by S F Draven
There’s nothing I can do to warn them, no one I can call on to make sure they’re okay. I have to think of something before it’s too late, before he gets what he wants. I see now that Edik had a plan for Irina all along, and if she truly has access to something that he wants, something that even she doesn’t know about, then she’s in much more danger than I originally thought.
Chapter Fourteen: Irina
“Something’s wrong, Jack. He should’ve been back by now,” I said, realizing how much time had passed since Aleksandr pulled out of the motel parking lot.
“I’m sure he has everything under control, Irina. That man is quick, and I don’t think he would let anyone get the better of him,” said Jack, but I knew we were both toying around with the idea that maybe something bad had really happened, and we were just sitting on our asses, unsure of what to do.
“If you’re not going to help me go to him, then I’m just going to have to do it myself,” I said, starting for the door, just as Jack leaped in front of it to stop me.
“You’re going to walk out of here with a target on your back, and the minute anyone learns that you’re out on your own, someone is going to swoop in and kidnap you. How are you going to save your boyfriend then? Huh? Get in my car. We’re going to the warehouse,” he said, grabbing all of his weaponry, slipping a gun into my hand, right before we took off. I felt my heart sink into my stomach, so worried that I was going to find Aleksandr laying there dead, and just like that, my entire future was going to be over. I knew I had to be stronger than that, that this was the kind of thing Aleksandr had been preparing me for from the very beginning, but I would’ve given anything to have been by his side when all of it went down.
I didn’t care what Edik or any of his people did to me, as long as I was right there with Aleksandr, because I loved him. I loved him so much that I genuinely believed I couldn’t go on without him, and I could only hope that we weren’t too late. It was the first time that I saw a sliver of genuine worry wash over Jack’s face, because up until this point, he’d managed to keep a very cool attitude toward the whole thing. However, even he knew the lengths that Edik was going to in order to get me back, and it was really up to him to make sure that didn’t happen.
“I know that you’re worried about Volkov, but we’re going to get him back. If Edik managed to get the upper hand for now, that doesn’t mean that he’s going to come out on top when this is all over. Okay? Keep your head on, kiddo. This isn’t going to be pretty,” he said, pulling up to the warehouse, just as I was able to get a good look at the damage that was left behind.
There were bodies everywhere, some still bleeding out, others dried up and left out like animals. I felt my stomach turn at the thought of what went down, at all the lives that were lost, and it was at that moment that I realized it was all because of me. Edik was doing all of this, killing all of Aleksandr’s men because of me, and I didn’t know how I was going to live with that.
“This all started because I wanted to get away from a very terrible life, but looking around now, I’m starting to think that maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I should’ve just lived with the cards I was dealt and saved all of these people from having to give up their lives,” I said to Jack, as he shook his head.
“I know this must feel like it’s all about you, Irina but I can assure you that something else is going on. I know Edik, I’ve run with him a few times in the past, and I can tell you that man always has an ulterior motive. I’m thanking myself for not getting into business with him, and I’m really grateful that your boy showed up when he did to convince me to switch sides. Even with all of this around us, I still believe that we’re on the winning side of this thing, and I’m not going down without a fight.”
“Neither am I,” I chimed in.
“Good, then let’s get in there and look for clues,” he instructed, and I followed him in like a lost puppy.
The inside of the warehouse smelled of sweat and blood, leaving a terrible taste in my mouth as we ventured off further inside. I began to search through all of the bodies, looking for Aleksandr, but he wasn’t there. I searched around for a rather long time, turning over every body, hoping that it wasn’t going to be him when I got a good look at the face. There were a lot more men than I had originally seen at this very warehouse when Aleksandr brought me here to see all of his operations. It made me think that Edik truly brought out the big guns when it came to sending a message to Aleksandr, but that made me wonder where he’d gone.
“Hey, Irina, come up here,” shouted Jack from the iron staircase in the corner of the warehouse.
I climbed the steps carefully, making sure not to step on any of the bodies that lay up them, looking down at what Jack had been staring at to see Kliment’s dead body laying there.
“What the fuck,” I said, and that was when I realized that the only person that could’ve taken him out would’ve been Aleksandr.
“The body’s still warm. That means that this happened not too long ago, and that they couldn’t have gone very far. This side of the city is crawling with old abandoned buildings, and they have to be hiding out in one of them. Are there any old businesses or factories that Edik bought when you were still living under his roof, that maybe could point us in the right direction?” he asked, and I thought long and hard for a moment, before I remembered that Edik had purchased an old clothing factory when we first started dating, saying he was keeping it to run product through.
“I think I may know where Aleksandr might be, and if Edik has him, then it’s only a matter of time before he does something to hurt him. It may be a long shot but it’s the only lead we have,” I said, as we both geared up to get out of there.
“I’m following you, Irina. We’re going to get him back,” he said, and for the first time in a while, I felt reassured that we were going to do just that. We had to get him back because that was the only way that we were going to pull the rest of this off. I knew very well that Aleksandr was usually capable of handling himself, but that didn’t mean that Edik wasn’t pulling out all of the stops to render him unable to do anything to protect himself. It still boggled my mind that all of this was occurring because I had left him, but after listening to what Jack had to say, I had to agree that it was a wild thought to believe that Edik was doing all of this just because he lost me.
I was starting to believe that we never really had any love in our relationship at all, because if we did, it would’ve been much harder for him to distance himself from me than he was able to. Jack said that there must be more to the story, and maybe there’s something that has to do with me that Edik wants, but I can’t seem to think of what that might be, I thought, but I had to focus. Right now, my sole purpose was getting Aleksandr back to safety, so that we could continue fighting to crumble Edik’s empire and reinstate Aleksandr as the rightful man in charge. Something told me that if it wasn’t for Edik’s evil plans, Aleksandr would’ve already been well on his way to building a thriving empire of his own, having the same kind of allies that Edik had, but I started to wonder whether he’d been planning all of this all along.
If he orchestrated this entire thing then he’s much more cunning, calculated, and devious than I ever would’ve thought possible. That is even more reason to make sure that he never sees another day.
Jack and I got back into the car, and we took off to the old abandoned clothing factory that wasn’t too far off from our current location.
We pulled up slowly near the building to see people moving cases of product inside, loading guns and gearing up for the fight of the century, it looked like. If Aleksandr was already inside, then it was quite possible that they were preparing for our arrival. Jack pulled out his cell phone to call a few of Aleksandr’s contacts to get as many men down there as possible, because it seemed that the start of the war had moved up quite a bit. We didn’t have the time to plan the perfect strategy of attack. It was now or never, and we had to go in there guns blazing, distracting jus
t about everyone so one of us could drag Aleksandr out. We’re coming for you, Aleksandr. Hold on.
Chapter Fifteen: Aleksandr
The drugs were starting to hit me now, and I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone know if I was still alone in the room or not. Edik had an entire operation going on here, and it wasn’t just the kind of thing that was put into place solely for emergencies. It seemed that he was moving things other than just weapons and drugs. It dawned on me that he was making good use of all the dead bodies that turned up at the end of every massacre. I had a feeling that I was going to end up just like the rest of them if I didn’t stay focused and try to get out of there. I could feel my breathing begin to slow, the world around me starting to blur, as I desperately tried to hang on for dear life. The nurse came in a few moments later to give me another dose of that poison, and I looked her straight in the face to see that she didn’t want to be here doing this.
“Medically trained, and this is where you ended up. Such a shame. You’re supposed to be saving people, not killing them right?” I asked, trying my best to be as firm as possible.
“I don’t have much of a choice. The boss said that if I didn’t do this, he was going to kill me, and I have a family to feed.”
“There are other ways, my dear. There are always other ways, and here you are administering drugs to me that are slowly killing me. I hope that you’re proud of yourself,” I said.
“There’s nothing else that I can do, Aleksandr. I’m sorry,” she said, and I could see that her apology was genuine.
“You can let me out of my bindings. You know my name, and you know what Edik is going to do to you when this is all over, so save yourself the trouble, and do what I say. If you really want to make a living for your family, then you need to get the fuck out of here. You and I both know that what’s going on here is far bigger than the both of us, and there’s no getting out alive when Edik deems you useless,” I explained, and she took a big gulp, thinking about it for a moment, before she eventually helped me out of the bindings around my hands.
“Get the fuck out of here. Trust me, he’s not going to come looking for you right now. He’s not going to waste his precious resources on someone he thinks is replaceable. Thank you,” I said, now I was finally free, and she nodded in my direction before taking off. I felt terribly woozy, unable to stand, but I knew that I only had a little bit of time before someone was going to come in here to press me for more information, giving me the kind of drugs that would leave my skin feeling hot, burning through my flesh, leaving me in an agonizing amount of pain. If there was one thing I’d learned through all of this, it was that I couldn’t trust anyone, and that Edik should have known better than to put his trust in the people he’d only ever threatened. I was on the floor now, trying my best to crawl out of there, holding onto the wall for support, while I tried to lift my body up again. It was hard, and it took every ounce of energy I had left in me, but I made it. I peered out into the hallway, realizing that the entire floor appeared to be a fully functional hospital, but I knew that Edik would’ve never been caught dead in a place like this. He’s got more people in his pocket than I originally thought. I need to find out what’s really going on here.
I moved through the hallway unnoticed because there were very few people around. I managed to sneak away, but I knew the minute they saw that empty bed, there would be alarms sounding, and I could kiss my freedom goodbye. I headed up the stairs, opening up the first door I could see, and surprisingly it led to an office. I rummaged through the documents on the desk, realizing that there was paperwork there about a considerable amount of money, left behind by someone that Edik must’ve been trying to track down. It wasn’t until I glanced at the last name on the paper that I started to put the pieces together. Morozov? That’s Irina’s last name, but she came from a humble family. What is this about? Her grandfather? I asked myself, looking down at the name I didn’t recognize, because I distinctly remembered the names of both of Irina’s parents when she told me about them.
It seemed that she may have always had ties to the crime world after all, and that was probably why her parents didn’t want her to get involved in this kind of business in the first place. They probably knew what was at stake from the very beginning, and that had to be the reason that Edik kept her around for so long. If Irina’s grandfather is still alive, that means that Edik was grooming her, keeping her in captivity until he could strike a deal with her grandfather for the kind of fortune anyone would kill for, I thought, realizing that everything was starting to align, and I didn’t have to look much farther for any more answers. It was all right there in front of me, and I had to use that information to my advantage.
I need to get the fuck out of here, back to Irina, so she can learn about this. I need to take her to her grandfather. We need to put an end to this once and for all, and I’m no good to her here, weak as ever. I have to regain my strength. Our future together depends on my escape, I thought, as my body filled with adrenaline, rummaging through the drawers looking for any kind of weapon that would help keep me safe as I tried to get out of the building. I found a gun sitting in a box of old papers at the far corner of the room, and there were barely any bullets in it, but it was going to have to do. Let’s do this.
I headed back out to the hallway, still lightheaded, with the scent of hydrogen peroxide filling my senses. I looked around at all the equipment, the patients that laid in each bed, and I surmised that Edik was harvesting and selling organs. It was the only thing that could explain all of this setup, and it was not the kind of thing I would ever dabble in. He truly liked to play dangerous games, especially because I had a feeling that he was keeping very powerful people sedated, waiting to face their fate or pay up. He was the kind of dirty criminal that scoffed at the unwritten rules, that didn’t care about honor or integrity, and it made me sick.
I refused to let him win, to let him get away with any of this, because it was destroying lives. It was taking away everything I was starting to build with Irina, and for reasons that she didn’t even know about yet. I had to get to her, I had to make sure she knew the truth about what was going on before it was all too late. I had no idea what the nurse had given me before I convinced her to stop, I had no idea what they were giving me while I was asleep, and it was quite possible that it was all going to kill me slowly. That was why I had to get out as fast as possible, but I knew it was going to be difficult. The entire building was swarming with armed guards, and I had to do my best to sneak past them all. I managed to make it through the door leading to the emergency staircase, subduing the guard that had been looking the other way. I stripped him down, getting into his clothes, and taking his weapon so it would be harder to spot me.
I rushed down the stairs as fast as I could, but I must’ve been at least seven floors up. It was going to take me far longer because with every passing minute, it grew harder for me to stay alert. I was counting my blessings for even being able to make it this far, and I kept telling myself that my story simply wasn’t over yet. I was determined to make this all okay again, to hold up my end of the bargain, and return to the woman I loved, so that she could rest assured that I was going to be okay. I don’t even know if I’m going to live, judging from how terrible I feel right now, but I have to get to her before these drugs take me out, if that’s what they’re going to do at all.
I got to the last floor, opening up the door as it led out to the open, and I fell to my knees on the cold ground, thankful that I made it out before anyone realized.
“Oh my God! Aleksandr!” I heard a woman’s voice scream, and it was hard to keep my eyes open now. I was slipping away and there was nothing I could do about it. I did what I could, but it was no use, until I felt her arms around me, and I realized who it was.
“Irina? Am I dreaming?”
“No, my love. I’m here. You’re going to be okay. Aleksandr, I need you to hold on, I need you to stay with me, okay?”
“I’m not g
oing to make it, Irina. I need you to do something for me,” I said to her.
“Don’t talk like that, Aleksandr. You’re going to be just fine,” she said, and I could feel a tear slip down her cheek onto mine.
“I need you to find your grandfather. He’s going to have the answers to why this all started in the first place. Please, Irina. You need to finish this. I love you,” I said, feeling myself start to deteriorate.
“No, no! Aleksandr, please. I love you too. I love you so much. Jack! Jack, we have to get him out of here. He’s weak, his skin is translucent, they probably gave him something. We need to get him to a doctor now!” I heard her scream, but her voice started to soften, growing into a light mumble, just before everything went black yet again. I drifted away in her arms, unsure if I was ever going to wake again, but it felt good to know that I had the chance to see her one last time. It made my heart warm, and I managed to tell her everything she needed to know to put an end to this if I didn’t pull through. I love you, Irina. I love you, and I will love you forever.
When I finally woke, I could’ve sworn I’d been dreaming, because I felt a presence looming over me, fingers brushing my hair back out of my face. My eyelids fluttered open to low bedroom lighting, as I turned to my left to see a lamp on the nightstand. I didn’t feel any initial terror upon waking up. I tested my strength by squeezing my hand while it was wrapped around another, and that was when I caught sight of the woman that had been waiting right by my side.