Page 14 of Eternal
AZRA
“Lilac Wine” by Jeff Buckley
Present
I don’t know what’s annoying me more right now.
The fact that my next target is hiding like he’s some kind of ghost, or that Katarina is on her hundredth round of yelling at Viktor about the theme for tonight’s event.
She’s hell-bent on black and white, and he wants something with pearls. It’s hilarious because we all know how this is gonna go. Kat’s gonna win, she always wins. Viktor loves pissing her off, probably gets some sick pleasure from it.
I catch the smirk he’s trying to hide every time she yells at him.
It’s the same look he used to get as a kid, right before he’d sneak up and scribble all over her perfect little drawings just to watch her lose it.
She’d scream and cry, and he’d laugh like it was the best day of his life, then he’d hug her, with his small arms, and she’d stop.
Even back then, she was a control freak. If you didn’t play her games exactly how she wanted, you were done for. Total tyrant in the making.
And here we are, years later, in the same situation.
Some things really don’t change.
“There’s no way you actually think your shitty idea is better than what I planned for the past week.” Kat’s hands fly up in that dramatic way only she can pull off, glaring at Viktor, who’s trying way too hard to look innocent.
And then he laughs.
Loudly.
Oh, she’s going to kill him.
“Stop laughing, I’m serious, Vik!” She turns to me, catching me mid-email about the hotel where my target might be hiding. “ Visha ! Tell him that ‘something with pearls’ isn’t a real theme.”
I glance up, and there’s Viktor, grinning like a damn kid. “Yes, Kroshka , tell me you’d rather have a monotone party with only two colors.”
I shrug. “You know what? Both of your ideas are awful. Go with red.”
They both stare, Kat practically combusting on the spot. “You’ve got to be kidding, Visha . This isn’t a cheap ass casino,” she says, throwing me a dramatic glare toward me.
Viktor leans back, hands behind his head, still smirking like he’s ten. “Face it, Kat. I won.”
Kat huffs and rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath. Probably a curse. They’ve been pulling this routine since we were kids, and somehow, I’m always caught in the middle.
I get up, letting my laptop rest, eyeing them both. “Don’t tell me you came all the way here, to my place, while I was taking a shower, to argue and rope me in as the judge.”
They reply in perfect, unplanned unison. “Yes!”
“ God help me… ” I shake my head, grabbing a fresh cigarette and sighing as I light it. “Alright, here’s an idea: go black and white and pearls. Combine them both.”
Vik nods like it’s the smartest idea ever, while Kat throws her mood boards at him, groaning, “I hate you!”
He simply laughs, catching one of the papers. “Love you too, sistra .”
I head back to the window, phone in hand, and scroll to that page from the journal I’d snapped a photo of. I read it again, slowly, letting the words sink in.
Journal Entry - 12/02/1994.
Donovan Atler, CEO of a multinational wine company, Starline.
The moment Alexei and I met him, I knew Donovan was trouble. Last week, I found a bottle of wine from one of his hidden Slovenian companies waiting in my office, with a note, ‘The fire you start will burn you.’
It was a clear threat. Alexei wants me to ignore it, but I can’t. I owe it to my children to see this through.
Donovan's spending doesn’t add up. He flaunts a $2 million watch, yet his company’s debts are supposed to be larger than some countries' GDP.
I know it because I studied his company’s declarations. Everything is fake. The investor's names, the sponsors. Everything.
I found a recent photo of him with the wife of a prominent politician, who was found dead the night after they attended a gala together two months ago.
His connection to her is suspicious, and the surveillance footage of him near the crime scene only raises more questions in my mind.
A red stain on his shirt… could it be blood?
Why is this footage unknown to the police? Alexei found it while threatening the man at the gas station near the crime scene.
And this young girl disappearing just after she met him for work?
Something’s brewing in Vegas, and I have a sinking feeling that Donovan and his associates are at the heart of it.
When he caught my gaze tonight and waved, I realized he knew I was watching. And he was watching too.
But I refuse to back down, even if they’re watching me. Whoever they are. I’m doing this for my daughter, to shield her from the rot that festers in our world.
I only pray she’ll never need to walk this path. I need to find new threats closer to home.
-Amane
“Donovan, Donovan, Donovan,” I mutter, eyes narrowing as I study his face on the screen.
Why was my mom so sure you were dirty? And what had you done to make her so afraid? I’m getting answers soon, one way or another, I’m pretty sure I’ve got the right address this time.
“Look at this cunt,” I call, and Vik joins her, both staring down at the surveillance still of the Vegas hotel my informant sent over.
“This bastard’s older now,” Vik mutters, lips twisting.
“And ugly too,” Kat chimes in, squinting at the grainy image.
I study the footage, hoping he’s still holed up there, hiding like the rat he is, then I feel Vik’s hand on my neck, his thumb rubbing a bit at the nape.
“You sure you want to go at this alone, Kroshka ?”
His voice is soft but with that big-brother protectiveness that would annoy anyone else but somehow makes sense with him. I smile, brushing off his worry. “Yeah, I’m sure. But I’ll call you if I need a pep talk while I... cut his dick off.”
Vik flinches, hand dropping instinctively to cover himself, eyes wide. “For god’s sake, Azra, I felt mine screaming and cursing the shit out of you! Don’t terrify it like that.”
A laugh slips out before I can stop it, and I catch Kat rolling her eyes at her brother. “You’re disgusting, Vik,” she says with a shake of her head.
He looks genuinely offended, whispering, “Why?” But Kat ignores him, turning to me and wrapping my icy hands in hers.
Her expression softens, her voice firm as she traces a line down my arm.
“Gosh, Visha , your hands are freezing.” She frowns but then continues with a nod.
“Anyway, you’ve got this. Cut off whatever you want from him.
Maybe it’ll bring you a little peace, and who knows, maybe some useful intel too. ”
My hands are always cold . I forgot what it feels like to have someone worrying about something so small as this.
“Thanks, Kat.” My smile is genuine, the kind only she seems to pull out of me.
We hear Vik’s footsteps stall, followed by the sound of a chair scraping back. “I’m outta here,” he mutters, getting to his feet. “As a man with healthy balls and a healthy dick, I can’t stay here while the two women I’m closest to are casually talking about cutting shit out of bodies.”
He shakes his head, heading for the door like he’s escaping a horror show. “Don’t forget the party tonight , Kroshka . No knives allowed for you,” he says, pausing for a second to give me that smug look of his before he slams the door behind him.
Kat lets out a snort and rolls her eyes, leaning back against the sofa.
“This man strangles people for a living, but the moment we talk about cutting off a dick, he freaks out. Men , I swear.” She shakes her head, taking my hand and pulling out her phone, probably firing off texts for the party she’s still organizing.
I settle down next to her, matching her position but not bothering with my phone. “I strangle people for fun every day, too,” I say.
She turns her head toward me and makes that disgusted face, “Ew! Visha , I don't want to know what happens in your bed!”
“No, that kind of strangling, you stupid fuck!” I smack her arm as she bursts into laughter, snuggling into my side like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Why not?”
“Cause I’m not sure I could stop myself from killing them even if I tried.”
“Scary.”
“ Honest .”
“No strangling?”
“ Depends … who’s choking who?”
She laughs hard and slaps my thigh. “You need to find a man to play with,” she says, her voice almost pitiful. “You can’t even take sexual quotes and turn them against me.”
Her teasing makes me laugh, but I shake my head. “I don’t have the time to find a man when I’ve got people to kill…”
She laughs again, shaking her head, “My best friend is a dangerous psycho and killer, and I’m cuddling her.”
I let my head rest on hers, smiling. “You’re an idiot.”
I feel her body warm against mine, her fingers tapping away on her phone. I let my mind wander, the quiet of the room is relaxing, I like it.
Silence with the right person feels like peace, not absence, it feels like comfort.
After a long silence, she looks up and adds, “We need to get ready for the party tonight.”
I’m still lost in my own head for a moment, but I nod, liking this calm. The kind that feels natural. Like chaos is allowed to exist without ruining everything around it.
“The theme’s black and white, right?” I ask, almost already knowing the answer.
She shrugs, getting up and leaving the space beside me empty, “Of course.”
I chuckle, knowing she’d win this argument from the start. “Okay, let’s get ready then, I guess.”