Arctic Sunrise

by Robert G. White

  ''From this moment on, you belong to me, your life, your dreams and ambitions, your soul, they are all mine, and if I see fit I will step on them and you on a whim. Remember that I am not your teacher, your brother or your friend. This is your first lesson. Life is not supposed to be lived by a pattern or how others command you to. I live how I feel like and listen to my heart and mind. I know I will die, be it five minutes or fifty years from now and I'm at peace with that because I lived how I wanted. How many people in the world can say that? Civilians are scattered, not united. People only unite out of need, or out of hate. The vory v zakone is united by both. We are the vory v zakone not for the money...we are free, we are rocks and together we are a wall that can withstand poverty, disease, war, governments, anything! What sets us apart from normal men is the fact that we are united, not shattered like the rest of the population, therefore we are an anomaly to the world so called order. Our roots are in poverty and death, in prisons and disease, and blood and tears...now we drink champagne and eat caviar in our own clubs, we drive the most expensive cars on the planet, we fuck the most expensive whores in five star hotels. All of that achieved with our breath and blood in a few generations. We earned it more than anyone. Stalin called us traitors, saying that the Thieves World, the Red Mafia has pecked the bones of a bankrupt and at war country. What the fuck makes him different from us? Stalin's daughter said that he literally choked to death as she watched. Good woman. We are not Italians, Americans, Mexicans or Colombians, we are Russians, warriors by nature, we refuse to surrender, we are wild, raw and powerful, we have never lost a war and we never will. From this heritage we are the true mob, the true organized crime. We understand that laws are only made by men for weaker men...guidelines for a game that cannot have rules so we choose to play our way. We merely trade, we are traders and nothing more. Plants, metal, flesh...they call them guns, weapons and women. We provide immoral services. I call it business. We don't make deals with the Devil because he always gets the better part of it.'' Dmitri says.

  ''I am honored to serve.'' Nikolai says.

  ''You will enter a world most people don't know exists but you must tread lightly because death is everywhere. Your first assignment is to go over to my car, drag the two men inside the trunk to the shed next to the house that I saw when I came here. The two men are to be tortured and killed like animals and you will watch me do it, maybe even assist me.'' Dmitri says handing the boy the keys to his car. Nikolai takes the keys, his arm slightly trembling.

  Nikolai stands up, walks to the door and opens it to leave the room when he is shocked by the beast in front of his eyes.

  ''So this is the boy? He looks like a girl, a pretty girl!'' a voice that resembles the roar of a bear breaks the silence.

  In front of Nikolai there's a huge shirtless man, over two meters tall, weighing about three hundred pounds, giant stars on his shoulders, cuts and holes all over his torso and chest. His face is terrifying, a huge crooked nose, one eye missing from its socket and flesh bonded together in its place through a crude operation, a big mouth with thick lips and dark, metal like teeth, a thick black beard, small ears, short military type haircut, and a boxer's big jaw. The man is chewing a raw piece of meat, and his big blue eye is fixated on Nikolai.

  ''Can I pet him?'' the huge man mumbles and chews, petting Nikolai's head like a cat's. Nikolai is frozen. The man in front of him looks like a monster.

  ''Train, what are you doing here?'' Dmitri intervenes, fearing for Nikolai's life. (since the brain surgery, Train sometimes goes berserk.)

  ''Hunting wolves in the forest north of here. I set twenty traps, I'll check on them tomorrow. Do you think that normal people have kids so they can have a reason not to kill themselves?'' Train asks.

  ''What? Just step away, the boy has things to do and stop asking me stupid things!'' Dmitri commands.

  ''So you took him in? You're crazier than I am!'' Train says, spitting out some stringy weird looking piece of meat.

  Train steps aside and Nikolai almost runs away through the hall.

  ''So Ivan called you here, too ?'' Dmitri asks.

  ''No but I felt something was brewing and I knew you'd take the men for questioning here earlier than we talked. Did you think I'd let you have all the fun? '' Train says and approaches Dmitri.

  Face to face, Train is at least ten inches taller, and even though Dmitri is a muscular, thick man, he pales in comparison to Train's unholy size. The men stare at each other without any gestures.

  All of a sudden Train picks Dmitri up from the ground, hugging him, smiling and shouting ''I've missed you brother.'' Dmitri, at first surprised by Train's impulsiveness, chuckles and hugs Train back.

  Ivan rolls into the room laughing. Train releases Dmitri and looks at Ivan saying ''why didn't you tell me Dmitri arrived, you tricky old man?''

  ''We had some business to take care of'' Ivan says.

  ''No business, I can smell it, it is time for war,'' Train says and punches the wall next to him fiercely, he then smiles innocently, trying to cover the hole made in the wall.

  Dmitri laughs uncontrollably. Ivan is clearly upset because of the damage done to the wall. He looks over to Dmitri and scolds him ''get him under control already, he's going to bring the house down on us.''

  ''He's just excited, you know how he is in times like these'' Dmitri says smiling and looking over at Train, still trying to fix the hole in the wall by moving an entire bookcase to cover it.

  Ivan starts laughing, they all start laughing. Ivan knows that the bond between Dmitri and Train is as if they were more than brothers. A bond forged in suffering and blood, unbreakable. Dmitri first met Train in prison, sharing a jail cell. At first there was hate between them because Dmitri considered himself superior to most inmates, especially those that were not part of the vory v zakone. One day, while walking through the courtyard, Dmitri was jumped by five suki, he got stabbed eight times and before the final blow was struck , Train jumped in and fought them off, blinding one of them and paralyzing another. The fight cost Train much, his left eye was gauged out and he was hit in the left temple with a dumbbell twice, smashing his cranium. Dmitri used all of his influence to have a good surgeon operate on Train, putting a metal plate in his head and saving his life after a two month comma. When he awoke, Dmitri asked him why had he risked his life for him, and Train simply responded ''because it was the only thing I could do''.

  Saving the life of a vor is the greatest action a man from the outside can accomplish and so Train was rewarded for his bravery and compassion. Dmitri would have not saved Train if the situation had been reversed. Train was welcomed into the Thief's world and in a few years he became a vor, he became Dmitri's right hand, his lieutenant. Train remained a feral man, he once pulled a man's lungs out through his mouth and ate them as the man died in front of him. Everyone knew and feared him, but they also hated him. The war beast; the cannibal; the tank and so many others were the names given to him across the years but Train was the one that stuck.

  Ivan just thinks, like most people, that Train is crazy, simple and crazy. He's a wild animal like any other predator in the forest and the jungle, the only difference is that he can talk. He's loyal like an animal but raw, primal and very dangerous. Train is inhumanly strong, the man is always wearing t-shirts even when below zero weather and he's still sweating, Ivan has seen men shoot him, beat him ,stab him , hit him in the head with crowbars, axes and he never goes down. He's a tool that needs to be used in order not to rust away. Without Dmitri, Train would have died in prison years ago, everyone knows that, even Train.

  Between Dmitri's intelligence and Train's strength there's no stopping them. It took them two years after being released from prison to subdue most rival gangs in Moscow and Saint Petersburg...no man was spared, no woman or child. Their cruelty was surpassed only by their efficiency. Train obeys Dmitri's orders to the letter and that is how he has survived, how they have survived.

  ''So what is your opinion of Nikol
ai, Dmitri?'' Ivan asks.

  ''He seems eager and willing, maybe even rash and impulsive but that's okay because most young people are like that, their minds scattered, then again all hotheads cool down in the grave.'' Dmitri says as Train listens with more interest than Ivan.

  ''So you got nothing good to say about him?'' Ivan asks concerned.

  ''He lacks the typical anger men of his age usually have. He's not hostile or even defensive but that doesn't make him special, different or unique, it makes him abnormal and dangerous. Are you hiding something from me Ivan? The boy seems off. He's killed already, at the age of twelve and spent more years than I have in prison already. Those things can destroy a grown man, I wonder what happens to a boy?'' Dmitri asks, searching for a reaction in Ivan's face.

  ''I don't know, he's just a kid, don't give him too much credit Dmitri.'' Ivan calms down Dmitri's suspicions.

  ''We're just animals thinking we're more because we are too afraid to admit the truth.'' Train shouts.

  Dmitri and Ivan look at how casually Train takes another bite out of the hunk of dark meat he's carrying around, filled with dust from punching the wall. Train seems confused at the men starring at him and lifts his giant shoulders asking ''what?'' and taking another bite.

  ''Your wisdom is rubbing off on him Dmitri, it's actually frightening.'' Ivan says smiling.

  ''He's still stupid and crazy'' Dmitri answers.

  ''That doesn't mean I'm wrong.'' Train whispers, chewing slowly.

  ''This is honestly scaring me. Dmitri, don't we have something to do ?'' Ivan asks.

  ''Sergei will crack easily but he may not know much, as far as Anatoly is concerned I think I need Train's help. He's a master of torture. If what I believe is true, either Vladimir had no intention of coming to tomorrow's meeting or he planned on coming in really heavy and wiping us out. Either way, we need to know everything Anatoly knows and we need to know it now.'' Dmitri says.

  ''I've been itching to rip Anatoly to pieces ever since that night we played poker with him and his piece of shit brother Vladimir. You remember, don't you?'' Trains asks Dmitri.

  ''Yes, I remember and maybe we should have killed him and his brother that night.'' Dmitri says.

  Nikolai enters the room, he's sweating and panting ''I've moved them to the shed.''

  ''Look, it's the kitten!'' Trains shouts. ''come here kitty, kitty, kitty.''

  ''Enough Train, it's time to get serious.'' Dmitri scolds Train and he nods in response, revealing a look of pure hate on his face that could frighten off devils.

  ''We'll use whatever tools we find in the shed, it should be more than enough.'' Dmitri says and takes off his jacket and shirt, remaining in only a tank top.

  Train picks up Ivan, wheelchair and all, without asking for permission. Ivan is surprised but doesn't say anything, knowing it would do not good, they all walk out of the mansion, towards the shed.

  Dmitri enters first and gets knocked out by a shovel to the head, and another swing comes to bash his brains in as he's lying unconscious. Train sees this and drops Ivan down, the wheelchair slamming on the ground, tilting and falling on the side, spreading Ivan on the lawn.

  Anatoly is the one holding the shovel and Train rushes him, Anatoly swings but Train reaches him in time before the shovel smashes Dmitri's head, the shovel swing misses by inches because Train tackles him at full speed, breaking a wooden table with his back. Anatoly roars like a wild beast trying to get Train off him but Train laughs, grabs him in his arms and crushes him until Anatoly passes out. While this is going on, Nikolai doesn't even blink, he does nothing but assist Ivan to get back in his wheelchair. A few guards rush to them but Ivan waves them away.

  Their other prisoner Sergei is awake but still bound and gagged. He looks fearfully at Train's demented smile.

  ''Yes, you will be first'' Trains says to him, cracking his knuckles.

  Dmitri stands up and wipes the blood that's flowing on his face, screaming ''how did he get loose?''

  Train points to the shovel and says ''the edge is not dull, he probably swiped his ties a couple hundred times, he must have been awake when this boy brought him here.''

  Dmitri shakes his head ''it doesn't matter anyway, it was my mistake for dropping my guard, let's just get this started.''

  All four of them enter the shed and close the door.

  Anatoly wakes up after a few minutes and as he opens his eyes from the corner in which he had been tossed by Train he can see Sergei screaming, sharp, high screams, never in his life has he heard such unholy and frightening sounds...Train is using an electrical powered drill to make holes in Sergei's forearms, thick as a cigarette, going all through the bone to the other side, he then inserts a white powder in the wounds, salt. Dmitri keeps walking around the chair on which Sergei is tied, shouting at him ''what is Vladimir's plan? why is he moving against us? how does he plan on killing us?''. Sergei keeps shouting ''I don't know! stop please! I don't know!''

  ''Stop that you fucking animals, the man doesn't know anything.'' Anatoly screams. Dmitri turns his eyes towards Anatoly saying ''but you do, I want you to see what is waiting for you.''

  ''Get that blowtorch and melt his face off.'' Dmitri says to Train.

  Train complies and a few seconds later he lights up the blowtorch. ''Here, look at this, Anatoly!'' Dmitri shouts, grabbing his head, forcing his eyes open to witness the carnage.

  Even Ivan and Nikolai look away as the blowtorch starts melting the flesh on the nose, inflating the eyeballs, burning through the cheek and forehead skin, teeth start to heat up sending jolts of pain into the gums, and from there to the brain, Sergei screams and the torch burns his tongue, the smell of burnt meat overflows the room. Anatoly doesn't try look away, his eyes become watery and he whispers ''goodbye, my friend.'' The screams stop after a short time. Sergei's body goes soft...

  ''Now it's your turn, Anatoly!'' Dmitri says and signals to Train ''undress him too''.

  Train unties Sergei from the chair and tosses him in a corner, goes to Anatoly, grabs him and puts him on the chair still warm with urine, sweat and blood. Anatoly doesn't fight.

  ''Before we begin, I have an offer to make,'' Dmitri says ''I will guarantee that your body remains intact so you can be buried by your family as a man, not burned in the back of the house in a hole like a plague carrier, like Sergei will be.''

  Anatoly looks up from the chair at Dmitri, who is sitting in front of him and says softly ''you know me well, I don't fear death but I fear that. You know many things, too many for the man that I consider to be the stupidest man in the world.''

  While Dmitri tries to understand the words spoken by Anatoly, Train starts beating him with a leather belt, hitting so hard that the skin on his back ruptures. Dmitri waves Train to stop after a few lashes.

  ''Stupid I may be but I was smart enough to unravel your plans.'' Dmitri says.

  ''That's because of that little shit of a nephew getting high and drunk and coming straight at you. If it wasn't for that moron, you would all be dead.'' Anatoly says, calmly and pleased.

  Dmitri says nothing, knowing that Anatoly is right, he has gotten sloppy, back in the day he had enough informants to see a move like this coming miles away. What really bothers him is why didn't the KGB warn him, for fuck's sakes, he's killed over ten men for them in the last two years. They owe him.

  ''I know you're going after Vladimir no matter what I tell you so here it is. We wanted to move on Ivan, and if you don't know the reason behind it by now Dmitri...then you will die a fool. We had to take you out too just as you would try to seek revenge because you do not understand.'' Anatoly says.

  ''This doesn't matter. I want to know why you were doing this, is it just plain greed?'' Dmitri asks.

  Ivan seems concerned in some way about Dmitri and Anatoly's discussion.

  ''Revenge...that is the reason, greed had nothing to do with it. Ivan must die for all the things he has done over the years, especially killing that angel of a...'' a gunshot sto
ps Anatoly. Anatoly tries to speak but only gibberish comes out, his head slowly descends between his shoulders as blood gushes out from his forehead.

  All the while, Dmitri, Train and Nikolai stare at Ivan, gun still smoking and pointed at Anatoly's head.

  ''Why...why did you do that? He was talking.'' Dmitri asks, eyes wide open and with a look of confusion on his face.

  ''He admitted that they are coming after us. That is all I need and all I want, I don't want to listen to his poisonous tongue anymore.'' Ivan says, handing the gun to Nikolai and rolling out of the shed onto the lawn. For a split second, Nikolai thinks about using the gun to have his revenge...but no, he decides to wait for a better time. A time in which he will have all the advantages. It's way too soon to reveal himself.

  Dmitri looks to Nikolai and then to Train.

  ''I'll take them both in the back of the house, dig a hole, fill it with gasoline and burn their bodies.'' Train says.

  ''No, Anatoly's body is coming with us, I know where his mother lives, let her bury her son, he was a warrior and he deserves a proper burial.'' Dmitri says.

  Train nods and leaves the room grabbing with two fingers Nikolai's shirt collar and dragging him out as well. Not even Train smiles anymore, he knows that killing a vor, no matter the reason, is never a victory.

  Remaining alone with Anatoly, Dmitri looks at him with sympathy, remembering their youth and how wild they were. A tear loses itself in Dmitri's beard.

  ''In another life...we could have been brothers. We were the same and yet so different. Strange how life is, I never imagined I would be forced to take your life even if I made that promise so long ago. And you never called me stupid until tonight so you must have had a real reason but do not worry I will get to the bottom of this. I will stay with you a little while longer, just to...'' Dmitri touches Anatoly's face, his fingers gliding over the missing right ear...the scars, he remembers the night Anatoly lost that ear... he tries to say something but his lips tremble, he is overcome with emotions and closes his eyes...for the first time in months, he falls into a deep sleep.