Reaper

3

Dreykov constantly watched Ragdoll's matches on the screens in his office. He was perplexed at how she had managed to become equal to some of his older girls so quickly. He knew she was being trained harder than the others, but he expected her to break by now. If only from physical exhaustion, but he was still waiting. It was as though she were unaffected and had boundless endurance and stamina. He had even seen the girl smile occasionally, which was unacceptable. He took it as an insult.

He had discovered her unflappable attitude early on and had instead decided to break her mind by separating her from the other girls. Whenever the girl beat the older girls, he had Madam B punish them all with not only insults but physical punishments as well. This instilled a bit of hatred from the older girls to the Ragdoll. These tactics had already been done with the girls in her current age group. Now, she was hated by all the potential Widows.

This was what Dreykov wanted. For the other Widows to despise this girl. For her to be shunned by her peers. This was how it worked in his Red Room. There was no friendship. Even if a friendship ever managed to flourish in his walls, he would immediately stomp it out. There was no camaraderie. There was only strength. Only the strong would survive. Only the strong could.

He watched as his current favorite approached the Ragdoll. He always found it amusing how the girls thought they could get away with things. He knew of everything in his walls. But he would watch for now and see what they would do. He would wait to punish them.

Natalia approached the girl who sat in the corner alone at lunch. She saw her observing the food with a small smile. She slowly made her way over, but as soon as she hit the girl's radar, she received a cold glare. It was strange how quickly her face changed. She held her hands up in appeasement and kept them up even while she dropped to her knees not too far away from the girl before getting comfortable sitting cross-legged close to her.

Once the girl was sure the blue-haired girl wasn't looking for trouble, she began to eat her food happily. It didn't matter if it was incredibly unappetizing and unappealing. The girl still ate it with relish. Her body needed the sustenance, and she wouldn't deny that.

The blue-haired girl watched her eat and waited patiently on the side until she was done, "I'm sorry for what I did to you before." She finally mustered in Russian.

The girl cocked her head to the side as she looked at her. This was the first time anyone apologized to her. She wondered why she apologized.

"I'm Natalia," the blue-haired girl introduced herself with a small smile.

Ragdoll spelled her name out in the dust on the floor.

"You don't remember your real name?" Natalia questioned while changing how she sat on the floor. She put her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs to look at the girl.

Ragdoll shrugged. She wrote Idiot into the dust next. She remembered the man she first met had called her that a lot. General Dreykov did, too. She supposed it was another name she was given.

Natalia grimaced, "Ragdoll it is. But again. I'm sorry for what I did before. It's just being back here," she tightened her hold on her body and made herself smaller in fear, "I'm sure you know how those girls can be. I thought you were like them. I had to get you first." She explained.

Ragdoll nodded in understanding. She then wrote on the floor again. Safe. She wrote with a smile as she patted the floor next to herself.

Natalia smiled at that but didn't accept immediately. She observed the girl first for a few days. She saw that she kept herself entertained by observing her surroundings. She was always instantly drawn to colorful objects. She knew that one because the girl constantly stared at her hair. She could see an innocence in the girl she never saw in the others. But their age group would occasionally sit in on the older girls sparring matches. She saw the innocent girl beat her opponents mercilessly and even executed one on orders. So she knew that the girl was also incredibly dangerous. She didn't know what to think.