Chapter 11
ERIK STERN
10th March 1933
Klaus sat beside me under the warm, blue duvet. One arm wrapped around my waist and flicking through a book. His soft voice mumbled the lines into my ear, I leaned my head into his chest.
Klaus dropped the book onto the bedside table and laced his fingers through my hair, “Tired?”
I weakly nodded, feeling the night soothe me to sleep.
*~*
Loud banging awoke me a few moments later. Drunken yelling coming from the hallway.
“Guess she figured out how to walk upstairs drunk...” Klaus muttered under his breath and quickly shoved a chair under the handle of the door.
“Will she hurt me? Should I hide?”
“Yes, just- under the bed, okay? I’ll deal with her.”
I crawled under the bed, peeking through the small gap. Klaus reluctantly pulled the chair away and opened the door, “What’s wro-”
Klaus fells to the ground with a loud grunt, clambering to his feet and holding his arms out in defence. My hands clamped around my ears, not wanting to hear his screams. Shards of glass scattered onto the carpet and landed by my side. Picking a few up, I tried to distract myself, admiring the shapes and placed them together like puzzle pieces. The door slammed and Klaus knelt against it.
“Erik...? I’m sorry, you should leave tomorrow. I’ll help you walk.”
I carefully crawled back out, hissing as cuts of glass, that seemed invisible before, dug into my skin.
“Careful...” Klaus laughed quietly, a stream of blood running down his forehead.
“Klaus, oh my God. Are you okay?” I stumbled towards him, taking his bloody hands into my own and hiding my terrified expression in his chest, “I can’t leave you here...”
“I don’t want you to see this.” Klaus chuckled and pulled me closer, his hand gently tugged my chin to meet his gaze, “Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to make me happy?”
I sat in his lap, shaking my head defiantly, “I do love you, that’s why I don’t want to find you dead!”
“I didn’t either, Erik.”
“Shut up.”
*~*
SERGEI VOLKOV
“Sergei, come check out what Stasya built!”
Andrzej ran into the room, grabbing my arm and yanking me away.
“Wh- huh?! Who’s Stasya?”
Andrzej giggled and dragged me into the tree cover behind his house, “Right, right, you haven’t met her yet. She’s my cousin, just come, come!”
A young girl, with hollow cheeks and a green scarf around her head smiled at us both, before ushering us along the path, to a small, secluded, wooden cabin.
She held out a slim hand, her palm roughed up with splinters, “Sergei, right? Andrzej’s little ‘friend’? My name’s Anastasya, just call me Stasya.”
I took her hand in my own and smiled, “Did you build that?” I pointed at the cabin, “By... yourself?” I added, slowly examining her narrow figure.
“Do you think I’m not capable?” She grinned and swung an axe over her shoulder.
Andrzej raised an eyebrow at me, as I nervously mumbled out, “Uhm... You look quite... malnourished.”
Stasya stepped closer and tilted her head, “Thanks to Russia. Have you not heard about the famine?”
“Oh, right.. Sorry.”
Andrzej placed a hand on my back, “You’re apologising like you did it.”
*~*
The new cabin definitely wasn’t warm, but I didn’t expect it to be. All three of us huddled on top of some pillows and covered ourselves under a blanket.
Stasya grinned, “So... Sergei, tell me about yourself. Why are you here and not with your parents?”
“Well, my family is massive. I have, I think, seven siblings. My parents doubted any of us would survive, so they had a bunch of my older siblings before the revolution, then I was an accident. My younger siblings, twins, were born and then my father died shortly after.”
I glanced down at my hands, “My siblings hated me, constantly tormented me throughout my childhood. I was then diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia and they all wanted me dead. My outbursts terrified them. So I decided I'm going to travel the world, to stay away from them as much as possible. I have one brother that actually loves me, that’s all. And I have my father’s greatcoat, but I have no idea what he would’ve thought of me.”
Stasya’s bony hand rested on my back, “I’m so sorry, Sergei.” She leant back against the wall, “But jeez, that’s a big family. I would want to run away too. I only have two sisters and I can barely stand it.”
Andrzej’s hand wandered under the blanket, resting on my knee. I swore I saw him glowing, but maybe that was my imagination.
“Well, I’ll leave you love birds alone. I have a train to catch back home.”
She placed a small peck on both of our cheeks before bowing her head and leaving. Andrzej turned to me and placed a hand on my side, kissing my lips softly. I squeaked in surprise and he quickly pulled back.
“Did I do something?”
“No! No... Do it again.”
Andrzej chuckles and pulled me closer, our legs twined together as our lips locked like a perfect puzzle. Humming into the kiss, I pulled Andrzej into my lap, very awkwardly, as we tried to untangle our legs between giggles.
Andrzej gently brushed through my hair with his fingers, before kissing around my entire face, “Misiu*... I love you so much...”
“I love you more,” I teased.
“If love could be described as a number, my love would equal the amount of living things on this Earth.”
“Ahh! That’s cheating! You know all the nerdy nature stuff!” I huffed, narrowing my eyes at him, “Dumb romantic...”
Andrzej ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead, “Maybe I’m just more prepared for these questions because I love you more, hm?”
“Now that’s just mean.”
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Elegant, soft wings,
Golden light rings,
Comfort and safety,
Shame and humility,
Yet it’s still an angel.
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misiu* - (teddy) bear