The Last Kill

The Unthinkable Request

The evening was drawing close, and for Silas, the day had not been a good one, he was in this town for only one person only, Lena. How could he not had met her? He didn't even know what exactly held his feet down when he saw he walk out of the grocery store, God she looked beautiful, more than the last time they met. That about sixteen years ago. Sixteen years ago!? How would he even want her to stay that way, naive and so in love with him. She had a car now! Silas thought, a good one at that, and a son she wasn't taking care of as much as she thought she was doing. He thought about finding and confronting Lena, the boy was going astray, he needed direction, and clearly, that direction in life wasn't coming from her.

This town had a way of influencing the vulnerable, those who seemed to have strayed far from reach, they still had their leech on their neck, but this town didn't care about that, it cared only for its own vile intentions. Many years back, it did the same with Silas Volkov, and he never recovered, now it's staring at his son straight in the eye, and the boy can't see the red in its eye, Costa thinks he knows what is good for him, he thinks he can control its wave, but he can't, it had coiled it's way up his Father, and held him down, it will advertently curl its way up him, just the same way, and make him suffer in the end. Silas smokes on his cigarette. He wouldn't let that happen, he couldn't, not to his boy.

He dropped the cigarette and crushed it beneath his feet, spans the area with his eyes, and walked down the lane, hoping, really hoping that he'd see come across Lena that evening, she even said a little prayer, he needed to see her, and talk to her about this boy, and talk to her about them, him, her, everything, he would not want to say he missed her, she doesn't, but he did miss her, and he knew they couldn't be together again, and it hurt.

•••

Lena had let Costa run out of home, she knew he'd return but what she didn't know was where he went after the door closed behind him, she watched him stump away, angry. But bullets? Why? From where? How on earth did a fifteen year old get a pack of bullets, she knew and understood the town they loved in, even her root, and the root of Silas Volkov, and she was dead determined that Costa was not going to thread that same part, no matter what it was going to cost her. She had his room cleaned up, dressed his bed, and took the box of bullets and tucked it away in her room.

It was getting dark and he hadn't returned home, so she just like any mother would, get worried and go find the boy. She left home to the basketball court, but he wasn't they, she walked round the town, looking in the weirdest of places, the grocery store has closed, the wide yard, the skate park, he wasn't anywhere, her feet got sore, and she began thinking on returning home, maybe while she left to search for him, he had returned, she'd be dead worried if after all these hours he hadn't returned, so she started on her way home.

Silas saw her, God was she the one? He wasn't quite sure, the evening had descended, and made it hard to figure out things from people, and people from other people, he had to try his luck, if he called and she didn't respond he'd let her go.

“Lena!” He called, and she spun around, with hopes that it was an officer who had seen her boy, or someone who had seen her boy, not Silas, who hadn't even seen her boy. Not Silas. She squinted in the dark to figure him out, he was the one, Silas Volkov, he hurried towards her to make himself known, “hey, it's me.”

“You who?” She asked, folding her hand across her chest.

“Silas,” he said, “Silas Volkov.”

And it pinched her, she held it back.

“Okay?” She replied, staring at him. He looked rough, not only around the edges, it was like he hadn't seen life enough to clean up well, or a woman was not in his life.

“Ay!... it's been quite, some years not…not,” he stammered, “uhm…not having you around.”

She listened.

“And…uhm…I just thought to say Hi.”

“Oh, Hi!” She said, “can I go now?”

“Uhm…” Silas nodded.

And she began to walk away, back home.

But Silas stayed there, and watched her, and then said, “I saw him.”

She paused in-between steps, he saw who? She thought, my Costa?

“You saw who?” She turned around, “Costa.”

“Costa?” Nice name, Silas thought, “yes, Costa.”

“Where!?” She walked towards him, “Where'd you see him?”

Silas confronted Lena.

The reunion is fraught with pain and accusations. Silas, desperate, he explained the threat to Costa and made his shocking proposal: to take Costa and train him in the ways of the underworld, but with the intent of turning him away from true evil. How could he be so blunt about this to a woman who would do anything to protect her child.

“You. You were the one who gave him the pack of bullets!” She figured, “how could you!? He's just fifteen!”

“The boy needs to know what life is about Lena, so he doesn't end up confused, so he can protect you!”

“I do not need protection, Silas.” She hadn't called his name in years, it sounded bland in her mouth, “I don't need protection, I'm his mother, I'm supposed to protect him.”

“For how long?” Silas asked.

She went silent for a while, her heart thumping, her son's life is at stake here, and she wasn't going to let evil befall him.

“Where's the boy now?” She asked.

“Should be probably home.” Silas replied, taking steps backwards to leave. Will Lena agree to such a morally compromising plan?