Page 124 of Lilies from Hell

“You have eight fucking hours to prove that shit,” I reply before glancing at my watch. Dawn is just around the corner. “Five.”

“Where are we going?” I whispered, looking around. He didn’t answer me, his hand gripping mine so tightly that I thought he was cutting off my circulation.

“We have to get out of here,” he said, stopping at the stairs leading to the main floor.

I gasped as I saw the fire approaching the first steps, police sirens joining the deafening noise and gunshots from below. I squeezed his hand, wanting to turn back. I was scared.

“Blyat.” I looked at him, his eyes had darkened even more with that grim expression.

“W-what’s going on? I’m scared, Alek.” My eyes began to water, and he crouched down to my level.

“Don’t be afraid, lyubov’, everything will be fine.” He kissed my nose gently while caressing my cheeks, brushing my eyelids. Some tears fell onto his fingertips. “I need you to go hide, I’ll come back for you later.” I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. He held my face and pressed his lips to mine in a short kiss.

“I won’t leave without you. I don’t want you to leave me alone,” I said between low whimpers.

“I promise I’ll come back for you and find you.” Our mouths were still very close. “I need you to get to safety. You’re my life, Lena. If anything happens to you, I’ll die. Do you understand?” I nodded as best I could, running my hands over my face.

He stepped back and handed me a gun that I took hesitantly.

“The safety is off, you just have to pull the trigger like I taught you. Do you remember?”

“Yes,” I replied in a whisper. Then we melted into an embrace that didn’t last long, and when we broke apart this time, I could see the sadness and worry in his eyes that he tried to hide behind a smile.

“I love you with every part of my being, never forget that,” he whispered on my lips before pressing them together again.

I felt his tears fall on mine and I could taste them. A scorching heat made me turn my head. When I looked behind him, I saw the fire getting closer to the upper floor. We were trapped.

“Go.” I didn’t move. “Go.” His now imperious voice forced my feet to move.

Even so, a few steps further on, I turned my head and stifled a cry when I saw him approach the staircase railing and jump to a spot where there wasn’t much fire. I made a move to approach him, but the fire was already consuming everything in its path and turning back would be suicide. I kept walking, feeling as if someone had punched me in the gut. Then I entered a large room that looked like a bedroom. I looked at the window, then the wardrobe, searching for a place to hide. I trusted that he would find me. He always would. As I was about to walk over there, a voice stopped me.

“Come with me, I can help you escape.” I turned around to find James standing there. I immediately lowered my weapon. If it weren’t for his voice, I wouldn’t have recognized him. He looked so different, he hardly seemed like himself.

“Alek told me to hide,” I said, his face contorted with disgust.

“You don’t have to listen to everything he says.” I stepped back when he got closer. “You can’t stay here. Fuck. You can’t!” He put his hands to his head, looking desperate, and I couldn’t tell from my face why.

“Why not? What are you talking about?” His blue eyes fixed on me again.

“Come with me and I promise I’ll tell you everything.” I shook my head.

“No, Viktor. I’m not going anywhere with you. Now go away and leave me alone.”

“You leave me no choice. I wanted to do this the nice way,” he said bitterly to himself.

He had turned his back on me. I turn around to leave, and I didn’t see him come up behind me with a gun, hitting me in the back of the head with it. With the first blow, I collapsed to the ground, my vision swimming, but he didn't stop. He kept hitting me... Then everything went black.

A gentle movement on my shoulder helps me open my eyes. I touch my face, still frightened, feeling an unbearable headache. He wraps his arms around me and strokes my hair. He smells faintly of tobacco.

“It’s okay, it was just a nightmare. It will pass,” he murmurs softly in my ear.

I close my eyes, breathing in his scent. I want to forget everything I dreamed because if that nightmare turns out to be true in some way, I’ll be very lost.

My brother and James have been friends since before we moved here. I can say that he and I are something like friends too, and now it turns out I don’t even know his real name. He was reticent at times, even unfriendly, but I never thought that in the past he had tried to kill me. Why would he do that?

My head starts spinning and I dig my nails into my palms when they start to shake.

“Lyubov’? Hey, what’s wrong?” He holds my damp cheeks, forcing me to look into his eyes.