My attempt to update twice weekly may work yet!
So, although it's Wednesday today, starting next week, I'm going to try to update this story on either Monday or Tuesday, and then again on Friday. :) (And, for anyone wondering about "Written in Blood", it will be updated on Saturdays from now on. :) )
Thank you for all your lovely reviews so far! :) They really brighten my day.
Also, I've finally decided on a new name for this fanfic! As you've probably noticed, it's now called "Web of Delusions". :)
Chapter Three:
When Lithuania woke up the next morning, it took him a moment to remember where he was. He could immediately tell from the warmth of the blankets on top of him that he was not in his own bed, but where exactly he was at the present moment, he had no idea.
The boy sat up, and it was then that he remembered what had happened.
Russia was curled up next to him in a very big bed. The larger nation appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but Lithuania couldn't be completely sure.
"That's right," Lithuania thought, "He wouldn't let me leave, although I practically got down on my knees and begged him. Maybe today he'll be more open to hearing my opinion… I hope."
He knew Estonia would have scolded him for his constant optimism, but it was the only thing that kept him going, especially under these circumstances.
Lithuania lay back down, deciding to wait until Russia woke up to leave the bed. As he did so, he noticed that there was an extra blanket tucked around him, a blanket that Russia was not sharing.
"Did he do that?" Lithuania thought, "Or… No, it must have been him. No one else has been here."
In spite of his current rather perilous circumstances, Lithuania smiled.
"That was very nice of him… Maybe he really does care."
He lay there quietly for a while, thinking back on what had happened in the past few days. It seemed so strange that everything had changed in so short a time. Estonia had lost his mind, and found it again, with Latvia's help. Belarus had discovered what went on behind the scenes in Russia's house. Ukraine had revealed a startling secret-the fact that she had known for some time what was going on. And Lithuania himself had found something that he would never give up. He had found friendship in Belarus.
"But what if she realizes this was my idea?" Lithuania thought, "She hates Russia now, so what if…what if she doesn't want to be around me anymore?"
The brunet boy sighed. He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his optimism levels up.
"It's probably better for her if she doesn't stay friends with me. After all… All that pain… Everything that happened to her… That was my fault for getting her involved."
At that moment, he felt Russia stirring next to him. Lithuania glanced over just as the other nation's violet eyes flickered open.
"Good morning, Litva!" Russia said cheerfully, smiling at Lithuania.
"G-good morning, Mr. Russia," Lithuania said, smiling back. Once again, his ability to smile even when he felt like crying had come in extremely handy.
"Ivan, remember?" Russia asked, blinking at Lithuania.
"Oh… That's right," Lithuania said, "Good morning, Ivan."
Russia looked extremely pleased, much to Lithuania's relief.
"If he stays in a good mood, then maybe… Maybe I can convince him to let me leave."
Russia sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"I am having a great deal of the hunger," Russia informed Lithuania.
"W-would you like me to go get you something to eat?" Lithuania asked.
Russia paused, appearing to be deep in thought.
"No, Litva…" he said, "I would not be wanting you to go find food. I will go get some food. You will be staying here."
"B-but, Mr. Russia!" Lithuania protested, "How long do you w-want to keep me here?"
"Hmm…" Russia said thoughtfully, "Forever! And my name is Ivan."
"Yes, Ivan," Lithuania said, sighing, "But you know the others will worry about me, don't you?"
"It does not matter to me whether or not they are worrying," Russia said, "I will be telling them that you are okay, da? Now, Litva... I am sorry to be doing this, but I must be making certain that you will not be leaving while I am absent."
"W-what are you t-talking about?" Lithuania stammered.
"Get up," Russia said. Gone was the smile, gone was the happiness Lithuania had seen only a few minutes earlier. It had been once again replaced by a barely concealed ruthlessness, and that frightened the Baltic nation.
Shaking, Lithuania obeyed. It was cold in Russia's room without the blankets to keep him warm.
"Hmm…" Russia murmured, "The attic would be too much of the coldness… Oh! I know!"
Russia climbed out of bed also, and then, grabbing Lithuania by the arm, he pulled the smaller nation with him, marching off toward his large closet. Lithuania had only been inside Russia's closet once before, and he remembered well the circumstances that had led him there. That had been before Estonia had lost his mind, the day that the middle Baltic had gone to face Russia the first time. It was then, Lithuania suspected, that Estonia had begun to break. On that day, he had been beaten, and then thrown down the stairs that led to Russia's semi-secret attic.
"W-what are we doing?" Lithuania asked.
Russia ignored him, instead rummaging around in the closet. After a few moments, he came out with a pair of handcuffs, one of which he fastened to Lithuania's right arm.
"As I have been saying," Russia said, "This would not be my first choice to be doing to you. But, Litva… I must not be letting you leave me too."
"I won't run away," Lithuania said, "I promise."
"I am sorry," Russia said, "But your promise is not something I can trust."
The larger nation fastened the other handcuff to a large ring in the closet wall, and locked the cuffs tightly.
"Now," he said, "You will be staying here until my return, da?"
"Ivan…" Lithuania whispered, "Please…"
Russia ignored him, and then, he gently pushed Lithuania into the closet.
"Stay," Russia said. Then, he closed the door, leaving Lithuania alone, chained to the wall, in the dark.
"I was such a fool," Lithuania thought bitterly, "I should have known that he would do this. He always does, doesn't he? And now…now, there's no telling what he will do to the others while I am locked in here. But…he didn't hurt me… So maybe he won't hurt them, either?"
As it turned out, Ukraine was actually an excellent cook. When Estonia woke up, he found her in the kitchen, cooking, along with Belarus, who appeared to be trying her best to help out.
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Ukraine chirped as he entered, "We made breakfast for you!"
"That's nice…" Estonia mumbled, not quite awake, "Wait… You can cook?"
"I am a woman, you know," Ukraine said, "Most of us know how to cook."
"She doesn't," Estonia said, glancing at Belarus, who was glaring in evident frustration at what he presumed was some part of breakfast.
"She is not included in most of us," Ukraine said, sighing, "Is Latvia awake yet?"
"No," Estonia said, "But I can go wake him up. If he hears there's food, he'll come running."
"Lithuania hasn't come back yet," Belarus said, "I still say Russia has him hidden somewhere."
"You make Lithuania sound like a treasure chest," Ukraine said, "I'm… I'm sure he'll be fine."
The girl turned away quickly, but not before Estonia identified a pained look on her face.
"He's always fine," the blonde Baltic said, trying to comfort himself, as well as Ukraine.
"Da," said a voice from the doorway, "Litva is perfectly fine."
"So you do have him!" Belarus snapped, turning angrily toward the speaker.
Estonia froze.
"He's here… He'll… He'll hurt me again…"
"You do not need to be so much of the scaredness, Estonia," Russia said, "I have not come here to punish anyone."
"For some reason," Estonia said coldly, "I don't believe you."
"You never seem to be believing me," Russia sighed, "I have only come here to be finding some food. I am much of the hungriness."
"Where is Lithuania?" Belarus snapped.
"He is having plenty of the safety and the happiness," Russia said, "So you should not be worrying."
"Safety and happiness?" Belarus growled, "With you? I think not, brother!"
Russia ignored her, and instead began rummaging through the cupboards and pulling out various items.
"I will be going now," he said cheerfully, after he had finished collecting a large amount of food, "Be having fun with your breakfast. I will be back at some later time."
The Russian nearly skipped out of the kitchen, leaving three disoriented nations behind him.
"He admitted that he kidnapped Lithuania," Estonia observed.
"That bastard!" Belarus spat, "I'm going to follow him and make him tell me what he's done to Toris!"
"No, you won't," Estonia said, "I'll go."
"You?" Belarus said scornfully, "What can you do?"
"I… There's the possibility of a trade," Estonia said, "If I could convince him to let me trade places with Lithuania…"
"No one is going!" Ukraine said firmly. Surprised, Estonia glanced at the girl, to see that she was glaring at both him and Belarus.
"I don't want anyone else to get hurt," Ukraine continued, "We can find a way to rescue Lithuania if he's in trouble, but we have to do it together."
"So Lithuania really is in trouble?" asked a small voice from the doorway.
Estonia turned to see Latvia standing in the doorway, staring at them. The tiny nation looked as if he were about to burst into tears.
"You guys knew all along he was in trouble," Latvia whispered, "But you weren't going to tell me! Why do you think I can't handle the truth? Estonia? Why don't you understand? I saw you at your worst… Why won't you tell me what's wrong? Why do you have to hide everything? Don't you… Don't you understand that you just make me even more scared?!"
Without waiting for a reply, the small boy turned and ran away, sobbing.
"L-Latvia!" Estonia gasped. The blonde Baltic took a step toward the door, only to find his path blocked by Belarus.
"I'll talk to him," the girl said.
"But you don't even know him!" Estonia protested.
"I know that he doesn't need to talk to you!" Belarus snapped, marching past him, "You foolish, self-centered coward!"
Estonia stared after her, his eyes wide.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt anyone… What did I do wrong now?"
"She doesn't mean it," Ukraine said from behind him.
Estonia turned back to face the girl, staring desperately at her.
"Then why would she say it?" he asked.
"Her worry for Lithuania is overcoming everything else," Ukraine said, "So much so that she is trying to be him for all of us, by volunteering for everything… But it's also making her cold, and hard as stone. She's trying to cope, like you do."
"Am I really that stupid?" Estonia asked, "I just wanted to protect Latvia… I never meant for him to see what was happening to me, but once he found out, I… I just couldn't lose him."
"It's all right," Ukraine said, stepping toward him, "It's normal."
She reached out to him, but he stepped backwards, frightened by her unexpected approach. Ukraine drew back, looking sad and extremely surprised.
"You poor thing…" she murmured, and Estonia knew she had not meant him to hear that.
He turned away, not wanting to stay, but not really wanting to go either.
"Where are you going?" Ukraine called, sounding rather frightened.
"I… I just need to be alone," Estonia said quietly.
"Estonia…"
He ignored her, walking onward as if she had never existed.
"Estonia… What's happened to you?"
"What's happened to me?" Estonia thought bitterly, "I can't be consistent. Some days I just want to hide… But other days, I would be willing to sacrifice my all, just to save you. Lithuania… If it wasn't for you, we'd all be safe now. But because of you, we're all going to get hurt again, to save you from the mess you created. I hope you're happy."
Estonia wasn't completely sure where he would find Russia, but he needn't have worried. He encountered the larger nation a few minutes later, in the hallway that led to the staircase.
"Russia," Estonia said, fighting to keep the tremor out of his voice, "I need to speak with you."
"Oh," Russia said, "Estonia. What is it you are wanting?"
"Why did you kidnap Lithuania?" Estonia asked, "He never hurt you."
"That is exactly it," Russia said, "You are hating me, Belarus is hating me… Ukraine and Latvia are afraid of me. Only Lithuania still likes me. He came back when all of you left me alone, and I will not be letting him leave me."
"As I thought. Lithuania did return to Russia of his own accord. You stubborn, optimistic fool, what have you done?"
"But he would have come back, wouldn't he?" Estonia challenged, "He would have come back to us, because he cares! You may not have kidnapped him, Russia, but you have imprisoned him!"
"I would be watching my words if I were being in your place," Russia said, "There is still punishment necessary for the insubordinate things you have been doing of late."
"Go ahead and punish me," Estonia said, "I don't care. All I want is for the others to be safe and happy. And that includes Lithuania. I would like to make a deal with you, Russia. A trade. Me for Lithuania. I would let you do whatever you wanted to me, and I wouldn't resist."
"Litva will not be leaving!" Russia growled, his voice taking on a sinister tone, "But you, Estonia… You will be wishing you had not spoken to me at this time."
Estonia felt his heart beginning to speed up.
"No, not again! Please not again!"
"I'm sorry!" the blonde Baltic whimpered, stepping back, "Please don't hurt me…"
A moment later, the food Russia was holding had been dropped in a heap on the floor, and Estonia found himself being shoved against the wall, Russia's gloved hands wrapped around his throat.
"You were trying to murder me," Russia said, "So I have every right to be murdering you."
"Russia…" Estonia whimpered, "Please…"
His feet were not touching the floor. He couldn't breathe, and Russia's grip only seemed to be getting tighter.
"Maybe if he kills me this way… Maybe he won't hurt me again…"
However, this was not to be. A moment later, Russia released his grip on Estonia, and the Baltic nation fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
"You would not be thinking I would let you get off so easily?" Russia asked cheerfully. The large nation reached inside his coat and pulled out his faucet pipe.
Estonia flinched, and tried to back away, but found that the wall blocked any chance of escape.
"At least it's me. It's me getting hurt, and not Latvia or Ukraine… It's okay…"
But when Russia's pipe came down on his shoulder, every pretense that everything was okay started to slip away. Soon, Estonia was screaming, crying out again and again as the cold, metal pipe slammed into his body.
At first, his cries were wordless, merely screams of agony. But when he could no longer stand it, when he felt his sanity beginning to slip away again, they became cries for help.
"Help me!" Estonia sobbed, "I know I did terrible things, I know I threatened you all, but please help me!"
Russia struck him again, and he screamed. His glasses finally slipped off and fell to the floor, where they lay next to him.
"I'm sorry…" Estonia whimpered, "Please, help me…"
"They won't come for you, Estonia," Russia said, "Remember? They don't care about you."
"No, they do…" Estonia sobbed, "They do love me! I won't believe what you say anymore! They really care about me!"
But as the beating continued, he found himself beginning to doubt that. Because no matter how loudly he screamed, no one came to save him. And when Russia finally stopped the torture and disappeared, Estonia was left leaning against the wall, sobbing, his body aching all over.
"Why didn't you come for me? Didn't you hear me calling? Latvia? Ukraine? Why did you leave me all alone…?"