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Eugene sat in complete darkness with his hands bound behind his back, a gag stuffed into his mouth, and a cloth bag over his head. Tanya was in the room with him. He knew this because she had not stopped her muffled screaming and ranting since they had been ambushed and captured.
Following Kaylee's advice, once the pair had entered the arts district, they had called out every couple of minutes or so, yelling that they were looking for Elijah and represented Sergei. "This is stupid," Tanya kept repeating.
Suddenly they found themselves surrounded by armed people clad in black. The Russians were quietly instructed to put their hands up and not resist. Even Tanya complied with this, if only briefly, although Eugene had to kick her when she muttered curses and insults at them.
Their hands were bound. Because Tanya refused to keep silent, they tied wide strips of cloth across both of their mouths, gagging them. Finally, dark cloth bags were pulled over their heads, and they were then roughly led a distance that Eugene guessed to be several blocks. They heard the sound of a large door sliding open, and they moved inside. After several turns, some more time spent walking, and a few flights of stairs, they were shoved into a small dark room.
There was a click as the door locked from the outside when it closed. They were left for some amount of time Eugene wasn't certain of. He became certain it felt a lot longer than it actually was, as Tanya's constant muffled yelling caused his head to throb. He knew better than to try and silence her; it would only make things worse.
They heard the door open and turned towards it, seeing fragments of the hallway light shine through their head coverings. The bags were pulled off their heads, and their gags were removed. Eugene winced as the room filled with the sound of Tanya's loud cursing and insults as her mouth was freed. The soldiers, surprised at her intensity, were taken aback for a second. They stepped forward again, one of them restraining her. Tanya's eyes lit up with rage, and Eugene gave an internal sigh of relief as the other replaced the gag. She thrashed around, but the soldier held her firm.
Eugene raised his eyebrows at the other man, who warily removed his gag and hadn't quite stepped away. Eugene bowed his head and gave a polite, "Thank you."
The soldier gave a relieved smile and unbound Eugene's hands. He rubbed his wrists and thanked the man once more, completely ignoring Tanya's jumping, thrashing, and muffled yelling as the other soldier struggled to keep her under control.
The man who released Eugene walked to the entrance and flipped the light switch in the room as another person walked through the door. Eugene's jaw fell as the person had to duck under the frame. He was easily well over six and a half feet tall. Eugene could instantly identify the large man's European descent: fair skin and prominent bone structure. His bald-head and piercing blue eyes were unnerving as they drilled into Eugene. Even Tanya had ceased struggling as the man came into the room.
"Who are you?" inquired a very smooth, calm voice.
"I am Eugene," he hesitated, "who… who are you?"
The man cracked the slightest of smiles, "I am Elijah. I believe you were looking for me."
Eugene's eyes widened, and he broke out into a huge smile. "Oh, yes! Yes, good! I am here representing Sergei. He, I… we wish to speak with you regarding a… union. Of sorts."
The man calling himself Elijah cocked his head slightly. "Yes, of course. But tell me; how is it you were aware of our presence in this area. This is very important, so speak. Now." Eugene felt a chill at the order, understanding in Elijah's tone that an improper response would likely cause him and Tanya a great deal of trouble.
Eugene stammered, nervous, "I, uh, we. We had, uh, heard some… some rumors about your relative location. When we were traveling, we, we came across a wanderer. A woman! She told us that, uh, that she thought we were heading in the correct direction." He cleared his throat. "We came through this way when your men captured us."
'Elijah' stared at him a moment longer, then nodded. "All right. Come with me." He tilted his head towards Tanya, and the soldier holding her pulled her gag, untied her hands, and released her. She shot him a glare but held her silence as the large man beckoned to the two of them and walked out of the room.
Not turning back, he said, "You must be hungry. Come with me, and we shall speak." Eugene and Tanya exchanged quick glances and followed the man out. Initial shoddy treatment aside, this was exactly what they had hoped for.
Uprising Page 28