Tom's P.O.V

The Russian countryside passed by in a blur as we sped through the streets to the small police station. Authorities there said they had found a fingerprint of one of the men that had abducted us in a warehouse. I was going along with the captain and officers from Germany just in case they found her. Throughout the entire eighteen months that had passed with our any sign of finding the bastards who had abducted us, I had been telling the police everything I could think of that might help them find Veronica. While the rest of the guys were happy just to be free of that hell we'd been kept in, I still felt just as tortured without her by my side. Bill had tried to distract me by writing lyrics and encouraging me to come up with riffs for them. At first I had refused; not getting out of bed for weeks on end, sick with misery. Slowly, though, I realized that by sitting in bed and moping about it, I wasn't helping find her any faster. So for the past year and a half, I'd been working side- by- side with the police. For the most part, nothing had come up on the men who had taken us, but a small lead had brought us to a small town in Russia.

Most of the scenery during the car ride into the town was farm land. It was the middle of the summer, but the fields were brown and bare. When we actually arrived in the town, our car was one of the few on the road. Most of the buildings were crumbling and in desperate need of repairs. People in the streets glanced at as we drove past. Most of them sat on curbs and boxes lined up on the sides of buildings and wore patched-up clothes. Not one person smiled or took any real interest in us. Families who were walking looked grave, mothers crying along with their young children. A girl with long black hair walked quickly as if she were afraid of something behind her. We finally arrived at the police station in the middle of the town. It was just as run down as the rest of the town, but the officers inside were alert and ready for action. We were greeted by their captain who showed us to his office.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said in a thick accent. It reminded me of the Ringleader and put my teeth on edge.

"Good day," I said quickly. "We were told you had found a lead on the people who had abducted us."

"Yes; we found a finger print in a ware house that has been abandoned for quite some time. The print was fairly fresh, so we suspect they are somewhere in the area."

"What if they hear about your lead and flee town?" Bill asked.

"We have police stationed at every road going in and out of town and are inspecting each building one by one."

"Then we can expect that you will notify us if you find anything further?" I inquired.

"Of course," the man said.

After he and the captain we had come with had talked for a bit about strategies and other business, we left the station to head over to the hotel we would be staying at for the time we would be staying there. On the way out, someone walked into me and fell over. I looked down to see the black haired girl we had passed on the way here.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I-"

"Оставь меня в покое," she said quickly as she stood and walked away without looking at me. She glanced back at me and then ran up the street as if I were chasing her.

"What did she say?" I asked Gustav who was standing right behind me.

"'Leave me alone', I think," he said, also watching where she had run around the corner.

"Where's she running to?" Georg asked as he stepped into the car.

"Beats me," I said as I followed him.

The ride to the hotel was short and quiet. The building was old and dingy, but the inside was in better condition that the outside. The rooms were small, but cozy; and I hadn't seen any rodents or bugs thus far. Our rooms were on the fourth floor and had a nice view of the apartment building on the other side of a narrow alley. I sat down on the mattress, finding it quite comfortable, and studied the room for a little while. There was a small window that looked into the apartment directly across from mine. Looking through it, I could see someone on the other side. It was that same dark haired girl I'd seen earlier, looking at the alley below with tears running down her face. I was just about to get her attention when the door of the room she was standing in opened and the silhouette of a man could be seen. The girl turned quickly as if startled. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could tell he was yelling at her and she was afraid of him. At one point he bitch slapped her across the face so hard she fell to the floor. He stood there watching her sobbing on the floor for a while before he pulled her to her feet and dragged her to a bed in the corner. After tossing her on the mattress he closed the curtains, denying me from seeing anymore of their argument.

Disturbed by what I'd just witnessed, I closed my own curtains and went down to Bill's room where I found him and the G's looking at a room service menu. Bill could tell something was troubling me when I walked in.

"You alright?" he asked.

"If you wanna call it that," I responded somberly.

"This town is pretty despicable, isn't it?" He said.

"Yeah," I said distantly.

"What's wrong?" Gustav pressed.

"I just saw some guy beat up his wife or girl friend or daughter or whatever. It was that girl who bumped into me earlier."

"Maybe he's why she was in such a hurry."

"Yeah, maybe."

The sight of her as she was being thrown around by him replayed in my mind; then when she bumped into me earlier; then when I'd seen her on our way into town. It occurred to me that I hadn't gotten a good look at her face. I couldn't help but wonder 'What was she hiding?'