Panthera Spelaea Ch. 11-20

"Oh, JESUS," I said as it popped into the warmth and wet. Her tongue swirled around, and she got a few inches into her mouth before stopping and backing up again. She began moving her right hand in concert with her mouth, jacking the base as she lavished attention on the tip. I ran my hand down her side to her pale butt cheeks and back as she blew me. I didn't last long before I was warning her I was going to cum. She kept it in her mouth, sucking hard and jacking faster until I exploded into her mouth. She swallowed it all, then licked my shaft clean before sitting up again. "That was incredible," I told her.

She kissed me deeply before getting up and going to the bathroom. I got dressed and made sure the tabs for tickets and reservations were ready as she showered and changed. She came out wearing Capri pants, a thin, flowery blouse, and sandals. "What is the plan?"

"Breakfast first," I told her as I reached my hand out for her. I was wearing lightweight grey pants and a white golf shirt with tennis shoes since I didn't like wearing sandals. We left the room and headed for the breakfast buffet downstairs.

"I can't believe you're giving this up," Svetlana said as she waited for her omelet at the cook-to-order station. "You live like a prince!"

"Only because my Mom is footing the bill," I replied as I put more fruit on my plate. "The previous two months, I was living in a tent on a muddy riverbank in the middle of nowhere Siberia. I guarantee the camp cook didn't lay out food like this."

We sat at a table near the window and talked as we ate. I was starving after this morning's workout, and Svetlana's eyes bugged out when I came back with my third piled-high plate of food. "Where are you putting that?"

"I'm just hungry this morning," I said with a shrug. "I need my energy."

"So do I, but I left some food behind for the others," she teased.

"I had some ideas for things we could do during your days off unless you want me to surprise you."

"What is the plan for today?"

"Move into your place, make sure you have enough food for the three of us, and I need to head to downtown Moscow to meet with my lawyer when I can get an appointment."

"I take back my hesitancy about accepting money for room and board after seeing you eat," she told me with a smile. We checked out of the hotel and grabbed a cab. After two dates, we were living together.

Ch. 17

It didn't take long to get settled in; twelve inches of hanger space in Svetlana's closet, one dresser drawer, and a bedside table now contained all my possessions. My lawyer had texted me to confirm a 1 PM appointment at her downtown office, which I said I could meet. Anna was sleeping, so Svetlana and I locked up the apartment and headed for the bus stop.

Most people in Moscow don't own cars, but the public transportation is excellent. The nearest train station was about ten blocks away; since it was a nice summer day, we decided to walk instead of waiting for a bus. It gave me a chance to talk to her without others overhearing our conversations, which I needed. I was sure Viktor and his investigators had figured out where I was staying, so the apartment getting bugged was a possibility.

"Svetlana, what I'm about to tell you I do because you are a medical professional, a friend, and my love," I started with. "It's going to sound crazy, but I need you to listen to it all before calling the looney bin for me. Things are happening to me that I can't explain."

She squeezed my hand. "I know. I've been trying to find a reason for your blackouts, and I can't. I'll keep researching, though."

"It's not just the blackouts," I said. I started laying out what I'd noticed since that fateful moment on the Protoka Ulstrovskaya River a few weeks ago. "Nothing happened until my bare hand touched the fur of that cave lion, and then it was agony."

"You said it was like being electrocuted, that your muscles locked up, and you couldn't move. You already told me that."

"There was more to it than that," I said. "I was looking at the thawed-out eyes of an animal that had been dead for maybe fifteen thousand years, and its eyes started glowing red at the same time."

"Eyes?" She stopped me on the sidewalk, making me face her. "How could its eyes glow?"

"I have no idea. It wasn't a soft glow like a house cat's eyes, or a reflection from the sun. It was like a light was coming from inside the animal." We started walking again. "That's all I remember until I woke up."

"You didn't tell anyone about the eyes, did you."

"I couldn't. I was in enough trouble with three people dead and me the only survivor. If I started talking about dead eyes lighting up and power shooting from the lion to me, they'd lock me up in a mental institution."

She didn't say anything for a while. "There was some talk among your doctors about that after you woke up. The police were sure you were involved in the deaths and worked with others to sell the cave lion on the black market. They haven't been able to prove anything with you, so they are focusing on finding your accomplices."

"Which is why Viktor is so intent on surveilling me. He thinks my partners will contact me," I concluded. "You believe me?"

"I didn't see evil in your eyes, John. I also know just how close you came to death on that river, which argues against you being in this mess voluntarily. You were lucky enough to survive what the others didn't, and that brought you to me."

I let go of her hand and put my arm around her narrow waist. "You are the best thing that has happened to me in Russia, which is saying something since I found an intact cave lion specimen."

She snorted. "I don't know if being compared to a frozen animal is good or bad."

"It was going to be the highlight of my life and my career, but it is meaningless compared to finding you."

That declaration shut her up. We walked for another block, me holding her to my side, her wiping away tears. "Are we going too fast?"

"Too fast for what? Who is to say what is too fast for true love?" I stopped her, putting my finger under her chin and lifting her face for a long kiss. "My body, soul, and mind are united on this. I can wait for you to catch up."

"You barely know me," she protested.

"That's what I'm fixing with each day." We kept walking, and she asked me to continue with how I was changing.

"The second blackout didn't happen as fast. I started getting hot. I was feverish, but I had time to leave the trail and hide in the bushes to strip. I had to cool off, the heat was unbearable, and that's why I headed for the pond. From the first feeling of being hot to the pond was less than a minute. The pain hit, then I was out. When I woke up, I had the same muscle soreness, but it wasn't as bad and didn't last as long."

"You weren't feverish before you left," Svetlana thought out loud. "If you had an infection, you'd be running a fever continuously. I've never heard of a fever coming on that fast."

I nodded; it wasn't like any cold or flu. "Then there is the swan. You said you found a dead swan by the bank of the pond."

"Yes, it was barely recognizable. All torn up with feathers everywhere, like dogs had ripped it apart."

"I had a feather and blood on my back when you brought me inside," I reminded her. "I passed it off as nothing since I was in the same area. You cleaned me up and went to work, I slept all day, and we had dinner. After dinner, I had to use the bathroom. Svetlana, there were feathers mixed in with my feces."

Her jaw dropped. "You ATE some of that?"

"Apparently so. I didn't get sick from it, and it's through my system already."

"Jesus. We should get some blood work done on you soon. Thank you for telling me. It helps."

"But wait, there's more." She was already reeling, and this was going to take her for a ride on the Crazy Train. "I'm feeling physical changes, Svetlana. Eyesight, hearing, smell, and taste are all changing to become much more sensitive."

"That's impossible," she said. "Senses don't spontaneously get better. They only get damaged as you age!"

"I can prove it. Take out your phone and bring up something with text on it." She pulled up a book she was reading. I took her phone and held it at my chest while facing her two feet away. "Can you read this?"

"Sure, I have perfect vision," she said.

I stepped back two paces. "Now?"

She had more trouble reading it this time. At four paces, she had no chance. I gave her back her phone and told her to pick a random page while I walked twenty paces down the block. "Show it to me."

"No one can read from there, John!"

"Please." She turned the phone around, and I started reading. She was so shocked she almost dropped the phone in her haste to turn it around and verify I was right.

"No fucking way," she whispered to herself.

"Yes fucking way," I said as I started walking back. "Hearing, too. I can smell your fear, Svetlana. You don't understand what is going on, and you're wondering if I'm safe to be around."

"How did you know?"

I pulled her into my arms. "I can smell when you are happy, afraid, or aroused, love. I couldn't do that before the blackouts."

"Are you safe? Do you think you're losing control?"

That is the question, isn't it? Left unsaid was the 'might you be a murderer' thing. "I don't know what is happening during my blackouts, so I don't know, Lana. If you think you and Anna are in danger, call the police. I'd rather go to jail or the hospital than hurt you."

"Anything else?" I could see in her eyes she was hoping I'd say yes.

"Energy and stamina are both off the charts," I told her. "I told you I used to play soccer, and I was a decent runner, just a little too bulked-up to be good at it. My best mile time was in the five-minute range. That's nowhere near track team speed, but it's a fast run. This morning, I woke up feeling like I could take on the world. Twenty minutes in the pool felt like nothing, so I went for a run. I was running faster than a five-minute-mile pace, but I kept it up for thirty minutes, then I sprinted the last mile or so. I wasn't even breathing hard when I finished."

We were passing under the major highway and getting close to the train station. "None of it makes sense," Svetlana said. "Bodies don't change for the better like that, and you haven't been out of the hospital long enough to get back in shape! Anna and I should get you tested, get a baseline set of data."

"That's a good idea, but it won't explain what is happening."

We had to stop talking as we were among others now. We found an open seat, and I held my Lana close as we headed towards the center of Moscow. I wondered what my lawyer would say about the case against me as I looked out the window.

Ch. 18

We exited the subway system at the Библиотека имени Ленина (Lenin's Library) station, which was a short walk to the southwest of Red Square. Marina Federov's office was a block away, on the fourth floor of a building with views of the park along the Moscow River. We had tea and cakes as we waited for my lawyer to open the door to her office, as we had arrived early. Right on time, she opened her door and smiled at me. "Mr. Cantwell, a pleasure to see you again," she said.

I was holding Svetlana's hand as I rose. Marina's eyes looked at our hands, then at us, and a smile came across her face. I did the introduction. "Marina Federov, this is my girlfriend, Svetlana Sevastyano. You may have seen her before; she is a nurse at Central Clinical. Svetlana, Marina is my criminal defense lawyer."

"A pleasure," Marina said as she shook Svetlana's hand. "She will be joining us?"

"Yes," I said. "I trust Lana as much as I love her."

"Are you sure that is wise?" Marina was looking at Svetlana like she was a security risk, and with good reason.

"Marina, if Svetlana is working for the police, I wouldn't be walking free."

"This way, please." She led us into the office, and we sat in the leather chairs in front of her desk as she sat down. I didn't let go of Svetlana's hand as we waited for Marina to talk. "There have been some developments in your case, while other answers are not coming," she told us. "Vladimir Zhukovsky's autopsy is now final, as the search for his head was unsuccessful. The coroner's report is helpful to our defense. It listed the cause of death as a homicide, caused by beheading."

"Decapitation on a boat?"

"Yes. There was too much blood left in the heart to support blood loss as the cause of death. Despite two deep stab wounds that severed major arteries, Vladimir's lungs contained little blood and water. The stab wounds would have been fatal, but the killer removed Vladimir's head first. It was jerked off, not cut."

"Jesus." What a way to go. "How freaking strong do you have to be to pull someone's head off?"

"I did some research, and it takes a lot. When executing condemned criminals by hanging, there's a range of body drop to consider. Too short a rope, and the neck doesn't break, leaving the man to suffocate. Too long, and it breaks his neck before the rest of the body pulls free. There are tables on the Internet showing the ideal drop distance based on victim height and weight, but it's not an exact science. If Vladimir had a noose around his neck, it would be the equivalent of at least a two-meter drop."

That was a lot. "There's no way you could do that by yanking on his head, and that area has nothing high enough to hang him. Could a boat do that?"

She nodded. "If it was moving at speed and the rope suddenly tightened? Sure." She wrote down some notes in the folder, probably to look up examples.

The CID already assumed I was working with others to steal the Cave Lion, though. "What was he stabbed with?"

"The report states it was a tapered round object about two centimeters diameter at the widest point. Based on the size, it might be a wooden or metal stake or tent peg. It's not a knife, though."

"And they don't know where this weapon is."

"Correct. A piece of sharpened wood or metal tossed aside or at the bottom of the river would never be found."

It wasn't information to exonerate me, though. Our expedition used spikes and wooden posts to anchor lines in the muddy riverbank and tie-down tents and canopies. It was like having the murder weapon be a rock; unless you found one with bloodstains and fingerprints, it was useless. "Have they located the Cave Lion?"

"No, and that is the main reason you are still walking around. As long as Viktor thinks you may get in contact with the people who did this, they'll leave you hanging."

"Until they find the cave lion," Svetlana said.

"Yes," Marina nodded. "Once they have that, your freedom is gone until trial. Any new memories?"

I shook my head, no. "Still nothing after the pain and blackout until the hospital."

"Let me know if that changes," she said. "Can I help with anything else?"

I filled her in on our budding relationship and the second blackout I'd had and my concerns about being alone when they happened. "I've moved in with Svetlana and her roommate, but I want to make the medical oversight official."

"You want to hire them as round-the-clock medical care?"

"Exactly. I'd like you to arrange a contract to protect all of us and make the supervision legally binding with a health care directive."

"How binding, exactly?"

I hadn't talked with Svetlana about the specifics I'd already decided. "Svetlana and Anna would have the authority to make short-term medical decisions for me when I am incapacitated or incompetent to do so. Specifically, this includes medication, treatments, or inpatient care in a hospital or mental health facility as required. Their authority would be absolute until one of my parents arrives and assumes control of my care."

Marina called in another lawyer with more experience in such matters. Thirty minutes, we had the papers prepared and signed. I could see Svetlana wasn't happy that I'd made the contract for twice the pay than we'd agreed to, but she didn't say anything in front of the others. We both took copies, and Marina sent one for Anna to sign and mail back to her. We left her office and headed for the elevator, and Lana wasn't happy with me. "Why the health care directive? And why the pay? You didn't have to do that!"

I pulled her into a hug, resting my chin on top of her hair. "What I found out this morning changes things, Lana. It's not babysitting me or being around to call an ambulance; I could be placing the two of you in real danger. I need you both to have the authority to do whatever it takes if I lose it."

"I'm not afraid of you," Svetlana whispered into my chest.

"You are afraid of what you do not understand, and you should be," I said as the door opened to the ground floor. "Early dinner? I'm starving."

"How can you be hungry after that breakfast?" I shrugged. "Fine, there's a Ukrainian place I saw on the way here that is good."

I held the door to Корчма Тарас Бульба (Tavern Tara Bulba) open for her and the hostess seated us immediately. I couldn't follow the conversation, so I let Svetlana order for us. I raised my eyebrow when the woman walked away. "What did you get me?"

"A selection of foods. The special was duck, but you've had enough fowl for this week," she teased. It turned out she'd ordered a sampler platter for two, with eight different authentic foods. The borsch was fantastic, as were the dumplings, duck, beef, and solyanka soup. Svetlana told me about the foods as we tried them, but she didn't eat much. I had her place a much larger take-out order for the three of us to eat later with my favorites, including the duck.

I wanted to take her out on the town, but she said we needed to talk to Anna and get going on baseline testing my physical changes. With a big bag of food in hand, we headed back for the subway.

Ch. 19

The subway was crowded with other workers on the way home. I ended up standing after two stops, giving up my seat for an older lady. Svetlana had the bag of food on her lap, and the smell of it was making everyone hungry.

The car started to empty as we moved towards the suburbs, and that's when the three punks moved in. The woman sitting next to Svetlana got off, and one of the punks sat in her place before I could move over there. His two buddies stood where they blocked the view of the seats from me, and I didn't follow the words in Russian. They looked to be in their late teens, and from the way the other riders turned away, they had other riders intimidated.

I responded to the scent of fear and the sound of my woman's voice as she told them no, and they laughed.

I put my hands on the facing shoulders of the punks in front of me, turning them towards me. "нет (no), leave her alone," I growled as they looked at me in shock.

"Fuck you, Amerikanski," the guy on the right said. Meanwhile, the punk sitting down had his hand under Svetlana's shirt, and she was struggling to keep him from groping her breast.

The talkative guy tried to turn back to Lana, but my grip wouldn't let him. The more he struggled, the harder my hand squeezed him. The sound of his collarbone snapping, followed by his scream, just escalated the situation. He fell to the ground like a pussy.

"Ты мертв (You're dead)," the man on the left said as he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket. I let go of his right shoulder as his right hand brought the four-inch blade up towards my chest. I caught his wrist with my right hand as I stepped behind him. I felt the bones in his wrist getting crushed, mixed with the loud pop of his shoulder dislocating as I shoved his hand up to the back of his neck. He dropped the blade as he screamed. My left hand grabbed his belt, and I rotated my body right. I slammed his face into the car's vertical support pole, knocking him out.

The leader of this little group turned to me in time to see his buddies get destroyed in six seconds flat. He started to get up but didn't get far. My right hand shot to his throat, and I yanked him up and out of the seat before he could do anything to stop me. Once I was holding him a foot in the air, his focus went to breathing. "Svetlana, are you all right?"