CHAPTER FOURTEEN #3
“Svetlana was never a mother to me. She was callous and cruel. Her loving you is understandable. You’re both marked by the devil.
The young girls in the warehouse didn’t ask to be there.
They didn’t deserve to be kept like slaves to fund your luxury lifestyle.
You’re a vile pig, and my mother took the crown of pig princess.
That’s why I put a bullet right between her eyes as she stared into mine.
And do you know what I felt?” She takes a breath.
“I don’t care what you felt but I suppose you’re going to finish your little fairytale and tell me anyway,” Volk replies.
Natalia lowers her aim as she continues to point her pistol at Nikolai’s body. She turns her head to face Volk again. The barrel stays fixed on Nikolai’s lap.
“I felt relief, satisfaction that the woman who left me behind was dead. She knew I’d ended up with this sweaty mudak. She had to know, but you knew too.” Her eyes light up and she trails her finger across the cool steel in her hand.
Volk laughs. “Of course, I knew you were Svetlana’s daughter.
You think I didn’t know who my son dated.
I told him I didn’t want to meet a whore like you.
I didn’t want you to come back into my sweet Svetlana’s life and pollute her existence more than you already had.
Your father had a lucky escape. No man worth his salt wants to father a whore. ”
I snap and pace toward Volk.
“Watch your fucking mouth. You fucking piece of shit. I’ll fucking kill you right now!” I scream and grab his collar.
He laughs. I spin around and aim my gun at Nikolai. I pop off two shots, taking out both of his kneecaps. He shudders in pain and his chair tips over, but I don’t feel satisfied.
“Natalia,” I say and nod.
It’s all that’s needed and she lets off another shot.
Nikolai’s muffled scream forces its way through the gag preventing him from making too much noise, but noise sounds fucking good right now.
I stalk forward and pull the gag from his mouth.
The sound of his pain brings us both pleasure.
Knowing Volk is helpless is a sweet bonus.
The same way I was helpless when my brother died saving me.
Fuck, Pawel. I need to get my brother’s body back.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now we’ve shot Nikolai he might deny me ever seeing my brother again, deny me giving him a real goodbye, a funeral—a burial. I know my grandpa wants to bury him with his mother.
“Enough,” Volk barks.
“Not so fun when you’re the one being tortured is it, Mikhail?”
“It’s me you’re angry with, Dmitry. Let Nikolai go. He’s your brother, your only remaining living brother.” He tugs his arms up in a pathetic effort at breaking the steel cuffs and freeing himself.
Nice try suka.
“He’s not my fucking brother.” I snap.
“That pig deserves to suffer the same way he made me suffer. The same way he tortured girls. The same way I know he murdered Jupiter. Violence is in his nature. It’s all he knows, all he understands.
This is the communication you enjoy, isn’t it Nik?
” Natalia asks and pops off another round.
It smashes into his left foot, and he barks in pain like a dog.
“Dmitry, stop. Let’s just talk this over, please son,” Volk begs, his voice full of fear.
Ah, so now you know who’s in charge here. Now you recognize how much of a psycho I really am. You see Natalia isn’t weak. Her wings aren’t broken anymore. My girl is strong and soaring.
“Now you want to talk?” I ask with a laugh. “Fucking crazy son of a bitch ... me not you. I know that’s what you’re thinking, and I couldn’t fucking agree more. Tonight’s the night you meet your equal. Scratch that, you meet your match. The one to put an end to your sick regime.”
“Admit it, you’re just like me, your father, Dmitry.” He leans forward as much as his restraints will allow, as if he’s trying to create a sense of connection between us both.
Your mother used to say the same thing to you. Maybe she knew. Maybe she never meant Ruslan after all.
Fuck. Is it true?
I hadn’t considered that before.
Get the fuck out of my head.
My mind races and floods with memories of Sylvia’s vile rants. “You’re just like your father. You’ll grow up to be a nobody, a failure. You evil little shit. You little mudak. You’re an ugly svoloch child. You’re worthless just like he was.”
No, not now. I’m nothing like him. I’m not evil.
But ... you are.
But ... I am.
Natalia needs you, Dmitry. C.B.T. Count, breathe, think.
I inhale. “If you think that’s true then maybe I should demonstrate just how alike we really are.” I smirk, flick the safety on my pistol and tuck it in my waistband.
Reaching down, I pull Nikolai upright in his chair. His knees all mangled mean his legs bend at an unnatural angle.
I take out my serrated Rambo knife that I’d discreetly strapped to the other side of my waistband back at the farmhouse. I withdraw it from its sheaf and place my blade against the tender skin at the side of Nikolai’s left eye. He stares up at me and wiggles in the chair.
“No more, Dmitry!” Volk shouts.
I lean down and pull Nikolai forward by his shirt and cut it down the center, without ever touching his flesh. He flinches and bucks like a little bitch as I tug the gag away from his face.
“Please, brother. I’m sorry. Natalia, please. I swear I’ll change. You know me, Natty-cat, the real me.” Nikolai rambles like the pathetic coward he is.
“You don’t get to say her name anymore.” I snap, and grip hold of his face pressing my blade into his cheek until it draws blood. I follow the curve of his cheekbones. They run low, which is fun for me—it creates a bigger wound.
“I’ll never hurt anyone again. I’ll never be able to walk again. Don’t you see you’ve punished me. I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry. Please Dmitry I’m fucking begging you and I don’t beg ever. You got me, okay. You fucking win. You win. You and Natalia. You win.” He huffs and looks up at the ceiling.
“Who said this is a game?” I ask and point my blade at him.
“You deserve this,” Natalia says and points her pistol at him.
“Now, now, brother. Let’s see what you’re made from.” I smile and twirl the knife between my fingers.
“I’ll tell you where Pawel’s body is,” he says, a weak cry behind his words.
“Keep your mouth shut, son. If you tell him now, he has no reason to keep us alive,” Volk says.
“All I want is my brother’s body. My only fucking brother. Nikolai can go free, but I can’t promise you’ll leave here alive. Deal or no deal?” I place my blade on Nikolai’s chest and smirk at Volk.
“It’s in the warehouse, please spare my son,” Volk replies and lets out a heavy sigh.
“Fucking liar!” I snap and press my blade into Nikolai’s chest.
“Does he think I’m a fucking idiot?” I stare into Nikolai’s eyes and slice slowly creating a deep cut in the center of his chest. Blood trickles down dripping onto his abs.
“It’s in the basement of the warehouse. Please, Dmitry. Listen to me. I’m telling you the truth,” Volk says rapidly, his chest heaves as his breathing intensifies.
“Have you ever wondered what it’d feel like to hold your son’s heart in your hands? To have it resting on your lap while it beats its final seconds of life?” I ask Volk while continuing to slice into Nikolai’s chest.
“You’re a fucking animal. I told you your brother’s body, Pawel, he’s in the freezer, in the basement of the warehouse. It’s sealed. Look I can give you the key,” Volk says in sheer desperation. He’s afraid I’m about to carve his son’s heart from his chest and hand it to him.
His fear betrays him and something tells me he’s not lying, but all that does is spark up my need for vengeance.
Maybe I really should carve out Nikolai’s heart and force Volk to hold it until it ceases to beat.
The devil deserves to experience his own sick punishments.
I want to torture him the way he tortured her, the way he forced my mother Anna to suffer.
I want him to feel what it’s like to lose someone you truly care for.
He deserves to know what real pain is. This fucker is the reason Pawel is dead.
He’s the reason I have no mother. He’s the reason for it all—for my very existence.
I never wanted to exist—I never asked to be the product of darkness .
.. but here I am. I’m here. I’m born from darkness and in darkness is where I thrive.
In darkness is where I belong. It’s my home.
It’s my peace. It’s the only thing that allows me to dance in the light with my Little Sparrow.
I have to purge. I have to embrace my psycho, and what better time to do it but now.
In the presence of the monster who created me.
Truly fucking created me. Sylvia may have fed me but Mikhail .
.. fucking Volk, he’s the one that instilled evil within my blood.
My veins. My very being. My soul always belonged to the devil—it was created by him. Mikhail is the wolf of Hell itself.
“Artem!” I call knowing he’s standing guard on the other side of the door.
The door clicks open and Artem appears. “What do you need, brother?” He asks.
“When you freed the girls from the warehouse did your men check the freezer in the basement?”
“I’m not sure. I can send men to check. Is it Pawel?” Artem asks.
He understands this isn’t only about revenge for everything Volk did to my real mother, or for what Nikolai put my girl through but to get my brother’s body back.
“This piece of shit says his body is in there,” I reply. My blood boils at the thought of my brother being left alone to rot in an abandoned building.
Artem nods. “I’ll send some brothers.”
I nod back at him. He exits the room and closes the door.
“You’ll see, Dmitry. I’m in no position to lie to you.” Volk looks up at me and for the first time I sense defeat in his eyes.
“Then we wait,” I reply knowing the wait won’t only be torturous for the two of them but also for myself and Natalia.
The wait is agonizing.