Surviving Winter
Chapter 9
Braginsky
"Oh, Francis, it's been too long..." Columbia muttered to herself as she parked in the cafe's lot. With as crazy as things have been lately she had hardly gotten to eat at the cafe at all, which was a damn shame in her opinion. She trotted to the front door, pleased to see Alfred sorting menu's in the front counter. The other waiter, a blonde, bushy-eyed man that she had never had the personal pleasure of talking to, were arguing about something in hushed voice.
"Alfred!" Columbia greeted with a smile.
"Oh hey, Columbia!" The blonde waiter grinned widely. "Been awhile, fri- dude! What happened to your face!?" He exclaimed when he noticed the black and blue coloring of her cheeks. She gently pressed her fingers against the white bandage that covered the spot on her jaw where concrete tore up the skin.
"I'll...tell you later."
The other waiter's piercing green eyes narrowed, and he glared between the two. "I'll leave you two alone then." His accent was definitely British. Alfred seemed a little put-off by his coworkers abrupt attitude.
Alfred grabbed a menu and some silverware and walked out from the counter. "So where ya been lately?"
"Oh my gosh, Alfred. I don't think I can cover everything on the walk over. By the way, do you know if a girl name Katyusha is in here yet?"
"Uummm Katyusha, that works up at the office Katyusha?"
"Is there another person with that name?" She asked roughly.
"Point, but you never know in this town! Hm, no, I haven't seen her yet but I'll bring her to you when she comes in." Alfred stopped at a table in front of a window. "This good?"
"Yeah, fine." She sat down. He kept staring at her.
"I got in a fight, all right?" She gingerly brushed her cheek. It was sore to the touch.
"Seriously?" He looked around. There weren't many people on his side of the store, and most were well taken care of. He sat down with her for a minute. "With who?"
She paused, frowning. "...Gilbert Beilschmidt."
The young man's jaw dropped and he had to cover his mouth to force back whatever explanation he was intent on shouting. "You're KIDDING!" He whispered harshly. "WHY?!"
"The bakery incident. I'm sure you heard of it."
"Oh yeah. He pulled a gun on Vargas...wait, you got in a revenge brawl? Didn't think you the type..." His arms folded across his chest as he sat back lazily.
"I'm not. Just have a bad mouth attitude apparently. He hit me first and that's when I decided to take it outside." She grinned. "I got my butt beat, this side is making it hard to walk straight, but I kicked him square in the balls and I'm pretty sure he's bedridden for the day."
Alfred shuddered, shrinking back in the seat a little. "Ooohhh...you must have been some kinda pissed if a chick your size managed to bring him down."
"He's not exactly big. His brother is far more scary, but more even tempered...thank God."
"So you and that kid got pretty close huh? He's bad luck you know..." He eyed her injuries.
"No he's not. He's a good friend, Alfred. He moved in with me too. I'm not...it's not so lonely in that house anymore, you know?" That much was definitely true, she really enjoyed the young man's company, and the past few days with him living there had brightened her own outlook considerably.
"ALFRED! You lazy ass get your bloody self over here and help me!" The both turned towards the angry British voice.
"Yeah, I'm coming, just helping Columbia pick something out." He lied, trying to justify his chat.
"I highly doubt that so stop flirting you bloody wanker!"
"Aw geez." Alfred groaned. "I dunno what's with this guy but he's been on my case more and more lately."
Columbia's gaze narrowed as she watched the Briton huff around angrily. "Seems like he likes you." She said.
"Huh? What?" The waiter's shocked gaze was focused on her, or the words she was saying, it was hard to tell.
"Yeah, he's totally gay for you." She continued.
"Wh-no he's not!" The denial was solid.
"Is. Anyway, it's almost lunchtime and I'd like the chicken salad, spinach. Cola for a drink."
"He is not! And I'll prove it. Are you still having that party tomorrow?"
"It's not a party, it's a gathering, and yes feel free to bring whoever you like."
"Good, and you want Caesar dressing again?"
"Yeah. And he is."
"Is NOT!"
"ALFRED!"
"GEEZ-!" Columbia laughed as he ran towards the front counter.
She waited patiently for her food, Alfred dropping it off with another 'is NOT'. She stuck her tongue out at him. "So is."
She didn't have to wait long for Katyusha to show after that.
"Privet, Katyusha." She greeted, hoping she pinned the pronunciation.
The platinum blonde was pleasantly surprised. "Privet! Goodness, what happened to you?"
"Oh, nothing serious. It looks worse that it feels, I promise." She smiled.
"If you say so..." She exhaled heavily. "Thank you for meeting me here!"
"Hey, it's not a problem. You've been nothing but nice."
"Yes, well..." The older woman looked dejected.
"...Is something wrong?"
"No no. It's just Ivan..." She ended up staring at the table. "I'm not really sure where to begin."
"Something you want to talk about?"
"Some things I think you should know..." Katyusha said, her eyes downcast. She sighed. "Let's have nice lunch first! Then we can go over and see him."
Columbia nodded, but watched her friend with observing eyes.
She seemed depressed, but soon started to tell a story that would be mostly exposed in the privacy of her car as they drove out to the Branginsky Mansion.
Ivan's Grandfather. Columbia guessed he was a major part of the man's issues, but she wouldn't know the extent of it since only Ivan himself knew. He treated the young boy harshly, and the few times that Katyusha saw him in those years he had gone from a smiling young man to a stern faced youth. Quiet, reserved, and a growing reputation of being cruel to the other children of the family. There was a family of servants that used to live in the mansion with him, childhood friends that were 'gifts' from his grandfather. Ivan was taught that they were to be subjugated and disciplined. Katyusha was just now realizing herself why Ivan referred to them as 'friends' even though they were clearly not.
"I moved in with him for a short time, when he was sixteen. He was deemed old enough to run the house on his own, and Grandfather returned to Russia to look after the business. There were others that lived there too. It was a weird time though. In three years, there were a few more deaths in the family, all of whom had visited us often. I stayed as long as I could. Honestly. But then I saw him - he broke Toris's back. It was an accident, he hadn't meant to hit him so hard...he loathed himself for weeks afterwards. He really does act like he has no idea what he's doing. I grew scared though. I left. I should have stayed."
The long pass code was entered into the security keypad at the front gate, and again at the garage.
They walked up to the door slowly. Katyusha had a key, and the sound of the creaking door echoed in the empty halls.
"Ivan?" Katyusha called. "I'm back, brother."
"Katyusha!" A soft voice called back. "I was wondering...oh?" Ivan's tall frame had appeared at the top of the enormous staircase that decorated the foyer.
"Columbia has come!" He said excitedly, and nearly ran down the stairs, rushing towards her.
"Wait. Hold on-" Her feet were lifted off the ground as she was pulled into a lung-crushing hug. It stung her back, badly. "I-Ivan-"
Slowly, she was set down, and she looked back up to the Russian's face. He was positively beaming. After a second, his fell face. "What happened to face?" He poked her bruised cheek, earning a hiss from the smaller frame.
"O-ouch! I got in a fight."
"With who?" His confusion was morphing into concern.
"That damn German albino...apparently I...piss him off."
"Columbia, Gilbert is dangerous! You should be more careful." Ivan was glaring at her sternly, his voice laced with concern.
"Really? Not so dangerous at the moment..." Thinking of the way the other man's voice had rose several octaves because of the damage inflicted made her grin. He so deserved it.
"What did you do?" His curiosity was piqued, and his questioning face was...well, cute. How did me manage that level of looking innocent?
"Let's just say he won't be walking straight for awhile." She grinned. "Anyway, I came over to hang out and stuff. So what're we - "
"Drinks!" He interrupted, smiling. "Follow me."
"Kind of early, isn't it?" Columbia asked.
"Never too early for vodka. Come." He led them through the kitchen, and shuffled around for a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of rum. Both in hand, they went through the back to a smaller, more cozy sitting room with rich furniture. He took a seat on a couch, Columbia plopped next to him and Katyusha chose a chair across the coffee table. Katyusha seemed to be a bit more downtrodden than before, and Columbia wondered if she disapproved of Ivan's apparent drinking habit.
"Here. You will be needing this." Ivan said, handing her the bottle of rum and twisting the lid off the vodka. He tipped the bottle back, taking a few mouthfuls of the alcohol happily.
"You really are worse than I am." Columbia observed.
"Drink." He commanded, and following his suit, she took two large gulps of the strong alcohol. "Mm." She licked her lips. "You don't waste time with bottom shelf shit, do you?"
"Ne. So what do we do?"
She shrugged. "Heck if I know. Ivan, if I'm being honest...and sorry if this is far too blunt, but I do have about a million questions that I wanna ask. I'm just...a little afraid of some of the answers I might get and I think we should get to know each other more first."
"I can't be so interesting."
"Oh you are." She nodded solidly, taking another drink. "Believe me, you are."
He took another swig of the clear alcohol. "If you think so..." A pause. "What kind of questions?"
"What, are you serious?"
"Da..."
She coughed a little. "Um...all right. Let's see. I guess the best one to ask is from when you pushed me down. At my own dinner. In front of my own house."
"S-sorry..." He turned sheepish.
"You said it...um. Wasn't your fault. I feel like I'm missing some context there."
"You made me jealous." He said simply, tilting his bottle back once more. "I don't know how to make friends like you do. I..." He looked down. "My other...'friends'...I hurt them. I didn't...mean to. I thought it was normal. It wasn't until I was older that I started thinking. Maybe I was wrong. Seeing you has made me think about a lot of things. You are so different from what I'm used to."
Well that makes more sense now. The confusion, the random act of violence. "You regret hurting your other friends, huh? But you still use show strength...I get the feeling if I had met you from before you started realizing things were off I would have choked for real."
"...There is a good possibility." The regretful look he was giving was not something she could just ignore. He was staring at the floor, swirling the clear glass bottle around absent-mindedly.
Fantastic. She had a crush on a mental patient. She glanced at the ever so silent Katyusha, who simply listening attentively and sipping on a glass of vodka of her own, and seemed to relax a little. "I dunno what there is to be so jealous about."
"Are you kidding?!" Ivan said, shooting her a wide stare. "You've become so friendly with everyone."
"I'm really not that great at making friends. I'm blunt, too forward...and greedy." It was strange how they stuck around though, she thought.
"How are those bad things? You've made impression. Is not as you say." He scowled.
"I - " Wasn't it? She drank nervously. Maybe he was right. Maybe she just thought she was anti-social, or at the very least it still felt like she should be. She thought she wanted peace and quiet in her new chapter of life, but she was happiest when people were over. It was enough to make someone jealous of her. "I guess you're right. Sorry." She contemplated the new outlook carefully.
He just grumbled something in Russian, and Katyusha interjected cheerily. "S-say, why don't we all do something fun again?"
Columbia sighed. "Yeah. I really did come over just to hang out and stuff." The depressing talk was getting to be too much, for the moment. Nation seemed to be one constant stream of drama after the other. It was strange, and she was curious about how little that actually bothered her. The fact she almost welcomed the distractions to occupy her mind was a little creepy. Great, she was creeping herself out...she took another long swig of her alcohol. She would have to pay him back somehow for the stuff, it did not taste cheap.
Ivan looked at her curiously. "Do what now?"
"Hang out. Um. Play a game? Watch a movie?"
"We could dance again." He smiled. It seemed a bit brighter this time.
"As long as there are no furnaces in the room..." She pretended to scan the room with a scrutinizing stare.
He nearly gasped. "How is that? I can't believe I nearly forgot."
"Better. Don't worry, it's nothing. I'm more pissed about the - " She stopped herself, and he eyed her cautiously. " - well. What you said. Whatever the hell it was."
"You do not remember?"
"I was a little distracted at the time!"
"Sorry. Has something happened?"
She stood with a huff. "Just a...nightmare. Nothing to worry about, not really. I can manage it."
"You seem to be managing quite a bit." Katyusha finally said something.
"Oh it's fine." She took another drink of the rum. "That is really good stuff." She grinned. Ivan was holding a hand out to her. "Huh?"
"Dance?" He asked politely.
"Oh... here? Now?"
"It was not a problem the other night."
"No, I suppose not." Columbia felt a flush rise in her cheeks. Sure he was a breath's hair from psychotic, but dammit if he wasn't so gosh darn cute about it. She accepted the hand, almost instantly being pulled into his large frame.
It was much like the last time, except now she could tell how the room was moving. "Gosh you're good at this."
"Thank you."
"So what are we dancing?"
"Oh? So interested ~~" He giggled.
"I'm curious, all right? I've always sucked at dancing."
"Very well. Is an ice skating routine."
She stared at him, looking up from another spin as he twirled and tugged on her. "Seriously?"
"Da."
"I'd love to see you skate."
"We will get plenty of opportunity this winter."
"Ivan Braginsky, are you flirting over there?" Katyusha asked, and Ivan flushed.
"I - is that - oh my." He tilted his chin into his scarf.
"STOP IT! That's too cute you know!" Columbia whined.
"You two are mean to me!" Ivan complained, stopping the dance abruptly and tugging at his scarf.
"Katyusha, I'm not the only one that thinks he's cute when he does this, right?!"
"Ne, I think he's very sweet!" She giggled.
Ivan pouted, glancing over the at the two girls and twiddling his thumbs. "Mean..."
A strange chiming resounded throughout the house. It almost sounded like a clock or something, chiming at the change of the hour but she checked her watch and it was not an even minute.
"Odd, I wonder who could be coming here?" Ivan wondered, standing to walk away.
"That was the door chime." Katyusha explained as he left. "It tells us when someone is at the front gate."
"Oh, well that makes sense. I wonder who came. Maybe we should pour shots!" She joked, raising her tall glass bottle happily. She should probably stop, come to think of it.
Ivan returned, but something seemed off. He was running back and his features were distressed.
"Iv-" Katyusha didn't even get to finish his name.
"Is Grandfather!" He exclaimed, and without a second to stop he grabbed Columbia and dragged her to a deeper part of the mansion. Katyusha was busy in split second, putting away the alcohol bottles.
"Ivan, what the heck?" Columbia asked as Katyusha disappeared from her sight.
"You were never here!" He said harshly, pulling her up the stairs and into a large bedroom. He quickly stripped off his coat and scarf, the coat falling to the ground and the scarf being grasped in his palms. "Come here!" He ordered, and bewildered she followed. The walk in closet was huge, she realized, and he split apart the clothes and hastily removed a plank from the back wall.
Columbia stared as he worked. A clean crawlspace was revealed. "Take this, and go. Please be careful with it..." His look was pleading as he shoved the scarf into her hands.
"Where the heck am I going?!" The hell was this?! Surely this was crazy! This was crazy, right?
"It leads outside, past the cameras." He explained. "Please go! Grandfather will not be happy to see a stranger here."
"Then just explain- "
"PLEASE!" He nearly shouted, shoving her forward into the crawlspace.
"All right, all right! I want an explanation later!" She sent him a harsh glare, and he just froze. "Ivan, you're shaking." Amazement overcame her. He wasn't just frantic or worried. He was petrified. "Okay, I'm going." She ducked into the crawlspace without sparing another second and the wood was shoved back into place. The stomp of boots and hasty shuffling of clothes could be heard from the other side of the wood, and she glanced between the place that was just now closed and the crawlspace before her. There were no cobwebs or dust, like it was kept clean on purpose. There was a bit of carpet on the floor too, so the rough wood wouldn't scrape against anything. Silently exhaling, she folded Ivan's scarf carefully, wondering the importance but respecting his wishes all the same, and carefully placed the material inside of her jacket before moving forward.
It was kind of like a little maze. It slanted upwards, downwards, twisted and turned. There were little instructions taped everywhere, some that said 'to living room' and 'dead end' and the like. Some looked newer than others. "This must go through the entire mansion..." She murmured, and froze when she heard voices. One was Ivan's. One she didn't recognize. They were clear. Confused, she looked around. A small hole above her labeled 'largest living room' was the source. She stared. Was this an eavesdropping system? Either way, what was something like this doing here?
They were speaking in Russian, so she could forget understanding what was going on. Something irked her though. Ivan's voice was clear, and...happy. A stark contrast to his attitude a few minutes ago. His looks had been darting, he moved with the speed of a man being chased by the devil and his urgency...she shook her head and the voices faded, the source changing. This was absolute insanity. What the hell was she doing?
She could hear where it was coming from. Sucking in a deep breath, she followed the source. The small holes were as prominent as the twist and turns, she soon found out. and finally after crawling for a good while she settled in front of one marked 'Ivan's bedroom'. Strangely, there was no paper around this one but the marker had been engraved with something sharp.
Creepy.
"...Is there anything else I should know about?" Ivan's voice. And he was speaking plain English. Columbia sat stock still, suddenly afraid to breath.
"No." A deep man's voice. One she didn't recognize. Must be this 'Grandfather'. Why were they in Ivan's bedroom? "You look tense though. It's been too long Ivan. Why not relax."
"You taught me to always be on guard." It sounded like a practiced response.
"Good." Columbia shuddered. There was something slimy about the way this guy talked. "Come here, Ivan."
Bootsteps. "Yes, Grandfather?" Lord, she could almost hear the smile in his voice -
A loud CRACK shattered her thoughts.
"We should catch up." The older man said.
"Yes, Grandfather."
Another CRACK and a thud. She jumped. What the hell was that?! Scrambling, she tried to make her way back to her entrance...which quickly turned out to be impossible. More sickening sounds resounded in the small area and finally she found a spot where they became clear. It was up, and she held her breath again as she realized she could peer through a slanted rectangular area. It must be connected to the vents somehow. Or this was just an incredibly convenient peek hole.
Strangely, she found this spot had the perfect view. There was an old man, looking wizened and solemn. He was holding a stick of some sort. He was standing on something.
Columbia covered her mouth. Silence suddenly became key. The old man's boot was on top of Ivan's head, pushing the younger mans face into the carpet.
"Ivan, we've been through this."
"Yes, Grandfather." He still spoke with a smile. The shoe was removed. Ivan sat up. he was shirtless, yellow and other splotches marring his otherwise very pale skin. With shock she realized he was entirely marred with scars.
The man brought the stick down, hard, and she heard another sickening CRACK as the weapon connected with Ivan's shoulder. "You've become so dependable." The old man said with a sigh. "And yet so useless. Because of your stupidity I have to rely on the Braginskaya's to take over the family business."
Ivan didn't even flinch. He sat on knees, unmoving, as his shoulder slumped awkwardly. "Apologies."
"Oh, don't give me that. You still have that weird office job? The one you use as a shield."
Ivan smiled more. "Yes, Grandfather."
The older scowled, disgusted. "Come up with an excuse."
"Yes, Grandfather."
And in the blink of an eye the older man had a longer, thinner stick of some sort and whipped it across Ivan's face. The younger man flew to the floor, breathing very carefully.
Columbia felt her hands shake. Her eyes had gone wide and she forced herself to breathe properly. She shouldn't be seeing this holy shit she should NOT be seeing this! Everything felt frozen. Everything felt so wrong and she was just sitting here -
With a realization she spun, moving quietly as she could. There had to be a quick way out of this maze. It was strange. Up until this point, she had felt an emptiness in her that she had carried around for far too long. That feeling was suddenly gone, replaced with a desperate sense of urgency. If she just got back on the path she was then maybe she could do something. Panic set in when something covered her mouth and pulled her in.
"SHH!" Hissed a voice. Columbia spun her hand. A female, one she didn't recognize, was glaring at her. Long, platinum blonde hair decorated with a large bow sat almost on the top of her head. Not quite though.
Columbia's looked at her, confused and a little scared.
The other female simply pointed, directing her towards a series of tunnels.
Decided it was best to ask questions later, Columbia followed the strange girl through the hallways.
Not two minutes later they were out of the house, popping up in a kind of pipe outside of the property. Making sure she was off the grounds, Columbia collapsed to the ground, spewing all sorts of profanities and cursing her shaky legs.
"Oh thank goodness!" Katyusha approached them quickly. She must have been waiting.
"Calm down. That won't help big brother..." The other female stated calmly.
"'Big brother'? Wait - " Columbia stared up at the navy-clad female. "...Natalia?"
"That would be me." Sharp, dark blue eyes seemed to pierce anything they looked at.
"You scratched up my car!"
"Check is in the mail."
"Girls, please!" Katyusha pleaded.
Columbia felt like just sitting there and swearing but what was happening inside the mansion was more on her mind at the moment. "Okay. I gotta go."
"Where are you going?!" Katyusha asked, reaching out for her.
"Take me to my car, Katyusha! Now." She scrambled to her feet.
The older woman moved silently, quickly. The car was parked at the side of the road, just a few feet away from the hidden passageway. Few words were exchanged as Katyusha fumbled with her keys, letting Columbia in the backseat and Natalia in shotgun. Columbia was still in shock. Ivan. All that - how many years? How many injuries? How beat up was he at this moment? He knee jumped up and down incessantly. Her fingers tapped, her brain was racing with thoughts.
"Would you stop that?" Natalia shouted angrily. "You are very annoying!"
"Shush. Thinking." Came the curt reply. She ignored the nasty scowl the other girl gave her. It took way too long to pull up to the cafe where Columbia's car was parked. She was just happy Francis was so nice as to let her keep it there for awhile.
She bolted out of the backseat and shoved her keys in the lock, shaking to get them in the ignition.
"What are you doing?!" Katyusha screamed.
"Going BACK, what does it look like?!"
"You can't do that -!" Natalia started, looking stricken and almost worried. The woman held a great deal of anger in her voice as well.
"WATCH ME!" She revved the engine and tires squealed out of the parking lot, garnering attention. Columbia didn't care. She pressed the speed limit.