Hey everyone I am back! Sorry I do not have much to say since I am really tired, and my mind is just a blank (this is why I write all my stories down on paper first before I start typing them up on the laptop), so I am just going to dive right in to this chapter today. As always I do thank you for your reviews/comments, and also I hope you enjoy this chapter!
WARNING!: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SOME MINOR GRAPHIC CONTENT!
Chapter 13: Promises Broken
Free Port of Vladivostok, Russia (The Region of Primorsky Krai)
Late spring, 1884
"What did you think about your first shipping trip, little brother?" Mitka asked the newest member of the FESCO Transportation Group, Alyosha Pavlov. A young boy who was just shy of turning nineteen; who had wide blue eyes that almost looked identical to those of the Royal Family.
"It was alright," Alyosha admitted shyly, "I didn't get to see much though."
"Don't worry, little brother," said Mitka as he threw one of his lean muscular arms over Alyosha's sore shoulders, causing him to wince slightly with pain. His body had not yet become accustomed to the demands of his new job.
"You'll see plenty of interesting things in this line of business in due time." Mitka chuckled like a man who knew more than what he was letting on.
Alyosha had a pretty good idea on what Mitka was talking about. He may not have known the man long, but he knew that Mitka had the reputation for sampling the "local flavors" (as his crew mates so casually described) at the ports they made stops at, much to the Captain's disapproval of course.
"Please stop calling me that." Said Alyosha tirelessly.
"Hey, it's a better nickname than what the others call you, isn't it?" A playful smirk danced across Mitka's thin lips, reminding Alyosha of a cat.
Alyosha rolled his eyes and begrudgingly admitted to himself that Mitka had a small point; he would much rather be called little brother than The Romanov Bastard, despite the fact that he had no familial ties to the Romanov family (that he knew of anyway).
"Right, little brother?"
At times Alyosha wished he had been assigned a different mentor when he first joined the crew; Mitka was obnoxious and at times pushed Alyosha's patience to the limit.
Once he had joined the crew the Captain of the ship had placed him under the wing of Mitka Volkov, most likely because they were not that far apart in age with Mitka being four years Alyosha's senior. Mitka was delighted to take on the role of mentor because it had "gotten him a little brother out of the deal".
At first all was well aboard the ship with Mitka when they first set sail to Japan. Mitka had taught Alyosha the ropes of working upon the ship and even stuck up for him at times when he became the punching bag and the brunt of many cruel jokes to the rest of the crew. At one point Alyosha was glad to have Mitka as his mentor and even viewed the man as an older brother that is until they made their first stop.
Once their job of unloading the ship's cargo had been completed the Captain had so kindly granted everyone an evening off, but had warned everyone not to go overboard on the fun because they were to set sail back to Russia first thing in the morning. Alyosha had at first been as excited as a boy at Christmas. He was given the chance to see a new world with his own eyes, a world he had only heard about up until they made port, Mitka had even promised him a night to remember.
Mitka had fulfilled his promise to Alyosha.
On their evening off Mitka had gotten drunk by drinking his weight in imported beers and once inebriated enough he began to make quite the ass out of himself by cracking filthy jokes, spouting lewd comments, and throwing insulting comments towards the locals. Alyosha quickly learned the phrase "Gomen'nasai" to apologize on behalf of Mitka's disrespectful behavior.
Around midnight Mitka had literally dragged Alyosha to a local brothel, which Alyosha protested against, but Mitka paid him no mind as he spent a great amount of money for a virgin just for Alyosha.
"Have fun, little brother!" Is what Mitka had told him as he threw both him and the young prostitute into one of the private rooms' before slamming the door closed and leaving the two of them alone so he could go and delve into his own adventure.
Both the girl and Alyosha ran away from each other to opposite ends of the room and glued their backs up against the wall, both looking at each other with petrified stares, like little field mice afraid of their own shadows.
Alyosha didn't know who was more terrified; him or the girl.
"Uh-er…Do you know English?" Alyosha had asked her after a time.
She shook her head yes and also informed him that she spoke some English.
This gave Alyosha some relief; to not have a language barrier between the two of them.
Alyosha had then reassured the young girl (who, now that Alyosha had looked at her more closely, appeared to be his age perhaps even a couple years younger than himself) that he had no inappropriate intentions towards her. Afraid that he might have insulted her he hastily explained that while she was very pretty they were not married and he would not feel right consummating a relationship with someone who was not his wife.
His words made the young girl smile and blush softly; she had even called him an "honorable man".
"I am Alyosha Pavlov." He introduced himself to her, "What is your name, Miss?"
She sounded like a small child when she spoke, "Shimizu Haruko. You may call me Haruko, if you like." She added softly afterwards.
Alyosha and Haruko spent the remainder of the evening sitting a respectful distance from each other and just talked; about their homes, their families, what events that had happened that lead them to their now current professions. It had turned out to be quite the pleasant evening for Alyosha.
It was still early in the morning when the two of them said their goodbyes to each other. Haruko had thanked Alyosha for behaving like a true gentleman around her, and she even gave him a modest kiss on the cheek before telling him to stay safe.
"For you, Miss Shimizu Haruko, I will." Alyosha had promised, which brought a sweet smile to her pink lips.
Alyosha then hefted the exhausted body of Mitka over his shoulders and headed back to catch some rest on the ship before setting sail.
"You have been awfully quiet for awhile, little brother." Mitka commented.
"I was just thinking."
A devious grin shone on Mitka's face, "About that virgin I bestowed upon you?"
"No!" Alyosha quickly lied averting his gaze away from Mitka.
He felt his face turning red in the process and thanked God that Mitka could not see very well in the dark.
Alyosha thought quickly in order to change the subject, "I was just wondering if it is really necessary for you to follow me home."
Mitka instantly sobered up, "Absolutely." He spoke seriously, "Haven't you heard about the murders'?"
"Murders'?" he questioned nervously.
"Jesus Christ! Where have you been?" Mitka was quite stunned that Alyosha had never heard a word about the murders'; it was all anybody in Primorye talked about.
"For the past four to five years," Mitka began to explain, "some madman has been haunting the port and killing off sailors."
"And they haven't caught him?"
Alyosha began to glance about nervously, fearing that every shadow now hid the murderer.
"W-W-Wh-Why is he killing sailors?"
"No one knows," Mitka answered truthfully, "Every so often the patrol finds a mutilated body somewhere in the port, but there seems to be no motive for the killings."
"What?"
"Well, nothing was stolen from the poor men who met their end by the man's hands, and there appears to be no reason why someone would just out right kill the victims."
"Perhaps it is because this person is insane."
Alyosha was becoming hysterical with each step they took; his breathing was also starting to come in quick, short pants as well.
Mitka noticed the sudden change in his young friend and did his best to calm him down.
"Do not worry, little brother," said Mitka giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, "I won't let anything bad happen to –"
The comforting weight of Mitka's arm vanished from Alyosha's shoulders, which left him feeling a sickening sense of dread.
"Mitka?!"
Alyosha turned about quickly to find his friend being held captive; he saw the glint of a razor sharp knife being held at Mitka's throat by one of the most sinister human beings he had ever seen in his young life.
The man who held Mitka prisoner was clad entirely in black robes, his hair was the color of the darkest nights, he may have only been of average height but an insidious aura radiated from him which would have made even the toughest of military men quake in their boots at the sight of him. It was his eyes those that really terrified Alyosha though.
His eyes were dark, practically soulless as they stared directly at Alyosha with all the focus of a predator to its prey. Those dark eyes stared directly at him, boring through him and cutting right into his soul.
Alyosha was convinced that this was no man, but a demon that had been summoned from the darkest depths of Hell.
He would have made the sign of the cross to protect himself but found he could not even move let alone speak. He was surprised that he was even still breathing as he stared at the terrifying sight before him, legs quivering with fear, threatening to give out there on the spot.
Mitka looked as equally as petrified as Alyosha, even more so, but stood still and remained stiff as a plank of wood. Mitka was afraid that if he even so much as flinched that the man's knife blade would slit his throat and that would be the end of him.
"English?"
Alyosha almost pissed himself when he heard the demonic figures voice; the voice was low and sounded more like a growl when he spoke.
"W-W-W-W-Wh-Wh-What?" Alyosha stuttered in English, his whole body trembling with terror now.
"English?!" He demanded louder, pressing the knife closer to Mitka's throat.
If Alyosha would have blinked he would have missed what happened next.
Acting on impulse, as well as the basic need to survive, Mitka delivered a hard blow to his captors mid section with his sharp elbow. The man let out a surprised gasp of air as the wind was knocked right out of him, lowering the knife from Mitka's throat, and releasing as well.
"Alyosha! RU-"
Alyosha never even saw the man draw his sword; all he saw was his friend's head removed from his shoulders in one quick fluent stroke.
"Shine."* The man growled as Mitka's headless body fell to the ground, his head not far from where the body landed.
"MITKA!" Alyosha cried, tears stinging at his eyes.
Mitka's murderer turned his sights back on Alyosha.
Alyosha didn't know what it was this mad man wanted, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out. He turned tail and bolted from the scene as fast as he could run. Alyosha did not get very far; within mere seconds the man was upon Alyosha, lifting him from off his feet and slamming him hard against one of the nearby warehouses.
The force of the slam caused Alyosha's head to snap back and smack against the warehouse wall. He could feel an intense stinging pain spread from the back of his head to his entire skull, causing the tears in his eyes to flow faster down his cheeks. For a brief moment in his stunned state he thought his head might actually burst from the pulsating pain.
A familiar glint brought Alyosha back to his dangerous reality; using his right hand the man held the very same knife that was held at Mitka's throat to Alyosha's throat and he used his left arm to pin him against the wall of the warehouse.
"English?" The man hissed pressing knife closer to Alyosha's pale throat.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Alyosha cried in English, "I speak English! I speak English!"
"I seek a half breed girl." He informed Alyosha.
"H-H-Half b-b-b-breed?"
"Half English and half Japanese." He explained further in adequate English, "Her name is Takeda Young Emi. Have you seen, or heard of such a girl?"
"N-N-No!"
"Too bad." He said as he released Alyosha.
Alyosha slumped down to the ground and looked up into the cold murderous eyes of his assailant with his own tear filled ones.
His eyes held no regret, nor sympathy, it shook Alyosha to his core and it was in that moment that he knew that he was staring up into the eyes of his executioner.
"Name?"
"M-m-my name?" Alyosha asked, not fully understanding what he just heard.
Without breaking eye contact the man nodded once.
"A-A-Alyosha. Alyosha Pavlov."
"I can't allow you to live, Alyosha Pavlov." He said drawing his sword from its scabbard.
Alyosha's heart dropped from his chest.
"Gomen'nasai." His murderer whispered as he brought his sword above his head.
The only sounds Alyosha could hear now were his labored breathing and his erratic heartbeat; all other sounds within the port ceased to be no more as he watched the man standing before him swing his sword in a downward motion towards him for the killing blow.
In Alyosha's final moments he thought of the pretty young girl back in Japan, and a new wave of tears assaulted his eyes at the memory of her and their evening together. He could still see her innocent smiling face and hear her warm words as she told him to stay safe.
Shimizu Haruko, Alyosha closed his eyes; he wanted his last thoughts to be of her and only her.
I am sorry. He made his apology before a blinding white light took over his field of vision and a deadly chill settled over his still body.
And so another chapter has ended. Don't worry Emi, Erik, and Nadir will return in the next chapter (I just had to introduce the stories antagonist is all). Alright I am going to get some sleep now, you guys take care and I will see you in chapter 14.
*Shine: pronounced like She-nay; is Japanese for Die
(Also I am not a linguist, translator, any kind of language teacher I am only pronouncing the words as best as I can to avoid confusion. I didn't want you guys wondering why someone would say shine after decapitating a person.)