CHAPTER NINE #2
I can taste blood in my mouth, smell it everywhere, the warehouse thick with the aftermath of rage but in the midst of it all freedom feels closer than ever.
And for the first time since the night began, I allow myself to breathe.
The warehouse is empty. Girls have been freed and the remaining ones soon will be too.
Focusing on my Little Sparrow and making sure she’s not injured I feel a sense of relief but then the loud pop of a gun being fired breaks the momentary peace.
A bullet slams through the air hitting the wall behind me, and before I can react a second and a third discharge in my direction.
Pawel throws himself in front of me. He grunts, staggers, but continues shielding me with his whole body.
My heart stops. “Pawel!” I roar, panic burning hotter than anything I’ve ever felt.
Natalia’s mother steps out from a wall and moves closer, raising her gun once again. I lunge forward, attempting to wrestle it from her, but it slides across the concrete, skidding just out of reach.
You’ve already shot my brother; you won’t touch my fucking girl. I’m going to fucking kill you.
“You fucking bitch!” I shout as I choose between going for the gun or trying to stop Pawel from bleeding out.
“Dima,” Pawel whimpers, clutching his chest as he slumps against the wall.
I choose my brother. “Pawel.” I grab hold of him, and he clings to my leg covering me in his blood.
I reach down to console him and slide my body down the wall until I’m on the ground beside him.
Natalia kicks the gun across the floor, and it slides beneath the desk.
She shakes as she takes in the sight of my brother lying across my lap as I cradle him the same way he cradled me after beatings from Sylvia and Ruslan.
“Dima, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not protecting you. I should've protected you sooner,” he murmurs then gasps.
“You always did, Pasha,” I tell him.
“You’ve not called me that since we were kids,” he says gurgling as the blood fills his airways.
“Pasha. You’ll always be Pasha to me. Stay with me. I need you. I couldn’t have survived today without you, brother. Please don’t leave me.” I beg him to fight; I beg him to live.
His head flops backward and he takes one last gasp of breath, his body follows and he’s limp in my arms, and just like that one of the only people in my life who I truly care for is gone ... the only man I’ll ever call brother.
There’s no time to process my brother’s death as the sound of Natalia and her mother fighting pull my attention away from Pawel. I climb to my feet determined to protect my girl and turn to face Natalia.
The jagged steel of a serrated blade bites into my side.
I hardly feel it but then a searing heat burns.
I instinctively reach for my side and hold where it hurts.
My fingers slide easily into a gaping wound.
A wet, slick substance coats my hand. I look down and see blood dripping from my fingers . .. and this time it’s my own.
Fuck. I’ve been stabbed.
Motherfucker stabbed me.
What the fuck?
I collapse where I stand and hiss in pain before hitting the floor. My breath comes in short, harsh gasps.
“Mother stop!” Natalia’s screams pierce my ears almost as deeply as the blade pierced by flesh. She runs forward, eyes blazing as she dives, trying to grab the gun which rests underneath the hollow of the desk. She reaches out and snaps it up with trembling hands.
Her mother throws herself at Natalia and grapples for the gun.
“No!” I choke out forcing my body to crawl toward them, but it’s too late.
Natalia and her mother wrestle on the ground. The gun is firmly between both of their hands.
A shot rings out—a deadly silence follows.
Natalia.
Is my girl hurt?
I fight the pain and reach her.
Both lie still. Silent.
Natalia is buried underneath her mother; her back is against the ground.
“Spa ... rrow.” I manage to mumble as blood pools at the corners of my mouth.
Her mother rolls off Natalia, blood blossoming across her chest. She collapses upright against the side of the desk, staring at Natalia with wide, unreadable eyes.
Natalia lays still for a moment before her eyes blink and she calls my name. “Dima.”
She soon pushes herself to her knees and kneels beside her mother, her face twisted in fury and betrayal. “I hate you!” She spits, shaking with rage.
Her mother coughs, her voice weak, trembling. “I... I left you... with him... to be ... his ... toy ....” Each word stabs like a knife.
And every ounce of rage Natalia holds inside flares. She raises the pistol in her hand, points it at her mother’s head and shoots again—cold, final. She pulls the trigger again and the gun clicks empty but it doesn’t matter, her mother is dead. This time there’s no coming back to haunt my girl.
I stagger and kneel beside Natalia, pressing a hand to her back. She’s trembling. Her face wet with tears and fury; lips pale from screaming, hands still gripping the gun.
“It’s over,” I rasp, my voice raw. “It’s finally over.”
My girl turns to me. “You’re hurt.” She leans into me, shaking and sobbing.
I reach and pull her in close.
I need to hold my Little Sparrow.
Every scar, every mark, every betrayal—none of it matters right now. We’re safe.
Fuck! I’m bleeding. It's deep. I need to hide my pain. I don’t want to worry Natalia.
The adrenaline keeps me going but even that isn’t enough. As much as I try to fight it, I fail and fall sideways onto the ground. I can’t pretend anymore ... I grab Natalia’s arm. Her pretty gaze fixes on me. Her beautiful face is the only thing I can make out.
I gasp. “Fuck. Natalia ....”
I let out a heavy sigh.
“Dima, stay with me. I need you, please Dima. Don’t fall asleep,” Natalia says, her tears cascade from her eyes and soak my lips.
Even with the taste of my girl’s sorrow, I can’t fight it any longer; I can’t stay conscious. I’m disorientated and confused, my eyes fight to stay open, but it’s hopeless.
Maybe I was never meant to live to an old age. Maybe this is how my story is supposed to end. The idea of my own death has never scared me.
I close my eyes and darkness takes hold of me.