So I'm returning to the Command and Conquer section and am going a different route with the Renegade series. I won't be able to finish off the first chapter any time soon, so until then this is all I have to offer. It's only the intro to the very first story in Red Alert: Renegade titled "Death by Passion".
I hope all of you like it, and review it. If I know people would want to read more, I'll be motivated to finish up chapters faster, without wreaking the quality of course. And now I give you the first sneak peek.
Enjoy.
It didn't snow tonight, unlike every other night. All the ice from the day before still blanketed over Moscow, masking the entire city as a black and white paradise. A cold, concrete and steel, icy wonderland. Posters and banners hung all over the place, all praising the one thing forced into everyone's mind. Soldiers, tanks, and aircraft; all charging head on into victory with the words "iz bednosti i v pobedu" flaring out from under them.
Out of poverty and into victory. The perfect slogan to sell a war.
Soldiers marched along Red Square, tanks and missile trucks following right behind them. Stalin's war focused idea of a Rose Float Parade, right there in front of the Kremlin for all too see. Fireworks lit up the night with short bursts of colorful sparks, washing everything over in hues of all kinds. Mostly red. Stalin made sure they will fire off more red than any other to show the Red Army's dominance over all the rest.
The recently constructed Moscow Kremlin filled the sky with spotlights at all four corners of its tall outer concrete wall. It was built like a modern castle, with electrified barbed wire spiraled along the wall's thick top and fully armed towers making a dotted line throughout. The corner towers were the highest, flat on the very top; unlike the others, all spired up. Wind blew hard up there, collecting the ice growing on the roof with each freezing breeze. Who'd ever be up there by choice had to be insane, if not suicidal.
"Anastasia…"
He always said my name calm, controlled. He always knew how to hide the stutter- that jitter- when you talk to the love of your life. That's why I never answered. That's why I just glanced at him through the iced up fog. I could never say his name without giving away my longing for his touch; his mere presence.
I could never hide anything from him… as long as I opened up to him.
"I knew I'd find you here," He stated out right in his slow means of speak. Always clear and dark; like he's sad about something that's close to come. A soul crushing blow to end it all. "You always come here during Stalin's get-togethers. Every time you want to get away from it all." His big build was warm beside me, all while he stared down at the parade far below.
I just held myself, leaning over the stone ledge with the wind teasing the end of my dress. A silky bright red, showing off my Soviet patriotism. Even my golden earrings and bracelets reminded me of the flag's hammer and sickle. "What can I say? I'm a creature of habit."
He knew me, which is why he aimed an open cigarette tin at me. I always smoke when he's next to me. He gets my nerves shot like there's no tomorrow. I plucked one out without batting an eye, and he tucked his tin back down his tuxedo jacket. Right when I got the cigarette to my lips, he was right there with the lighter.
My face stung a little from the tiny flame suddenly bringing some heat, but it didn't matter. I didn't care. It was worth seeing his face come out of the night's shadow for those few precious seconds. Making the moment note-worthy so it stuck in my head longer than it should. If only I could take a picture, use my eyelids like a camera so I can blink out a photo.
If only…
"Habits are good," He said, speaking as a shadow once more. The shine of his slicked-back hair and the glare of his eyes were the only things telling me he was there. "They let us show people who we are, what we do. Habits tell people that once we do something different, then that's when something is going on. Something's changing place in our heads once we change place in our routine." He sighed, the air coming out of him heavy enough to drop to the floor. "If only Russia kept its habit, instead of turning everything upside-down. These parades, these parties and meetings here in the Kremlin; just baby steps before the war to come." He looked at me, a stare of dread through the darkness between us. "Before you get shipped out to fight in the frontlines."
I turned to face him, still holding myself on the ledge with an elbow. The stern stare he gave me flushed a wave of paranoia in me. Like I was naked here in the dark. With the dress I was wearing, I practically was. Thin silk and nothing underneath left very little to the imagination when it's cold, especially when you have curves.
I couldn't resist teasing him. "Are you worried for me?"
"Worried?" He huffed with confidence. "Not a chance. They don't call you the Red Queen cause you're royalty."
I let the ashes fall from the cigarette's tip, watching them fly off into the Russian sky. "Who knows, maybe I am the long lost Princess Anastasia. Plagued by amnesia, raised in an orphanage, joins the military, and ends up working for the very army that killed off her whole family. A secret like that is almost too much to bear and too encumbering to keep tucked away."
He glanced away, his chiseled face turned to stone. "Secrets."
"Secrets… A secret strong enough to get a person killed." I gently cupped a hand under his chin, and he held my wrist as we stared into each other's eyes. Looks that cut through the dark with ease. "A secret that you wouldn't want to tell the one you love. A secret that'll do just what you don't want."
His voice didn't change, even in a whisper. Still deep and strong. "And what's that?"
I bit my lip before the answer, taking in a mouthful of cherry red lipstick. "Break her heart. Leave her out in the cold all alone. Leave her and never come back. Have her stare out an empty window and wait for him to come strolling back once again. Wish and want for that old heartfelt routine to fill her time, just like old times. To kill her slowly until there's nothing left but a withered old husk that stuck in the past so far that the future is nowhere near her. That's the worst thing anyone could do. That's the one thing I never want to happen to us."
He grabbed me, nearly lifting me right off the ground. All I could do was hold onto his chest while he hugged me tight. Breathe in his beautiful scent. Feel the world pass by while it was just me and him, frozen in time. I wish this moment filled the rest of my life, completed the last bit of my life. Followed up by "and they lived happily ever after. The end."
If only…
"You know everything…don't you?"
I had to whisper. It was the only thing that stopped my voice from breaking. "Everything? No. Not even close to everything. Just enough. Enough to be given orders. Two words that I'd never wanted to hear in my life." I took a deep breath. "Kill him. Kill the spy. Kill the man who's infiltrated our high command and discovered our plans for attack. Get the rat, trap him, and display him as a threat to all other spies out there wanting to do the same."
He didn't even flinch. It was like everything I told him was about someone else. Someone in a load of trouble and staring death in the face. He's the one in danger, and I'm the one breaking down. I have no idea how he does it. "And what exactly are you going to do? Follow orders… or defy them?"
I put an arm over his shoulder, bringing him in closer than ever. "You know me. You tell me."
He told me with a long, heartfelt, kiss. A kiss that could flare up the wind beneath us. Bring us to the sky and find our inner peace. Make a moment into an eternity. Crumble away the monstrous world around us and give us our own paradise. A kiss that made everything seem perfectly fine.
Seem… but not become. An illusion instead of reality.
A quick metallic chink… and his eyes opened right up. He held his breath, unable to breathe. Long red fingernails, made of steel. The bracelets hid the scars wrapped around my wrists, where my new hands were attached. Scalpel-like blades at the end of each and every finger.
A secret he didn't know.
My hand pushed into him, digging into his warmth. Steam rose right out of him into the cold air around my neck. His ribcage didn't help him much, my hand sneaking under it. I felt his heart beat against my fingertips, beat until it quickly ceased. Enough holes to let the blood pump right out of him.
I eased him to the floor, kneeling to hold him. Hug him tight. He still stared up at me… and never blinked again. I stayed quiet until the cold quickly took him over. Until whatever warmth he had was gone for good.
Retracting my nails, I used the same hand to brush his hair back. "Farewell, sweet prince. Whoever sent you, whoever cursed you with your dreadful burden, I hope they burn. I hope they suffer for ruining what we could have had. What should have been. For what they forced me to do to you."
I had rope tucked under my feet, hidden by the night. I had to give a message to other spies, other agents who'd dare to crawl around below us. Strike them with fear and make them trip, make them scared stiff. Have them peek out of cover to get hit on the spot. There's more where he came from, and all of them are trying to sniff out the juicy Soviet secrets.
Secrets…
A spotlight clicked on, shinning right on the tower's base. The parade audience down below had their attention changed by the sudden blinding light. From the top, everyone must have believed it was a bungee jumper, plummeting head first. But then the screaming started once they saw he was dead. More screaming started… once they saw the blood pouring out of him.
I'll never know who he worked for.
Some started running away, crying out for help. There was no help for him. Far, far too late.
The country that hired, trained, and perfected him.
The hole was big enough to let gravity pull out whatever was inside him right out, dangling all of his innards for all to see.
What he wanted and what he knew.
A nice puddle formed down below, gathering up as he drained out.
If he truly loved me back.
Every bump into the stone wall left a red smear, running down a long trail.
All I know is I loved him… enough to kill him before he was found out.
The parade continued like nothing happened, but everyone who saw the dead body in the spotlight would remember this night. Tell everyone they knew. Read the paper and save it somewhere good. See what happens to spies and traitors. See what happens to rats in the kitchen.
That's why I'm the queen. That's why I'm in command. Nothing goes without my say-so. The only weird thing tonight was… I didn't cry. Maybe it'll hit me morning.
It usually does.