Once Upon A Lie

Twenty-six:

Twenty-six:

Alina stared at the DeKappel painting in front of her. It was of a shadowy thing, going through the heart of Ravka dividing west and east. It was called "Tension". It was one of her favorites.

"He puts shadows in all of his work," said Mal, "kind of weird."

Alina smiled. "Not really. The shadows were usually metaphors for something. This one was painted around the fall of the last Tsar. The darkness is supposed to represent the political strife. And sometimes it represented his depression. Have you seen the one called Dirty hands? It's of a faceless man with shadows over his head."

Mal glanced over in the corner. "That one over there?"

Alina nodded. "That was the first one my father ever showed me. He said that he liked it because it was the closest that he had ever seen to what his head looked like."

Mal walked over and examined it, peering at it closely, as if trying to see what her father saw. "Doesn't that scare you? Knowing that's what's inside your father's head?"

She shook her head. "It used to. But I think there's got to be a little bit of both inside of everyone. Can't have one without the other."

Alina could feel him staring at her. It wasn't that hungry, heated look that Aleksander always gave her. But it was piercing enough that she couldn't help but look away.

"So...." Mal scratched his forehead. "Um, if I told you I did something terrible you wouldn't hate me?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That depends. What did you do?"

"Come on," said Mal, "there's something that I've got to show you. If you're up for a little drive."

"Where to?" Alina asked.

"Ketterdam."

Alina hesitated. Between her parents and Aleksander, Alina had lived a fairly sheltered life. Ketterdam was one of the places that she wasn't supposed to go. If they found out, she could only imagine the trouble she'd be in.

"Trust me?" Mal said, offering her his hand.

Her heart pounded against her chest.

Alina took her hand in his. "Alright. Let's go."

The two of them ran out of the museum. They got on the motorcycle, and Alina held onto him tightly as they sped through the streets. She wasn't sure how long the journey was but they didn't stop until they reached an abandoned hillside. The two of them got off the motorcycle, and Alina held onto Mal's hand.

"So, what is this place?" Alina asked.

Mal ran a hand over his head. "Right so....there's something that I've got to tell you. But um, you've got to promise me that you won't hate me afterward."

"I can't promise you that. Still want to tell me?"

Mal sighed. "I think I need to."

"Okay. What is it?"

He let go of her hand. "So uh, I didn't get a scholarship to Ravka Academy. Not exactly. That's what they called it. What they told me to call it. I kind of got the money and the school placement through some pretty unsavory ways. It took a while to get it too...there was a whole thing..."

Alina furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? Like a legal thing?"

"Yeah. So uh...how much do you know about Ketterdam?"

She shook her head. "Not much. Other than that it's dangerous."

Mal nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty split between the haves and the have nots. You either have money or you don't. And my mom...she uh...she's not great with men. She's had a lot of husbands and doesn't have a lot of money. Anyway, to make some money I started this thing. Fight nights."

"Fight nights?" Alina said.

"Yeah. I uh---I kind of challenged rich assholes to fights. If I won, they had to pay me money. It got kind of popular. But there was one night that this guy came....I kicked his ass. He decided to take it out on Genya."

She furrowed her brows. "What do you mean, take it out on Genya?"

"He got...handsy. Wouldn't let her go. Didn't help he was drunk off his ass. And um...I beat the shit out of him. He ended up getting a concussion. They took him to the hospital, and he..."

"Died there," Alina finished. "You...you're the kid that killed Vasily."

He sighed and hung his head. "I am. So, hate me?"