Chapter 4

Bang! The shot rings out in the evening air. No one hesitates or stops to look around. It is normal to hear shots fire off, day and night, in the streets of Petrograd. All you can do was hope you don’t know them.

“Ivan!” Nadia calls. She looks annoyed, doing her usual death glare.

“Hold on,” I reply, packing up the last of today’s profits. “I sold all of the potatoes, so I have to find a place to hold the extra money.”

“Just hurry. We don’t want to be caught out after dark,” she says, still giving me her all too familiar glare.

Back bending, I heft the old, worn cotton sack over my shoulder. The sack feels lighter than usual, as I don’t have the potatoes I had this morning. The carrots rustle around the empty sack, creating a small clunk whenever I turned.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.”

We walk out of the market just as the sun begins to set. The sky is a beautiful orange with slight hints of soft reds and yellows.

“It’s so beautiful,” Nadia whispers, her voice so low I could barely hear her.

“It sure is,” I say, looking at her. Nadia and I have known each other since we were little. She lives three houses down the street, in a more wealthy type of home. She used to come to my door and ask if I could come out to play. She is my only friend, except for my brother Yanek.

Nadia turns to face me, her pale green eyes looking straight into mine. She smiles a wonderful smile.  “Take my hand, and let us take our time,” she says quietly, taking my hand in hers.

It is dark when we get to our street. The night air is cold, and the only light is from the moon, shining like silver. There are few clouds in the sky, dark against the moonlight.

It is nice walking like that, as we could just enjoy each other's company. We hardly ever do this anymore, as the KGB will stalk the streets at night, and everybody knows what happens to the people who get caught. They are never seen again.

Nadia slowly turns to me, her eyes focusing on her feet, her copper hair shining. She looks flustered. She tries to say something but stops herself. She looks deep in thought.

‘I… I wanted to tell y…” she struggles. Her face is red, visible even in moonlight.

“I love you,” I say, confessing my feelings.

“I love you too,” she replies, face still a bright red. And with that, she kisses me.

 It is amazing.  A feeling I can’t describe flows through me. All I can do is just stand there and accept it.

“Sorry. That was my first time. I’m not very good at it,” she apologizes, looking embarrassed.

“That was my first, too,” I respond, still in shock of what had happened. I can feel my face burning, and I know that my face is as red as hers. Nadia backs up.

 “Thank you for tonight,” I say, feeling sheepish.

“Let’s do it again sometime,” she says, now smiling. With that, she starts walking towards her house, a spring in her step. The moonlight seems to follow her, showing an angel in the darkness.

I realize then that I had dropped my sack. Hands shaking, I quickly collect the money that falls out and hurry home. My mother is waiting for me.

“Welcome home, идиот (idiot).”

“ Hey, Mother. I was just walking in the moonlight, trying to find peace in this rapidly changing world.”

“Sure, whatever.”

With that, I plop onto my bed and quickly fall asleep.

A scream wakes me. I shoot up and look around, only to find my mother beside me.

“What happened?” I say, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.

“It came from the Amelins’  house,” she responds gravely.

Nadia!

I burst out of my house, sprinting toward the Amelin residence.

As I shoot up the stairs to the door, I notice that it has been kicked open. I run through anyway, lungs burning, desperate to find Nadia.

Another scream echoes around me.

It was coming from the backyard!

I race to the back door, throwing it open and see something that will haunt me forever. There is Nadia, blindfolded and kneeling down beside the corpses of her two dead parents. She is crying so hard it hurts my soul.

A man is standing over her, gun pointing at her head.

“Stand aside, boy!” he yells. “ She and her family are traitors to the Motherland!”

I lunge toward him, hoping to get him away from Nadia. The instant I do, he turns, raises his gun, and fires straight into my knee. I fall, no longer able to move, let alone walk.

He comes over beside me and kicks me in the gut, again and again and again, until I am coughing up blood. Agony racks my body, and every blow lands like a thrown brick against me. He leans over me, his eyes the color of blue lightning. A color I will remember forever. He smiles a cruel smile.

Right before I pass out, he walks over to Nadia, still crying, and shoots her in the back of the head. She falls as silent as the dead.

Chapter 5

I wake up in the local hospital.

Nadia.

It all comes rushing back to me, like a train at full speed.

Nadia.

“Ivan!” my mother cries, rushing to my side. There is grief in her eyes, and a tiredness only gotten from staying awake through the night.

Nadia.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I am no longer able to walk, so I will be useless to you,” I cry.

“Don’t worry about that, Ivan. You will still able to walk.”

With that, she throws off the covers.

I look down at my right leg, the one he shot me in. There is a metal brace there, along with other supports and gears to hold up my weight. There is a brace of metal on my kneecap, serving as my new knee joint.

“How?” I ask.

“The metalsmith was forging one for himself, but when he heard of what happened, he came and put it on you. You cannot take it off, as it has been attached to you.”

A wave of emotion sweeps through me. Fear and grief are felt but are dwarfed by rage. Rage that I feel would set my heart ablaze. Rage that will scorch my soul and will never heal. Rage that drives my mind to fury, but then to utter calmness. A dark ember in my heart ignites and burns a bleak flame. I will have revenge for Nadia and make the man’s death a slow and painful one.

-Edward Searing