Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 39

~Emilia~

It was silent in the bakery, as always. They all filed in, either tense or swollen with anger. It was Dominik who matched both descriptions, breathing quietly yet heavily, his shoulder muscles flexing through his shirt. Anna tugged on it as they entered, trying to get his attention. But Emilia saw all the insecurity underneath, the scared and anxious man. He should be! He knows that he's wrong!

Once they were all in the back kitchen, Emilia let her thoughts out, ignoring Joshua in the back corner who seemed to rotate in a full circle as if he could find a way out of the scene that was about to unfold.

"That man looked at me and said, 'your sister'," she started with her hands balled into fists to stop them from shaking.

"Katerina, we will not tell you again," Anna said in a quiet voice.

"I got a memory back. I had a sister, and we were driving together. That man started talking about her... is she here? How does he know me?"

"It cannot be," Dominik dismissed in an annoyed tone, refusing to turn around to look at her.

"It came to me in a dream. She looked exactly like me... but you told me that I had a brother. Yelena told me that his name was Jeremy and that-"

"That is your cover story, stupid girl. It was a dream. A figment of your imagination, probably seen from a movie. You want a sister, so you created one for yourself. You cannot have memories," he continued in his eery calmness.

"Cannot?!"

"Katerina. Stop. Talking." He was pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed and his muscles taut.

"I know that it was real, and the fact that you killed that poor man just because he knew me... How did he even know me? Tell me, now-"

"At ease solider!!!"

Emilia felt a jolt go through her as she froze on the spot. Dominik was fuming, whipping around to face her with all of his anger.

"Don't you look at me like that! I have had it with you questioning every decision I make ever since you got here. I've given you so much time and space, but it is clearly not enough! You may not remember why you are here, but that shouldn't make you so incompetent. What is wrong with you? You are failing me, soldier!"

He had taken ginormous steps toward her, to which she countered with only a few small cowardly ones as she tried to regain her composure and avoid his venomous stare. Steam seemed to blow out of his ears as they turned red, yelling and yelling. She almost couldn't comprehend what he was saying as she backed up from the monster in front of her.

"Does it mean nothing to you?!" His hands closed in, grabbing her arms and holding them at her side. "He was killed on Konstantin's orders, which is none of your business! You don't need to know that to respect my decisions as captain and commander of this unit!"

"But why was he ordered to die?" she said with as much confidence and spite as she could muster, but her voice betrayed her.

"Stop asking questions! You are just like her!"

There was a hot hunger in his eyes as he stared at her mouth, which scared her more than anything. He was all frustrated and angry as he held her there with his iron grip, and a cold shiver ran through her body. Emilia tried to struggle away from him as she realised that they had stepped out of the kitchen and into the front of the bakery. She couldn't see Joshua's protective gaze anymore.

"He was a failure. Remember that Katerina," he said, back to a quiet voice despite the redness in his eyes. "From now on, you will remember your duty. To obey me."