- TNP Nation
- Lotion Empire
Alexei laid back on his stool, looking toward a TV attached to the ceiling. He was the manager of the bar.
Although he heard a quiet, ticking sound coming from the room this day, he decided to ignore it. Usually, he’d be busy giving drinks to any newcomer to the bar or continuing to provide drinks to the unfortunate, drinking their poor lives off and getting into fights. But today seemed like a peaceful night, helped by that smell he was all too familiar with.
He focused more on the TV and began listening.
A man dressed in formal attire was facing forwards with a blue background behind him, with the logo of the news corporation in the top right.
“We’re coming to you live from the Residential Baystate Hospital in Novyy Gorod, where a recently reported attack occurred.”
He turned to the side of the camera. “Sasha, please tell the story.”
The screen then split to the man and a woman facing the camera. Behind her was a burning building. Alexei could distinctly see firefighters rushing to put out the fire with not much success. It filled him with goosebumps just seeing the significant smoke.
Sasha spoke. “Not much information has been given, but we know that this attack, among other recent ones in the city, has been claimed by the Chernobog Gate. A cult that once ruled this very nation a few years ago, but after the civil war and the victory of the Black League, it’s thought they disappeared after their leader Istina was executed. Some theorize a potential reemergence of the cul-”
The screen then began flickering and glitching out. With an ominous image of the emblem of the Chernobog Gate and words written right below. “Back.”
Alexei felt his skin turn pale. Sudden images of the events he witnessed long ago appeared in his head. He lived during those times and could remember what happened.
Suddenly he heard someone talk behind him that snapped him out of it.
“I hear you have unpaid debt?”
Alexei looked up. The bar was the same as before, with the TV shut off and the men chatting and drinking. In front of him was a skinny man dressed formally.
Alexei decided to put his mind off what had happened with the TV. He said, “What’d you say?”
“The people I work for tell me you have an unpaid debt.”
Alexei raised his eyebrows. He was perplexed.
“No, I don’t owe debt to anyone. Why? You’re part of the mob or somethin’?”
Something felt off about this man. He looked at him for a moment and could feel the back of his hair stand up from his emotionless, cold stare.
For some reason, he heard a ticking noise near him. Maybe it was the clocks he had; they were loud randomly. And with what happened recently, perhaps he didn’t notice.
“Formerly. I run with people who want to do better things than just rob people blind.”
Alexei slowly stood up from his stool. “Is that why you came to me asking if I had debt?”
The man shook his head.
“I don’t even know who you are. Get out of here. Now.”
Alexei could feel that the man in front of him was trouble.
“If I may, I can interest you in something you’d like to see.”
“No. Out.”
Alexei could’ve sworn that the man’s stare was filled with hatred. Instead of turning around, the man placed a large briefcase between them on top of the counter.
“I’d be willing to give you money to repay that debt, so the mob doesn’t come after you. I work with the Department of Internal Affairs.”
Alexei opened his mouth to yell but stopped himself. He looked down at the briefcase. The ticking sound was continuing, but at a similar volume.
The man turned down to begin opening the briefcase. Within a few moments, the briefcase opened straight open. The man turned the case around, revealing a neatly organized stack of money.
He was shocked by the sight. Alexei could’ve sworn that it was more money than he’d seen in his entire life. He could repay his debt and maybe even future generations' worth of debt.
The man looked toward Alexei. “You can check for yourself if it's real.”
Alexei turned to the man. He could feel his left eye tear up, and his heart beat alongside the ticking sound. He struggled to say a thank you to the man.
He grabbed one of the stacks of banknotes and observed it. It was undoubtedly genuine. He’d seen fake banknotes before, and this looked more real than anything he’d seen.
He turned to the briefcase. There seemed to be a large black object underneath the money. Maybe there wasn’t as much then he thought.
He placed the stack right next to the briefcase and began moving the piles of cash. As he looked into the briefcase, it started to reveal an object, but he had no idea what it was.
When he finally moved one of the center stacks, he realized what it was. To his horror, right before him was a bomb prepped to blow in 6 seconds.
He turned to the man in front of him. He still had the cold stare that petrified him.
The man spoke.
“Istina sends his regards.”
The bus was 20 minutes behind schedule.
Rain was pouring outside, but Luc was primarily dry with the cover from the top of the bus stop. He pulled back part of his sleeve as he checked his watch.
It was 10 pm. By this rate, he’d never go to his destination. He swore under his breath. He looked up at the cover and around his surroundings.
He could spot numerous closed buildings with bright neon lights through the rain. Some of the nearby shops were closed, and the few people that wandered the streets usually had umbrellas, disappearing out of sight as soon as Luc noticed them.
He laid further back on the bench. Forget it. He should’ve just walked back home instead of taking the bus. Before he could stand up and leave, someone approached the bench and sat beside him.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Luc didn’t really think to say much, but he forced himself to say something. Upon looking more toward the person, he saw it was a man wearing a large overcoat. He had a black beard and a scar going down the left side of his face
Luc said, “Hey, uh… Do you know if the bus is coming or not? If not, then-”
The man interrupted, “The bus? Yeah, it’ll arrive in around 10 minutes. They had issues with a bridge-"
As he continued talking, Luc occasionally muttered, ‘Oh, gotcha,’ ‘Oh, I see, ‘Oh, alright.’ Luc wasn’t the best at socializing, and he was nervous around most of the people around him, even if it was for illegitimate reasons. He also just wanted to hear when the bus would arrive; he didn’t care to listen to the extra details.
Eventually, the man finished talking, and with a hastily added “thank you” from Luc, the man turned to focus on a neon light across the street. There was an awkward silence between the two, with the rain becoming a background sound.
The man then broke the silence.
“Where are you heading?”
“Uh.. Home. I’m thinking of heading home, and once I get some rest… Try to head to the hospital…. What about you?”
“Hospital, eh? Out of curiosity, which one? I’m heading to a hospital too by tomorrow.”
“Residential Baystate hospital.”
“Oh? I’m also heading there.”
“Oh, cool. Any.. Any reason for it?”
“I got an old man I need to visit. Been years since I’ve talked to him, and I want to chat with him before he ends up… Well. 10 feet under. How about you?”
“I want to meet my dad.”
The man nodded.
“Say. What’s your name?”
“...Name’s Luc.”
“Well, Luc. Name’s Sila… Any reason you’re meeting your dad?”
“I.. I haven’t seen him in the past few weeks, and he needs to know what’s been happening with the family.”
“What’s been going on with your family?”
Luc looked at Sila, unsure of what to say.
“There’s no shame in speaking about what happened. It happened, after all. I’ve had plenty of issues with my family. Hell, I’ve even run off from them. This is your therapy now, c’mon.”
“My therapy?”
“Yeah. At least for the next..” Sila checked his watch. “7 minutes or so.”
“You’re like.. The least convincing person I have ever met. But, whatever.”
Luc placed his hands together as he leaned forward to reflect on when this situation started.
“My dad was unable to take care of himself.. Since I was 13 or so. Mom’s been dead for years, so the only people who could take care of him were me, my brothers, and my sisters.. I think.. I think they couldn’t take it anymore. They decided to pack up their stuff and leave. Left me with my dad now. I don’t blame them, though, even if I probably should. But it hasn’t helped that I’ve been alone my whole life—no reason for it to change. Losing my mind by all of it by the day.”
“I have a question for you.” Sila said.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Have you ever wanted a new life?”
“...Huh?”
“A new restart. No problems or issues of the past. No more ropes or thorns to constrain and hurt you. Just a clean slate to move forward, even if there is pain afterwards.”
“I.. I mean, it sounds nice, but I don’t think I follow.”
“That’s fine. Just think of the question over the next few days if you can.”
“..Alright. I guess I’ll try. What about you? You said you left your family when you were young. What exactly happened?”
Sila picked up a cigarette from his pocket and a lighter. He began to smoke. Luc could smell the odor from the smoke coming in his direction. He wasn’t too sure what Sila was trying to do. But Sila took the cigarette out of his mouth and had it between his fingers.
“My dad had a lot of pride. He was a carpenter from the east of the nation back in ‘79. He came to this city and had the task of helping to build some stuff here. And he hated it. Not because of the work but because of this city. He hated the people and ideals; this place embodied his hatred. He loved his hometown. And I guess coming to this foreign area felt like it was going against his will. But one day, he fought with a close friend. I think his name was Artyom. And this fight my dad had with Artyom broke him.”
“How’d it break him?”
Sila looked at the cigarette between his fingers.
“He lost. It killed his pride. And because of that, he became a husk filled with anger and sadness.”
Sila looked over to Luc.
Luc could see the same scar on the left side of his face.
“He beat me. He beat my mother. He beat my family. My name wasn’t Sila originally, you know. I was named after him. But even before I left, most people called me Sila, and I eventually changed it. I... I’ve had this mark of shame for most of my life.”
Sila touched around the part of the scar on his face.
“I don’t want another.”
“Why do you want to visit him, then?”
“Before I answer that question, I need to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever felt fear for most of your life?”
“No. I’ve felt fear, but for short moments. Like anyone else, I guess.”
“Well, I have. I could say that I’ve lived a troubled life. Met more people who want me butchered than I can count. But it doesn’t scare me as much as the idea that my dad was back and near me. Ready to beat me again. Y’know… Sila means strength in our language, Luc. But in other people’s languages, it can also mean reunite. And for a moment. I want to confront that fear of mine I’ve had for my whole life. I want to reunite with him before death takes him. And finally, live in the peace I wanted to live in once he finally passes.”
“I..I hope you find peace. Something like that is.. It’s awful. Just that, it’s awful.”
Sila didn’t respond. Luc wasn’t sure, but judging from his eyes, Sila was long gone. He was probably in a trance, thinking about his past.
The only sound that could be heard was the rain pouring in the background. Judging from the sound, it seemed to have gotten more intense.
“Luc?” Sila said.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for being here tonight.”
After a few minutes of waiting for the bus, it finally arrived. After the long drive, Luc was now at his house's front door. Taking out his key and placing it into the doorknob, he opened the door and entered.
It was a familiar sight over the past few days: the dark staircases, the dark room, and the dark hallway. The house was devoid of most life.
Wandering inside, he tried moving his palm around the wall to find the light switch. Finding it, he moved his palm upwards, and light suddenly shot into the room.
It was the kitchen. Parts of it were a mess, and dust was all over the floor. The tables and chairs were partially clean. There were traces of neglect for all the kitchen appliances and parts of the kitchen.
There he saw a door leading forwards. He moved towards the door and opened it. Turning on the light in that room, he saw a washing machine and a dryer.
Since his clothes weren’t just wet but also partially dirty, he placed his clothes inside the washing machine, and after placing what was necessary, he turned on the washing machine, turned off the lights, and left the room.
Closing the door, he also turned off the lights in the kitchen and moved towards the staircases.
Without thinking much, he moved toward his bedroom, and entering it, he immediately went towards the bed and landed face first. Picking himself up, he put some blankets on top of him and laid on the bed. He relaxed and felt how comfortable the bed was.
He stared at the ceiling. The same ceiling he saw the previous day. The same ceiling he had looked at throughout his entire life.
Tomorrow he’d check with his dad. Tomorrow was probably just a continuation of his loneliness.
He felt that cold feeling rise throughout his body. He talked with one person, so he at least felt happier with himself. But he was still in the same predicament. He wanted to get better. He wanted to feel better.
Although he heard a quiet, ticking sound coming from the room this day, he decided to ignore it. Usually, he’d be busy giving drinks to any newcomer to the bar or continuing to provide drinks to the unfortunate, drinking their poor lives off and getting into fights. But today seemed like a peaceful night, helped by that smell he was all too familiar with.
He focused more on the TV and began listening.
A man dressed in formal attire was facing forwards with a blue background behind him, with the logo of the news corporation in the top right.
“We’re coming to you live from the Residential Baystate Hospital in Novyy Gorod, where a recently reported attack occurred.”
He turned to the side of the camera. “Sasha, please tell the story.”
The screen then split to the man and a woman facing the camera. Behind her was a burning building. Alexei could distinctly see firefighters rushing to put out the fire with not much success. It filled him with goosebumps just seeing the significant smoke.
Sasha spoke. “Not much information has been given, but we know that this attack, among other recent ones in the city, has been claimed by the Chernobog Gate. A cult that once ruled this very nation a few years ago, but after the civil war and the victory of the Black League, it’s thought they disappeared after their leader Istina was executed. Some theorize a potential reemergence of the cul-”
The screen then began flickering and glitching out. With an ominous image of the emblem of the Chernobog Gate and words written right below. “Back.”
Alexei felt his skin turn pale. Sudden images of the events he witnessed long ago appeared in his head. He lived during those times and could remember what happened.
Suddenly he heard someone talk behind him that snapped him out of it.
“I hear you have unpaid debt?”
Alexei looked up. The bar was the same as before, with the TV shut off and the men chatting and drinking. In front of him was a skinny man dressed formally.
Alexei decided to put his mind off what had happened with the TV. He said, “What’d you say?”
“The people I work for tell me you have an unpaid debt.”
Alexei raised his eyebrows. He was perplexed.
“No, I don’t owe debt to anyone. Why? You’re part of the mob or somethin’?”
Something felt off about this man. He looked at him for a moment and could feel the back of his hair stand up from his emotionless, cold stare.
For some reason, he heard a ticking noise near him. Maybe it was the clocks he had; they were loud randomly. And with what happened recently, perhaps he didn’t notice.
“Formerly. I run with people who want to do better things than just rob people blind.”
Alexei slowly stood up from his stool. “Is that why you came to me asking if I had debt?”
The man shook his head.
“I don’t even know who you are. Get out of here. Now.”
Alexei could feel that the man in front of him was trouble.
“If I may, I can interest you in something you’d like to see.”
“No. Out.”
Alexei could’ve sworn that the man’s stare was filled with hatred. Instead of turning around, the man placed a large briefcase between them on top of the counter.
“I’d be willing to give you money to repay that debt, so the mob doesn’t come after you. I work with the Department of Internal Affairs.”
Alexei opened his mouth to yell but stopped himself. He looked down at the briefcase. The ticking sound was continuing, but at a similar volume.
The man turned down to begin opening the briefcase. Within a few moments, the briefcase opened straight open. The man turned the case around, revealing a neatly organized stack of money.
He was shocked by the sight. Alexei could’ve sworn that it was more money than he’d seen in his entire life. He could repay his debt and maybe even future generations' worth of debt.
The man looked toward Alexei. “You can check for yourself if it's real.”
Alexei turned to the man. He could feel his left eye tear up, and his heart beat alongside the ticking sound. He struggled to say a thank you to the man.
He grabbed one of the stacks of banknotes and observed it. It was undoubtedly genuine. He’d seen fake banknotes before, and this looked more real than anything he’d seen.
He turned to the briefcase. There seemed to be a large black object underneath the money. Maybe there wasn’t as much then he thought.
He placed the stack right next to the briefcase and began moving the piles of cash. As he looked into the briefcase, it started to reveal an object, but he had no idea what it was.
When he finally moved one of the center stacks, he realized what it was. To his horror, right before him was a bomb prepped to blow in 6 seconds.
He turned to the man in front of him. He still had the cold stare that petrified him.
The man spoke.
“Istina sends his regards.”
48 hours before...
The bus was 20 minutes behind schedule.
Rain was pouring outside, but Luc was primarily dry with the cover from the top of the bus stop. He pulled back part of his sleeve as he checked his watch.
It was 10 pm. By this rate, he’d never go to his destination. He swore under his breath. He looked up at the cover and around his surroundings.
He could spot numerous closed buildings with bright neon lights through the rain. Some of the nearby shops were closed, and the few people that wandered the streets usually had umbrellas, disappearing out of sight as soon as Luc noticed them.
He laid further back on the bench. Forget it. He should’ve just walked back home instead of taking the bus. Before he could stand up and leave, someone approached the bench and sat beside him.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Luc didn’t really think to say much, but he forced himself to say something. Upon looking more toward the person, he saw it was a man wearing a large overcoat. He had a black beard and a scar going down the left side of his face
Luc said, “Hey, uh… Do you know if the bus is coming or not? If not, then-”
The man interrupted, “The bus? Yeah, it’ll arrive in around 10 minutes. They had issues with a bridge-"
As he continued talking, Luc occasionally muttered, ‘Oh, gotcha,’ ‘Oh, I see, ‘Oh, alright.’ Luc wasn’t the best at socializing, and he was nervous around most of the people around him, even if it was for illegitimate reasons. He also just wanted to hear when the bus would arrive; he didn’t care to listen to the extra details.
Eventually, the man finished talking, and with a hastily added “thank you” from Luc, the man turned to focus on a neon light across the street. There was an awkward silence between the two, with the rain becoming a background sound.
The man then broke the silence.
“Where are you heading?”
“Uh.. Home. I’m thinking of heading home, and once I get some rest… Try to head to the hospital…. What about you?”
“Hospital, eh? Out of curiosity, which one? I’m heading to a hospital too by tomorrow.”
“Residential Baystate hospital.”
“Oh? I’m also heading there.”
“Oh, cool. Any.. Any reason for it?”
“I got an old man I need to visit. Been years since I’ve talked to him, and I want to chat with him before he ends up… Well. 10 feet under. How about you?”
“I want to meet my dad.”
The man nodded.
“Say. What’s your name?”
“...Name’s Luc.”
“Well, Luc. Name’s Sila… Any reason you’re meeting your dad?”
“I.. I haven’t seen him in the past few weeks, and he needs to know what’s been happening with the family.”
“What’s been going on with your family?”
Luc looked at Sila, unsure of what to say.
“There’s no shame in speaking about what happened. It happened, after all. I’ve had plenty of issues with my family. Hell, I’ve even run off from them. This is your therapy now, c’mon.”
“My therapy?”
“Yeah. At least for the next..” Sila checked his watch. “7 minutes or so.”
“You’re like.. The least convincing person I have ever met. But, whatever.”
Luc placed his hands together as he leaned forward to reflect on when this situation started.
“My dad was unable to take care of himself.. Since I was 13 or so. Mom’s been dead for years, so the only people who could take care of him were me, my brothers, and my sisters.. I think.. I think they couldn’t take it anymore. They decided to pack up their stuff and leave. Left me with my dad now. I don’t blame them, though, even if I probably should. But it hasn’t helped that I’ve been alone my whole life—no reason for it to change. Losing my mind by all of it by the day.”
“I have a question for you.” Sila said.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Have you ever wanted a new life?”
“...Huh?”
“A new restart. No problems or issues of the past. No more ropes or thorns to constrain and hurt you. Just a clean slate to move forward, even if there is pain afterwards.”
“I.. I mean, it sounds nice, but I don’t think I follow.”
“That’s fine. Just think of the question over the next few days if you can.”
“..Alright. I guess I’ll try. What about you? You said you left your family when you were young. What exactly happened?”
Sila picked up a cigarette from his pocket and a lighter. He began to smoke. Luc could smell the odor from the smoke coming in his direction. He wasn’t too sure what Sila was trying to do. But Sila took the cigarette out of his mouth and had it between his fingers.
“My dad had a lot of pride. He was a carpenter from the east of the nation back in ‘79. He came to this city and had the task of helping to build some stuff here. And he hated it. Not because of the work but because of this city. He hated the people and ideals; this place embodied his hatred. He loved his hometown. And I guess coming to this foreign area felt like it was going against his will. But one day, he fought with a close friend. I think his name was Artyom. And this fight my dad had with Artyom broke him.”
“How’d it break him?”
Sila looked at the cigarette between his fingers.
“He lost. It killed his pride. And because of that, he became a husk filled with anger and sadness.”
Sila looked over to Luc.
Luc could see the same scar on the left side of his face.
“He beat me. He beat my mother. He beat my family. My name wasn’t Sila originally, you know. I was named after him. But even before I left, most people called me Sila, and I eventually changed it. I... I’ve had this mark of shame for most of my life.”
Sila touched around the part of the scar on his face.
“I don’t want another.”
“Why do you want to visit him, then?”
“Before I answer that question, I need to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever felt fear for most of your life?”
“No. I’ve felt fear, but for short moments. Like anyone else, I guess.”
“Well, I have. I could say that I’ve lived a troubled life. Met more people who want me butchered than I can count. But it doesn’t scare me as much as the idea that my dad was back and near me. Ready to beat me again. Y’know… Sila means strength in our language, Luc. But in other people’s languages, it can also mean reunite. And for a moment. I want to confront that fear of mine I’ve had for my whole life. I want to reunite with him before death takes him. And finally, live in the peace I wanted to live in once he finally passes.”
“I..I hope you find peace. Something like that is.. It’s awful. Just that, it’s awful.”
Sila didn’t respond. Luc wasn’t sure, but judging from his eyes, Sila was long gone. He was probably in a trance, thinking about his past.
The only sound that could be heard was the rain pouring in the background. Judging from the sound, it seemed to have gotten more intense.
“Luc?” Sila said.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for being here tonight.”
After a few minutes of waiting for the bus, it finally arrived. After the long drive, Luc was now at his house's front door. Taking out his key and placing it into the doorknob, he opened the door and entered.
It was a familiar sight over the past few days: the dark staircases, the dark room, and the dark hallway. The house was devoid of most life.
Wandering inside, he tried moving his palm around the wall to find the light switch. Finding it, he moved his palm upwards, and light suddenly shot into the room.
It was the kitchen. Parts of it were a mess, and dust was all over the floor. The tables and chairs were partially clean. There were traces of neglect for all the kitchen appliances and parts of the kitchen.
There he saw a door leading forwards. He moved towards the door and opened it. Turning on the light in that room, he saw a washing machine and a dryer.
Since his clothes weren’t just wet but also partially dirty, he placed his clothes inside the washing machine, and after placing what was necessary, he turned on the washing machine, turned off the lights, and left the room.
Closing the door, he also turned off the lights in the kitchen and moved towards the staircases.
Without thinking much, he moved toward his bedroom, and entering it, he immediately went towards the bed and landed face first. Picking himself up, he put some blankets on top of him and laid on the bed. He relaxed and felt how comfortable the bed was.
He stared at the ceiling. The same ceiling he saw the previous day. The same ceiling he had looked at throughout his entire life.
Tomorrow he’d check with his dad. Tomorrow was probably just a continuation of his loneliness.
He felt that cold feeling rise throughout his body. He talked with one person, so he at least felt happier with himself. But he was still in the same predicament. He wanted to get better. He wanted to feel better.
And he wanted a new life.
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