Ch. 4: Monsters in Autumn

Alexei Lantsov had no good excuse for recruiting someone that he didn’t even know. No excuse better than just plain intuition. So, he understood why Lillith was irritated with him. “You have officially lost your mind,” Lillith rolled her eyes. “What happened to our policy of not hiring outsiders?”

“I decided it was stupid,” He retorted. Realistically, Alexei didn’t have to rationalize his decisions to Lillith. She didn’t dictate what it took to keep the organization together. There was an icy silence between the two of them, and finally when Lillith realized that she wasn’t going to get her way she broke her eyes from Alexei and shook her head.

“Fine, boss.” She rolled her eyes and left the tent. Leaving Alexei to himself, which he was partially grateful for. He liked having the time to think, to strategize about how to keep the military police from coming and pissing all over their camp, how to keep all of his soldiers bellies full of food and safe when they slept. Lately it had been harder and harder to lead. Harder and harder to think at all.

He hadn’t had a migraine yet, but he knew that one was going to come soon. The sensation of dread pooled in his stomach as he wrote letters and addressed them. It was mostly just messages reminding the military police that there was someone or something on this Island that was responsible for David Kostyk’s disappearance, letters he knew would go ignored. Because everyone on this godforsaken island let their indifference turn into incompetence, even basic empathy became something that was almost foreign to most of the people here.

People would intertwine with each other because they found someone sensible, beautiful, with lots of money and they would have children here, but none of the people would actually stay together. Once they got bored, they moved on. The broken hearts faded quickly and were forgotten. It was offputting and something that Alexei hadn’t noticed since the first time he almost died. It was something that he didn’t want to talk about. Something that he tried so hard not to dredge up in his memory. Just one of the many traumas that he had endured that served him better buried.

Alexei finally decided that staying here in this seat was not doing him any good. He pushed himself up and decided that he needed a breath of fresh air, and maybe a walk around the camp to clear his mind. His head swirled, dizzy with everything that had happened in—well, all of his life. He sucked in a deep breath and heard the sound of some of his soldiers practicing their archery out on the field.

His mind didn’t really register anything going on around him as he walked around the campsite, it was just a mess of shapes and colors and noises. The fresh air did help him breathe a little better, but it did nothing to clear his mind as he circled the camp grounds. He had no idea how long he was stuck in this fog until he was in the stables, and caught a glimpse of that familiar sleek black hair and blue coat. She was brushing out a horse, calm and gentle with the stallion.

There it was again.

The pulsing energy in the air. The magnetic pull. As if an electrical storm was forming all around her. Alexei cleared his throat and the woman jumped and turned around, her eyes wide. Finally, Alexei got a better look at her. She had piercing dark brown eyes that were somehow bright and brilliant, and this expression of surprise that turned to a smile that was somehow a little bit studious as well. “Oh, hi. I didn’t notice anyone come in,” She said sheepishly.

“It’s okay,” Alexei shook his head politely, “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Sorry about that.”

The smile on this woman’s face was so pleasant and beautiful that Alexei’s heart did a tuck-and-roll. He had never felt that way before, and wasn’t exactly sure if he liked it. The woman opened her mouth to speak, jumping to stop the silence that was in between them, “I’m Lena, by the way. I’m uh—new here.”

“Alexei,” He said, “and I know.” Her eyes got wide.

“Ah, so you’re—”

“—the boss,” Alexei grinned, “Yes.” He wondered how much Genevive had told her about this place. He hoped that she hadn’t divulged too much information about it. He knew the way people felt about criminals. Warlord, vigilante, or whatever you want to call it. He felt like he needed to get to know Lena. He was desperate to. Alexei was certain if she knew too much about him, he was certain that she would want to stay as far away from him as possible, and that electric energy in the air that made Alexei’s skin tingle made him feel as if Lena being away from him would be something that Alexei couldn’t suffer. Despite the fact that he didn’t know anything about her.

“Wow,” She said, “I thought you’d be scarier.”

Alexei chuckled, “Oh?”

“Yes, Genevive said that you were an asshole.” Part of him wanted to curse Genevive out right now, but then Lena continued. “With a mean temper and a scowl that could strike fear into the hearts of men. But she also said that you had a heart of gold.” She had put a dramatic pause in between the first sentence and the next. Alexei felt some tension leave his chest.

“Well, I’m glad that she didn’t completely drag me through the mud.” If he was being honest, her assessment of him was correct. He was never the nicest person in the world, but he wouldn’t say that he was the meanest either.

“I told her that sounds like the type of person I’d like to get to know,” She grinned with this mischievous glint in her eye. “Someone interesting, who has multiple sides to them. The men from where I’m from are typically dumb as rocks.” She didn’t mince her words. That was the first thing that Alexei noted about her, and he knew that he was going to like her. He leaned against a post next to one of the horse stalls.

He watched as Lena combed through the horse lovingly, cooing at the animal in this endearing way that pulls at Alexei’s heart again. This woman was something else. Different than everyone on the island, that was for sure.

“Where are you from?” Alexei didn’t know if this was too intrusive or not, a question that was too soon to ask, but he asked it all the same.

“You wouldn’t know it,” Lena said nonchalantly. “It’s this old commune, in the middle of nowhere. I just—it was too much of the same all of the time, after a while it tends to get suffocating. I needed a new start.” He could tell that there was something that she wasn’t telling him, but that was okay. They barely knew each other any way. There was stuff that he wasn’t telling her either. Stuff that he knew she wouldn’t understand, he assumed that she had stuff like that locked away in her chest too.

“I know what you mean,” He told her, “about the—suffocating thing. I’ve been here all of my life and there’s a lot of—the same, as well. It gets old after a while,” He thought of David. Thought of a little girl who had disappeared a few months after he did. He had always wondered if the same person or thing was responsible for their disappearances. Alexei wondered if Lena knew about the whispers. About the monsters that allegedly infested this place.

She must not have if she moved here. No sane person would willingly move into a place so dangerous. Alexei decided that right now was not the right time to tell her about the monsters. She didn’t need that sense of safety removed just yet.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***