Ivan closed the door behind him, his face emotionless. He could hear the Lithuanian crawling across the room behind him, his back pressed against the door. Ivan then began to walk away, down the long halls of the old house. Reaching the stairs, he descended slowly, stopping to look at each picture hanging on the wall on the way. Each picture was fairly old, in black and white, or half crumbling. The frames had old designs carved into them, none of them matching the others. A few were cracked, and a few were very dusty, though none of them were out of place.

Ivan reached the bottom and stopped, turning his head to look at the small frame that sat on a side-table that was tightly up against the wall. He smiled lightly and reached over with the side of his sleeve curled around his thumb and wiped away a layer of dust off of the glass. It was a picture of a younger Ivan standing in front of a field of sunflowers. The layer of dust that had been wiped away created a clear line across his face and the flower that he had tightly in his arms. His grin faded when he got a flash in his memory, causing him to grip tightly to his head and wince.

Lately, he had been having flashbacks to his past. However, nearly all of them had been of horrible tragedies that had happened while he was only a small child. He had been fine only a week ago, but now he had started snapping at every little thing and had sworn he had seen things that weren't really there. Ivan was becoming more and more hostile, his moods jumping more than usual.

After hearing the commotion down stairs, a frightened Eduard ran down quickly, only to nearly crash into the taller man. "W-what's wrong! Are you okay, Mr. Braginski?" Eduard hesitantly placed his hand on the other's shoulder. Ivan quickly spun around and slapped his hand away, a look of hatred and pain on his face.

"Go away! Don't touch me!" The taller man turned and ran around the corner, leaving the Estonian on the bottom stair, looking blank and terrified.

Ivan came to a stop in the other room, falling to his knees and catching himself with his hands hitting the ground roughly. Thoughts were running through his head at high speeds, his body was shaking, and he couldn't catch his breath. The memories were starting to get worse and sometimes twisted to the point he couldn't tell what they were. Minutes passed as he sat there on the floor, shaking, his eyes closed tightly, and his hands clenched onto his head. Finally, it seems as though the room got lighter and the memories faded away, like a blanket had been removed from his vision. Ivan sat back on his feet and stared blankly across the room.

"I'm hungry…" Said Ivan, placing his hand on his stomach and frowning just in time to feel a rumble escape. He stood and walked into the other room, noticing that the light had faded outside. The Russian pulled the curtains aside again and looked out a large double window, staring up into the sky. "Snow…" His purple eyes were now downcast, staring at the already thick layer on the ground. "Or perhaps rain… Maybe it will rain instead." He stared out blankly for another few minutes.

Toris had made his way down from his room and had started to clean after checking on the others. Raivis was still terrified, although now he was curled into a corner reading a book. Eduard had given up on asking any questions and went to lie down for a nap. The Lithuanian was now at the end of one of the long hallways on the third floor of the house, brushing away dust that had accumulated on an old picture frame. Toris frowned when he realized he had knocked it off center and straightened it, a small smile forming on his face at the sight of cleanliness. He turned to go down stairs when he realized that there was a door which was barely open at the other end of the hallway. Arching an eyebrow, he made his way to the other end, stumbling along the way. Once he reached the door, he looked in and stared in shock. He had never seen this room before out of all the years he had lived there. "Wait, what is this…?"

In the room, there was a small cot set up and blankets strewn across the floor. There were various pieces of paper lying around the cot and the window, most of which were scribbled on with markers and black marks. There were signs of struggle, but nothing was broken except for a lamp in the corner, the lampshade torn into bits around the edges and sliced through the middle. Toris walked in and looked around, immediately feeling sick. He pulled his sleeve up to his face and squinted, starting to choke and cough. He couldn't tell what it was, but something in the air was making him sick. When he began to leave the room, he noticed a small rag on the floor… No, a ribbon. It was torn and battered, but he picked it up and looked it over.

He stood for a few more seconds before realizing that his skin was tingling and ran out of the room, closing the door tightly behind him. Coughing, he began to go downstairs to get a drink of water. He could see spots floating in the air now, all in multicolor orbs. He made his way to the bottom and paused, seeing Ivan staring out the window. "Mr. Braginski?" The Russian jumped and looked over, completely confused. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine…" Ivan turned and looked him over. "What do you have there in your hand?" Toris jumped and looked down, turning the ribbon over and examining it again.

"Oh, this? I… Found a room upstairs… And I went in to see what it was, and I found this ribbon." Ivan's eyes widened and he pulled it out of the Lithuanian's hands. Toris jumped back and started to shake.

"This… This is… What are you doing with this! You're going to get poisoned! Never go into that room again, understood?" The Russian was practically yelling at him, stuffing the ribbon into his own pocket. "Do you even know what this is from? How long did you stay in that room!"

"I-I… I was only in there for a few minutes! I swear I didn't touch anything! Honest! I'm sorry, Mr. Braginski but I—" He was cut off once the other glared at him with narrow eyes.

"Any longer in there and you could have died. What happened in there is something horrible… It affected Elder Sister and Natasha…" He reached into his pocket again and pulled the ribbon out. "Do you see this? It was beautiful and clean the day they left that room. Now it's rotting. It's turning back into dust. This is what happens with those massive amounts of radiation." Toris' eyes widened.

"Mr. Braginski… Do you… See spots from it?"

"From what?"

"R-radiation…" Toris was nervous, his hands shaking.

"In some cases, yes. Why, are you seeing them?" Ivan leaned closer, staring at his eyes.

"I-I was just wondering…" Toris pulled away and began to walk off. Ivan placed his hand on his shoulder and spoke strictly.

"Don't lie to me, Liet. Tell me the truth."

"I-I… I'm fine!" Toris broke free and ran back upstairs. "I'll be fine! Don't worry about me." The boor to the bathroom slammed behind him, leaving the Russian all alone downstairs once again. Ivan sighed and looked down at the ribbon again, crushing it in his hand and throwing it into the waste basket.

"He lied to me again… Don't worry, Liet, I'll make sure you live. It's everyone else whom you should be concerned." Ivan slowly began to walk upstairs and to the end of the hallway to the door with pale blue light coming out from the bottom. He slowly placed his hand on the door knob and turned it, looking in to the sleeping figure on the bed. "Oh, Eduard…"