𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 33

Kate took her phone and dialled Whitman's number. As it rang, she bounced her leg up and down. Such an obvious sign of anxiety was uncommon from her, Fyodor took note of it and responded by placing a hand on her thigh. She looked up at him and he sent her a reassuring smile. She nodded, having been reassured well enough. Finally, Whitman answered the phone.

"My dear niece, I've been waiting for a call for so long. I thought you'd forgotten about your poor uncle that's been so nice to you." He answers, getting straight to the point.

"What have you done?" Kate asked, her voice breathy.

"What have I done? My dear, what have you done? Don't think I don't know that you're failing your mission; no reports-- you learn nothing from the Russian. You've betrayed us." Kate could feel his silent rage without needing to see him.

"You've betrayed me!" Kate fired back instantly.

"We had to take a certain approach to catch your attention. Now that it's caught, it only shows me that we were right to do so, who knows when you actually would've got in contact with us." He spoke sternly. Suddenly Kate felt as though she were a child in trouble again. She didn't want to talk to him anymore, she just wanted to disappear.

"I was just working." She mumbled, beginning to break down. When Fyodor noticed this, he knew that he had to take over the narrative and conversation before Kate buried herself.

"Tell him the truth, darling. Tell him what you've done." Fyodor hummed in her ear softly, acting as the devil on her shoulder.

Fyodor was the physical embodiment of everything she had been taught to despise so that she didn't turn into him. Since the devil comes to man as everything he could ever want, Kate had learned she didn't hate him, no, she couldn't. Now here he was, whispering all of her destructive thoughts to her, almost as if he were really the devil because he knew. He knew. How did he know?

"Doll, what was that? Are you alone?" Whitman asked quickly, growing nervous.

"Of course, she isn't alone, when has she ever been left alone?" Fyodor rebutted deviously, smirking as he spoke to the American.

"Fyodor!" The man cursed at him. The game was over for Kate, but it was just starting for Fyodor.

"The one and only." Fyodor smugly smiled.

"What do you want?" Whitman asked, already knowing to give up on Kate, having assumed that she was found out and now a captive of Fyodor's.

Kate had always known that in any case should she be found out, she would be dropped by the government immediately. She would be discarded and unclaimed, like a candy wrapper on the side of the road. Of course, there was always someone who collected the dum dum wrappers, but not those who underestimated their value. The ASAD underestimated Kate's value to Fyodor and anyone else who would think to use her.

"I want you to leave Katherine alone, forget about her," Fyodor answered, taking the phone into his hands. Kate's were shaking so he wasn't quite sure how much longer she would be able to hold it for.

"You're fucking stupid if you think that's going to happen here. The US Government doesn't negotiate with terrorists." Whitman scoffed at Fyodor's seemingly misplaced confidence.

"Ah~ but you're not connected to the government are you? Not officially of course; in fact, they are under specific orders to not claim you as one of their organisations should you be found out. Living in secret, much like a rat, how ironic." Fyodor laughed, now taunting him.

"Listen here-!"

"No, you listen! You're going to forget about her, leave her to me-- with me-- and you're going to do it while smiling and thanking me all because I'm taking her off your hands. Do you think you could have actually controlled her? Her ability is just as unstable as her mental status, you and I both know it. You were the one who took her away for her 'behavioural issues' weren't you?" Fyodor asked, now aiming to gather more information. He would gather it through words both said and unsaid by the man sitting on the other side of the phone.

"Of course it was me, nobody else could have handled her." Whitman scoffed.

"Then it was you who put the initial block in her mind, yes? You prevented her from feeling anything other than the need to follow orders. It was stronger than any brainwashing I could have ever done, but you lowered the amount of ability you used on her and she slowly became less reliant on you. You overestimated your ability and underestimated her." Fyodor put it all together and presented it to Whitman, waiting for his confirmation.

"I understand why Orwell marked you as a special type of threat. I cannot let Katherine become some sort of demon's doll to be used by the likes of you." His response was poor and showed he had no way to revive himself from Fyodor's dissection of the situation.

"You... you altered me the entire time?" Kate interjected with a meek voice. She could hardly believe the accusations Fyodor made, but when Whitman never denied them, she broke.

"Katherine, this demon has altered you, it would be stupid and naïve to think nobody will alter you," Whitman responded as though it didn't matter.

"But you used your ability on me, he's never done that." She spoke softly, hurt and disappointment in her tone.

"I've done what I've been ordered, nothing more, nothing less. Surely you understand the importance of following orders, don't you?" His words had already begun to guilt her.

Kate might have been different but she was still fundamentally the same person she was before, and this person was so easy to influence. What could be done next? She wasn't as strong as she thought she was and this was brought to light when she faced off against Whitman. She was never the smartest person in the room and she finally understood this now. She could never become like Fyodor or Whitman, she would remain a slave to those rats, like Ivan-- she would remain a doll for others to play with.