𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 34

"Please," she begged, not even knowing what she wanted.

"Use your words, please what?" Fyodor hummed, pressing a sickening kiss to her cheek.

"Please stop." She pulled away, the touch of his skin on hers suddenly feeling like hellfire.

"Stop? My dear, we've only just begun." He gave her a fake smile, with no warmth behind it. It frightened her as it reminded her who she really was messing with. He was a demon; there was a reason that he had made his way to the top of the terrorism list.

"Katherine, this is what you betrayed us for. Expect no more help or contact from us. Consider this to be the last time we talk on friendly terms." Whitman interjected before hanging up. Kate felt as though her entire world had been flipped upside down.

"I want to go home," Kate whined, barely able to find her voice.

"Home? Home is here, with me." Fyodor frowned ever so slightly.

"No," she began, looking for any falseness in his words.

"Yes. Your family tried to give you up, something they have done multiple times before. The government just rid themselves of you. I am the one who has taken you in, given you life. I love you, I did say that, didn't I? I meant it, didn't I?" He spoke to her back as she faced away from him. He could see her shoulders slump more and more with every word he spoke.

"You planned all this, didn't you?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"Not all of it." He answered truthfully.

"Why?" She asked, finally looking at him, pleading with her eyes. Her mascara ran messily down her face, and her naturally pink cheeks had flushed, even more, spreading to her nose and t-zone. Her lips were swollen and red. She was a mess, more than he had ever seen from her.

"Because I love you. Isn't that obvious?" He laughed as his eyes gleamed dangerously. Kate could only count a handful of times she had truly feared Fyodor, this was one of them. He was a monster, how could she forget that.

"This isn't love," she cried before muttering, "it can't be..."

"What makes you so sure that you know what love is?" He proposed a question designed to make her doubt herself.

"I... Please, excuse me... I don't feel well." She stood, staggering towards the door.

"Find me when you feel better, I'd love to talk to you some more." He called out to her, making her stop momentarily. A chill ran down her spine and she shivered as she left.

Kate made her way to the bathroom and entered, locking the door behind her before falling to the floor in front of the toilet. Her back arched as she released her entire stomach's contents into the toilet. Her eyes watered and her throat burned.

Meanwhile, Fyodor simply had one thought in his mind: 'am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?' Had he taken things too far? Perhaps he did. Perhaps this was why he felt so ill about his words towards her. He hadn't meant for things to get out of hand like that, but it just happened. He couldn't control himself, especially when it came to her. He was sorry but he would never say those words aloud, especially not to her.

It was not that he expected Kate to react badly, it was just that she would forgive him. She would even hold his hand as he struggled to apologise. But if he were to apologise it would mean putting her above himself in terms of priorities. He couldn't risk doing that. He had given her a halo and this he knew, but her holiness was now greater than his own and he didn't want to acknowledge that.

Kate's stomach was empty and so she sat on the floor of the bathroom, feeling more helpless than ever. She had done this to herself though; Nikolai warned her, Whitman warned her-- but she didn't listen. She allowed Fyodor to cover her ears and enchant her, she wasn't going to listen to anybody that wasn't him. She didn't know how he did it, how they became like this. They were toxic together, their relationship was always rocky and never guaranteed happiness but she held on, foolishly believing she could make it happen. She was so naive. All this time she wanted to believe she was strong, that she mattered to people, but she was weak and nobody ever cared about her.

Kate was an enemy of her country now, she was like Fyodor. This thought made her want to spill her stomach contents but there was nothing left other than acid. She had spent so long trying to be perfect for everyone else, she had finally cracked under the pressure and lost everything. No, not everything... she had Fyodor whether she liked it or not. He had taken care of her thus far, clearly, it was not all for nothing, there must've been a good enough reason for him to have done all this.

While Kate's mind whirled, her stomach did uncomfortable flips as though it became a displaced abomasum. She felt cold, so unexplainably cold and yet her face felt like it was made of fire. She couldn't find the strength to make it back up to her feet so she sat on the bathroom floor, tears running down her face. She was weak, she always was.

Fyodor was waiting outside of the bathroom door for her, she was unaware of this. He listened to her strangled sobs as she struggled to muffle them. His heart broke at the sound of her falling apart behind the door. He gently placed one hand on the door and closed his eyes, wanting to console her and tell her he was sorry for everything. When her crying ceased suddenly, he became concerned, knowing damn well just how prone to illness she was.

"Kate?" He knocked on the door with a single knuckle, not wishing to frighten her too much. When there was no response, he began to knock harder.

"Kate!" He called out again, getting no response.

Ivan appeared behind his master, ready to help with whatever he needed.

"Kate, please answer before I open the door. You have five seconds." Fyodor stated before counting silently. Again, no response. When the five seconds were up, he tried the door but it was locked.

"Ivan," Fyodor spoke, stepping away from the door. His servant nodded and instantly picked the lock, opening the door.

Kate was unconscious on the floor, sick once more. Fyodor was not surprised but he still was fearful for her well-being once again. Ivan appeared more distraught than Fyodor but it was only because Fyodor had seen her like this more than Ivan had. He knew that staying calm and allowing her time to heal was the best course of action. Besides, Fyodor had the miracle drug that Kate had previously taken for her sickness, she would be fine yet again.

"Master, I'll take her to her room," Ivan spoke with his back to Fyodor, something he narrowed his eyes at. Kate had taken Ivan from him it appeared. Fyodor said nothing as Ivan lifted her up and carried her to her room with ease.

Fyodor was losing to her. She had a better hold on Ivan than he did. She was closer to Nikolai than he was. She was better than he was. She had accomplished much more with these people in a much shorter time than he did. She had stolen everything from him and she had the ability to do much more harm. For the first time in a very long time, Fyodor felt threatened by someone, and this someone was the doll, Kate Chopin. She had nothing and yet she had so much more than he did. She was kind, after all, she was polite and attractive, and so much more than he could ever be.

"Ivan, you can leave her," Fyodor spoke as he stared into the now empty bathroom.

"I must clean her, she doesn't like to be dirty and look unwell." Ivan rushed back into the bathroom to wet a washcloth with warm water. Although this action was seemingly innocent and kind and would have even been praised at an earlier date, it was now upsetting Fyodor thoroughly. Ivan directly disobeyed him and even had the audacity to ignore him, and it was all for her.

She had entered Fyodor's life as an Angel, there to fight a Demon. The entire time he was winning, at least that's how it appeared. She had planted her roots and grew like a weed, taking over everything he held dear. She won without him ever knowing. The Angel had beaten the Demon and this was now a fact. Fyodor laughed as he realised this. Darkness is the absence of light, not the other way around. She had him beat from the very start.