Page 27 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
“Go!Go find her.” Igor tore a section of the tablecloth off and wrapped his bloody hand. “And don’t waste any time. If you find her, kill her.”
Boris looked at Igor’s hand and was about to offer help bandaging it but then shrugged. If anyone could manage with such an injury, it was Igor. The only thing that really intrigued him was how he had managed to drive the large knife through his own hand.
He headed out of the living room and peered into the many rooms downstairs. No sign of life. He glanced up at the second level as he reached the main staircase.
“Where are you, dear teacher?”he called out in a maniacal tone. “Don’t let Igor scare you. He was only trying to teach you a lesson. Come out and we’ll talk about this. I’m the cooler, calmer half of this duo.”
Caressing the banister with his callused hand, he slowly climbed the stairs. “I won’t hurt you, teacher. I just want to talk about...you know...the gold.” He reached the second floor and turned to head down the hall. “Do you hear me, teacher? Now that Igor has shared our little secret with you, maybe you would like to partake...”
A sharp pain suddenly sent him crumbling to his knees. “Aah! Aah! Argh!Pizdets” Falling to his side and curling up into a near fetal position, he grabbed his knee as the excruciating pain brought him close to fainting. “What the...?” He looked down at his blood-soaked trousers.
A girlish giggle caught his attention, and he looked up and behind him. April, the sweet young woman who had so politely and warmly invited them into her home, stood there, a large slegehammer in her hand.
“Sorry about that,” she said through another giggle. She swung the hammer, letting the hammer fall into her other hand. Where did she get the strength to do that?That hammer must have weighed over 50 pounds.With a shrug, she ran away. “Come and catch me, if you dare.”
Boris tried to get to his feet, but the pain was unbearable.
“What’s going on up there?”Igor called from downstairs. “Do you have them? Do you have one of them?”
Grabbing the banister, Boris struggled to get onto his good leg. He looked down at the gross angle of his calf. The young girl had completely shot his knee out.
“Do you have them, Boris?!”
“No!”he shouted through the pain. “I don’t have them. I’ve been hit! I’m wounded.”
“You damn sissy!”Igor shouted. “Stop crying like a little girl and go after the teacher.”
Clinging to the banister for support, Boris looked downstairs at Igor who stood there barking orders as he held his bloody hand. If anyone was a sissy, it was Igor with his slightly injured hand. At least he was still mobile. There was nothing about his injury that kept him from running around the house looking for the two elusive women. And yet there he was screaming at him to run after the women with a shot out his knee.
“You hear me, Boris?”Igor called out. “Stop playing the sissy and go after them. Damn it, and don’t come back until you have them...or else I will kill you myself!”
“Ja, ja,” he muttered to himself.
Why in the world had he embarked on this adventure with the man? He’d never liked him. He’d met many vile and evil men in the past years, but none as ruthless and cruel as Igor.
“What are you waiting for?”Igor said. “Go!”
As Boris pushed away from the banister and headed down the hall he’d seen April take, he contemplated on his growing hatred for the man. They had the gold and the glory of the Bolsheviks in common, but that was all.
Three doors away, he saw a faint light coming out of a room... a warm and inviting glow.
The door was ajar. He hobbled closer.
“That really wasn’t very nice of you, young lady,” he gently called out, bringing added pain and suffering to his voice. “I thought we were getting along, chatting about history. You know, I have great admiration for Shakespeare myself.”
He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then went on. He reached the door and pushed it open. “I know you’re in here. I saw you go in.”
The room was silent.
“You mustn’t let Igor get to you. I know he can be mean and nasty. I don’t really like him much myself. In fact, you could almost say that I’m just as much a victim of his cruel streak as you. You see, I’m not like him. I want to help you. You can trust me. Just come out and let’s settle this misunderstanding.”
More silence.
“Are you here, young lady? Hello? Is anyone here?”
“Hello,” April finally said with a giggle.She looked so innocent, helpless with both hands behind her back as she stood smiling at him.
He saw her then, backed up into a corner...just the way he liked his prey. “It wasn’t very nice of you to hurt me like that. Look at me. Look at what you did to me.”
