Prologue of Aphemine

Written by Rohan Kumar and Catherine

Prologue of Aphemine

 The following story as of now takes place in Sweden. Note that is the prologue, and more chapters and information are to come. 

PROLOGUE

~1996, December~

The infinite sky was scratched and painted in that of amaranthine. The sun's set was the sign of a dark rise.

Christina Hanson ambled neurotically across the water-logged pavement. She felt the child in her enlarging stomach kick and for a moment she felt blissful ecstasy. Christina was doing this for her child, and for her child only. Despite her young age, sixteen, she understood what needed to be done in order to save her child from her father’s blind fury and her brother’s abusive ways.

Christina tripped, but caught herself at the last moment. She wasn’t in a condition to be out of the house, much less traveling, but she knew that this is what was required, for she was in no position to be in the area she was in. She yearned for her child to be born somewhere safe and have a good future. She knew that Sweden wasn’t as it was when she was a child.

Christina vaguely recalls her grandfather and immediately her heart becomes soft and warm. Her grandfather, Klas, was the only thing that had kept her alive through her short life. He even went the extra mile, entertaining her whenever possible. She remembers being tickled, raised onto a sturdy lap, and being told stories about exotic, faraway dimensions. Klas’ stories weren’t traditional, but there was a touch of reality that not only transfixed Christina, but made her wonder if there was a possibility that everything he said was real. Yet, he had predicaments.

She scolded herself, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about deceased Morfar Klas. She had come to bargain for one thing, a passage to America. It did not have to be safe or comfortable, the more low-cost, the better. She could not afford such luxuries and anything was better than her current condition.

I’m certainly a mess, Christina thought to herself bitterly. She touched her black eye lightly, it was still tender. Her right leg had the worse limp she had ever endured. Her father had hit her with a excruciatingly hot pot in the calf when she had not prepared his stew to his liking. She had begged for forgiveness, telling him the truth. They did not have enough money, for it was all used to purchase alcohol, to buy the overpriced spices that was needed to satisfy him. His drunk ears refused to listen and he had taken out his anger on her that night.

She hobbled into the desolate alley, knowing that it wasn’t what it seemed. Men draped in the coats that spelled ‘death’ and ‘fury’ smoked their cigarettes and chuckled a hearty laugh as she came. “We got one tonight boys!” Robust, rugged cowards stumbled upon seeing Christina, like the miners seeing gold. One pinned a skiver to her neck.

“What do you want?” spoke a twiggy man. His voice was grazed and his stramineous hair cut through his silver, spiked eyes.

“I’m hear to speak to...to...A-Avik!”

“Welcome, Christina,” A harsh voice called out in Swedish from the shadows, “we were wondering if you would actually come tonight to join us.”

“Avik, I need your help! My moppet and I must leave the country! We must leave this treacherous place! Morfar would kill me if he knew about the situation!” She replied with distaste, yet she grasped the idea of safety...especially towards the Swedish House Mafia. This was a “new low” for her and she did not embrace it with open arms.

He gave a bark of a laugh and said, “It would be more unpleasant for you than for I. The hunt is actually quite refreshing.”

A mixture of emotions settled in Christina’s stomach.  She didn’t know if she could pay the mutts back. The mafia pursed the peoples that never payed them back. The mafia always meddled. Christina had no other option.

“Do what you must!” Christina had very little lastingness. In the other hand, she cleaved a suitcase, amber with shimmering wainscoting.

Avik snapped his fingers. As soon as the snap clicked, fifteen men ran towards an office on the inside of the building, like cheetahs on a chase for gazelle. The rain plummeted relentlessly and tumultuously. Lights on the street crackled and thunder roared as it ran across the night sky. The stars were nowhere to be seen. Much hope was lost.