𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 11

"Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness."

- Alejandro Jodorowsky

Kate hadn't told Fyodor yet what had happened while on the phone with her mother. She knew she was in no condition to travel but her mother always got what she wanted. Kate had been searching frantically for her phone all day. She finally decided she needed help with this. So, she knocked on Fyodor's study door and waited for an answer. When she heard none, she slowly opened the door into an empty room; Fyodor wasn't there. She thought this was odd but this entire house was his so he could be anywhere realistically. She decided to try his room next.

She had never been to his room; neither inside nor outside. She knew which door was his but she had never needed to go to it before. She was able to hear some walking in his room-- she could hear a lot considering how thin the walls were. She knocked softly, her knuckles caressing the wooden door. She heard no response but the movement ceased. This was strange, she thought.

Despite her very secure location, she still was on edge and produced a knife she had hidden in her pocket. With the knife behind her back, she slowly opened the door. Nobody was visible to her surprise. She walked slowly and quietly, her steps making no noise despite the loose floorboards. The slightest shift in the air told her someone was behind her. She could tell this person was taller than Fyodor but shorter than Ivan. With an unpredictable speed, she turned and shoved her knife into the perpetrator. She made eye contact with his surprised, dilated pupil.

He was a tall man, with pale skin and white hair. His green eyes-- well, eye since one was covered-- was an odd colour that caught Kate's attention. His mouth was ajar out of shock and possibly pain but Kate couldn't be sure. She pushed him with as much strength as she could muster in her sickly form. The man only stumbled in response and she rushed towards the door, her breath quickening. The man was quicker than her, though, and reached it first.

"I must say, I certainly wasn't expecting you to stab me, how interesting." The man hummed in amusement while blocking her exit route.

Her mind raced to analyse the situation and figure a way out. She stared at him silently, her chest rising and falling quickly. The detail that remained stuck in her head was that this man didn't bother speaking in English to her. This meant that despite his premeditation, he knew something about her that she did not openly talk about. He had to have been working with Dostoevsky.

"Why so silent, bunny? Your expression has hardly even changed." He tilted his head curiously as he analysed her.

Fyodor was right about her. This girl held no expression and despite the sickly gloss on the surface of her eyes, they were still dull underneath. She reacted quickly and mechanically, her movements were perfect which was why she was able to wound him. Although that was impressive, there was no passion behind it. Her entire presence was lacking something, just as Dos had said.

"You're going to stay silent? God, you're so boring. How about a quiz; what is my true reason for being here? 1: I am here to steal you away forever. 2: I am here because you need me. 3: I'm here to kill you. Now, which is the answer?" He asked, his eyes darkening.

"Fyodor must have sanctioned this, and since he has taken care of me thus far, the first and the last options are eliminated leaving the second." She responded blankly.

"I am here to help you, although Dostoy isn't entirely aware of anything going on. Now, let's skip all of this boring chatting and head to the good stuff." He laughed, showing off his pearly whites.

Kate was shocked at his statement. Fyodor was aware of it, which had been confirmed earlier on, but he wasn't in on it. This man that stood before her was also friendly enough with Fyodor to have given him a nickname. She was debating whether or not she should fight with this man. If she had her full strength, she wouldn't have questioned it but since she was still recovering, the right course of action was unknown to her.