"What do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing you haven't already told her twice."
Angel: Billy (written by Tim Minear and Jeffrey Bell)
HER BURNING HEART
The Story of Lilia Derevko by JetNoir
Note: I'm bumping the rating up for this chapter, as it contains some scenes of domestic abuse…something I utterly despise, and feel nothing but contempt for the men and women who commit this terrible crime. The 'finger' is finally about to be explained, but I feel this is going to get darker for a bit…and then I'll lighten it again! Writing about the origin of a serial-killer (albeit fictional) is very surreal, but I hope you're enjoying it.
CHAPTER THREE: 28th October 1982
St. Petersburg
11:00pm
"You're still haunted by that night," said Constantine Derevko; to his daughter Lilia, "aren't you." Lilia glared fiercely at her father, and refused to answer.
Constantine took this surprising well. Lilia might have been learning about power, and the necessity for secrets, but she still hated – and feared – her father.
Constantine's drinking had increased dramatically, since his brutal crime of murder was witnessed by his daughter, and when he rolled in, late, his wife, Anna, feared his vicious hand. Worse, she feared for her daughter, and her safety. She knew what could happen. If it came to the worst.
10:30pm
It had happened again tonight. Anna winced, and bit her mouth, to stop herself from crying out in pain. She hated this, the indignity, the humiliation, the pain. Why didn't it stop? Why couldn't it stop!
11:00pm continued
"Not answering?" asked Constantine, "Well fine. At least you're listening. I'm going to tell you something. Back then…on that night, I threatened to cut your little finger off. Do you remember?" Lilia nodded. "Good. Well, the worst thing you can do to a human being…is cut their little finger off. It's simple. The human soul, its condition, if you will, is located in the little finger of each human being."
Lilia's eyes widened, as her head drooped. She knew what was coming.
"The human soul is gone. Poof. Like that. And then the body just withers away. Do you want that to happen to you Lilia?"
He began to crouch beside her, his previously drunken face softening.
"Yes, I work for criminals. At least that's how others perceive it. As I see it, to hell with other peoples perceptions. They are honourable men, and I am proud to call them my friends. I do it of my own free will however…and I only want the best for you and your mother."
"So why do you hit her?" spat Lilia, "You're nothing but a two-bit thug, a petty man, who-"
"Enough," whispered Constantine, "enough. Do you realise how privileged you were? You could have been the greatest Prima Ballerina, this country has ever seen…and you throw it back in my face!"
"I refuse to dance," whispered Lilia, "in a pool soaked with blood."
Her Father grunted…not understanding. Neither did Lilia, at least not then. Time seems to be what everything needs, and time can heal most wounds – at least, that was what her Father understood.
Again, her father left her; her mother lay asleep, on a tear-stained pillow; and all Lilia wanted was out of this living hell.
12:00am
--
But Lilia found an escape. The precisions of science, was all that kept her sane for the next two years. For in the year of a George Orwell novel, Lilia found a Big Brother watching her.
It was a random act, not born out of kindness, yet not out of spite. It simply was. Lilia sat in the St Petersburg library, reading La Vita Nuova, by Dante Alighieri. Then it hit her, clear as day. An escape, locked within science…pulsing with spirituality and sensuality. The choice would place her on a collision course, just under twenty years later, with whom some describe as the darkest of all minds.
Avoiding the Ministry of Intelligence – or rather the KGB…she would make them fear her.
That is how the legend of the Revenant began…
Note: Apologies if you found any of that upsetting, but it sort of needed to be there. The next chapter is going to be pretty crucial in the storyline. Please could I have feedback on the chronological aspects of this chapter, whether you preferred it, or found it confusing or whatever. I'm trying lots of different things, to see if something works. I've got the next three chapters roughly plotted – so with a bit of luck they should be up shortly. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and please review.
Disclaimer: Hannibal is copyright to Thomas Harris; and the story, plus original characters to me. This story has been written on the understanding that you may read it and print it out; but you may not pass it off as your own, hire it out, or sell it for money. You also may not put it on your own or any other web page without my express written permission. Thankyou!
JetNoir