He’s leaving today.

At one in the morning, Estonia grabbed a small bag with a few supplies and some cash from underneath his bed and he quietly makes his way down the stairs. The floors in this building are atrocious. It doesn’t matter where he walks, the wooden floor squeaks. The only way he can go about is tip-toeing his way to the front door.

The others don’t know of his plan. He put in days of mental work to prepare for this night. He’s not going through this again. He’s done being the property of someone else. He has to get back to Tallinn as soon as possible.

February was always brutally cold for the Russian capital. But Estonia doesn’t seem to mind as his shoes crunch against the hard snow. Assuming all goes according to plan, a driver would be waiting for him up around the block in a black vehicle. The driver was a citizen of his own and was living in the city with his Russian-born wife as a tradesman. They had met for coffee several times to plan for this night and paid him what little he could spare to make the journey worth while.

With the streets empty and little light to go around, there was nothing but pure silence. Estonia has never felt so vulnerable.

Just as he hoped, the vehicle was there and running just as promised. He rushed over to greet the man but as he got to the window, the man was hunched over the steering wheel while his wife leaned against the window in the seat next to his. A tap on the window proved to be futile as it went unanswered. But the door was unlocked and with closer inspection his worst fear came to light.

Both of them had been shot point-blank. His plan had been foiled.

He felt a cold hand against his shoulder. The sound of a thick Russian accent made his whole body shiver to the core.

“Are you going somewhere?”

He swallowed his nerves in an attempt to steady himself. He had to remain calm. Anything and everything was fair game now.

“I couldn’t sleep and was just going for a walk. As I turned the corner, I was surprised to see a car running at this hour and checked to see if they needed help. But I didn’t expect to find this.”

“Ahhh,” Russia’s voice trailed off. Estonia can’t see it from his direction but he knows that Russia has that silly grin that always make him uncomfortable. “You’re absolutely right. How sad they made such an unfortunate end. It’s always upsetting when someone so young loses their life.”

Estonia nearly vomited. His words made him sick to his stomach.

But his life was spared as Russia offered to walk him back home. There they could call the police and have them take over the case. But Estonia knows the truth. Nothing will come from this. The bodies will disappear as if nothing had ever happened.

Estonia returned to bed quietly sobbing. Everything was his fault. He was such a coward.