A catastrophe of such an extent required Russia's sisters to leave immediately for their places. It was rumored they had both lost all of their hair and a significant part of their skin. They wouldn't be back before the end of 1989.

Ivan left for a few weeks, then got back, but nobody would see much of him. He'd spend most of the time in his office; he even had his meals brought to him. That was a huge relief to everyone, especially to Eva, who couldn't even hear his name without her tension rising.

Somewhere outside the Eastern Bloc, still in 1986

The journey and arrival were one big haze; I was too tired. All I remember is that, when I got off the plane, another car was waiting for me and took me to a hotel where I instantly fell asleep.

I must have napped for twenty-four hours straight and would have probably slept much longer if the cleaning lady hadn't woken me up. She looked pretty in that simple uniform, with her brownish skin and jet-black ponytail. I smiled. She smiled back. I guess you can figure out the rest.

I dreamt of Eva, so when I woke up again, I decided to call her. By then, she would have already found out I was gone. I struggled with the phone and waited for quite some time, but in the end, I reached the right place. And, quite by chance, the right person.

"Braginsky residence." My heart jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Princezničko," I whispered helplessly. She gasped. Neither of us knew what to say, so we just stayed on the line, listening to each other's breathing.

In the meantime, the woman next to me woke up. I'd completely forgotten about her.

"Your girlfriend?" she mumbled. Her voice was colored with sleepiness and some unknown accent.

"My sister," I explained in a hushed tone.

"What did you say?" Eva asked on the other side.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I was just talking to a cleaning lady." Although I knew I should be hanging up, I just couldn't.

"I gather you can't tell me where you are?" she tried timidly.

"I'm afraid not," I sighed.

"Then… just the direction," she pleaded. "So I know which way to look to see you coming back."

Her struggling not to cry almost made me cry myself.

"West, darling. I went west."

Translation:

Princezničko (in Czech) = little princess (vocative form)

After I hung up, we fooled around some more until we both drifted to sleep. When I woke up again the next day, my mysterious lover was gone.

Lying in the bed, I decided I deserved one more day off. After all, it wasn't like the work would actually go away or something.

I went to the breakfast room, but all they had were sugar-coated cereals and I've never really had a sweet tooth. Even their bread was sweet somehow. So I just had a cup of coffee (which, on the other hand, was surprisingly good) and decided to walk to a place where I could get some actual food.

Only after two hours' walk did I realize that I wasn't home anymore. Streets were weird - they were all running at right angles to each other. Also, they were really big - obviously made for cars. Barely anybody walked there and I was starting to understand why. Despite my lengthy stroll, I still couldn't find a single place to eat. So the second I finally noticed a bus stop, I was more than relieved.

I quickly reached the right part of the city and picked the classiest restaurant - it was Ivan's money, after all. I asked them to bring me what their customers liked the most. Mere minutes later, I was staring at a piece of meat that would normally provide me and Eva both with lunch and dinner.

I cut through and shuddered. It's not really in my mentality to complain, but when the waiter came over and asked whether everything was okay, I explained the meat was bleeding. It took him two trips to the kitchen and back to get it just right - we didn't seem to have the same definition of 'well-cooked'. But when, at last, I had the first bite, it felt like heaven in my mouth.

With my stomach pleasantly full, I decided to give walking one more chance, discovering plenty of other strange things on the way. People were of all the possible races and origin. Schoolgirls all wore the same clothes. The Flag seemed to be everywhere. And when, at the end of the day, I found a nice bar where to have a drink, they asked for an ID! I laughed as I showed them my passport. At my place, thirteen-year-old brats would go drinking and barely anybody cared. I ordered a beer, had a sip and almost choked. Yes, it was awfully bland, but something else surprised me even more.

I pulled the photograph out of my pocket and compared with the person on the far side of the room. Tall. Dirty blond. Blue eyes. It was him. Definitely. Except he didn't look as confident as in the picture. Maybe because of that mountain of muscle plucking him against the wall, looking like he was about to kill him.

"You fucked my girlfriend!" the mountain roared.

"No! You're confusing me with someone!" his victim replied, probably not as assertively as he would have wanted. He was in for a treat and he knew it.

I wondered what to do. I was positive he did fuck the girl, but who was I to judge?! He needed help and he needed it quickly. Except that if I was to intervene, the giant would just grab us both and simultaneously strangle us. Police would never get here in time. And if something was to happen to him, I wouldn't exactly help me, either. What do I do? Think! Think! Think!

All of a sudden, I had an amazing idea.

A second later, I was standing next to the unlucky skirt chaser with my hand around his waist, staring the angry monster in the eye.

"Hey, this is my boyfriend! Go find your own one!" I shouted in his face, then drew my "lover" even closer. He got the memo.

"I told him I wasn't interested, but he just keeps insisting!" he whimpered, face against my shoulder. I looked back at the giant. He didn't seem convinced.

"And now you're taking me for an idiot!" he thundered. "You know what? I'll just beat the shit out of both of-"

"You wanna fight? You wanna fight? Let's fight then!" I retorted, removed my jacket, then the shirt and started to undo my trousers, too.

"Errrr… What the hell are you doing?" the brute inquired with a grimace, cautiously moving away.

"I always fight naked! Now, we're fighting or what?!" Before my trousers could sink under my knees, he was gone. What a relief. I got dressed again, trying not to think about the whole bar staring at me and finally ventured a look at the guy.

"That was amazing!" He let out a loud laugh. "Now let's get going." I didn't want to go anywhere, but he literally pushed me out of the bar into a darkened alleyway. And, before I could say or do anything, I was thrown against a nearby wall, face first. What the... ? This is what I get for humiliating myself to help him?!

"What are you-"

"Don't move," he ordered in a cool voice. Just as cool as the metal that suddenly poked the back of my neck. Shit. This is bad.

"Name?"

"Heinrich Locke."

"Origin?"

"Germany." Yes. That was supposed to be my secret identity. There wasn't a single reason why it shouldn't work. I'd spent enough time with Edelstein and the Beilschmidts to convince anybody. "I'm here to-"

"A fucking commie! I knew it!" he barked. I winced.

"No! Western Germany!"

"A Nazi then!" he shouted even louder.

I've been both, I mentally sighed. And I'm not proud of either.

"You've helped me, so I'll give you another chance. You've got three seconds to tell me the truth."

That was bad. Very, very bad. Telling him the truth would put people in the Eastern Bloc in danger. There were still a few of them I cared about.

I suspected this would happen one day or the other. And I'd always wondered how I would react. Probably cry like a baby, beg for mercy and shit myself. Yet now, in the thick of it, however odd it might seem, all I could do was think of Eva's smile.

"One… two…"

In those three seconds, I relived our life together, remembering every last smile she'd ever given me. It made me happy. I just wished I could have seen a few more.

"...three. You're a liar. I don't want liars here. Any last words?"

"Tell my wife, I mean, sister I love her," I whispered. Her portrait against my heart kept it warm.

My eyes closed and my mouth smiled.

His gun went deeper into my flesh.

And then… Nothing.

Just…

Nothing.

-END OF CHAPTER 36-