My body ached all over as I came back to my senses. I could hear a distinct beep beep sound in the background and there was something sticking into my nose, making it extremely uncomfortable. I groaned as I opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings. I was lying on a bed surrounded by weird looking equipments. My portion of the room was divided from rest of the floor by huge glass panels. It was extremely cold inside making me shiver every now and then. I turned my head and looked through the glass and felt my jaw drop. There were hundreds of people on the other side,  bustling around, talking into phones, conducting discussions in groups of two and three, comparing files and other notes. No one paid me any attention. The place also seemed to be filled with state of the art technology and my eyes widened as a virtual screen popped in front of a person and he started jabbing at it, clearly giving it instructions. What is this place?

I noticed someone looking at me through the glass. He smiled when he saw me looking at him and took his phone out and spoke into it. Moments later, to my great relief, my father turned up.

“Ellie, God!! I thought you would never wake up. Sweetheart!” He came forward and I tried to sit up but fell back onto my bed as a pain seared through my chest.

“Don’t move!” he cautioned me as he delicately kissed my forehead, without causing me pain.

“What’s going on dad? What is this place? How did I end up here? What happened to me?” I asked him one question after the other. I want answers. I want them now. Dad sighed tiredly as he rubbed his temples.

“You got shot, Ellie. The bullet missed your heart by an inch and a half. It got lodged between your ribs. You were losing a lot of blood and were in need of an emergency surgery. But we couldn’t risk you getting killed by taking you to a hospital, whoever shot you will get a chance to have a go at you there too. So, we brought you here .”

“This is not a hospital?” I asked, my brows furrowing in confusion. My dad chuckled at my question.

“This is Pentagon.” He said , folding his arms across his chest. I drew in an astounded breath. This  is not a place where anyone could come and go. This is the Department of Defence of United States!!! My dad who is one of the top agents here in Pentagon told me once that no one, not even people related to those working in Pentagon could dream of stepping foot in this place. Then how did I get in here?

“How did I end up inside Pentagon?” I asked my dad quickly. My dad sighed once again.

“We carried out an important mission of capturing two of the most wanted terrorists, based on an intel received about their  hideout, a couple of months ago. We captured only one of them, while the other escaped. The escaped bastard  had been keeping tabs on the both of us and thought that kidnapping you could force us to release the other. He turned up at your school and tried to kidnap you. You tried to runaway ofcourse and he was left with no choice but to shoot you down. Even though he aimed your leg, the bullet went through your chest when you fell down. He escaped yet again before we reached the scene. ”

“Who did the surgery?” I asked him curiously.

“Noah Smith. He joined us a few months back. He used to work as a surgeon before that.” My dad supplied faithfully.

“How come I don’t remember any of this?”

“Smith hinted that you may not remember anything because, you brain is trying to supress the horrifying events, since it might trigger PTSD.” My dad explained. Suddenly someone tapped at the glass panel motioning my dad to go out, holding up a phone in the other.

“Take rest, Ellie. You are safe here. We have a lot to discuss when you get better.”

He left me and went away. I badly wanted to see my mom. Does she even know that I am here? I sighed inwardly and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep.

After two months I found myself back in my house. Dr.Smith kindly reminded me yet again, that since only my rib cage was damaged, things were not that serious. Organ damage would have definitely taken more than a year to heal. I still had the huge scar on my back where the bullet had pierced my skin. My mom was in hysterics ofcourse, since she couldn’t even see me once after the incident. She hugged and broke down when I went home after two months inside Pentagon.

“Ellie, we have to move you out of the counry. This place is not safe anymore.” My dad declared one night, as we were having dinner.

“Honey..” my mom trailed off uncertainly and my fork slipped from my fingers and fell with a loud clang onto my plate.

“Dad, please say that you are joking.” I managed laughing weakly.

“No, Iam not.” He said looking straight into my eyes.

“Something like this might happen again, Ellie. They are clearly targeting you. It’s only a matter of time before he finds out about this place. You are our only child and I don’t want to lose you.”

“How come mom gets to stay here and I don’t?” I sounded childish.

 “Your mom can stay insdie the house for any extended period of time. But you have a full life ahead of you. Do you want to waste it by locking yourself up inside these four walls? Your dreams of doing your higher studies will never work out anymore here Ellie.” He continued.

“Dad, you can’t do this to me!! I have a say on this. I’m not going anywhere!!” I said loudly.

“You don’t have a choice. We’ve