I'm a little disappointed with the reviews for the last chapter but as always thank you to everyone who did review. I wanted to let you guys know that I might not be updating often this week because I'm going out-of-town for a funeral, my aunt passed away. So I might be updating one or two more times this week. Now unto the story! The next few chapter( most likely two or three) will be about Rose's past lives. Also I'm considering updating less frequently. If you've read any of my previous stories you probably know that I usually update everyday or every other day. There are rare occasions where I can go at least a week without updating but I always have an excuse, so I usually post chapters yeah I've been thinking about updating maybe twice or once a week, let me know what you think.
Personally it will be a whole lot easier for me to do this for many reasons. Mainly because school has been getting a bit more stressful. For those of you who don't know, I am in tenth grade and I'm going to apply for a program called Dual Enrollment which basically is college corse classes. So yes I will be taking high school and college course classes at once. Another thing is that in order for me to graduate I need 100 service hours, so I will be volunteering at a local elementary school for about five hours a day untill I've completed my hours. Also my cousin who is graduating from high school will be moving in with my family and I. And lastly for school right now I have a project on the biography of Victor Hugo due at then of the week as well as another project on any book by Victor Hugo due at the end of the month so the next few months will be a bit stressful.
But at the same time I really want to make time cause I know there are many people who do read an enjoy this story so I'm asking you guys what do you think I should do. Putting this story on hiatus is an option but I don't want to do that unless you guys agree. So please please let me know what you guys think I should do. This situation is stressing me out so much right now, like I'm fifteen and am starting to find grey hairs so yeah not good. Review and let me know what you think!(:
Note: It was kind of confusing for me so just remember Maria is Rose in a past life.
Previously on For the First Time:
This place is huge! It's a freaking mansion, no not a mansion, a palace.
Where the hell am I?
We stop at what I think is a foyer. I see a middle-aged women standing there with two older girls and one boy.
She turns to me and Anastasia, I think was her name, with her hands on her hips.
"Maria Nikolaevna Romanova what are you still doing in your night-gown it is almost eight in the morning." she says.
Wait.
Did she really just call me that?
Romanova?
Holy shit, no way.
This is not possible.
I look around and suddenly the faces looks so familiar.
Of course they're familiar! I studied them in European History!
This is the Romanov family.
The last Imperial family of Russia.
So turns out I'm Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia.
Or well, was.
I don't remember much from European History class. I know they die. The entire family is killed in an extrajudicial killing. But all the details are fuzzy.
That's what I get for half assing most of my classes in eleventh grade.
Dimitri was right though. I'm in her body, I'm in Maria's body. But I can't do anything. I can't move her arms or legs or even talk through her. I can hear what she thinks. See what she sees.
I can feel what she feels. And I've been feeling a lot lately. Let's just say she's not particularly good at needlework.
So far from her thoughts I can tell she's close with her younger sister, Anastasia. Technically my sister. It's hard to think of Maria as a different person when I know it's me.
I also found out that she hates school. Looks like that's a common occurrence for me no matter which life I'm in.
I found out everyone's names quickly. There are three other girls, my sisters: Tatiana, Olga, and Anastasia. Maria has a brother, Alexei. And her parents are Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Fyodorovna of Hesse.
Earlier her mother left to go join her father in Yekaterinburg and though she's acting calm on the inside I can tell she's worried. For what reason I don't know but she's worried about something. And now her and her sisters are doing needlework.
They're making small talk in Russian. And it honestly took me a while to notice they weren't speaking English. I was understanding everything they were saying as if it were my first language.
It was quiet when all of a sudden Maria hears crying. She looks up and sees her brother, Alexei, run into the room. He looks distraught.
The older one, Tatiana, gets up and tries to comfort him.
"Alexei what's wrong?" she asks.
He takes a calming breath," I know I wasn't supposed to but I opened a window."
"Alexei are you crazy!" Olga shouted from her seat.
What's the big deal? He opened a window.
"Remember the last time Nastya tried to open the window?! She almost got shot at!" Olga yells.
Nastya? I was so confused but quickly found out from Maria's mind that Nastya is Anastasia's Russian nickname.
Wait, why where they shooting at her? I'm so confused. And Maria isn't helping she's just as confused as I am. Somethings going on. She doesn't know what but she has a bad feeling that something bad is happening outside.
And then all of a sudden a bunch of emotions start playing out. Maria is sad. She want's to go outside but she can't. She doesn't know the reason, all she knows is that she's not supposed to go outside.
"Yes, I remember but now I know why. Now I know what's going on." Alexei replies.
Immediately Maria and the rest of the girls are by the boy's side. She wants to know. She's desperate to know what's going on.
"Well go on." Tatiana insists.
"I heard the guards talking from beneath the window, I don't think they knew it was open," annoyance clouds Maria's mind. Of course they didn't know it was open she thinks, if they did he's be shot by now.
"They were talking about papa. Did you know?!" he yells.
"Know what?" Anastasia asks confused.
"He abdicated!" We all gasp.
It takes me a moment to realize what he's talking about. Blame my English teacher for never telling me what abdicated means. But all I had to do was read Maria and now I understand.
He renounced basically. He gave up his position as Tsar. That another thing I didn't know, Tsar. It basically means King.
"What else did you hear?" Maria asks.
He looks startled that I, I mean Maria, accepted the news so quickly. But truth was Maria didn't care if her father abdicated. I can tell that all she ever wanted was a normal life. More than anything she wants to get married, particularly to a soldier, and have many children.
She wanted to know why her and her siblings where being kept her as if they were prisoners.
" Russia is going through a Revolution." he says.
Time rushed by in the blink of an eye as if it were a memory. Now, still in Maria's body, I was staring at my bed. Or more particularly what was on my bed, a cake.
I can tell that it's been more than a year since the memory. The family has been transported to Yekaterinburg. Maria thinks this place is hell.
But the only thing that makes her happy is the guard. The guard that she thinks most likely left her the cake. Today was her birthday. Her parent's couldn't get her anything since we're not allowed outside of the house anymore.
The only time Maria ever leaves the house is when the guard sneaks her out.
Officer Belikov.
Wait Dimtiri?
Well it's about time he showed up. I would've expected him to come around a bit earlier.
It's like he can tell when she's extremely bored or upset. Because it seems like that's the only time he comes around. He doesn't say much to her and she doesn't know why. Maria flirts a lot with the other soldiers but it's like Officer Belikov won't give her the time of day.
I mentally roll my eyes. Been there done that.
Whenever he does come by all he does is jerk his chin towards the door and she understands.
He leads her behind some sheds where she can see the light of day. She feels bad for her family. She get's to go out sometimes because Officer Belikov helps her but her family hasn't been outside since they moved here from Tobolsk.
Back to what was currently happening. Maria picks up the cake from her bed and sits down putting it on her lap. A white piece of paper is tucked under the cake.
She pulls it out slowly and unfolds it.
Somethings going to happen soon. I'll try to help you.
I can feel the confusion radiating from Maria. She doesn't understand.
She places the note beside her not giving it much attention.
Quickly the time changes again. It's been less than a month since Maria got the note and now she understands it.
Earlier this morning she got a note saying to meet at the kitchen's backdoor at 12:00 tonight. She suspects it's from Officer Belikov. It's the same handwriting as the one she got on her birthday.
She's worried and she knows something bad is about to happen. She doesn't know what though.
Now it's almost twelve. She doesn't know what to do. Should she wake up her siblings? Her parents?
She finally makes up her choice. She'll just go check. If it's anything serious she'll come back and wake everyone up.
She takes a deep breath and sits up in her bed. She kicks her sheets off and wings her feet over the side of the bed. A moment before her foot touches the ground she hears the loud clacking of boots on a wooden floor.
She immediately lays back in bed and pulls the covers up to her chin. Closing her eyes she tries to pretend she was asleep this whole time.
The door slams open and she hears the footsteps of at least five soldiers. Her eyes immediately open and takes in the scene before you. She looks around the room she shares with her sisters and sees that they are all wide awake in bed.
"Get changed. When your done come down to the lower level of the house it looks like your family will have to be moved for your own safety." the man in charge says.
The girls all nod. The soldiers all pile out of the room. Without another word they all started to get dressed.
From Maria's thoughts I could tell what's going on. Since she found out about the Russian Revolution her family has been in hiding. The people of Russia want to put up a different government, and more than anything many people want her family dead. From what the guards say, they can't put up a new government unless any trace of the previous government is gone. Any trace meaning her family. Until her family is dead they can't put up a new government.
So that's why they aren't allowed out. It's for their safety they say.
In no time they're all dressed and packed. Maria and her sisters meet up with her family, a few maids and servants in the hallway. They all walk down the stairs and to the living room.
They were about to sit down but then the guards tell them to go down to the basement. We don't move. Maria is confused. Why do they want to move them down to the basement? Shouldn't they be taking us out of the city by now.
Her father nods and stands. They all follow after him. The door to the basement is in the kitchen. Where she was supposed to meet Officer Belikov.
They make a line to the kitchen and right before she enter the basement she catches sight of the familiar brown eyes near the door where they were supposed to meet.
She doesn't know how long they wait in the basement. Hours she assumes. They've been waiting so long that they had to bring chairs down for Alexei and her mother.
Eventually the guard came back with a group of soldiers, Officer Belikov included in the group.
The guard, Yurovsky Maria thinks his name was, stand in front and smiles.
But it's a cold twisted smile," Soviet Russia has decided to execute your family."
Not even I was prepared for that before my father can make a coherent thought Yurovsky pulled out a gun and shot him once in the chest followed by my mother.
I don't know who was screaming. Me or Maria. She closed her eyes hoping that it would all disappear.
Gunshot after gunshot. Maria knew deep down that each gunshot was for a member of her family. She opens her eyes and sees that the room is filled with gunpowder.
She tries to run, she runs right into a guard. She opens her mouth to scream but a hand clasps over it. She opens her eyes and sees who it is Officer Belikov. She stops struggling.
His eyes. He looks so familiar.
She knows him from somewhere. And just like that different pictures flash in her mind. To quick for me to depict any of them. Pictures of Dimitri and her. Pictures from the past. Them laughing, running, playing around. All at different times in history.
He lowers his hand.
"Dimitri." she whispers right as the image of them in heaven flashes in her mind.
And then everything goes black.
I yell sitting up in bed.
"Roza! Roza! Are you okay? It's okay Rose. You're okay." Dimitri whispers pulling me in his arms.
I break down. I just saw my family being killed in front of me.
"It's okay, Roza. You're okay." Dimitri coos holding me.
I don't want him to let go.
Okay so you might be a little confused. Don't worry Rose is going to ask some questions next chapter. It was a little hard to describe everything going on so I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Let me know what you think. 5 reviews please!