained to him, "According to my research, this woman was last seen in the underground battle arena located here in Russia." He turned back around to stare at the picture that was on the screen. "What were the chances?"

Dragunov, who was still gazing at the picture, nearly smirked upon seeing her. She was so petite and appeared so fragile; Aleksander may not have had to worry about Sergei pulling off his rough tactics in this mission. It was if all Sergei had to do was extend his hand and she would accept it. After picking up her profile, the soldier made his way out of the laboratory to go make his preparations before his departure.

As Sergei was making his preparations, two people, possibly a couple, were making their way into one of Russia's finest love hotels. The woman looked up at the beautiful flashing sign posted on the building and let out a cute giggle. She leaned in closer to the man she was with and whispered sensually, "So luxurious? You didn't have to go this far…"

The man, whose body was adorned with scars, wrapped a muscular arm around his woman's shoulders and began guiding her into the hotel. "Only the best for you," he replied. His voice was rough as he spoke, the complete opposite of the woman's. They passed the elegantly decorated lobby as they made their way to the receptionist who was currently organizing some keys for the multiple rooms.

After placing the last key on its hook, the receptionist looked up and was quickly greeted by the lovebirds. Awestruck by the sight of this odd couple, the man didn't know what to say. Here was this beautiful young woman, probably no older than the age of 25, being accompanied to this hotel by what the receptionist could only describe as a monster of a man.

Watching as the man gaped, the brunette let out a little titter and asked sweetly, "Is something wrong, good sir?"

Aroused by her cherubic voice, the man quickly shook his head and returned to reality. "M-my apologies Miss. Welcome to –"

Before the man could say more, the "beast" threw a good pile of money onto the counter, startling the receptionist, and demanded, "I want the best room you could offer. A hot tub, balcony…" The brute began to list his needs while his companion just smiled away. After all his wants were listed, the greeter quickly unhooked a key from the wall behind him and handed it to the man. The man looked the key over and saw that the key was to the room located at the very top of the hotel. He smirked then looked down at the lovely woman beside him. "Let's go, darling…"

After taking the elevator all the way up to the tenth floor, Anna followed the man into the room they were given and gasped as soon as she was greeted by the elegance that the room consisted of. Anna almost forgot about the fighter she was with as she studied the room with childish eyes. She opened the glass doors that led to the balcony and stepped out to enjoy the fresh night air and scenery. As she was doing so, the man was busily fixing up the bed for the special night Anna had promised him back in the battle arena. "If you win this fight, I'll show you the time of your life…" Even now her words echoed in his ears bringing a twisted smile to his face.

After fluffing up the pillows for what seemed to be the tenth time, the man finally straightened himself out then headed out to the veranda where Anna stood, gazing dreamily into the distance. From behind her, the fighter slowly began wrapping his arms around her, taking in the scent of her hair as he enveloped her. His sudden actions startled her but quickly she regained herself and listened as he whispered into her ear. "Are we gonna' get started, sweetheart?"

She felt one of his hands slide down her delicate curves and smiled. "Why of course," she replied, "Lead the way…"

He took one of her hands then led her back inside. Quickly he slammed the balcony doors shut and pulled in the curtains. Once he checked that the door was locked, he put all of his attention on the woman who stood before him. She appeared shy and nervous which only seemed to arouse the man only more.

Spotting the lust in his dark eyes, Anna meekly began backing away from the man, bashfully stating, "I think I'm not ready for this…" Ignoring what she had to say, the brute pushed her onto the bed then threw himself on top of her. "H-Hey!" As he held his head in the crook of her neck, Anna, very discreetly, reached into her top and pulled from it a Taser. Without any warning she put it up against his back and within milliseconds, jolt upon jolt of electricity began coursing through his body. Once his body turned limp, Anna pushed him off and began straightening her outfit. Letting out a little giggle, she reached into his pants pocket and emptied it of all the cash it held. After ridding the man of all his money, with hands on her hips, she stared at the man's unconscious body and realized that she couldn't leave him like this…

"There." Anna finished tying one last knot and rose to her full height to examine her work. As he was sleeping, she neatly tied both the man's hands around one of the bedposts. Although she knew that with his strength he would break through her binds in no time, Anna wasn't concerned. Binding him up was just to add insult to injury. And if he wasn't able to free himself, well she only saw that as an added bonus.

Now satisfied, she turned on her heel and began opening the door that led to the hallway, prepared to leave. However, before stepping out, she took one last look at the fighter's unconscious body and blew him a kiss. "Nighty-night, darling…"