Chapter 6
After breakfast they left the restaurant to wrap themselves up for going outside into the harsh, Russian winter. Anna was unable to avoid leaving at the same time as the nice Italian businessman, smiling at him again. Fortunately he didn't follow them into the lift; she couldn't stand another few moments in a warm, confined space with him. She shivered, trying to replace the images of a muscular, Italian body with the pleasant face of the podgy Russian electrician. It worked again.
Anna didn't object to Kate coming along to try and hopefully find her real father; she had the feeling that Kate was suspicious about her origins anyway. They crossed the street and turned a corner until they ended up outside a small, rather shabby pub. Sarah stood outside it for a moment, feeling unsure.
"Go on in Anna," she said.
"He needs to see you too," Anna replied.
Sarah sighed. "I guess there's no hiding."
They entered, Kate following cautiously; apparently she had heard from some of her gossipy friends that Russians had many drinking problems. Even so, Anna still found most of them rather friendly and polite. As the door shut behind them, they noticed two men behind the bar; one of them was in his early fifties and the other was bending over looking in a fridge. Taking a deep breath, Sarah approached the bar.
"Do you speak English?" she asked.
The older man nodded.
"Does Vsevolod Kepalenko still work here?"
"Yes he does."
The older man set down the glass he was cleaning and turned to regard the younger man looking inside the fridge. He smacked his arse with the towel, the Russian shutting the fridge door and turning to glare at the older man. He shrugged and pointed to Sarah before turning away to serve a nearby customer.
"Vsevolod Kepalenko?" Sarah questioned.
"Should I know you?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Do I look familiar?"
"A little, but I see loads of people every day."
"I'm Sarah. Sarah Smith."
Vsevolod's expression became unreadable.
"Of course," he said eventually.
"You haven't changed much," Sarah replied.
"I take it neither have you."
"I'm not married any more, if that's what you mean."
Vsevolod observed her for a moment.
"That no longer concerns me," he stated, flatly.
"Are you no longer single then?" Sarah queried.
"I mean I'm no longer interested in you."
"Vsevolod…"
"How should I be, eh? Do you expect me to be? You lead me on for three days without even mentioning a husband once. Then, when you're leaving for home, you tell me that you can no longer keep in touch with me because you are married. Can you understand that situation?"
"I was stuck; I loved you both…"
"You can only love one man!"
Sarah sighed. "Do you think I don't regret it?"
"Look, I've never thought about it."
"Well think about it now."
"Why did you come here?"
"My eldest daughter wanted to come to Moscow."
"Children as well? What else did you hide from me?"
"That's you're the father, Vsevolod."
If he was expecting anything, he certainly wasn't expecting that. He first glanced at Kate; she was blonde and certainly didn't look Russian, never mind European. Then he glanced at Anna, seeing her dark hair and European features. It was in that glance that something passed between them. He was like her! Born with a gift of abilities beyond any possessed by ordinary men. Vsevolod then knew that she was like him and his comrades; she was an Other.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"21," Anna replied.
"Of course. Do you speak Russian?"
"Yes."
"Did you learn it quickly?"
"Very quickly."
"Hmm, like I would expect…"
He trailed off and glanced at Sarah.
"Can I speak to her alone?" he queried.
"Of course," Sarah replied.
"Get a taxi and take Kate to visit the GUM department store opposite the Kremlin in Red Square," Anna stated. "That's one of the factors of this wonderful city I don't really mind missing."
"Good idea."
"I'll meet you at some point."
"Oh no! We'll come back here."
Anna shrugged. "I guess I could get lost."
Sarah and Kate left the bar, Anna feeling the ice cold draft as the door opened and closed again. Vsevolod asked the owner for a break in his shift and he joined Anna on the other side of the bar. They sat down at one of the far end tables by the window, Anna watching her mother hail down a rickety grey cab.
"So," Vsevolod began. "Your name?"
"Anna," she replied, looking back to him.
"Hmm, almost English but definitely Russian."
"I think I know what you want to talk about."
Vsevolod nodded. "Do you know what I am?"
"A Russian barman?"
"Hmm, do you know what you are?"
She stared at him blankly and he sighed.
"It must be difficult for you," he stated. "You've never known I'm your father and hence you've never known your own power. It's lucky that you came; if you go on for so long without being trained in your gift you can die."
"You mean like my electricity?"
"You can make lights come on?"
"Yes and other electrical things."
He closed his eyes and smiled. "Then you have not inherited my problem whilst you've been at home, so you will not make the same mistake as me. You have picked up on the Light inside you and not let the Darkness in. I on the other hand was all too eager to throw it all away."
"I don't understand."
"I'm a Vampire, Anna."
Anna's eyes widened and he suppressed a smirk.
"You're surprised?" he asked.
"I never new they existed," Anna replied.
"I suppose you wouldn't; you've been isolated on that little island for too long! As an Other, I am not allowed to force you to choose good or evil. But as your father I have every right to help you and I warn you now; don't see the Dark as a good choice like I did. I regretted it and now look at me; I'm trying so hard to be human again, but it is so terribly hard. The need to feed is difficult to suppress, so I'm forced to live on raw animal meat and pigs' blood."
"You could… err… raid blood banks!"
He laughed. "I've tried, but the Night Watch caught me."
"Tell me, who are the Night Watch?"
"The Light Others who protect the humans from the Dark Others and they licence us to do things; like me to be a Vampire. Then they watch the Dark Others and try to catch them breaking the Truce. It's all so complicated."
"So, you're a Dark Other?"
"Yes, but I'm beginning to de-initiate myself."
"What exactly is an Other?"
"A human born with abilities beyond those possessed by ordinary humans, like your mother and sister. We are all soldiers in a Great Battle. Some around today but many poor souls perished long ago. I have only been around for 100 years; I know many who are centuries old. But we do not age like humans."
"What about me?"
"You have an age to live, like us."
"Am I light or Dark?"
"You have to decide for yourself."
"So, you can change once you've decided?"
Vsevolod sighed, gritting his teeth. "Touchy subject, that. I've been allowed to try and amend my decision because the Lord of Light predicted my naivety would lead me astray at an early age. And of course it did, so here I am. He allowed the Night Watch to help me try to become human again, and then I left the Day Watch; the forces of Darkness. They signed an agreement of my future to remain untroubled by either side and not to influence my decision. I can't not be a Vampire because that is what I am, but I can hide it and act less like one."
"What do you recommend for me?"
"Light of course, but I can see that already."
He smiled reassuringly.
"You may not know it yet, but you feed on light."
"I am afraid of the dark."
"And you will control that fear."
"How?"
"Night Watch will teach you."
"But when do I make my choice?"
"Soon; you'll know when the time is right."
By the time Kate and Sarah returned, Anna and Vsevolod were sat outside on the snow covered curb talking animatedly in Russian. Vsevolod promised to introduce Anna to his friend Kostya, whose father helped Vsevolod to cope with his problems and live without the Day Watch. She also learnt that not all Others joined either side and remained non-initiated; she however, rather wanted to join the side of Light. She was also told about the Inquisition, which was there to try and keep order between the two sides. However, he had not yet mentioned any people from the Night Watch as her mother and sister came over, but Anna felt sure she would soon find out who they were.
"Red Square is lovely in the snow," Sarah proclaimed.
"Of course," Vsevolod replied. "You came in early summer."
Sarah glanced down at Anna,
"Are you two getting on alright then?" she asked.
"Very well thank you," Anna replied, smiling.
"Her Russian is very good," Vsevolod noted.
"Thanks to those excellent language CDs!"
The two of them laughed, getting to their feet and brushing the snow off their trousers. The four of them went back inside to have a drink before Vsevolod had to get back on his shift. They all took their time drinking warm hot chocolate, except for Anna who treated herself to one of the pub's beers that was popular with the local Russians who came in. Anna felt she needed to get idea of what the Russians liked, besides vodka, which she was rather partial to anyway.
"You're keen to get your routes back," Vsevolod noted.
"I may as well while I'm here," Anna replied.
"What is it your doing at college again?"
"An advanced course in engineering; it covers pretty much everything really from computers, car, trucks and the National Grid. I've always been told I'm a rather gifted engineer. Along with all those other things, I have to do a bit of maths to cover more advanced topics like aerodynamics."
"You could work for Tupolev."
"Or even Rosaviakosmos!"
"You should think about doing further engineering in Moscow you know. The Moscow State University is very good for the sciences, maths and engineering. I bet they'd provide good links into the Russian aerospace, nuclear and oil industries too. You could build rockets, reactors and drills!"
"Or drive JCBs."
Vsevolod laughed. "Demolition work?"
"Maybe, or HGV driving or something."
"Or you could be an electrician."
He seemed to say that with some purpose, almost as if being an electrician was a very good option to consider. It was an unusual think to suggest, but he was probably just adding a subtle hint about her abilities. But it still seemed to her as though it should mean more than that. She decided to let that go for now; there was no point worrying about things like this which could have meant nothing. And besides, she didn't want to bring anything on that level up in front of Sarah and Kate because they did not understand.
They finished their drinks soon after that conversation, Vsevolod taking the mugs and the glasses back into the kitchen and shoving them in the dishwasher. Anna paid the old guy who owned the bar before saying goodbye to Vsevolod and leaving the pub. Now that Anna was with them, they decided to check out the Moscow metro. She was the only one among them capable of reading Russian Cyrillic, therefore the only one of them who would be able to decipher the metro map. They stood outside one of the stations, Anna studying the maps to find a station that was closest to the Kremlin.
She eventually found one and explained to Sarah and Kate that they needed to change trains once to get onto the correct line. It was no different to the London Underground system, except that the stations were in Russian Cyrillic and the map less confusing. They travelled deep into the station and bought tickets for a days travel on the metro. The lines were crowded, mostly with Eastern European speakers though there were a few Japanese, Italians and Canadians among them. No doubt all of them were trying to have a break from work, or to see some winter snow, except the Canadians were also specialists in snowy winters.
"You seem to know the metro pretty well," Sarah said as they grabbed seats on the departing train.
"Vsevolod pointed out where places were on it," Anna replied.
"Yes, you and he seem to get on rather well."
"He is my father, you know."
"In was worried he might resent it a bit."
"He never really mentioned wanting to see you again."
"I think I hurt him a bit too much, Anna."
"It's difficult for him though; tricky circumstances."
"Could you tell me what's bothering him?"
"Sorry, it's really too personal."
Sarah nodded her head and then changed the conversation to how much faster the trains seemed here than in London. She had been to London plenty of times and always came back complaining about the Underground. But any metro was like that on a bad day. At the next station, they changed trains quickly, having to run to catch the tube before it left. However, due to the ridiculous girly way Kate tried to run, they had to wait for her to hurry up, moving out of the way of hurrying Moscow businessmen. In the end, they had to wait for the tube to leave, Kate reaching them once it had disappeared into the dark tunnel.
"Nice one Kate," Anna grumbled.
"Sorry, but how do you expect me to run?" Kate asked.
"Like those Russian businessmen!"
"I can't run like a man, Anna."
"No, you just run like a tart. Listen Kate, you don't need to run like that when you're not wearing high heals and miniskirts! You can run like me or mum when wearing trousers and trainers."
"Sorry, but I rarely wear trousers and trainers."
"Then perhaps you should wear them more often."
"Please don't argue," Sarah cut in.
Anna glanced at her mother briefly, and then back to Kate.
"Luckily there's another one due in nine minutes."
They sat down on seats on the now empty platform, Anna watching the cables above the track. She narrowed her eyes, looking deeper and hearing more. She could actually see the electrons moving through them! If not see as more sense them; she'd never noticed that before. She glanced around tube station, but no one else seemed to be paying attention to the lines above. Turning round, she caught sight of a man wearing a long black coat, black jeans and a netted vest. She caught his eye, noticing that she was looking straight at her.
"There are more people now," Kate noted.
Anna was jerked back to reality, looking away from the strange, grey haired man and back to her sister. She was right; more people were beginning to filter onto the platform and wind was blowing in from the tunnel. Sarah got to her feet, Anna getting to hers and leading Kate and her mother over to the platform. Looking back, she saw that the man had now gone. The tube came into the station, slowing to a halt and opening the doors for people to get off. They crammed onto the train with everyone else until they were pushed against the railings.
"Just like London," Sarah muttered.
"Moscow has got a big population," Anna noted.
"I know, hence the crowded Underground!"
The train soon came to a halt at the station Anna wanted, Sarah and Kate following her to the open doorway. They felt suddenly able to breathe again as they travelled through towards the escalators leading out of the station. As they reached the surface, they walked along the snow covered streets until they reached the Kremlin and Red Square. It looked just as beautiful as it did on the television.
"Impressive," Anna complimented.
"They make things so big," Kate noted.
"Goes well with the country then."
Anna took her camcorder out of her bag and turned it on, taking off the lens cap. She set it to record, filming the Kremlin all the way along from where Saint Basil's stood, through to Lenin's Mausoleum, passed the Spasskiy Tower and right to the far corner of the wall. It looked beautiful in the snow with all the darkening grey cloud above it; this video recording would always remind her of the Kremlin when she went home. She glanced at the time shown by the camcorder which she had remembered to alter; it read 3:48pm. That explained why it was beginning to get dark.
They took a long, slow walk the Kremlin to take in the full size of Red Square. It was a vast open space and Anna imagined that you could possibly struggle to see from one end to the other in heavy fog. Afterwards, they trudged up through the snow towards the GUM department store to have a warm drink before they went back to the hotel. Kate had already had a long look at the clothes shops while Anna had been getting to know her father, so there was no need to stop. All they needed to do was relax and take their time seeing as they had a week to spend in Moscow. Come to think of it, they'd be here to the Millennium celebrations.
It was close to 5:00 by the time they had finished their drinks and left Red Square behind for the metro station. They got caught up in the leaving work traffic; the metro stations were getting fuller and the roads were getting busier. They were stuck on the tubes for a bit before they eventually emerged above the ground. They walked passed the small pub, Anna spotting Vsevolod still serving out drinks to people. He must have a long shift. They had to make a dash for the pedestrian crossing before the lights went back to green, but there wasn't any traffic waiting for them anyway. Anna was last to get to the crossing, but a strange noise caught her ears.
While the lights were still on red, Anna turned to look down the road. A yellow truck came speeding down towards her, the sound she had heard being the screeching of the breaks as it came to a halt. No one seemed to look at it twice, but Anna suddenly felt something unusual about it. She stared right at the driver, remembering him as the electrician she had spoken to twice now.
"Come on Anna!" Sarah shouted.
Anna heard her mother's call, managing to tear her gaze away from the van driver's. She crossed the remainder of the road, the lights turning back to green behind her and allowing the yellow truck to leave. As she watched it, she recalled what Vsevolod had said to her. Why did he think she should be an electrician? What was so special about them?
But she didn't have time to dwell much on that thought much before she followed Sarah back into the hotel. There wasn't much left of the day, so they lingered over dinner before going to bed in their rooms upstairs. Anna quickly checked the thermostat while Kate wasn't looking, happy to see that she hadn't bothered to turn in back up. She still had several thoughts orbiting about her head as she lay down in bed to go to sleep. She desperately wanted to explore Moscow alone and find out exactly what the strange, underlying forces at work were. Or perhaps Vsevolod could tell her seeing as he seemed to know a lit; she would ask him in the morning.
