History- Apollonia

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Later on that night, once Bella was in bed and Henry had finally settled I sat down with Q.

"Come on, spill it" he smiled.

"You're going to want to run 1000 miles away after this" I sighed.

"This is about Russia isn't it. What happened Apps? Why are you so worked up over everything? I know this more than just hormones".

"Yeah... I guess I should start from the beginning... My mom was half Russian, half American. She'd grown up in Moscow where she lived with her parents. Her father, my grandfather use to work for the government. He was a military man, hard and cold. When my mom was 18 she became a ballerina for the Russian ballet. That's where she met my dad, he was on some business trip at the time. They apparently fell completely in love at first site and by the end of his trip, mum was pregnant with my brother. Her father was raging mad, he promised to kill her and the man who had taken his daughters innocence. So in the end, my father fled back to America with his new pregnant girlfriend and married her a week later. 10 years later I come in the world, but this time at the expense of my mom's life. I was born over in Philly and my dad hated me from the second I was born. As I grew older he became more and more cold towards me. My brother, Lucca, use to tell me it was because I looked so much like her. When I was 13 years old though my dad was murdered. Lucca said it was the Russians and moved me out to live with him and his new born daughter in Italy... 3 years later he was in a terrible crash during a race in Brazil. He died instantly, leaving behind Bella and I".

I had to stop for a minute and try to gather myself together. The worst part of our story was only about to start.

"We had no other family, except for a distant uncle on my mom's side. So we were both shipped out to live with him in Russia. His name was Karzhov Vaniamin. Like my grandfather, Karzhov worked for the Russian government, a member of their secret service, old KGB guy. Extreme hard and even more dangerous. He was single and had no children, so had agreed to take us into his care. The first two years there were scary. He had no time for us and little care for our well being, most of the time I was left to look after Bella alone. When I turned 18, things became worse... Karzhov began to take more a likening to me. He would allow me to drink alcohol with him at dinner and began to touch my hand and leg".

"Jesus Apps" Q sighed as I stopped to take a breath.

"One night, he came home drunk. He said I had to love him a like a wife would love a man. He said if I didn't, he would hurt Bella. So over the next two years I did as he wanted. I never cried or begged for help. I had become almost a robot, doing anything and everything  he wanted with little or no feeling".

"Could you have not left, I mean you were an adult by them right? You didn't need him as a guardian anymore?" Q asked.

"He said if I left he would hunt us down. you've got to understand, he was ex KGB, one scary fucker. I was terrified"

"So, how did you get away?"

"I knew Karzhov had spent all our inheritance from my parents and brother... Over the years I had tried to hide away a small amount of it, but not enough to escape. I honestly thought we'd never escape. One night though, I saw Karzhov watching Bella in the shower, she'd just turned 12. I felt sick to my stomach, I mean, he could do whatever he wanted to me, but not Bella, she was still so pure and innocent".

I had to stop again, terrified to how Q was going to react to the next part of the story. I could feel his hand on mine though, gently stroking my wrist, his eyes urging me to go on.

"Karzhov saw me watching him. When he turned around he began to laugh and wink at me. I just saw red. I slammed the bathroom door shut, locking Bella in the bathroom. Karzhov looked at me as though I'd gone mad. He started beating down on me, pushing me into the wall of the corridor. At the side of me, there was this stupid thin table with some pictures and ornaments.... I didn't even think... I just grabbed this steel cast elephant, the size of a football, and crashed it down into his head".

I stopped and began crying more heavily now. Bri's grip on my hand had grown tighter and I saw nothing in his eyes but pure worry.

"Karzhov fell to the ground, but I... i kept smashing the elephant down into his head. Over and over. I felt nothing. I only stopped when I saw all the blood on the floor and realised he wasn't moving. I guess I was in shock, my mind was clear though, i knew what I had to do. I quickly ran into the room I shared with Bella, packing any clothes and money I could find. I packed everything up and then went to the bathroom I'd locked Bella in. I quickly got her dressed and then placed a hood over her head, I didn't want her to see what I'd done... we spent that night in a hotel and the next day I went to police. From the scar and bruises on my body they knew it was self defence, but when they went back to the house they didn't find a body. They ended up thinking I was crazy and making up the sorry for attention and threw Bella and I back onto the streets... I didn't have much money left from that I had managed to find in the house and ended up back in some shitty motel in the roughest part of Moscow".

"You did what you had to Apps. You needed to get out of there and protect yourself. I can't believe this happened to you though, I'm so fucking sorry" Q whispered and gently kissed my hands.

"You don't need to apologise. Im sorry I never told you any of this. After what happened with the police, I just, I desperately tried to find work. I sent off all my writings to SNL and was lucky to be offered a job after a Skype interview... you know the rest of the story after that".

"Yeah, listen babe. You can't honestly think this hit and run was that guy though?"

"It's been crossing my mind. I haven't thought about him in so long, and with everything going... well... Okay, I just imagine something bad is lurking around the corner. I know I'm just emotional after the birth and over thinking it all, but i can't shake this bad feeling".

Brian quickly cupped my face and brought it close to his. "I promise you Apple. I will never let anyone hurt you ever again. You, Bella and Henry. You are all that matters to me now and I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you are safe and happy. I promise".

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