The sound of the repeating shots filled the air while he tried to climb out of the already shattered window. Smoke crawled into his nose and his lungs causing severe coughing and his eyes were almost screaming from pain. He felt a soft grip on his shoulder when his mother bended down next to him. She hugged him strongly and muttered some soothing words until a bullet drag itself into her heart. The crying woman slid down onto the floor as her blood slowly flowed away. His father's body had already lied in a corner with a pistol in his hand.
He suddenly looked up. Behind the curtain of the smoke, he could notice several tall figures dressed in ominous uniforms. They held objects that were similar to machine-guns. Their strict, disciplined speech could reach his ears through the constant cracking of the burning wood structure.
"Wir sind fertig. Herr Stuart ist unsere nächster Zielpunkt" said one of them who had to be in leading position. The other men shouted in fanatical tone. They run out of the ruined door, their boots were clapping on the floor.
He decided to finish his inchoate plan to climb out. His heart was racing in his chest. He did some steps, but the fatigue and the trauma of the events defeated him. He fell onto the ground…
He roused immediately. His complete body was bathing in sweat, his eyes were almost bloodshot. The shiver was still raging through his bones while he took a glass of water. The coolness was extremely refreshing. The salty tears mixed with the liquid in the glass and the pressure on it rose to a critical level until it broke into millions of pieces.
He did not even give out a cry or any type of voice. The haemoglobin-filled substance flowed down on his forearm and divided into drops when it reached his elbow. Its meeting with the ground was accompanied by the monotone sound of weeping.
He took out the pieces from his hand and wiped up the floor. He hid his face in his palms, sobbing uncontrollably. That was the n+1st time he had nightmare about the so-called "Events". When they had come…
I must sleep he thought Tomorrow will be the great day. I have to be in the best condition when they introduce me. So he started to clean up the mess and went to bed immediately after he finished. The soft embrace of the blanket and his pillow filled him with the almost forgotten feeling of warmth and safety. He let the sleep to take him back to the kingdom of the miasmatic vortex of voices and images called dreams. But he still could see their mark: the luminous white skull on a pitch black, broken shield…
The volume of the scream that shook the executive producer Marshall Pike's office was powerful enough to break eardrums and glass. After a couple of minutes he could take off his hand of his ears, only to face with the epitome vanity with golden blond hair, painted nails and stylish dresses.
"You could not be serious, Marshall! An another castmember? I have already told you: I AM THE STAR OF THE SHOW! Is it hard to understand this? Fist Sonny, now HIM! Who is he anyway?" Marshall took a deep breath. It is going to be more difficult than he has expected. "We need an, erm, expert for the next sketch" he said "But if you can wield a shashka, sing in Russian or you know Cossack dancing, you can solve this problem on your own." Marshall glimpsed to the Mahogany-haired, amber-eyed magnificence who had just stepped in the door.
"Although…"he began but he could not finish his sentence because the right fist of the girl slammed into onto his desk. Her eyes were blazing like a dying star, which prepares to explode in the form of a supernova. " For the last time, Marshall, I WILL NOT TEACH THE CAST! I must keep myself to the Cossack traditions." Her words were even more intense than Tawni's, and therefore, Marshall had to accept the constellation. Zora Nikolayovna Lancaster, also know as Zora Lancaster was able to convince everyone about her right. Tawni and Marshall left their mouths opened because of the fierce outburst. Zora, however, almost instantly regained her composure and marched out of the room before she closed the door with a tremendous bang. The people who had remained in the room were silently musing about their friend's strange, although recently not too unaccustomed behaviour.
Meanwhile, Zora opened her sarcophagus to hide herself from the whole world. She usually restrained her tears and her emotions, as her bringing-up dictated to her. But now, the wall cracked and the sorrowful cries broke out from her soul.
Her mourning was broken by a sudden knock on the surface of the sarcophagus. She opened its door carefully and peeked out.
In front of her stood a young man with short brown hair, shining black eyes and well-built figure. He extended his hand shyly to shook hers.
"It is a pleasure to meet with you, барышняZora. Please, let me to introduce myself. My name is Andrew McClain. I would be the new cast member." Zora was at a loss of words because of her surprise. First of all, this boy, or man spoke to her in her "secondary" mother tongue. That was an unanticipated and – without doubt – a very enjoyable revelation. Pro secundo, he did not look like the arrogant, egocentric heartthrob that she had expected. The new castmate? Him? She thought with a sceptical tone.
But she did not have time to reflect on the problem because Marshall, Tawni, Nico, Grady and Sonny rushed into the room. They were panting and sweat flowed down on their faces. When they recognized the stranger, they ran to him instantly. "Where have you been, Andrew? We have seeking you for two hours!" shouted Marshall
Andrew put his hand onto his shoulder "Please, calm down Mr. Marshall. I did not know my way around here, so I needed some help from an actor who works here. I am really sorry if I am being late." Marshall could not help but stare at the young man for his honest and friendly demeanour, which was not accustomed in the world of acting, especially not in Hollywood.
"Err, no problem, Andrew." stuttered Marshall "Well, anyway, it is time to begin to work on our new sketch. Everyone, to my office."
The order was too obvious to go against it, so the cast marched into the mentioned room. Nico and Grady were chatting about the "quality" of the lunch that day, Tawni was looking at herself in her pocket mirror. Sonny, Zora and Andrew were interested in other things. Sonny listened to Marshall's and Andrew's discussion about the sketch while Zora leaned to the wall with her arms crossed.
"Okay, I need your attention, people! The new sketch will be a parody of a short about the Cold War. Mr. Connor thinks that we require a little bit "more venturesome" business to increase our audience. The American people want to close this era of history, and we are the ones who have to do this task."
The cast was entirely dumbfounded except of Zora, who frowned and stepped towards the door, exactly like she had done before Andrew's arrival.
"I will be at my flat if you need me. But do not forget: do not ever tell this to my family. That is my only demand. до свидания, my friends."