CHAPTER 12

Step 12: Pretend

Take one step closer; one step nearer

Then you lash out, break the mirror

Glass shatters, not that you care

You're too far gone to give or share

And I am just a passerby

Watching you fall as you finally die.

She yanked the knife out of his back as he fell.

His expression was calm, and he wore something that was almost a smirk. With his own, golden eyes, he gazed up at her. Blood pooled around him, and in his last moments, he held that half-smirk for her. His lips didn't open and his eyes dulled. His chest stopped moving. The only movement in the room was the twitching of his fingers. Blood dribbled out of the side of his mouth. She watched it roll down his face and neck, and join the rest of the red liquid on the floor. The blood glinted in the light of the rising moon.

And she glared. For a while, she did not move from her position. And then, gracefully, she let the knife slip from her fingers and clatter to the ground. It fell right next to his body, in the puddle of blood.

And then she woke up. Belarus jerked and realized what she was doing. She stopped stalling and bent over. She carefully dipped two fingers into China's blood and drew an eleven on the back of his right hand. She laid it on his chest, over his left hand. She realized that she was running out of time. Not that people might look for her, but Russia would be back to talk to China and go to sleep. And someone might wonder where China has gone. She stood up straight, posed herself, and wiped the blood off her hands with the nearby bed sheets. She left the room confidently, and fortunately, there was no one in the hallways as she exited.

Briskly, she moved. Belarus found her brother in the main hall. Sneaking up on him, she pulled gently on his scarf.

"Brother, won't you marry me?" She asked once he turned.

In response, Russia shrieked.

"No!"

He tried to get away from her, but she wrapped her arms around him. She mumbled into his large coat. "I love you, brother." She continued to murmur nonsensical marriage proposals into Russia's back, and the tall man gave a pleading look towards the person he'd been talking to a few moments ago.

Ukraine smiled fondly at the pair and pried Belarus off of her brother.

"C'mon, Bela, let's go now."

As the girl let go, Russia stepped away from her. He darted out of the room, and Belarus frowned.

"He always runs away." She murmured. She let out a sigh and reluctantly allowed Ukraine to pull her out of the room.

Said large-breasted girl attempted to make conversation with her sister, but Belarus didn't speak. She walked stiffly, turned away from Ukraine. The sigh Ukraine made was blatantly audible, and when Belarus still didn't react, the older girl frowned. Visibly. And not one of her sad, tired frowns, but one that was of anger. Something like frustration alighted on her lips, and she spoke.

"Do you have to be such a terrible sister all the time?" It wasn't something she would have normally said. "Do you not care? Everything you do is for him. Never me or anyone else who seems to care for you. Do you not realize we're here or are you too blinded by your own damn unrequited love? Can you not see I try?" She didn't know what she was saying. All she could do was shriek and force back the stinging at her eyes.

In the very least, she finally got Belarus's attention. The platinum blonde turned, and her gaze was as stone cold as before. Her mouth was set in a firm line. When she finally opened her mouth, she realized that they had an audience.

Estonia was gaping at the two girls, and standing stationary in the middle of the hallway. The man jumped as a knife grazed his cheek.

"Leave." Belarus commanded, and Estonia scrambled to get away.

Ukraine was shocked when Belarus grabbed her arm and began pulling her.

She asked her sister, "Where are we going?" And she wasn't surprised when she didn't get an answer. But she still allowed Belarus to yank her through the hall until they arrived at their shared room. There was no one around, but Belarus brought Ukraine into the room and closed the door anyway. She sat down on the edge of her bed and stayed still for a few moments. She opened it, and then closed it.

Ukraine sat next to her. She gently lifted an arm and laid it over Belarus's shoulders. It was immediately shrugged off, and Belarus looked at her. Just looked. It wasn't a glare, or a look of sadness, and definitely not one of happiness, but a mere stare. Ukraine held it, not knowing what to do with it.

The silence was thick and heavy and pushed down on them hard. Ukraine let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when Belarus finally shattered the silence.

"I don't need you."

Ukraine broke. Belarus's eyes were ice, and her tone was just as cold. The elder didn't even try to stop the flow of tears as she stood up furiously. She couldn't say anything, she just glared at her sister. Ukraine wouldn't believe for a second that her sister was as heartless as everyone said, but she still tore out of the room.

Halfway down the hall, almost back in the main hall, she paused. Her sister was important to her, even if Belarus never returned any love. She argued with herself for five minutes before turning around and walking back towards the room. She cursed herself for being so damn easy to break. And for going back. She should have just left Belarus alone. But she was already on her way back, and she was almost to the room.

Ukraine paused at the door. She thought she heard sounds coming from inside of it. Crying sounds. But Belarus certainly didn't cry.

The door opened slowly, with no noise, and Ukraine peeped in.

The room was completely empty.

Ukraine cocked her head to the side in confusion. Belarus had been in here a few minutes ago…. And then Ukraine listened for the crying sounds again. She heard them, but they were coming from somewhere on her right. The room to her right was the bathroom. She exited the room to go to the other one. She didn't enter the bathroom, but she stood outside of it, and she could hear the whimpers coming from inside it.

"Dammit…" The voice was unmistakably Belarus's, and Ukraine was shocked at how it shook. She wanted to go in and comfort her sister, but she knew it would only make things worse. She shouldn't have come back.

She sighed and walked away.

…

The mirror shattered under her fist. Blood ran down her pale wrist as glass embedded itself in her hand. Her head was tilted forward, and she relished the sight of her blood dripping into the sink. Her hair hung low, her long blonde locks sticking to the side of the basin. She barely registered the pain in her hand or the stains that the blood was leaving on her dress. She needed to get out.

And Belarus giggled. A sadistic smile stretched her face as she reminisced in the earlier events of the day. She recalled wrenching the knife out of China's back, and the initial stabbing. It wasn't the stabbing that made her smile. It was the fact that it was China, and that man had captured too much of dear brother's attention. She didn't like it when people got in between her and Russia. Killing them now was better than any other time because she could get away with it. With a loose killer and too many desperate people, no one would figure out it was her.

She finally drew her hand away from the mirror. Shards of glass clattered on the floor and in the sink, some still stuck in her flesh. She took some time to pick the bits out of her hand, then attempted to wipe the blood off of her arm and take the stains out of her sleeve.

After a while of these fruitless attempts, she turned around and opened the door a tiny bit. She had heard someone coming down the hall. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it was her brother. Belarus was about to step out into the hall, when Russia spoke up.

He addressed someone walking towards him, whom Belarus hadn't seen. "Ah, hello, Latvia!"

Belarus growled. It just had to be Latvia. The Baltic States attracted quite a bit of Russia's attention, and Belarus didn't like it at all. She didn't reveal her presence, but watched as the two "engaged" in conversation.

Latvia was practically hyperventilating while Russia emitted a happy, but dangerous aura. For every step Latvia took away from Russia, the larger man took one closer. Belarus scowled. Russia ought not to be paying so much attention to the others. She was always willing to give anything to him, to help him, but he sought out other people. Like the Baltics. Like China and America and the others.

She heard a cry from Latvia, but she had turned and was now leaning on the door. She'd make the smallest Baltic pay.

…

America kept his hand on Latvia's shoulder as he walked him towards the main hall.

"Dude, what were you doing with Russia? Seriously, the commie's a freak." America grinned at the small nation. "If he's harassing you, you just come to me and the hero will take care of it! You betcha! I could beat that Russian bastard any day." He flashed his trademark grin at Latvia, but abandoned him as soon as they reached the large hall.

He found Prussia in a corner of the room, nursing an injury. America didn't even acknowledge the injury, but stood next to "the awesome" Prussia.

"Ugh, I'm so bored, man." America groaned. "Can't we go mess with people or something?"

Prussia grinned. "It only depends on who you wanna mess with," He cast a glance around. "Who's the most fun to mess up?"

The blonde shrugged. "Hey, you feel up to messing with the commie bastard? He's been bothering everyone recently. Plus he's a weirdo."

"Heck no, like I'd ever get near that stupid Russian. He's psycho. Crazy. I swear he's going to kill us all." Prussia shuddered visibly. "If you wanna mess with him, leave me out of it."

America laughed. "You're just scared of him."

The white-haired ex-nation bristled. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Not at all," America replied. "I, of course, have never felt fear, so I'll let you say what you want."

Then Prussia smirked. "Oh really? Is that why you hate ghosts so much?"

In response, America stuttered and scowled. "I'm not scared of ghosts, stupid! I just don't like them!"

Prussia's familiar cackle rang out, and America continued to scowl. Ignoring Prussia's leers, he decided to walk away. He left the hall, intending to find Russia, and maybe start a fight. America started down the hall where he'd just been, and he'd rescued Latvia. As he walked, he caught sight of someone turning a corner. A scarf hung down and disappeared from sight.

America grinned.

He turned the corner and jogged to catch up with the taller nation.

"Hey, Russia, how're you doing?" He called out.

Russia turned and greeted America like always. "Hello, America, you seem as delightfully stupid as ever."

America laughed. "Oh you flatter me, commie. Anyway, how's Latvia? You seemed like you were enjoying his presence a few minutes ago. Also, how're your sisters?" The blond glared but smiled mockingly.

Russia returned the sneer with his own twisted smile. "Oh they're just fine. They're so much fun to play with, you know? And my sisters are fine, doing especially well as long as they can avoid scum like you."

"Your sister's still hot."

"Which one?"

America chuckled. "Ukraine. Obviously. Belarus is cute, but a freak. Though that must be because she grew up with you. I was a better brother to her than you ever were. Seriously dude, your sisters are just strange."

Russia didn't reply. America frowned and looked at him. "Dude what the heck is wrong—"

Russia had opened the door to his room and was staring inside. He was silent. America also got a glance inside the room.

Someone was lying in a pool of blood, and all he could make out was long, black hair and pale skin. The clothes of the body were reddened and there was only one wound, which was actually visible amongst all the blood. A silver knife was lying off to the side.

"Who…" He sputtered.

Russia ignored. He took two long strides into the room, past the body, and he bent over to pick up the bright dagger off the ground. He seemed to have completely forgotten about America's presence, because he was staring at it inquisitively and he spoke out loud to no one.

Ignoring the blood seeping into his gloves and the puddle in which he was currently standing, he said, "This belongs to my sister."

This time, the question of which sister the statement described was not needed to be asked, but America was still curious about something.

"Is that—"

Russia cut him off, directing his words at the dead body. "Who did this to you, China?"

America ran out without another word.

…

"Fucking hell." Romano muttered.

He was one of the first to get to Russia's room after America had come bolting in to announce that someone else was dead. From his previous location, it didn't take Romano too long to deduce who was dead. China was lying on the floor when Romano saw him. Russia had stayed with the body while people came in and left.

China's injury was simple, but fatal. One knife in the back, and that was that. Romano was a bit woozy at all the blood, but death wasn't new to him, and he had more important things to do.

Which included keeping certain people away from the spectacle. As he left the room, he saw two familiar Asians making their way down the hall.

"Shit, shit, shit, I gotta keep them away," He walked down the hall to meet them, but he had no clue as to whether they knew who was dead yet. It was a stupid thing to do, because they'd wind up sad anyways. Someone was bound to tell them. But he was Romano, and he never thought about things too hard.

"Hong, who was it this time?" Taiwan asked her brother.

Romano freaked. They were getting closer.

"We're almost there Taiwan. You'll see soon enough," Hong Kong was staring at the ground, and didn't see Romano approach. "You shouldn't be so curious about it anyway."

Taiwan retorted, "But you know we have to—" She was cut off as Romano ran into them.

He crashed into Hong Kong, and the two hit the ground.

"Oh, hey, sorry about that, I was just…" Romano failed to finish his sentence. "Hey, you guys, you know, you don't really need to go see that. It's, um, messed up."

Hong Kong straightened as he stood up. "Oh really? Well who was it then, spare us the trouble of checking the body."

The hesitation of Romano gave it away. Hong Kong ducked his head and fell back into a slouch.

"It's…well…" Romano didn't have the heart to say it, and he was afraid of their reactions.

Hong Kong frowned. Taiwan hadn't caught on yet.

"That's what I thought." The Asian male pushed Romano out of the way and pulled Taiwan towards Russia's room. As an extra thought, he asked, "By the way, have you seen China?"

Taiwan finally realized it at the moment her brother pushed open the door to the room.

From outside, Romano heard her burst into tears. Hong Kong was in and out in a les than a minute, and Romano got once glimpse of a grimace on his face before his mouth was set into a familiar apathetic line.

…

Estonia had already known something terrible was going on with Belarus. He'd seen her earlier, when she was walking with Ukraine, and he noticed she was greatly bothered by her sister's words.

And here he was, confronting her.

"Get away from him." He said to Belarus, as she threatened Latvia. She held in her hand a familiar silver knife, and it was only so familiar because he had to live with her before. He couldn't stand her. He couldn't stand the way she followed Russia around like a puppy, and her constant abuse of him, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Latvia was unconscious. Belarus had a knife on his throat. There were already lacerations scattered up his arms.

She snarled back at him. "Why should I?"

"What did he ever do to you, Belarus? Did he try and take your brother from you?" Estonia hissed. She made another animalistic growl, and he took a step towards her. "Your 'brother dearest' keeps on harassing Latvia. It's not his fault! What the hell is wrong with you? You and your damn obsession with Russia and knives and weird stuff like that!" He had raised his voice, and it bounced off the bathroom walls.

He should have just tried to get someone's attention. No one was near enough to hear his voice, but he could've probably screamed and got them to come. They would have recognized Belarus as dangerous, and done something.

But instead, he had just insulted her. Which was likely why there was a knife slicing the air in front of him as he narrowly avoided Belarus's attempt on his life. He sidestepped to avoid another swing of her knife.

"Shit, Belarus what are you doing?"

She was clearly furious, but her glare flicked back to Latvia every once in a while. Estonia was trying to get close to the door for enough time to open it and call for help. But every time his hand reached the knob, she tried to stab his hand.

He looked around for something he could use as a weapon while doing his best to avoid her in the small bathroom. There were shards of glass in the sink, but he couldn't reach them, and none looked big or sharp enough to do any damage. Latvia was still unconscious in the tub, and Estonia and Belarus were circling each other. He finally wound up with his back to the door and her on the opposite side. His hand was on the knob, and he was twisting it when she threw her knife.

It landed in the door, and grazed his arm. Blood dripped down onto the floor, and he hissed in pain.

"Open that door and you're both dead." When he turned his head back towards her, he saw that she was now holding two knives, one in each hand, and one was pointing at Latvia.

He knew she was perfectly capable of hitting him and Latvia simultaneously. He knew she never missed. He knew what would happen if he opened the door.

But he knew something else.

"You're not the killer." He paused. "You killed China, but not the others." He registered the tiny bit of surprise on her face as he spoke. "I'm not stupid, I'm observant. You want to kill Latvia because you think he's trying to take your brother from you. You blatantly ignore your sister because you know he prefers her to you. He has spent a lot of time with China, and you thought China was trying to steal him away as well. You're jealous. You're consumed by an unexplainable love for your brother, and you'd do anything for him. You'd kill. So you did. But if you'd done it any time before, people would try to keep you away from your brother. Here, with a secret killer on the loose, you were able to kill China, and people thought it was the killer." Estonia looked directly into her eyes. "But I know your knives; you've used them far too many times on me for me to not recognize their uniqueness. I saw the weapon in China's room, and it looked a lot like the ones you've got in your hand now."

Belarus said nothing, but moved quickly. Estonia barely ducked in time to avoid the knife that hit the door where his head had just been. He tried to pull the door open. Her second knife embedded itself in his left leg. He cried out and fell to the ground. His glasses hit the floor and cracked. His vision went blurry immediately.

Amidst this, Latvia's eyes began to crack open. He remembered Belarus knocking him out, but not more.

Belarus didn't notice him awake, as she was worried about the sound that Estonia had made. She stood over him as he knelt. His fingers were searching for his glasses and his mouth was open. Before he could scream, she stepped on his glasses, bent down, and sliced his neck, all in one quick movement.

There was no sound when he hit the ground, but there was a lot of blood.

Latvia pulled himself up, doing his best to ignore the pain in his arms that screamed and seared. Belarus spun around to face him. He was fully aware of what had just happened, and he was too scared for his life to worry about Estonia's.

"What have you done? What are you going to do to me?" His attempt at coherent speech must not have worked, because she didn't look like she'd understood him. Instead of asking him to speak again, she pointed her bloodied knife at him.

"Say a word of this to anyone and I'll slice your throat." She leaned towards him, continuing her threat. "Not just yours. I'll slice Lithuania's, and that other boy you hang out with. And I'll make you watch."

Well he couldn't say no to that.

…

During that episode, Japan's dark figure remained unseen in the library. This area was mostly unused, and if Japan ever needed anything, Greece would leave it in here.

There was nothing today except for some usual food. Japan didn't feel like eating today, though, and he left it there.

The sun had set, and the night had already come on, and Japan was lounging in the loveseat, reading a book. However, his mind travelled to other places as he read, and he couldn't concentrate on the book. It was the same book as earlier, the Dr. Seuss one. It wasn't a bad book, but Japan couldn't make himself enjoy it.

He snapped the book shut and stood up. Leaving the book in the chair, he walked towards the exit of the library. A little more exploring never hurt him, and he'd decided that if he actually did run into the killer, he was capable of defending himself.

Japan paused at the door. He turned around, thinking that he had heard something.

The room was exactly the same as before, except for the book he had left on the chair. It now rested on the floor.

The nation thought nothing of it. He walked back towards the chair and picked the book up off the floor. He dropped it back on the chair, and stilled in shock when he heard a voice that he couldn't quite place a name to.

"How's it going?"

A/N: Hola! I didn't die!

Sorry about the lateness, I'm a dork. Bluh. Anyway, I lost all my notes on this story. Which means I'm pretty much screwed, and I'm trying to work with what I remember.

I've decided that I am going to have to rewrite this entire story. I'll probably come back someday and rewrite it, I mean, this is only my first fic and I know I'm not that great at writing. This chapter is going up unedited, just like the last chapter (which hasn't been edited yet). Meh, screw my beta. If there's something wrong with my story, leave a note, because I dislike imperfection in grammar and the like. I'm trying not to be a total fail at everything.

By the way, I appreciate all the nice reviews and such. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my writing. Even if it's crap.