Chapter Two:
Remembrance
Warnings: … It's Russia, comon'.
Dark!Russia
Note: From here on out, the story is a flashback, with some flashes to the present time. I should've mentioned that in the first chapter, but I forgot; my bad. Also, for those who are wondering, I'm sorry for not uploading this past Sunday. I had jury duty the following day (Monday) and so yeah. Also, next, next Sunday (May 27th) I'll be down in South Padre Island… so you'll get an upload twice (once on Sunday, and again on Thursday) that way I won't forget. Please review, before I update again. I don't want to see my story get lots and lots of love, but no words expressing said love. It makes me a sad panda. :C
Now, onto zhe chapter~
-/-
It was a beautiful day. Truly, it was.
The sun was shining brilliant and gold, the sky was a cloudless blue – summer had truly arrived to the Northern Hemisphere. Trees, bushes, and every plant variety were in full leaf, flowers bloomed and graced people with its fragrance; or bothered those with allergies. The bees hummed thoughtfully in the background, collecting pollen; butterflies flew and landed, gathering admiring looks and 'Ooos' and 'Ahhs'. The gates were open, from 8 in the morning to sunset, people were freely allowed into the gardens in which they admired. And if they wanted to sneak away with a significant other, they would walk through the maze to a dead end – it was another thing all together when it came to hiding. However, if they needed help, or if there was a country representative, they took a special path which ended in the centre of the maze.
There, in the centre, is where the representative of Romania lives, and through a special gate, does one entre a place of true beauty in nature. Sunflowers greeted with a gentle wave; dogwoods sang in their sunny patch. Lilies grew caddy-corner of the sunflowers, poppies giving way to a path that led to an ancient oak, where many other types of flowers encircled the area. A small man made brook burbled happily, an arced bridge giving access to the tree that grew majestically.
There, a young woman sat, her eyes closed to the gentle summer breeze, dozing. A book was in hand, forgotten, the pages rippling to the wind's touch, and the intruder smiled. Kneeling, they sat on their heels, watching the young woman intently. Should he wake her, or leave her blissfully unaware? Rocking on his heel, he looked around, a sharp violet gaze taking in the beauty. Another patch of sunflowers greeted his gaze, and he almost felt tempted to walk over and run a hand through them. He didn't have them at his home, so they were a real treat for him whenever he visited. No, he told himself sharply, Stay on track, you can't mess up now. Too much planning – we can't let this go to waste. He felt the bottle of chloroform in his inside pocket of the coat he was wearing.
Suddenly, by either chance or a sound which startled her, the young woman woke up, and blinked blearily. She looked over, still half asleep. "What are you doing here, Ivan?" she asked while smothering a yawn, and Ivan smiled back, all childish and innocent.
"Came to see you, Lumi, yes. Gate was opened." She frowned, puzzled.
"But the gate was locked, and I have the only key." Ivan smiled; knowing that in his pocket was a key he had duplicated from the original. Of course, he could've made a skeleton key, but that would have taken too long – he needed to act soon. Hopefully now, if it was possible.
"Perhaps you forgot to lock it, da?" Lumi hesitantly nodded; the puzzlement still in her eyes, but now for another reason.
"Why are you here, Ivan? Are you here because there's another meeting?" she was referring to the numerous meetings that had been going on, since the beginning of March. There had been an influx of attacks on everyone's borders, but no one knew if it were pirates, or God forbid: countries attempting to start another World War. Ivan, however, merely smiled.
"No, I come to see you, if that is ok?" she sighed, knowing that whether or not she was 'ok' with it wasn't relevant to Ivan. He liked to show up at the odd hours of the day (and sometimes night) just to watch her. It was rather unnerving, but she couldn't tell him to go away or to stop it – he'd get scary.
As in, ready to kill scary.
"Fine," Lumi sighed wearily, getting up. She was going back to the house – she didn't know why she had come out here in the first place. "You're welcome to stay, as long as you don't break anything," she muttered the last part, "like last time."
"Ne~" Ivan turned around with a curious smile, "What did you say, Lumi?" she shrugged.
"I said nothing," she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of freaking her out, like he did every time he came over. Vaguely, she remembered her gate being locked, but brushed the memory away with mild annoyance. If Ivan said it was left open – that meant she was being careless. She would have to be careful next time to make sure the gate was properly locked.
"Perhaps a skeleton key, yes; keys are handy, very handy." Ivan murmured to himself. "They let anyone in, anyone out; very strange, very sly." Lumi gave him a rather curious stare.
"Wha… what did you say?" she asked, edging away very minutely. The Russian blinked, a childish smile melting away the rather… peculiar look on his face.
"Say what, da?" he fiddled with his scarf. "I said nothing, not that I can recall, yes." He began poking her shoulder, "Lemonade now?"
"Tea," Lumi corrected him, "But if you must…" she sighed. Ivan cheered, and followed the Romanian like an eager puppy, and waited patiently outside the gate as she grabbed items that didn't belong in the garden. Musing to herself, Lumi questioned the reason why Ivan was here. Was it to bother her (she knew that, but there was something… off today), or was it to inquire little random things like her favourite colours, foods, and the like?
Normally, she would've brushed such things off, but when Ivan asks… she frowned, maybe she was over thinking this, and he was just harmlessly asking questions. But no, she reasoned with herself, with Ivan there is no such thing of simple minded questions like favourite colours and the like. There was something going on in that man's mind – and she didn't want to be a part of it. Turning back to face Ivan, Lumi carefully kept her thoughts out of her expressions; she knew how much of a snake Ivan could be, craftily pulling out the information he wanted by merely looking at one's expressions.
Passing Ivan, Lumi felt a sudden chill run through her, and she gave him another uneasy side-glance. He seemed normal – well, what was considered 'normal' for him. He looked puzzled at her, curious about why she was uneasy, probably. She gave a quick smile, to assure him everything was alright, hearing the gate shut and the lock sliding shut.
"Lemonade time, da," Ivan inquired, and Lumi sighed.
"Tea," she corrected again, and paused. "Are you sure you want to stick around? Doesn't Raivis need torture at the moment?" she inwardly winced, hoping that Raivis would forgive her. Ivan chuckled, and patted her head.
"No, today is not torture day." She sighed.
"Right, I forgot, today's Tuesday."
"No, today is Monday." Lumi gave him a half pause, and then shrugged.
"Days, weeks, months – same thing; rinse cycle repeat." She sounded bitter, but Ivan merely chuckled again.
"Oh, I know." Ivan said, with a smile that personally creeped Lumi out, "I know. You're used to it by now… and you always will. Time slips by for the normal ones, but for us, it seems natural, yes? Eternity, is slow – boring and neverending. Why not spice it up; give it some…" he paused, "Flavour?" Lumi unconsciously tightened her hold onto the box she was carrying, giving the Russian beside her an uneasy glance as a shiver ran through her.
Before Ivan could do anything, a couple came crashing out of the maze in front of them, both of them were giggling madly. The laughter died down when they realised that they were being watched, and the girl waved at Lumi enthusiastically.
"Hi there," she said, with a wink. "Sorry for crashing through, Lumi." She spotted Ivan, and gave a Cheshire cat-esque smile. "Nice catch," she turned to her companion, and they began to leave, "Later!" and they began giggling again, as if they had shared an inside joke. Lumi sighed, used to such event happening to her.
"They seemed nice." Ivan mused quietly, and Lumi snorted.
"They've all been trying." She muttered darkly, "and it doesn't work."
"Trying to do what?" Ivan asked innocently, even though he knew what she was talking about.
"She thought you were my boyfriend or whatever; and you know as well as I do that it can't happen," Lumi frowned at him, "Said relationship has to be nonexistent." Ivan chuckled.
"Do you wish you could be human, at times?" Lumi gave a hollow laugh.
"Human? We are human." Lumi paused in front of her house, head tilted. "It's just that we're slightly different is all." A single bell began to toll, to which parents began bringing children out of the maze, all heading to the main gate. Ivan glanced away, his eyes narrowed at the sun. Nothing had gone to plan, as of yet. He just needed Lumi to let him in the house – but she was being stubborn. People waved and gave her goodnight wishes, to which she merely smiled and waved. Soon, the bell stopped tolling, and the people were gone.
This meant that Ivan and Lumi were alone together.
Lumi turned to give him a puzzled look. "Shouldn't you be leaving?"
"You promised me tea, yes?" Ivan asked his childish manner back. Lumi raised an eyebrow at him.
"You do realise that everyone – that includes you, Ivan – leaves at the bell? I can't vouch for you if my boss finds out you're still here." Ivan gave her the most innocent look he could muster, and she sighed. Pointing to a couple of chairs and a porch swing, she said, "As long as you're outside – and you stay outside – you can have your tea." Not waiting to see if he followed her orders, she went inside, closing the door behind her. Ivan smirked, the innocence long gone.
The real fun starts now, Ivan thought, pulling out an unlabelled bottle and a handkerchief. A sinister smile, a flash of deadly violet; he easily walked up the steps, keeping in mind the creaky boards. "You made this way too easy, my pet." Ivan murmured opening the door silently; he held his breath as it opened, daring it to creak. However, not a sound came from the door, and he found himself in the living room. Darkness was all around, and he couldn't help but chuckle quietly. "Way too easy." He murmured, pulling the mental map out from its hiding spot in his mind. With a predatory grin, Ivan headed right, following the map that lay out before him in his mind's eye.
-/-
The harsh glow from the refrigerator slightly blinded Lumi as she pulled the ice tea that she had made earlier in the day out from its spot. An overhead light was giving a shallow glow over her kitchen, making the rest of her house seem like a dark cavern – full of dangers and enemies. However, the only thing her house held was corners and stairs that attack her feet. However, a sudden movement in her peripheral vision made her pause, and in a fit of panic, she flipped the lights off, moving silently against her counter and found her knives.
Pulling out what seemed like the cleaver, Lumi went clockwise around the islet that was in the middle of her kitchen, making her way over to the pantry. She hoped to get as far as she could get from the intruder – and hoped that whoever it was, they wouldn't find her. With her back against the counter, she passed the sink, and hearing the steady drip, drip gave her a slight fright. She was gripping the cleaver so hard; she figured that there would be an imprint on her hand.
Lumi heard the click-click of boots hitting the tiled floor, and she froze, holding the knife close. She was afraid – Lumi wasn't much of a fighter. Her heart was hammering so loud, she was sure whoever it was that was with her could hear the beats. She paused – hearing something sliding on the counter to her right. Slowly, silently, Lumi moved backward into something soft, and before she could scream, arms wrapped around her; holding her tight. She struggled, dropping the knife with a clatter; breath was at her ear, lips had touched her neck. Something damp was pushed against her face – a sweet scent –
And all turned black.
