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CHAPTER VII.- WELCOME TO RUSSIA
Cold breezes cut through my skin as we ran through the streets. The Kremlin rose imposing at the distance, that grew shorter as we got closer to it. Once outside its walls, we stopped to take a break and for the Germans to catch up with us; even though they worked hard, speed was something you could only master with time. I rubbed my arms to make sure they were still there; the falling snow reminded me we were far away from home.
"So when are these friends of yours coming?"
"Their names are Viktor and Sasha, and they should be here soon", replied Klaus, a bit irritated for being left behind most of the trip.
"Sasha?" Johann's voice sounded cheerful and curious.
I took a look around. People passed us by, some of them glancing suspiciously towards us; I thought for a moment about the sight we might be giving them: four slender guys in not very warm clothes standing in the middle of the Russian autumn. I smiled at a young woman who left her gaze resting on me far more time than anyone would consider polite, making her blush. I felt a nudge on the ribs.
"Are you here to work or to flirt?" asked Stefan, watching me with a severe expression. I stuck my tongue out and smoothed my coat. Even though we weren't cold, trips were always good opportunities to take out our fine clothes.
"Remember when we got these?" I asked Stefan, pointing at our coats. The change of subject was obviously noticed but Stefan just half-smiled and nodded.
"Your mother gave them to us. For 'further trips', she said".
"Well, they've proven been useful", I finished off with a smile. So we were when we heard someone clearing his throat. We glanced back at the Germans that were watching us intently, Klaus with a bored expression and Johann with curiosity.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked the older vampire.
"Always", I added in the lower tone I could manage.
"What?" inquired Klaus, trying his best to sort out what I had just muttered but he obviously couldn't so I made a dismissive gesture with the hand and smirked; Stefan smirked as well. Klaus snorted. "Anyway, what I was saying is that we can't stay out here all day long and I thought perhaps we should go in".
Stefan and I looked at the red walls standing tall and proud behind our backs and analysed the situation, but just when we turned around to answer, we realised our German associates had already started making their way to the entrance, so we had no other choice but to follow reluctantly.
The Red Square was even more monumental on the inside. Golden cupolas shone under the sunlight that timidly poked out of the clouds. Palaces, cathedrals and belfries rose proudly here and there as the first snowflakes started covering them. It was a wonderful sight and I could hardly take my eyes off the imposing buildings, remembering how I once ruled from a comparable palace.
Stefan's hand on my shoulder made me get back to reality. He had already sensed my mood and his hand rested on me in a comforting manner; I tried to manage a smile to reassure him but it wasn't working. Fortunately, Klaus' phone rang and he made us follow him again saying his friends were right outside Saint Basil's Cathedral.
When we arrived the mentioned place, we found some groups of tourists rejoicing in the sight of it and taking pictures, but there were no locals at all.
"Are you sure they said they were here?" Stefan asked, weary.
"Of course I'm sure, they said they were waiting right here, in this exact spot!"
"Perhaps we're in the wrong place", hazarded Johann, looking around.
"The sign says clearly this is the bloody cathedral!"
Apparently, Klaus' patience was running low, so I tried looking for the Russian partners on my own. It was a stupid thing to do; after all I didn't even know what they looked like. My fruitless search was interrupted by Stefan's snickering.
"Am I doing something amusing?" I asked him. He wasn't laughing anymore though a smirk remained printed on his lips.
"You look quite confused", he said, amused.
"I'm just looking for these Russian guys, trying to be useful unlike others".
That just made my mate chuckle once again but his laughter quickly faded away, the joyful expression being replaced by a serious one. His eyes flickered under the shy Russian evening sun. "You fit here".
I looked at him bewildered, not knowing how to answer to that, feeling my knees grow weak under his gaze. His black hair seemed smooth and somewhat damp because of the sporadic snow that landed on it; his hands were stuffed in his coat pockets and he looked more relaxed than usual but not less elegant. The first buttons of his black shirt were undone and the neck of his coat was lifted so the wind didn't blow directly on his face; his burgundy eyes looked clearer than ever. For a moment, he even looked human; he resembled a certain image I had treasured deep inside my head, one of his past life. I had never told him that I still remembered him as a human, but if I tried hard, I could recall the warmth of his skin, the beautiful pale colour of his eyes, not green nor grey, the blood colouring his lips in a subtle way. I swallowed audibly before I could push the words out of my throat.
"Why do you say that?"
"The colour of your hair, so fair", he explained, narrowing his eyes and staring at my locks, his hands still in his pockets. "I don't know how you were as a human but I'm pretty sure you always looked this…exotic".
I swallowed again at that and I had to look away to maintain composure. For some reason I couldn't understand, the image of those lips remained in my head and it was becoming impossible to get rid of it. I looked around, trying to fix my attention in something else when I saw a blur heading straight to Stefan. I didn't have much time to think so my first instinct was to pull my mate's coat and drag him away from the path of the blur.
"Watch out!" I yelled and everything happened so fast it was hard for me to reconstruct it later. The blur passed right beside Stefan and he and I fell to the ground, rolling a few times on the thin layer of snow. I opened my eyes and saw Stefan's face right in front of mine, his hands grabbing my shoulders firmly. We stared at each other, still unable to do anything else.
"Hey!" A voice interrupted the embarrassing moment. We saw Johann approaching us. "What are you doing? The Russians are already here!"
We fought to get up and Stefan succeeded. I just fell back to the ground; Johann and Stefan approached to help me up and as soon as I did, I shook their hands off of me, arranging my coat over my shoulders.
"Why do I always end up falling over my butt whenever you are involved, boy?!" I reproached Johann as I followed him alongside Stefan, arms folded over my chest. Johann started talking about how excited he was to meet the Russians; apparently, he only knew Viktor and a boy called Yuri that would join us later.
"I've never heard about Sasha; interesting name isn't it? I bet she's gorgeous!"
Stefan and I glanced at each other. "Perhaps you shouldn't get your hopes up yet".
"Why, am I that ugly? Vladimir, you think I'm ugly?"
"No comments", I said and the boy chuckled.
"Well, you'll see, once I use my Teutonic sex appeal, she will fall madly for me".
"I'm curious about what kind of 'Teutonic sex appeal' you could pull off and how this Sasha will take it. Maybe if you are open-minded, you could use your mentioned sex appeal…"
"Open minded? What do you mean?"
Johann was just finishing his question when we arrived to where the Russians and Klaus where. The blond boy stopped abruptly in front of them and smiled to one of them.
"Viktor, long time no see".
One of the men in front of him nodded, a subtle and polite smile on his lips. He was pale with sharp cold eyes; light stubble adorned his jaw line and his hazelnut hair was stylised in a modern but discrete way, longer in the middle, shorter on the sides. His bottom lip had almost the same size of the top one, both not too thin but not extremely full and his brows were thick in a strong but elegant way. His brown coat seemed expensive.
The boy standing beside him had dark-blond locks. His hair was short but not military-like. His nose was more delicate than Viktor's and so were his brows. He was also quite pale and was wearing a chequered shirt and jeans, not bothering to pretend to be cold in front of humans.
Johann looked around, expecting someone else to pop out of nowhere.
"So, where is Sasha?" The German boy externalised his thoughts. Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy. The dark-haired Russian, presumably Viktor, was about to add something but Johann didn't give him the time. "I don't mean to be impolite but you don't meet vampire girls so often; I bet she must be exotically beautiful for what I've seen in your streets. Is she blond? Or dark-haired? I fancy both, anyway…"
Klaus scratched his nape, embarrassed. Viktor kept his brow furrowed and the boy next to him shifted uncomfortable, looking away from the scene. Johann suddenly shut himself up and widened his eyes.
"Oh, she's not your girlfriend or something, is she?" he asked alarmed to the vampires in front of us, who shook their heads and just kept looking away.
"You'll see, Johann, Sasha is…" Klaus started but didn't get the chance to continue.
"The diminutive for Aleksandr", finished the blond Russian boy.
An awkward silence reigned for a few minutes, until Stefan decided to break it.
"Well, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Stefan Craiovescu".
"Vladimir Moldoveanu".
"Viktor Sókolov", said the vampire, extending his hand towards Stefan, his accent speaking for him.
"Aleksandr Petrenko, but you can call me Sasha". The blond boy shook my hand firmly and glanced infuriated at Johann, who just stood at the back.
"I'm afraid Yuri will not be joining us until night but meanwhile we can get to know each other", started Viktor. "We know a very nice coffee place near here, or if you prefer, we can visit a tavern, though you'd miss a very interesting Irish cream latte".
"Latte sounds good", I said as we all started our way to the coffee shop.
"By the way, welcome to Russia!"
