NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Into the Depths of the Unknown
The Russian sky that night was cloaked in thick clouds, obscuring its stars. The wind was not as Irina usually felt it—gentle and innocent. Instead, it howled with icy ferocity, whispering secrets that filled her heart with unease.
Despite this, she walked with hesitant steps toward Dmitri's house, a place she had never seen before. The address he sent was not in the city but in a deserted suburb filled with old houses and fields blanketed in a thin layer of frozen snow.
Irina (thinking): "Why does he want to meet me here? This place... it feels as if it exists outside the world."
Everything around her was eerily silent, so much so that even her breath seemed to disrupt the fragile stillness. Only the faint moonlight illuminated the shadows of the tall trees cast upon the ground.
Finally, the house appeared before her. It was an old structure, two stories high, with a weathered wooden façade and heavy curtains drawn over the windows. It seemed to carry unspoken memories within its walls.
She pushed the slightly ajar front door, the creak of its hinges echoing like an unwelcome announcement of her arrival. Inside, the atmosphere was even more enigmatic—dim light from a candelabra on the table and the scent of aged wood pervading the air.
Irina (looking around): "Dmitri? Are you here?"
There was no response, only the growing weight of silence.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned quickly to find Dmitry standing there, his face as stoic as ever, his dark eyes brimming with an unfathomable intensity.
Dmitri (calmly): "I knew you would come."
Irina (her voice trembling): "I had no choice... Why did you bring me here?"
He smiled faintly, but it was a smile laden with mystery.
Dmitri (whispering): "Because some things can only be spoken in places like this—where there is nothing but darkness and silence."
Dmitri sat on an old wooden chair while Irina stood, hesitant. He gestured for her to sit, but she remained rooted in place.
Dmitri (his voice deep): "Irina, do you know why we are here?"
Irina (with restrained anger): "I'm here because you asked me to. But I don't understand what you want from me, Dmitri. Everything between us is so vague, so incomprehensible."
He moved toward her suddenly, leaving no space for retreat. He grasped her hand, his touch cold yet brimming with strength.
Dmitri (calmly): "You know what I want, Irina. I want you to see the truth—to understand that I am unlike anyone else."
Irina (in a tense tone): "But what does that mean? You speak as if you're hiding something from me."
He perched on the edge of the table, his gaze a mix of sorrow and madness.
Dmitri (whispering): "Love, Irina... it's not what everyone thinks. True love is dark, complex; it ensnares us, leaving no escape. And I... I love you, I love you...
His words echoed in the room like a haunting melody on an endless loop. The refrain of Massive Attack lyrics etched themselves into her soul, as though inscribed upon her heart.
Irina (thinking): "This man... he is both a curse and a paradise. How can I run from him? And how can I stay by his side?"
Dmitri extended his hand to her cheek, then whispered something in her ear, a cryptic phrase she could not fully decipher. His words were like a cipher yet to be unraveled.
Dmitri (in a deep voice): "The darkness is within me, but you are the only light that allows me to see. Irina, don't let me lose my way."
Before she could respond, he retreated into the shadows once more, leaving her alone in the cold, unfamiliar house.
Irina (thinking): "Dmitri... what do you want from me? And why does my heart refuse to stop pounding every time I see you?"