"Alfred… could you meet me out back for a bit after the meeting?" Ivan asked as America sat down in his seat.
"Sure." He responded, looking a tad bit nervous, being he was just asked by Russia, one of the most violent countries out there. 'I bet he wants to talk to me about Matty… Why does Matt, of all people, seem interested in him?' He thought, ADD kicking in and noticing England, France, and China walk into the council room.
As promised, Alfred had headed to the back of the building after the World Meeting came to an end. Ivan had yet to show up. During the few minutes of standing alone, he had gripped his left arm, his leather glove taut with the strength of his right hand.
America suddenly heard a low 'kolkolkolkol' behind him. Turning to see if it was Russia, he was swiftly cracked over the head with a pipe. The last thing he'd heard before everything went to a dark, ebony state was "Hello Alfred. Sleep well,"
Ivan quickly tucked the weapon away and dragged his prey to a car. He was hoping to get very important information out of the blonde. That fact he knew.
When Alfred started to awake, he noticed that is was far colder than usual and his bomber jacket was gone. America rubbed the new lump on his head tentatively. 'Why is it so dark?' he wondered, reaching around with his other hand for something, anything, to determine where he was. The silence around him was deafening until he heard something. It was almost a tune, or rather, a lullaby of some sort.
'Sleep-sleep-sleep…
Don't lie close to the bed side…'
'Where is that coming from?' Alfred thought. "H-hello? Is someone here?" he asked, his voice laced with a bit of panic and fear. Instead of a reply, the voice simply got a notch louder. It was drenched in a heavy Russian accent and seemed to be coming from all around. That meant there was no way the blonde could detect where anyone was.
'Otherwise a grey wolf will come…
And bite you…'
"Dude, this is totally not cool… Quit while you're ahead… Did Iggy put you up to this? Hello?" America shouted at the darkness, now sweating a bit and backing away from where he was. Maybe if he could just find a wall, or even a window…
Again, the voices continued. Only this time, the voice was a bit different, darker than the first and almost in a tone of hysteria as it spoke. There was a small giggle before the words started.
'The night has come…
And she has brought darkness with her…'
Alfred was still backpedaling and finally hit something. A wall!
'Mommy went out...
Closed the shutters…'
The American faced the wall, allowing his hands to roam until he found that it ended, almost, and turned to another wall on each side. He chose to go right. The same thing happened. He went right again. Again, the same. "Damnit! Of all things to put here, a pillar? Seriously?" he yelled, the voice giggling an amount at his rant.
'Sleep, sleep…
Fall asleep!'
The voice wouldn't stop… it sounded like a small child, and male. The sound was haunting… It was making fun of him.
Al's shirt was now damp from sweat and making him shiver. God, did he wish he had his jacket again… What was the temperature in there? He resumed his search, only this time running forward; head down as if he were to head-butt someone. After a few deafeningly silent moments (the voice had stopped for a while) the rebel's scull made contact with yet another wall.
'Where the dreamy Volga flows,
There's a lonely Russian rose…
Gazing tenderly
Down upon her knee'
"Will you shut up? Who are you? Where are you?" Alfred had had enough of this game. He was at a loss, a few tears of frustration and fear coming to his eyes. Still desperate to find a way out, he spread his arms and confirmed this was, in fact, a wall this time. A mere six steps away was a door.
'Where a baby's brown eyes glisten…
Listen…
Ev'ry night you'll hear her croon…
A Russian lullaby…
Just a little plaintive tune…
When baby starts to cry…'
And that's when it hit him. Russian. Russia. Ivan.
The creepy, commie bastard that hit him with a pipe. Russian accent. Creepy voices. Cold weather and climate. God was he an idiot.
"Ivan, lemme out! Now! I'm sick of this!" America had found the door and was pounding on it, the sound echoing through the room only to mix with the child's laughter again.
'A land that's free for you and me…
And a Russian lullaby…'
What was it with this kid and laughing hysterically? And now it was frigging singing… And it was Ivan's voice now… Alfred was just downright confused now.
'This is what I brought you, this you can keep…
This is what I brought, you may forget me…
I promise to depart just promise one thing…
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep…
This is what I brought you, this you can keep…
This is what I brought, you may forget me…
I promised you my heart…
Just promise to sing…
Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep…'
The blonde had remembered hearing that melody playing in Ivan's home when a meeting was held. It was faint, but they had still heard it. And Matthew had been singing to himself. When asked what he was singing, he'd replied that it was Ivan's favorite song and that he couldn't get it out of his head.
A lone light soon flickered on, exposing the mentioned Russian in a corner. His eyes were downcast and as he looked up, his expression faltered for a moment. A frown came to his lips as he stared at the American.
"You look so much like him… Why is that, I wonder… And your eyes, they are almost the same." Ivan said, a single tear running down his cheek from a violet eye. "Tell me, does he know of my love? Does he acknowledge it? Or does he push it off to the side like you did?"
His eyes closed and he gripped the end of his scarf. Cautiously, the former colony moved forward, still unsure about this. He'd never seen Ivan like this, and was unsure of what his next move would be. Would he react with violence if he got any closer? Or would he simply look up and smile?
Before he could use his trial and error theory on the situation, the Russian man spoke again.
"I loved you both. Now I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do anything else. All I know is darkness and violence and blood and… I suppose, I am looking to you in help."
" So you lock me in your basement, play some really scary shit over a loud speaker and randomly fucking pop up out of no where to ask about my brother? What the Hell? You really are completely insane. Just let me out of-," He silenced himself when Ivan pulled a gun. "No need for this to result in blood shed, you know… I can tell you all about Matty if you'll just lemme out… it's freezing and I really wanna go home…" the blonde stated, putting his hands up in a cautious attempt to get the other to put the gun down.
To his dismay, Ivan didn't drop the gun or even put his arm down. Instead, he'd clicked off the safety. "Simple matter of this; Tell me now or die. You can choose wisely, no?" Ivan said. His voice was dripping with hysteria and over flowing with insecurity. He'd been running himself ragged over this, the American could tell.
"Yes! Yes, he loves you! You're all he fricking talks about! He sings and daydreams more than ever! He keeps sunflowers everywhere in his house! He calls me in the middle of the night asking if he should tell you or not! Happy?" Al had a look of fear on his face, his mouth slightly agape at the end of his speech and his eyes wider than usual.
"Yes. But, alas, one more thing… Do you?"
America never got to answer that question. He didn't need to. The Russian knew the answer. No. So he pulled the trigger.
Bang. Clink. Thud.
"Alfred… up… Fred… 'ake up… c'mon… have things… do… gonna… late…"
America awoke to a boy who looked almost exactly like him. A large red maple leaf had found itself tucked into his hair, a matching one in print on his shirt.
"What… happened… Matty? Where am I? Why am I here?
The younger looked happy to see his brother awake once more. "At the world conference you tripped on Russia's pipe and hit your head on the table… You took a pretty hard hit. Don't know why Ivan leaves that thing on the floor, but that's his initiative, I guess. Anyway, you've been out cold for about three days almost. And you seemed to be having a nightmare… Care to share what that was?"
Matthew cocked his head to the side and grabbed his polar bear from the ground, cuddling it and staring at his brother.
"Nothing in particular… Had Ivan in it, so it was a tad on the disturbing side… but, just one thing. Have you told Snow-for-brains how you feel yet?"
"No, why?"
"Oh, that's good. Cuz my dream was about him asking me if you loved him and if I loved him and resulted on him killing me in his basement. So, What did I miss While I was out?"