OTMA: I'll Meet You On The Bridge

Chapter 1: Anastasia POV

So just a quick disclaimer. I do not own Anastasia! This story is mostly about the Broadway musical, but it also has mentions of the movie. I don't own either. 

Also, a warning: This is the execution scene. It's kind of violent. If you don't like that stuff, then skip this chapter and know that this is the part where they get killed. 

Anastasia walked tensely behind her older sisters. Her intense eyes scanned the dark hallway. Guards walked in front of them, guns on their backs. She hated guns. She held her little dog, Toby, tightly in her arms. She could feel his heart beating. It was racing, much faster than it should have been. He knew something was wrong. Anastasia did too. They all did.

"They're decent men. They won't hurt us." She whispered to the tiny creature in her arms. She was saying it more to herself than to him. She heard Olga scoff in front of her. She tried to drown out the deafening silence by listening to her shoes clicking on the floor, but even that was too little. Toby whimpered. Anastasia whimpered too, though she'd never admit it. Alexei's hand reached up to her shoulder. She looked up at him. He gave her a reassuring smile, though it was uncertain. She heard one of the soldiers start to speak.

"You'll be safe soon."

Olga scoffed again.

The guards stopped. Anastasia nearly ran into Maria, standing in front of her.

"Nicholas. Alexandra. Alexei. Please come with us." One of the guards said, leading them towards the room. The Romanov family gathered together in one last embrace, before one of the guards pulled them apart and shoved the Tsar, Tsarina, and Tsarevich into the room. Anastasia wondered why she wasn't being brought in with them.

Her sisters shuffled their feet. In a moment, they found themselves in a circle, facing each other. Olga was glaring. Tatiana and Maria were staring at their shoes. None of them knew what to say.

"Olga, stop glaring," Tatiana said. She elbowed her sister. Olga looked at her. Then she turned to Maria and Anastasia. There were tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, T, but what else am I supposed to do?" she murmured, looking back at Tatiana. Tatiana reached out and took her hand. Then she reached out and grabbed Anastasia's, on the other side of her. Anastasia and Olga instinctively took Maria's hands. Anastasia remembered standing like this the night they found out that Father Grigori had died. And then, when they found out that they were no longer grand duchesses. And then again, when they had finally been reunited in Yekaterinburg. They always stood this way when something bad was happening, when they needed each other's support. The grip on her hands was tighter this time. She could feel the fear radiating from each of her sisters. They didn't know what was happening to their father and mother and brother behind those big wooden doors, but they knew that it wasn't good.

And then they heard the camera shutter. Except it wasn't a camera shutter. It was a gunshot.

"OTMA!" Tatiana whispered in a tense voice as all of their eyes went wide with fear. They had all become too accustomed to the sound of gunshots. "We can escape to Paris. We can find grandmama. And should we ever be separated, remember this: I'll meet you on the bridge!"

"I'll meet you on the bridge." The other three girls echoed back. It was a soft whisper, a quiet promise that none of them knew if they'd be able to keep.

The doors swung open. The bright light from the other side hit Anastasia's face. She reached up to block her eyes. Unintentionally losing her grip on her sisters' hands.

"Girls! Run!" She heard her father shout in a strangled voice. She caught a glimpse of him. He was holding on to his wife.

Another gunshot. Their mother screamed. And then Alexei. Anastasia could feel his pain coursing through her gut.

"Anya! Go!" Alexei screamed at her. She focused in on the order from her little brother. Go. He had told her to go. She looked around for her sisters, and realized they were gone. All of them must have already been killed.

"No . . ." She whispered. She felt hands reach for her. She was being dragged into the room. She had to get away. She squirmed out of the guards grip. As she started to run, she remembered something. "My music box!" She said. She couldn't leave without her music box. She turned and ran down the hallway. She lept into the room she had shared with her sisters. A small shred of her hoped that they were in there. But they weren't. She grabbed the green and gold box, then slid the necklace to unlock it around her neck. She ran out of the room and bolted towards the door.

"Stop!" A voice shouted. One of the guards. She felt her wrist being grabbed, a bayonet being dug into her side. One of the guards grabbed the music box from her.

"My music box!" She shouted again. She tried to punch the guard, but he had a tight grip on both of her hands.

"I'm sure I can make quite a profit on this." The guard sneered. She squirmed and his grip tightened. She kicked him as hard as she could in the shin, and finally got free of his grip. She turned around and started to run again. Footsteps were still echoing behind her, and then something heavy hit her head. She fell forward. The world around her went black for a moment, then everything came back. Stars danced in her eyes. Where was she? She tried to remember. And then she did. Her sisters. Their promise. I'll meet you on the bridge.

"I'll meet you on the bridge." She murmured. It would never happen. They were all dead. "I'll meet you on the bridge." She clung to the promise. Every promise she had ever made to her sisters, and every promise they had ever made to her, had been kept. This would be the first promise they wouldn't keep. Only death could keep them apart.

"Vagonov! Leave her alone!" a voice said. "She's just a child."

"Just a child." Another voice scoffed. A child with great power. We were ordered to-"

"She's just a child. She's just a girl." There was silence for a moment. Then the footsteps echoed around her. She felt herself being lifted up.

"What did the little boy call her?" It was a third voice.

"Anya." A fourth.

"Bring her to the hospital. We'll tell her that her name is Anya, and that'll be that. If she keeps claiming to be Anastasia, we'll kill her. Just like we did her sisters." His voice took on a mocking tone. "I'll meet you on the bridge. Ha."

We'll kill her.

Just like we did her sisters.

I'll meet you on the bridge.

The world stopped breathing.

And the Romanov family was dead.