POV: Dimitri
I sat in the car gripping the piece of paper in my hand like it might drift away if I don't hold it tight enough. I looked at my handwriting on it again, before I stuffed it into the pocket of my duster right next to Rose's letter and put the keys into ignition. Just as I was about to start the car my cellphone lighted up. I glanced down to it and when I saw the reason it's shining I almost jumped out of my skin. Four missed calls. A gulp of panic rose to my throat as I dialed. Two rings later Adrian picked up his voice breaking up as he inhaled and exhaled loudly: "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm heading back-."
"NO", he cut in, briefly regain control over his lungs, "No, don't head back. Get in the car and drive towards the restaurant we ate at."
"Adrian what's going on?"
"Guardians are chasing after us, that's what's bloody going on", he cried out.
"What? How did this happen? I-."
"Dimitri you need to start moving right now. Meet us at the restaurant in twenty minutes. Don't be late or you'll find corpses."
"They won't shoot on sight. As long they don't consider you to be a threat", I elaborated.
"They will, they have", he countered, "Probably has something to do with the fact that I shot one of them."
"YOU DID WHAT?", I yelled so loud even my ears hurt.
"In the leg, in the leg, Jesus", he blurted out, "It's barely a scratch. He'll live, but I needed to slow him down or we'd be in handcuffs by now. I need to hang up. We are running if you haven't noticed my gasping for air. I'll see you soon."
The line went dead.
POV: Evangeline
We haven't said a word to each other as we waited for Dimitri to arrive. Adrian was constantly checking over his shoulder and glancing at his watch. When the sound of an engine broke through the night Adrian let his hand hover over the gun that was back behind his belt. The car stopped in front of us and Dimitri literally jumped out of it rushing towards us.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?", he asked reaching us.
"We are fine", Adrian responded his voice strained and serious.
Dimitri's eyes fell one me, stopping when they reached my jaw. I knew it was visible even in the dark by the way his eyes widened. A big nasty bruise that formed quickly right on the edge, caused by my fall. The one where Adrian knocked me out of the way and I hit the ground before I could even form the idea of stretching my hands out to soften the blow.
"How did that happen?", Dimitri asked his fingers softly grazing my skin.
"Adrian saved me from the guardian that caught up", I mumbled picking my words carefully.
"The one you shot?", Dimitri asked fixing his eyes on Adrian.
"The one. Let's go", was all he said before he walked to the car.
"Where are we going?", I asked glancing between the two of them.
"As far away from here as possible", Adrian added over his shoulder opening the back door and motioning me in.
"Actually, we won't be going that far", Dimitri announced pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket, "Remember my friend who got us over the boarder?"
"That Misha guy?", Adrian asked frowning.
"Yes. He got us a way out now. He has a friend who owns a plane."
"Of course he does", Adrian sneered rolling his eyes, "You know, you got some pretty shady friends."
Dimitri ignored his comment and added: "I think it'd be best if we got out of the country while we still can."
"Sound like a plan", Adrian concluded as we all got into the car and Dimitri let the engine roar back to life, "Where to?"
"I don't know yet", Dimitri responded, but I saw his eyes flicker as he glanced back driving the car in reverse to get out of the parking lot.
"Well anywhere is better than here", Adrian huffed, "But I have a good idea on where we should go."
I noticed Dimitri's shoulders bunch up a little as he asked: "And where is that?"
"Back to where we came from, America."
"Are you insane?", I exclaimed for the first time addressing him directly.
"Not yet. I'm just smart", he retorted angrily.
"Smart? Try an idiot. They'd catch you before your feet could touch the ground. They found you all the way back here, you really think they won't when you are-?"
"Right under their noses", Dimitri cut in glancing at Adrian, "You are right. Only an idiot would go within their grasp and stand right in front of them-."
"Thank you", I huffed glaring at the back of Adrian's head.
"Which is exactly why they won't notice us and why we should do just that", Dimitri finished.
"Wait what?", I exclaimed.
"Like I said", Adrian boasted, "Smart."
"You are both insane", I mumbled into my chin leaning back and crossing my arms on my chest.
All conversation stopped after that. Dimitri took the remote roads. We knew the guardians were on our tail and we could afford to take any risks. We didn't stop until we finally hit the highway three towns away from the one we were in. Adrian hopped out and headed to the bathroom as I pulled Dimitri back.
"You are not seriously going along with his crazy plan are you?", I whispered looking up at him.
"Actually I am. It turns out it goes along with my plan perfectly."
"And what's your plan?"
He turned around finishing up with the car and slamming the nozzle back into the gas pump.
"Dimitri, what's you plan?", I exclaimed again tugging his hand in an attempt to make him turn around.
"To finish all of this."
POV: Adrian
"I need to take a piss", I announced closing the door behind me and heading towards the back of the station.
Neither of them followed me, luckily, so once they were out of sight I pulled out my cell and typed in a message.
Heading to an airport in Moscow. Any instructions?
Seconds later the screen flashed with a response.
Don't get killed. We are on our way. We are bringing along a friend of yours. Send us the info.
I written down the things I've managed to read off of the piece of paper Dimitri showed us before I slipped the phone back into my pocket and headed back. I found Eva and Dimitri back in the car staring out the windows in silence.
"Let's get going, shall we?", I suggested as nobody seemed to notice my presence.
Dimitri wordlessly drew back to the road, while Eva fumbled with something in her hands. One long look and I realized it was the bracelet Oksana gave her.
"I don't think it has any spirit left in it", I voiced meeting her eyes in the rear-view mirror.
"You're probably right, but I still like it", she mumbled wrapping it around her wrist and clicking the clasp shut.
"So does either one of you have any bright ideas on who ratted us out?", I switched the topic glancing around the car.
"What makes you think someone ratted us out?", Dimitri asked frowning.
"I'm pretty sure the guardians didn't just get lucky. We are hard people to find. Don't you think we've proven that so far?", I responded noticing Eva shift uncomfortably in the back.
"Probably. But we can worry about it later", Dimitri breathed out, "Any word from our helper?"
"None", I muttered glancing at Dimitri's aura to see if it'll set off any alarms.
It didn't. So Eva didn't tell him about the phone call after all. I was glad. I didn't think she was going to listen. I felt sorry for intimidating her, but it comforted me to know all of this was going to end soon. They'll both be safe and the running, hiding and lying will be over, I thought as a little flash of a memory crossed my mind, a memory of a day that seemed like a lifetime ago. The day Natasha Ozera ceased to exist. I knew this day would come eventually, I knew it even back then, but I've been waiting for it for so long it started to look like a dream. Now, that dream is turning to reality.
POV: Dimitri
Nobody asked us any questions when we arrived. They were obviously expecting us, Nathan worked fast. They let us slip into a little hangar at the end of the airport where only one plane was waiting. A plane waiting to take Adrian to safety and me to imprisonment. As we approached it I notice Adrian stumbling a bit before he came to a stop.
"Hold on. I know that plane", he muttered eyeing the craft in front.
"How could you possibly know a plane owned by some random guy called Misha?", Eva nervously chuckled since she's probably figured out so far that the story I told Adrian and her wasn't the exact truth.
"Because it's not a plane owned by some random guy called Misha, it's a plane owned by my father", Adrian voiced glaring at me, "Dimitri what's going on?"
"Adrian please, we are wasting time with your ridiculous-, it's a plane like any other. It's probably just a lot similar to the one your father owns", I said calmly trying to trick him into false security.
It didn't work. He crossed his arms on his chest and slowly pronounced every word loudly: "You. Are. Lying."
I opened my mouth trying to come up with something to say when Eva finally interrupted saying something I never expected from her: "So are you."
Adrian twirled around to look at her, raising his eyebrow like a challenge. She stood her ground a stern look on her face: "You are lying about the secret helper. You are lying about your intentions now. And you are lying about the past."
"What about the past?", Adrian asked ignoring the previous accusations.
"We know you killed her Adrian", I finally managed to say, "We know you killed Natasha."
"WHAT?", he yelled turning around to face me.
"There is no point in hiding it anymore. I know. I think I've known it from the day you showed up on my door to tell me Natasha is dead. With those injuries, the alleged cat that scratched you, the unexplained cut on your head."
"Are you serious?", he cried out enraged, "That's what this is all about? A tiny fucking cut on my forehead and a scratch on my arm?"
"And your blood in Natasha's cell, the keys from your room on the floor, the camera footage proving you were there before she was found dead, your DNA underneath her fingernails, should I go on?", I yelled throwing my hands up, "I just want to know why Adrian? Why did you lie to me?"
He blinked a few times still in awe before he nodded to himself, biting his lower lip, his eyes glued to the floor and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?", Eva asked as soon as he took his first step.
"As far away from you as possible", he retorted not bothering to turn around.
"I can't let you do that", I voiced following him.
"Oh really", he exclaimed peering over his shoulder, "And what exactly are you going to do? Shoot me?"
"I'll do whatever I have to."
He stopped. I noticed his hand was shaking as he curled it into a fist. Without any warning he jerked back and flew towards me.
"I trusted you", he cried out his voice breaking up slightly, "I followed you across the world quite literally, I never questioned you, never and you-, you can even give me the benefit of the doubt? You saw some evidence and what? That's enough to convict me in your eyes? Then you are no better than anyone else."
"I'm not convicting you Adrian. And you forget, I gave you the benefit of the doubt a long time ago. I gave it you when I picked up my stuff and ran, because you told me to. I just want the truth."
"You want the truth. Here is the truth. I went to see her the day we were supposed to off her. I wanted to look her in the eyes and know that she knew she was going to pay. We had an argument, I turned to leave and she grabbed my hand, digging her nails into my arm and pulled me back. I hit the bars with my forehead, I hit it damn hard. The guards ran in after that, ripped me away from her. I was bleeding, I was furious and I screamed at her promising her she'll die. But I didn't kill her."
"And your keys?"
"I must have dropped them in the midst of all of that. I went for a drink after that, I was in the bar for about an hour. When I reached my room I realized I've lost my keys so I retraced my movements. I winded up back in the cells. When I went there the guards were nowhere to be seen. It was deadly quiet. I walked up to the cells and then I saw her. It's safe to say that picture made me forget all about the keys. I came to get you. I knew we had to run."
"And that's it?"
"That's it."
"What about the bloody clothes? And your tracksuit?"
"What about them?"
"The guardian on duty found your clothes, the ones you were seen in that day, covered in blood in the guardians changing room."
He stopped for a second, just a second, before his eyes flashed and he looked at me with a strange glimmer in his eyes.
"You're all big on questions, aren't you? So let me ask you some. How do you know all of this? The evidence that neither of us saw, the evidence that you wanted to go back to Court for, how come you know what's among that evidence all of a sudden? Oh and how could you possibly know that my DNA was at the crime scene?"
"It doesn't matter", I retorted.
"Oh, but it does. I'm not saying one more word until you tell me."
"Fine", I said throwing my hands up, "A friend of Eva's took a look at the evidence for us. We sent him some blood samples too and he checked them out. Yours matched."
"I never gave you my blood", he mumbled before his eyes widened, "You son of a-, the night you got me wasted, you took my blood didn't you? I was wondering why I had that little red dot on my arm when I woke up, but I just figured something must have bit me."
"So how do you explain the clothes?"
"What's your friend name?", Adrian asked Eva who's been mute the entire time.
"The clothes Adrian?", I urged.
"Name?"
"Jack", Eva muttered.
Adrian looked back and forth between us until he burst to laughter. We looked at him dumbstruck before he finally said: "Tall. Dark hair. Bluish eyes."
"Ye-, yeah", Eva stammered in surprise, "How do you-?"
"Well now I at least know who ratted us out. I have to say my money was on you for a while", Adrian chuckled bitterly.
"What makes you-?"
"I got him into a lot of trouble compelling him to let me into the changing rooms so I can get rid of my clothes", Adrian cut in frowning.
When I opened my mouth, he swiftly cut in adding: "Yes, my bloody clothes. I can actually explain that. I can explain all of it. And I will. I know you don't want to and you think you have no reason to, but I'm going to need you to trust me. Just one last time. I didn't kill her. I swear to you. I know who did though, and I'll tell you that as well, but right now I'm on the clock. We are getting rescued. The chivalry is going to arrive soon."
"Somebody else is going to arrive sooner", Eva said as her eyes peered past me and towards the exit door that in that moment got kicked in and guardians came spilling inside.
POV: Adrian
I really shouldn't have shot that guardian in the leg. I realized that now that they all came here guns blazing. They shouted at us to get down, get our hands in the air, not move, but we didn't exactly stop to listen. Like on cue all three of us launched ourselves into different directions running as the guardians opted for the shoot first ask questions later tactic after all. It became so chaotic at a certain point I felt dizzy from all the lights, shouting and dogging bullets. I registered that Dimitri has taken cover not far from me, but Eva was nowhere to be seen. I heard her voice in the distance, I could make out what she was saying, but it sounded like she was arguing with someone. Dimitri motioned me to move, go towards the door that led God knows where, but was the only exit in sight. He lifted his hand, counting down with his fingers before we raced towards the door. But it became obvious we were surrounded when guardians opened it from the outside before we could from the inside.
"Hands in the air NOW", a woman yelled her gun pointed at Dimitri, "I won't ask again."
"It's not them. They didn't do it. Please stop", Eva screamed trying to fight her way towards us as she was obviously separated by a wall of guardians from us the entire time.
"Alright, alright", Dimitri said his hands flying up, "Nobody has to get shot here. We surrender."
"Somebody already got shot you son of a bitch", a guy shouted furiously stepping up to join the woman.
I glanced down at his leg and noticed it was wrapped up. One look at his face and I was certain he was the guy I shot.
"Wait", I yelled as the guy pointed his gun at my chest, "I've got proof, proof we didn't do it."
It was the worst idea I could have come up with. The most stupid decision I could have made. But I panicked and we need just a bit more time. However, they were all trigger happy now that they finally caught up with us and I moved too fast trying to pull my phone out.
The gun fired and my body went numb. I couldn't move, react or think. I just closed my eyes and waited. I waited for the sound of the trigger clicking and the bullet whizzing out of the barrel with a loud bang to be followed by pain. But the shot never came.
"Nooo", Eva screamed forcing my eyes to snap open.
I looked around confused. Eva was fighting to free herself from one of the guardian's grip and the hangar's massive metal door slid open to let in more of them only they pointed their guns towards our captors rather than us. There was a lot of shouting and hysteria. But my ears went numb, my whole body shut down, when I finally looked down in front of my feet.
I was right, the gun fired, it hit something, but it wasn't me. Dimitri was sprawled on the floor in front of me, a circle of blood slowly spreading on his shirt. I fell to my knees crawling towards him and gripping his hand.
"Dimitri", I whispered knowing it was the only thing I could manage to say.
"Ad-, Adrian", he stammered out his hand twitching towards his chest, "I'm-."
He didn't finish his sentence. I covered his hand with mine and pressed down rambling: "You'll be okay. You'll be just fine. You hear me?"
He looked at me and tried to smile, but he failed since a cough cut him off. As blood laced his lips I had a horrific déjà vu to the last time I witnessed somebody getting shot. Only now everything was happening much faster. Why was the blood spreading so fast, why was he having trouble breathing so fast?
"No, no. Come on", I whispered leaning over him, "Come on, you are stronger than that cousin. You are stronger than that."
His eyes fixed mine. There were so many emotions in them, so many things I knew he would like to say. Like Rose. I couldn't help Rose, I couldn't do anything for her, but I'll be damned if I let him slip away like she did.
"No! You are not going to die. I'm not going to let you, you hear me Belikov!", I screamed, "I failed her, but I'm not going to fail you so help me God!"
I focused on his wound, focused with every ounce of strength I had. I pushed myself so hard I thought my mind might explode from the spirit that filled it. He closed his eyes when I let the spirit go, breathing out in what I thought was relief. His wound closed up slowly underneath my fingers, but his eyes didn't open. I moved my hands to make sure the wound was gone before I cupped his face and shook him slightly. He didn't move. He wasn't breathing. He was-.
"He's gone", a voice next to me whispered breaking my heart into million pieces.
Okay I know this has to be like the most torturous way to finish a chapter which is why I can promise you that the next chapter is coming really really soon, like tomorrow or something. That's fast enough right? RIGHT? So don't panic! You'll know what will happen to both Dimitri and Adrian pretty soon!
Thanks for reading, feel free to make me happy by reviewing! "See" ya all soon!
Kisses, T!