Alfred came over one day because he came under Natalya's invitation. First of all, since when did Natalya began inviting people into her house? Second, why was it Alfred who was strutting in the house like he owned it? Katyusha was bewildered that Alfred was here, but she didn't think it was too much of a coincidence since Natalya had said, and mostly complained, she is partnered with Alfred for the next two weeks for study buddy therapy. Natalya only joined because Ivan was part of it, but she hadn't known partners were assigned by teachers at random.
So now she was with Alfred, meaning she had to go over every now to his place and study. But now he was here in this house knowing Katyusha was here and yet Alfred didn't seemed agitated coming over. Quite the contrary, he looked pleased seeing him here, much to Katyusha's conflicted confusion.
One day, Alfred had arrived at her doorstep early and greeted her with something new.
"Heya, Kat,"
Katyusha blinked, confused. "...Kat?"
"Yeah, I thought about it and I think you're an Kat type." Alfred grinned at his idea. Katyusha stepped aside, letting Alfred in and she watched with confusion as her sister's partner walked up the stairs and whistled an unfamiliar tune. Katyusha quickly followed behind him.
Alfred never elaborated why he began calling him that and asked afterwards if Natalya was in. Alfred was escorted by Katyusha upstairs to Natalya's room every day, and she made sure that the door was half-way opened for noises or anything suspicious.
She had no idea, however, that the noises She heard were...inhuman.
Katyusha never noticed them at first, but they began speaking loudly as though they were practicing an oral exam. She hadn't realized as she listened in one evening that the words and phrases they were speaking were Latin. Alfred spoke in small chants while Natalya took the lead, speaking confidently in an eerie tone. She was too scared to look in, fearing being caught by them.
"Um, sister? Do you mind if I come in?"
"Of course not. You could even join us today for our studies." Natalya answered, heading upstairs in hot pursuit.
This is it, she thought, I'm going to see what she and Alfred have been up to this whole time.
"What sort of studies?"
"It's a surprise, dearest sister of mine!" Natalya said cheerfully. Almost too cheerfully.
"Hi Nat, hey Kat!"
"What took you so long?"
"Do you know how long it takes to get bird feathers in the middle of a full moon?"
"You're sure it was a full moon?"
"Nat, a full moon to me is like a full ass, I think I know what that means. I'm kidding, kidding!"
"Why is Kat here?"
"Sister wants to join in on our study."
"Oh cool, I kept telling Natalya bringing you here might help us out a lot!"
"I...see. But if that is the case, why is the room so dark and the window open and...why is there strange, demonic writings on our floor?"
"It's part of our study!"
"For what?"
"Summoning Mother Russia!" The duo chorused with delight.
It took her a while processing what they had said. She had no clue what was going on around her as she had entranced herself in her bewilderment; the partners put on dark hooded cloaks, wore face paint of silver and black, threw salt and herbs on the ground, lit candles and Natalya presented the book in the middle of their circle. Katyusha finally snapped out of it when she felt something cold and slimy on her hand. Glancing down toward her left hand, she saw Natalya was holding it, but there was slime in the palm of her hand.
"What..."
"Frog slime," Natalya answered her unfinished question.
An uneasy feeling made her shivering in disgust, but she held her tongue and concentrated on keeping hold of Natalya and Alfred's hands for support. Katyusha's eyes were closed, the moist feeling of tears were edging on the corners, escaping as she silently cried because of the unexplained fear she was feeling inside. Even though she had an idea on what was going on, she felt the least informed of the group.
"Psst, Nat?"
"What?"
"Is anything happening yet?"
"No, so keep quiet!"
Katyusha heard nothing else but the heavy breathing from her sister and her own heartbeat growing uneasily quick in nervous beats.
Then suddenly, her ears heard the sound of a bell. Natalya's hand grew tight but Katyusha's eyes were closed.
"I think it's working," Natalya whispered quietly, but her tone was excited.
"Oh shit," was all Alfred said when-
"Hello?"
That wasn't Alfred's voice, it was much too sweet and kind despite its eerily tone. It wasn't Natalya because she gasped, squealed and happily claimed it succeeded. Katyusha opened her eyes slowly, her sight adjusting to the floor where instead of the black markings written on the floor...a head was emerged on the floorboard, smiling at her.
That was Ivan's head.
"IVAN?" Katyusha cried, releasing her hands and take her brother's checks. There was essences of frog slime on her palms but her worried nature over something as trivial as slime.
"Da, it's me sister," Ivan gasped, confused of this situation.
"What happened to your body?" cried Alfred in horror.
"All I know what happened was I came home early and my body floated up to the ceiling and now this happened..." Ivan's head turned toward Alfred who looked dumbfounded. "Oh, Alfred is here! Is this all you do besides studying?"
"I convinced him to help me out with this spell, Big Brother! Now you'll never leave again!"
Everyone's eyes turned to Natalya. "What?" They cried in bewilderment.
"This spell is supposed to let someone stay in one place forever," Natalya explained through gushing squeals. "So that means Ivan can stay in my room and we can be together...forever." Natalya leaned over Ivan's head, gave him a kiss on the temple and gave a dangerous glare at her sister who removed her hands, leaving a trace of frog slime on his pale cheeks.
"Nat, you said we were summoning a demon named Mother Russia, not this crazy crap!"
"Think of it this way," Natalya said delicately, "Ivan won't ever harass you again."
Alfred had opened his mouth but shut it, and then gave a contemplating look as though the prospect of Ivan stuck here delighted him.
Katyusha voiced her opinion in a sorrowful cry, "You can't just trap your brother on the floorboards!"
"I can and I already did," Natalya said, "so I'm responsible for his wellbeing."
"Wait, let me try something..."
And before anyone knew it, Ivan was shifting his body like a cork being unscrewed from a champagne bottle. He struggled, grunting in frustration as he kept moving around to be freed from this floor but with all his strength he moved nowhere. Katyusha had a spark of inspiration, making her run out of the room, down the stairs and dashed into the living room where she saw a floating body above the ceiling. Getting on the coffee table she grabbed Ivan's waist and pulled him down. However, she was hanging on to her brother's body and unlike her plan he wasn't released.
"Kat, what are you doing?" Alfred demanded as his footsteps grew closer until they stopped at the living room.
Katyusha saw him staring in shock and confusion, but what came was unexpected. He rushed up, got onto the coffee table and while taking Katyusha's waist he tried pulling her down.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting Ivan down, duh,"
"But I thought-!"
"Yeah, he can be a pain in the ass," Alfred confessed, "but where will I get a perfect villain in my life?"
"I don't understand what you mean but keep pulling me down!" Katyusha demanded.
But no matter how hard he pulled her down while she pulled Ivan down, Ivan's body wasn't freed from the ceiling. Katyusha suddenly realized Natalya is upstairs possibly pulling Ivan's head.
"Alfred, what is Natalya doing?"
"I don't know, before I left she went over Ivan's head and...oh, now I know what she's doing, I'll be right back!"
"No, wait, I'll talk to her,"
Katyusha released Ivan's body, Alfred let her down carefully on the coffee table and he jumped up to pull Ivan down as Katyusha rushed upstairs and charged in Natalya's bedroom. Her eyes widen in horror when she saw Natalya pulling Ivan's head and cursing in her own language as Ivan cried for help.
"Natalya, this is madness! You can't keep your brother in the ceiling and expect he is happy about this!"
"But I finally have big brother here," she said. "I don't want him to leave all the time!"
"This is all about the late nights?" Natalya stopped pulling Ivan's neck, Katyusha tiptoed over to Ivan and Natalya and Ivan's head shifted so he could face them both. "I came here to tell you guys I'm moving back in. My old boss gave me extra time off so I don't have to overwork myself to death. Plus, my rent is getting ridiculous at the apartments near my workplace."
"So you are really coming home, big brother?"
"Yes, unless you want me to leave-"
"No!" The sisters cried.
"We really missed you,"
"Believe it or not, I missed you both too." Ivan confessed. "I miss Kat's food, I miss talking to Natalya (when you're not going crazy) and I miss having people around me. So now that I'm moving back, will I be able to get out of here?"
"Yes, big brother! I'm so glad we can have you back, we missed you so much!"
"We truly did, Ivan," Katyusha said, leaning in and hugged her sister with a tear streaming down her left check, "and I'm glad you're coming home."
"I love you both,"
"We love you too,"
Ivan desired nothing more than to hug them, so his arms moved until he felt a body and hugged it tightly as though it was his sisters. He couldn't care less about the squirming he felt from the body he was hugging, he smiled brightly as his sisters hugged him tighter and he felt nothing could ruin this moment.
"HELLO, IS ANYONE GONNA BRING HIM DOWN? I'M LOSING MY GRIP HERE AND I'M BEING SQUISHED! HELLO? GUYS?"