Koschei

from ca.i
The door creaked, and Turbo walked in. His face was stony, but his eyes gleamed with a strange delight. "We've got it, Koschei," he reported curtly. Koschei nodded, not changing his position on the couch. He didn't particularly want this. He didn't want to get involved with women. It reeked of desperation, and he wasn't desperate. It reeked of problems beyond the usual squabbles. But Kinoplenka needed to be shaken down. And how else to shake down someone who seemed to have everything? He needed to take something that couldn't be measured in money.

"How old is she?" asked Koschei, looking out the dark window.

"Sixteen. Maybe seventeen. I didn't ask," Turbo shrugged.

• How is she?

• She's shaking. She was crying in the car, but now she seems to have calmed down. In the utility room.

Koschei stood up. He stepped out into a narrow corridor. The air smelled of old carpet and tobacco. He walked to the door, clicked the key, and entered.

The room was small, with bare concrete walls. A dim lightbulb glowed from the ceiling. A girl sat on the only chair. She really wasn't bad looking. Thin, with large eyes frozen in terror. Her hair was disheveled, and there was a bruise on her cheek. She was huddled together, as if trying to make herself smaller. Seeing him, she instinctively recoiled, pressing herself against the back of the chair.

Koschei stood in the doorway, studying her. He searched her features for similarities to her brother, the authority figure nicknamed "Film Film."
Otherwise, she was just a frightened child.

"What's your name?" he asked. The girl remained silent, her lips moving soundlessly.

"My name is Koschei," he introduced himself. "You're here because your brother owes me. A lot. He's forgotten how things work. I'll remind him."

“He… he will give you everything,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Let me go, please.”

Please . The word sounded so absurd that something inside Koshchei sank. Not conscience. He had no conscience. Something else, something ancient, instinctive—the hunter's revulsion at the trembling cub.

"He will," Koschei agreed. "When he does, you'll leave. But for now... nothing will happen to you. If you behave wisely."