𝙰 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿

• LOUISE

𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲𝘀

• dystopian, psychological thriller, horror elements, science fiction

𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿

• Detailed Violence . Murder . Kidnapping . Sh00ting . Please Read With Caution

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                             .

                                             .

⬫

Advice.

Keep Your 𝗘𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘄.

⌜                                            ⌝

hashtags:

#SPSReview

⌞                                            ⌟

I traced my pencil over the paper, etching the all-too-familiar circular marks onto the blank canvas. Illuminated only by candles and the dim twinkle lights of my room, the drawing seemed twice as messy and incomplete as it actually was.

Scrutinizing my art, I peered out of the window once again to get a good look at the Creature stories below the safety of my window seat. Its thin and inky body standing idly by the corner of the building next to ours, casting no shadow in the snow, flickering in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

What caught my attention the most, however, was the strange masks that obscured every Creature’s face. I’d been studying them closely since I was a child, how the masks could cling to a wispy figure. The single eye in the center always piqued my interest, and I had taken to drawing them as young as four, before I had even realized these things were decidedly not natural.

Why nobody else could see the Creatures, I had no idea. I personally couldn’t imagine my life without the constant fear of a monster lurking nearby a classroom, or the long dark fingers grabbing my ankles during the night at camp...

But you will see the Creatures are the least of our concerns.

Ever since The Capital set Protocol, well before I was even a thought, the laws had become stricter and surveillance upped tenfold. My father would always sigh and say, “This term’s Resident must be a paranoid son of a bitch.” before cameras were installed into our home, and now he doesn’t speak much at all.

Not to mention what with the weather getting colder, and the sun setting sooner everyday, and nobody knowing what could be going on- I’d already accepted humanity’s (essentially deserved) downfall.

“Knock knock.” A cheerful voice rang out from the door.

I turned to see Aleksei stepping inside, a toothy grin plastered on his face. Before he had the chance to interject, I spoke quickly.

“Protocol.”

He paused, a pained expression overcoming his features and I knew exactly what he was thinking. When we were kids, our teachers would encourage us to enact Protocols everywhere. Of course, from the safety of our home, it was a fun joke to tease each other with. But now with the cameras it was hardly worth a laugh.

Aleksei clasped his hands and dipped his head slightly, repeating the phrase “In The Capital We Trust” from memory. I only half-minded my response,

“In The Capital We Believe.”

Within the blink of an eye, Aleksei was in front of me, his grin back with full force. I gave him a brief once-over and turned my notebook towards him. He took a seat nearby, flipping through the recent pages.

Finally, he spoke. “You’re improving, Katya. I when these were just circles with dots, and-“

“And you accused me of drawing boobs in front of our entire second grade class?” I recounted the memory with a fondness I couldn’t quite place, but Aleksei wouldn’t be able to tell by the solemn poker face I had mastered by the mature age of six.

“Exactly.”

Aleksei flipped to the beginning of the book, his eyes searching my earliest work while mine searched his face. His parents immigrated north from Spain before he was born, and his natural reaction to the cold showed for it. While myself and many of our peers would dress in a few layers, a heavy coat, and the usual attire for those native to the subfreezing temperatures- Aleksei Núñez would regularly come to school wearing piles of clothing, which unfortunately resulted in years of teasing from classmates.

He set my book aside and leaned forward in the chair, the playful gleam in his eye darkening to something more serious. “So, have you seen more Creatures recently?”

I nodded and gestured toward the corner, where our friend continued to linger idly by. Aleksei dashed to the window, pushing his face flush up against the glass. It was almost amusing how eager he was for something only I could see, amusing and slightly concerning considering how quick he was to believe me. Not that I could complain.

“What’s it look like?” He asked.

“We’ve talked about this before...”

Aleksei waved his hand dismissively, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Dark, tall, shadowy thing, right. But what about the mask?”

I looked out at the Creature again, but this time, I was startled to see it staring straight at me. Not that it was unheard of for the Creature’s to acknowledge my existence in some way, but it was always a weird feeling- from my family’s apartment high above the ground, in a place I should be safe. Then again, what is safe anymore?

Aleksei’s voice tugged me from my trance. “Katya?” He sounded gentle, but also concerned. For a moment I didn’t respond, even though internally I acknowledged he was speaking to me, the pull of the Creature was stronger than my will to reassure him.

Well, almost, until he yanked my shoulders and shook me like a rag-doll.

“Okay! Jesus, calm down!” The exclamation came out sharper than I intended, but it was pretty off-putting, especially considering Aleksei knew my aversion to physical touch.

It was hard to stay angry with him when he looked at me like a kicked puppy, though. “Sorry, you were turning pale. I thought you were having a panic attack.”

“The thought is appreciated, but please don’t shake people who are having panic attacks.” I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “And, no, I’m fine.”

Aleksei took a seat again, looking unconvinced but very apologetic for his abrupt response. We sat in silence for another few minutes, not infrequent but certainly not something Aleksei would do on the norm.

My voice cracked as I asked. “What’re you thinking about?”

He paused, eyes wandering to the window, then to my face. “Sometimes I wonder about these Creatures. You’re sure it’s not... y’know...” He gestured to his head and I immediately picked up on the implications.

“No. At least, I don’t think so. Regardless, I’m a functioning human. If I needed to seek help, I would.” A lie. And Aleksei knew it too. Nobody with half of a brain cell sought anything out of the quote-on-quote normal, unless you wanted to be taken away or persecuted.

Aleksei’s slight frown at my response told me plenty, but he didn’t bring it up again, and the rest of his visit was spent in a comfortable silence. When I looked back outside, the Creature was gone, and I opened my mouth to mention it briefly but decided against it. Talking about the Creatures around the cameras was a blatant risk, but to them, as far as they know, we’re just a couple of weird teenagers. As far as they’re concerned, I intend to keep it that way.

“Katya! Aleksei!”

We’d already made it halfway down the hallway when a young woman came barreling towards us at top speeds, and I turned just in time for the abrupt impact of her pillowy winter coat to crash into my body. Fortunately for me, my own jacket prevented most of the pain as I fell right on my rear. Glaring up at my perpetrator, I recognized the coily black hair and lively brown eyes instantaneously, decked in her usual dull pink attire, she looked more than ready to jump out of the window had it been open and we were not on the third story floor.

“Good morning, Roksana.” Aleksei mused, and I was incredibly tempted to wipe that amused grin off of his face. Not only that, but the laughter in his eyes told me he was holding back from a lot more.

“Good morning to you both!” Roksana pulled me to my feet by my arm, and I brushed the snow from the ground off of my butt. “Sorry Katya, slippery floor, you know.” She did genuinely look apologetic, and I waved my mittened hand to dismiss the topic.

Our school itself is a very old, very large building, and considering the amount of kids it held the space was always much needed. There were students as young as four on the underground floor, working their way up to the higher levels with our age, fourteen and fifteen, and upwards to eighteen. In fact, being the only school in our sector, every child is required by strict law to attend. Adults call it Saint Boris, we call it everlasting purgatory. Especially with the dirty tile floors, greige walls, frosted windows, and flickering fluorescent lights.

Roksana cleared her throat. “So, after giving it some thought, I think it would be best to continue with…” She trailed off, looking around suspiciously as if we weren’t surrounded by children on all sides. “Our plan.”

Aleksei and I exchanged a look. Truth be told, this “plan” had been entirely Roksana’s idea, and as her friends we were seemingly required to tag along. Aleksei never seemed to mind, her adventures hardly left a mark on his record. As for me, with a rebellious older brother who had already tarnished the Volkov name, I only wished I could say the same.

“So, where are we meeting?” Aleksei inquired. “And when?”

Roksana pondered for a moment. “Let’s meet outside The Clover, there’s actually someone I want you two to meet.” There was a mischievous glint to her eye that alluded to all of the wonderfully disastrous schemes she would be dragging us, namely me, into. “Clover at five pm, tomorrow. Sounds good?”

I opened my mouth to retort, but had no chance as a bell rang out loudly from the broken PA system somewhere above our heads and just as quickly as she had arrived, Roksana was gone, making a break for the staircase to hide until class ended.

“God forbid she attend a lecture.” I scowled, and Aleksei shrugged half-heartedly.

“I kind of ire her for it, sticking the rules to the man.”

Fortunately our first period class wasn’t far, and as we idled in with our heads low, Ms. Sidorov didn’t bat an eye. Most likely due to the mountain of papers she was fuming over at her stained wooden table, marking us poorly for our essays.

“She won’t be sticking anything anywhere when they sentence her to execution.” I murmured his way, glaring at the nearby kids who snickered at our untimely appearance.

To be fair, most kids our age hadn’t yet realized the stakes of each action. Why should they? Teenagers are supposed to feel invincible, and I knew from hearing her talk that Roksana had a similar mindset to many of our defiant peers. Her final plan, to escape the sector and cross that border. Find a home somewhere far away... I had entertained the idea too, how nice it sounded to leave this world completely behind.

But it’s simply unrealistic.

All things considered, the police would find her before she even left town. They wouldn’t be generous with her life, either, and even if they didn’t catch her the cold certainly would. Most of us will go on to work in the factories, a couple will take over a family business or become educators. And then, when we’ve served our time, come home and start a family, eventually to be dumped into some giant icy hole with the corpses of our former coworkers, friends, siblings and parents. Thus the cycle continues.

“Katya Volkov.” Ms. Sidorov declared in blatant annoyance, shaking me from my thoughts. Most of the class stared in my direction, with the exception of a few who slept at their desks unapologetically.

I felt a flush creep up from my neck to my cheeks. “Here. Sorry ma’am.”

The elderly woman huffed, and continued her roll-call. I turned to Aleksei, ready to comment on her attitude, but he too was fast asleep and snoring softly. The corners of my lips tugged into a small smile, but it didn’t last long, thinking about the future that was sprawled out before us. We never talked about it, I tried not to think about it, but it was essentially written in stone that we would be married one day. Unless he met someone else at his job, but I didn’t really want to think about that possibility, either.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. We didn’t run into Roksana again, but we saw her at the end of school, leaving with a tall guy neither of us recognized. I didn’t give it a second thought, and instead took to taking camera pictures of Aleksei in random places throughout our section of the city. Standing triumphantly on the base of an unnamed soldier-and-horse statue, capturing a doofy smile as he scooped snow into his pockets to “save for later”, and my personal favorite, a blurry action shot of us running from an officer that had caught us loitering around after sunset hours. We even stopped by the sorry excuse for a playground near our apartments, sitting on the creaky swings in a comfortable silence.

By the time we had made it home, it was pitch-black out, and neither of us were above a stern talking to from my mother. Thankfully she let us go without punishment, I figured, because this time last year it had not been so dark. If end times are upon us, let the kids have some fun, right?

That being said, once we finally made it to my room, Aleksei pushed open the only window I have and I pulled the stock paper from my desk drawer.

On clear nights like these, we’d picked up the habit of making small paper airplanes, and seeing how far we could throw them. I like drawing sketches on mine, while Aleksei preferred to jot down poetry ideas he claimed he’d never used. It was almost therapeutic watching them fly, and the satisfaction you would get when it successfully disappeared into the dark night instead of crash landing into the courtyard below.

After the last of the paper was gone, my sights lingered between the multicolored lights of the apartments across our complex’s courtyard and the clouded skies promising a flurry, doing my best to ignore Aleksei and this unfamiliar but alluring gaze of his, trained solely on me.

Neither of us said much of anything the entire evening, and I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but when I awoke the window was closed and I was covered with a thick blanket. Aleksei was gone, but for some odd reason, I felt no more alone.

By the time I reached The Cerulean Clover Pub, the gray of the sky had begun to darken and officers were emerging from their stations. A part of me pitied them, for having to patrol the city at night- some even by foot- frequently during intense snowstorms. However most of me didn’t really care.

The pub itself was small, warm, and well-lit. It was never crowded, but tonight there were a handful of men and women at tables playing poker and drinking ale. Even after a year of coming here on occasion, I still didn’t fully understand how they could have so many candles lit in a building made almost entirely out of wood, but it was cozy, and they made it work so I never complained.

I stepped into the main room, fastening the door safely behind me. The Cerulean Clover Pub, also known as The Clover, is not a scene I would generally frequent. Even if I was allowed to, legally speaking. However, unbeknownst to most people, in a labyrinth of tunnels beneath the building is an illegal market. Aleksei says the tunnels were dug during World War Three, but regardless, they were completely abandoned until some guy decided to go down there and sell his stuff without a permit.

You’d think the government would have investigated it by now, given they don’t need a warrant to invade someone’s property, but as far as I know they aren’t even aware. Everyone who goes down there is sworn to some sort of secrecy, Aleksei and I were subject to a screening before we were even allowed access, back when Roksana first introduced us to it. Not that it mattered, most people who frequented the markets were considered the “dregs of society”, or delinquents and outcasts. I can’t imagine they’d draw attention to themselves by addressing it with an officer, just to go unbelieved and inevitably sent away.

I ed the drunk gamblers, the bar, and the warm glow of the candlelight. The staff didn’t bat an eye as I pushed open the door to the back of the tavern, entering an offshoot hallway instead of the kitchen straight ahead. Before me, the dark stone steps descended into complete and utter darkness. I knew from experience it only took about seven minutes to reach the market, but considering I was already ten minutes late to the function, I figured it’d be in my best interest to hurry.

Per usual, the bottom of the staircase was dark as night, silent save for the dripping of water nearby and the faint sound of people conversing. I followed the noise until I ran right into the large wooden doors to the labyrinth, which I suppose had been loud enough for the guard to hear, because a man’s voice shouted from the other side.

“?”

“Hell if I know, you guys change it every week.” I started, emphasizing the playfulness in my voice. “Grisha, it’s Katya.”

There was a pause, and then, the doors slowly pulled back to reveal a handsome young man clad in uniform. His overgrown dark brown hair was pulled back into a small, half-up ponytail. His eyes, cold and stormy-gray, didn’t change as I stepped into the light– but there was a sense of fondness I picked up on almost immediately.

“Wrong .” There was no humor to his tone, but even still I knew he was teasing.

“You could never keep me out, anyway.” I smirked as I brushed past him. I’d had a small, kindling crush on Grisha for a while. Realistically I knew it would never come to fruition, which was perfectly fine, he was eighteen and saw me as nothing more than a sister-figure. Not that we were even extremely close regardless, but we’d taken up a habit of teasing each other on the regular, since he’d been my brother’s best friend way back when.

“Stay safe out there, Katya.” He added, and I turned around to see him eyeing me with an expression I couldn’t quite pinpoint. “I’ve had a bad feeling all day.”

I nodded and gave him a double thumbs-up, before turning to scan the crowds. However, before I could even take a step forward, I felt my throat close up. If it hadn’t, I would have screamed.

Not two feet ahead, there loomed a Creature, staring right at me.

I’d never seen one so close before, I could actually differentiate the black wisps from the dark blues and purples. The fingers were longer than I ed, and much sharper, limp at its sides. The figure had the physique of a grown woman, roughly 5’6 with soft feminine curves. Even more interesting though, I could see the mask wasn’t actually solid material at all; white and gray wisps themselves. The eye in the center seemed to be following me, meeting my own and metaphorically dragging me in.

“Katya?” A distant voice inquired, and I pried my eyes from the Creature to see Roksana, Aleksei, and some kid who looked oddly familiar, but at the moment I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen him before. It was actually Roksana who spoke, a gentle smile playing on her lips and confusion apparent in her eyes. Aleksei looked concerned, but what drew my attention was the stranger, who was undoubtedly staring directly at the Creature.

I blinked in my own confusion as he walked over to me and tugged me by the arm towards our meager group, and while we were just out of earshot, he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t stare at it too long, they don’t like the attention.”

It was at that moment, the realization of what was happening came crashing down on me, and I yanked my arm free of his grasp. He shot me a warning look, which I could tell meant keep your mouth shut. I took offense to that, frankly, because the last thing I wanted to do was make a scene about something only I could see.

Well, me and this guy, I guess.

“Are you okay?” Roksana inquired, too intrigued to to hide her curiosity at this point.

The kid waved his hand dismissively. “Your friend looked a little pale, so I wanted to make sure she wasn’t having a panic attack.” He gave me a false sympathetic glance. “Those can be awful.”

I rolled my eyes internally. Aleksei returned to his place by my side, and I could sense the questions practically radiating off of him. To be honest, I had just as many, but with Roksana here we could make no leadway yet.

“Okay, well…” Roksana cleared her throat. “Katya, I’ve already introduced Aleksei, but this is Lev Lebedev.” She grinned. “You might have seen me leaving school with him yesterday, he just moved to our sector. His father is from here, but his mom is from Japan. How cool is that?”

Lev turned to me and offered a smile, which I graciously ignored. He was skinny and pretty tall, just a little shorter than Aleksei, who was still several inches above me. His hair, raven black and shaggy, fell in his face and nearly obscured intense russet eyes. Even through the stray strands I could see he adorned dark eyeshadow, along with what looked to be an old band t-shirt under a leather jacket, paired with black jeans and worn-out combat boots. I wondered how he hadn’t frozen solid yet. All things considered though, he was attractive in the mysterious, emo sort of way.

“Pretty cool.” I shrugged. “Do you know any Japanese?”

Lev thought for a moment. “A little, but I’m trying to learn more. It’s mom’s first language, so I feel like it’s the least I can do to know it fluently.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and the four of us were promptly thrown into a very awkward silence, so I took the time to look around the area. The ceiling must’ve been thirty-five to forty feet above us, completely concrete. The tunnels were all cylinders, with curved walls providing more room for the merchant’s to keep stock behind their stands. People, mostly older individuals, milled about– buying weapons, exotic foods, old games and handmade toys for their children, amongst other things. However, the area was only so lit, and beyond the last stand was essentially pitch black. How far these tunnels actually went on for I had absolutely no idea.

“So,” Aleksei offered, and we looked his way. “I don’t suppose you know what we’re looking for, do you Roksana?”

She laughed. “Good question. My grandfather said the staff should be down here somewhere, apparently it was crafted by an old friend of his, and she’s selling it now.” Roksana smirked. “If what he says is true, and the staff really does have magical properties, then-”

“Magical properties?” I gaped at her. Roksana had always had some sort of affinity for the supernatural, funnily enough. But all I really needed to do was get Lev alone for a moment to debrief. Not chase some dead-end fantasy.

My friend, oblivious to this plight, nodded enthusiastically. “If memory serves me right, the staff should be-”

She never got to finish the thought, because above the common commotion of the market, Grisha screamed, “THEY’RE HERE!” followed by the unmistakable sound of gunshots ringing out.

I paled, and whirled around to see several large, masked individuals barging through the entrance. And to my complete horror, Grisha’s body on the ground, eyes wide and empty as blood spilled from a hole in his chest.

I think I screamed, but nobody would have heard it over the sound of the other screams echoing around the cavern. I felt a hand grab mine and pull me towards one of the stands, and we ducked behind it. I whipped around to see Aleksei, still clasping my hand tightly, a similar look of utter terror contorting his face.

With my heart beating a million miles an hour, I peered around the corner, and saw someone bump into an elderly woman. She dropped her bag. There was a vacancy to her face that told me outright she didn’t grasp the situation, because as she went to pick it up, a soldier approached her and shot her twice right through the midsection. I couldn’t say for certain what was worse, the noise she made or the cries of a young man screaming for his mother nearby.

Even when I turned back to Aleksei, I couldn’t escape the horrific sounds of gunmen firing on the innocent. Worse yet, it dawned on me that Roksana and Lev had disappeared.

“How did they find us?” Aleksei murmured under his breath, shakily.

I grasped his arm. “Us? Aleksei, where are the other two?”

He flinched, and whispered back. “Shit, Katya, I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Bile rose in my throat in response to the complete hopelessness in his voice, Roksana and Lev, on top of everything else we’d witnessed in the past five minutes.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the stand, slapping my hand over my mouth to stifle the sobs that clung to my chest and restricted my throat. I wanted to go home. I wanted my parents. I wanted to live out the dreadful life I would have had, I wanted to live in misery as long as I got the chance to live. I wanted everything to be okay.

But things can never, ever be that simple.

It felt like eons before the tunnels fell quiet, save for a few quiet cries of other hidden survivors. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes, though, fifteen long minutes of waiting to be found. Eventually, a soldier rounded the corner of my and Aleksei’s hiding spot, his face obscured by a tinted helmet. It dawned on me, in that moment somewhere between life and death, that the uniforms, gear, and guns the attackers carried were not those belonging to the government.

“Captain, do you copy?” An androgynous, robotic voice spoke from the person before us, right into his chunky walky-talky.

The receiver beeped. “Yes. Status on the girl?”

“Status found.” The person paused. “We got her.”

Aleksei and I were dragged out of our hiding place, and we raised our arms instinctively as the man pointed his gun at our heads.

“Move it!” He shouted.

Fear-stricken and shaken, we stumbled out into the center of the market. I retched at the sight of the bodies on the ground, dead or unconscious, and fought off the deep urge to completely lose it then and there. For a brief moment of relief, I saw Roksana and Lev alive and standing with other soldiers, arms raised as they faced a similar predicament. I also noticed Roksana clutching the wooden staff she’d been talking about, holding it close to her chest.

The four of us were herded into a small group, each terrified in our own right. My mind flickered between every worst-case scenario, but then I wondered, why had they singled us out specifically? And why was I being looked for? There were so many questions, but none of them strong enough to mask complete primal fear.

A soldier stepped up to us, wearing a uniform decorated with medals and badges. We stood deathly still, unsure of what to do, until they removed their helmet.

The woman, who I could only assume was the captain, looked to be in her late thirties. Her face was scarred and some parts seemed to have been severely burned. Her platinum blonde hair was held in a low bun, and her eyes shimmered like the sun on frozen ice. She had a presence that was larger than life, and I wondered to myself how many people she’d had to go through to earn this much respect.

“My name is Natalia Petrov.” The captain’s voice boomed, and I flinched when she spoke. “My orders were to bring two of you with me.” She made direct eye with Lev, and then me. “Your friends serve us no purpose, but they’ve already seen too much, so they must come too. I’m sure Owen will find some way to make them useful.” She muttered the last bit under her breath, just barely audible over the sound of my heartbeat drumming in my ears.

We were escorted through the doors to the cavern, up the stairs, and out of the (very empty) pub. It seemed they’d cleared the entire restaurant in a rush; chairs were knocked over, glasses were half-drunken, and games of poker forever to be left unfinished. Once we stepped foot outside, a soldier approached us with four cloth blindfolds.

“Why do we need those?” Lev inquired, eyebrows furrowed and coming across twenty times more calm than I felt.

The soldier chuckled. “We can’t have any of you brats coming up with clever ideas. Owen needs you alive.”

This was the second time they’d brought up this Owen guy, and I wondered to myself who he was, and more importantly what he was doing all of this for. For now, I was helpless as my friends’ eyes were covered, their hands tied, and then it was my turn. That last moment of having my sight, I saw a large truck pull up to our location, and through the falling snow I got a glimpse of a large “E” imprinted on the side.

And then the world went dark.

The drive to who-knows-where was long and winding. I imagine they’d brought us to the back of the truck, if the steel floors and hard walls had anything to say for it. Some time into the ride, Aleksei had the ingenious thought to mention.

“This is literally a hostage situation.”

A soldier barked at him to shut up, and nobody else spoke for the remainder of our time in the truck.

If my body wasn’t so hyped up on adrenaline, I probably could’ve taken a nice nap in the amount of time it took us to reach our destination. I figured it must’ve been way, way outside of the sector. How did they even manage to get by the government stations?

Eventually we rounded a corner and the truck came to an abrupt stop. Somewhere nearby, I heard a thunk, and Roksana mutter in pain. We were hoisted up by the forearms and guided down the ramp out the back of the truck, through an echoey room full of what sounded like machinery and loud talking. Into a long hallway where we would occasionally indistinct chatter, and finally, into a decent-sized room.

Someone removed my blindfold, and the ties around my wrists. It took several long moments for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I was met with a formal and cozy office. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled cover-to-cover. There were no windows, instead, behind a leather office chair was a built-in fish tank with all sorts of colorful marine creatures. The entire room seemed to be made of dark wood, save for a green rug under an expensive-looking desk right across from us. Paintings hung up depicted many vintage scenes, most related to war. It was incredibly nice, and while we stood in awe, It suddenly dawned on me that the soldiers had left us alone.

“Where did they go?” I murmured, mostly to myself.

Roksana huffed. “We have to find a way out of here… right?”

“No.” Lev shook his head, expression unreadable. “We have no idea where the hell we are. We’d get caught.”

“And on the off chance we don’t, then what?” I added. “Freeze to death?”

The four of us sat in silence for a long moment, before I picked up on the faint sound of sniffling from Aleksei. His bright green eyes glistened with tears, blotchy red marks on his warm brown skin, and as much as I wanted to offer some kind of reassurance, I had none. What he was thinking, I couldn’t argue with. We would probably die here.

Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing a lanky young man. He couldn’t have been older than twenty-two or twenty-three. He wore a long white lab coat, and a form-fitting black turtleneck tucked into brown pants. I noticed his skin was dark umber, with a handsome roman nose. His hair reminded me of Grisha’s, brown and overgrown and messy, but nearly black. His eyes danced with excitement upon seeing us, and if I didn’t know better I’d say they seemed kindly– although it was hard to tell completely, given they were somewhat hidden behind a pair of large, rounded, silver-framed glasses.

“Hello! You must be the new kids.” He held a clipboard in his hands, and ran his finger along the paper attached to it. “Katya Volkov, Lev Lebedev, and…” His face twisted, clearly confused as he examined the words scrawled out before him. “Well, I don’t know who you other two are, but the more the merrier!” He tossed it up in the air, and I winced as it hit the bookshelf and clanked to the floor.

“My name is Owen Niafeh, assistant head scientist. I’ve been instructed to introduce you all to our organization.” He paused for dramatic affect. “Welcome to Eivika!”

Eivika. I’d never heard the name before, which immediately set off alarms in my head. The government had control over every company in each sector. Then again, it was clear by now whoever these people are, they were definitely not legally approved.

“You’re probably wondering what Eivika is.” Owen cleared his throat, summoning up all of our thoughts in one sentence. “Come with me and I’ll explain everything.”

He turned on the balls of his heels and began marching down the hallway, and my friends and I rushed to follow. The outside of the office wasn’t nearly as extravagant, but still a considerable upgrade from anything we had seen back in our sector. Steel walls, floors, and ceilings with overhead lights that actually worked. There were adults mingling about, most of them wearing formal uniforms or lab coats, and they eyed us with curiosity.

Owen continued at a brisk pace. “Eivika is an organization built around freedom, and choice for the people.” We ed a large conference room, with nice-looking chairs and a long wooden table. “Our primary mission is to destroy the dictatorship of our… esteemed Resident, who has, as I’m sure you all know, caused mass distress to civilians all over. Executions, twenty-four-seven observations, amongst other things.” Owen pushed open two swinging doors at the end of the hall, and we were brought into a huge room that appeared to be some sort of laboratory. There were scientists hustling about, messing with tools that must’ve cost billions in total, just to build or import.

There was a faint blue glow illuminating the area, everything looked sleek and in pristine condition. I also noticed there were tables all over, and that their microscope and tubes were built-in. It was oddly organized, for a place of science, neat stacks of countless papers within folders within files occupied every free space that the eye could see. What caught my immediate attention, though, was the thick glass tube in the center of the room. It was huge, and around it there were lasers as another layer of protection. After that, a metal fence. Whatever was in that tube, they clearly didn’t want anyone getting anywhere near it.

While the four of us looked around in awe, Aleksei was the first to come to his senses. “So, okay, overtake the government. Sure, totally on board but… how exactly?”

“And why did you need us?” Roksana furrowed her brows, still clutching her staff like a lifeline.

Owen turned to us and seemed to contemplate for a moment, before responding. “You, Katya and Lev, are very important parts of this operation. We really, really didn’t want to have to drag you back into this, but… well, we don’t have much of a choice.” His face flushed with a look of guilt.

“Owen, what do you mean back into this? We have no idea where we even are, much less why we’re here.” Lev snapped, taking a step forward. Despite his aggressive outburst, Owen remained steadfast. “You killed how many people to get to us? We’re hostages with no inkling of a ransom. Give us one good reason all of this is justified.” He took a shaky, livid breath. “One good reason.”

The room fell silent. Aleksei, Roksana and I exchanged concerned looks. The scientists’ expressions varied between annoyed, curious, and downright confused. Lev stood his ground, eyes never straying from Owen’s, who pursed his lips and nodded before speaking.

“You’re right. You deserve better than this. I apologize.” He took a step back, and I heard the swinging doors open from behind us. We whirled around nearly in unison, to be met with an elderly man in a wheelchair. His gray hair fell to his shoulders, with a small braid reaching his chin. His eyes were vibrant and blue, I noted, he was of a scrawny stature. His clothes looked oddly normal, a dull orange t-shirt under a patched-up blue flannel and washed out jeans. He wore glasses that caused his eyes to appear the size of golfballs, and I couldn’t help but think of how out-of-place he seemed in this professional environment.

He smiled at us. “I see you’ve collected the children. Wonderful work Owen.”

Owen nodded triumphantly, a gleam of pride in his eyes. “Thank you, Mikhail. I was just about to tell them about Gynematulius, per their request.”

The old man acknowledged his words, but faced us entirely. “I apologize that it’s taken so long for me to get here, work calls, you know.” He chuckled lightheartedly. “I suppose I should introduce myself, you may call me Mikhail. I am the president here at Eivika, you may have met my daughter, Natalia, already.” He paused, before addressing us once again. “Lev, Katya…” Mikahil smiled. “Welcome home.”

⬫

                                             .

                                             .

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

                                            │

hashtags:

#FeCoReview

#CuratorReview

credit:

:copyright: Ive searched for the credits to the images used in the dividers, but haven’t been able to find anything yet. If and when I do, I will add it in ASAP. All editing was done in Picsart.

━─────━

Extra

☆ Katya Volkov in an original concept design, a reference sheet I commissioned from jennymas289 on Tumblr ☆