Page 2 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
His mother screeched out in terror.
Kostya thought he heard his sister whimper. He whipped his head around and saw Roman holding a squirming Irina with one hand over her mouth and the other motioning him to get into the cupboard. Kostya shook his head and turned back to the door. He opened it a couple of millimeters so he could see what was going on. His blue eyes went wide. In the dimly lit, cramped room he saw giant figures in all black—even their heads were covered in black!
Two of the monsters grabbed his father and started to drag him toward the door.
“Don’t take him!” his mother shrieked.
“Silence!”
Who said that?
“He’s a good man, don’t take him,” Kostya’s mother continued to plead.
“Polina, hush—” his father started to yell.
Did Kostya just hear Irina?Please no.
Flashes of light and the loud crack of bullets rent the air, mixing in with his mother’s screams, cries, and pleas. Kostya was dizzy and stunned as he tried to focus on anything that he could make sense of.
His mother’s blue eyes were wide with horror, then she raised her hands up in front of her face.
“Please! No! Please, I—”
Kostya saw a yellow flash of gunfire, then red—so much red as his mother’s stomach burst open, her blood spraying across the walls and ceiling and finally landing across his father’s stunned face.
“Myshka!” was the last word his father uttered before one of the men punched a rifle butt into his temple. Then they dragged his body out the door.
“Dammit!” one of the monsters said as he pulled a black mask off his head and wiped Kostya’s mother’s blood from his eyes. “These goddamn villagers need to be taught a lesson again. I want this house burned to the ground, and this time I don’t care if all the houses next to it burn with it.” He pointed at another masked man who started pouring petrol on the kitchen table. “Do you understand me? Make it burn bright!”
The monster nodded. Kostya thought he heard him laugh.
Then Kostya’s eyes widened in horror as one of the other demons headed toward his parents’ bedroom door. “I’ll see if there’s anyone else here,” he said as he slammed Mama and Papa’s door open.
Kostya closed his bedroom door and started running to the cupboard. Their bedroom door started to open as Kostya climbed into the cupboard.
“Boris, stop!” someone yelled. “Who gives a fuck if they have some brats? We’ll burn them all. Come on, we need to go.”
Kostya looked over at his brother and sister. Even in the dim light, he could see the whites of their frightened eyes. Roman clamped his hand firmly against Irina’s mouth. The toddler looked terrified. Roman looked resigned as he looked to Kostya for direction. Even though Roman was older, Kostya had always been the leader.
Kostya opened up the cupboard door just a little bit. When he didn’t hear any voices, he shot out of the cupboard to the bedroom door and peeked out.
The kitchen table was on fire.
He looked for his Mama, but couldn’t see her. He slammed the door shut. He needed to save Roman and Irina.
When he turned around, Roman was out of the cupboard. He still held Irina, but now she was no longer struggling. She was limp, her eyes glassy.
“What now?” Roman asked.
“We have to go out the window. Fast. Roman, you go first,” he commanded. “I’ll push Irina out to you afterward.”
“Our parents?” Roman asked.
Kostya shook his head and Roman winced. He handed Irina to Kostya who gratefully cradled his little sister; it felt good to feel her warmth, her living body.
Kostya watched as Roman climbed on the bed, then shoved open the bedroom window and shimmied out. As soon as Roman was through, Kostya climbed on the bed and looked down at Irina who was still limp in his arms.
“Ah, my littlemilaya,” Kostya said as he kissed the top of Irina’s head. Her expression changed and she looked up at him. “Kostya?” she asked in her three-year-old voice. Then she started to struggle.
