CHAPTER XII: CASE FILE.

"Eyes like fire, hands like snow,

He'll kiss your mouth then slit your throat.

Needle in the egg, soul in the dark–

Whisper his name and you'll never go far."

Tae wasn't the kind of person who could fall asleep again after waking up once, but there was something so enchanting in the unexpected warmth from The Khladnokrovny, that Tae couldn't help himself. 

Sitting on the edge of the bed was Rurik, with Tae's head on his lap, singing an old rhythm, not out of nostalgia, but as a warning. 

The rhythm was never sung twice in the same tone–lest it summon him. They used to hum this back in the old alleyways of Yakaterinburg, a cautionary rhythm, a poem dressed as a myth, myth dressed as a man...

But Rurik was no myth, he was real. And he liked the sound of the story the same way he enjoyed the overpowering hint of fear coming from the people while singing this rhythm. His rhythm. 

Two crows outside were bickering, it was cold. They had been stuck here for two days now, from caution and cold, cold mostly though since Rurik wasn't exactly the type of man who needed caution. 

The dull light entered the room through the window beside the bed, the bickering of the crows annoyed Rurik, he glanced at them. They flew away. He went back to gently stroking Tae's hair. 

"Foolish little Belka..." Murmured Rurik as he looked at Tae–, Alexiei, who dared to sleep so soundly in the enemy's territory... Sometimes Rurik wondered how the hell did he even managed to become a prodigy? 

He knew that Tae wanted to figure him out, to piece him together like a ruined puzzle. But the soul wasn't in the duck. Nor in the Rabbit. 

Rurik knew, that Tae was listening to him even in his sleep, but what thrilled him more was the fact that he'll watch the prodigy, the golden boy if Seoul drown, trying to decipher a ghost of a man... 

                             .̸̳̔̎̎̎/̸̛̅̅͆̎͞ ̔̿̅ ̄̅̅ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ 

The island was not as cold as it sounded, Tae hadn't contacted the HQ since a few weeks, but there wasn't any point in that, they sent him here to die anyway... 

Volchya Zemlya, was finally here. 

                           .̸̳̔̎̎̎/̸̛̅̅͆̎͞ ̔̿̅ ̄̅̅ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ 

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐎. 𝟎𝟏𝟏-𝟎𝟏𝟐

|𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓: 𝐑𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐊 "𝐃𝐘𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐋" 𝐒𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐕. 

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑: 𝐓𝐀𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐆-𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐍 (𝐊𝐏𝐅 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍)

Name: Rurik Mikhailovich Sokolov  {Рюрик Михайлович Соколов}

DOB: 14. 11. 1982. (Estimated) 

PLACE OF BIRTH: Yakaterinburg {Екатеринбург} (Unconfirmed) 

AGE: 41-43 (Estimated) 

ETHNICITY: Russian (Slavic) 

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Albinism (complete), surgical marks on inner wrists (self inflicted?). Visible veins due to translucent skin under lights. --------- ------- ------ --- ----- ----- -- . 

---------. 

                             Ѻ𝆘𝆘Ѻ

Sitting in the train, clutching the file harder. Tae looked at the information provided to him trough his glasses. 

He should've known. 

Min-jae always mentioned a guy that made his stomach churn with discomfort. A guy named Y. Hwang. Apparently, this guy was somehow connected to Rurik too, but has been missing since 2012, persumed dead since 2015 at the age of 57. But, there was another person.  T. Vasileva, his partner... Apparently, Tae's father had exposed their illegal organ trading business that was secretly conducted inside Wasmaquie hospital for over 20 years, under the protection of Director Gong. So could their deaths and the death of Min-jae be somehow connected to Rurik? If so then how? 

But if that was the case then Tae would definitely hunt down to the ends of Earth to find out the truth. 

                             Ѻ𝆘𝆘Ѻ

Walking through the streets of Zemlya, Rurik's leather shoes crunched against the dry leaves, it was so much different than the cold atmosphere of Yakaterinburg.... Indeed. 

Walking past the shops, Rurik's eyes fell on a specific red coloured ribbon being sold in a fabric shop, it had the same shade, but it was made of silk, unlike Olga's.... Would she have helped Rurik in every universe? Hopefully not, Rurik killed her anyway...