Secrets Inside Her: Running with the Devil Book Two

by Jasmin Quinn

  Finn appeared dismayed and confused. He held up a hand to stop her. “Please Nika, those details are irrelevant.”

  Nika looked puzzled. “They are, Finn?”

  “Yes, they are. I won’t remember them. Just tell me about you, your family, how you came to be in the service of Mr. Jackman.”

  Nika scrunched her face in thought. “Okay, I will try to generalize more. But stop me if I forget.”

  “No worries there, I’ll definitely stop you.” Finn grinned at her as he took a swallow of his water.

  “We were located within the Volot Rural Settlement.” She looked questioningly at Finn.

  “Keep going,” Finn urged her.

  “We were what you might call farmers, but my mother and father were not that good at it. We were very poor. We had not much – a small house, maybe smaller than this.” She swept her hand toward the cabin. “Two bedrooms, one for my mother and father and one for my brothers. I slept on a cot in the living space. A bathroom, but no running water, so we used an outdoor toilet and hauled the water from the well. I had – have two older brothers. They were aged 16 and 17 when I left. I do not think that my birth was planned, and I was perceived as a burden to my family.” Nika said it matter-of-factly, not seeking pity or solace. It was only a necessary detail.

  “My father drank too much, and so did my brothers. So, what money we had was not often spent on household needs. I only had two pants and two shirts. When one was soiled and needed washing, I switched to the other. My mother treated me poorly, yelling and kicking at me, slapping me, taking her anger out on me. My father mostly ignored me, but he treated my mother poorly, especially when she complained about money. My brothers were idiots, even by your standards, Finn.”

  Finn barked out a surprised laugh. “Nika, I am not an idiot.”

  “Of course not, Finn. I meant by ordinary standards, and you are higher functioning than ordinary people. So that was a bad comparison.”

  “On many levels,” Finn growled.

  Nika puzzled over Finn’s remark. “No, I think just on one level.”

  Finn gave his head a small exasperated shake. “Let’s move on from my tendency towards idiocy.”

  “Right.” Nika nodded apprehensively. “It did not help that I was different than everyone, not just my family, but everyone I knew. I was not formally schooled, but it didn’t matter – I could do math easily in my head and everything I heard or read, I remembered. I tried to tell my mother how the farm could be more profitable, but she wouldn’t listen. In fact, it seemed to anger her. I was an embarrassment to my family – my brothers taunted me mercilessly. They told me that I would never marry because no man would ever want a freak like me.”

  Finn watched as she frowned, the memory tugging at her emotions. “You’re not a freak, Nika.”

  “I am, Finn.” Whatever sadness she had was fleeting, she was back to facts. “I have what is called an extraordinary memory, probably because I am highly intelligent. I don’t forget very much and I can very quickly absorb information.”

  “A photographic memory?”

  “No. Photographic or eidetic memories don’t really exist – they are used interchangeably in popular fiction although there are subtle differences, if that interests you?”

  Finn shook his head. It surely did not interest him.

  “Okay, moving on, to constitute a photographic or eidetic memory, the visual recall must persist without the use of mnemonics, expert talent, or other cognitive strategies. Various cases have been reported that rely on such skills and are erroneously attributed to photographic memory.”

  “Oh Nika.” Finn held his face in his hands in mock frustration. He looked up at her. “Let’s just agree that you are smarter than anyone I’ve ever met, and you have an exceptional memory.”

  “Extraordinary,” Nika corrected him.

  “Extraordinary,” Finn repeated. “Let’s move on.”

  Nika gazed at him, her eyes narrowing, trying to determine his thoughts. He mimicked her stare back to her. She shook her head. “My extraordinary memory was not valued by my family or the other residents in the Volot Settlement. There is much superstition in Russia and people looked at me suspiciously, thought maybe I was possessed by a demon. My father went so far as to strike me with his belt when I would speak out of turn – perhaps afraid that our neighbours might try to burn the demon out of me. After a while I stopped speaking in his presence because I was not sure what was ordinary and what was not.”

  As she said this, she dropped her eyes to her hands, suddenly bereft. She rarely thought of her childhood and talked about it even less. No one she knew was interested in her history, no one stopped long enough to ask. Her eyes moistened with tears she had no plans to shed. Finn wanted to listen, Finn wanted to know her. Her heart soared as she looked up at him. “Are you sure I don’t love you, Finn?”

  Finn pulled her leg up to his lap and started rubbing her foot, gentle strokes then harder then back to gentle. Magnificent. “I am not sure about anything anymore, Nika,” he said softly.

  She threw him a small smile and returned to her story. “My life was like that until I was age 11. Twenty-three days after my birthday, a man showed up at our house. He walked from the train and I believe he timed it so that both my father and mother were together. My brothers were also there. We were having dinner when he knocked.” She frowned at a thought. “It is good Russian tradition to welcome a stranger and offer him food. My parents did neither.

  “It did not matter to the man. He spoke Russian, fluently, and he introduced himself as Yuri Yakimov. But clearly, he wasn’t Russian, his dialect was not credible. I am sure no one else in my family was aware of that. He seated himself at our wood table and he lifted the lid off a box he had been carrying. It was full of money, rubles. We all got very excited, even me. It was more money than I could comprehend. I tried to move closer to see and my father smacked me – it was embarrassing, but the man seemed to take it in stride.

  “Yuri, the false Russian, said that there were one million rubles in the box.” Nika stopped and looked at Finn, unsure. “Do you want to know how much that is in Canadian money or should I just go on?”

  Finn pretended to think it over – Nika could tell he was toying with her. Then he nodded. “How much is one million rubles?”

  “By today’s standards, it’s about $20,000.”

  Finn winced at this information, his face reddening. “They sold you for $20,000 dollars – fucking savages!”

  Nika nodded. “Yes, they were. Before they accepted, my stupid brother asked why not just take the rubles from Yuri and kill him?

  As my father considered this, Yuri laughed and said, I will tell you why not. Because you will all be dead before you can regret that decision. And then he added, Except Nika. Nika and the million rubles will come with me. Yuri was very tall and intimidating. After he said he would kill my family, we all became afraid of him.

  My father nodded his understanding that Yuri wished to buy me with his box of money. I was young and naïve –” She’d been pulling at the sleeves of her shirt as she spoke but looked up sharply when Finn interrupted with a bark of laughter. Her eyes narrowed. “You are an asshole, Finn McQueen,” she snapped channeling Kelsie Scott, and that made Finn laugh harder. He dragged Nika to him, so she was laying top of him, her face directly over his.

  “And you, Nika Petrova, are a potty-mouth.”

  “Of course I am not, Finn, compared to you.”

  “Let’s see if that’s true.” Finn tugged on her hair pulling her lips to his and kissing her long and hard. As he came up for air, he said, “You’re right. Your mouth is sweet and delicious.”

  Nika felt his desire for her as his erection pressed against her thigh through the fabric of his jeans. A sudden warmth trickled through her, making her wet and she wriggled on top of him, rubbing against his penis. “Are we done talking, Finn?” she asked, leaning on his hard chest with her elbows, so she could take his head in her ha
nds and gaze into his eyes.

  Finn pulled himself up, pushing her away. “You have very pointy elbows, Nika. And no, we’re not done. Back to your side of the couch. You’re too distracting this close up.”

  Nika pouted, but playfully as Finn slapped her on the bare skin of her buttocks as she scooted across the couch. “Ouch!” she laughed as she turned around to face him.

  “What happened next?” Finn picked up his bottle of water and took a drink. He was so alarmingly sexy, Nika thought as she watched him swallow. His rugged features, the start of a full-blown beard if he didn’t shave soon, his strong biceps, his broad hard chest, his casual demeanor. “Nika?”

  “Next?” Nika tried to shake off her attraction for this man. “Next,” she repeated as she drew in a breath to steady herself. “Next, the man, this so-called Yuri took me by the hand and walked me out the door and to the train station. It was dark, but he was sure-footed and absolutely not afraid. My mother did not weep as I left, no one said goodbye. They were too busy looking at the money and talking about what they could do with it.”

  Finn looked stunned. “That’s a terrible thing to happen to a small girl. To be that disposable.” Nika saw a sheen of empathy in his eyes and sadness for her on his face.

  She paused, thinking about that day. She searched for her feelings, but she couldn’t find them, there was no bitterness, no anger, no resentment. She had never told her story before to anyone. Only Yuri, who she never saw again after he brought her to Mr. Jackman, and Mr. Jackman himself knew her background. But neither of them ever discussed it with her. To everyone at Jackman Enterprises her life officially began the day she stepped into Mr. Jackman’s compound.

  “I was afraid at first, Finn. Who wouldn’t be? I didn’t know why this man wanted me. He held my hand all the way to the train, making me walk fast to keep up with him. At first, I thought he wanted to marry me. I was glad someone would want me despite me being a freak with a demon inside me. But maybe he didn’t know what I was, and so I kept my mouth shut and jogged along beside him.

  “After we were on the train, Yuri said to me, do you know why I have bought you, Nika? I shook my head, afraid to speak. He told me that his employer had heard many amazing stories about me and he wanted me to work for him.”

  Finn was listening intently to every word she was saying, his face an open-book of varied emotions, the primary one being anger. “What did you think that meant?”

  “I didn’t know what it meant, Finn. But I could only think that it had to do with my memory. I was too young and isolated to know that there were men in this world that were truly evil. I was mistreated at home, but not molested. Maybe because I had not yet matured, or maybe because I was an ugly child.”

  “I very much doubt you were an ugly child,” Finn interjected a little unkindly. It was clear to Nika that even she was not allowed to speak poorly of herself. She reveled in his protectiveness towards her. She hoped it would always be that way.

  “My brothers said I was, and at the time I believed them.” She shrugged and shifted back to her story. “It was an extraordinary journey for me, Finn. I had never been outside of Volot. We travelled to St. Petersburg by train – it took all night to get there. At first, I couldn’t sleep because I was so afraid. Yuri did not realize I needed comfort, because I was very careful not to show my emotions. He told me not to leave my seat. If I had to use the lavatory, I must inform him, and he would go with me to make sure I was safe.

  “When we got to St. Petersburg, Yuri took me shopping. I left my home with nothing but the clothes I was wearing, and they were not clean. He called me daughter in front of the store clerks. He bought me beautiful new clothes and shoes and a warm coat and mittens and a wool hat. I still wasn’t speaking, but my fear was ebbing as my excitement grew. He took me to a hotel, where he told me to shower.” Nika shifted in her seat, the excitement growing in her as she remembered that day.

  “Finn, I had never taken a shower before in my life. We only had a tub and I never got to bathe first because I was the youngest. My mother would heat the water, then my father would bathe, then her, then my brothers and finally me. By then the water was tepid and filthy. I was never clean. Never.”

  Finn threw her a knowing smile. Her hatred of baths did stem from her childhood.

  “Yuri showed me how to use the taps and adjust the temperature. It was magnificent!” She remembered the hot stream of water cascading over her small body, washing her former life away. She used the little shampoo and conditioner bottles on her hair and soaped herself everywhere. She was squeaky clean when she stepped out of the shower 20 minutes later. She dried herself off with the hotel towels. She wanted to keep them, they were so soft. “I forgot my fear then. Whatever happened next, as long as it included showers, I was okay with it.

  “I dressed in the new clothes. A real dress and underwear and stockings! Yuri showed me how to brush my teeth and he helped to comb my hair. I felt like a doll.” She saw Finn wince at her choice of words. “Yuri took me to a salon and a dentist and a doctor. And after that, we went to the airport.”

  Finn stood up and walked over to the wood box, selecting a large log and settling it on the fading fire. He poked at the embers and watched as the fire flared up again, giving the new log a warm welcome. “Then you met your new employer,” he said as he returned to his seat, giving Nika’s shoulder a squeeze as he walked by.

  Nika nodded. “Yes. I had never been in an airplane before and I was both terrified and excited. I couldn’t settle down. I forgot to be afraid of Yuri and chattered at him nonstop. I decided that I very much wanted to marry him. When I asked him if we could, he laughed at me. No, we cannot marry, little one, Yuri said. Mr. Jackman won’t allow it. I was hurt, but I forgave him. I vilified Mr. Jackman instead.” Nika giggled. “Oh, Finn, it was such a tragic love story for my 11-year-old brain.”

  Finn laughed with her.

  “It was a very long flight to where we were going. Yuri would not tell me anything. I was fed excellent food and could use the lavatory without Yuri’s escort. And I could walk around and look at things – even into the flight cabin. I was too shy to talk to anyone but Yuri.”

  Finn looked puzzled. “Was it a commercial flight?”

  “No,” Nika replied. “It was a private plane, a Gulfstream V, so it was quite new. Mr. Jackman is very wealthy, and he does not fly commercially. I had never been on a commercial flight until I came to Vancouver. Anytime I’ve flown, it has always been in one of Mr. Jackman’s private planes.”

  Finn looked irritated. “Does Mr. Jackman have a first name?”

  “I suppose he does. Mr. Jackman is an alias, and everyone calls him Mr. Jackman or just Jackman. I always call him Mr. Jackman because it is respectful.”

  “Tell me about your Mr. Jackman.” Finn narrowed his eyes a little, flared his nostrils. Nika reminded herself that Finn was an official of the City of Vancouver Police Department. He would want to know all the details, so he could decide what to do next.

  “I don’t think I should.” Nika smiled hoping to placate him. There was stubborn set to Finn’s mouth, but he didn’t push the issue.

  “Okay, tell me about your arrival at Jackman’s, your new job.”

  Nika considered how she could explain without oversharing. It would not be easy to balance Finn’s demand for information and Mr. Jackman’s restriction of sharing it. But maybe she shouldn’t even try. She wanted to be with Finn. She hadn’t quite figured out how that would happen. But it was going to happen, even if she had to threaten to shoot herself in the head.

  “When I arrived at the compound, Yuri handed me off directly to Mr. Jackman, who was waiting on the tarmac. He took my hand from Yuri’s and walked away with me. I never saw Yuri again.” Nika grinned. “He was my first boyfriend. I will never forget him.”

  Finn groaned. “I’m a little jealous Nika.”

  “You shouldn’t be, Finn. I will never forget you either.”

  “I’m not comfo
rted by that. You will never forget anyone.”

  Nika frowned. “That’s not entirely true, Finn.” Finn held up his hand and stopped her before she could launch into an explanation on the limits of her extraordinary memory.

  “You arrived at Jackman’s compound. What happened next.”

  “I got afraid again, but Mr. Jackman took me to his office and sat me down on his couch. He gave me some milk and some Oreos. Oreos are delicious, Finn.”

  Finn grinned. “I guess they are.”

  “They are,” Nika said adamantly. “I ate the cookies and drank the milk while Mr. Jackman talked. He said that I would be working for him from now on. That my job initially would be to become schooled and learn as much as I can about the world. Then after that, I would spend time with his Disappearist, learning my new job. Then I would become his new Disappearist.” She leaned forward, gazing into Finn’s eyes, thinking that maybe her eyes were metaphorically sparkling. “I was so excited Finn! I wanted to start working right away. Can you imagine it? I had a teacher, I had access to books, I got my very own computer and my very own little apartment with a large bed and warm blankets, dolls and other toys, and a bathroom with a shower and a tub.

  “I could eat what I wanted and when. All I had to do was walk to the cafeteria.” She laughed gaily at her memories. “For the first week, I only ate Oreos and milk. Someone must have told on me because Mr. Jackman brought in an adult companion for me. Alexandria. She would only let me have four Oreos a day. And she made me eat other food, three times a day.” Nika grimaced at the memory. “She made me eat broccoli. But despite that she was necessary because I had very little understanding of social and cultural norms. My new teacher was a bit of a tyrant, I think because I outpaced him quickly. He graduated me when I was 14.”