My body was exhausted. When Yuri untied my wrists from the rope, I collapsed into his warm body. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me. In his arms, I felt safe. Meekly, I raised my arm and pointed towards the floorboard. Without a word, he pried it open and grabbed the hard drive. I knew Makarov wouldn't have wanted it to fall into the wrong hands.
"Who did this to you?" Yuri asked as he picked me up, bridal style. I must have felt like a rag doll.
"Shepherd..." Trailing off, I started to succumb into the realm of unconsciousness. Yuri had to have noticed, for he gently shook my body. We both knew I needed to stay awake... but I felt so tired.
"Veta, come on... stay away. Don't you want to tell me a story?"
I knew he was trying to get me to stay awake. That was one of the oldest tricks out there. With the pain coursing through my body and increasing as it reached my mind, there was no way in hell that I could think straight.
"No... could... y-you tell me... one...?" Yuri furiously spewed out Russian to two men who entered the room. For the life of me, I couldn't tell what he was saying. After a few moments, I heard the two men leave the room and their boots thud up against the stairs. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. I focused my gaze into Yuri's eyes. In those blue eyes of his, I could see the anger boiling through them. If Yuri was this angry of what happened… I could only imagine what Vlad was going to be like. Livid wouldn't even begin to describe his reaction. Genuinely, I was scared. If Vlad ever caught him, Shepherd was going to suffer his wrath. From the corner of my eye, I saw the two men re-enter the room. Neither of them looked very familiar to me. If Yuri was here, I would've thought there would have been more people I would have recognized. The taller of the two men stepped up beside me and draped my old blanket over me.
"Спасибо…" I gave them a nod with my thanks. I felt Yuri starting to leave the house with a sense of urgency. It was fine by me – I didn't want to be in there any longer than I had to. Once he crossed through the threshold and made his way outside, I was reminded of my harsh reality – the car was still ablaze as Yuri hurried by. Time seemed to slow down as my eyes focused on the flames. As hard as I tried, I couldn't see anything remotely resembling a body. My parents were gone. Those American bastards.
"Veta, do you like heights?" Yuri looked into my eyes, trying to reassure me with his smile. As much as I wanted that smile to settle my soul, it didn't work. It couldn't – my eyes drifted away from his eyes and back towards the flames. I could feel my face starting to streak with tears.
"No…" I shook my head, weakly. Yuri turned my face up to look into his eyes.
"I'm sorry." What was he saying sorry for? The fact that I was afraid of heights? Or was it the fact that I had just lost my parents? I didn't know what to say.
"Сжечь?" One of the men pulled out a lighter as a helicopter touched down beside us. Yuri hoisted me into the helicopter and gave the man a nod. Within seconds, I watched my childhood home become engulfed in flames. I know they didn't want any other Americans discovering the place… but this was my home. Even as the helicopter departed, I couldn't take my eyes off the roaring fire below. I'd never be able to forget what happened here – ever. Yuri tried to talk to me to keep me awake, but I couldn't focus. As the fire went away from my eyes, so too did my vision. I fell back into the deep recesses of my mind. Everything was better here. For a few moments, I could have sworn that I saw my parents. They were right there… but I know it's not real. For all that I hated them for all the hell they had put me through, they were my parents… were… past tense.
It could have been minutes, or it could have been days, but when I finally came back into the world of consciousness, the first thing I heard made me very, very nervous.
"Как только она проснуться, он хочет ее видеть." He wanted to see me…? Vlad. Slowly, I forced my eyes to open. All the pain that my body once experienced was gone. Maybe it was pain killers or maybe I had simply healed – I couldn't care less. Blinking a few times, I cleared my vision. The room was quite large – enough room for at least fifteen people. When I moved my head around, a sharp pain pulsed through it – maybe I was wrong about that healing part. Well, I knew one thing - I was in some sort of medical facility. At least I was safe. Looking at the door, I could see a guard standing outside.
"I see you're awake." The doctor flashed me a smile as he walked past the guard. Once the guard noticed I was awake, he spoke into his ear piece. I turned my attention to the doctor.
"How long was I out for?" My eyes wandered around the room. The sun shone through the window and accented the light blue walls that surrounded me. It felt nice being here.
"After you came here, you were rushed to surgery. Four cracked and bruised ribs, a severe concussion, bleeding from the brain," he grabbed a flash light from his pocket and shone it into my eyes, "fun stuff. Well, you seem to be doing well. It's been about… four weeks since you were conscious."
"Four weeks?!" I couldn't believe it. No wonder my recovery seemed so fast.
"You had a severe concussion – you're lucky to be alive. Your ribs should almost be fully healed."
"Doctor," the guard came into the room, clutching his gun. Looking him over, he looked familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on him, but I knew he was from the Inner Circle.
"Yes?" He put the flashlight back into his pocket.
"He wants to see her." The guard gestured towards the door. Through the threshold, I could see a silhouette.
"Yuri!" I exclaimed, sitting up in the bed. As he stepped closer, I could see him holding a handful of flowers in one hand and a satchel in the other.
"Veta! You're awake. It's so good to see you're awake." I grasped the flowers as he handed them to me. They were lovely – Tiger Lilly's. The smile that spread across my face said it all. Yuri always had a sweet side.
"Vlad wants to see me?" I took in a whiff of the flowers and looked between the guard and Yuri.
"Yes, now." The guard curtly remarked, nodding between the three of us and stood back outside.
Opening the bag, I saw a bunch of my old clothes. Yuri must have saved them before he burned down the house. Carefully, I stood out of my bed and walked over to the bathroom. This gown they put on me for surgery was starting to itch. As quick as I could, I slipped on a black long sleeve shirt and sweats from inside. This felt much better on my aching body. Once I was changed, I walked back out and flung the satchel over my shoulder.
"I'm ready." Yuri smiled down at me and walked out of the room. Looking around at all the faces, I couldn't tell where I was. It was some Ultranationalist building – most likely secret. It was weird. As I walked around the winding corridors, I found myself feeling smaller and smaller. Yuri cautiously looked around making sure no one could hear him. He pulled me closer and whispered into my ear.
"Кровь окрашивает руки людей, которые вы никогда бы не подумал, что держал нож." Blood stains the hands of people who you would never have thought to have held the knife… I haven't heard that in quite some time. When I was younger, I remember Vlad telling me that once. He explained how some people you think you know suddenly turn on you when you least expect them. Back then I couldn't understand how anyone you trusted could do such a thing, but I've started to understand.
"Вы нашли кровавый след, ведущий к ним?" You have found the blood trail leading to them? Why was Yuri telling me this right now? There had to be some reason… I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"И убрали его." And cleaned it. Had Vlad and Yuri gotten rid of a traitor? None of this was making sense. Yuri pulled me down an adjacent corridor. We moved from a well-lit and polished area down a dark and dank corridor. Yuri continued to walk down the corridor, but I stopped. I didn't want to go down any further – it looked too sketchy. Yuri looked back at me and gestured me to follow him. Against my better judgement, I followed him. Yuri wouldn't lead me anywhere bad. I reached out and clutched onto his sleeve – I couldn't see anything anymore. After a few steps, I heard the unlocking of a door. A rush of warm air brushed past me as Yuri pulled me through the threshold. The door closed behind me and locked – it was automated. Within a few seconds, a light came on. Yuri looked back at me and smiled – everything was fine. After a few minutes of walking down various corridors, I started to notice the increase of security personnel. Every time I looked at them, they viewed me with a certain air that I couldn't quite place. Yuri took me down a flight of stairs then stopped. Two men were stationed on the outside of a heavily fortified door.
"Товарищи." Comrades. Yuri gave a nod and they opened the door for us. As I stepped in behind Yuri, my eyes fell upon the flag that hung across the far wall. The snake eating its own tail and crown were all quite old to my eyes. The seven men who sat around the table trained their eyes on me. It was like looking at an old photograph – I had seen all these men before. It may have been in passing and only a few words exchanged, but I knew them. Sitting prominently at the head of their table with two seats open to each of his flanks was a man I hadn't thought I would see again. Well, at least not for some time.
"Вета. Юрий." Veta. Yuri. He gave us each a nod. That was like him – distant. He wouldn't show any true affection for me until we were alone. He hadn't changed a bit.
"Влад." Vlad.