Hyena

Arrival

"It seems like forever since I've seen you!"  Nikolay greeted me as I headed for baggage claim where he was waiting. I ran towards him and pulled him into a hug, he hugged me back tightly. Things with him were going very well. Had they not been then I wouldn't have spent so much time and money coming back to Russia for a third trip. He'd only been to the United States once but I didn't mind the travel. It was a way for me to escape from the life at home I absolutely did not enjoy. When I was here with him and the rest of my friends it was always a fun time. It always amazed me that we'd initially gotten this close because of roleplay on the internet but it didn't really matter. We were all friends for life now and that's what counted. I moved back from him to see Demyan waiting by the door. He was looking down at his phone. Normally he would be right there with Nikolay so I wondered what had him preoccupied. 

"Is he okay?" I asked and motioned to Demyan. Nikolay turned to look for a moment then looked back towards me. After putting his arm around me he stepped me more towards the baggage claim area so we could hurry up and get my bags to get me out of there. 

"His fine, something to do with the one who shall not be named," Nikolay said. I knew that he meant Alex when he said that. Alex was Demyan's brother and the two of them were like night and day. Though Demyan was a very kind and non-violent man (despite his enormous size) Alex was not the same. Not at all. It was like an angel and a demon had been born together and bound as family when they absolutely shouldn't be. Life was completely unfair like that, cruel at times. I felt sorry for Demyan but he was not someone who took well to pity so Nikolay and I just kept it to ourselves for the most part. 

"I wish there was more I could do to help. He doesn't know I'm in town, right?" I asked. 

"No, we have kept it secret." Nikolay said, "If he does get word of it then you know that we will be the first to know. You have nothing to worry about. I promise." I smiled at him before giving him a kiss on the cheek. I certainly hoped he was right but I had visited twice before with very little issues so I knew that I didn't have a reason to be overly paranoid. It wouldn't hurt to maintain awareness of my surroundings though. They both did it all the time as well, but Demyan had very different reasons to do it than the two of us did. I spotted my bag and grabbed it quickly, regretting that I'd only be there for a week. That was all I could ever afford. It was better than nothing but already I was dreading having to return home. It just never seemed like enough time. 

We walked over to where Demyan was standing and he said something to Nikolay in Russian that I didn't quite catch. Though I spoke and read enough Russian to get by when I was in the country, I wasn't nearly fluent. There was only one word I caught in what Demyan said which was 'lost' and that was it. He also didn't look too happy about it, so I knew whatever he told Nikolay wasn't good news. They typically only resorted to speaking in Russian when they didn't want me to hear bad news. 

"Demyan, is everything okay?" 

"All is good," He told me then grabbed me and picked me up. I yelped in surprise and then started to laugh as I lost grip on my bag and it fell. Nikolay picked it up and chuckled softly. 

"Demyan, didn't we all agree she could walk on her own?" Nikolay asked. 

"After that flight? No, he can carry me I won't complain." I said. Demyan stuck his tongue out at Nikolay as if he'd just won this whole non-existent fight and Nikolay just shook his head. I knew something had to be going on and now they were trying to change the subject. Whatever had been said, I was willing to guess that they'd lost track of Alex but for my sake were not saying anything so I wouldn't panic. They knew how I was about that. I didn't like secrets, and I didn't like assumptions, but I knew that if it was that bad, they weren't going to tell me.