Hidden Shadows

The coldness of the blade only steadied Ekaterina’s thoughts. It pulled away the heat from her clasping fingers. The knife was one perfect piece of steel, the sharp cutting edge morphing into the smooth handle in a way that reminded her of her family in Russia.

The family that left her behind. Семья не главное. Это все. They always said. Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.

Everything, her ass.

Katya balanced the knife, only to feel a small pinch before blood slowly dripped down her finger. Her sense of calm was anchored in her well earned self-confidence. She faced multiple trails and won thus far. She could take on the world.

“You’re doing it wrong.” Felix’s voice by her ear made the young woman jump.

She lowered the small knife and leaned against the weapons table. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

The young man greeted Katya warmly. Her adopted brother gestured to the burlap stretched target. “Think you can hit the center with your elbow hanging wide like that?”

Challenge accepted.

Katya recentered herself, facing the target and cocked her arm back to throw the knife. The noise of the men training in the room was distracting. She exhaled and released the blade. It flew, end over end and hit the target. Hilt first. A few men jeered as it clattered to the floor. Katya gritted her teeth.

“See,” Felix nudged her aside and selected another blade from the table. “You’re letting that arm out wide and it’s overarching. Bring it in—”

Katya turned her back on him. She glanced around the room watching men trained with each other on mats on one side of the room, while on the others were in the shooting range. Ten long years she has felt alone. This place, she wasn’t. She wasn’t going to be the weak one.

“—And it’ll hit every time.”

She sighed. She waited for the hard thunk of the blade hitting the target before turning back around, arms crossed.Show off. “Nice,” she said without looking. “Can we go?”

“Aw. Did showing you up suck all the fun out of it?” Felix ambled down the stairs headed out of the room. “Jealous of my skills?”

“Just saving my energy for later this week,” she lied. Her skin itched with the urge to do something. Anything. She wanted to go on a mission. One with Felix and his brothers.

“Indeed. For anything in particular?” He grinned. “A duel, perhaps?”

Her mood lightening as a smirk grew on her face. “I’m going to win this time.”

“You say that every time.”

“This time it’s true.”

Felix laughed. “Fine. Winner makes the other one breakfast for a week.”

“Deal.” Visions of pastries danced through her mind. Since she knew Felix would end up going out and getting something since he couldn’t cook to save his life. “At least I’ll see you in the mornings. Ever since your father sent you on missions, you’re never around. You rarely tell me what’s going on.”

“I know,” he protested. “When my unit is short staffed, I have to step in. It’s part of the job.”

“Wish I could go,” Katya said.

“You know you’re not allowed out on missions, much less knowing the family business.” Felix felt the glare of his friend. “Father would kill me if he knew you were down here.”

“What’s the point of living here, then?” Katya raised her arms, pointing all around to prove her point. “I know Papa sent me here to live with you all, for some bullshit reason.”

Felix frowned. “You know it was to protect you.”

“That’s the same bullshit answer you always give me.” The brunette was tired of his same old answers to why she wasn’t with her brothers and father in Russia. She missed them. It had been a long time since she had seen them. She wondered how they have changed, or if they were just the same.

“You know I can’t tell you.” Felix just shook his head. “How about a training session later this week? We can work on your knife throwing.”

Katya nodded without enthusiasm. He was changing the subject like he always does. She wanted to go back home. Be with her father and her brothers. They were all she had left. Her mother died when she was eight, then two years later, she was sent to live in America with Felix, his father and his brothers. For her protection, they always said. But why, she wondered. Couldn’t her father and brothers protect her at home. Main reason she wanted to know why she needed protection.

From Boys? Ha! That was all she was around these days.

Wandering back upstairs into the main house, Felix and Katya fell silent.

“I’m sorry Felix.” Katya started. “I just want answers.”

Felix pulled the younger girl into his arms. “I know, малыш.” (Little One).

“I’m not little anymore, Fe.” Katya whined. Twenty years old and still got treated like a kid.

“Always, Katya.” Felix laughed.

The duo made their way into the dining area where the rest of the family was.

“Where have you two been?”

Katya glanced toward Felix’s oldest brother who was sitting on his father’s right hand side. She knew she couldn’t say where they truly were but no words formed. They would know it was a lie as soon as she spoke. Thank goodness she didn’t have to.

“Found her head first in a book, Maxim.” Felix laughed.

“Always in a book.” Vladimir smirked.

Katya smiled at the blonde.

“Or Someone.” Yuri commented, looking pointedly at Felix. His said brother glaring at him.

“Boys. Leave Ekaterina alone.” Vasili spoke. “Let’s eat.”

Katya was thankful for Vasili, more ways than one. He was her father’s best man. They went back to the old days when they were in school together in Russia. Vasili would tell her stories of how Viktor would try to win her mother’s heart and the trouble they got into.

Vasili told her many times how much she looked and acted like her mother. Tatiana’s bright blue eyes and long dark chestnut brown hair that curled at the bottom. Katya’s eyes lit up when she was told she looked like her mother. It made her proud. Everyone had loved her mother.

The smell of Pelmeni made Katya’s stomach growl. Last thing she ate was a piece of toast earlier that day. Time passed by quickly as she was downstairs training. Taste of minced meat spoke to its freshness and bold flavours reminding Katya of home. She nodded to the waiters in thanks as they refilled her drink.

Katya took another bite of the Pelmenu. “Olezka, brilliant as usual.” The cook smiled his thanks as he walked back into the kitchen.

With a boyish grin, Felix raised his brows. “Suck up.”

Katya paused as if her thought had stopped entirely. She let out a laugh. “That’s why you always get Varenye for dessert and not Zefirs”

“Too much fruit.” He wrinkled his nose.

Those at the table laughed. It was like pulling teeth to get him to eat it. Katya never understood how the man hated fruit. The blackberry or sour cherry varenye were her favorites. It wasn’t just a dessert, Olezka used it for topping for pancakes or pie fillings and more. It reminded her of when the chefs at home would teach her how to make the sweet treat.

All thoughts left her when a scream pierced the room, like an air raid siren.

The scream tore through the brunette like a great shard of glass. She felt her eyes widen and pulse quicken, her heart thudding like a rock rattling in a box. The scream came again, desperate, terrified... human.

The blood drained from her face, before she was even aware of making a conscious decision to move her legs towards the door. Her ears straining for more sounds, more clues as to where it had come from.

“Go to your room, Katya.” Felix’s words cut through her racing thoughts.

She protested. “But-”

“Ekaterina. Go.” Vasili’s tone cut off the challenge. His eyes darkened, before Katnya could see the plea.

The young woman scurried up the stairs to her room as the guards raced in and out of the rooms. Someone barrelled into her causing her to collapse as she missed a step. Waiting for the pain to hit, Katya glanced up to find Felix’s green eyes looking down at her.

“Come on,” He pushed her into her room. “Get into the closest.”

“That’s the first place they will look, Felix.” She snapped. Hasn’t he seen any of the scary movies nowadays.

“Not where we are going.” Felix grabbed her hands, his eyes searching for something on the wall. Founding it easily, he pushed what seemed like a code and a hidden door opened. “Here. Stay until the others come.”

Katya couldn’t come to terms with what was going on. “What... What just happened? And since when was this here?”

“It has always been here.” Felix replied. “It connects to all of our rooms in case something happened.”

“What’s happening, Fe?” In this intense moment of silence, Katya’s eyes wide with sorrow, mouth rigid and open, her fists clenched with glanced knuckles and nails digging deeply into the palms of her hands. “We can’t leave your father and brothers out there alone.”

“They aren’t alone, Katya.” Felix started typing something on his phone. “Remember they can’t know that you are training with me and that you know more than you should.”

“Oh like I can’t just go and say that I know you are Mafia. Not just the Mafia, but part of the Triad.” Katya snapped.

Felix glared at her, “Exactly.” He put a finger up in the area, as his phone buzzed.

“This isn’t over.” Katya whispered.

Felix sighed as he answered the phone. “Да.” (Yes) He glanced towards Katya before moving away.

Katya raised her eyebrow. “Like I can’t hear or understand you. Go ahead and put it on speaker.” A glare was her response.

Felix was one of those people that anyone couldn’t read easily, but Katya did. She could see it in his eyes, his movements, his drooping posture. However, she didn’t dare mention it to him.

“So...” he said, stopping to take a deep breath, closing his phone. He let it all out in one sigh. He turned back to the woman in front of him, swallowing hard. “I guess... I guess we need...” He didn’t want to say it. What his father had told him was going to destroy this woman in front of him. His best friend. “It’s safe. We need to meet the others downstairs.”

“What happened, Felix?” Katya asked as she ran to catch up with her friend. This is when she cursed his long legs. “Felix!” No answer.

Something was wrong.

Both of them reached the door before walking in, Felix grabbed Katya’s hand, rubbing his fingers against her knuckles. “Kat... I’m so sorry.”

“Felix, you’re scaring me.” Katya whispered as she was pulled into the room.

It wasn’t just the look of her family friends that told her something happened. It was something inside her. That gut feeling.

“Ekaterina.” Vasili’s voice, low and soft but powerful enough to send chills through her body. “малыш.” (Little One)

“Father.” Felix started but held his tongue when his father raised his hand.

“I am terribly sorry to tell you, but-”

“But what? Дядя, what?” (Uncle)

“Your father passed away.”

The warmth from Katya’s body abandoned her as quickly as the world had gotten old and everyone in front of her had vanished.

The words echo in her mind. Her father. Her Papa. Was gone. First her mother, now her Father.

The pain crushed her- it left her incapable of everything. It left her broken- in and out. The tears wouldn’t roll down, and the screams wouldn’t escape past her quivering lips. The hallucinations would come, but they’d not allow her to react and let the steam go. They’d force the steam to keep burning her, staining her.

Just like that, she felt alone. She was returning home to Russia to strangers. Her brothers, but yet how different would they be. She was different.

The pain was real, and so was the agony.