by E. R. Baine
The twins looked at him before they both started to push him down forcefully, hugging him mercilessly.
“No I’m not playing.” Nikolai screamed.
The twins laughed, Audrianna hugged him close too, kissing him on his cheeks. Nikolai squirmed.
Viktor walked over to the bed, he hooked to deliriously happy Nadia and Nathan around their stomachs and headed out the room. He caught Arianna at the door and filled her in on the mess created by Nikolai to clean up. Viktor then yelled at Audrianna to get back to work.
“Right.” Audrianna clapped her hands above her head. “It’s over.” She said with glee. The glow of the laptop illuminated her face. It was later that night when she watched the document save and she closed her laptop shut. She glanced at the bed in the mirror. Her husband was not there.
She got up and ventured outside. The town house they occupied while in the city was both modern and comfortable. Audrianna loved the style of the darkly polished Mahogany woodwork and high ceilings. She walked down the spiral staircase with deep, red velvet carpet to the foyer below. She turned towards her husband’s study.
She peeked inside. “Hey daddy. What ’cha doin’ ?”
Viktor sat in his chair and seemed engrossed in what was on his computer screen. Grigori stood behind him. He looked up distractedly. “I’m almost done here.” He looked back at his desktop. “I’ll be up in a minute.”
She smiled at them. “I’m starving. I’m just stepping into the kitchen and then I’ll be up myself.” She left.
Viktor nodded, watching the replay of the scene of Audrianna’s attack on the men in the clearing from before. He was none too pleased with Grigori for recording the incident.
“Do you always think it best to usurp my familiars to spy on me?”
“You forget yourself Viktor,” Grigori was engrossed in reading the ancient text in his hands. “Golub is Audrianna’s familiar now. It is only natural that one’s familiar would want to put all else to task in favor of the life of their master.”
Viktor gritted his teeth in displeasure at the ‘dig’.
“Always have to get one in, right Grigori?”
Grigori snickered. “Nonsense, my lord, it is all for you after all.” He pointed at the screen. “And do take notice of what I had mentioned to you prior. The men there had clearly not been disintegrated, their matter has not been scattered in the wind. They were not destroyed, not in our totalitarian sense anyway. Neither were their bodies converted into a more unseemly strain.”
The muscle in Viktor’s jaw began to twitch. “Get to your point.”
“Ah, yes sir. I believe we are seeing the return of the special power as documented in your Aunt’s text sir.”
Viktor shrugged. Standing, he switched off the monitor. “One incident, ever, does not the end of the world make.”
“Ah, well yes I suppose you are right Sir. Less we become excited over one sure incident, mind we should wait for things to escalate and become a proper burden before we make plans to protect the world from absolute destruction, much like the humans do.”
Viktor looked at him unmoved by Grigori’s words. “Goodnight Grigori” Viktor walked out the study.
“Goodnight dear Sir.”
Viktor left the study and turned to the stairs. Changing his mind he headed towards the kitchen. He pushed open the doors. The multiple cupboards, huge stove and long table were the trappings of cool steel. Audrianna sat with her head bowed over the container of ice-cream at the far end. Viktor found it odd that she was eating straight from the container and had not transferred it into a bowl. “Save some for the rest of us will you hon?”
Audrianna glanced up at Viktor, a gleam in her eyes, she grinned without contrition. “Mmmmm, I forgot how this stuff tastes.” Her voice was low, resembling that of a growl. She dipped her whole hand in the container and scooped up the vanilla and shoveled it in her mouth. She swallowed, hard, smearing the ice-cream all over her face and dirtying her night gown. “Mmmm.”
Viktor stood motionless. His eyes squinted; he did not want to believe what might be happening. “Come again.” He began a slow approach towards his peculiar behaving wife. “Audrianna?” he questioned softly.
“She’s not here now.” She sang, though he was sure now that the voice was not her own.
Viktor cursed. “It’s you?”
“Way to go, sucker. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You struck out, better luck next time.” Audrianna rubbed her hands together. She stood. She cracked her knuckles, the sound was abrasive.
Viktor was nearly upon her now. “So you’ve come back have you?”
“Ho ho ho, come back? Might you have mistaken me for some other fellow?”
He raised his arms to grapple her, “You are like that other one, and nothing new.” He reached for her, his arm clutched her diagonally over the shoulder from behind. His left hand glowed trying to cover her face. “You are likewise no match for me.”
Audrianna grabbed the wrist of his left arm painfully, pulling it from her face, for she feared the light. She must always fear the light. She grabbed Viktor’s shoulder and flipped him forward, flinging him with such force he slammed into the air against the cupboards and landed with a thud on the floor. He scrambled to his feet.
Audrianna placed each hand on each breast. “Why so testy ‘eh Jack! What’s mine is yours, not so?” she yelled at him.
“What’s mine is mine, and I don’t care to share.” Viktor raised his hand to the sky, tufts of smoke gathered; the air above crackled and boomed, and darkened as though a storm raged within the confines of the dome ceiling. Viktor quietly summoned a black hole to open up above him and a mighty, wide staff with the head of a black horned Minotaur fell from it to stand on the ground with a boom. The eyes of the minotaur opened with a menacing glare directed at Audrianna. The minotaur, poised, inhaled deeply and the length of the brown and white, swirl decorated staff looked to swell with the strength of the breath. The minotaur then released the breath on a long, loud growl, and the walls shook from the extremity of it. The sound was like a blast and it was all Audrianna could do to block her ears from the bloody howl. Audrianna was flung backwards, landing hard against the fridge door. She was stunned. Knocked out cold.
She began to fall forward when Viktor dived to catch her before she hit the floor. He cradled her in his arms.
“Well, I say.” Grigori allowed the door to swing shut behind him. He evaluated the scene before him. The glass windows had been blown out and the steel cupboards dented. The place looked like the aftermath of a tornado hit.
Grigori crooked a brow at Viktor. Viktor’s look was of such anger that Grigori decided against any snide remarks.
“Shall I help with the cleaning, Sir?” Grigori thought to ask, but even those words sounded too dangerous to utter at the moment. Grigori sighed, turned around and let himself back out the kitchen door.
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