The Imperial Revenge

Chapter 27

October 1928

I stayed in bed to watch for a hemophilia attack. Even though there was bruising around my neck, there was no attack to come. It has been a miracle surely. My fate was telling me that I was not done. As for Medvedev, he was in the hospital at the edge of his life. Apparently, he will heal but his face would forever be...well, looked like a carved pumpkin. And the doctors say he has possible brain damage. I had an overwhelming amount of guilt at how horribly I hurt him. It was ironic, wasn't it? He helped kill my family, but I was sorry for him.

I sat at the couch and stared at the fireplace. I quietly sipped my whiskey. Rodion and Hadeon were pacing around the sitting room. They seemed scared for the next move I would make. The two were to go down were Nikulin and Yurovsky. I still hadn't had the opportunity to send the cyanide-whiskey to Nikulin yet, as Medvedev was very unexpected. I couldn't keep tip-toeing around what I needed to do.

"What are we supposed to do? This is very bad!" Hadeon shouted.
"I know it is! If people find out who we are and what happened, there could be serious time in the gulag." Rodion shivered.
I stood up from the sofa. "Did anyone see you take Medvedev to the hospital?"
"No."
"Then you shall be alright. Listen, I'm tired of waiting this out. I have Nikulin and Yurovsky right where I want them. I need one of you to deliver a bottle of whiskey to Nikulin's home with a fake note from Yurovsky to apologize for what they have argued over. I want to deal with Yurovsky myself." I nodded. I slowly pulled a pistol out of my pocket to show them. Rodion and Hadeon's eye widened and looked at me.
"My friends, I can't keep doing this. It ends tonight."

"If you really want to know who I am, meet me at the local park on the bridge at 02:00. Come alone, or else." -Count Romanov

I dropped that letter off to Yurovsky's home later that day. My heart raced. I was not going to lie: I'm nervous as hell. One of us was dying tonight and I had do everything in my power to make sure that wasn't me. I bought a cloak for the cold and to make sure only he got a good look at my face. I loaded my gun and put it on my belt. I put on some padding under my clothes to prevent bruises. We only get one chance at something like this. Yurovsky was going to die tonight and my family would be avenged.

The snow slowly fell. The river that the bridge was over was completely frozen over. I was a bit tired, I mean, it was 02:00. There was a good chance Yurovsky wouldn't even show up. I looked at the moon and how it shone so brightly in the sky. Suddenly, I heard snow crushing and a gun cock behind me.
"Count Romanov? Or should I say, Nikulin? Show me your damn face or I will kill you." Yurovsky snarled. I slowly turned around to look at him. I brought my hands to my cloak and lowered the hood.
"Hello Yurovsky." I smirked. He gasped and lowered his gun, almost in disbelief that I was Count Romanov.
"Alexei? I don't understand...what are you doing here?"
"I told you to come here, didn't I?"
"Are you...Count Romanov?"
"You finally put the pieces together. It was very easy to fool you, Yurovsky."

Yurovsky shook his head in disbelief. He could not believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.
"That doesn't make sense."
"But it does. It does make sense. Put the pieces together."
"No...you were my friend. I trusted you!"
"And that makes you a damn fool then. It ends tonight, Yakov." I pulled my gun out quickly and raised it up. I cocked it back. But before I could shoot, Yurovsky charged at me. He knocked me to the ground. We landed next to each other. The gun was knocked out my hand and slid off the bridge. Dammit.
"Bastard! You were my friend!" Yurovsky grunted.
"We were never friends. You were just desperate and clingy, you hick." I groaned and kicked him in the face. Yurovsky's nose started to bleed. I tried to grab the bars of the bridge to make myself stand up again. But Yurovsky grabbed my leg and swept me to the ground. He then pulled out a pocket knife from his belt. Yurovsky climbed up and straddled me.

"Now it's time to die, Savenkov." Yurovsky raised his pocket watch up. "I'm going to make sure this really hurts."
Yurovsky was bringing the knife down to my chest. I grabbed his wrists and tried to push the knife away. We struggled for about a minute until I was able to wiggle my knee free and bump him off of me. The knife was still tightly gripped in his hands. I kicked Yurovsky in the face again, and then in the hand. I struggled to stand up, but I was not going to let myself break now. I stomped on his hand, forcing him to let go of the knife. I grabbed it once I could and then threw it over the iced river. Yurovsky stood up, holding his hand.
"You broke my hand. I should kill you for what you did to my hand!" Yurovsky swung his uninjured hand and punched me in the gut, hard. The extra padding I had under my coat saved me some of the blow, but it still hurt quite a bit. He kicked me in the gut, knocking me the ground again. I rolled off the bridge on to the sidewalk.

"Get up, Savenkov! Get up! This is how real men fight." Yurovsky spat on the ground. I could see the blood from his mouth. I looked around me...there was a small rock in the grass. I stretched my arm and swiftly grabbed it. As I stood up, I hid the rock in my grasp.
"Yurovsky...I do not wish to fight anymore. You win. Is that what you want to hear?" I moaned, slowly walking over to him.
"No, I want to know who you are. Who is the real Count Romanov? I can assume Alexei Savenkov is not your real name, is it?"
"It is. That part is true."
"Do not bullshit me, you bloody bastard! You have ruined my life!" Yurovsky screamed off the top of his lungs.
"Please, Yakov-"
"I am going to beat you to death. Then, I will throw you in the river. No one truly cares about you, so this will be easy. Get over here, boy!"
Once I was close enough, I swung the rock as hard as I could into Yurovsky's head. The blood immediately started running from his head. I was able to grab a hold of his coat and push him to railing of the bridge. He was hanging over the railing, about to fall in, but my grab on his coat was tight.

"Don't let me fall in! I have a family!" Yurovsky screamed out.
Family. Just hearing that word made the tears form in my eyes.
"I had a family too. And you took them from me." I let a tear fall.
Yurovsky furrowed his eyebrows. "Who are you?"
"Everyone knows me as Alexei Savenkov. But my real name is Tsarevich Alexei Romanov."
"What...Romanov? How?"
"This is for my family and I."
Yurovsky started sobbing loudly. "Wait! I will give you anything you want. I'll give you money, women, or anything you want!"
"Anything?" I scoffed at him.
"Anything."
"I want my family back. You bastard!" I screamed at him and then pushed him over. Yurovsky fell over the railing, through the ice, and into the water. He disappeared. At last, it was over. The years of wanting revenge and mourning were gone. My parents and sisters had gotten the justice that they deserved. Now, I could rest peacefully.