The 4th CRIME

Chapter 2

I am self-contained, always have been and always will be. I don't need anyone, well, except my immediate family, but other than that I don't need anything from anyone else. I don't want it and I don't need it. I've always been my own person for as long as I can remember. I keep extremely close to those people that I love. And those that I don't should fear for their lives. 

In my father's line of business it was vital that we keep to ourselves and that we stay away from the regular people and forever keep silent and distant. Its why even at school, I don't sit with anyone from my class but I sit with my younger brother, Czar. 

If anyone thought that I was silent, or isolated and withdrawn, they were yet to meet Czar. I was as they said I was, but the minute I stepped through the front doors of home, I was giggling and playing with my siblings and talking animatedly to my dad about a mission. 

Czar is always quiet and to himself. He's close to my mother, but even with her he just smiles at her adoringly and his tongue fails to move. He may be silent but he's one of the most dangerous perople I know. My mother is the most dangerous because she has the power over my father, my father is the second most dangerous, my godfather Hedeon is the third most dangerous, Galina is the fourth most dangerous and Czar is the fifth most dangerous. 

He is a silent killer and brutal. He's cold and he faces enemies head on. He doesn't try to hide himself when he approaches a target and he's not afraid to take a bullet or two. Yet, he's never taken one before. The target is always dead by the time they grip their weapon to defend themselves. 

The bell rang, cutting through my thoughts as I stood from my table, fixing my plain uniform skirt jumper as I walked to the door, not waiting for the teacher to round up their talk as I exited the classroom. 

I hated carrying books, and I wanted someone to carry them for me but I was forced to carry my own books to class. So my father got me a designer trolley schoolbag (rolling backpack). 

I walked into the filled lunch hall, where everyone sat and ate. My legs led me to Czar and I's usual table and I set my bag down, finding Czar already there with his hands on the table held together as he met my eyes. 

"Hey," I greeted him and he nodded, looking me over with his brown eyes. 

Czar had an olive skinned tone and he had a huge hair of curls. His eyebrows were thick and perfectly shaped and it irritated me because I go through so much to get mine to be shaped but he’s born with the luxury of pretty brows. His lips were light pink and a bit plump. 

Czar was a pretty boy, I’m not afraid to say that about my brother but it was his blank brown eyes that get filled with evil whenever he’s killing someone that exposes the real him. 

We didn't eat at school, eating around so many people was upsetting and irritating because all eyes were on us. Everyone in the school knew who our parents were and what my father does, and the rumours and soft whispers about us haven't stopped. 

We attend those schools that end with the word "academy". The kind of schools where the ministers, politicians, actors, and president's children attended. The kind of school where the best international students from other countries were given the once in a life opportunity to learn here. Where the monthly fees were above the annual salaries of most people. 

Only the best were able to attend Rossiyskaya Akademiya Obrazovaniya. Where the teachers drove Mercedes Benz’s and the students arrived to school in helicopters and private planes.

A 100% pass rate and anything less than 70% for a paper was regarded as a fail. This was the school that taught the world's future leaders, the world's future top lawyers, the world's future top doctors and the world's future top engineers. Anyone who studied here was guaranteed success. Harvard, Stanford, Hong Kong University, Yale University, Princeton University and Moscow State University. That was where students who attended here went, that was where we were taught we should go. 

Quite frankly, I didn't give a damn about school but I was forced to study hard because my mum's tired of attending constant meetings about my marks and my distant silent behaviour. 

Everyone at school knows that Czar and I keep to ourselves. He was my only friend and I was his only friend. We were attached, and he felt more like a twin than my younger brother. He was the same height as me and he always laughed at my jokes. He taught me some of his skills and I had been there for him when he'd gotten his very first tattoo without our parent’s knowledge. 

I don't know what really happened that day, I was driving around Moscow in my new Ferrari Pininfarina Sergio and he told me to stop outside a tattoo shop we had noticed at the stop light. I stopped, we went in and he just sat in the chair and the man tattooed him. 

"How was class?" He asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts while I stared into my hand, where there was a beautiful David Yurman ring my father had bought for me. 

I shrugged, "hated it," I said to him, thinking about how when I got home I'd have to tell one of the servants to cover my books and label them, "you?" 

He gave me a blank look and I knew the answer. I hated the first day of school, and I hated school in general and the same went for my brother but my mum wouldn't stop drilling into our heads how important education was. She would drone on and talk about how hard her life used to be, and how privileged we are. 

"Any new people in your class?" I asked him, making conversation to annoy him because he did prefer silence. I didn't mind silence, but irritating my sibling was too much fun. 

He narrowed his eyes, "I don't give a f**k about new people, Natalya," he said in a calm tone. 

Czar swore as much as my father did- which is a lot, but when my mum's around he won't even change his facial expression from a wide smile. He always seemed so sweet to my mother, helping her with my other siblings. 

He moved the tie around his neck, his eyes revealing irritation and I know why. I went a whole month without wearing a uniform and I was thrown into one once again, it's my final year wearing it and I can't wait to throw it into a fire. 

Break was an hour long and when the bell rang, I had looked at Czar who nodded his head at me, his way of saying goodbye as I stood and started taking my rolling backpack with me. I needed the bathroom and I had five minutes to get to the next class. 

I walked into the pristine bathroom which was cleaned every hour. I walked into one of the stalls, leaving my bag outside the door of my stall. 

I heard the main door to the bathroom swing open and I could hear the sound of multiple footsteps that belonged to a group of five girls, "did you see him?" I heard a girl ask. 

"Yes, he is hot!" Another gasped out, sounding excited, "he looks a bit older but you know," the girl paused as she giggled, "I like them a bit older and mature." 

I rolled my eyes at her talking, and flushed the toilet as I opened the door and then stepped out and they all kept quiet as I walked to the tap and washed my hands with soap. 

I glanced at them from my peripheral vision and knew it was girls from my class. I guess you could say they were popular but it wasn't the kind where students in the hallways would part like the red sea when they approached, that was reserved for Czar and I. 

I took my bag, ignoring them as I walked out of the bathroom and to my next class. I had memorised my time table when we had been given one during registration. I knew I had to head to my English class right now. 

The halls were still littered with a few students but everyone was making their way to their classes. I looked at the brown door where the words English Room, were printed on a silver board and placed on the door; and below was the name Mr Kim. 

Kim? That's a strange surname. 

I opened the door and entered the class. Everyone was already seated but a seat right in the front remained untouched and it was an unspoken rule that I always sat in the front. That way I didn't have to listen to all the learner’s useless talks about boys, parties and music. 

I sat in my seat, being proper as I done so. I crossed my legs at my ankles as I made sure that my jumper was the proper length, covering the way the school told us to. 

Russian and English were my favourite subjects. My mum spoke English and my dad was Russian, I could do either of these subjects in my sleep. Other than languages, I despised everything else. 

The door opened and I raised an eyebrow at the specimen that walked in. 

"Good morning class," a man said, standing in front of the class, dressed in a black suit with a black tie, "my name is Chang-woo Kim, and I," he paused as he placed his briefcase on the table , "am your new English teacher." 

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