The cold light of a winter sunset filtered into the windows of the big house, the blood red colors staining the walls with false warmth. Silence lay heavily on the four residents of the house, and a sense of calm had settled. For three, however, this peace would come to an end by morning.
Eduard stared out the window of his room, his glasses reflecting the orange glare of the sun. He lifted a cup of tea to his mouth, closing his eyes to try and shut out the beautiful, but meaningless sight. Since he had been forced to work in the big estate, life had quickly become a painful thing to be endured. He had learned lessons that no one would understand under normal circumstances. Beauty was cruel and false. Pain was motivation to do work. Most importantly of all, fear of death, was loyalty to the head of the estate: Ivan Braginski.
He was not, however, alone in his misery. A younger man and a boy were with him, suffering the same fate as he. He pitied the boy, Raivius, who was so young physically, but old in the mind, and broken in spirit. The other man, Torris, had it the worst, however. Their sadistic Master had taken a liking to beating him, a sight Eduard had witnessed a thousand times. Miraculously, he had managed to avoid a similar fate, and had done his best to protect the boy as well.
"Eduard, what are you thinking about?" The thin, breaking voice of a boy shattered Eduard from his reveries. He turned to face Raivius, smiling.
"Nothing you need concern yourself with. It's getting late; you should get off to your room and get some rest. You'll need your strength for the day to come." He looked into the fearful blue eyes of the child, wondering if - and how – they would ever escape the bonds of their terrible Master, if only for the sake of the boy.
"Okay..." the blonde turned and left the room, walking up the stairs on silent feet, careful not to disturb the already sleeping master. When he was out of earshot, Eduard turned to Torris, a man with brown hair that came down to his shoulders. He had sad, defeated eyes, lacking just one thing: fear. Estonia frowned, worried.
"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Torris spoke in a soft, trembling voice, void of life. Eduard's eyes widened.
"Don't think that way. We'll make it out of here, somehow." He sighed, trying to figure out how to keep the broken people of the house together. "You need some rest too. We both do."
Morning descended far too quickly on the household for the comforts of the three who worked there. In a matter of minutes, the Master of the household would bang on their doors to wake them for their daily routine. Eduard was already awake, wondering what would become of them. Would they ever see their families again? Once upon a time, he had lived with his family in Estonia, but no longer. Torris had lived in Lithuania, and Raivius was from Latvia. When they had first met, they could not speak to each other, for they did not know the language of the other. It was only the kindness of one inhabitant of the house that brought them together.
"Hello, Eduard? Good morning!" the muffled, thickly accented voice of a female called out from the other side of the door. The Master was not the only one living here; he had two sisters, Natalya and Yekaterina. The two were polar opposites, and Eduard was glad it was Yekaterina waking them today.
It was Yekaterina who had taught them Russian, allowing them to speak with each other for the first time. Eduard smiled.
"I'm up, Yekaterina. Please tell Mr. Braginski I'll be down in a moment."
"Alright. The others area already up, just so you know." He heard her footsteps fading as she walked away. Just a few more minutes of solitude... then he would return to the tortuous world he called home.
Eduard made his way to the dining room, smoothing out his old suit as best he could.
"Ah, good, the good-for-nothing lump's finally here. Vermin, make me some breakfast." It was the Master's beautiful younger sister, Natalya, who spoke. She had long, white-gold hair that fell to her waist. Her eyes betrayed her seemingly innocent face, for they were brimming with malicious intent. Beauty was false and cruel, indeed.
The day went on in silence. Eduard had not yet seen the Master or Raivius, which was worrying. The house was very big, and at times the three would not see each other until the end of the day.
"TORRIS!" Eduard froze as the bellowing voice of the Master rang out through the house. He crept down the hall, following the sound of the shouting.
"I-I'm sorry; I'm j-just so t-tired I-" Torris was saying, his back pressed to a wall, his green eyes now wild and shining in terror. He looked like an animal, trapped with no escape.
"So you thought it okay get lazy with your work, oh? I will teach you now the consequences of your actions... or rather, the lack thereof." Ivan gripped Torris by the arm, roughly pulling him from the room. Eduard ducked into a doorframe as Ivan swept past, dragging Torris behind him. Eduard saw the ache in his eyes, eyes that were glazing over already as adrenaline raced through his veins.
Pain is motivation to do work... Eduard sighed to himself. He didn't want to live this way. God, where are you now?
Noon came and went. The sun was setting once more, ending another day. He had so far avoided incident with the master and his younger sister, but he felt this could not last. He walked into one of the many rooms to find Raivius, sweeping the floor with a modified broom that fit his height.
"Hello," Raivius nodded to him, giving him a small smile. "Torris...?"
"I don't know." Eduard shook his head.
"We should find him and help him!" Raivius stated boldly. Eduard paused, his eyes turning to face the boy.
"Are you mad? The Master would have our heads! Besides, what could we help him with?" Eduard looked about warily, listening for any signs of someone approaching. He didn't want the Master or Natalya hearing such a conversation as this.
"I've found a first aid kit. It was under Yeka's bed. We could sneak it to his room tonight." Raivius's eyes shone brightly, a frail hope floating through them. He could scarcely say no, however the risks were great.
After a moment of thought, he finally agreed. "Okay, but we gotta be careful. Meet me in the hall at eight, okay?"
Raivius nodded, then, seeing as he was done sweeping, he left.
Night had fallen. Eduard slowly rose from his bed, put on his glasses, then crept out to the darkened hallway. A few moments later, Raivius's door opened. It was just a few yards from where Eduard crouched, and he was about to call out softly when the door of Natalya burst open.
"Raivius! Why are you awake?" She loomed over him, her eyes narrowed and fierce. "What's that you got?" Raivius clutched the box of medical supplies to his chest, shrinking away from her. "Give me that!" She snatched it away from him, her eyes widening as she realized what he was trying to do.
"P-please, Torris needs help! Just l-let me give this t-to him, I-"
"You've been a bad boy, little Raivius. You know you're not supposed to interfere with Ivan's punishments. Now I'm going to have to give you one of my own..." She drew a knife from some hidden pocket in her night gown. She went everywhere with the weapon, making her deadly no matter where she was.
Raivius let out a small shriek, about to scream, but Natalya grabbed him by the throat. "Shush, babushka. I will end this quickly, I promise." Eduard's eyes widened, and without thinking, he dashed forward just as the knife came down. His body slammed into Raivius, Natalya's hand losing its purchase around his neck as he was shoved aside. Eduard caught himself just before he fell onto Raivius. At first, everything seemed to be fine.
"Eduard! You're... you're bleeding!" Raivius's voice was high and shaking. Natalya kicked Eduard side wards, and he let out a gasp of pain as her foot made contact with the stab wound he had received in his side.
"Idiot. Now you're all in trouble." She stood over them, grinning psychotically. "I suppose I must get brother. He's going to kill you!" She sang the last words happily, before skipping off to the Master's Chambers.
"Raivius, get Torris, and run. Get out of here. I don't care where you two go, but you need to go, now!" He cringed, the effort of speech making the pain in his side grow worse.
"But, what about you? You're going to be killed!" Eduard smiled grimly.
"At this point, what have I to live for?" He thought to himself the lessons he had learned throughout his stay in the big house.
Fear of death is loyalty to the Master... what a wonderful job I've done of sticking to that...
"I won't leave you here!" the blonde boy cried, clutching Eduard's hand, but he was shaken away.
"If you really want to help me, then leave now!" Raivius hesitated. There was a commotion heard on the floor above them. The Master was coming. "Now, Raivius!" With a last desperate glance, Raivius dashed away, scooping up the first aid as he darted down the hall to Torris's room.
I'm going to die here... Eduard thought to himself, almost in ecstasy. Finally, I will be freed...
"God bless us everyone
we're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfought
can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun"
Darkness began to fill his vision. He was dimly aware of two figures racing past him. He thought he heard the sound of the front door slamming. Then, two more figures approached him. A shot. Then nothing. For Eduard, it was over. For two fearful souls, it had only just begun...