"What the heck?" Ravil mumbled, staring at the back of the stamp.
Artem didn't quite know what to say, so he said nothing, and just stood there, next to Ravil, peering with inquisitive blue eyes at the stamp.
"This has got to be some kind of joke. Or a prank?" Ravil said, lifting his green gaze to meet Artem's.
"I'm afraid not, my love. People don't write in Russian on the backs of stamps just for kicks." Artem replied.
"So what does this mean?" Ravil asked.
"I'm not sure." Artem answered, rubbing his chin. "You remember that last name you heard in that flashback?"
"Izmaylov." Ravil said.
"I think it's time we look it up, da?" Artem asked.
...
The two boys sat at Artem's new laptop, with DuckDuckGo (their search engine of choice) on the screen.
"You wanna do the honors?" Artem asked, glancing over at Ravil.
"Sure, what the heck," Ravil replied. He took the keyboard and pecked away, typing the name Izmaylov into the search bar.
They searched for hours; found some guy named Myron along the way. It was the same name that Artem had seen in a few of the emails he'd stolen from the Russian governmental servers, but still, after running a search for the full name- Myron Izmaylov, they found nothing but inactive, long-dormant, mostly clean Facebook profiles on similar-but-not-quite-what-they-were-looking-for names.
In the end, they didn't find anything helpful. Ravil left the laptop and stood a few feet away. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."
Artem stood up and walked after him. "Hey, you didn't waste my time. It's okay."
"My whole life is a lie, Artem." Ravil said, his voice cracking. His green eyes blurred and shimmered with tears. "Everyone is fake."
"I'm not. I'd never lie to you, Ravil. I love you so much." Artem said, reaching out to hug him.
Ravil flinched and stepped back. Artem froze when he saw the terror in Ravil's wide eyes.
"I'm sorry," Artem said, apprehension blossoming in his chest like a tumor.
Ravil shook his head, as if to rid himself of the horrid memories. "Another flashback."
"Wanna talk about it?" Artem offered.
Ravil shook his head again, this time to say no.
"That's okay," Artem replied. He meant it. "I love you."
"I love you too," Ravil said. "I'm just scared."
"It's fine to be scared." Artem answered. "I'm scared, too. But we're gonna figure this out, and we're gonna get through this, okay?"
Ravil leaned over, pressing his face into Artem's shoulder. Artem wrapped his arms around Ravil, and Ravil sobbed.
Artem swore that whatever Russian official had done this to Ravil was a despicable human being. He swore to send that person to hell.
YOU ARE READING
Otkroveniye Complex // Book 1 of the Takaryev Series
Mystery / ThrillerRavil Galkin doesn't have much of a past, but as far as he's concerned, he's a completely normal person. Sure, he's a college drop out and basically a shut-in, but that's alright with him. But there's a whole different depth to the situation. An oc...
