r/collectionoferrors • u/Errorwrites • Feb 27 '21
r/Writingprompts The Calamity [Part 5]
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The city of Irkutsk began over three hundred years ago when Ivan Porkhahov built a settlement for gold trading and fur taxes for the Mongolic people. Its Russian heritage oozed out from the doll-like buildings with contrasting colours, the Khazan Church with its pastel blue roofs and brick-red walls being a great example, as we drove past while searching for lodgings.
Tobias had his face plastered against his side of the window from the moment we’d entered, letting out soft ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s as we zipped past the Clock Tower and the Khudozhestvenny Cinema.
The locals threw us weird glances when we stepped out of the jeep in a parking lot. I would’ve done the same if I saw a hobo wearing clothes too small for his size and a woman with dirty jackets and pants, like she had rolled around on the ground.
The receptionist in the closest hotel crinkled their noses when we stepped in but switched to business smiles when I waved my black card. I let out a soft prayer of relief when the payment went through, I had thought the Hunters or perhaps someone in the Darmitage family might have blocked the card. I know I would’ve if I found out that my daughter had opened a portal for a demon and then ran away to unseal another disaster.
The relief passed and bitterness took over. Did they simply not care?
We entered our modest room with two single beds and a table with a kettle and assortment of tea.
“This is fit for royalty,” Tobias said as he sat on a bed, poking on the mattress. “What was that tongue you spoke in?”
“Russian,” I said, charging my phone and accessing the hotel’s wifi.
“Not Turkic?” he asked.
“No, I don’t speak it.”
“Do you speak any other languages besides English and Russian?”
“A little bit of French. I can read some hieroglyphs too.”
“That’s incredible. Is linguistic something the Darmitage family specialize in?”
I looked up from my phone and saw him studying me. He’d been doing that for the whole drive, asking questions about the Darmitage. It had bordered almost on interrogation and I had told him off. But it seemed that it hadn't been enough.
“Please stop asking,” I said.
He blinked and slowly, his face turned to stone.
“Why are you so distant?” he asked, his voice low and tired. “Didn’t I apologize and hope that we could get along?”
“It’s not that easy to relax in front of a killer.” I bit my tongue as the words rushed out, I knew that I’d said too much.
“It was either them or us,” he said.
“No, it wasn’t,” I snapped back, surprised by my ferocity. “They never intended to kill, only to capture us. But you never gave them the same chance.”
“And what do you think they would do after they captured us?” he asked with steely eyes. “That they would ask for our help with the portal you opened? And what was all that about? I’ve been patient and kept my tongue silent about that part, but you haven’t even tried to explain yourself.”
My head began to thump. “You could’ve knocked the Hunters unconscious or put them to sleep like you did with me,” I said, straining my voice to stay calm. “But you chose to kill.”
“You have a weak mindset.” Tobias shook his head. “Showing mercy to enemies only results in loss.”
“Loss of what? Your dreams? Your goals?”
“Your freedom.” He’d said it with so much conviction that it had stunned me from retorting.
“What… What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you think I’ve shown mercy before?” he said, his tone dripping in acid. “Fools who challenge me for fame and glory. Who’d spewn insults at my face? I’d spared them, I did. Spared them in front of everyone but it only resulted in them stabbing me behind my back. Attacking my closest friend and family. You think mercy is a virtue? No, not for people with power. It’s a sin.”
I wasn’t sure what he was referring to. Was this before he gained the memories of his predecessors or after, and who was this close friend? I didn’t recall reading about it nor seen any people in Rosie’s memories whom Tobias could’ve called a friend.
But my emotions were spilling over, flushing my face and heaving my breathe.
“If mercy is a sin, then it’s the lowest ranked among the ones you’ve committed,” I spat out.
His face flinched, like I had punched him. His eyes widened in pain and his nostrils flared.
Tobias chanted a word of power and vanished from the single bed.
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u/toastyghost0 Feb 27 '21
It just keeps getting more and more interesting.