by Jade White
Good idea. Go and feed the poor girl and get some sleep. I’ll get this cleaned up. I’m hungry.
Don’t take too long, Sonja chided, it’s going to be morning soon.
Yeah, yeah, Russell thought back as he bit into the flesh of a skinny man with poorly done tattoos.
Sonja turned a bit green and ushered Anna up the stairs and into the room they were hiding in. “Here we go. You don’t have to hear or see that now. Russell will clean up his mess.”
Anna looked at the room and boxes of rations in the duffel bag and licked her lips. She hadn’t had anything to eat for three days and she was starving.
Sonja noticed the direction of the girl’s gaze and pulled out one of the boxes. “Here you go,” she said as she handed it to her.
The girl tore open the box and opened one of the foil pouches. She dipped her hands in and scooped the food hungrily in her mouth as she devoured the bland fare. “Mmff thank you so much. Have been turned away from so many soup kitchens lately, it isn’t even funny.”
“Why is that?” Sonja asked as she opened one of the ration packs for herself.
“Well, my friends used to cause so much trouble that we’ve been banned from almost all of them now. You figure this kind of thought being illegal as it is here, they would keep it quieter. Not so. Some of them even had plans on breaking out that Ernst Zundel guy from prison,” Anna explained.
“Ernst Zundel?” Sonja asked, she knew many names but not that one.
“Yeah, he denies the Holocaust. That’s an offense worthy of a long time in prison here. He might not make it out alive because he’s so old, so my friends wanted to break him out to secure his right to free speech or something like that,” Anna said between bites. “Anyway, I didn’t really believe what they said. I just hung out with them for protection.”
“Well now you have us, or at least the people we work for. You’ll like it there.”
“Who is it anyway?”
“Well, I’m not allowed to tell you, but you’ll find out soon enough,” Sonja said as she yawned. “Anyway, we need to get some sleep. Russell and I have a very long day tomorrow. You might see us on the news if you’re allowed to watch.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Anna said as she yawned as well. “Stop that!” she teased. “I don’t want to keep yawning.”
Sonja yawned again. “You’re making it worse.” She giggled as she lay down in Russell’s sleeping bag, comforted by the residual masculine scent he had left behind.
CHAPTER 14
Sonja, Russell, and Anna were awakened by a loud thumping at the trap door to the tunnel system. They grabbed their things, hurried to the exit, and opened it up.
Anna was startled when she saw a large Asian man with his lips sewn shut beckoning them to hurry and almost gagged from the stench of death that wafted from a boarded up alcove off to the side of the staircase.
Sonja gave Russell a disgusted look as they walked past the hastily built mass grave. What? I couldn’t eat them all, you know, he sent to her silently.
She sighed and put her arm around the scared girl’s shoulders.
“These people are the Dragon,” she explained. “They will take you in, feed you, and keep you safe from now on. With them, you’ll have a purpose. You won’t exactly know what it is, but it’s better than being on the streets starving because a couple of assholes couldn’t keep their fists to themselves.”
Anna just nodded and looked at the massive man who walked ahead of them in silence. They were lead through the twisting tunnels of underground Nuremberg for what seemed like hours. Some places were collapsed, some were filled with sewage and were impassable, so the guide had to backtrack and find an alternate route. He knew where he was going of course, and was choosing the dead ends deliberately to throw off any pursuers.
Eventually, the guard found another trap door and opened it up after knocking on it in a sharp, staccato pattern. The guard motioned for them to follow him up as he climbed the rickety stairs to the gloomy building above.
They emerged into another abandoned house but this one was better kept. It was dusty, but not destroyed. The silent man motioned to the room around and disappeared into the dark tunnels below.
“Well, I guess we’re here now. It’s kind of spooky that they know what’s going to happen before it happens isn’t it?” Russell said out loud.
“Yeah, it is, but I’m okay with that. Obviously what went down in that house was supposed to happen,” Sonja replied.
Anna looked at them and shook her head. She had no idea what was going on, other than she was now out of the gang and was on her way to safety. Nor did she really care. She knew which house this was and her heart filled with dread.
“Umm excuse me?” she stammered.
“What is it?” Sonja replied in German.
“This house, it’s where I ran away from,” she said.
“Oh...” Sonja said softly. “Will they come back?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Anna said. “This place is pretty boarded up. Maybe they got put into a nursing home and couldn’t sell their house in time. They were pretty old when I came to live with them a few years ago,” Anna explained. “I’ve been living on the streets since I was fourteen.”
“Ah,” Sonja said. “Well, at least it’s more comfortable than the last house we were at. I guess Russell and I still have another day or two to wait for the hearing.”
“Hearing?” Anna asked.
“Yes. We need to go talk to the United Nations about a bunch of stuff we know about. Not a big deal,” Sonja said, downplaying the whole thing.
“Does it have to do with him?” Anna said, motioning towards Russell.
“Let’s not talk about that okay?” Sonja said.
“Look lady, he turned into a fucking tiger in front of my eyes. You can’t tell me he’s not some kind of freak experiment. It’s all over the news that the United States and Russia has done some dodgy human experiments. No wonder you’re hiding out. There’s probably like a million people who want to kill him right now.”
“Yeah, about that many,” Sonja replied wryly. “Look, do you think the water is still on?”
“Honestly, they don’t turn it off because the pipes will freeze in the winter,” Anna replied.
“Wonderful. Even a cold shower is better than no shower,” Sonja said as she started up the stairs. “Russell, you definitely could use one as well, and I want to look at those cuts.”
Russell nodded as he sat down on the covered couch. Anna looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, not wanting to make eye contact with the man who can switch shapes on a dime and possibly rip her to shreds like he did to her friends.
“If you’re wondering if I’m going to eat you, I’m not.” Russell said in English, knowing she probably wouldn’t understand anyway.
Anna looked at him, getting the general idea of what he had said, and nodded as she settled down into one of the covered armchairs.
She looked around the once-familiar house, now silent after years of religious fanaticism. Over by the fireplace was where she was forced to kneel on a broom stick for hours on end to repent her sins. The heat from the blazing fire made the ordeal even more uncomfortable.
She stood back up and looked around the room. All the furniture was covered by sterile, white sheets while the state searched for any next of kin to take possession of the house. She wanted to tell the government that the woman was so frigid that they slept in different bedrooms for the duration of their marriage, and had no children of their own. The dad had one older brother who was long dead, and the mother was estranged from her family for her severe views.
She looked at Russell who was lost in his own thoughts and noticed he was quite handsome. His dark skin shone in the dim lighting that peeked between the boards, his amber eyes stared into nothingness as his brow furrowed in thought. The metallic implant on the back of his neck gleamed in the dim light as the green LED glowed steadily. She wondered what it was, but didn’t d
are ask.
Sonja finished her quick cold shower and came down the stairs. “All right Russell, your turn,” she said.
Russell got up, looked at Anna, and winked as he went up the stairs. “I think she has a crush on me,” he whispered to Sonja as he went by.
“Don’t count on it. I still think she’s terrified of you,” she replied.
“Heh,” Russell replied as he gave Sonja a quick kiss on his way up the stairs.
“You two are a thing?” Anna asked with a sly grin on her face.
“Yeah, you could say that. See, with guys like him, they need a handler. Usually it’s picked for them, but this time, we kinda skipped the formalities. It made a lot of people mad.”
“I can imagine. He was probably pretty well-guarded and all,” Anna replied.
“Not really. Anyway, hopefully after all this United Nations stuff we have to do, we can just go live happily ever after,” Sonja replied.
“Hope so. How did you two meet?” Anna asked as she took a bite of a granola bar from one of the ration boxes.
“I put an ad up as a mail order bride,” Sonja said with a sly smile. “I had to get out of Russia and it was a quick way to do it.”
“I see. And he just picked you out of all the ones there? I find that pretty crazy,” Anna said with a slight laugh.
“Yeah, I know. Him of all people. Considering I have experience handling people like him in the past, I find it too much of a coincidence,” Sonja said as something clicked in her head. “Anyway, his boss didn’t like that much, so he tried to get me killed. Russell didn’t take too kindly to that, so we tried to run away. Eventually they caught up with us. It didn’t end well for Russell’s boss.”
“Wow. So now you’re here finally.”
“Yeah. I think the Dragon had something to do with us meeting, but I’m not sure. We’ll just keep that between you and me, all right?”
“Deal,” Anna said as she finished the granola bar. “You know, this house has some pretty nasty memories, I’m surprised they brought us here.”
“It’s an abandoned house,” Sonja replied. “It has no gang activity, so it’s not going to draw any attention if we stay quiet.”
“True. I think I’m going to go look around. I left some things here before I ran off. I know it’s been a few years, but maybe the Hoffman’s kept them,” Anna said as she got up to go upstairs to her old room.
“Hey Anna,” Sonja said.
“What?”
“Try not to go near the bathroom when you’re up there. Russell has certain... needs after he transforms. It’s best you avoid him just in case,” Sonja replied.
“What kind of needs?” Anna inquired.
“Well, the adrenaline is suppressed, so he releases excess testosterone instead. Because of that he gets kinda...”
“Ah, I get it,” Anna finished. “Don’t worry; my room is in the attic. For some reason, it was always the coldest room in the house. I don’t understand why. Heat usually rises.”
“Sometimes old attics aren’t well insulated and there’s a draft. Who knows?” Sonja replied.
“I’ll take the back stairs, that way I don’t bug Russell. By the way, you don’t plan on... you know.”
“No, I don’t. He wasn’t in his tiger form for that long, so his need shouldn’t be that bad. We can hold off for a few more days. It would be nice just to sit back and enjoy it without the threat of anyone trying to kill us,” she said with a smirk.
Anna laughed as she went around to the kitchen to take the back stairs to the attic. Sonja sat down on the couch and opened up another ration box. This one had a rubbery omelette, some peanut butter in a tube, and some thin pieces of Melba toast. She dug into the Spartan food and ate without comment.
She sure hoped that the trial would be soon.
She went over in her head what she was going to tell them, it all came out fantastical and completely insane. She hoped that she didn’t wind up in a mental hospital as a result. Abducting women, forcing them to carry babies against their wills... that was just crazy talk, but it was the truth.
She wondered if Russell and she would ever have a child together. Due to his spliced genes, they would need special help and it wouldn’t be very romantic, needing it to be artificially done and implanted. They would have to take the tiger genes out of the zygote and then implant it into her. They placed fail-safes in his genetic structure to prevent such a thing from happening with a normal woman, but she wasn’t normal. Her genetics were altered by the Chernobyl disaster.
Sonja counted down in her head how long it had been since her last period and her eyes widened. Of course it could just be delayed because of stress, but she hadn’t had her period since she met Russell. After the United Nations Security Council trial, she’ll have to go take a pregnancy test or something just to be sure.
Russell came down the stairs fully dressed and sat down next to her. “Penny for your thoughts?” he asked. They might be telepathically linked but there were some things Sonja kept to herself. He knew when she closed herself from him.
“Not really,” she said. “I’ll probably tell you later, right now I’d like to keep it to myself if you don’t mind.”
Russell stretched his arm out and draped it over her shoulder. “That’s okay. Is the kid still around?” he asked as he started to rub her shoulder amorously.
“She’s upstairs in her old room looking to see if her stuff is still here. I promised her we wouldn’t do anything until the UN trial was all over.”
“Ah,” Russell replied, slightly deflated. “It’s not nagging, but it would have been nice,” he said softly.
“I know. I just want to actually make love without the threat of a bullet to the brain. Every time we’ve done it, it was under duress, to put it lightly.”
“Yeah, you have a point. I can’t wait to be able to slowly make love to you. Lick you from your head to your toes, paying attention to everywhere in between,” Russell whispered into her ear.
Thrills of desire started to dance within her mind, but she held them off with sheer willpower. “You’re not helping with that you know,” she said with a grin.
“I know. I was kinda hoping I would break your resolve. Guess it didn’t work,” Russell said with a mock sigh.
Sonja laughed. “I think we’ll be testifying tomorrow, I hope. Let’s just relax and take a much needed breather. This house is nice. I wonder how much it will go for? I wouldn’t mind living here, would you?”
“You’re right. I think I wouldn’t mind living here, and at least Anna can crash with us if she wants,” Russell said. “She seems like a nice kid. I’m glad I didn’t kill her.”
Sonja punched him in the shoulder. “That’s rude,” she said.
“Ow!” he complained as she punched him hard. “Spousal abuse!” he cried in mock distress.
Sonja laughed as Russell pretended to be hurt. “So did you get all the glass out of you?” she asked.
“I think I missed some in my back,” he replied as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Maybe you can do a better job of it.”
Sonja inspected Russell’s striped skin as best as she could in the dim light. Anna came out of the kitchen and peered at the couple. “Hang on, I think they left a flashlight here,” she said as she turned to go back into the kitchen.
Anna came out holding a small flashlight. She turned it on and shook it a little until the light came on. “There we go. I knew they had one here somewhere,” she said.
“Can you hold that over here so I can see what I’m doing?” Sonja asked.
“Sure, not a problem,” she replied as she moved over to the couch, holding the flashlight high enough to illuminate all of Russell’s back. Anna gasped and her eyes went wide as she saw his striped skin.
“Yeah, I know,” he said. “It carries over. Just hold the light.”
Anna gulped and held the light as steady as she could, while Sonja inspected Russell’s back for embedded glass and wooden splinters.
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“Ah, found one,” she said as she grasped a shiny piece of glass with her fingers and pulled. Russell let out a sharp hiss of pain as the sharp object was removed from his flesh. “And another,” Sonja continued to pull out the debris from Russell’s muscular back while Anna held the light steady.
The process took the better part of the day; just to make sure not a piece was missed. “Did you make sure you got your...?” Sonja asked motioning to Russell’s buttocks.
“Yes, I stood in front of the mirror and got it all. It was difficult, but I got it all,” he replied.
“Good,” Sonja said as she dabbed the area with antiseptic that Anna had found in the bathroom. Russell winced as the astringent burned the fresh wounds. “Lucky you don’t need stitches,” she said. “The bleeding will stop on its own eventually. It’s best to let them bleed for a bit anyway to clean out whatever bacteria are in there.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to get tetanus,” Russell replied.
“Thought you’d be up to date on your shots,” Sonja teased.
“Ha ha, funny. Yes I am, even rabies,” Russell replied sarcastically as Sonja dabbed up the blood flowing from the wounds.
The blood stopped flowing after a few minutes and Russell put his shirt back on. “I’m pretty tired, I’m gonna head upstairs and get some sleep,” he said.
“I’ll be following you up in a minute,” Sonja replied. “Still no funny business. We don’t want to leave any more DNA lying around if we don’t have to,” she said.
“I understand,” Russell replied. The fact he couldn’t have sex with her kind of stung him, but he understood the reasoning.
Anna understood what they were implying. “I’ll sleep here on the couch. I don’t want to go back to my old room. I got what I came for,” she said as she nodded towards the backpack near the trap door.
“All right,” Sonja replied as Russell stood up and went upstairs. His muscles were tense and she could tell that he wasn’t taking her refusal very well, but she wasn’t going to let him guilt her into it. “Goodnight, Anna. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll finally get to testify,” she said as she walked upstairs.
