Nikita

[FLASHBACK]

The project looks easier now that I'm alone, but the feeling of worry doesn't leave me. Instead, I spend the next hour thinking about what it would be like if I actually gave in and traveled with everyone today. Maybe I would get the excitement that Raisa had every time we set out on a trip. I want to study, but nothing is making sense.

My eyes are looking at the book while my mind is focused on the phone next to me. They should almost be arriving now. I know Pablo is a good pilot, and he will take care of the family. After all, he has been with us for several years now.

My intuition is never wrong.

Something is not good with everything, and as much as I want to continue denying it, I know I just can't anymore. I get up from my comfy chair, which for the past hour had been feeling like thorns on my buŧŧ, and head to my dad's study room.

I know this is something I shouldn't do, but I need to understand how they are doing. Mom would probably laugh at me because of my anxiety right now, but that's something she can do later when I have confirmed they are all okay. My dad's study room feels lonely, like he will never be in here again.

I shake that thought because I really need to be steady and think straight. I can't shake the uneasy feeling, though. And for the first time since the family gatherings, I feel like I should really have gone with them.

My parents should have already reached my grandparents right now because the flight is usually two hours and it's almost two hours. They should be at the airport or something, considering Pablo and my dad think alike.

The telephone on dad's desk is as old as time yet still very functional. Dialing the keys, I make the call I never once thought I would ever make. I bet my grandparents would be wondering too.

I feel like I'm dying.

I can't breathe, and maybe that's a good thing, but I need to know what's wrong. Everything feels off, and this just confirms it.

One more time, I tell myself as I call again.

One last time, then I'll call the police, I convince myself because there's probably a chance that I am overthinking again.

My parents are okay.

Raisa, Yuri, Ren, they are all okay; they have to be okay. I mean, nothing can go wrong, right. Everything feels like shit when I sit on the floor of the study room. I know my project is almost halfway done, but that's because I started with the easy bits. The hard part will take longer, but why can't I get up and finish it?

One last time, I make the eighteenth call, and luckily for me, someone picks up.

"Pavlenko household, how can I help you?" a woman asks, and I know that voice; it belongs to Alyona, grandpa's servant.

Her thick Russian accent is attractive to an extent, and I wish I had it, but my family is my most significant concern for now. I need to know if I'm just being paranoid because as crazy as it sounds, my paranoia will make me feel better if it's all just paranoia without any truths bound to it.

I know I'm lying through my teeth, but this woman right here is my only hope because I'm just a few minutes from going crazy. I really need answers with every minute that passes, but I cannot let her know how desperate I am. So I wait like it's the best thing that can ever happen to a highly impatient human like me, but who's checking anyway.

"Oh dear, Master Pavlenko and the madam have already left to go to the private airstrip. I think they will be here soon. Don't worry, dear. I will tell them to call you as soon as they get home. Stay safe." Alyona tells me, and I swear I want to jump her on the phone.

I look at dad's computer in front of me, and I know it's unethical for me to conduct a hack from his ŀȧptop, but I have no choice. Maybe I do, but I really don't care about that right now.

Inputting his password, I opened a terminal I had put without his knowledge. I check the internet connection, and it's stable as always. This shouldn't be hard; I mean, I just want to illegally access the BlackBox and the footage from my family's plane.

It is my family, so it really isn't illegal as such. Maybe telling myself that will make the hack easier. I mean, technically, I am just looking out for my family.

One foot in front of the other, I make the steps to close the study door because no one should know what I'm doing in here. For all they know, I'm just a doctor, one who is so introverted, but they can't use that against me.

It really helps that no one expects me, Mykolajki Pavlenko, to be a tech guru, though I think my parents have always known that. I attempt to close the door, and just before it finally slams shut, Natalya lets out a high-pitched scream.

Everything I planned on doing is on pause because the lady is too old to defend herself if the person in the house is an intruder. Forgetting about my mission, I rush to check on her because I care and because she has always been a friendly human. Nice people deserve nice things.

I rush to her, but instead of focusing on me, she is focused on the television, and what I see makes me want to die right at that moment.