“They’re probably doing inventory or something. It’s not like they have any customers,” he said, glancing back down the open corridor to see that the back door to the shop flung open, as if the shop assistants had fled. Before I even had another moment to process what Rurik had said, our conversation was interrupted by a sound I never heard before in person, but I had a feeling it was only the beginning now that I was by Rurik’s side, even though I truly didn’t have a choice.
“Was that a gunshot?”
I couldn’t understandany of it, and it all happened so fast I was truly struggling to keep up. All I could focus on was Rurik’s hand in mine, dragging me out of the candle shop into the storm, while he led me down a narrow alleyway, trying to shield me from the bullets that were flying my way. I wondered if he had really been telling me the truth about wanting to help me, or if he was just trying to get me in the right place at the right time so the Andreyev men could finish the job. He knew enough about me to understand what I’d been looking for, who I’d been hoping to get into contact with for a very long time, and it was not only such a colossal disappointment to learn that my birth parents were terrible human beings, but it hurt even more to know that they wanted me dead. It was the only answer I had, but it opened the door to an array of questions I would never be able to ask if I didn’t manage to stay alive despite everything that was happening.
This doesn’t make any sense. If Mr. Andreyev sent Rurik to kill me, who was shooting at us back there? What do they want that Rurik wasn’t already planning on doing?I asked myself, feeling the wind send the raindrops flying into my skin like the bullets we’d been running from. We were shielded under an iron fire escape staircase that was attached to the building behind us, and he held me up against the concrete wall, placing his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet, as he made sure that no one was coming after us. I could barely hear anything over the rainfall now, but as it started to dissipate, I began to understand just how dangerous this situation really was. I knew that I was getting into something that I truly didn’t understand, but it never dawned on me that I was putting myself in harm’s way by just being out on the street. I knew then that there was still so much I had yet to learn, and I could only hope that Rurik would be willing to fill in the gaps for me, to help me understand where I’ve come from, so I wouldn’t be tempted to ask the people that have signed my death sentence themselves. It hurt my heart to see the lengths they’ve gone to keep me quiet, and I truly wondered what they were trying to protect themselves from, because surely I wanted nothing more than a conversation.Do they think that I’m after their money? That I want to crumble their precious empire? That’s ridiculous, or maybe it’s the kind of thing they deal with on an everyday basis. I truly know nothing, but I’m going to have to start paying attention if I want to see Larissa again. She doesn’t deserve this. None of us deserve this.
I thought about what Rurik had said about the Andreyevs making it impossible for men like him to leave even after they’ve paid their dues. It made me quite sad, and I could only imagine the countless others that have gone through the very thing all because they were afraid that my birth parents were going to take everything away from them before they made sure they would never breathe a word of it again. The more I thought about them, about the warning I received, and about them kidnapping my best friend, the more I wanted revenge, even though I didn’t know the first thing about getting it in a world quite like this one. I thought that maybe there was a part of me that could trust Rurik, but I still had yet to figure out his true intentions, because he could’ve very well been leading me to my death the entire day, but I just wasn’t able to pick up on it.
There was something about the way he spoke to me, about his choice of words, and how much kindness he seemed to possess for someone that spent his days killing people to please those that were practically holding him hostage. I was curious to hear the rest of his story, but I knew that wouldn’t be possible until we both managed to get to safety and make sure that we would stay that way if we were ever caught in a situation quite like that one again. He looked at me, staring deep into my eyes, while we both slowed our breathing, starting to calm down when we realized that the initial threat had finally disappeared.
“Who were those people?” I asked, and he placed a single finger over my lips, his warmth sending a spark through my body, as he got closer to me, shielding me from the storm as best he could, before he led me up the stairs of the fire escape to an unknown apartment, peering into the window to see if anyone had been there. It was clear that he didn’t want me talking about it in the open, and I could only imagine just how long he’d been under surveillance himself.He did tell me that people were always watching him, and even though I’ve only gotten a glimpse of what that must be like over the last few days, I can’t imagine living my entire life like that.I thought, waiting patiently to see what he was going to do next.
“I wish I had an answer for you, Marianna, but my best guess is that they’re not with the Andreyevs,” he said, trying to pry the window open to the stranger’s apartment, but I couldn’t imagine that breaking into someone’s home was going to help us much. I outstretched my arm to stop him, but he swatted it away, continuing to try to get the window to budge, while we heard the thunder roar overhead.
“You can’t just break into someone’s apartment!”
“I can if it’s going to keep us from being shot at again,” he said, and I took a step back, realizing that he was right, and it was quite true that we didn’t have much time before the people that were trying to get to us, made their way down the street, searching every corner until they found out where we were hiding. Rurik was right when he said that we needed to stay out of sight, but I couldn’t have imagined that things would’ve gone downhill so quickly, especially because I was still unsure of whether I could trust him. The one thing I knew for sure was that I had no other option but to follow him in through the stranger’s window, shielding us from prying eyes for the meantime, so we could figure out what to do next. I was coming down from the fear, only for it to be replaced by frustration, realizing that I was nowhere closer to finding Larissa, and now I had to worry about the people that were out there trying to kill me.
I didn’t know if sticking by Rurik’s side was the best option for me, but I knew that he had been with the Andreyev Family for quite some time, and if Mr. Andreyev himself sent him to kill me, then he would know what course of action to take. Though, there was still the worry that settled to the back of my mind, reminding me that I still knew nothing about Rurik, only that he saved my life from those that were trying to kill us, and I still had absolutely no idea why.Why is he so adamant on helping me?
The apartment was stuffy, as though the people who occupied it had been gone for a very long time, and I knew that we lucked out with this one because if we had walked in on someone’s property, they would’ve called the police on us faster than we would’ve been able to get out of there. I saw the curve of what appeared to be a gun holster hiding behind Rurik’s shirt, and for a moment I took a step back, wondering if he’d cornered me here to take care of the job. My body erupted with fear, and I started to make my way towards the window, but before I could slip out unnoticed, he turned around, wondering where I was trying to escape to.
“Marianna, where are you going?”
“I-I just-”
“Ah, so me saving your life back there wasn’t enough to convince you that I’m not going to kill you, huh?” he asked, and I truly wondered how he could be so calm when he still had yet to tell me just how much danger I was really in.
“Listen, Rurik. I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you want, and frankly, before you walked into my life, everything seemed to be going quite fine for me, so forgive me if I don’t feel like opening up right about now,” I said, and he looked at me chuckling, before he headed to the front door of the apartment, to pick up the pile of dusty mail that had remained unopened for what appeared to be months.
“Shut the window, Marianna. We have a lot to talk about.”
