Chapter 41
“Ksenia?” her mom called down the hallway.
“Coming, mom.” Ksenia jammed one more textbook in her backpack and left her bedroom.
“Can you stop at the hardware store and pick up seeds for the garden? I have a list and money for you. Get some for yourself, too.” She smiled at her daughter. “They also have a my order of nuts. This time next year, we’ll have five varieties of nut trees outback.”
Her mom was an avid gardener. It was her stress relief time.
Ksenia had been twelve when her mom got a residency as a heart surgeon.
Eight years later, she’d paid off school loans and now owned a small house on two acres.
There was enough room in the house for her and Ksenia.
Two acres of planting for the food forest she’d dreamt of for years.
Helping her mom with the food forest had been so much fun.
Ksenia had used those planting projects as research for papers in biology during high school and in a few college classes.
At twenty, she was in her second year of undergraduate as a biology major.
She wasn’t following her mom into medicine.
She was interested in sustainable living through better farming and building practices.
Essentially, her mom had planted the gardening bug deep in her heart, too.
“So, we’ll have fruit and nut trees next year? That is awesome. What kinds of nuts?”
“Hazelnuts, pecans, black, and English walnuts, Chinese chestnuts, hickory nuts and acorns. Don’t worry. The package is only three pounds. I didn’t go overboard. I’m still not sure we’ll grown them all. But, I really want a crack at having two or three each.”
“That’s exciting, especially the hazelnuts, my favorite. I’m done with school around 3 and home by 5 at the latest. I’ll catching the bus so you don’t have to worry about picking me up. No rain in the forecast and seventy degrees in the shade. I love spring!”
Her mom laughed and shooed her out the door.
Ksenia had opted to stay home for her undergrad degree.
Her dad and brother had died in a car accident when she was sixteen.
It had been devastating for her and her mom.
Her dad, Flint, and her brother, Ivan, had been traveling home from a baseball game.
A semi had lost control and ran over three vehicles sitting in traffic.
Her mom, Savannah, had been madly in love with her husband. He’d supported her all through her medical training. They’d met in high school and Savannah’s traditional mom had accepted him, even though he wasn’t of Indian descent.
Savannah’s mother had immigrated to Georgia from Jaipur, India.
She had been considered a Dalit, or untouchable, even though that practice had been outlawed.
A wealthy businessman had hired her grandmother to be his housekeeper.
During his year in Jaipur setting up a remote office, he’d fallen in love with the petite, hardworking woman.
She was a great cook to top it all off. He knew that when he left she’d be back on the streets.
But, marrying her to keep her off the streets wasn’t his main motivation.
She made him laugh. She cared for him. She made his house a home.
He loved her. After she’d moved with him to the states she’d worked hard to become a citizen.
She never wanted to go back to India. Her grandmother had come home.
Ksenia always believed the prejudice her grandmother had experienced had tempered her attitude towards her dad. And, being in love with a larger than life American man had helped, too.
Flint had been a hard worker. He’d volunteered in the summer to help granddad with his business.
It gave him volunteer hours and work experience.
Flint and Savannah had stayed in Marietta to go for their undergrads.
Flint had graduated in computer science.
Savannah had been premed with a degree in biochemistry.
Ksenia had admired her parents and grandparents. They’d all focused on building good work habits so that they could face uncertain futures. Her parents had insisted she developed the same mindset. It only made sense, after all.
For most of her life, her mom had been focused on work.
She’d missed so much in her children’s lives.
After the accident, her mom’s job had been a godsend.
Ksenia never wanted for anything, other than her dad and brother.
And, her mom had stepped back her hours at the hospital.
She was stable enough in her job to stay in her position instead of climbing another rung on the ladder.
Ksenia had loved getting more mom time. It just sucked that it had to happen the way it did.
But, in the deepest dark of the night, she’d always had one serious dream. What she really wanted was to be a stay at home mom. That was why she dove into gardening with her mom.
In order to reach her goal, Ksenia had started a YouTube channel focused on their small two acre food forest. If she could earn money working from home, she’d be thrilled.
No couple could have one income and support a family anymore.
With the advent of online businesses, Ksenia was sure she could have her dream, as soon as she met a man who was worthy of her.
Yeah, that was not the best way to put it. But dang it, she worked hard and expected the same from her husband. There were guys out there who wanted to live off grid. A more traditional lifestyle. Finding that man was a challenge.
For the most part, Ksenia kept to herself at school.
She had a small group of friends and loved being with them, but at school she focused all her energy on study.
It was her time to get homework done and got a jump on tomorrow’s classes.
It made the day fly by. That way, when she got home she could spend time with her mom in the garden.
Her mom was so lonely. Ksenia could feel the loss every time she walked through the front door.
Dad had been so much fun. He was from a Russian heritage and could speak Russian fluently. He’d been teaching her and Ivan. Her mom had brought the Hindi language and Indian cooking. Flint had brought the Russian language.
Her dad also loved the outdoors. He used any excuse to get his family outside and away from screens. They’d spent hours in the backyard learning to throw knives and axes. Ivan had even been in a few ax throwing competitions. He’d been getting so good.
A knife throwing set had been the last gift her dad had given her. She kept the three long, sharp blades in a side pocked of her backpack.
No, knives were not wanted on campus. Ksenia didn’t care. It was a gift from her dad. She just wanted a piece of him to carry with her. A reminder of his love. It wasn’t like she was ever going to use them on someone.
She’d kept practicing throwing knives. She’d never be as good as her brother. But, the practice was fun and it felt like a way to honor her dad. She got to walk forward with a unique skill he had taught her.
It didn’t take long at the hardware store. The seed display was fully stocked. She ran through her mom’s list and got a few more selections of her own. The planting bug had her excited to get home and get the seeds in the dirt in their little greenhouse.
The box of nut seeds was too big to fit in her backpack.
So, she unpacked it and was able to stuff the nuts in the nooks and crannies of her bag.
Hands free walking achieved. She was thankful she’d been able to leave a few textbooks at school in a locker she rented.
Both she and her mom didn’t want the burden of a second car.
And honestly, Ksenia didn’t like to drive.
There was a quarter mile shortcut through a stand of trees.
It had always been safe enough to walk through during the day.
Easy enough to run if need be. That had never happened.
Even her overprotective mom liked the little path.
They always found a weekend or two in the summer to go hiking.
Her mom needed the break from the hospital. Ksenia needed the time with her mom.
She was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of big dogs growling. She turned around to see where they were. Nothing caught her attention. She turned back down the path and started to run. She knew it was stupid to try and outrun almost any dog, but getting bit seemed like a bad idea, too.
A massive wolf jumped in her path, growling at her.
It’s hackles were up, paws braced in anticipation of whatever move she made.
She screamed as another snarl behind her made her back crawl.
A third massive wolf was to her left, snarling, eyes hard and angry.
Snow crunched under her feet as she tried to move away from them.
The one in front of her changed from wolf to naked man. He, too, was huge, towering over her. She screamed and tried to back up but ended up tripping and falling in the snow. It almost never snowed in Georgia. It was spring for heaven’s sake. Where did the heat go?
The naked man said something she didn’t understand. The language was foreign to any she’d ever heard before.
“Please, please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. “I’m just going home. Please!”
Ksenia screamed as a new human, naked man picked her up from behind and steadied her on her feet. He took silver handcuffs off a belt around his waist and slapped them on her wrists.
“Wait, no! Please, who are you?”
The man snarled something at her as he dragged her off the path and into the trees.
Wolf guy changed back into wolf. The guy who cuffed her flung her on the wolf’s back.
She only had a moment to clamp her legs around his ribs and hold on to the thick fur.
The other two wolves ran on each side of her to make sure she didn’t fall off to get away.
Ksenia was frantic as she realized she was no place near home.
Buildings came into view surrounding a massive castle.
Spires rose up like they were out of some fairy tale picture.
Even if she did jump off the massive wolf thing, she had no idea how to get home.
The cold ripped through her thin shirt as the wolves ran.
They entered the castle through a solid wooden gate.
Ksenia looked back to see it close behind her.
Her heart in her mouth as they crossed a courtyard and entered a metal door.
Stairs wound down into some dark, musty passageway.
She could hear men moving behind what looked to be prison cells.
Sometimes a hand would shoot out to grab at the wolves escorting her to who knows where.
“Please, please,” she kept whispering. “Let me go, I was going home. I’m not a danger to you.”
A wolf snapped at her in what she could only interpret as a command to shut up. Seriously didn’t help though. Ksenia was a nervous talker, and she was plenty nervous.
A solid wooden door with bars for a window came into view at the end of the darkly lit hallway.
A wolf transformed back to man, opened the door and held it for the wolf she was riding.
The other wolf, now a man, grabbed her waist to get her on her feet.
He took the cuffs off, ripped her backpack off and shoved her into a cell.
Ksenia screamed as he shoved her onto a mattress. This time she flat out started babbling and slapping her head as he advanced on her. He stopped in confusion as she started moaning and rocking.
“Mary had a little lamb,” she babbled. “It’s fleece, it’s fleece was white as snow.” She rammed her shoulder into the brick wall, peaked up at him and started picking her nose as she slapped her head some more. “White as snow, fleece white as snow!”
He looked at her in disgust, left the cell and locked it behind him. All three snarled in some forging language at each other and left the little dungeon. Ksenia curled up and cried. What the actual fuck?