Page 5 of Dust to Dust

I'd forever remember Titan no matter how this ended, and it had to end, right? I mean, a guy tells you things you want to hear to get you to loosen up. I know this, but when Titan spoke to me, I couldn't ignore his words. His promises were so engrained in my mind that I would give him my soul if he wanted to strip it from my body.

Every night I looked forward to seeing him like an addict to their vice. Now, I was happy my parents were too busy with work. Their work had been insane, and even though I knew something pressing was going on with mom and dad, I didn't ask or acknowledge it. I was being a bit selfish in my teenage life. I wanted to enjoy seeing the boy of my dreams and not be worried about my parents' business troubles.

* * *

Have you ever felt a sixth sense? Well, I have, I think. All week Titan had been acting odd. We had no classes together, so I rarely saw him at school. When he came to my treehouse, he seemed distant, and his behavior went from extra cold to hot. At times Titan could barely look at me, but then each night, he pressed his lips against mine with unspoken promises of a caring nature. His hug felt like he never wanted to let me go. Maybe my young teen mind was overthinking everything, but I knew Titan would break up with me any day.

He wasn't at school today, so I didn't even see him in the hallways or at lunch, but he texted me, ordering, not asking, to go to the treehouse right after school. His text felt like an ominous cloud above my head. The day dragged, I got a B minus on my math test, and I had a paper to finish writing that was due tomorrow.

Unlike most kids at my school, who had a private driver, I took the bus. But, the school bus at our private school was anything but average. With plush black leather seats and small TVs overhead, it was more like a first-class seat than a yellow bus. The bus stop was two blocks from my street, which wasn't a bad walk most days. As I stood to exit, I felt drained of energy, knowing impending doom was hanging over my head. I decided to stop by my parents first and not listen to Titan about meeting him at the treehouse, at least not yet.

It took me twenty minutes to reach my house because I was so tired and my feet dragged. Mentally, I hoped if I stalled that, Titan might change his mind about breaking up with me. When I reached our long driveway's start, tears blurred my vision. I tried to brush them away because today, my parents were home from work very early. They had texted that they decided to come home and have a family dinner, which was out of the ordinary lately. If I came home crying, it would only lead to more probing that I didn't need right now.

I stepped one sneaker on the cobblestone-lined path that led to my house when a black car came to a rolling stop behind me. Turning my head, the sedan's windows were so tinted I couldn't see in, but I knew one thing, it wasn't my parents' car, plus they were inside. Their silver Escalate was parked our front in the distance. My hands clenched the straps of my backpack tighter as fear embedded into my stomach.

The car door opened, and a large man stepped out. Shiny black leather shoes echoed off the cobblestone driveway. My eyes skirted up his black dress pants, and his white shirt rolled up to his elbows. Muscular forearms were patterned with tattoos that caused me to gulp. My father's men used to have tattoos, so I always associated the markings with the Bratva, the family business my father left behind. When my eyes reached the man's face, I noted his handsome appearance. Thick brown hair, green eyes, and more tattoos slipped out from under his shirt collar.

"Elsa," He said my name as he moved closer. He smiled, but I could tell it wasn't something he usually did. It looked like the smile a lion flashed when trying to lure a defenseless deer into its jaws.

The subconscious part of my brain screamed danger as it forced my feet to step back. The man did not miss the slight change of distance. I had a feeling the stranger didn't miss anything. He opened the palms of his hands as if to signal he wasn't dangerous.Yeah, buddy, I'm not buying that!

"My name is Anton. Your uncle Igor sent me."

My forehead scrunched up, "My uncle?" I hadn't seen uncle Igor since we moved from France. Uncle and father had a rocky relationship.

"Where is my uncle?" I quickly asked. Glancing over my shoulder to our house, I willed my mind to settle because dad should be inside. Was this why my parents wanted a family dinner. Did my uncle make a surprise visit to town?

"I just need you to come with me, Elsa," Anton stepped closer.

Red flashed in my mind, warning me of danger. I turned on my heels and ran from the man. At fourteen, I was five foot seven. My legs were longer than most, which gave me an advantage because I could run faster. As I sprinted away from Anton and towards my house, I heard him yell and then take off in a run himself. The stomping of his dress shoes sounded like hammers chasing me. My foot faltered, and nearly stumbled, but I corrected myself in time to stop my fall. My eyes pleaded for my house to close the distance between us, but I knew that my fate was sealed. I was fast, but Anton was catching up.

Ten feet from my house, I was so close. "Dad!" I screamed. I was almost safe when my eyes caught a bright white light from inside. The light expanded, and my body was pulled back instead of running forward.Did Anton grab me?

A buzzing sound, like that of bees filled my head, pounding all of a sudden. My brain felt fuzzy and disoriented. My back burned with pain as I struggled to open my eyes. My body laid on the hard stones of our driveway. Parts of my skin felt raw, like the feeling of road rash. I expected to see the sky above, but all I saw was smoke billowing into the once blue sky. The smoke was so thick, with tones of black as it tried to choke the surrounding air. There was a second sound that rocketed through the air. The explosion was so loud that it halted the buzzing for a moment before the bees returned even stronger. My body moved, and a heavy weight pressed down my back. My lungs suddenly felt on fire; I desperately inhaled and tried to clear them, making the burning worse. Hands grabbed my cheeks, then Anton's face filled my vision. His once handsome face was covered with stripes of blackening soot. There was a small cut on his forehead, which caused a tear of blood to cry down his face. His mouth was yelling at me, but I couldn't hear a damn thing except the ringing in my ears.

I don't understand what happened!

Anton crouched lower, wrapping his hands around my body. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder as he took off running with what felt like superhero strength. My body hung limp in his hold like I was a fresh kill. It took all my energy to tilt my head up, and when I did, I screamed.

My brain started to connect the dots.

My house was on fire. Wait, not fire; it wasn't there anymore. Bright orange flames licked up where the walls used to be. Anton placed me in the back of his car, slammed the door shut, and then got in the driver's seat. The jolt of the vehicle pushed my sore body into the leather seats as he sped off. My brain fought to stay awake, but I knew one thing, if my parents were inside, there was no way they would have survived the explosion. That fact made me stop fighting; I surrendered to the darkness trying to swallow me.

Chapter 5

Seven years ago…

"Kukla, wake up." my body shook, "Come on, Elsa."

A deeply accented voice continued to call my name, urging the fog in my mind to clear. One of the few words I remembered when my father spoke Russian to me as a child was the word for a doll, Kukla. Why was my father calling for me?

The voice became more demanding. It took me three times to finally be able to lift my lids. When I opened my eyes, it wasn't my father hovering over me. I knew that face. I had seen it just moments ago. I looked into green eyes that were as vast as a forest that held a trove of secrets. Anton showed relief that I woke up. Looking past him, I saw the distinct white paneling of an airplane. I planted my palms on the leather seat and pushed myself to a sitting position. Since I had been lying on a leather couch lined by one of the walls, I knew we were in a private jet.

"Slowly, your medicine is still trying to wear off," Anton said. His hands gripped my forearms in a caring gesture.

"Where am I?" I asked. Then my brain remembered the explosion. I gasped, and tears fell from my eyes. Anton didn't say anything, which only confirmed my nightmares. I lifted my gray eyes to his face, "They are dead." I stated.

Anton nodded, which felt so wrong. How could it be so simple? A mere nod confirmed my parents' death? I never felt anger like I did at that moment. I didn't think my mind was capable of creating such hate.

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