The ticking of the kitchen clock seems loud all of a sudden, the seconds dragging on following Dmitri’s admission. I crack my already swelling eye open to look up, seeing Father with a chain in hand, the look on his face one of fury and betrayal. He steps up to Dmitri, who suddenly looks much smaller and younger than usual.
“What did you say?”
Dmitri squares up, lifting his chin, but even from my vantage on the ground, I can see the steady tremble in his body.
“Father, I think Dmitri—” Krystof starts to speak, but father shoots him a glare that shuts him up instantly.
“Let the boy speak for himself,” he snaps at his eldest, turning back to Dmitri. He nods his head down at me.
“You’d betray your family for this fucking whore?” he spits.
Dmitri’s eyes narrow. “She’s my sister.”
Father throws back his head with a laugh.
“Hope she was fucking worth it, pizdetz.”
None of us notice before Father’s hand, wrapped in the heavy chain, comes up and slams into Dmitri’s face, his body instantly dropping to the floor.
Something inside me cracks as a wail breaks free from my chest.
Father forces Krystof to carry me outside. He whispers useless platitudes in my ear as he walks, his voice quickly drowned out by the barking dogs as we approach the kennels. I whimper as I see where we are headed.
I’ve seen those dogs rip apart a man who trespassed on our property. Trained Vasily holds Dmitri by his collar, dragging him along as the younger man struggles against him. Although my brother is almost the same size as him, his muscles are smaller, and the hit to the head obviously weakened him. He pulls Dmitri up to a standing position, though, he still sways. Krystof’s arms are tight around me, and behind us, Maxim watches with a look of approval.
Vasily paces in front of Dmitri, pulling a bottle of vodka from his pocket before taking a deep swig. He nods at Dmitri.
“Until this whore fucked with your brain, you’ve been alright, so I’ll give you a ten second head start.”
All of our eyes widen as we understand, and it takes only three seconds for Dmitri to dash.
“Let him go!” I shriek, struggling to against the tight arms holding me.
“Stop fighting, Galina,” Krystof urges in my ear as he holds tighter me to him. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Run, boy,” Father yells, laughing as he pulls the bottle to his mouth. “Run if you want to live!”
A sob tears from my throat as I turn my head to Krystof’s chest, hiding my eyes. I wish I could block my ears, the dogs crying and barking, eager to be let out for the chase. The sound of them seems to echo in my head. Under the smell of hot dirt and rocks, I imagine I can already smell blood in the air as the sound of the kennels opening rings louder than everything else around me.
I hear Maxim laugh and crack my eyes open a moment to see him watching a flash of blond in the distance, followed by the swift moving beasts following. I turn back to Father, overcome with rage like I’ve never felt before.
“You fucking bastard!” I shriek, ripping myself free from Krystof’s arms. I flail and kick, doing all I can to maim and bring Vasily down. His laughter rings out around me, and I barely register he’s hit me before I’m on the ground.
“Dumb whore,” he spits, a thick glob landing on my chest. “That fucker cost me fucking thousands. Should have known the sons I’d have from that whore would all be fucking weak.”
I hear a scream in the distance, shrill and high. Not a sound that should be made by a boy or man. The dogs continue to bark around the wet, sloppy noises.
“Dmitri,” I sob. Before I can pull myself from the ground, rough hands grab me by the neck, pulling me up. Vasily’s rage-filled eyes burn into me as his hands tighten, the air slipping from my body.
“I’ll just have to whore you out instead of selling you to a husband,” he tells me with a vicious grin. “It’ll take years to make back what that fucker cost me, but you’re still young.”
My eyes widen in fear, and I let out a choked sound of dismay. My vision darkens with the lack of airflow, so I only vaguely notice a flash of movement behind him. It isn’t until a log crashes down on Vasily’s head that he loosens his grip, causing me to fall to the ground gasping, a hand coming up to my throat in reflex. Vasily falls beside me, stunned but conscious.
I suck in as much air as I can, looking up to see Krystof holding a large branch in his hands. His eyes meet mine for the briefest moment before he brings the branch down on Vasily again, a loud crack reverberating through the clearing.
Maxim screams father’s name, then with tears clouding my vision, I watch as my oldest brothers face one another.
I can’t tear my eyes away from the sight in front of me. Maxim looks like Father with rage written across his face, his chest puffed out, and his fists clenched tightly. Beside him, Father stirs with a small groan. Maxim darts a glance down to him, but with his older brother circling, Father doesn’t hold his attention for long.