Chapter 10 First Attempted Failure

Back in his dark realm, Rasputin watched the whole thing though a green vortex from the reliquary.

"I hate trains!" Dimitri grumbled. "Remind me to never take the train again!"

"Likewise!" Katya added before the vision disappeared.

As the vision faded away, the undead man screamed in agony over his unsuccessful attempted murder on Anya. "NOOOOOOOO!"

He even grabbed a hold of his throat and squeezed it.

Bartok stared at his master, dumbfounded by his temper tantrum. "Uh, wow…"

Rasputin threw himself over the stone table and grasped his hand on top of a skull resting nearby.

"Take it easy there, sir." Bartok tried to console his master from his temper tantrum. "You know, sir, really you should watch your blood pressure. My nephew Izzy just keeled over one day, mid-mango."

As Rasputin pulled himself together, one of his thumbs came off. Bartok flinched at his severed thumb.

"Stress, it's a killer, sir." He continued, as he picked up the undead man's thumb. "And he's a fruit bat. No meat. No blood, even." He screwed Rasputin's thumb back on his hand.

Rasputin stared blankly at his bat companion for a moment. "How could they let her escape?!" He angrily smashed the skull on the table, breaking it into pieces.

Flinching again, Bartok nodded his head. "Eh, you're right. It's very upsetting, sir." He picked up the reliquary, and looked at it. "Eh, I guess this reliquary thing's broken."

Rasputin's eyes widened in terror as he watched the reliquary fly through the air. "YOU IDIOT!" He raced after it to catch it and prevent it from breaking. As the undead man skidded across the floor, he flung his own hand ahead, literally stretching it out.

He managed to catch the reliquary in the nick of time, before it could hit the ground. His hand pulled back, reattaching to his wrist.

Rasputin looked at the reliquary in relief, and then glared at Bartok, eyes red with furry.

"Alright now, sir," Bartok said calmly. "Take it easy there. Just remember what I said to you about stress."

"I sold my soul for this," Rasputin hissed. He grabbed Bartok by the back of his neck, and shoved the reliquary in his face. "My life, my very existence, depends on it." He chuckled sinisterly, before angrily growling, "And you almost destroyed it!"

He slammed Bartok nose-first against the reliquary.

"I get it! I get it!" The bat panicked and tried wriggling away. "You break it, you bought it!"

"See that you remember, you miserable rodent!" Rasputin pushed him back across the room.

Bartok landed on the ground with a thud. "Oh sure, blame the bat," He sulked. "What the heck? We're easy targets."

"What are you muttering about?" Rasputin turned to him.

"Anastasia, and her friend sir," Bartok said, as he got up on his feet. "Just wishing I could do the job for you. I'd give them a HA! And a HI-YA!" He showed off some karate movements. "And then a OUU-WA! And I'd kick them, sir!"

Rasputin watched in disgust at the bat's poor karate skills. "Oooooh!" He looked back at her reliquary, making his eyes light up. "I have something else in mind. Something more enticing. Something... really... cruel."

He grinned evilly, and scratched the reliquary with his finger nail, causing it to screech like chalk on a chalkboard.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

On a lively street, automobiles and horses with carts were moving in the street while vendors were going about their business by selling things, laughing, and arguing.

Over by a bakery, two men and a woman were standing beside a booth that was covered in cards, a top hat, and colorful cloths.

The two men were both wearing blue and white suits while the woman was wearing a blue and white dress. One man had light brown hair with brown eyes and the other man had black hair with sapphire blue eyes while the woman had brown hair and indigo eyes.

Those three just happened to be Katya's older siblings, Aristarkh, Ivan, and Natasha, who used to have jobs for a watchmaker, but they got recently dismissed one day. Since then, they have been trying their hand at getting people to pay for magic tricks.

"Magic tricks!" Aristarkh called out. "Come and see the Sokolova siblings' amazing tricks! Only ten cents a person!"

One man in blue passed by the stand as Aristarkh tried to get his attention. "Excuse me, sir, would you like to see…" But the man had already passed by as Aristarkh finished, "Magic tricks?"

"I'd take that as a no," Natasha mumbled under her breath.

Just then, a little girl walking with her mother came towards the brothers' and sister's stand and caught Natasha's attention.

"Oh, would the little lady like to learn a trick?" Aristarkh asked the mother and daughter with pleading eyes.

"Only ten cents per person." Natasha added.

The little girl giggled and clapped her hands, wanting to see a magic trick from the Sokolova siblings, but her mother pulled her back.

"No, sweetie," She told her daughter with a disappointed and sad look. "We can't waste our money on some silly magic tricks. Come on."

As the mother and daughter walked on, Ivan finally snapped out of his moment of silence.

"Silly magic tricks? Who dares call my magic tricks silly?!" Ivan snapped at the woman, but she left before she could hear anything from him.

"Calm down, Ivan! She kinda has a point," Natasha said while calming her brother down.

"Natasha's right. I know how that woman feels. Money is so tight when you live in one of these neighborhoods. The only comforts are these." Aristarkh then reached into his pocket and pulled out an old photograph of him, Ivan, Natasha, and Katya when they were children, taken one year before their parents were killed.

Ivan also pulled out a piece of paper that happened to be the latest letter Katya had sent to him a few months ago. Natasha also looked at the letter and smiled.

The three missed their little sister so much.

However, Aristarkh and Ivan's thoughts of their sister were interrupted when Natasha noticed someone walking up to their stand. "Guys, look! I think we have our first customer!"

Sure enough, an overweight man was standing in front of the siblings' stand, rubbing his chin with wonder.

"Say, you kids perform magic tricks?" The man asked.

"Oh, yes, we sure do!" Ivan smiled. "Aristarkh, Natasha, and I have been practicing quite a bit for the past ten or fifteen years!"

The fat man dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box containing one cigar. "I'll pay you kids two dollars if you'll use your magic to concoct ten cigars to fill my box." He smiled.

The three siblings became dumbfounded. They never smoked a single cigar – let alone a cigarette or pipe – in their lives, and yet this man would give them a big reward if they fulfilled his task.

"Um, I'm s-s-sorry, sir," Aristarkh stammered nervously.

"What's wrong?" The fat man asked with a raised brow.

"Well, you see," Ivan stammered. "We're…we've…we have…" He then groaned and finished, "We'd like to help, but we can't make up ten cigars."

"What?!" The customer fumed. "I thought you three were magicians! I've been cheated by three street rats trying to rip me off!"

"No, please!" Natasha began. "It's not what you think! My brothers and I are very honest, and we would never…"

"Con artists!" The fat man scoffed as he walked away. "Leave this street and go back to the alleyways where you came from!"

"We don't live in the alleyways ethier!" Aristarkh shouted back.

"Yeah, you don't need to waste our time showing our tricks to you!" Natasha shouted as well.

"Aristarkh, Natasha, please," Ivan sighed. "That pompous weasel isn't worth our time." He sadly looked at his brother and sister. "Let's go home. I've had enough for today."

Natasha nodded her head in agreement while Aristarkh looked at the forty cents he, his sister, and brother earned. "Me too." He sighed.

The two brothers and sister then packed away their things in a carpet bag, and then made their way through the less crowded street back to their apartment building.

When they arrived at the building, Ivan sang in his thoughts:

Riff-rat, street rat,

I don't buy that,

If only they'd look closer,

Would they see three poor lads,

No siree,

They'd find out, there's so much more to my brother, sister,

And me,

The three siblings climbed a flight of stairs before they reached the door to their small apartment. Aristarkh unlocked the door, and then he, Natasha, and Ivan went inside.

The whole place was littered with magic trick props, Russian decorations, and all of Katya's previous letters. Ivan bent over and picked up one letter from his sister with a sigh.

Aristarkh and Natasha each put a hand over his shoulders for comfort.

"It's okay, brother. Believe me, someday things will be right again. We'll see Katya again, and we'll have a better home, and all our troubles will disappear. We just need to keep having faith and hope." Aristarkh told his younger brother for comfort.

Ivan managed to give a small, sad smile back as he looked at the picture of Katya again. "I guess you're right, I just hope Katya's okay."

Author's Note: The song "One Jump Ahead (reprise)" is from Aladdin ((c) Disney)

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