Chapter 58: Save Me, Hold Me, Kill Me
[KATYA]
Katya couldn’t think.
The unexpected phone call replayed over and over in his head as he sat up on the bed. He had been sleeping when the phone rang. A landline that he didn’t know.
However, he had taken a leap of faith, assuming that someone had maybe called a wrong number.
But when he picked up, the first words from the call knocked the sleep out of his brain.
"Anya... It hurts," the caller had said, the familiar voice having Katya ask so many questions internally. He was too horrified to even form a coherent sentence, too scared to say a word back because the devil of Frolo had called.
THE devil of Frolo.
The man who had scared the living shit out of him earlier when he clocked in at work.
That man.
Katya... he had listened.
Disbelievingly. Through it all.
Then the call didn’t end. At least not from the caller’s side. Because Katya could swear he heard soft snores, whimpers so unfamiliar, so unattached to the man in question.
"... How do I live without the one I’ve loved all this time though..."
That statement alone had Katya confused more than he had ever been since the first real interaction with Sergei weeks ago.
Katya had waited.
For laughter.
For mockery.
For signs of manipulation.
None came.
Yet a part of him knew never to trust a Moskowsky.
So, he just sat there, mind filled with impossible questions that would never give familiar answers. Silently hoping for something. Anything.
But what was he even hoping for?
"Yoh, Romanov, wake up, man, Svet is back," Katya heard Andre’s voice closing in.
He knew his friends were trying to be there for him, and he appreciated it truly. However, at the same time, the idea of why he had just heard was all too consuming for now.
There was no telling what would happen.
Or how.
Only that something had happened already.
Something that would decide his fate.
And the only thing he had to hold onto... Was he Moskowsky... mistrust.
"Hey man, it’s time for you to come along, you need to eat," Andre said, walking into the guestroom that they had moved into earlier.
Katya had considered staying in the master bedroom, but if he was being honest, the fact that Sergei was back and had forced him to sign that fresh contract marriage through Anya terrified him.
Because he didn’t know the terms he had agreed to this time. He didn’t know what Sergei would expect of him. He did not know if he would be useful enough for the devil of Frolo to keep his bargain with Katya.
At this point, Katya was walking on thin ice, even by just breathing.
At least with his friends, he was sure Sergei would never touch them. Maybe when they left here, but then he had been thinking too hard about it all the time.
"What’s wrong?" Andre asked worriedly when Katya didn’t say anything.
The omega was holding his phone in his hands, staring at the black screen, shock on his face like he had just been told the worst news of his life.
Maybe it was worse than anyone would ever try to imagine.
Instinctively, Andre hopped onto the bed beside him because he knew how hard the day had been for Katya, especially with Sergei back in town.
"Katya?" Andre called out a second time.
Only then did Katya turn to look at him.
He looked like he was trying so hard to hold everything in, like his word was splitting into threes and he didn’t know where to start.
It had been an offense these past weeks, but damn does Katya look so defeated.
"Oh, when did you get here? What happened?" Katya asked, his hold on the phone still so tight, scared that someone would take it, but at the same time, he looked like he wanted to be away from it for the rest of his life.
He needed answers, but who was he supposed to demand answers from?
The psycho who threatened to take his mother’s heart?
The barbarian who didn’t understand the first thing about humanity?
"Did that old lady with anger issues threaten you again?" Andre asked, instantly sitting up to look at his friend.
Andre had heard what Anya had said earlier, and frankly, he had been too pissed to say anything.
He knew he was supposed to be the kind one, the balance between chaos and pure unfiltered insanity, but fuck was it hard to stay calm around this place with all the people and what they were doing to his friend.
"What? No," Katya said.
Fast. A little too fast.
And that had Andre looking at him like he needed to start talking already. They needed to be sure that he was okay because, at the end of the day, their friend mattered to them more than anything anyone would offer.
If Katya were still being terrorized within these quarters, it would be the trigger for everything that would follow.
The Romanov friends wouldn’t just sit by and wait for things to work against their friend.
Oh, how Katya was thankful for them.
He had been sleeping since Svet had left, and had only been woken up by the phone call he had gotten.
One that he was not even sure he wanted to think of ever in any lifetime.
"You look pale, Romanov. What happened?" Svetlana asked as she walked in moments later and saw Andre trying to get through to Katya.
The omega still looked horrified for some reason, which shouldn’t have happened, not in the company of Andre, because they had run this drill more than once.
How to keep Katya sane.
How to keep Katya normal.
How to make sure Katya was not overwhelmed by anything, much less the Moskowskys.
So, seeing Katya here like this? It was a little hard and unexpected.
"Did you let him watch TV, Andre?" Svet asked incredulously, as if the television was the worst thing that could have happened to their friend.
Andre glared at her, like the accusation itself was horrendous and unprecedented.
"No, he was sleeping the whole time. I just came in and saw him holding onto his phone for dear life. Don’t know what happened.
"...though I’m willing to bet it has to be a Moskowsky situation, again," Andre cursed in disbelief like he wanted to strangle the Moskowskys himself.
These people were costing Katya everything, and frankly, it didn’t sit well with the Romanov friends.
Katya turned to him, eyes defeated, like he wasn’t sure what to say.
And he didn’t.
Not this time.
"So, I am right, Romanov," Andre sighed, trying to understand.
"What happened on TV?" Katya asked instead, trying to change the subject, trying to forget what was haunting him, a possibility that horrified him because his family was at stake.
And clearly, there were no limits to whatever evil the Moskowskys would do.
"Romanov... the phone... Did they say something?" Svet asked carefully, her tone soft like she was trying to ease him into telling her.
But she was also silently telling him that she would definitely kill someone in this household if they threatened Katya.
"No, they called us to go eat," Katya said instead, his tone rushed.
