Viktor(65)
“The fire. The pain,” I mutter, confused as hell.
Where the fuck am I?
“There’s no fire. You’re in bed.” She places her hand on my forehead. “And you’re burning up.”
Sweat drips down my back as I pull the blankets off me and go straight to the mirror. Looking at myself always wakes me up.
Fuck me, I look bad.
“What happened?” Alexis asks, yawning.
“Bad dream,” I say, my fingers brushing my face. Frowning, I turn away from the mirror. “Just go back to sleep.”
“No. Come here,” she says, inviting me in.
I shake my head. “I can’t sleep anymore.”
“I know. Just c’mere.” She beckons me. “I don’t bite.”
I sigh and sit back down on the edge of the bed. Her hands wrap around my shoulders, and she starts to massage me. “This might help.”
“Thanks,” I say. It doesn’t, but it feels nice, so I won’t be ungrateful.
“You feel tense.”
“Yeah … if you saw the shit I saw, you would be too.”
“Tell me what you saw,” she says.
I glance at her over my shoulder. “You don’t want that.”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t wanna know. You had a nightmare, right?”
I nod.
“And now, both of us can’t sleep.”
“Nothing’s stopping you,” I say.
“You did when you woke up screaming fire, almost hitting me in the face.”
My brows draw together as I look at her, fear gripping at my heart. “Did I … hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “You were damn close, though.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I grab her hand, holding it tight. “I never want to hurt you, even though I know I did …” I sigh.
“Hey … it’s okay. I’m already over it.” She smiles gently. “Now, tell me … I wanna know so I can understand what you’re going through.”
“It’s not something that you’ll easily forget. Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Besides, it’s not like you have this all the time.”
“I do, actually.” I clear my throat. “This nightmare … I have it every goddamn night of the week. And it’s slowly making me crazy.”
She cringes but doesn’t stop touching me. Instead, she says, “You’ve hidden enough, Viktor. It’s time to share because it’s the only way to stop it.”
“Right … Well, it’s all about this one day.” I point at my scars. “The day I got these.”
***
Ten Years ago
Adrenaline drives me as I run through the endless field, keeping my eyes on the forest in front of me. If I can reach it, I can hide in the woods and escape my boss’s grasp.
Vladim and his men are right behind me, shouting and swearing, toting their guns as if they’re toys. I fucking hate him, and at the same time, I’m terrified. Fucking scared of what’ll happen if I don’t make it. They’ve got me cornered, and I have nothing to protect myself against their wrath.
Three shots are fired. Each one makes me jolt harder.
Then one hits me in the calf.
I fall facedown in the grass, pain shooting up my leg.
“Fuck!” I scream, trying to scramble to my feet. The pain is almost unbearable, but I have to keep going. I have to get away.
Too late.
“Got you …” Vladim crushes my leg with his foot.
I yowl from the pain, but another shot in my other leg immediately trumps it.
“You thought you could run away?”
“Fuck off!” I spit, trying to turn around, but he has me pinned.
He bends over to look at me with disgust and pity. “After what you did? How could you, Viktor? I saw you as my fucking son.” He clears his throat and then spits on my face. “You deserve what’s coming for you.” He signals his men. “Nail him.”
“What? What are you doing?” I yell, as the men grab my limbs and flip me on my back. Pain shoots through me as they pull and place my legs and arms far apart. Vladim steps away and holds his hand up to his forehead to block the sun so he can search the forest.
But my eyes can only focus on one thing.
The man coming toward me with a hammer and nails in his hand.
“No. NO!” I fight them with everything I have, punching one in the face, but they just keep coming. I can’t fight them all off. “Get away from me!”
“Such a shame,” Vladim muses. “I didn’t wanna do this, but you leave me no choice.”
The man leans over me and holds the nails above my hand. “No!” I scream.
Bang.
Indescribable pain rams into me like a fucking truck.