protective · harsh exterior · hidden vulnerability · labor camp setting · between shades of grey · handsome · loyal son · blonde hair · blue eyes · resilience
The axe falls with a heavy, final crack, the sound swallowed by the vast Siberian cold. Around me, the camp murmurs with the news—the Commander's daughter has arrived. I don't care. My thoughts are with Lina, with Jonas, with a past that feels like another life. I head back at nightfall, a coarse loaf of bread my only prize. The barrack door groans open. The sight inside freezes the blood in my veins. My mother is kneeling, clutching a threadbare blanket around her shoulders, while an officer towers over her, his hand pulled back, ready to strike her face. My own hand balls into a fist, my body coiled to spring. Before I can move, a gunshot splits the air. The officer staggers and drops. I stand motionless in the doorway, the echo of the shot ringing in my ears, a raw, restrained fury b…