Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Severin Volkov
Twenty-Eight Years Ago
Xeniya Morozova was my obsession. I wasn’t really sure what obsession meant, but Mommy told me I was obsessed.
I talked about her all the time, and I thought about her even more ever since she punched me in the face. Well, maybe before then, but definitely now.
She was my little bunny, although she hated that nickname.
Now Xeniya was forced to train with the boys.
We had to hit and kick each other. Father made me kick her all the time.
I learned to make it look like it hurt. We all did.
Xeniya had to hit us, too. She never complained, but she had gotten quieter and grumpier.
She barely smiled now, but I could still get her to.
She barely spoke, either. I had to pull sentences out of her when Dad and the older boys weren’t looking.
Dad hated her voice. He said girls weren’t meant to speak back.
He said all girls were good for was looking nice, behaving, and when they’re older fucking.
He told me when I was older, I could fuck her if I wanted, but that I could never keep her. She was too dangerous to keep.
I had no idea what any of that meant. But I did want to keep her forever.
My favorite times with Xeniya happened at her house. She was freer there with her beautiful, mesmerizing voice—a word Mommy had taught me to say about her—and her smiles.
Also, Ilya and Nika—Xen’s siblings—were really fun to play with, too.
Xeniya’s house felt safe. Both her parents were nice. They smiled, and they never hit me or yelled at me.
Xeniya was lucky.
Unfortunately, I only got to play with them once a week, but I got to see Xeniya every day.
And there, my obsession grew.
Mommy said I would grow out of it, but I would never grow out of my obsession with Xeniya Morozova.
And I never wanted to.
Age 10
Xeniya Morozova was not obsessed with me. She never looked at me or spoke to me unless I made her.
But she was still my best friend, and I thought I was hers, too.
Age 14
I still hadn’t shaken my obsession with Xeniya. If anything, it had gotten worse.
Age 14
My father discovered my obsession with Xeniya. It was bad. He held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her unless Kaz, Ilya, Maks, and I killed someone in front of her.
Age 15
My father hated Xeniya and kept trying to get her killed in an “accident.” He forced her into a death cage and made her kill a man twice her size with her bare hands. She nearly died. It killed me to watch.
Age 15
My father punished me for getting a mediocre grade in English literature.
He chained me in the basement and starved me for five days.
Xeniya brought me food and water. My only friend who dared to intervene.
When my father caught her, he held her down and branded my name into her stomach.
Then he beat her nearly to death and left her unconscious body with me. I wanted to die.