I needed to kill him. Philip deserved to die. The solution, so elegant, so simple, should have been obvious to me from the start. From the day I decided to avenge Mama’s death. But I’d been too young, too timid, too shy. I didn’t have the Count helping me. Now I did. I felt strong and powerful. Blood for blood. Eye for an eye. Phil took a life, and he would pay for it with his own.

How would I kill Philip? Now, that was easy. Of course, with a knife. How else? In all the video games, whenever it came to something personal, the knife was the answer. There was no other way. It had to be personal and clean. I had to get close to him. To stare him in the eyes as I did it. I pictured Philip’s face, contorted in horror of what’s to come. I would cut his throat.

A knife. The perfect solution. I would use my grandfather’s knife. The one Mama brought with her from Russia. The knife that had my name engraved on it. Rodion Likharev. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

The second I had a plan, I felt incredible relief. It was the feeling of a heavy weight lifting off my shoulders. Revenge, I knew, had been weighing on my mind. That was the thing preventing me from living a full and happy life. Once I killed Philip and avenged Mama, I would be free. I made a mental checklist of everything I’d need to do, and the top of the list was location. I had to find the perfect location to cut his throat. A place where Philip went alone, where I wouldn’t be caught, where he wouldn’t expect an attack and where no one would ever suspect me.

I had a new purpose in life. When I walked, I felt a spring in my step. I thought of where I could find Philip alone.

“Hey, Rodion, how was your weekend?” Kate asked me when I got to the Lab on Monday.

“My weekend was perfect, thank you.” I said and meant it. She gave me a curious look but didn’t say anything else.

My check-up with Dr. Matucci was that afternoon, and I planned on consulting with the Count after, but the second I turned on the screen, I saw the green letters.

Welcome, Rodion.

“Hi, just get to it. I figured out what I need you to do.”

At your service.

“Teach me how to use a hunting knife.”

I can help you with that. A full page of instructions popped up on the screen.

“I meant really teach me.”

You mean with Ryder?

“Yes.”

I see. Give me a moment while I review your request.

The image of the count froze, and all I saw was the green cursor flashing on the screen. I almost dozed off, but then it blinked and a message appeared.

Done. You and Ryder will now be training in using a hunting knife.

The next moment, the screen with the count disappeared, and there was Ryder. My double. My digital twin. With relief, I saw him holding a hunting knife in his right hand. Ryder lifted it and gave me a wink. He and I started practicing, going through the movements. The task was different from oxygen deprivation. It required a high level of dexterity. Ryder jumped up and down, maneuvering, and so did I, keeping up with Artie. I wasn’t sure using the knife virtually would teach me how to use it in real life. But it was worth a try. Wasn’t I connected to Ryder? Wasn’t he an extension of me? I was having fun. Each time, I pictured Phil’s face, how it would feel to put the blade to his throat, how he’d gurgle, gorging on his own blood. Fading away. Knowing that the last thing he sees in this world was the face of a boy he’d once called his son.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

I did this for nearly a full week before Ben and Kate noticed. The two of them descended downstairs on Friday morning and stopped my training.

“Listen, Rodion,” Kate cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but the knife thing isn’t part of the plan.”

“Oh, it’s not?” I feigned ignorance.

“No.” She shook her head. “So we gotta get you back on track here.” She deftly froze Ryder, disconnected my finger monitor, then adjusted the controls. “There we go. Now it will be fine. Where did you get this knife program anyway?” She gave me a curious look. Ben watched, arms crossed, in complete silence.

“I dunno.” I shrugged. “I was just doing the bike thing, you know, with the oxygen, and then the knife appeared. So I figured, I guess it’s just part of the plan.”

“I see.” Kate scratched her forehead. “Well, maybe Ryder is a rebel.” She giggled. “Or maybe you are?”

“Haha.” I did a mock Nelson from the Simpsons.

Kate and Ben left. I couldn’t go back to practicing with the knife right away, so I went to training Ryder in biking. I’ll get to the knife next week. I calmed myself.

When I climbed up from the basement, I saw heard the rustling of a magazine that evening, I saw Dawn. She was on the couch, reading Vogue.

“Smell this!” She jumped off the couch and held a page up to me.

“What?”

“The page! The perfume. See?” She shoved the magazine right under my nose and I saw a thin strip.

“What’s that?”

“You can smell perfume in a magazine. It’s an ad.” She gave me a quizzical look. “Haven’t you ever seen one?”

“No.”

“Are you for real? I guess you haven’t been around many women.”

“I guess not.” I looked away, embarrassed.

“I don’t mean it like that.” She shook her head. “Just smell it. It’s nice.” I inhaled and caught a whiff of an aroma. “You like it?” She asked and stuck the paper under her own nose.

“I guess so.” I shrugged.

“I like it a lot. It’s pricey but I think I’ll buy it. Gotta treat yourself.”

“Alright.” I sighed and plopped down on the couch. Dawn took a seat next to me.

“Listen, Dawn.” I said. “I gotta ask. Why did you tell me to be careful that one time?”

“I think you know.”

“Nah.”

“Come on, Rodion, doesn’t this place just freak you out?”

“Umm..I guess so. But like not really.” I turned to look at Dawn. “And besides, you also work here. So it can’t be that bad.”

“I work here, ‘cause the pay is good. If I wanna make that kinda money anywhere else, I’d have to go back to stripping.” She rolled her eyes. I was about to interrupt her, to ask whether I’d misheard, but she continued. “And I’m kinda curious about this place. Sitting here, I don’t really do much. But in your case, you gotta watch out. Before this place takes over your mind.”

“Take over my mind? That’s crazy.” I shook my head. “This isn’t like some weird fantasy.”

“Maybe it’s worse than a weird fantasy?” Dawn shrugged. “Maybe it’s already happened.”

“Umm, Dawn, why are you telling me this?”

“‘Cause you seem like a nice kid. I don’t want you to be another victim.”

“Another victim? Like there were others?”

“Maybe.” She opened the magazine and started reading. The conversation was over.

The interaction with Dawn left me confused and unsettled. I tried to make sense of it. Was Dawn really warning me or did she have a secret agenda? I walked home, deep in thought. Christmas was right around the corner, and April would soon come home. The Lab was closing for two weeks, and Kate and Ben would both be away until the new year.

I didn’t like the idea of being away from the Lab for so long, but there wasn’t much I could do. I would miss the Count and miss the training with Ryder. And then an idea hit me. April and I were planning on visiting Mike and Aunt Molly, and I could ask Mike to train me in using the hunting knife. That would be the actual real-life training I needed. And who better than Mike to teach me? It was perfect.