Lucy would, too. Vlad would be punished alongside her for it.
“We’ll be okay, love,” Lucy told him. She gripped his hand through his gloves and smiled. “We can sneak onto one of the freighters and go to America. Canada perhaps. Anywhere but here.”
Vlad made himself return a smile. He nodded and returned to staring out the window.
It was a beautiful summer day. Deep shades of green melded into the clear blue sky as the train sped through the countryside. It was the time of year American students flocked to Moscow for school trips or vacation. For years Vlad and Cheslav had robbed them. Cheslav beat them up, stole everything but their underwear, and Vlad removed their memories.
Today, he and Lucy were supposed to go together. It was their first time out alone. She was to put them asleep, they’d steal their stuff, then Vlad removed all traces; instead, they were on a train headed north to St. Petersburg.
Lucy had only been with him and Cheslav for five days. She was older than Vlad had been when Cheslav bought him. That made all the difference in her unwillingness to obey him. Despite being branded, and Vlad telling her that they couldn’t run, she insisted. She didn’t believe Cheslav had really branded her; that he could find them wherever they went.
From what Vlad understood, Lucy had little experience using her powers. A year before Cheslav took her, her own powers manifested. Chimeric law was much better in England than in Russia, but as in all places, there were groups who hated them. In the small town Lucy came from, chimerics were pariah.
Hated by her parents and town, she ran away with an older boy. He was an artist and promised they could make it on their own, peddling his work on the streets and entertaining crowds at festivals. Lucy had an aptitude for language and could speak decent French and Russian, so she figured she had a shot at traveling the world. It was while she was wandering the streets of Denmark alone that she was captured by human traffickers. When they discovered her power, they knew they could fetch a good price for her.
Cheslav paid 2,000 ruble for her to a Ukrainian man with a scar across his nose and left eye. A spark of jealousy lit up in Vlad’s heart. The girl was worth 1,500 more rubles than he was. Guilt overtook him soon after for thinking such an awful thing.
Lucy cried the whole way home. He wanted to take off the hood, but feared what Cheslav might do to him if he did. When they arrived back in Klin, Cheslav untied her, removed the hood, and branded her. She lunged for him and tried to put him to sleep.
She laid in bed for two days crying and recovering from her beating. Now it was back to work. Vlad was to show her how things were done. The moment Cheslav dropped them off at the train station with fare for the train, she went to the one bound for St. Petersburg.
Lucy flipped through an old magazine. An American superhero was on the cover with the headline ‘Chimeric Power Threat to Russia?’. A smaller image on the bottom left was of the infamous Artemis.
“We could do this.”
Vlad’s eyes met hers. They sparkled in excitement. “Do what?”
“Be a superhero! It would be amazing, right?”
He thought of reminding her Cheslav would likely find them before they even found a boat to escape on. That they had no money or idea where they were going. He rubbed his forearm where the brand tingled.
“It would be, yes.”
“This nightmare will be over soon.”
Vlad made himself smile again. “Good.”
Neither spoke again for the rest of the trip. He saw Lucy rub her arm where he knew she had a brand just like his. He dozed for a while and dreamed of Natasha and her fish-like face cooing and laughing.
At the first stop, Vlad expected to see Cheslav waiting. To his surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. In the middle of the afternoon, the stop was desolate. Two passengers exited the train leaving three left in their cart.
The train lurched and began the
“We’ll be okay, love,” Lucy told him. She gripped his hand through his gloves and smiled. “We can sneak onto one of the freighters and go to America. Canada perhaps. Anywhere but here.”
Vlad made himself return a smile. He nodded and returned to staring out the window.
It was a beautiful summer day. Deep shades of green melded into the clear blue sky as the train sped through the countryside. It was the time of year American students flocked to Moscow for school trips or vacation. For years Vlad and Cheslav had robbed them. Cheslav beat them up, stole everything but their underwear, and Vlad removed their memories.
Today, he and Lucy were supposed to go together. It was their first time out alone. She was to put them asleep, they’d steal their stuff, then Vlad removed all traces; instead, they were on a train headed north to St. Petersburg.
Lucy had only been with him and Cheslav for five days. She was older than Vlad had been when Cheslav bought him. That made all the difference in her unwillingness to obey him. Despite being branded, and Vlad telling her that they couldn’t run, she insisted. She didn’t believe Cheslav had really branded her; that he could find them wherever they went.
From what Vlad understood, Lucy had little experience using her powers. A year before Cheslav took her, her own powers manifested. Chimeric law was much better in England than in Russia, but as in all places, there were groups who hated them. In the small town Lucy came from, chimerics were pariah.
Hated by her parents and town, she ran away with an older boy. He was an artist and promised they could make it on their own, peddling his work on the streets and entertaining crowds at festivals. Lucy had an aptitude for language and could speak decent French and Russian, so she figured she had a shot at traveling the world. It was while she was wandering the streets of Denmark alone that she was captured by human traffickers. When they discovered her power, they knew they could fetch a good price for her.
Cheslav paid 2,000 ruble for her to a Ukrainian man with a scar across his nose and left eye. A spark of jealousy lit up in Vlad’s heart. The girl was worth 1,500 more rubles than he was. Guilt overtook him soon after for thinking such an awful thing.
Lucy cried the whole way home. He wanted to take off the hood, but feared what Cheslav might do to him if he did. When they arrived back in Klin, Cheslav untied her, removed the hood, and branded her. She lunged for him and tried to put him to sleep.
She laid in bed for two days crying and recovering from her beating. Now it was back to work. Vlad was to show her how things were done. The moment Cheslav dropped them off at the train station with fare for the train, she went to the one bound for St. Petersburg.
Lucy flipped through an old magazine. An American superhero was on the cover with the headline ‘Chimeric Power Threat to Russia?’. A smaller image on the bottom left was of the infamous Artemis.
“We could do this.”
Vlad’s eyes met hers. They sparkled in excitement. “Do what?”
“Be a superhero! It would be amazing, right?”
He thought of reminding her Cheslav would likely find them before they even found a boat to escape on. That they had no money or idea where they were going. He rubbed his forearm where the brand tingled.
“It would be, yes.”
“This nightmare will be over soon.”
Vlad made himself smile again. “Good.”
Neither spoke again for the rest of the trip. He saw Lucy rub her arm where he knew she had a brand just like his. He dozed for a while and dreamed of Natasha and her fish-like face cooing and laughing.
At the first stop, Vlad expected to see Cheslav waiting. To his surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. In the middle of the afternoon, the stop was desolate. Two passengers exited the train leaving three left in their cart.
The train lurched and began the
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