Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 23

~Katerina~

The morning was relatively busy preparing to break into the council buildings that night. Anna woke everyone up early enough to see Dominik arrive after convening with Konstantin, only to prepare an extremely strong coffee and then hastily leave for his morning walk.

"Yes, everything's fine for now. Yes, he answered. No, I'm not going to talk about it," were his only words as he dashed in and out. "Keep preparing for tonight. Nothing has been called off."

As soon as Katerina saw him, she thought about the way Joshua described his character; a monster. She watched him as he busied past everybody, and his eyes lingered around her, and she was reminded that she apparently looked like the dead girl. The information from last night had completely skewed how she thought she was supposed to think... and regardless of how much Joshua warned her not to involve Dominik, she had the urge to outright ask the source. After sleeping on it, she realised that there might have been some truth to Joshua's words seeing as how Klaus reacted. She felt more confused than ever, but instead of it making her scared, it made her want to dive headfirst into the mess that was Unit 352 and find the truth. Because no matter which way she looked at it, Maria's ominous disappearance bothered her, and she owed it to herself to find out why.

Natasha stepped in and continued organising a silent breakfast and tasks for everybody as Anna disappeared after Dominik. So Katerina offered to help with breakfast. It would be a sufficient way to let her mind wander to ideas that she shouldn't be having. She set to cooking the porridge over the stove, and drifted off to last night's events, letting Natasha's soft humming disappear into the distance.

Joshua had helped her back through the cupboard door, his hand remaining on her elbow to catch if she tripped. Calico had been fussing in her arms, distracting her from stepping clearly down the narrow staircase.

Then when they were right outside the room, Joshua had leaned past her and closed the bedroom door to speak to her privately.

"Emilia, I know this is confusing," he started by putting a gentle hand on her arm and looking deeply upon her face. "We've come to a dangerous place either way... so I just need you to be open to thinking about all I've said. Please don't say a word about any of this, for both of our safety."

He was fidgeting madly with his other hand, playing with the fabric of his trousers and pulling at some loose threads. Emilia had reached out and settled his hand in hers, to which he squeezed back reassuringly.

She wasn't sure if she was ok with what he had claimed, but the look on his face; frustrated desperation; was enough to make her realise that the best solution is to confirm for herself the real story.

"Can you do that?" he asked as he took his other hand off the door and pushed the hair from her face.

The gesture wasn't intimate and slow, like how she had imagined it feeling. Instead, it was quick and needy. He pushed the hair behind each ear and kept his thumb lingering on the side of her jaw, though his fingers never fully stopped she realised that it was because she was keeping his other hand from fidgeting. Though to her delight, he was holding that hand loosely and playing with her fingers, not realising the cute gesture.

"We are not the same as them. And I know that you can feel it too. Just think about it, because nothing here makes sense."

All she could do was nod at the man who usually presented nothing other than a cool casualness. In that moment, she had a feeling in her stomach that made her realise that he was telling the truth. Something clicked in the back of her mind, and it was like realising that she had free will; she could decide for herself, and she could investigate all claims.