"They say to never trust a survivor 'till you find out what he did to stay alive
"And guess what?" continued Andrei, "we're all survivors here, aren't we?... Aren't you?"
The prisoner sighed, and kept looking into the unfathomable depths of the concrete floor. He had stopped trying to wiggle himself free long before Andrei appeared. It was of no use.
"Want to know why you're here?"
Still no answer. Not even a hint of movement that could betray his emotions.
"Okay. Oh-kay," kept talking Andrei, "let's try something different, then. Want to know what I had to do?"
If he did, he showed no signs of it. Andrei smiled, ignoring the fact that the man in front of him may as well have been a rock. He kept his cold monologue going.
"I've been in this for quite a few years. I've seen - no, I've done things you can't even imagine"
The prisoner raised his face, and looked him in the eyes - they were cold as the frozen sea. The man's expression was still a petrified mask, but something had shifted inside him.
Andrei responded with an unnerving grin. "I can show you, you know. Or you could drop that goddamned mask that fools no one, and at least show me that you're not mute."
"Fuck you" the prisoner whispered, loud enough for Andrei to barely understand the words.
"Oh, so you can indeed talk. Well, it's something." He continued as he paced the room 'till he was behind the man.
"You know why you're here, don't you?" Andrei whispered into his ear, resting his hands in the man's shoulders, softly caressing him.
The man sighed again. "You wish you could scare ME."
Andrei nearly broke into laughter - so much so that he had to take a step back.
"So, I take you don't even know where you are?" He observed, while trying to get a semi-serious face back. "Okay. Let me tell you, then. This is KGB's central office. Yeah, official name's changed long time ago. Never mind that. We're still the same people doing the exact same stuff. And I - I am the head of Detentions."
Now the prisoner attitude had certainly changed. It was subtle, but obvious enough to Andrei's trained eye. As for the place, nobody used to call it that anymore - nobody except him. He liked that name. It never failed to make people rethink their situation.
"So, that rang some bells, didn't it?" he grinned.
"Fuck you!"
"You sure know how to be polite, don't you?" replied Andrei, amused. "Or are you trying to insult me?" he raised his voice while laying down his hands on the man's shoulders again, a terrifying hint for anyone who knew him.
The prisoner closed his eyes and swallowed, leaning forward, as if trying to escape from the madman's embrace - the realization that there was only one way out.
He still tried to put up a fight. "What the hell do you want?"
"Oh, so now you want to talk" Andrei hinted. As if a street magician, he pulled a knife out of nowhere, and gently rested its edge against the man's throat.
The man sighed again, this time in desperation.
"Look, I - I'll tell you what you want, okay? Just, ... just don't - don't do that" his voice faltered.
Andrei slowly let the knife dig into the man's skin. "Don't do what?"
The man started sobbing, seemingly knowing where this was going. "Please! I'll tell you everything"
"Well, then you better start before it's too late, don't you think?" Andrei giggled.
"Oh-okay. What do you want to know?" The man calmed himself slightly, as Andrei relaxed his hand somewhat, now just letting the knife's gleaming edge rest against his throat in a terrifyingly soft kiss.
"What actually happened. We have a few contradicting reports, some even say you're dead. I call that nonsense. For now, you know."
The prisoner's heart skipped a beat. Andrei kept talking.
"As far as we know, you're the only survivor. I want to know how you managed that."
The man spent the next half hour recounting his story - all that had lead him to this hell. Andrei just let him talk, not moving an inch other than to massage the man's shoulder, a heartless reminder that he was still there, listening. Observing.
As he finished, Andrei gently smiled into his ear, slowly raising his voice. "You want me to believe all that bullshit? You think you can lie to ME?"
He suddenly moved his hand from the prisoner's shoulder to his chin - effectively immobilizing him. Then started fidgeting with the knife against the man's throat. "You really think you can lie to me?" he whispered this time.
The prisoner started trembling, as the tears came to his eyes. He started muttering, barely making sense. "Please - I told you the truth - please, please...."
Andrei ignored it. "Answer is, no, you can't. Listen. Shut up and listen. I'll give you one more chance. Tell me what happened, or you're dead. Here and now, you hear me?"
The man froze, unable to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. "P-please...."
"I'm waiting."
The man's voice broke. "I told you the truth.... please.... oh - oh god, please...."
"So you won't listen, huh?" smiled Andrei.
"Well, then, let me show you what I did to survive" said he, a split second before he drove the knife deep into the man's throat.
