Unwanted encounter ♦ Echtavia

Unwanted encounter
Oktavia Romanov & Echo Velikov

She was tense. She always was, to be fair : her life wasn't what you could call a fairytale. Everyday, she had to live with the fear of certain people coming back at her and trying to take her son. Peacefulness was just a dream to her, nothing more. But she was even more tense when she had to come to the hospital for the monthly harvest of her blood. She hated it, being a puppet in the government's hands. She had fought so hard not to be here, not to be manipulated like this. But in the end, there she was, sitting in a white room, on a white bed, with tubes in her arm taking red red blood. It was still red, even though they all decided to call them Black Bloods. It felt black though. She hated it too.

There was only one reason why she was waiting here, without fighting, without yelling her hate at everyone : Andrei. He was home with his nanny, probably asleep - it was nap time. She smiled thinking of him, of his cute little hair falling in front of his peaceful face. She would have brushed them away had she been there. She could stay next to him for hours, just watching him. He was everything she could have ever wanted, even though she didn't know it before he came into her life. Now, he was the reason why she could endure this awful reality without even blinking. She had to protect him.

Andrei was a constant reminder of the dangers of this new world. Every time she looked into his eyes, she saw his father. His bloody father. These eyes were a real curse. Oh, they were the most beautiful blue eyes she could ever see, but they were the eyes of a demon, a monster. The eyes of some devil willing to torture and murder people like her just to earn money by selling their blood. A true devil in disguise, with his angel face. She was so glad he had rejected her when she found out she was pregnant. She hadn't seen him in four years, but he was sill haunting her dreams every night. She had the constant feeling he was there, somewhere, watching her and waiting to catch her and kill her. Worse, waiting to take back her son.

So she sat in the hospital once or twice a month, clenching her teeth while nurses and doctors took her blood and injected her with some new potions to test. That was the price to pay to ensure Andrei's security. Nothing would ever happen to her little boy.

'Is it done yet?' she asked in a cold tone.

The nurse nodded and took the tube out.

'Just wait here for a moment, I'll be right back.'

She left the room without taking the blood bags on the table. On each of them, her name was written, followed by a number she knew was hers. Oktavia Romanov, 246850.

ACIDBRAIN

unwanted encounter

echo velikov & evgeni velikov

« every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, i'll be watching you »

He really was on his own now. With Zharka out to get them, their father on her trail, Iliana whom he despised and the two goons she spawned, Echo could only count on himself to do the work that mattered. To honor their family and the legacy that they had all worked so hard to protect. Evgeni trusted him to do so while he was out for his daughter’s blood. Traitor’s blood. There was a time when he thought he could leave it all behind, the scheming and the plotting and the suffering, but as it turned out, it was in his bones, in his blood, everywhere in his DNA. Impossible to shake off. Nika has paid the price for his mistake, a simple moment of foolishness with disastrous consequences. A mistake he would never make again.

But then, the Velikov weren’t his only family, were they? Echo knew that Oktavia was out there somewhere, keeping her child locked away, in fear. He hadn’t realized, at first, what exactly this pregnancy had meant for them, for all of them. From this night, he only remembered the fear, the sheer terror that shook his spine as he heard Nika’s screams of pain over Oktavia’s tears of joy. This wasn’t supposed to happen. History would repeat himself, he knew. He knew eventually all of this would eventually burn or fade away, leaving him once again, cold and alone. He couldn’t go through that again.

Echo didn’t regret sending Oktavia away, for he knew this was the only possible outcome where she could be happy someday. He didn’t regret the stolen time he had with her, as she became the foundation for the iskra empire, as she attempted to put him back together piece by piece. And maybe she did manage it, eventually, and maybe that was why Echo had thrown it all away. To never risk falling apart again, for anything, or anyone. Oktavia never knew he was there that night, wondering whether to enter the hospital and hold her while she gave birth to their son. The Velikov heir, whose future had never been so incertain. He had wondered, would he ever want to know him? Would Oktavia even let him into the room? He then decided to take the choice away from her, stay in control, and drive away. She didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone. And he, for one, needed to be Evgeni’s son, through and through, no matter the personal cost. That much he had understood years ago.

Andrei was his, though, and also a Velikov, a black-blooded one. The first of a whole new generation. It was Echo’s duty to be a part of his son’s life, now. It was simpler now that Oktavia was a mission : he wasn’t allowed to let anything come in the way of his goal. He wasn’t reentering their lives to mend the broken pieces ; he would fail at it. He was coming for her because the Velikovs expected him to do so. This simple fact gave him the mindset he needed to accomplish their destiny. He has waited weeks though. She had given herself to the government in exchange for protection, surrendered for Andrei’s well-being, against her own personal beliefs. He recognized the courage in that, and even felt a little guilty that all it took to find her eventually was a member of the hospital staff on Evgeni’s payroll.

Echo waited, nonchalant, until the nurse came out of the room to sneak in, glide in there like a reptile. She would yell, he knew. Thank Svarog for doctor-patient confidentiality and soundproof rooms. He closed the door behind him, and finally looked at her, for the first time in four years. « You really did go to great lengths to keep me out of your life. » I’m sorry that you failed, he thought. Was she this afraid of him? Could Echo actually blame her? Didn’t he at least enjoy the power a little bit? He had to admit that he did. Oktavia has always been wild, brave, almost invincible, except for that first time when he found her and had to piece her back together too. She got to show him who she really was, then. Insolent. Fearless. A warrior. It felt almost indecent that she should looked this aghast to see him standing in front of her. He could see that on some level, she was relieved to be alone. Children under 8 weren’t allowed to donate blood in the program. « But then again you’re not just protecting yourself, are you? » She was protecting her son too. Their son. It stung a little just to think that Oktavia thought Echo would hurt a three year-old child to serve the Bratva. He has values, principles, honor. Bleeding his son dry wasn’t part of the plan.

(c) DΛNDELION