"I have already declined your offer. I am not going to accept it under any circumstances." A man in his late thirties yelled over the call which was ongoing for the last five minutes.
"You would die a bitter death, Yuri." The man on the opposite side spoke with gritted teeth making the situation worse for Yuri.
"Go to hell." That was the last word that came out from Yuri's mouth before slamming the cell phone on the hard marble floor.
A woman came rushing out of the kitchen drenched in sweat holding a glass of water. Her panic-stricken face was nothing but another blow for Yuri. He grabbed the glass and placed it aside. Pulling the woman in his arms he rubbed his hands on her back to subdue the budding stress that was hampering her normal respiratory mechanism.
"It's fine, Evelyn. No need to worry. We would be leaving this city today. No one can harm you and my daughter." Yuri cooed in his wife Evelyn's ears who was still trembling like a leaf after witnessing the severity of the situation.
"Yuri…. Yuri… our daughter….." Evelyn stuttered while looking at her husband with wide eyes. Narrowing his eyes, Yuri tried to grab more information when his wife almost broke into tears.
"She is still in school. She….."
"It's ok. Pack her bag and keep only essentials. We will move to the airport when she is back."
Yuri checked his wristwatch after making his wife understand what to do exactly.
Half an hour or so was left until their daughter came back from school. Yuri locked the front door and sent his wife to pack their bags.
Calculating different possibilities to running away from this mess he made a few phone calls to get a clear passage to the airport. Passports and visas were all arranged weeks back, what they needed at that moment was nothing but a perfect opportunity to escape.
Not everything always goes according to plan. A sudden knock on their door was the start of their doom.
Three black cars arrived in front of a house. The locality was secluded and neighbors were mostly away from that two-story building. Almost fifteen men all wearing masks and dressed in black suits came down from those cars and positioned themselves surrounding the house, making it a death trap. One of them walked towards the main entrance and rang the bell. Twice, thrice no answer came out from inside. A small smirk appeared on the face of the man who was buzzing the doorbell.
"Boys, blast it out." The man shouted in a loud voice making it sure to be heard by anyone who was inside the house.
One of those men pointed a small missile to blow the door.
"Boom."
The door blew open and smoke blurred the vision of those men who were standing outside. Just at the very next moment, a fierce firing started and a few of those men got startled. They didn't expect such a dramatic comeback from the man who was inside the house.
"Yuri………..you would never change." The leader laughed while taking shelter near the garden. Ten Minutes passed and people could hear nothing but the sound of roaring guns. The man inside the house, Yuri Ivanov, looked to his left.
"Shit." He cursed under his breath noticing his ammunitions' poor situation. He was running out of magazines. He couldn't hold back for long and the nearest reinforcement would take time to come.
Yuri looked at his terrified wife who was sitting beside him, keeping her both hands on her ears to avoid the sound of constant firing.
"Everything would be fine Evy" Yuri coaxed to keep his wife stable who was breathing heavily out of fear.
"It's too late Yuri…." Yuri heard the well-known tone coming from the other side. He kept on firing without paying much heed to the man's voice.
"Yuri…." A shriek shook him violently when he noticed the dark red patch drenching the white floral dress of Evelyn. She was shot on her right chest and her large fat tears were adding more piercing pain to his heart.
"Evy…." He cried out loud throwing his gun and clutching his wife's body close to his chest like a pile of sand.
"Everything would be fine… Evy…Breath….Breath… "
Yuri kept on talking without noticing the shallow breathing of his wife who was drowning in her dark abyss.
"Iris….. our daughter….. Yuri….." Evelyn licked her lower lips and tried to know about the safety of the last bloodline of them.
"Iris would be fine… Evy...I will protect Iris… " Yuri tried to convince himself more than his dying wife who was gasping for air. The firing was still on and a sudden bullet pierced through his back making him bend towards his wife.
"Yuri…." Evelyn gasped, taking a large gulp of oxygen when she noticed the painful expression on her husband's face. They promised each other to live and die together. But that day she was hell-bent to break the promise because of their only daughter Iris. She wasn't back at home and at least one of them should be alive to secure her and protect her.
"Evelyn……." Yuri growled like a mad man jerking her body by her shoulder when she started closing her green eyes in a slow painful motion. Her body gave up as her clutch loosened up on her husband's hand. A new flow of blood appeared on Yuri's chest when another bullet hit him hard.
"Evy…" a mere whisper came out from Yuri's mouth as he noticed the pale dying face of Evelyn in his arms.
"I wish to die in your arms Yuri if death ever knocks at my door."
Evelyn often said that to Yuri since she fell in love with him wholeheartedly. Nothing got changed at the end.
Yuri remembered the day when Evelyn took the oath of being with him forever. Then how she could leave him early.
The physical pain was less than the one he felt seeing his love of life dying in his arms because of him only.
The firing eventually stopped as two lifeless bodies lay down holding each other's hands in a pool of blood. The man who was executing the entire operation called his boss to inform the situation.
"Boss, they are finished but the girl is missing."
"Asshole. I need that girl alive too. She would satisfy my quench every night."
"Sure boss. We would wait for……" The leader of the operation couldn't confirm his words when his subordinates arrived with a questioning face.
He whispered something in a low tone but the gravity of the information was enough to shake them properly. Immediately the man informed his Boss.
"There is a movement boss...." Sweat beads arrived as he knew the result of the massacre.
"How was the other one informed? We were supposed to finish everything." Their boss shouted over the call when the leader of the operation widened his eyes.
"We don't know Boss."
"Get the hell outta there."
"What about the girl?"
"We will get her by any means but not now. Moreover, she would come running to me the moment she would witness this."
Their boss disconnected the call and the leader of the operation howled at his subordinates.
Within the next five minutes, the chirping of the birds was audible only. Those three black cars left the premises along with those heavily armed men. The sky witnessed those silent tears of those humans who had dream-filled eyes set on their future with their only loving daughter.A school bus came to a known halt and a girl came down from the bus with a big smile plastered on her face. Waving her hand back to her only friend she started walking towards her house. Today her parents would be taking her out for a trip and it was her birthday gift. They would be roaming around the world for a certain time. Happiness was bubbling up inside her mind as she started jumping while walking on the pavement. Her father is a private person and that was the reason he made this house away from a common crowded locality. They didn't even have guests or neighbors except for some men in black suits. Many times she asked her father about his reluctance towards meeting new people. Every time he waved it off by saying that he was happy with these two women in his life.
Iris reached the area of her house and just with a mere sight of the devastation her mind went blank. Her mother's favorite garden was destroyed. The main entrance of her house was blown up. Everything around her was screaming the meaning of destruction and nothing else. It looked like someone came to continue his rampage only. Slowly she walked towards the main door and entered inside. The smell of gunpowder was still there in the air making the air dense creating difficulty for her breathing. The crushing sound of glass shards below her shoes was adding more negative thoughts to her mind. Her toes curled up inside her school shoes as she clutched her school bag tightly in her hand. Nothing was working properly inside her mind the moment she found a path of blood.
Her stomach churned just with the sight of blood as she walked further to understand the matter."Dad….Mom….. I am home…" Her trembling voice resonated inside the room but there came no reply. Her words died in her mouth when her eyes landed on the unexpected sight of her life.
Her reason for living, her love, her only pillars of strength were lying there in a pool of blood. There was an eerie silence inside the room and the only sound of her heavy breathing could be heard. She was lost in her place as her feet stumbled and she held the nearby wall to maintain her balance.
"Dad……..Mom……." A loud shriek escaped her lips threatening the ambiance inside the house, making the birds fly away from the nearby trees. Sliding on the floor she jumped on those already cold bodies of her parents.
"Mom…..Mom….." She jerked her soldiers yet no response came from her mouth. The blood on her body drenched her daughter's small pale hands. Those tears felt no boundaries to come out washing her cheeks.
Moving her hands towards her father she grabbed his collar to pull him up."Dad…. Please… please…. You can't leave me, dad…. " Her cries were something that even death would rethink his decision of taking away someone's life. The constant jerking made no effect on her father except bringing out a small painful groan from his father's mouth. In an unsettled sea, the small sound looked like a twig of support to Iris as she pulled her father's body in her lap.
"Dad, dad… please…. Tell me something… dad… stay with me…" She didn't know what power she could achieve to bring them back into her life.
"Who did this? Where would I go? Dad, don't leave your princess. Dad……" She cried loudly as his father tried to open his eyes. A small whisper came from his mouth before he completely surrendered himself in the arms of death. His bloody palm tried to touch his daughter's cheek whereas his other hand was still holding his wife's hand. She quitted long back but Yuri didn't know what made him stay till her daughter returned. Maybe the last glimpse of his daughter was left on which he bargained with death. His body started feeling numb as he felt the less painful death lying on his daughter's lap. His mouth did the last job as one last word reached Iris's ears before her world collapsed down.
"Bratva...."
IrisI laid down in between my parents all in the dried and fresh blood holding their hands all together in with my both palms. My reckless tears kept on trailing down soaking my cheeks and the white-collar of the school uniform I was wearing. I placed my hand again on my mother's womb. And there slept my brother, Maxim peacefully in my mother's womb away from me. My mother was pregnant with her four-month-old child.My parents might love him more than me as he got them together even when he wasn't born. He didn't even get the chance to see the first Sun that I had planned when my mom told me about him. I didn't get the chance to see my little brother growing in front of me. I had so much plan jotted down when my father told me I am going to get a little brother. A small baby. I made a few cards for him but never have I thought I would be watching him dying even before sparing a glance at this world."Mom.....""Dad......."&nb
Saint Petersburg, RussiaInside a big spacious room, three men were standing side by side with their heads bowed down. A man in his late twenties was sitting behind a desk holding a cigar in his hand. A girl with bare minimum clothes was massaging his shoulder while giggling seductively. The scene was pretty much common to what an author could describe as an already degraded man with no moral values. There were plenty of papers kept on the table but the man's eyes were fixed on a specific one."Did you check the house thoroughly?""Yes, Boss. But there was no one. Even those dead bodies went missing. Yuri and his wife's bodies were no longer there when we visited the place again." A man bowing his head narrated the incident that occurred once they headed again in the same building to grab the girl."Max, I think you are no longer needed." The man seating on the large black leather chair growled while making a ring of s
Iris walked down the bus to a nearby busy street. Upon walking towards the other direction she saw a club. It didn't look something where her father used to bring her and her mother to spend Sundays. The area didn't look safe. Apparently women or girls were differently clothed and they all were entering inside the cafe while giggling.Putting the cap of the hoodie on her head she hid her face as much as she could. She didn't dare to go to a local police station knowing that she was carrying something offensive in her bag. And the motive she had chosen would never be fulfilled if she would enter in their custody. She would send to some orphanage or foster care because of losing her only support system."Hey kid, where do you think you are going?" A bully man asked her while she was pretending to just roam around with a notion of entering the club.That was the point Iris was expecting to face and she didn't know what to answer exactly. She had c
DimitriosWhat matters for me is business and I have never spared anyone who had created obstacles in the path of my smoothly running business. Be it my stepbrother or my most trusted man, betrayal means Death.Painful or brutal. And I know how things would be taken care of. Russian Government does know who is Bratva and who is the next one. The blood runs in our veins only. We have everything around us and we can provide what others need as long as they follow our instructions. It is not easy to gain trust in this world and once you earn it you can't just walk away swaying your hips. I personally erase every single living being who has ever dared to step out of our world with our permission or without because we don't permit it.The Bratva didn't come out in a single day. It took years to form such a strong alliance and the major group. And I would never let it fall no matter what I have to do with it."Boss, we h
DimitriosEverything was perfect as my mind jotted down the plan. Christian was killed, Nick had shot himself and I was planning my next move to enforce my stronger grip on the regime. Maybe fate wanted to spare me some moments or a diversion through which I might another signal of how vulnerable the system around me become."Congratulations...... Dimitrios........"I mocked myself when I repeated the same incident in my mind. In my so-called high-security zone, someone climbed up in my car and no one noticed. That someone brought out a knife and placed it inches away from the main artery of my neck. What a lovely scene to rejuvenate again and again. What shocked me more was the age of the attacker and the gender.Keeping aside feminism and other thoughts, I always found women warming my bed. Rarely some were appointed to lure me by my rivals who eventually died a brutal death after enormous rounds of physical tortures.
Dimitrios remained seated on his chair for a certain time. The night was supposed to be long and he made sure of it. Even though Igor suggested Dimitrios let the matter go and settle in the morning, he paid no heed to that."I want to know how did she find me." Dimitrios's cold voice was anything but soothing."We can look into this matter in the morning Boss. She is already unconscious and it is already 1 at night." Igor did his best to suppress the budding anger Dimitrios was having. Even though he was cruel being the right hand of Bratva, he was still not ready to soak his hand in a minor's blood."What are you planning to give her Igor? The benefit of the doubt?"The dilemma was visible in his eyes which didn't take much time for Dimitrios to recognize and point out."Boss, we know nothing about her recent activity. Do we?""Absolutely, Not. That is the reason I am still awake sacrificing my sleep and ignoring a b
"This is insane. She is a minor.""The work she did doesn't look like that.""Boss....." Brian interrupted the ongoing conversation of Dimitrios and Igor. Looking at his Igor understood there happened something which needed to be discussed just then."Yeah..." Igor asked him."She is screaming and shouting to meet Bratva.""What she is actually speaking? Sorry, cursing." Dimitrios's playful smirk didn't go unnoticed by Igor who already tried to dilute the situation but failed twice."Call the f**king Bratva." Brian kept his head done while speaking the curse word. It was a direct disrespect to their boss. The man whom the world fears must not be annotated like trash. If it would have been someone else, his or her body would have been cut into pieces but because of her naivety and young age and Igor's interference, she was surviving.&
Iris Life was always unpredictable. Two days back I was happily roaming around and caressing my mom's pregnant belly. I was fighting with my dad in the garden and again barging in his study to sleep on his lap for some time. I was my father's daughter, and still, I am. Everyone used to say I got my eyes from my father and hair from my mother. My dad always said that he could see the world through me and he would be always there to protect me. But he broke the promise. He left me in this cruel world but I can't blame him. I miss him and my mother. I promised them to bring justice and I didn't I would be in this death trap. "Bratva.....The one you are searching so far......." Those words were still fresh in my mind reminding me of every terror I started feeling seeing his cruelty. I clutched my palm tight with another one to stop the bleeding. "Bratva..." The name came more of a whisper from my mouth that even I found it hard to recognize. T
"What have you decided then?" Igor pulled the chair close to him before sitting in front of Dimitrios's desk. "Nothing much." His reply was cold and his attention was fixed on something kept on the other side of the table."Still having that?" Igor followed his gaze and grabbed a look at the photo frame. It was the only picture where Iris was standing in front of Dimitrios while looking at him with a questionable expression. In those four years only once Igor got the courage to take a snap of them together. When Dimitrios found out about the incident later, he framed it and kept it somewhere in his office. He didn't know that when Maria kept it accidentally on his desk while cleaning the old kinds of stuff. "Not a use anymore." He turned the frame down and brought out another cigar to smoke."I see." Igor let out a long sigh watching the man getting old more than expected. There was always an age gap issue between Iris and Dimitrios but since she had left, it looked like Dimitrios's
"Happy Birthday Iris...... Finally, you are an adult." Maria spoke bringing out a box of chocolates for Iris in the morning. "Thank you, Maria...." Iris jumped out of her bed and hugged Maria putting a kiss on her cheeks. "Now, get ready and come down for breakfast." She insisted on making her fast in her actions. "Well well, I will be. Where is Dimitri? Your great boss." Iris taunted her while grabbing her dress to disappear into the washroom. "He is waiting downstairs at the breakfast table," Maria replied making her bed neat and clean. "I will be coming down in ten, Maria." She shouted back from the washroom. Iris stood in front of the large mirror and watched herself carefully. She grew up quite fast. From where those four years passed she didn't remember. She turned eighteen today and all she could see was a reflection of a tall beautiful young woman in the mirror. "Dimitri...." She rolled out his name while opening the tap to splash some water on her face. Unknowingly a sm
Iris slid through the tiniest gap that she made while opening the main door at the entrance. Holding her precious shoes in her hand she walked with the paws of a cat. Taking a sharp breath she made her way to the staircase to reach her room as fast as she could. The moment her feet touched the first step, the big chandelier illuminated just above her head and those shoes dropped from her hand to the ground making her curse under her breath. "Shit...." She whispered but didn't get the courage to turn her face to have a glance at the danger standing there. "I didn't know my house has become a paid hotel now." The voice was clear and she didn't even need to be in her senses to realize who was the owner of it.Turning her body towards the fear of her life she stood like a deer caught in a headlight. "Nice dress." Dimitrios chuckled watching her standing in a black slim fit dress that was ending just above her knees. "Dimitri... I...." Iris opened her mouth to protest when she realize
Maria entered the room and watched Iris carefully. When she turned her face to Dimitrios, he was already walking out of the room. "Sir, what had happened with her?" Accumulating some of her courage she dared to ask the man about Iris. "Ask her. I think she owes you an explanation tomorrow." Annoyance was clear in his voice. Maria didn't drag the matter on longer. She changed Iris's dress and washed off the makeup she was wearing. In between all such movements, Iris only knitted her eyebrows a few times and went back to sleep again."Sir...." Maria called Dimitrios once she was done with Iris and stood at the corner of the room. "Are you done?" Dimitrios asked stepping inside his room. Watching Iris in a comfortable night suit he nodded at Maria and told her to leave.After what happened in the car a part of him was not at all ready to let her sleep in his room. On the other hand, he was fighting with his budding emotions to keep her for the night. With the turmoil of his emotions, h
"Is she drunk?""I swear sir no. We were dancing and then we both came to have some mocktails. I guess she took the wrong glass as a few boys were ordering also at the same time." Robin had no intention to take advantage of Iris. At least when he was indirectly threatened by Dimitrios's men. "I doubt so boy..." Dimitrios spoke watching Iris carefully and her whole body. His eyes were searching for any sort of sign that could prove that she was assaulted. "I swear sir, she was constantly with me except two times. And that was the time I think this drinking issue happened. I took her out in the open air, the moment I realized she wasn't feeling comfortable and waited for you to come.""Dimitri....we already came late to pick her up. Let the boy go. He is speaking the truth." Igor interfered in the middle before Dimitrios could snap his neck in a second. The way he was getting hyper, there was a high chance of the young boy dying in his hand just because of offering Iris a dance."You a
"Prom?" Iris whispered the word to herself. Never in her dreams had she thought of Dimitrios accepting such things. Snapping her head towards him, she gave him a questioning glare before asking something."Are you trying to make fun of my situation?""If you think in such a way I can't do anything." Dimitrios shifted his gaze from her face to the other side of the window. The busy road had ended and they were heading in the direction of Iris's school. "But ... I... " She stopped herself from making an embarrassing statement. She couldn't just let him know that she had no confirmed partner. Gulping down the little fear she sat straight while fidgeting with her fingers. After twenty minutes of drive, they reached their destination. But no one decided to come down from the car for a good five minutes. "Don't you want to go inside?" Dimitrios was the first person to break the monotony of the silence. "Yes......" "Good... Now give me your hand first." Dimitrios ordered and Iris followe
"So how are you doing young lady..." Igor pulled the chair near Iris's desk to sit. "As you see. Closed in a room." She showed annoyance and Maria came forward to pat her head. "It's ok. We can still try asking him for one more time." "What you are planning to ask and whom?" Not knowing the whole story Igor asked when Iris finally turned her focus completely on him. "Who else. Of course your great Bratva....." She chewed her last words. "And what exactly he did do now?" Igor placed his hands below his chin and asked her making an innocent face. "There was a small program in my school. More like a prom you know...... " A glimpse of happiness flashed upon her face while she was speaking about the event. "And then?" Igor asked to know more. "Dimitri isn't allowing me to step out after 6:00 p.m. Do you think I'm his dog that he would always keep the lash in his hand." She became hyper this time. "Iris... Please... It's not like that..." Igor felt bad when she dragged the compariso
"Nice..... You have learned well....." "Is it so?""Yeah... obviously...." Jim spoke with equal excitement just as Iris. As they were training together the door of the section burst open revealing a large figure in front of another one. "Bratva...." It didn't take long for Jim to recognize Dimitrios standing there with bloodshot eyes and Igor with the same annoying expression. "Jim, send her back. I need the boxing ring for myself." "Sure Bratva..." Nodding his head in affirmation he walked towards the end of the ring and called out his subordinate to instruct him something. "Iris... We would continue tomorrow." He turned towards Bratva and nodded his head. He knew the meaning of asking for the boxing ring for Bratva himself. There comes a few moments when Bratva decided to vent out his anger or teach the traitor some lesson. And fighting is something that he enjoys the most. The painful scream, and blood spitting out of those traitors' mouths and bodies always gave him a differen
"Have you really gone mad?" Dimitrios was lying on the couch when Igor entered with a mouthful of annoying words. "Not now Igor. I'm tired." Dimitrios raised his hand to dismiss him but Igor remained strict in his position. "I don't care. I don't care if you are tired or not. I am asking you once again. What made you take her down to Derek?" He plopped on the couch beside Dimitrios and made his face turn 180 degrees to answer him. "She needs to get over that." "How? By killing that bastard with her own hand? That too at the age of sixteen?" Igor panted after shouting at the top of his lungs. "She didn't kill. We did that." Dimitrios replied keeping a straight face. "Oh... Congratulations... Were you waiting for her to kill Derek?" "Igor, you are crossing your line now." "And you have crossed that line already that day you decided to keep her in your house." Saying so Igor rose to his