A Life Less Ordinary Read online

  “I will get to him after I am done with you.” Dmitri snarled, and the call ended. At first he was afraid he’d said too much, and he hopped down out of the trailer, his eyes straining to see into the distance. When he saw the big truck approaching he breathed a sigh of relief. Here was the truck that had pulled him out to the middle of nowhere, and he knew it would also pull him back to safety. Then the hunt for Ivan could begin, and he could hardly wait to get started.

  “Ivan says you should know,” the driver said, flinching when Dmitri pointed his .45 at the man’s head, “Our trucks were getting stolen, so he purchased DNA recognition kits. You will not be able to drive truck without me alive and in one piece…in driver’s seat. It also checks vitals of driver. If driver is dead, truck does not start.”

  Dmitri lowered the gun, then shook his head at the driver. “Nyet. No way in Hell I am getting back in trailer.”

  “But…Ivan says you must. Is only way. Otherwise he will kill engine to truck and we both die out here.” The man was clearly not happy about this, but what could he do, he shrugged miserably. Finally Dmitri gave in and climbed back in the trailer, throwing himself dejectedly onto the camp bed. His mind raced as he tried to work out where Ivan might have gone. To Moscow? Perhaps. But other than their Uncle Oleg, he had few places left to hide. Which meant any of Oleg’s establishments would not be where Ivan could be found, he was smart enough to know Dmitri would check those places first. Besides, Oleg had a large family and Ivan would not want to endanger them.

  “Think, Dmitri. Where would you go if you were Ivan?” He considered for a long while, nearly dropping off to sleep. The truck hit a bump in the road, jarring him back to alertness and he sat bolt upright, feeling the evil grin slowly split his face. “Of course. That is where I will find you, bastard.”

  Chapter 9

  Aleksei stepped back and looked at his work, critically. Yuri’s beard had been all but shaved off, now it was neatly groomed just like his hair, which was shiny and jet black and soft, as ever it had been. Next, Aleksei picked up Yuri’s left hand and looked at the jagged, filth stained nails there. Shaking his head, he let out a long sigh. “I need to…” before he could say more, Yuri bounced up and kissed him, square on the mouth. He didn’t have time to react because in an instant, Yuri was cowering on the floor, backing away from him, clearly expecting punishment. “Nyet…Yuri, come here.” Aleksei said, softly and Yuri returned, hesitantly, his eyes watching Aleksei’s hands for any threat. “Back where you were, I want to trim your fingernails before you do one of us real harm.”

  “Yuri….n…n…not hurt….Lexie…Yuri…l…l…love.” Yuri said, his voice sounded hoarse from lack of use, and Aleksei had to turn his back for a moment to get himself under control. Arms, overly skinny but wiry strong, threaded around his midsection and he felt Yuri’s head lay between his shoulder-blades. They were the same height, when standing, but Yuri was leaning with his butt resting on the bathroom counter. “C…c…c…cut….n…n…n…”

  “Okay, da, you are right. Let us get to work so we can order in, I am starving and you…you look positively starved to death.” Aleksei took the hand Yuri was now offering him and went to work on the nails. When he was done he had trimmed both hands and both feet, cleaning them within an inch of existence. “Now, clothes.”

  He left the bathroom, listening to the whisper soft sound of Yuri’s feet on the carpet behind him as he went into the closet. “You are so skinny I am afraid nothing I have will fit you and that is saying lot because I have to really look for things skinny enough for me!” He talked to Yuri casually, as if this were an everyday thing, rummaging around in his walk-in wardrobe the whole while. Finally, he found some yoga pants that still had the drawstring in the waist and an old sleeveless shirt that looked comically big on Yuri. He also provided underwear, which Yuri eyed with suspicion. “Put those on first, under…”

  Too late. Yuri had already pulled on the yoga pants with nothing under them, though he looked as if he felt rather awkward in the new, soft cotton work out clothing. Once they were back in the bedroom, he started nudging Aleksei towards the bed, his growling returning now, as if he only had one thing on his mind and had forgotten food altogether. “Nyet, Yuri, I am hungry. I want to order food in….are you not hungry?”

  “D…Da.” Yuri managed, though his expression was sulky and slightly disappointed. “M…me….meat…”

  “Okay, but it will have to be cooked. I am doctor, I cannot allow you to eat raw meat. If something happens to you Ivan will skin me alive.” Aleksei said, but knew in an instant he shouldn’t have because Yuri took such comments quite literally.

  “Yuri…k…k…kill Ivan if he hurts…” Yuri said, hopping on the bed and sitting cross-legged, running his fingers across the satin sheets gently. “Yuri like.”

  “Yuri, you understand that when food comes I will have to go to door…you cannot be howling….I have neighbors and they will call police…” Aleksei said, holding the phone at the ready now that he’d made a mental decision on what they would be eating. He watched for Yuri to nod, then turned on the phone and dialed, noticing how Yuri watched with interest not only how he dialed the phone but also how the order was placed and paid for. Next time, Aleksei was willing to bet, he’d be able to give Yuri the phone and credit card and Yuri would do it himself. He was, and had always been, intelligent, so Aleksei expected he’d relearn normal behaviors, even if it did take a little time.

  When the door buzzer sounded not fifteen minutes later, Aleksei reminded Yuri to be very quiet before leaving the room and heading down to the common area he and Rosa shared. On the other side of the door was an enormous problem he hadn’t been counting on. An ex-lover. “Alex!”

  “Phillipe.” Aleksei said, by way of a rather icy greeting. Theirs had been a short lived and hurtful fling soon after Aleksei had moved into the hospital district; to say he was not happy to see this man was an understatement. “The food, please?”

  “Ohhh, are you in a hurry?” Phillipe said, his tone greasy as ever. “Must have a date. Who’s the lucky man?” He saw Phillipe looking over his shoulder and turned to see Yuri standing at the bottom of the stairs, an angry snarl on his face.

  “Just give me the fucking food Phillipe. You don’t want to mess with him, he’s…unstable.” Aleksei said, his tone pleading.

  “He looks about twelve.” Phillipe brushed past Aleksei and into the den. “Hello, little one, my name is Phillipe. What’s your name?”

  “He doesn’t speak English. He’s twenty-nine, same as you.” Aleksei answered in Yuri’s stead.

  “Shit, Alex…you need to find out his secret!” Phillipe circled Yuri, looking up at him, thoughtfully. “If you ever get tired of Alex, look me up, hm sugar?” He reached out to touch Yuri’s face, an innocent gesture to anyone else, but he found himself in the floor face down in a flash with Yuri’s bony knee grinding painfully into his back. “Alex…what the fuck man?”

  “I told you, he’s unstable. He does not like to be touched by anyone he does not know. He thought you were threatening him.” Aleksei nodded to Yuri and Yuri let Phillipe up, immediately. “Now, if you will excuse us, I haven’t seen him in about ten years and I really want to get reacquainted. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass…”

  To say Yuri’s table manners left something to be desired would be, Aleksei thought, the understatement of the millennia, but he was intelligent and observant and as expected, soon relearned that which had been so long ago forgotten. Within a week, Aleksei felt safe allowing Rosa to come back home, and he made the call, feeling slightly nervous though he couldn’t figure out why.

  “Rosa? It…its Alex.” He spoke hesitantly when she answered the phone, half-expecting her to tell him to find another intern to room with and slam the phone down.

  “Alex…thank God. I’ve been worried sick about you!” She gasped into the phone. “That…that man is he gone?”

  “No, he’s still here but…listen…Rosa?” he waited
for her to respond and closed his eyes in relief. “I’ve got him straightened out. You’re safe to come home now, if…if you still want to room with me. If not, I’m sure the board would see fit to allow you to move into a different domicile…”

  “Too much of a headache, and besides, you’re probably one of the least boring doctors on the campus. Not to mention, you work in the same field I’m studying to work in myself.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll be home in an hour or so…you’re still going to pick up the tab?”

  “As promised. I couldn’t expect you to take care of it yourself, could I?” Aleksei smiled into the phone, then glanced up as Yuri bounced down the stairs, his hair rumpled and his face showing him to be sleepy. “Which hotel are you at? Really? Well, well, little miss, you certainly enjoyed living on my dime. No,” he laughed, “It’s no problem. I can afford to spoil a woman at least once in my life.”

  He rang off and immediately called the hotel to settle her expenses, which were surprisingly few, as he had expected she would spend a good chunk on herself. That done, he noticed Yuri was sitting at the dining room table looking forlorn. “Yuri, love, what is troubling you?”

  “You are letting woman come back…she hates…me.” He had begun speaking more and more regularly, surprising Aleksei with his knowledge of the English language. Presumably he’d picked it up in the American hospital, though he never really offered an explanation. “She will make you throw poor Yuri…me…back out.”

  “Nyet…No Yuri, she will not. Give Rosa a chance, okay? Already she has forgiven you for the way you arrived. Try to be as nice to her as you have been to me. Nicer, in fact.” He rubbed his lower back self-consciously, he hadn’t had so much exercise with another human being in months, and Yuri was quite enthusiastic as a lover, “Remember what we talked about…she is off limits.”

  “Yuri no mate.” He said, dismally, but then perked up and moved on to something else. “Breakfast?”

  “Um…sure.” Aleksei was never quite sure how to react to Yuri’s sudden and seemingly lightning fast shifts in focus, so he simply rolled with it as best he could.

  Just as he was loading their breakfast dishes into the dishwasher and Yuri was again observing with interest, he heard a key in the door and turned, staggering back slightly at the sight of the man following closely behind his roommate. She was pale as a ghost with terror, as well she should be as he towered over her five and a half foot frame. From behind Aleksei, Yuri shot like a bullet towards the intruder and leapt on him, nearly knocking him down, his arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

  “Well, is good to see you too, little brother.” Ivan said, then pried Yuri off of him as gently as he could and sat him back down on his feet.

  “I…I hope it’s okay he just…looked so much like you I knew he had to be telling the truth even if he’s…he’s a fucking giant..” Rosa said, backing away as Aleksei stared up at Ivan.

  “I do not know about looking so much like him…I have always been better looking.” Ivan said, smirking down at Aleksei.

  “And I have always been a damn sight smarter.” Aleksei said, and they did the routine embrace and kiss on both cheeks greeting, Ivan bending to reach Aleksei, despite the fact Aleksei was six feet even in height.

  “You must be, how is it you are living with beautiful woman? That seems a little…out of your area, if you know what I mean.” Ivan said, then settled on the couch and looked at him interestedly. Rosa, to Aleksei’s dismay, did not depart but rather sat as close to Ivan as she could without being overly obvious. Yuri was on the other side, staring up at his half-brother with clear adoration. It had been Ivan, after all, who had saved Yuri from a fate worse than death so many long years ago.

  “Every doctor lives with an intern. Up the stairs there are two smaller apartments, hers on the right and mine on the left. Since I’m gay, I make an excellent candidate to cohabitate with a female or a male, though in my experience I’ve found women are more likely to choose my…type.” It was more complicated than that, he knew, but he explained it the easiest possible way. Now Ivan turned his attention to Yuri, putting a finger under his chin and looking into his eyes. He opened his mouth and checked his teeth, then pinched at his arm gently, looking for any fat.

  “They must have half-starved him.” Ivan said, and suddenly Aleksei realized, Ivan didn’t know Yuri had begun talking again. “Do you know how he escaped?”

  “Did not escape. Threw me out in street with nothing. No food, no money, alm…almost no clothes…” Yuri said, in English no less, and Ivan looked positively bowled over.

  “When did…this start?” Ivan gestured towards Yuri, clearly referring to his speech.

  “He’s been speaking from the first night. I didn’t realize he understood or could speak English until a little later…” He broke off when Rosa cleared her throat softly. She then blushed when Ivan looked at her as if he’d forgotten she was even there.

  “I…I should take my bags upstairs and get a nap…I go on duty at ten tonight.” She said, standing and immediately both Ivan and Yuri were on their feet.

  “I will carry your bags up. Yuri…stay.” Ivan said, forgetting the conversation in favor of following Rosa up the stairs, carrying her two light-weight bags. Bags Aleksei knew very well she could carry for herself, though she didn’t seem to mind the help he suspected they’d not be seeing Ivan for a while. When they were gone, Yuri turned and looked at Aleksei, a knowing smirk on his face.

  “Ivan mate.” He whispered, and Aleksei rolled his eyes, then allowed himself to be led to his own rooms, his mind not on Ivan, or Rosa, in the least.

  Chapter 10

  Ivan woke to the feel of Yuri vibrating slightly against his chest. At first, he thought it was just because he was cold, since it was freezing in the train car, after all. But then he started to notice things as his faculties woke up. The first being that the train wasn’t moving anymore, and that wasn’t a good realization to make. The second was that Yuri wasn’t shivering, he was actually growling so softly it was almost silent. Ivan could feel the tenseness of his half-brother’s body now and his eyes caught movement through a slight gap between his coat and the floor where he saw the familiar boots of two conscripts very nearby. He gave Yuri’s ribcage a gentle and slight tap with his fingers to indicate he was conscious and aware of the situation and Yuri’s growling ceased immediately.

  “Crawl out, act…well…act like yourself. Do them no harm until we know their purpose. Could be they are just looking for homeless to round up.” Ivan said, in the softest of whispers. He hadn’t considered himself to fall into this category since he had a home and even a car waiting for him somewhere near the Moscow station. Of course, he had no way of knowing if they were actually in Moscow, not until he could see outside of the boxcar. Yuri unfurled himself and crept out from under the coat, whimpering pitifully and cowering as the conscripts noticed him and approached him, talking loudly. Yuri moved away, jerking on the chain, which was in Ivan’s hand, he looked at Ivan’s coat as it stirred and hunkered even lower down than he had at the sight of the soldiers, his demeanor one of absolute terror.

  “Hey, come out so we can see you, da?” One of them nudged Ivan with his boot and Ivan had to resist the urge to break his ankle. Instead, he threw off his coat and sprang to his feet, watching the comical expressions of the conscripts as they watching him grow to his near eight feet in height. “What you are doing in boxcar?”

  “I am taking dog for train ride. Is that illegal since I am not homeless?” Ivan asked, then snapped and pointed to his feet and Yuri heeled immediately, sitting on his haunches but, Ivan frowned seeing that Yuri was licking at his left hand again as if it pained him.

  “What is wrong with that boy?” One of the conscripts was getting a twitchy trigger finger, which made Ivan not just wary but downright nervous. “You are some kind of…pervert, da?”

  “Nyet, I am not. This “boy” is nineteen, well over legal age. Besides, he is not my plaything. He i
s friend’s pet. Friend is on vacation so I took dog for walk…it went little longer than I expected as we got stuck on train. Where are we at now? I need to call friend, he will be worried sick about his pet. Good ones like this are hard to find, you know?” Ivan was hoping against hope they bought his bullshit, because if they didn’t he’d find himself locked up and probably lose Yuri forever. “Listen, I am rich man, maybe we can work something out…”

  That got their attention. After the mention of money, it was all in the details. The conscripts forgot they’d ever seen the giant man and his ‘dog’ and both of them walked away with significantly more substantial bank rolls. They even turned the other way and did not see the vehicle Ivan drove away in, as Yuri had a panic-attack in the back and made a hell of a lot of noise. By the time they arrived at the diplomatic residence, Ivan had contacted his papa and asked him to clear the way so he could bring Yuri in.

  The servants, he insisted, did not need to see the man like this and his papa had been hesitant for the first time, unsure of what he was going to witness. When Ivan asked him to open up the sub-basement, Sergei sounded nearly faint, but he did as he was asked, waiting patiently to see his youngest son, to gauge the damage that had been done. What he saw would leave him so grief-stricken he would fall into a depression that only made the radiation sickness that much worse, and within two years’ time, he would succumb.

  Chapter 11

  Dmitri stretched and threw off the arm of the woman sleeping on his right. The movement brought a sleepy murmur of protest from his left and he sighed, then wormed his way out from between the previous evening’s entertainment. After dressing, he tossed a few paper bills (and some coins, just to be a jerk) on the small table by the hotel room window, grabbed the old field pack Ivan had left in the trailer, and departed. His head was pounding like mad and his mouth tasted worse than shit as he looked for a soda machine, finally finding one, he thanked his luck that it held bottled water. He bought four bottles, drinking three while he stood by the machine and then stowing a fourth in the bag for later, unopened so that it would not leak.