It was early evening when we arrived at the safe house. A small apartment in a decrepit residential building, it looked completely ordinary from the outside. But upon opening the door, white-tiled walls and floor, and a harsh light, greeted you -- the standard furnishings of Andrei's safe rooms. The living room had been repurposed into an interrogation room, walls fully soundproofed. The only other door from the room seemed locked.
The target --the teen girl-- was sitting in a corner, black lines of teary mascara painting her cheeks. She looked at me. "Please, I haven't--"
Andrei cut her off. "Shut up." He grabbed a folding chair and put it in the middle of the room. "Sit here. NOW."
If I hadn't been on his side, I'd have been sincerely scared.
The girl was shaking as she got up and dragged herself to the chair. "Please..." Her voice trailed off, broken, shattered in the knowledge that her pleads were in vain.
Andrei quickly tied her to the chair -- she didn't even try to put up a struggle. She knew too well, fighting was, in the best case, a useless thing to do.
I took a second chair and sat in front of her. She most definitely wasn't eighteen. Oh, well. "Look... Do you know him?"
She nodded, a hint of hope showing up in her eyes.
I couldn't help smiling. "Then you know what's going to happen, don't you?"
"Please... I haven't done anything, I swear..."
"Honey, I don't get to decide what happens."
She swallowed, a nervous tear painting yet another black trail in her cheek, her voice slightly shaky. "One day you'll make a mistake and he'll go after you too."
"But honey, what do you think you know about me, huh?"
She pushed further, hopeful that it would lead her somewhere safe. Safer, anyway. "You think you're safe. You think you're different. You think it won't happen to you."
I laughed out loud. "Nope. I know well what you're talking about. I know him really well. I know well what he does. Like, firsthand. You see... He took everything I had. The only person I really cared about. She was my everything." ... Well. To a point, I guess.
She seemed shocked. "What happened?"
I forced a smile, trying to hide the dull ache. It still hurt like hell. "I killed her. You see, it was the price for being here. With Andrei. I like this place, this job. So, before you ask, yeah, it was worth it." ... Was it? ... Shit.
She looked down, maybe understanding. "Please, I did nothing..."
I was expecting Andrei to tell her to shut up, but he walked to her, grabbing her chin so she had to look at him. "You're a lying bitch."
She closed her eyes, terrified. "Please..."
"Open your eyes, damn it!" He grinned when they again made eye contact. "Why not tell him the truth, huh? Why not tell him why you're here?" He stepped away.
She started mumbling again. "Please... you have to understand..."
Again I sat in front of her. "I'll try, but you have to tell me your story."
"He set me up. I swear, he did--"
I smiled at her. "It's called a test. He does that, every single time. And I'm guessing you failed."
"Look, he... sent me to deliver a message. To a guy. But he wasn't there, there was another guy instead, who told me he worked for him. Showed me an ID card and everything. And I... was stupid enough to fall for it."
Andrei stepped in again. "You're skipping the part where you knew he was with the wolves. And the part where, instead of delivering the message, you started telling him everything you know, in hopes--"
"I swear--"
"Don't you interrupt me. I'm sick of your lies. That guy does work for me, of course he told me everything you did. What the hell were you expecting, anyway. A way out? Help from the wolves? You want to see how they help you? Don't worry, I'll send you there so you can check for yourself." He looked at me. "Sasha. Carve her face." He threw a folding knife at me.
I didn't -- couldn't say anything. I grabbed the knife and sliced an X on her cheek.
She cried in silence the whole time -- which considering how much it hurts, said a lot about her.
Andrei had that grin of his when I finished. "You're a damned snitch." He circled her, threateningly placing his hands on her shoulders. "Sasha, what do you think would be the fair thing to do, huh?"
I sighed. "Well... fair, fair... if we do this legally, I think we can charge her with treason. I honestly don't know how many years that is, but, I'd guess a good handful."
Andrei laughed at the silly idea. "That's a really good one, yeah. But I didn't mean that, you know, I don't really believe in the system, she'd be out way too soon. Plus... prison is like vacation. It can be annoying, sure, but it's not what I'd call a fair punishment."
She started sobbing and mumbling nonsensically.
Andrei ignored it and went on. "Say, girl, do you know what they used to do with the likes of you? Huh? What the mob still does?" He shifted his hands, immobilizing her, glancing at me. "Sasha, do you know what I'm talking about?"
I nodded as I leaned closer to her, putting up a smiley mask. "They make sure they shut up. Now, you can waste everybody's time trying to resist, of you can cooperate and I'll make it quick." I took the knife to her lips. "Open up. Don't make it harder than it has to be."
I still had to 'help', kinda prying her jaws open with the knife. I let the edge rest against the base of her tongue and looked at Andrei, expecting him to stop it. He'd say not to do anything that couldn't be patched up, after all.
"Do it."
Her cries echoed around as the knife hacked off her tongue. Andrei was fast to shove her forward before she chocked on her own blood. Still, she coughed, hard, red. I quickly found a rag and shoved it into her mouth, forcing it closed. The pressure would help in stopping the blood. She kept wailing the whole time, the shrieking sound muffled by the improvised gag.
It took a good five minutes 'till it kinda stopped -- stopped gushing furiously and started flowing lazily, anyway. I grabbed her bloody chin and made her look into my eyes smiling. "Sorry, gal. But you know how this works. I can't exactly say no, you know."
Andrei grinned at me. "Cut that crap, Sasha, you're here out of your own will." Then he circled her so she could look into his eyes, into the Void. He crouched before her, gently brushing her chin, her bloody throat, with his fingertips. "Now, girl, that's what everyone would do to a snitch. But, we're still missing the part where you betrayed me."
SHIT.
He kept talking. "Or you thought I wouldn't mind? Huh?" He stepped back and handed me a plastic bag. "Sasha. Show her what we do."
I couldn't help sighing, maybe a bit too hard, too obviously, as I took the bag. I looked at her -- the poor thing. She'd had more than enough. But it wasn't my job to decide what happened. I placed the bag over her head and closed it around her neck, just tight enough to make it airtight.
Andrei had been staring at me the whole time. He hugged me from the back, forcing me to take a step back, his voice a low hum that she couldn't hear. "Hey, Sasha. What's wrong, huh? You still worry about her, don't you?"
I put the mask on yet again. "I'm doing everything you ask, without any kind of hesitation."
"Yes, and you're missing the point. You have everything, Sasha. You have her life, her soul, in your hands. Feel it! Enjoy that feeling, boy!"
Shit. I couldn't find the words anymore. Yes, power was a drug, a cheap high. But I knew too well what I was doing to be able to look past it.
"Why do you care so much, huh?" He released me and went to undo the twist and take the bag off her head. She was already unconscious. He ignored it and went to unlock the door to the rest of the flat, signing at me to follow him.
