Polar (Prequel): The Turnagain Arm (3 page)

“So you’re upset because he’s learned it more quickly than you did?”

Vasyl turned onto his side and faced his wife. “Do you really take me for that big of a fool? Am I that petty?”

Lara caressed her husband’s cheek with her hand. “You are petty when it comes to this young man, darling. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. He’s done nothing to deserve your hostility.”

Vasyl returned to his back with a grimace. “So you’re as enchanted with our Russian friend as the rest of the camp seems to be.”

“I’m not enchanted with him. But the fact you would say such a thing proves my point. Why are you so jealous of this man? I’ve never known you to act this way.”

“The problem is not with me. The problem is with the rest of you. This damn Russian strolls into the camp and suddenly every last one of you seems to be under some kind of spell when he’s around. Jesus, Lara, even you stare at him like a silly schoolgirl.”

“I do not,” Lara said, an edge of anger creeping into her voice. “I treat Aleksei like I treat everyone else who’s worked for us. No different than I treated Kenneth MacNeil or any of the rest of them.”

Vasyl scoffed and stared at the wall.

“He’s a handsome young man, Vasyl, there’s no point in denying that. But I’m not under any sort of spell when I look at him. He works hard and he’s always very polite to both of us. He’s friendly to everyone who comes to the bar and he keeps their drinks filled. If people like him, that’s why. There isn’t anything more to it than that.”

“Fine, Lara. You win. I don’t care to argue with you when all I want to do is get some sleep.”

“That’s something else I like about Aleksei.”

“What? That I want to sleep?”

“No. That you can. We both can. He’s so reliable working the night shifts. He seems to like working late. I don’t mind saying I’m glad we don’t have to.”

“Christ almighty, give the man a medal already. He manages to cover the nights for two whole weeks and he’s right up there with the Lord himself.”

“So you’re saying you miss working 16 hours a day? You want to go back to that, do you?”

“Don’t put words into my mouth. MacNeil was working the nights for us too, you forget that?”

“MacNeil was drunk as often as not when he showed up for work. Perhaps you’re forgetting that.”

Vasyl raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Enough, Lara. I don’t want to fight with you. Aleksei Nechayev is the best thing that ever happened to either one of us. I thank God every day that he walked into our saloon looking for work.”

Lara couldn’t keep the grin out of her voice. “I’m glad you’re finally talking sense.”

Vasyl chuckled and shook his head. He reached forward and put his palm on his wife’s belly. “We’ve got more important things to worry about than Aleksei Nechayev, yeah? How’s the little one?”

“He’s fine, I’m sure.”

“I think he’s a she.”

“You want a little girl?”

Vasyl leaned in and kissed his wife’s nose. “A little Lara? Why wouldn’t I? Now let’s stop fighting over that damn Russian and sleep. I want to be sure you get your rest.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Vasyl. I’m not the first woman to have a baby.”

“No but I know you worry yourself, love. A baby at our age, it’s crazy, isn’t it?”

Lara smiled and leaned forward to kiss Vasyl. “It is. But we’ll be fine. Good night, darling.”

“Good night, love.”

Vasyl rolled over onto his side and waited to hear the slow deep breathing that indicated his wife had fallen asleep. He was worried about her getting enough rest and, while she hated to be pampered, he had wanted to treat her like a princess since he’d first learned she was pregnant.

It seemed impossible, after so many years of marriage and no children to show for it, but he was starting to believe that their dream of a family together was finally going to come true.

Vasyl had met Lara while he was still working on the railroad himself. After coming to Alaska from Siberia, the early railroad construction was the natural choice for him to look for work. He’d found Lara working a waffle tent outside of Seward. She’d come to Alaska from Washington state after her parents and siblings had died of consumption and had used her extraordinary cooking skills to collaborate with another woman and set up a traveling restaurant.

Lara was the best baker Vasyl had ever met and he’d never tasted anything as good as her waffles. He had lined up each morning with the rest of the camp workers for her delicious breakfast fare and hot coffee. One morning Vasyl had locked eyes with Lara as she handed him his plate, and he’d been in love with her ever since. After he’d confided in her about his plans to open his own saloon and stop working on the rails the two had pooled their money at the same time they’d exchanged marriage vows and opened the saloon together.

While the saloon was hard work, Vasyl had never been happier than he was with Lara. And now they were finally going to complete their family and have a little one to love. Perhaps that was why he felt so uneasy about the Russian bartender who seemed to be the perfect employee. His anxiety over Lara and his unborn baby had left him paranoid.

But in his heart, Vasyl knew it was more than that. Regardless of whether anyone else could see it, he knew there was something off about Aleksei Nechayev. The arrival of the Russian had dredged up memories that Vasyl had long buried. Not even Lara knew of the secrets Vasyl kept about his family back in the Ukraine. He’d put all that behind him when he’d taken the job working on the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. But now Nechayev had brought it back to him again.

Vasyl didn’t want his past to darken his present here in Alaska. But he also didn’t want to turn a blind eye to Nechayev. If push came to shove, he’d do whatever it took to protect his family and the life he’d worked so hard to build. He only hoped Lara would understand why he’d kept his secrets if it ever came to that.

He turned onto his back and stared at the canvas ceiling of his bedroom. He could hear the sounds of Nechayev manning the bar below him. The howls of drunken men as they regaled each other with tall tales of their various adventures before the rail. The flirtatious laughter of the whores as they set their sights on their tricks for the night.

All seemed well in his beloved Turnagain Arm. Vasyl would make sure it stayed that way.

Aleksei wiped down the bar with a wet towel while he watched Rebecca out of the corner of his eye. He had felt her sullen, accusing eyes on him all evening, just as he did each night he worked. He had hoped she would get over her obsession with him as more time passed, but it was clearly not to be.

In truth, Aleksei had known from the second he’d walked into the Turnagain Arm saloon and the wretched woman had assaulted him with her incomprehensible ranting that he’d need to get rid of her. The saloon was turning out to be a better opportunity than he’d ever imagined, and there was no chance in hell that he would allow her to make things difficult for him. He would have preferred to ignore her, as he had no use for whores and didn’t see her as worthy prey, but Rebecca had left him no choice. At least she would be an easy kill.

He smiled at the few remaining patrons in the bar and clapped his hands to get their attention.

“Time to close up now, gentlemen.” He turned towards Rebecca and gave her his best smile. “And ladies too, of course.”

“Please take your leave,” Aleksei said as he returned his attention towards the room at large. “Mr. and Mrs. Dzubenko will have breakfast for you bright and early in the morning.”

Aleksei stood stock still and kept his smile tight as the drunken men stumbled from the saloon without an argument. It hadn’t taken Aleksei more than one night to convince them that arguing with him was not a good idea. Even drunk fools could understand the menace behind his glare when he chose to show it.

“I wish you all good night,” he called out to the backs of the men.

The sound of a glass slamming onto the bar caught his attention. He didn’t need to look to know it was Rebecca.

“I must ask you to take your leave as well, ma’am,” he said.

“You can ask all you want. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna do it.”

“I think you will.”

Rebecca leaned towards him and allowed her hefty breasts to dangle against the bar in front of her. Aleksei snarled, unable to mask his distaste.

“Everybody here thinks you’re something special, don’t they?” she asked, her speech slurred with drink. “But I know you’re not. I know what you are.”

“And what is it that you think I am?”

“A monster.”

A surprised Aleksei took an involuntary step back. “What did you say?”

“I said you’re a monster. You murdered Kenneth and took his job, I know it.”

“Ah, Mr. MacNeil. That’s what this is about.”

“Yeah, that’s what this is about.” Rebecca pointed her finger at Aleksei’s face. “You know what I’ve noticed about you? You never drink yourself. Why is that?”

“I don’t drink while I’m working. I should think that would be obvious.”

“Seems funny to me. You working here in a bar and all.” Rebecca stood up straight and squared her shoulders. “I’m watching you. You just remember that.”

“I certainly will. And may I say I miss the days when I couldn’t understand your language, ma’am.”

Rebecca scowled and turned away. She stumbled out of the bar, leaving Aleksei alone at last.

“Nothing like peace and quiet,” he said.

He finished cleaning the bar quickly, no longer bothering to hide his speedy movements now that he was alone. He wanted to find Rebecca before she found a fellow drunk idiot to be her companion for the night.

Aleksei blew out the gaslights that dimly lit the saloon and slid out into the chilly night. His ears picked up the sound of Rebecca’s booze-filled laughter coming from the direction of one of the camp barracks. No mystery as to what she was looking for there.

Aleksei followed the sound, feeling his skin tingle with anticipation at the upcoming kill. In the months since becoming a vampire, he had experimented with the sheer joy that came with taunting his prey. Like the cat who pretends to be letting the mouse escape, only to shoot a paw forward at the last second, trapping the doomed creature by its tail. Aleksei had always admired felines for their grace, their cunning, and their indifference to human beings. Traits he was now thrilled to emulate.

He caught sight of Rebecca and darted through the trees to stand behind the trunk of one she had yet to pass. She was merely a few steps away from the barracks when he stepped out in front of her, blocking her path and staring down into her puzzled face.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Get out of my way, Nechayev.”

Aleksei grabbed Rebecca’s arm and pulled her into the trees. “I don’t think so, Rebecca.” He used his other hand to cover her mouth and stifle her protests. “And don’t think I’m going to give you the chance to scream either.”

Rebecca managed only mumbled garbs under the grip of Aleksei’s hand. He pushed her against the trunk of the tree and tore a sleeve from her ratty coat.

“Now I won’t need to have my hand on your filthy mouth,” he said as he gagged Rebecca with the material. His euphoria grew as Rebecca whimpered and her terrified face erupted in tears and snot.

“Do you know how tired I am of you staring at me? Do you?”

Aleksei shook Rebecca and tossed her to the foot of the tree.

“How sick I am of your accusations and your threats?”

He fell to his knees, straddling her body and pinning her to the ground.

“You know what though? You were right about me. I did kill your boyfriend MacNeil. I took his coat from his body after I killed him and tossed him into the Cook Inlet. The same place I’m going to toss you.”

Rebecca screamed into her gag and tried unsuccessfully to wiggle out of Aleksei’s grasp.

“You can’t get away from me, whore. You’re wasting your time trying.”

As he watched the pathetic figure writhing beneath him Aleksei’s contempt intensified. He no longer wanted to play with her. He only wanted to quiet her and stop her pitiful machinations.

“Remember how you called me a monster, Rebecca?” Aleksei bared his fangs and watched his victim’s eyes widen as her terror increased tenfold. “You were right.”

Aleksei leaned forward and sunk his teeth into Rebecca’s neck. He fell into a state of ecstasy as he drained her blood and felt her jerky movements slow and taper off to nothing as her body grew still beneath him.

Sated, Aleksei stood up and kicked Rebecca’s body out from under him. He leaned his weight against the tree and worked to compose himself while he licked the remains of Rebecca’s blood from his lips.

Since he had come to the Dzubenko saloon Aleksei had been venturing off to one of the neighboring rail camps each night to hunt. He hadn’t wanted to arouse the suspicion that would surely come with disappearing workers so soon after arriving in the camp. But this kill tonight reminded him of the unmatched thrill that came with choosing a human he knew as his prey.

There was nothing quite like the moment when his victims saw Aleksei’s fangs for the first time and realized he was not a fellow human being. He thought of the camp workers in the saloon and nearly giggled imagining how they would look when they were hit with the terrifying fact that the Aleksei who poured them drinks each night was not quite as he appeared to be.

Aleksei reached down for Rebecca’s lifeless body and tossed the corpse over his shoulder. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he would throw her in Cook Inlet. He had no intention of leaving bodies lying around for other workers to find.

He made the short trek to the inlet in record time and tossed Rebecca’s body into the dark churning water.

“Maybe I did you a favor. You can be reunited with Kenneth now.”

Aleksei watched as the body sunk from sight and turned to make his way back towards the Potter Creek camp he was suddenly very happy to call home. He glanced up at the moon, now full in the black ink sky, and laughed.

“Folks are disappearing around here, Mr. Dzubenko. Everybody’s noticed it.”