Young Natalya - Chapter 1
Dark strands of hair hang over the young girl's ice blue eyes, concentrated on a spot on the floor as she crouches low, hunched up in the corner of her room. Her knees are clutched close to her chest, her chin lightly resting on them as her head seeks refuge from the acrid air of the house around her. Her hands rest upon her dolls, two grotesquely smiling people that give her no comfort from what she knows is going on downstairs.
Natalya breathes out softly, feeling her hair ripple and wave in front of her face as a result of the light breath through them. Usually Nadia would be here by now, curled up next to her with a comforting arm around her small shoulders. Somehow when Nadia is there next to her, the younger girl feels like all was not lost after all, that they might have a chance of getting through this.
But no, Nadia is downstairs with them, no doubt attempting to care for their youngest member, Niyah, as the fights break out around them. Mum never looks after Niyah any more - or indeed any of them really. Dad is all she cares about... and even he is abusive and nasty to her. But Mum won't let go of him, still feeds him and loves him with a burning passion that her children have no chance of breaching, to show her that Dad isn't her's any more. At least that's what Nadia whispers to her, when she has her head curled against her sister's warm shoulder and Nad talks to her, tells her what Mum is like, how she knows he loves another, how he won't be with them much longer but Mum refuses to accept this. Nadia tells her four year old sister this late at night, when neither of them are able to sleep and only take pleasure in each other because there is no other to share your worries with. Natalya knows that her father is bad and that her mother is sad but desperate to keep him with her. Natalya knows that Nad hates them both, has listened to her rants in the night for some great miracle to come to them all: for something to take Dad away and restore Mum to them. Nadia has told no one else but her, knows that she will not tell their secret. And Natalya listens, stores it away for when she will truly understand her older sister's words and know what terrible thing this could mean for them both.
She can hear them now, yelling and shouting at each other at the top of their lungs. Later, she knew her mother would cuddle against him again and say she loves him, and he would hold her close. But the next day they would be at it again. Natalya clutches her knees, burying her head into her cold, cold skin. She wishes Nad would come up, share warmth and comfort with the younger girl. She shuffles backwards until her back is against her dolls house, seeming abandoned and empty. Her eyes travel to the two dolls clasped in her small hands; feebly she moves them about as if they're walking, trying to restore some normality back to the situation. But the distraction is in vain. Overwhelming her is the voices seeming to increase in volume downstairs, yelling and screaming and crying until it's all she can hear, drowning out the blood rushing through her head.
Natalya closes her eyes.
Puts her hands over her ears to stop the voices, not just Mum's and Dad's now but Nadia yelling at Mum, Niyah screaming for food and Natalya herself, her heart beat increasing until she is shuddering with the energy rushing through her body.
Slowly, Natalya falls asleep, the voices fading one by one until the only sound left in the abandoned house is the sound of her own heart beat, slow and regular. Everything's going to be all right. Nadia says so. It must be true.
A/N) This has been rewritten slightly, if you noticed. I changed a couple of character names so it fits in with the next chapters I'm preparing now. Please comment if you liked this!