Europe / Russian Empire / St. Petersburg (off Sennaya Square): May 6th, 1817.
(Vladimir Svyatopolovich Ainsworth's POV)
"EXAMINE HIM NOW OR I WILL PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER." Said vladimir loudly in anger as he pressed a gun to a trembling old man's forehead.
The doctor trembled and said with a serious look forming on his face "I don't work for free my good sir. I need dollar."
The room was silent. The air suffocating.
"YOU NEED WHAT. ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON MY FAMILY." Said vladimir loudly with rage as he pressed the gun even harder against the old man's forehead.
Abigail's eyes widened in shock and said loudly "VLADIMIR CALM DOWM. PLEASE THINK THIS MORE THROUGHLY."
"WHY WOULD I THINK THIS THROUGHLY WHEN ALL EVERYONE DOSE IS LOOK DOWN ON THIS FAMILY." Said vladimir loudly in rage as his finger slipped and pulled the trigger.
*BANG*
*SPLAT*
The old man fell forward. His body hitting the floor.
*Boom*
The room was absolutely silent. Vladimir, abigail and adelaide's eyes wide in extreme horror.
"Wh…what in the world have you just done." Asked adelaide with widened eyes as she slowly made her over to the vladimir and slipped the gun from his fingers.
"Wh…what have I done, what do I do. I am a killer, what do I do mordred" Thought vladimir with a frozen wide eyed look on his face as he stared at the dead body on the floor.
"We clean the body up and remove the evidence." Said mordred calmly from out of nowhere.
The room was silent.
(Mordred's POV)
"What have you done vladimir" I thought with creased eyebrows as I stared at vladimir's silhouette.
"Y…YOUR AWAKE." Said abigail stuttering loudly with a relieved smile on her face.
Adelaide and vladimir had shocked looks on their faces.
I leaned up against the headboard of the bed while rubbing my forehead and thought as I looked at my own silhouetted hand "I can see again. That was my 11th episode of that pain and vision loss during the 8 years that I've been in this body, something isn't right and must be done, this is Inefficient and must be stopped at once"
"Are you alright honey." Asked adelaide calmly with a sigh as she placed her hand on my forehead.
I glanced at adelaide's silhouette and said calmly "I am fine but we should get rid of the body and evidence quickly."
Adelaide sighed and said with a sigh while closing her eyes and taking couple of deep breaths "I would say no because you need more rest but in our current situation you are absolutely right."
The room was silent. The atmosphere tense.
"Mordred. We can put the body in that place." Said vladimir calmly with a different look in his usual Ignorant and confused eyes.
I rubbed my chin and thought while squinting my eyes "The escape tunnel me and vladimir built when we made this underground home 8 years ago. I forgot about it because it wasn't Important until now and was only meant for emergencies only"
"That's a good idea. Also when both of you go out in public, make sure to keep watch of your surroundings because this doctor most likely has family, connections or friends and they will come looking for him. We don't want to be chased down like in the past now do we." I said with a sigh as memories flashed through my mind of silhouetted people falling lifelessly onto pitch black with screams of agony.
The room was silent. Vladimir, abigail and adelaide each looked at each other and just nodded their heads in agreement.
Abigail looked at all the grim faces and bit her lip slightly and chewed on it and adjusted her throat and said with a bright smile "I have good news."
The room was silent. Everyone looked at abigail.
"Aunt margaret has started the production of the grave smoke. She wanted me to tell you all when mordred woke up, she hired a few trusted men and women that are in need of dollars." Said abigail with a excited look on her face.
The room was silent. Vladimir and adelaide's face becoming less stiff.
"That is good news. Give her my thanks but to keep a eye on those men and women she trusts. You can never be to careful in desperate situations." I said calmly while throwing the blanket off of me.
Abigail's eyes Immediately widened and said loudly shrieking while covering her eyes "EEEEK…"
"Oh…my youngest son has indeed become a fine man." Said adelaide calmly with a proud look in her eyes.
Vladimir snickered and suddenly went over to the blanket and through it back over my legs while saying with his face turning serious "We need to get rid of the body and evidence."
"Agreed. Start taking the body to the entrance of the tunnel and I'll meet you all there, I need to put my clothes on." I said calmly, gesturing to the blanket covering my private area.
Vladimir nodded and rolled up his sleeves an picked up the old doctor and started carrying him out of the room with adelaide behind him that kept taking deep breaths.
*Boom*
"Why are you still here." I asked calmly while glancing at Abigail's silhouette.
Abigail flinched slightly with her head bowed, her heart racing quickly as she said "I know I agreed to this with the family but this is all so wrong, isn't there something more we can do they doesn't involve murder and ruining the lives of other people."
The room was silent. My eyes genuinely widened.
"Abigail…" I said calmly with widened eyes.
Abigail looked up and me and said stuttering with her hands shaking slightly "Y…yes."
"You are the most unintelligent person I have met in my entire life. I am genuinely surprised how you can not process our living situation after 8 years." I said calmly. Not amazed at all anymore.
Abigail's lip shook with a hurt look in her eyes and said immediately and stuttering "What do you…m…mean."
"It means you will only be a liability if you do not try to contribute in a situation where we are desperate right now. You've already agreed that you want to return to our old way of life and the fasted way to do that is to do the dirtiest of business." I said calmly while getting up from the bed and stretching. My muscles tightening.
Abaigail looked away and said stuttering in a hopeful way "W…we can always make a new type of fashion or sell art."
"Which will all take longer then the money we are about to receive firsthand tomorrow. Business is never clean no matter what you do abigail, exploitation and usefulness is the two words it comes down to at the end of the day." I said calmly as I started putting on new tattered clothes.
"Which is exactly how I lost my clinic because it was no longer useful" I thought as I finished adjusting my tattered shirt. Memories of my previous life flashing through my mind.
Abigail looked down and said while looking back up at me and asked "What are you doing with the b…huh..."
The room was empty. I had already left.
TIMESKIP: A couple minutes later.
I held the rocky wall. My hands tracing along it as I made my way down the opposite side of the hallway.
"I need fo leave this underground home soon. It is inefficient for my health" I thought while following down the mental map inside of my mind towards the tunnel.
Suddenly. Sounds of hurried footsteps picked up in my ears
"MORDRED. WAIT, WERE NOT DONE YET." Said abigail loudly from down the hallway.
"My head is starting to hurt. I need to leave her behind or I will malfunction" I thought as I started making my way down the hallway even faster.
Abigail's footsteps starting to pick up pace behind me.
"MORDRED…" Said abigail pleading loudly behind me.
I started jogging. My eyebrows creasing.
Abigail's footsteps started jogging. Her breathing picking up.
I started running down the hallway. My eyes spotting three silhouettes of a woman and two men. One standing and the other lifeless.
"M…mordred, what is this." Said abigail with a horrified look on her face as she slowed down from seeing vladimir with a butcher knife in his hand aimed at the leg of the dead doctor that adelaide was holding up.
I stopped running and asked vladimir calmly while taking a breath, completely Ignoring abigail "Are you both about to chop up the body."
The hallway was silent. Adelaide's forehead full of sweat.
"Y…yes, do you think we shouldn't." Asked adelaide stutteringly with creased eyebrows.
I looked down at the lifeless silhouette on the pitch black floor and said calmly "No. That's even better, the sewage creatures will treasure him."
"M…MORDRED." Said Abigail loudly with a horrified look on her face. Her body starting to shake as she started coughing and gagging behind me.
Vladimir glanced at abigail struggling for a moment and rolled his eyes and said with a click of his teeth "Tsk…such a pacifist."
"Vladimir. She is your sister, do not mock her." Said adelaide with a scary look in both of her eyes.
Vladimir averted his eyes and said with a stutter "S…sorry mother."
"Abigail where is the red an william." I asked calmly while glancing back at abigail's outline.
Abigail repeatedly took deep breaths and said with a stutter "F…father is out and william is with aunt margaret. He kept begging me to go with her so I let him."
"Excellent. I have a responsible nephew that definitely doesn't take after the womb that birthed him" I thought while looking back at vladimir's silhouette and heard his fast heart beat.
"Abigail. Leave, we have things to take care of here." I said calmly with a wave of my hand as I went over to the lifeless body and took the leg from adelaide's hand.
Abigail was hesitant and asked with a stutter "H…how come I didn't know about this tunnel that leads to a door, I thought it was a dead end."
"Because women talk to much. All men know that so me, mordred and father chose not to tell you three " Said vladimir with a shrug and snicker.
*PAH*
Adelaide slapped the shit out of vladimir with strength a woman shouldn't possess and said calmly, yet loudly "One more word. ONE MORE FUCKING WORD FROM YOU AND I WILL DROP SLAM YOUR ASS."
"Y…yes ma'am." Said vladimir stuttering while rubbing his swollen cheek with gritted teeth.
I sighed and said asked calmly "Can we bring the efficiency back please. Did I hear a yes, thank you. Let's move on and leave the Inefficiency behind."
The hallway was silent. Adelaide and vladimir both glancing down at the dead person on the ground.
"I almost forgot he was there for a moment." Said adelaide calmly with widened eyes at her own memory.
Vladimir stared down at it for a moment and said with surprise "Me to."
"Any day now." I said calmly in the background.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. The strong smell of alcohol and perfume filling it.
"HIC…ugh, I gotta take a leak." Said a gruff man's voice hiccuping in the hallway with swaying footsteps.
"And the rat appears. I guess I should just do it myself, give it to me." I said calmly with my hand reaching for the butcher knife.
Vladimir Immediately moved the butcher knife away and said with a serious look on his face "No. I'm doing it."
"Huh…a…abigail, what are you doing back here." Asked svyatapolk stutteringly with a confused, flushed cheek look on his face as he swayed back and forth.
Abigail's eyes widened and said Immediately with a smile "Nothing papa, you should turn around and head b…"
"Is that mordred, adelaide and vladimir. What is going on." Asked svyatapolk with squinted eyes as he swayed back and forth.
"It is I rat. Leave, your existence screams the inefficiency that I deny at the moment." I said calmly with a wave of my hand.
The hallway was silent.
Svyatapolk was silent and suddenly bursted out laughing while throwing a big pouch bag in his hand "GYAHAHAHA. My son you have made my day. Here take this."
"Huh…" I caught the bag and felt it with my hands and froze.
"Is this money." I asked calmly as I watched svyatapolk's silhouette leave.
Svyatapolk left with his arms behind his back and said with a loud chuckle "It's 689 dollars, I may be useless in other areas but I have never once lost at gambling. Use it well my boy."
The hallway was silent. Everyone had wide eyes Including me.
"So the rat has been saving. I should trust him more now that I have the money to fund the workers" I thought while setting the bag aside.
Abigail glanced at the bag and asked with a stutter "Since I'm about to get out of the way do you want me tk br…"
"You can just leave. I'll handle the money." I said calmly with a wave of my left hand for her to leave.
Abigail hesitated for a moment and started leaving down the hallway.
"Finally. Let's get this done." Said vladimir with a sigh while squatting and positioning the butcher knife.
Adelaide sighed and held the other leg of the lifeless doctor in place and said calmly with gritted teeth "Make it quick. We need to clean up the blood in mordred's."
"Ok." Said vladimir while nodding at both me and adelaide.
The butcher knife swung down. The hallway. tense.
*BINK*
"O…one more, the bone is still connected." Said adelaide stuttering as she tried to pull the leg off.
"I'm glad I can't see" I thought while watching Adelaide's silhouette yank at the leg of the lifeless doctor.
Vladimir swung the butcher knife down three more times with gritted teeth and even more strength.
*BINK* *BINK* *BINK*
*SPLAT*
"While your doing that I'll toss the parts into the sewage." I said calmly while grabbing the leg from the ground and went over to the door and opened it.
A foul stench filled the hallway.
"AGH. It smells like shit." Said vladimir with a look of disgust on his face as he held his nose with his free hand.
Adelaide had a serious look on her ever and said calmly "Vladimir. Focus."
"Ah. Right." Said Vladimir while positioning the butcher knife and started chopping at the rest of the body.
I held my nose and through the leg down at the endless pit while thinking "Hoepfuly I will never have to use you"
Not knowing that words and thoughts hold great power. Especially for that of a main narrator of a story.
…
THE END…