The wind blew an icy knife into everyone outside, sending them into a rushed state to get to warmth. Everyone but those who were too poor to own anything but a thin coat and decent clothing. One of those poor people was sweeping the streets for some money that she could use for food. Someone bumped into her and she fell onto the snowed and iced over ground, ripping her gloves a little. "Ow," she picked up her broom and started sweeping again, "people should really watch where they're going." After a little while longer, someone else bumped her, but it was more of a shove. She fell on her hands and knees, scraping her hands through the already ripped and thinned out gloves she was wearing, "Hey! What was that fo- Oh! I'm sorry." She immediately got up when she saw a general of the army standing above her.

He brushed off her skirt, "Sorry, comrade. I didn't mean to. I slipped and you were in my way."

"I'm sorry. I should really watch where I am." She looked down feeling stupid that she wasn't aware of his presence.

He lifted her chin up with his finger, "No apologies needed. I was the one who slipped. There's a tea shop nearby, let me treat you to something."

"Thank you, but no. I need to keep sweeping, I'll lose my job and some of us need the money."

"Alright, well I'm here everyday."

"Well I expect you would have to to, you know, arrest the criminals."

"My name is Gleb," he said, putting his hand out, "And your name?"

"Anya." she shook his hand.

Later that night Anya was sleeping in a nearby alleyway when she heard footsteps crunching through the snow. At first she ignored it because she thought it was just noises from her ongoing nightmares, but when it got closer, she jolted up.

She squinted into the darkness, "H-Hello?" she waited for an answer, she repeated herself a little bit louder, "Hello? Is anybody there?"

She could hear footsteps close by, she jumped up with her broom and went into a defensive stance. She stared at the corner across from her, "I know you're there! Step out! I'm-I'm not afraid to use this weapon! It inflicts pain and dirt! I'm warning you!"

The footsteps started again and a figure walked out. Anya charged forward and was about to swing when she realized it was Gleb, "Ah! What are you doing? You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, Anya. I just wanted to make sure you were fine after today. You know when I bumped into you." Gleb took the broom in his own hands and threw it.

"Thank you? I'm fine really. Aren't you cold or supposed to be doing something?"

"No and no. Aren't you cold?"

"No. You can go now."

Gleb nodded slowly and walked in a way where it was obvious he wanted to stay, but he still left her.

Anya went back to sleep, voices and shadows tormenting her again. She woke up early in the morning and left to go sweep before anyone came out. It had been about 30 minutes when she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Anya turned around and saw a tall figure, it wasn't anyone she knew, and he lunged at her and knocked her to the ground, "What the-?"

The man had his face covered and he put a bag over her head. Anya had the bag removed and she was tied to a chair in someone's basement. The basement had holes in the walls, and it was freezing. She shivered when a breeze blew through the walls. She noticed the man had taken her coat off, leaving her with the white formal shirt she was wearing under the coat. It's so cold here! I wish I had my coat. A door creaked open and she saw the man walk in, his face still covered. She looked closer and saw that the coverings on his face were bandage cloths. "What happened to you?"

"I was once a soldier rebelling against the Romanovs. They did this to me!" The man stepped forward aggressively.

"Wouldn't it have healed? After that long?"

"Obviously it didn't! They did something to me that was permanent!"

"I'm sorry." Anya said, looking down at the ground.

He stepped forward and tipped her chair back, leaning in closely, "I know who you are, and I'll get revenge for my face."

"And who am I?"

"The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov," He tipped the chair forward, placing it back on the ground, "I'll be back with a few others who would like to deal with you."

He closed the door and Anya immediately tried to free herself. She couldn't untie her hands on her own, so she decided to break part of the chair to use as a saw. The chair was harder than it looked, and she saw sharp metal sticking out of the wall. She hopped the chair over to the wall and got her hands in a position where she could cut the rope off. She heard footsteps coming towards the door. She moved her hands up roughly and she could feel the rope cut free, but she also felt something get caught and pull up. She let out a small cry of pain as blood started to trickle down onto the floor. The door started to open and Anya got up and hid behind a pile of boxes.

"And here she is!" The man said to another, who looked like he was in the army.

"Where, I don't see her?"

"She right-Where is she!" he hissed.

Both the men walked further into the room and examined the chair and blood, "She escaped. She still must be in here. Search the place!" the army man snapped.

"Vladmir, get over here, I think I found her." The bandaged man said, pointing to the boxes. Anya let out a small gasp and picked up a metal rod, gripping it tightly.

Vladmir walked over to the boxes, sword in hand, "Well, Ikanov, move the boxes."

Ikanov started to move the boxes and he was hit in the head with a metal rod, and Anya quickly got up in a defensive stance, "I can take you both."

Ikanov and Vladmir sprinted forward and Anya hit Ikanov in the side of the head, knocking him out. Vladmir swung his sword and barely missed Anya. She was trying to block every attack he had, but she could feel that the bar was slipping out of her hands because of the blood smeared all over it. Vladmir started slashing his sword rapidly, Anya could barely make out where he was going.

He hit her bad hand and she dropped the rod, "Ah!" She gripped her hand and backed away slowly as he stepped forward. He grabbed some more rope and tied her up, he then placed her by a huge crack in the wall, letting her absorb most of the cold air and snow from outside, "And just to make sure you don't escape while I'm gone." He grabbed his sword and used the hilt to hit her in the head. She fell to the floor unconscious.

It was night when Anya regained consciousness, she looked down and saw that her legs were tied as well. She leaned against the wall and pushed herself up. She looked around and saw the sharp piece of metal, I could cut my hands free, then I could untie my feet. And I can try to open this crack a bit more so I can fit through. Anya started to hop over to the metal where her previous blood had hardened and turned to ice. She slipped on the blood ice and her arm caught on the metal. She could feel the metal catch her skin and hold her there for about a second, then ripped her arm the rest of the way. Blood was everywhere now, and she cried out in pain. She stood up and cut her hands free, her open wound on her hand getting torn a bit more. She untied her feet and went to the wall, she ran into it to open the crack, but it was no use. She kept trying until the door swung open and three other men came in behind Ikanov and Vladmir. They ordered the men to hold her to the wall while they dealt with her disobeying them and trying to escape twice.

One of them rammed into her and pinned her arm to the wall, another doing the same thing on the other. Anya cried in pain as the pressure on her arm increased the pain of the gash. Vladimir approached her, "You have caused pain to those who live in Russia. You and your family. You'll be the last example made." He punched her in the gut, the men dropping her. Ikanov ran over and eagerly kicked her in the side. The two picked her up again and the third one came over and took a knife out. He put the knife to her neck, then he went to her gut and stabbed it in deep. The men dropped her and tied her to a pole, "Should have done that before." Vladmir said.

They left the room and Anya started crying. The pole was close enough that she could kick it. After an hour of kicking the wall, it collapsed. Ikanov heard the noise and busted through the door, "Why you little rat! Just like your family!" he hissed, pulling out a broken dagger.

"Are you sure you aren't describing your family?" Anya retorted.

"I've had it with you! You'd be better off dead!" He ran at her with the dagger and lunged it forward. Anya turned herself on the pole so the dagger cut the rope, "Thanks!"

"No, No, No, No, No!" he shouted outraged by his mistake.

Anya bolted out the hole and ran into the snow. Ikanov went to follow but stopped, "She'll be dead before she gets anywhere. This time I'm going to be glad a blizzard is coming. You hear that! You'll be dead in just a few hours! Now how to fix that hole before it does come."

Anya was stumbling through the snow, the wind picking up. She was cold and a blizzard was forming, "Oh. I'm dead!"

A few minutes later and the blizzard finally hit, Anya almost reeled into the snow because of the wind. After a while she couldn't see anything and she collapsed in the snow, letting the blizzard coat her.