𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭

𝟏𝟓⎮𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨

["Danger? Honey, I'm a danger."]

❦

My gaze flew to the voice that groaned.

"Please stop arguing." Petrova's uncle, Vladimir, squealed. His brown eyes are wide open, and the gray hair that until a moment ago stood perfectly on his head is now raised like it's electrified. His glasses were falling off his nose, but he didn't care. He was bent over and looked shorter than me, which with his probably 6'3 feet is surely impossible.

Vladimir started walking around, the laboratory, muttering something to himself that I couldn't hear.

I looked at Maria, who was looking worriedly and anxiously at his uncle, who had just started climbing the walls like a monkey.

She took one, two, three steps to Vladimir, speaking in a gentle voice.

"Uncle." He didn't look at her.  "Everything's fine. No one's fighting, see?" she pointed to me and her.

Vladimir didn't listen to her and continued mumbling, and then suddenly turned towards us. His eyes are bloodshot, his eyelids are cracked and his cornea seems to have been scratched. I don't know how it happened in these two minutes.

Vladimir approached Petrova, shouting. "Cassandra! Where is she? Sandra!" he started to call out, but no one answered. "Sandra! Sandra, my love, come out! Cassandra!"

"Uncle." Maria said in a calm voice, but I could feel her shaking slightly with concern. "Aunt Sandra isn't here, remember? It's been ten years, you have to let it go—"

"Cassandra!" he continued and I grabbed Maria's hand, pulling her away from him. She started to twitch and try to escape but I didn't let her.

"Let me go." she screamed, but I held her even tighter. "Let me go. I have to help him, for God's sake Hunter, let me go." She was kicking me and I turned her towards me, but she just started kicking my chest. It hurt, I have to admit, but if I let her near that lunatic, I don't believe she would have made it out alive.

I grabbed her both hands, calming her down for a while. Her eyes are hurt, scared, worried, it reminds me of something or someone, many years ago.

"Love." I started, but she started shaking her head. The hair from her ponytail was sticking out, and she looked disheveled and messy. "Listen to me." I took her face in both hands, stopping her incessant shaking. "Don't touch him now. He can be dangerous—"

"He's my uncle, he would never hurt me." she cut me off with in a broken voice. I let go of her face as she took this opportunity and ran to Vladimir, who has been yelling "Sandra" for a whole minute. I guess she won't come after all, no matter how hard he tries.

"Uncle." Maria hugged him, grabbing him around the shoulders and began to drag him away. He was kicking, trying to get away like Petrova had a few minutes ago. Suddenly, she started screaming and only then I see that Vladimir had bit her arm. Blood was falling to the floor, but Maria continued to hold him even tighter, not caring what her uncle had just done to her.