Wolf in Hiding

So, I just joined reddit and my boyfriend suggested I look into a writing prompt subreddit or whatever they are called.

This prompt seemed extremely interesting to me so I figured I would finally post something on my writing blog seeing as I've been unbelievably neglectful for a very long time. As I write more stories to go with the prompts, I'll post them here.

[WP] If a prisoner dies, the balance of their sentence must be served by their next of kin. Families of criminals serving particularly long terms will go to almost any length to keep incarcerated relatives alive, but how far is too far?

Kazimir Volkov smiled cruelly at his sister through the scratched and cloudy glass, years of malice lighting his eyes. He had always hated her. The perfect golden child and the delight of the entire family. He had been a black sheep from the moment he was born. Asher heard the whispers of his relatives and the rest of the world. “Not right in the head” was the term they used so casually and so, the family ignored him. But he had made them pay attention in the end. He had made everyone pay attention. He became the wolf and destroyer he was named for. But his dear perfect sister was a sly and sneaking wolf in her own right, hiding secrets in plain sight.

“Hello, little sister,” Kazimir said as she sat down and placed the prison phone up to her ear.

Ekaterina Volkov stared at her brother for several seconds before saying, "Privet."

Kazimir tsked her, looking wounded.

"Reverting to our mother tongue, Ekaterina?" he asked. "And so short. Is this how you greet your only family?

“Last time I checked, you were a big reason for that,” she said lightly.

Yes, Kazimir thought with pleasure. He was indeed the reason his little sister was the only family he had left. He was a wolf and a destroyer of peace. And destroy he did. He had smashed his immigrant parents’ American Dream the same way he smashed their skulls in one moonless night. Then, covered in the blood of those who gave him life, he stalked and killed the rest of his family in the dark of the night.

Ekaterina’s screams waking him up the next morning had been like listening to a symphony of angels. He hadn’t even changed out of his bloody clothing before crawling into bed and he didn’t bother to change when the police dragged him to the station, charging him with several counts of murder.

“Stop playing around, Kazimir,” Ekaterina said roughly. “You are the one who called me to come. Tell me what you wanted to tell me so I can leave.”

“I come bearing you a great gift,” Kazimir said with almost fanatical joy. “You and this blessed world will soon be rid me.”

He watched with sadistic pleasure as his sister registered his words, panic and fear building in her blue eyes.

“Da,” he said with a nod and a smile. “Apparently I have only several weeks to live.  According to the doctors, I have advanced pancreatic cancer. I trust that is enough time to get your affairs in order.”

“You’re lying,” Ekaterina said, breathing heavily as the weight of her future came rushing in.

Several years ago, in a misguided effort to minimize crime and ensure justice was served completely, the United States president signed an unprecedented bill into law. The law required an immediate family member take the place of an inmate in prison if that inmate died before their sentence was up. The controversial law once in effect, drastically reduced crime but ripped the innocent families of the criminals apart.

Kazimir saw Ekaterina wrack her brain for a way out. He has made sure there wasn’t one. It hadn’t mattered that he had slaughtered his family, leaving his sister an orphan. The law did not care that she was a victim. She would now be one of guilty.

“They will not put me in here,” she said uneasily. “I am the victim.”

“Oh, dear sister, you overestimate how much this government cares,” Kazimir said silkily. “They don’t care. You will now be victim and criminal all in one.”

“This is not possible,” his little sister exclaimed.

“I’m afraid it is,” he said. “I checked the law. There is no provision or amendment that prevents you from serving out the rest of my sentence even if you are the victim. And too bad for you. I still have 133 years left. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have little nieces and nephews running around yet.”

Ekaterina felt numb and cold. As a child, she had always tried to give her brother and his strangeness the benefit of the doubt. She had tried to be a protector even though she had been much younger. His violence and anger had gotten even worse when they immigrated to the United States. If she wanted to save her life and that of her future child, she would have to become the criminal she never wanted to be. And she would have to call upon the darker side of herself to ensure her survival. The side that was her mother’s legacy and biggest secret.

“Baiu baiushki baiu ne lojisya a krayu..." Ekaterina whispered with as much venom as she had, something otherworldly sparking in her eyes.

Or else the wolf will grab you and drag you under a cranberry bush. It was a line from a Russian lullaby their mother used to sing to them and now she was going to use it as a threat. There was no way she would serve a sentence used to put away the killer of her family. Her big brother had another thing coming. Kazimir’s eyes widened as they rested on her upturned palm, noting the blood red aura pooling there. He looked up and saw the same color reflected in her eyes, his own dread taking root. Ekaterina had been busy these last few years.

“Ved’ma,” her brother said with a combination of awe and disgust. Witch.

“Baba Yaga is coming for you tonight,” she hissed, pressing her hand to the glass and sending a ball of red magic through the window.

The ball of light hit Kazimir in the middle of the chest, immediately draining him of all warmth. He placed his right hand on the place the magic had disappeared into, stunned at what his sister had just done to him. He glanced around at the people surrounding him to see if they had noticed the magic. She had somehow cloaked the red aura and he looked up at her in abject horror. She had just doomed him to an eternal life of servitude to a nightmare. Baba Yaga would delight in his suffering for the next thousand years.

“I can’t just disappear,” Kazimir said desperately. “You would still have to replace me in here.”

Ekaterina smiled cruelly.

“Oh, I don’t think so, dear brother. I’ve got this worked out,” she said. "Dasvidaniya."

She stood, hung up the phone and strode out of the room in the prison. She could hear her brother howling her name through the glass, spitting curses at her in Russian. Ekaterina didn't bother to look back. She dialed a number on her cell phone.

"Alexi," she said, starting her car. "I need you to find me a man who looks remarkably similar to my brother. He's going to take his place in prison."

~~~~~

I don't know why I wanted to go with characters that were distinctly Russian. It could be that I was inspired by the new Captain America movie that I saw earlier today, but I had decided they would be Russian way before that. I don't know, there's something that just drew me to it. The magical aspect is what came to me on my way home. Enjoy. Also, I had to look up a lot of Russian words for a minor prompt so I think that makes me crazy.