Red Room Academy
Russia
February 2001
SEMNA was woken by the familiar clinking of metal on metal only hours later. She had done as Natalia said and tried to sleep, though it was plagued by constant nightmares and racing thoughts. It was likely that nobody slept well; they all had gathered enough trauma to last them a lifetime, so the nights were often restless. The rustling of bedsheets and pillows being thrown to the floor in their terrors, the occasional sleep talker who just couldn't shake the voices of her late parents. However this night seemed more wary, as this day was the first of many where they would be facing death head on, looking it straight in the eye as if they weren't scared of what it would do to them.
She stared up at the ceiling until her own handcuffs were finally unlocked, unable to bring herself to look at Natalia in the bed next to her, fearing that if she did, her emotions would get the best of her and compromise the stoicism she masked around the other girls. The few minutes on the windowsill had been enough for her. Little words were spoken, and yet it was enough that Semna didn't worry about looking at her until the final moments were really upon them.
She followed the line of girls out the door and down to the wash rooms, falling into step behind an older, much more muscular girl. Semna's eye level only fell at her mid back and the girl walked with much more confidence than she had ever felt in such an intimidating place. She anticipated that her fight would be with somebody like this, someone who Madame B thought she couldn't beat. Luckily for Semna, this girl wasn't in her age group, but there were several skilled girls who were the same age as her and who could take her down in a few hits. And normally, she would let them. She didn't want to hurt those girls nearly as much as they wanted to hurt her. If it were her decision, nobody would be dying today by their friend's hands, Madame B would be sent to prison for her wrongdoings, and she could finally run away with Natalia. But she knew this would never happen, and if these were really the final few hours of her short life, she was going to go down fighting as hard as she could. That much she had decided on.
After changing, she was escorted to the training room by a couple of guards, each with a grip on her uniform that made her wince with every tug. The commands that were usually barked at her ceased to exist from them today, and as much as she would have enjoyed that any other time, it just made the dread worse; did they know something she didn't? Why were the halls so silent?
The training room was just as quiet, the group of girls already standing in a circle around the center of the room, each eyeing their potential opponents threateningly; all except for one. As Semna entered the room, Natalia's face changed the slightest bit, the reality of the situation finally crashing down on the young girl's shoulders. Until she heard the fateful words, she intended to take in every ounce of her features, and Semna seemed to be doing the same thing from across the circle.
"Semnadtsat'."
Semna's breathing faltered, moving her eyes to the rigid figure at the front of the room. Madame B looked down to her with an intense glare and posture so perfect that she subconsciously tried to mirror it, ready to submit to her commands no matter how hard she wanted to run the opposite direction and never look back. It was much to her disdain that the number still made her rigid after all these years. Everybody else had a name, a real one that was given to them by their parents with love and a thought, a name that they could potentially use one day to find their way back home, should they ever escape this one. They had that sense of belonging somewhere and to someone, even if they would never meet them; Semna didn't belong to anybody. There wasn't a last name to trace, a face to search for. She was simply a subject to them, foolish enough to believe the words that came out of everyone's mouth.
Nobody except Natalia had ever cared enough to call her something else. Nobody had ever acknowledged who she was beyond what the others made her. Yet another reason why they needed to fight like hell for their spots, because without her, Semna wouldn't be Semna to anybody else ever again.
"Podoydite k matu." (Step up to the mat.) The voice rang out again like venom. She moved slowly onto the large mat, taking her place at the center of the circle. Madame B looked down on her for a moment too long, then nodded to someone just behind Semna's head. "Arina."
Semna tried not to move as there were the rustling of footsteps behind her. Arina was undoubtedly skilled, that much Semna knew, but she also knew that she had been at the Academy for much longer than Arina. She had been training for far longer and preparing herself for this moment since before she could form coherent sentences. So why had Madame B paired her with the one person she actually had a chance at beating?
Madame B peered down at them both, seemingly evaluating her two choices. Satisfied, she nodded her head, then began to usher the other girls back along the wall, during which Semna turned her head to study Arina. The girl's chest heaved up and down as she bit her lip, hands tucked tightly behind her back. She was staring blankly at the floor, lost in her self intruding thoughts, while Semna focused on one particular revelation of her own. One she almost couldn't believe—
Arina was scared of her.
Semna wasn't entirely sure if it was her, necessarily, but Arina was definitely scared of the upcoming fight. She was afraid of dying. Which to Semna meant that deep down, she wasn't as overlooked as Madame B attempted to make her seem. At this thought, she lifted her chin a bit higher.
Maybe she would come out of this alive after all.
With the mat now cleared of their fellow classmates, the two girls walked to opposite ends and stood, facing each other with callous looks, waiting for the order to begin. Just behind Arina, Semna was able to share a few glances with Natalia. The red head bit her lip and softened her gaze just slightly, in a way Semna knew she was trying to say: You got this.
Madame B moved back to the front of the room, surveying Arina and Semna once more. "Ready?"
The two girls nodded. Semna squared her feet and clenched her fists, noticing Arina mirroring her. She took one last breath, waiting for the command that would either end her life, or be the start of her new one.
"Drat'sya."
Immediately, Semna leapt forward towards Arina. Within only a few steps, she had caught her off guard, grasping her wrist and forcing her arm behind her back. She heard a crack and shoved Arina forward, giving herself time to formulate some type of plan. Now that they were in action the mat didn't seem as large as she originally thought. By the looks of it, she and Arina would be dancing in circles for the entire fight, however long that would take.
Arina turned around, the nervousness in her eyes now replaced by anger and a vengeance Semna had never seen in the girl before. Arina lunged forward, reaching for her neck, but Semna slid on the mat at the last second, going between her legs and striking the back of her knees. Arina landed flat on her stomach and stopped a moment to get the air back into her lungs, time which Semna used to force the girl over onto her back. She still had no plan of how she was going to win, exactly. The more she thought about it, she wasn't sure she needed one. Arina was being sloppy, relying more on her emotions to guide her steps rather than rational thinking and strategy. This was the reason they had the fights in the first place, Semna thought: to find out who could earn their place in the world, not just physically, but mentally, too.
Arina was still panting when Semna pulled her off the mat by the collar of her shirt. In one swift motion, she wrapped her arm around her neck, flipping her over and knocking the breath out of her again. Semna stepped over Arina, this time lifting her up by the back of her uniform and putting her into a headlock. Arina began to struggle, instantly realizing what she was doing.
Semna held her position for a few seconds, shuddering when she felt Arina's heartbeat against her arm. Was she really going to do this? The girl in her grasp had never been cruel to Semna, unlike most of the others. In fact, Semna may have even considered Arina a friend. A partner. Perhaps that's why they had been chosen to fight—Madame B was trying to make Semna hesitate. She was trying to make her fail.
And Semna wasn't going to let that happen.
She locked eyes with Madame B, who was watching them in fascination as they struggled against each other's grip. Madame B looked to her after a moment, and finally, reluctantly, she nodded her head one time.
Semna looked down at the side of Arina's face, which was turning paler and paler the longer she held on. She leaned in close and whispered, very quietly in her ear as to not be overheard.
"I am so sorry." And with one quick motion, she pulled Arina's head to the side until she heard a defining snap. She immediately released her and stood up, backing away from the battered, now lifeless form of the classmate before her. She looked around to the other girls. They were all completely silent, though some of their mouths hung open in shock. Semna only looked to Natalia. She gave her an approving nod and a smile that she seemed unable to contain.
Madame B approached Arina and peered down at her face. Satisfied, she snapped her fingers at the guards by the door. They marched over in an unorganized fashion, picking Arina up and carrying her out of the room. Mortified, Semna backed up to join Natalia in the line of girls against the wall. They found each other's hands behind their backs, and Semna felt a reassuring squeeze. She didn't respond back, just stared at the spot on the floor where she had watched the last moments of one of the only people who had ever been nice to her. To say she fought roughly was an understatement to her; she had brutally murdered that girl. There was no denying it.
Suddenly, Semna felt a grip on her other arm, and before she could see who it was, she was facedown on the mat. Her hand disconnected from Natalia's as another pair of hands grasped her other arm, and the two forces lifted her off the mat. They began guiding her towards the door, and after she started trying to pull away and kick at her handlers, someone picked her up by the waist in a restricting clasp. She relentlessly yelled and slapped at the guard's arm, but to no avail.
They brought her into a room and threw her onto an old, velvet couch. She thrashed around on it for a moment until she gained her footing, by which time the faceless guards had left the room and closed the door behind them. She eyed the door suspiciously, then gave up on any idea to try and escape. The door was most likely locked, and they were no doubt guarding it anyhow.
She pushed her ratty hair out of her face, still kneeling on the couch. Carefully, Semna pushed her shaky legs over the side and began pacing around the room. It was large, much larger than the training room, or even the sleeping quarters for that matter. The furniture around her appeared to be at least a hundred years old. The cabinets, the bookshelf, and the grand, embellished desk that overlooked it all. Not to mention the one thing that really caught her eye: the floor to ceiling windows behind the desk. Semna approached the windows in awe, however disappointed to find she couldn't see past the covered gardens amidst the falling snow.
After almost an hour of gazing out the window, examining the bookshelves, and pacing, Semna finally heard the sound of indistinct voices outside of the room. The lock was fumbled with a few times until slowly, the heavy door swung open.
Semna immediately felt sick. She stood frozen in front of the bookshelf, watching as the visitor shuffled in and sat down at the desk, acting as though the young girl mere feet from her wasn't even there. Well, technically she wasn't a visitor. It was her office.
Semna was in Madame B's office.
A/n: Not gonna lie, I actually like this chapter. Took me a while because of my writer's block, but I finally finished. Let me know what you think.
-sk.