Outside, a bone-chilling Siberian blizzard howled, but inside Viktor's master bedroom, the atmosphere was hotter than a volcano. As Alia sat on Viktor's lap, clutching his tie with a death grip, the very air in the room seemed to freeze. Her frantic kiss and intoxicating whispers had ignited a wildfire in Viktor's mind.
Viktor lifted his face from Alia's neck and looked straight into her eyes. Her pupils were still dilated from the lingering effects of hypnosis, yet they held a spark of demonic intelligence.
Viktor: (In an incredibly low voice, his fingers tightening around Alia's waist) "If you think your body and this addiction will blind me, you are mistaken, Alia. Someone with the blood of 5,000 people on their hands knows one thing for sure—before you kill an enemy, you must first make them your own."
Alia laughed for a fleeting moment—a laugh that was strangely pathetic yet poisonous. She adjusted the collar of Viktor's white shirt and leaned in until her lips were brushing his ear.
Alia: "I don't want to kill you, Viktor... I want to destroy you. I want you to remember my face every night before you sleep, and wake up to find your empire turned to ashes. The poison in my DNA is now flowing through your blood too."
Suddenly, Alia stood up and stepped off Viktor's lap. Her long hair cascaded down her back in waves. She walked toward the window, staring out at the swirling Siberian snowstorm.
Alia: "You may have paid 10 million dollars to dismiss that doctor, but do you know that even he doesn't know everything about this 'Project'? One of the three men who were with me during those nights... is someone very close to you, Viktor."
Viktor remained motionless on the sofa, his fists clenched. Every word Alia spoke was wrapping him in an invisible web. He couldn't tell if she had truly remembered something or if this was just a psychological ploy to weaken him.
Viktor: "Who are you implying? Speak clearly."
Alia turned slowly toward Viktor. There was no trace of affection left in her eyes only a cold, hollow death.
Alia: "I won't give you a name. I want you to find them yourself. Within your very own 'Frost Fortress,' your enemy is hiding. And the day you find them... perhaps you will be the one to stain your own hands with blood."
Viktor stood up. He walked toward Alia, one step at a time. In the dim light of the room, he looked like a prehistoric predatory wolf.
Viktor: "Why were our memories erased, Alia? Did we know each other before?"
Alia placed her hand against the windowpane. Outside, the storm had grown even more violent.
Alia: "We knew each other... but not as lovers, Viktor. We were two successful experiments from the same laboratory. We were meant to be each other's executioners, but fate brought us to this fortress instead." Alia's voice turned colder than the Siberian ice outside. A fire of vengeance blazed in her eyes as she stepped closer to Viktor, looking him directly in the eye with a toxic smile.
Alia: "You wanted to know who those three men were? Then listen carefully, Viktor... the chief among those devils is you. You are the one who first tore my life apart."
The veins on Viktor's forehead pulsed with tension. The room suddenly felt smaller, suffocating. Alia didn't stop; she grabbed the collar of his white shirt once more, pulling him toward her truth.
Alia: "And the other two? Your so-called loyal friends—Zhekha and Margaret. Zhekha... he was my first love, the one I actually trusted. And Margaret... those two boys and you, together, pushed me into that living hell."
Viktor froze like a statue. Zhekha and Margaret were his most trusted associates, the pillars of his empire. But when Alia mentioned 'first love,' Viktor's heart skipped a beat. A blurred, jagged memory flickered like lightning in the corners of his mind—a laboratory, the sound of sobbing, and three silhouettes.
Alia: "The three of you didn't just use me; you stripped away my memories so I could never demand justice. But look how strange nature is, Viktor. Today, I am in your bed, sitting on your lap, ringing the bells of your funeral."
Viktor's breathing grew heavy and labored. He was torn were Zhekha and Margaret deceiving him even now? Or were they all three involved in a horrific game that he himself had been made to forget? Alia's laughter was no longer just toxic; it morphed into a horrific, manic frenzy. The sound of her laughter seemed to make the very walls of the room tremble. Tears streamed down her face in thick droplets, yet that demonic smile remained etched on her lips. She tightened her grip on Viktor's shirt collar as if she intended to rip his heart right out of his chest.
Alia: (Screaming through her hysterical laughter) "Laugh, Viktor! You should laugh too! Don't you remember that night? Three hours... for three straight hours, you tore me apart. I screamed, I begged at your feet... but you had no mercy."
Alia began to strike Viktor's chest with both hands, her voice breaking into agonizing sobs.
Alia: "And your two low-life friends? Zhekha and Margaret... they stood outside the door, laughing at your 'bravery.' They were clapping! They were enjoying my destruction. I never did anything to hurt you, Viktor... so why? What did I ever do to you that the three of you felt the need to burn my soul like this?"
Viktor didn't move an inch. Every blow from Alia felt like an arrow piercing his stone-cold chest. The memory of that three-hour demonic lust caused a massive explosion in the shadows of his subconscious. Blurred images flashed before his eyes a locked room, the shadow of a ceiling fan, and the booming laughter of Zhekha and Margaret echoing from behind the door.
Viktor's jaw tightened. A wave of self-loathing and a strange, crushing guilt toward Alia began to consume him. Was he truly such a monster? Or was there a much larger conspiracy hidden behind these fragments of memory?
Viktor: (In a broken, raspy voice) "Alia... stop. I... I don't know who I was back then. But today..."
Alia: (Cutting him off) "Today what? Today you love me? Today you keep me trapped in a luxury palace? Remember this, Viktor I will settle the score for every single second of those three hours. I will pay the price of my tears with the blood of all three of you." Alia's words pierced Viktor's ears like molten lead. Her eyes were bloodshot with a mixture of humiliation and agony. She stared directly into Viktor's eyes and hurled a terrifying question at him.
Alia: (Whispering with intense hatred) "What if your own sister, Anna, were in my place today? If such demonic behavior were inflicted upon Anna right before your eyes, would you still remain silent, Viktor? What would you do then?"
Viktor's jaw tightened. Every vein in his body felt as if it were about to burst. At the mention of Anna's name, his protective instincts flared up. But then, a terrifying silence consumed the room. Viktor pulled his hands away from Alia's waist, and his voice emerged from a deep, dark abyss.
Viktor: (In a voice as cold as stone) "Anna... was also a victim of that same lust, Alia."
Alia froze. Her grip on Viktor's tie loosened. She couldn't believe what Viktor had just said.
Viktor: "Whatever you suffered, Anna went through that very same hell. She was raped too. And that is why I am on this path today... that is why I built this 'Moroznaya Krepost,' to hide her away from the outside world."
Viktor stood up and stared into the thick darkness beyond the window. The muscles in his back were taut with tension.
Viktor: "I don't know what I did during those three hours because my own memories are shrouded in fog. But I am still taking revenge for what happened to Anna. And if you are telling the truth that I am indeed your predator then know this, Alia: Viktor never hesitates to pass judgment, even on his own crimes." Alia's manic laughter seemed to shake the very foundations of the fortress. Viktor's confession had stirred no mercy in her; instead, it only fueled her thirst for vengeance.
Alia: (Bursting into wild laughter) "This is how the atonement for sin works, Viktor! What happened to your sister, Anna, was your own karma. You destroyed me, and nature destroyed the person you loved most."
Suddenly, Alia snapped her fingers. The moment the sound rang out, the bulletproof glass of the bedroom windows shattered into pieces. Armed commandos clad in black descended from the roof on ropes, bursting into the room. Across their jackets, the letters CIA were emblazoned in bold.
Viktor was paralyzed with shock. He never imagined his own fortress's security perimeter could be breached so instantaneously. As he reached for his revolver, laser pointers from every direction locked onto his chest.
Viktor: (Staring at Alia with eyes full of disbelief) "You... you betrayed me like this, Alia? You said you had retired from the CIA!"
Alia brushed her silken hair back, a sneer of contempt on her face. Her expression now held the hardened edge of a formidable agent.
Alia: "Retired? Viktor, you were once a police officer yourself; you were the one who wanted to retire me from this world. But don't you know? Once you enter this crimson game, retirement only comes in the grave. I am not here today as 'Alia'; I am here as the Special Operations Leader for the CIA."
Viktor's head spun. His greatest enemy was now inside his own room, masquerading as his prey.
Viktor: "And Zhekha? Is he part of your little play as well?"
Alia: (Mockingly) "Zhekha... he is no longer that old friend of yours. He is now the Chief of this CIA unit. His accounts are settled differently. Zhekha was the one who pulled me out of that hell, so I have forgiven him. From this day forward, under his command, your 'Frost Fortress' will be turned to dust."
The heavy thud of combat boots echoed from outside the room. Zhekha himself appeared at the doorway, holding a file. Viktor realized too late that tonight's hypnosis, the kiss, the raw emotion—it was all a perfectly orchestrated trap set by Alia.Alia revealed the ultimate mind game: "The hypnosis was real, Viktor." She admitted that she was indeed in a deep trance, and everything she confessed—the three-hour ordeal and the names of the perpetrators—was the absolute truth from her subconscious. However, she had prepared herself with a post-hypnotic suggestion, allowing her to snap out of it exactly when she needed to. Instead of erasing her memories, the hypnosis solidified them, giving her the clarity to identify Viktor as her true enemy. She confirmed that while Zhekha saved her, Viktor's role in her past has sealed his fate today. Viktor's face was etched with an unconquerable, demonic fury. Even as the CIA commandos twisted his arms behind his back to snap the handcuffs shut, his spine remained perfectly straight. He didn't flinch; instead, the piercing gaze of his steel-blue eyes seemed to tear through Alia's very soul.
Just before reaching the door, Viktor suddenly came to a halt. He craned his neck to look back at Alia, a bone-chilling, enigmatic smile playing on his lips.
Viktor: (In an incredibly low, gravelly voice that resonated through the room) "You've celebrated this victory a bit too early, Alia. You think these shackles can hold me? You're dead wrong."
He tried to take a step toward her, but the commandos shoved him back. Paying them no mind, he stared directly into Alia's eyes and continued—
Viktor: "I will come for you, Alia. Every thread of the web you've spun—I will turn it into a noose for your own neck. You're laughing today, but very soon, I will force you into a position where you will weep tears of blood. Even if you turn my empire to dust, you will never extinguish the fire of my vengeance."
Alia shuddered for a brief second, but she quickly composed herself and let out a scoff of derision.
Alia: "The days of your threats are over, Viktor. Your destination isn't just any prison—it's the hell created by your own sins."
As Viktor was dragged out of the room, his booming voice echoed through the corridors: "Be ready, Alia... let these walls of 'Moroznaya Krepost' be my witness—Viktor will return for your total destruction!"
Zhekha stood by the door, watching everything unfold. He placed a hand on Alia's shoulder, but her gaze remained fixed on the doorway through which Viktor had been taken. She knew that men like Viktor don't die before they are truly defeated, and his final threat was far from an empty one.