Arctic Sunrise

by Robert G. White

  ''Yeah, I think so...it's that famous song, I don't know what it's called.'' Dmitri answers bitterly.

  ''What the fuck? What kind of gangsters, what kind of pimps or guards or whatever these motherfuckers are listen to Bonnie Tyler? Man, shoot them again!'' Train shouts and starts unloading his pistol randomly across the room.

  ''Enough, go clear the other rooms and don't start murdering whores again, please.'' Dmitri calmly says.

  ''These motherfuckers, what the fuck is wrong with people these days? Bonnie fucking Tyler mobsters! Fuck this! I wish I could revive them so I could kill them again...'' Train complains as he leaves the room.

  Dalesio followed closely by Nikolai enter the room as the smoke begins to clear. Dalesio starts searching the brothel as he's the only one that knows Vladimir's woman by name and face.

  Nikolai's eye widen at the sight of the slaughter, at least seven corpses in all kinds of positions, some standing upright pinned to the wall, others missing limbs or have holes big enough to see through them. Two women also lie dead amongst the men guarding the brothel.

  ''You see boy, if you are not able to do these kind of things to be someone in life, you don't deserve this life and you shouldn't be here.'' Dmitri shouts, looking at the time. One minute and twelve seconds since Train detonated the door.

  ''I am all that I can be, the only thing I can be and nothing else, nothing more, nothing less. Now please, lend me your shotgun.'' Nikolai says.

  Dmitri tosses him the gun. Nikolai catches it and walks towards the body of a woman on the floor saying ''I saw you breathing, I know you're alive.''

  The woman reacts by opening her eyes and trying to say something, she's only injured on her right leg. Nikolai charges the shotgun and as he's about to unload it in her face, Dmitri shoots the woman in her left eye with his pistol once, twice, and she falls on her side. Dmitri hates whores, he doesn't think of them as humans.

  ''In this life you are either a peasant or a tyrant, a soldier or a thief and you prove nothing by killing a whore, I want you to kill someone different'' Dmitri says and Nikolai is surprised at the cold blood shown by Dmitri but doesn't show it, he's heard the stories but it's something different to witness such a slaughter.

  Dalesio comes into the room dragging a young woman with him. ''this is she, her name is Gabriela!'' he says and tosses her on the ground in front of Dmitri. In the background, the screams of women attract everyone's attention.

  ''What is Train doing to those poor whores?'' Dmitri asks.

  ''You don't want to know, Dmitri!'' Dalesio says, making a cross sing with his hands.

  ''Tell him to stop that and come here.'' Dmitri says. Dalesio nods shortly and leaves the room.

  Dmitri looks upon the scared young woman on the floor in front of him. She's panting and shivering, looking fearfully at Dmitri. Her blouse is ripped apart, her breasts are visible.

  ''Tell me what you see in this woman, Nikolai!'' Dmitri shouts at Nikolai, waking him from daydreams and drawing his attention from all the bodies in the room.

  ''What?'' Nikolai asks, puzzled.

  ''Look at her, tell me exactly what you see.'' Dmitri says louder and clearer, annoyed by the fact that he has to repeat himself.

  ''I see beauty and fear...innocence and...I don't know, I see a frightened to death woman that doesn't know why we are here.'' Nikolai blurs out.

  Dmitri gasps as if chocking, he loosens the collar on his shirt and wipes the sweat off his forehead. Nikolai looks carefully at the blue eyed woman, she looks stunning even without makeup, with her clothes torn off and scared to death. A small quiver in her lower plump lip send Nikolai into a fantasy about a life far away, a life only with this woman, a simple life, only with love. What a goddess...the thick black hair running over part of her face gives her an aura of mystery, the delicate pale skin...an angel. She's missing only her long, white wings. If only she had them, so she could fly away and not get butchered like some pig in a slaughterhouse but it's not a fairy tale. Nikolai knows such fantasies are for children and now he's in the company of men...all dreams end...and yet still, this woman reminds him of a girl, of his childhood, when he was happy...the last time he was happy.

  ''Woman listen to my words. Long ago Vladimir took years from my life. Now he seeks my life as well. I show him mercy and take only your life. You shall die for something that you had no part in, no guilt, you will die innocent and without a reason, just like most people die.'' Dmitri says.

  ''Please don't take my life!'' the woman screams, crawling away from Dmitri through bodies and sobbing abruptly, interrupted...sickly.

  Dmitri follows her through the room, looks down at her desperation and places his palm on her head, gently whispering ''I am sorry but I'm already dead, I've been so since my love died in my arms after withering away for months...you are as pure and innocent as she was, don't ask for mercy because I have none left to give, my soul is black. I would slice your heart in half and then put it back in your chest if I knew that would cause Vladimir more pain. I hate your happiness, the happiness you give Vladimir, I hate everyone's happiness!'' Dmitri whispers gently so that only she can hear. This confession makes him feel lighter for but a moment.

  Dalesio returns with Train. Train is chewing on something and has blood around his mouth and on his clothes. Dmitri knows where the blood comes from...

  Dmitri steps away from the frightened woman and shouts violently ''Nikolai, bring me this woman's head.'' Dalesio walks to Nikolai and places a sturdy long knife in his hands saying ''kill her first by stabbing her in the heart right here and then take her head, it's the fastest way'' and poking him with two fingers, showing him exactly where to stab.

  Nikolai stares at the knife as Dalesio and Dmitri wait impatiently. Train pickpockets the dead.

  ''I want a piece of candy, something sweet...I got a bad taste in my mouth'' Train says but nobody even hears him.

  ''This is what we are, killing angels is sometimes the only way, the right way. Dalesio, shoot Nikolai in the head twice if he doesn't kill this girl in the next thirty seconds.'' Dmitri screams like a wild animal.

  Dalesio immediately points his gun at Nikolai. A pause in which only distant sirens are heard...Nikolai breaths deeply and tightens his grip over the knife and starts walking towards Gabriela. The girl's breathing is loud and chaotic, her big eyes pinned on the shinning blade coming closer and closer to her. She's screaming for help, clawing the wall at her back.

  ''Stop, please don't kill me. I've done nothing to you! please, please, let me live...'' she implores the boy.

  Nikolai, in one swift fluent motion, bends over her and kisses her gently on the forehead as the knife in his hand goes deeper and deeper into her chest...warm blood spreads on her white torn blouse and Gabriela and Nikolai's eyes lock...for some reason the girl is not afraid anymore, she's as soft as Nikolai was sure she was. She breaths shallowly, sharp and her heart slows down, tired...it stops. Her eyes die and even God sheds a tear. Nikolai drops the knife and starts sobbing...this act was the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life, that he will ever do. He reminds himself what he's doing it all for but he still feels guilty. Justice must be done, but at such a great cost....it's worth it. She is worth it.

  ''Time to move Dmitri, cops will be here very soon'' Dalesio is the first one to snap out of the gruesome spectacle.

  ''Good, you did good, don't forget the head'' Dmitri says and unhurriedly leaves the room and takes the elevator.

  As Train walks by, Nikolai is slashing into Anna's throat, trying to cut the bone. He reeks of desperation, fear and something else...anger. Train pushes Nikolai to the side, yanks the dead woman by the hair, drags the body to his feet, steps on her shoulders and bends over grabbing her head with both hands from the jaw to the ears. One thrust is enough and the head detaches. He chucks it to Nikolai, who isn't ready and drops it.

  ''What, you don't like getting head from such a beautiful woman? Hah, I nailed this one.'' Train says and bursts int
o laughter, strolling out of the room almost dancing. Nikolai is shacking uncontrollably.

  ''Welcome to the life, this is what you wanted,'' Dalesio says to Nikolai with a deep sadness in his eyes, grabs Gabriela's head from the floor and takes Nikolai's elbow, escorting him outside. Nikolai is having a panic attack at the sight of the severed head so close to him...one eye still open, as if looking at him...the arteries, the fat, the bone in the neck...the thick black blood. Train keeps laughing at Nikolai's face, it's yellow and bloodless.

  ''You know why a wolf pack is so efficient in the hunt? Their leader, their alpha male is always present on the field, not giving orders from a distance. He is in the middle of it, tearing flesh from the prey. That's what makes Dmitri a brilliant commander, follow him and he will never fail you or himself!'' Dalesio says to Nikolai.

  The three men take the elevator down. Train takes the head from Dalesio and gives it to Nikolai, who upon the sight of Gabriela's head in his arms, passes out. Train grabs him before he falls down, chuckling and tossing the boy on his shoulder with little to no effort. Dalesio holds the head in a clumsy way, he doesn't know how to hold a head, it's still dripping blood so he wraps it in his coat.

  ''His test was hard, harder than most. Don't laugh at him, the boy performed well.'' Dalesio says to Train.

  ''Yeah he did but maybe too well if you ask me.'' Train says.

  ''Nobody has ever asked you anything and never will, now shut your fucking mouth up before I fucking kill you.'' Dalesio threatens Train.

  ''If Dmitri wasn't with us, I would eat your head in this elevator, squeeze your eyeballs and stick my hand down your throat to see if you really have a heart. Remember what this bitch's man did to Dmitri, our brother and be steel like I am'' Train says, slapping the wrapped head with his backhand.

  ''I know my purpose and I'm playing my part perfectly but you piss me off, you keep making fun and laughing when people die. I wonder if you will laugh at your death, you fucking maniac. Dmitri should have left you to die! I told you all my life, I work with you animal and I'd die for you but I fucking hate the way you are! And why the fuck did you rape and kill those whores when Dmitri said to leave them alive?'' Dalesio says.

  ''I left some alive. I love you too, now give me a kiss!'' Train says and leans over to kiss Dalesio. He gets punched in the eye, the good one, and a chunk of flesh flies from Train's mouth...a woman's nipple. Train steps away from Dalesio muttering ''you're no fun, when are you people going to realize that this life is a fucking joke? we are nothing!''

  ''It's the only thing we have...'' Nikolai whispers to himself, attracting the attention of Train.

  ''Doesn't mean it's worth anything just because it's the only thing we have.'' Train growls.

  ''But losing the only thing you have means everything!'' Dalesio says.

  ''Can't this fucking elevator go any faster?'' Train says, punching the command panel a few times.

  The elevator reaches the bottom floor and the three men exit the building.

  Dmitri is waiting at the wheel of a BMW and they all speed off into the night...

  Chapter V Final Station

  A week later.

  A gentle knock on the number 311 room of the Kempinski hotel in Moscow. Nothing. Again the same tender knock but longer and clumsy as if a child was knocking on his parents' bedroom door in the middle of the night. The current resident of the room, Train, hears it and steps out of the shower cursing, not even covering himself, believing it's probably something meaningless.

  He leans down and looks through the visor and in a moment he feels a slight tingling in his scrotum and penis and a wave of heat rises from his stomach. In front of the door rests a perfect woman. Her name is Elvira, a famous loan shark; ex freelance prostitute; ex exotic dancer; ex every dirty job there is. She is wearing a yellow one piece dress that ties in the back of the neck, the dress is short, not even close to reaching her sculpted knees. The three delicate moles visible on her chest would make any man drool. Her breasts are exquisite and Train is curious about her probably pink nipples and how pointy they become when aroused. Her skin tone is like chocolate mixed with just a few drops of milk...creamy...delicious. Train imagines himself licking her hard nipples and sticking one, no, two fingers in her wet tight pussy while she would vibrate on his knees, surrendering to him entirely.

  Elvira is at least thirty something but she looks twenty five at most and her perfect body pales in comparison to her face, dark hair just a cut under the shoulders, puffy lips, sensual, looking like melted candy, shinning...made just for wrapping around hard, thick things. Her eyes, black and filled with decadence and perversion, and lust and greed and everything...her face is innocence mixed with guilt, desire mixed with naivety...the perfect whore.

  Train knows Elvira's past. She started out young at barely fifteen years old but she was unlike most whores. She was smart, very smart. She didn't sleep with men for money or pleasure and she didn't sleep with common mortals, she only searched for power, authority, respect. At one time she was the mistress of all the five men that ran Moscow's underground and legit world, including Ivan. If she would have been born a man she would have had the entire world at her feet.

  Train opens the door slowly and Elvira doesn't even flinch at the sight of Train's naked boy, after all he might be primitive, raw and crazy but the rest of his body is nothing but pure muscle, mixed with scars, tattoos and veins...a war beast that most women fantasize about at least once in their lifetime, to be ravaged unlike any man before or after. Train's body is carved by years of training and his manhood rivals the one of a horse. That, alongside the dripping water on his glistening body would make any woman nervous and fill her with untamable lust.

  Elvira passes lightly between the half opened door and just close enough to Train so he can get a whiff of her scent, a smell which he breaths in deeply and loud. She gently touches Train's penis, gliding her nails over its tip as she enters without making eye contact with the clearly aroused man. Train purrs as she touches him, just like a cuddled kitten, but hard enough for her to hear him. Elvira is mildly amused, blinking slowly and staring into his eye. Elvira's head barely reaches Train's chest. She looks like a child in comparison to such a titan.

  Train closes the door with two fingers, barely making a sound and locking it.

  ''How is it that I've never fucked you before?'' Train asks, remaining still in the doorway as Elvira sits down on a corner of the king size bed and slowly crossing her delicate legs.

  ''Because I never needed you to'' she replies in a flimsy and playful tone.

  ''And yet here you are, an hour after you called me. I was sure it was some kind of joke.'' Train mumbles.

  ''Are you shy, big boy?'' Elvira says, running her tongue over her lower lip slowly and staring at Train's body. Her legs uncross little by little, as if on their own, open up to reveal her black panties, and the visible shapes of her real lips...Train is sure that she tastes like honey and would spend hours sucking her dry, as should any man.

  This time Train knows better, he knows that the woman is here to kill him. Everything is happening exactly like Dmitri said it would. He remembers Dmitri's words exactly ''they will come for you or Dalesio first because you are my best men, my rocks, my wings. They won't come at you straight up because they know you're always armored and packing, always vigilant. Be careful, always.'' Dmitri said to him while driving and like always Train listened. He's never been a smart man, he's relied on other attributes, and he knows that Dmitri is never wrong. Why would a perfect woman want him ? He's a monster.

  Elvira is suspicious at Train's hesitance to jump on her and rip her tiny dress off. She stares at him, tilting her head slightly to the left.

  Train laughs silently for a few seconds but his eyes remain serious and never blinking. He starts walking at a snail's pace towards the bed as Elvira calms herself. After all, how can any man refuse her?

  ''I've been trying to fuck that little ass of yours since I met you, more
than seven years ago and all of a sudden you call me up, come to my room and spread your legs before me. No pussy is for free, especially yours, and this looks counterfeit as fuck. Could it be that you've finally found a man worth loving and that you actually want me? A brute, a mutilated beast? A never changing slow witted soldier? Or have you (Train's tone accelerates and becomes graver) entered the war for Vladimir because you're a fucking whore too, came here to slay a giant by tricking him? The ladder means that your boss, Alexander, joined Vladimir...you will tell me everything before you die!'' Train says smirking.

  Elvira reaches for a small pistol hidden in her hair but doesn't make it in time. Train's shadow already is already upon her and he presses his hand over hers as she draws the weapon, wrapping his giant fist over her hand, clinching and roaring. All the bones in her beautiful, fine hand break, the sound is like a nut cracking under the weight of a heel. She tries to scream but Train's right palm engulfs her entire face, rendering her silent. She claws and hits Train with her free arm and high heel shoes but the man remains impervious. She manages to grabs Train's testicles and wraps her hand around them and just as she's about to squeeze them, something hits her in the face like a brick...Train's knee. She collapses on the bed barely conscious, speaking inaudibly as she gags on teeth and blood from her shattered nose, flowing down her throat.

  Train focuses on the door, grabbing a gun from his jacket and pointing it at the door. He's expecting men to burst in. After a minute he furrows his eyebrows disappointed, confused and insulted. They had sent just a whore to kill him.

  Elvira's panting draws his attention. ''We are going to make sweet and dry love now. Don't fight me, I have no problem fucking a corpse.'' Trains whispers smiling and winking at Elvira as he begins to stroke his hardening penis.

  The sheer terror of what is to come in Elvira's eyes make Train hard in moments. He's always enjoyed punishing whores and now, having what he considers a legitimate reason is the strongest aphrodisiac to him.