Chapter 97 Chapter 97
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
Irina
The shelter was not what I expected.
When we arrived, Andrei led me through a heavy metal door. The building looked old from outside.
Dark brick walls and tiny windows with bars. It looked like a prison.
"This is it?" I asked nervously.
"Yes," Andrei smiled. "My sister runs this place. You will be safe here."
A woman appeared at the entrance. She was older, maybe fifty. She had gray hair pulled back in a tight bun.
"Andrei," she greeted him warmly. "You brought someone new."
"This is Irina," Andrei introduced me. "And her baby boy."
The woman looked at me with cold eyes. But then she smiled.
"Welcome, Irina," she said. "I am Vera. Come inside."
I followed them into a long hallway. The walls were bare and painted with dull gray color. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
"This way," Vera said.
We walked past several rooms.
Through the open doors, I could see women sitting on beds. Some were reading. Others were just staring at the walls.
Something felt wrong.
The women looked... empty. Like they had no life in their eyes.
"Here," Vera stopped at a door. "This will be your room."
I stepped inside. It was small with a single bed, crib in the corner and a tiny bathroom.
"It is not much," Vera said. "But it is clean."
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"Dinner is at six," Vera continued. "Breakfast at seven. Lunch at noon."
"Okay," I nodded.
"We have rules here," Vera said firmly. "You can't leave the building without permission. You can't make phone calls. You can't accept visitors."
"Why?" I asked.
"For your safety," Vera explained. "The men you are running from... they cannot find you here."
That made sense. But something still felt off.
"I will leave you to settle in," Vera said. Then she looked at Andrei. "Come. We need to talk."
They left me alone.
I laid my baby in the crib. He was still sleeping peacefully.
"We are safe now," I whispered to him. "Everything will be okay."
I sat on the bed. It was hard and uncomfortable. Nothing like Dimitri's soft mattresses.
Stop thinking about Dimitri, I told myself.
A knock came at the door.
"Yes?" I called.
A young woman entered. She was maybe twenty years old. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. And she was heavily pregnant.
"Hi," she said shyly. "I am Katya. I brought you some clothes." She held out a pile of folded fabric.
"Thank you," I said, taking them from her hand.
"How far along are you?" I asked, looking at her belly.
"Eight months," Katya replied.
"Oh," I said. "Congratulations."
"Yes," she said quietly.
I changed into the new clothes. It was simple gray pants and a white shirt. They fit well enough. Then I changed my baby into fresh clothes too. They had given me everything I needed. Diapers, formula and baby clothes.
Maybe this place was not so bad after all.
At six o'clock, a bell rang.
I picked up my baby and walked to the dining hall.
About twenty women were there. Most of them were young. And more than half of them were pregnant.
That was strange.
This was supposed to be a shelter for abused women. Why were so many of them pregnant?
Maybe they all arrived pregnant, I thought. Maybe they were all running from the fathers of their babies.
But something about it felt wrong.
I sat at an empty table. The food was simple. Soup and bread.
I ate quickly because I was starving.
"Is it good?" A voice asked.
I looked up. Andrei was sitting across from me.
"Yes," I said. "Thank you again for helping me."
"Of course," Andrei smiled.
"When are you leaving?" I asked.
"Soon," Andrei said. "I just want to make sure you are settled first."
"I am settled," I assured him.
"Good," Andrei said. But he did not get up to leave.
He stayed through dinner, talking to the women like he knew them well.
He laughed with them, asked about their days and touched their shoulders gently.
But something about it made me uncomfortable.
After dinner, I returned to my room. I fed my baby and rocked him to sleep.
The bed was not comfortable but I was so exhausted that I thought I would sleep anyway.
But I could not.
Hours passed. The shelter grew quiet.
I looked at my baby sleeping in his crib. His tiny chest was rising and falling steadily.
"My little fighter," I whispered and kissed his forehead gently. I tucked the blanket around him more securely.
Then I stood up.
I walked quietly into the corridor. The lights were dimmed now. Most of the doors were closed.
I needed to think of a solution. I wouldn't want my son to grow up in a place like this.
I walked slowly, trying not to make any sound.
Then I heard something.
A faint sound. Like metal slicing something.
Maybe someone was in the kitchen. Maybe one of the pregnant women had a craving and was cutting fruit.
I kept walking towards the sound.
The corridor seemed longer in the darkness. My bare feet were cold against the tile floor.
The slicing sound grew louder.
Then I saw a door at the end of the hall. Light was streaming from underneath.
I walked closer. My heart started racing.
Something felt very wrong.
I reached the door. My hand was shaking as I leaned closer.
There was a keyhole. I could see through it. I pressed my eye against the cold metal.
And my blood froze.
Andrei was inside the room. He was wearing a white lab coat now. The coat was covered in blood. The glove he was wearing was covered in blood.
The blood was fresh and much.
He was standing at a metal table. His back was to me. His hands were moving.
He was cutting something.
Something that looked like… Oh God.
It was meat. But not animal meat.
I could see intestines piled on a tray to the side. The sickening smell of blood and flesh hit me.
I covered my mouth so I would not scream.
Andrei was humming softly as he worked. Like he was enjoying himself.
He picked up something like a liver.
He examined it carefully under a bright light. Then he placed it in a cooler filled with ice.
My legs were shaking. My whole b
ody was trembling.
What was this place?
This was not a shelter. This was something worse.
I needed to leave this place. I needed to get my son and leave.
I stepped back from the door, careful not to make a sound.
But my foot hit something. A bucket that was left in the hall. The light was dim, I hadn't seen it there.
It made a loud clang.
I froze.
Inside the room, the slicing sound stopped.
And I heard footsteps coming towards the door.