I reached up to touch my mouth, smirking to myself when my fingers came away covered with faint traces of her pink lip gloss. The same color as her ribbons, her coat. It was becoming my favorite.
I turned to my guards, my face once again cold. They studied me unnervingly. I couldn’t blame them. After all, I’d spent my entire life completely uninterested in women, unlike my soft, sweet, gentle Eva. She wore her naivety like a diamond necklace, her innocence shining, calling to the parts of me that wanted to break her into submission and show her how good darkness tasted.
One guard, Ilya, cleared his throat. “Sir… that was?—”
“Not another word,” I said quietly, the threat more than apparent in my voice. “Follow her.”
Their eyes widened with panic as they looked to the dark path Eva had vanished down. I followed their gazes and found nothing. No pink coat, no sign of the silhouette I just held in my arms. It was as if she’d never been there at all.
And then Ilya voiced the words I hadn’t dared to think. The ones that had the potential to ruin everything.
“Sir. W-we can’t. She’s gone.”
I turned back to them, jaw clenched to the point of breaking, eyes cold with fury. She didn’t get to disappear. Not from me.
“Then fuckingfind her.”
December 10th
Aleksandr
Want to redeem your utter failure at the shipyards?
Nikolai
Will it get you to stop glaring at me?
Aleksandr
No.
Nikolai
Fineeeeee.
But whatever favor you want is going to be your Christmas gift.
Aleksandr
Fine.
I need you to find a girl.
Nikolai
Oooh! A scavenger hunt. How exciting!
Aleksandr
This isn’t one of your fucking games, Nikolai.
Nikolai
All right, all right. Don’t get your panties in a twist. Who am I looking for?
Aleksandr
Name is Eva. About five two. Petite. Brown hair, most likely wearing pink.
