Chapter 30 HIS ORDER
THE NEXT DAY
Classes at Volkov University had officially resumed.
Anya stepped out of Nikolai’s manor and made her way back to her hostel. Her mind was still spinning from everything she had learned the night before… immortality, centuries of blood, and that message from her uncle that still felt like a curse burning beneath her skin.
She got to her room, greeted her roommates before she entered the bathroom.
Anya showered quickly and then returned back to the room. She dressed in a soft sweater and jeans, and tied her hair into a loose ponytail. Her reflection in the mirror looked pale, haunted.
When she stepped into the hostel room that morning, Katya’s bed was empty which was weird.
Olga is currently by the window, folding clothes.
"Where’s Katya?" Anya asked softly.
Olga’s expression changed. "She hasn’t been herself since… that incident. She barely talks anymore. I think she’s staying outside school for now"
Before Anya could say anything else, Olga grabbed her bag.
"I have a morning lecture. I’ll see you later" she said, walking out and closing the door behind her.
That left Anya alone with Natasha.
Natasha was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair.
"You didn’t come here at all yesterday" she said casually. "Where were you?"
Anya hesitated. "I was… at a friend’s"
Natasha raised a brow. "A friend? I would love to tag along next time. I was so bored yesterday with nobody to talk to"
Anya forced a small, awkward smile. "Maybe"
She grabbed her bag. "I have to go now"
"Alright"
Anya simply left the room, her heart heavy as she walked down the hallway and out into the lively campus.
Students were laughing, chatting and living normal lives… while her own felt like it was slipping into something dark and unreal.
She made her way to her department.
The lecture hall was already half full when she walked in. As soon as she stepped through the door, a familiar voice called out.
"Anya, over here!"
Marisa was waving, tapping the empty seat beside her.
Anya walked over quickly.
"Good morning, Marisa"
"Hello to you too, Anya," Marisa beamed. "You look… tired"
Anya let out a soft breath and sat down. "I didn’t sleep well"
Marisa leaned closer. "Did you do the assignment?"
Anya frowned. "Assignment?"
Marisa stared at her. "Yeah. We were given one in the last class"
Anya’s shoulders slumped. She sighed quietly.
"Oh… I wasn’t here"
Marisa smiled sympathetically. "Don’t worry. I’ll share mine with you"
Anya nodded gratefully, but her thoughts were far away… drifting back to a black book filled with names, and a demon who had lived for centuries.
The door of the lecture hall swung open, and a Klara walked in.
she clutched her bag to her chest, her eyes darting around the room with a skittish, hunted look. To the other students, she just looked like a nervous "new girl," but to anyone who knew the darkness of the woods, she looked like a survivor. She moved down the aisle, her footsteps silent, and slid into the only empty seat she could find... directly behind Anya and Marisa.
Marisa, didn't wait long before turning around in her seat.
"New student?" she whispered, offering a bright, welcoming smile.
Klara jumped slightly at the sudden address, her fingers tightening on her notebook. She gave a small, stiff nod.
"I'm Marisa, and she's Anya," Marisa said, gesturing to the girl beside her. "What about you?"
"Klara," she replied.
The lecturer, a stern man with spectacles perched on the tip of his nose, slammed a heavy book on the podium. The sound echoed like a gunshot.
The room fell deathly quiet.
•••
The gray road stretched out, silent and desolate, as the black car sped through the outskirts of the city. Inside, the man gripped the steering wheel, a sick, predatory smile stretching across his face.
"I'm going to get you, Anya" he whispered to the empty car, his eyes gleaming with a twisted obsession. He had landed in Russia only an hour ago, and he couldn't wait to see his "favorite niece"
Suddenly, the engine sputtered. The dashboard lights flickered and died, and the car rolled to a silent, abrupt halt in the middle of the road.
"What the hell?" he hissed, turning the key frantically. Nothing.
He moved to step out, but a sudden, unnatural chill crawled up his spine. His eyes flickered to the rearview mirror. His heart stopped.
Seated calmly in the back seat was a man, a smirk on his face.
It was Nikolai.
"Who are you?" the uncle barked, his voice cracking. "I didn't remember letting you in!"
Nikolai didn't answer with words. He simply shrugged, the faint, terrifying smirk still playing on his lips. Before the man could even reach for the door handle, the world outside the windows dissolved into swirling shadows. The car vanished.
They reappeared in a cave.
"Where... where am I?" he gasped, his teeth chattering.
From the darkness, Karina emerged, her white hair glowing like a ghost in the dim light. Shadow was beside her in his cat form.
"Here’s the sacrifice," Nikolai said, stepping out of the shadows behind the man.
Karina tilted her head, her black lips curling. "Perfect for the anchoring"
"Before you begin, i need to do something first"
Nikolai stepped forward. With a sharp flick of his fingers, the man’s belt snapped and his pants and boxers were shredded away, falling to the cave floor.
The man let out a confused, terrified yelp, but it was cut short. Nikolai’s hand moved with a blur of speed, a spray of hot, crimson blood hitting the cavern wall. The man’s scream was a high-pitched, guttural sound of pure agony as he collapsed, clutching himself.
Nikolai stood over him, his silhouette towering and jagged against the cave’s weeping walls. In his hand, he held the man’s severed penis and scrotum, the raw, mangled tissue still pulsing with a dying heat. Crimson blood coated Nikolai’s fingers, dripping steadily onto the cold stone floor with a rhythmic tap... tap... tap...
The uncle’s scream had turned into a wet, pathetic gurgle. He lay curled in the dirt, his hands feebly clutching the empty, gore-slicked space between his thighs. The "instrument" he had used to terrorize a child for years was now nothing more than a piece of offal in the hands of a demon.
"You liked to use this to hurt her," Nikolai whispered, his golden eyes burning with a demonic light. "Now, you'll find a new use for it"
He threw the severed part on the dirt in front of the man's face.
"Eat it. Now" Nikolai commanded.