Chapter Four: Serpent's Blood

Katya was right. I was bad luck.

The irony was almost funny. I had escaped one prison only to land in another, and this time my life was on the line.

They had thrown me into a room that was more of a bedroom, though there was nothing in it except a large bed and a set of empty drawers. I screamed and begged to be let out until my voice cracked and exhaustion finally claimed me.

The pills I had swallowed at the Penitentiary finally took over, and I fell asleep. But my mind was far too disturbed to rest, and my sleep was restless and full of nightmares.

I woke up to the sound of a voice in the room.

"What an impressive talent to be dragged out of her home at gunpoint and still sleep for six hours.”

I opened my eyes, but everything in front of me was a gray blur. My head felt foggy, and my limbs were heavy, and for a moment I could not tell where I was. Then my disturbed mind caught up, and it registered one thing at once: there was someone in the room.

I scrambled upright and tried to retreat across the bed, but a hand clamped around my leg and stopped me.

"Quiet."

I started to cry before I could stop myself.

"Please, do not hurt me. My family will give you what you want.” I begged, frozen in place, tears streaming down my cheeks.

The man stared at me. His eyes moved slowly down my face, over my clothes, and back up until they settled on my face again.

"Nadya Kuzmin," he said, and it sounded rehearsed. "Taken to the Penitentiary for murdering a maid because of a mental problem." One corner of his mouth twisted into a smirk.

My stomach twisted as I watched him. "Is that why you took me?"

He did not answer at first. He only kept his eyes on me with a calculating stare, as if he were measuring me for something.

"No."

Then he grabbed my neck and dragged my head closer. I kicked and clawed at his hands, trying to pry them away, but he held on tight. His eyes had gone colder than before.

"Another thing about me," he clenched his words out, "I hate delays. It has been six hours, and there is no sign of your family going out there to find me what I asked for.”

I could not breathe. There was no air in my lungs, and I fought with everything I had.

Tears swelled in my eyes. "W-Why are you doing this?" I forced the words out.

"Because I need that fucking ledger!" His grip tightened as he spat the words, a vein stood out on his forehead. "I will bring hell to your doorstep if I do not have it in my hands in the next five hours."

His accent was thick with Russian, and it made him sound even deadlier. I did not doubt his threats for a second. He had already killed Katya's fiancé and shot the maid. What I doubted was whether my family would really come for me.

"I-I know ho-w." The words came out in broken pieces. “I know how to make them do what you want.”

His face changed as he took in what I said. Then, abruptly, he let go of my neck.

I coughed hard and rubbed my throat, but he gave me no time to recover. He yanked me by the hair and forced me to look at him.

"Talk."

I was crying again. "If you let me go to them, I can make them hurry to get you what you want. But you have to promise me that you will not hurt any of my family. Please.”

He stared at me.

“And you. Can I hurt you?” he asked, almost amused.

I looked back at him. His midnight black eyes were full of rage, and I did not have an answer for him. I was terrified for my life, but I did not want to give Katya any more reason to say I was bad luck.

When I said nothing, he held my gaze a moment longer, then released my hair, rose to his feet, and walked out of the room.

I watched him leave, tears still streaming down my face. My palms were sweaty, my neck throbbed, and my head hurt. My chest hurt too. I rubbed it as I coughed and cried until my body shook.

Not long after, the door opened again, and I scrambled backward. But it was not the scary man. It was one of the others, a man who looked like a bodyguard. He walked in with a glass of water, and I kept my eyes on him as he set it on the bed.

"Drink."

I looked at him, then at the cup, and shook my head. "I am not thirsty, but thanks."

"I do not care if you are thirsty or not. Drink." His tone hardened on the last word, and I felt it in the pit of my stomach.

I reached for the glass with shaky hands and took a small sip. But it tasted too fresh to be an ordinary water. I glanced up at the man and put the glass back down.

Then he threw something onto the bed. It looked like a wristwatch.

My heart hammered as I stared at him, confused.

"It is called Krov' Zmei," he said. "Serpent's Blood. You have five hours to convince your family to find the ledger before it eats you up from the inside. Bring the ledger, and we give you the antidote. Run, and you die, and the monitor leads us to your family."

He said it simply, as if he were reading a menu, and everything inside me seized.

I had been poisoned?

"No, please. You cannot do this. I already promised to..."

"Wear it." He cut me off without interest and gestured at the monitor.

I picked it up, my tears still pouring, and fastened it around my ankle. I could not believe this was happening to me.

I was a good person. I loved people. I had never treated anyone badly, so why was this happening to me?

They took me out of the room, and I did not look around at all, because the only thing in my head was that I had been poisoned. They drove me back to my house, dropped me off, and left.

I stood by the gates, my heart clenching in fear of what was waiting for me inside.