Crimson Nightmares

Chapter Fourteen

The moon hung low in the night sky as Elizaveta and I approached the house of the doctor, who had been working against the Crimson Mafia. The information suggested that he had been leaking crucial information, putting our operations at risk. Aram had given us explicit orders to eliminate this threat.

The two of us moved silently through the shadows, avoiding any potential witnesses. The doctor's house was a nondescript building at the edge of the city, seemingly untouched by the criminal activities that unfolded within its walls.

As we approached the entrance, I signaled for Elizaveta to be ready. With a swift motion, I picked the lock, and we slipped inside. The dimly lit hallway led us to a closed door, behind which the doctor would be busy working against us.

I kicked the door open, revealing the startled doctor at his desk, surrounded by stacks of files. Fear filled his eyes as he saw the ominous figures that had invaded his sanctuary.

"Dr. Viktor Ivanov, your time has come," I declared coldly.

"Your so corny." We both laughed.

He stammered, trying to reason with us, but it was clear that words would not save him. Elizaveta approached him with a predatory grace, her red eyes locking onto his terrified gaze.

She grabbed his neck in one hand and her gun in the other. She sank her teeth into the man's neck. Her eyes gleamed as he screamed. He attempts to get out of her grasp, becoming more pathetic by the second. I laughed as he dropped to the ground.

We began to search the premises for any incriminating evidence or clues that could be valuable to the Crimson Mafia. In the process, we stumbled upon a small, hidden room.

The sight inside was chilling—a young boy, battered and bruised, cowered on the floor. His eyes widened with a mix of fear and relief as he saw us.

"Please, don't hurt me," he pleaded, his voice trembling.

Elizaveta, with an unexpected gentleness, knelt beside the boy. "What's your name?" she asked.

The boy hesitated before whispering, "Aleksandr."

We exchanged glances, unsure of how to proceed. This wasn't part of the mission brief; we were here to eliminate a threat, not deal with the aftermath of a potentially abusive situation.

Elizaveta took a deep breath, her demeanor shifting from the ruthless assassin to something more human. "Aleksandr, we won't harm you. What happened here?"

Through hesitant words, the boy revealed a tale of abuse and manipulation at the hands of the doctor. He had been used as a pawn, forced to do unspeakable things to gather information about the mafia.

Elizaveta's eyes flickered with a mix of anger and compassion. "You're safe now, Aleksandr. We won't let anyone harm you again." Her sharp gaze shot toward me. "Call the boss and update him on the situation. The cat stepped in the puddle otherwise. " What? The cat step—oh, the old code. The code we had created was for situations like this one. She was going to kill the boy if the boss didn't want him. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and called up Aram.

"Hello?"

"Hello, at the doctor's house, we found a boy most likely abused and tested on by his father. What should be our course of action?"

"I see. Bring him to head records. Blindfold him."

"I'll be back in an hour." I hung up and whipped the plan into her ear. She nodded and looked at the child.

"Aleksandr, we are going to get you out of here, ok?" He nodded and took Elizaveta's hand. We walked up to our car, and I took the driver's seat. "I need you to put this on. We are not going to hurt you, but I need you to do this." He nodded and slid the blindfold over his eyes without further instruction. The car ride to Crimson Mafia headquarters was mostly silent. Aleksandr sat in the backseat, still wearing the blindfold.

As we arrived at the headquarters, I guided Aleksandr inside, where Aram was waiting in his office. The atmosphere in the building seemed to shift, sensing the presence of an innocent soul in need of protection.

"Who do we have here?" Aram's gaze fell upon Aleksandr, who was still blindfolded.

"His name is Aleksandr. The doctor was using him for testing or abusing him just because. I don't know; he doesn't speak. We found him in a hidden room at the doctor's house," I explained.

Aram sighed, a mixture of anger and bordness in his eyes. "Take off the blindfold," he instructed. I hesitated, but Elizaveta gently removed it from Aleksandr's eyes.

The boy blinked against the sudden light, squinting at Aram. "Hey there, Aleksandr. My name is Aram. You're safe now," Aram said in a comforting tone. It is weird that these murders could be so kind to a child but be brutally violent to an adult.

Aram inspected the bruises on Aleksandr's face, his expression growing darker with each revelation of abuse. "I'll deal with him later. For now, take Aleksandr to the spare house with the orphans. Make sure he's cared for, and let Natalia know about his situation." Natalia was the nurse of the mafia. She had grown up at the mafia and cared for all the orphans and checked them out for cleaning day. Cleaning day was a execution day for all the kids who didn't show promise or hope.

Elizaveta nodded, leading Aleksandr out of Aram's office. I followed them, ensuring that the traumatized boy was in good hands.

The spare house was a small, inconspicuous building on the outskirts of the Crimson Mafia's compound. It served as a haven for orphans or those in need of refuge. Natalia, a kind-hearted woman who looked after the children, greeted us as we entered.

"Who do we have here?" Natalia asked, her eyes widening at the sight of Aleksandr.

Elizaveta briefly explained the situation, and Natalia immediately took charge. "We'll make sure he gets the care he needs. Thank you for bringing him here."

As we left Aleksandr in the hands of Natalia and the caretakers, Elizaveta and I made our way back to Aram's office.

"Good job, both of you." Aram stated, his usually stern demeanor softened by a sense of justice.

Aram's focus shifted to a broader issue: the potential infiltration of the Crimson Mafia by a person he hasn't told anyone. He told us about the people, their additions, and their fighting style, but never mentioned the enemy group. It was a wake-up call for all of us, a reminder that our actions had consequences beyond the missions we executed.