In The Three-Ninth Kingdom

Chapter 3

-Now-

“Raivis says there is a ghost in the basement.” Katerina told her sister off handedly as they stood in front of the sink washing dishes.

“…A what?” Belarus narrowed her eyes at the older woman. “Are you stupid?”

“No…” Ukraine looked at the other with a hurt expression. “I told him that was silly, there aren’t any ghosts in the basement, or anywhere else in the house. Do you think I am stupid?”

“I’d prefer not to think of you at all,” Belarus replied coldly as she dried the dish in her hand. “I’ve got much more pressing matters to worry about than your intelligence dear sister.”

“You really should forget about it, Ivan will never-“

The plate when whizzing by the elders face so close she could feel the cold china touch her cheek before it flew by and crashed against the wall behind her into a million pieces.

“Do not ever, ever presume to tell me what to do.” The blonde narrowed her eyes to a pair of frightening slits. “Especially, when it comes to our brother. Next time I will slit your throat.”

For a moment Ukraine cowered against the sink, staring at the other with a mortified expression. Her sister was truly a scary woman. Sometimes the well endowed woman wondered how she escaped the curse that plagued her siblings. The madness that ate away at their brains that left them like this. They were unstable, frightening creatures that sometimes appeared more demonic in form that human.

The anger flooded away finally from the blondes face as she stared at the woman pressed against the sink.

“I’ll get the broom.” Belarus said finally breaking the uncomfortable air that had surrounded them. That was the one thing that Ukraine was thankful about. When it came to her sister, her madness was fleeting. The cause of course was simple; their poor brother for whom Belarus believed was hers and hers alone.

By all means Ukraine knew it was not wise to mention him to her sister, but sometimes she just felt like she had to try to discourage the poor woman. Everyone knew Ivan would never return her affections.

“As to the ghosts, don’t be dumb, there’s no ghost in the basement.” Belarus continued as if nothing had happened. “There’s nothing down there except…”

“…Except? Belarus…is there something down there?” A chill raced up the larger woman’s spine despite herself. Belarus shot her sister a look and then nodded slowly.

The two stood there staring at each other for a moment, the air chilled around them. After a moment Belarus glanced around before lowering her voice to speak to her sister in a whisper.

“There is a man, in the basement.”

“A man!” Katerina looked mortified as Belarus hissed at her to keep it down.

“Yes, a man! Be quiet before you get us both killed!”

“B-but…who!”

“He is our brother’s captive…” Belarus whispered carefully. “Before he was called Prussia, now he is called nothing but a cowardly dog. His brother brought him here a long time ago. Even I do not know when.”

“B-but…” The motherly woman swallowed slightly, her eyes wide. “Ivan has many…captives, but why does he keep this one in the basement? Is he dangerous?”

“Yes, very dangerous. He has the demon eyes, red like the devil himself.”

“You’ve seen him?” Ukraine asked fearfully as she eyed her younger sister.

“Of course, I have helped Ivan give him what he deserves, the dog. He needs a master to tell him what to do or he is as wild as the winter wind from General Winter’s lips. When he came here he thought he was something special, but we have shown him. He is nothing; his dangerous actions have no consequences but pain.”

“But where did he come from? No one ever said anything…I had no idea there was such a person here.” The elder woman felt nauseated.

There was a man, in their basement. A man that Ivan and Belarus had been torturing for…god knew how long without anyone knowing. It was the madness in them, they thought never had to answer for their actions.

“I do not know. Ivan never said, but where ever he came from, does not matter. No one ever asks for him. No one must miss him. Not that I can blame them, he is a worthless creature. I would not miss such a shit on the bottom of my shoe.”

The blonde let out a barked laughter at the idea. “If you had said nothing I would not have even remembered him because that is the kind of thing he is, nothing important.”

“Surely someone somewhere…” Katerina tried to smother the cold feeling that covered her at her sister’s words. It would do no good, she could not go against either Belarus or Ivan on the matter so what difference would it make if she protested.

“No one ever has asked for him. He is nothing, forget him.”

“What about Raivis?” She asked finally. “He saw him, he remembers it clearly. I thought he was just delusional but…this clearly changes matters.”

Belarus gave her sister a long hard look. It was true. The Latvian remembered seeing the so called ghost in the basement. He was a curious little thing by nature, he wouldn’t let it go. The blonde woman hated the crybaby. He was good for nothing, except perhaps a good laugh when he cried helplessly like a child in her grasp.

“Make sure he forgets about it, unless you prefer him dead.”

“Belarus please, surely you don’t mean it like that. There has to be something else we can do that isn’t so…so mean.”

“You think this is a nice thing? You think Ivan will let him live if he tampers with his things? He was just lucky last time. Damn lucky. He shouldn’t have been. Brother should have beaten the life out of him-“

“You don’t really mean that…”

“I do. He’s nothing but a crybaby and a thief!”

“Now sister please, it was just some vodka, there was no harm. Brother has lots of vodka, too much vodka.” The larger woman muttered under her breath.

If it was up to her she would have dumped all of that dreadful stuff right down the sink anyway. Ivan was nothing but horrible when he was drunk out of his mind.

How many nights had she spent patching Toris after a night of rage from her brother? His so called favorite and yet he beat the boy to a pulp when his mind was addled with drink and the madness. The madness alone was horrible, but together it was terrifying.

“You just don’t even know, simpleton!” Belarus hissed at her sister in annoyance at her kind words. There should have been no kind words spared for someone like the Latvian.

“What don’t I know,” Katerina gave her sister a look, not particularly upset with the name calling. By now in her life she should have been use to it.

Her siblings were nothing to brag about; certainly she loved them of course. But they were still down right crass. If she let them hurt her feelings every time they said something highly insensitive she would never have time to do anything but be hurt.

“He steals from you, every day I see him sneak into your room and steal!”

“What?” Ukraine looked at the other woman with a hard frown. The other was delusional. “Don’t be silly, one of his chores is cleaning my room. If you see him coming in and out it is only that.”

“With books?” Belarus leered at her sister, knowing the other was taking her for a fool. It was irritating. “He should come in and out with your things?”

“You must be mistaken, he’s probably just airing them out, Raivis is not a bad boy.” Katerina protested her sisters words.

“Don’t be a fool, he isn’t good, he is anything but! You don’t air out books! He is stealing them from you!”

“Even if he was…they’re only books. What could he possibly want with those?” The elder shook her head.

She was much too kind hearted to feel upset if what her sister said was true. If the boy was stealing her books it was no matter, she would confront him if she had to but really, what harm could he be? He was such a small frail little thing he would probably start to cry the moment she brought it up with him.

“Yes,” The blonde sneered at her. “Only books at first, until you find him selling your precious jewelry on the streets, “

“Belarus please, for heaven sakes.” Of course it wasn’t like she wanted to admit she didn’t actually have any such thing. Anything she might have had in value was long gone to help pay for her countries debts. Her country was after all was barely clinging to its livelihood.

“Suit yourself, but when you find out the truth don’t come crying to me,”

Raivis held his breath painfully as the two women walked past the pantry where he was hiding. He knew if he even breathed a little Belarus was sure to hear. She was just frightening like that. He was thankful when he had heard the two women coming down to the kitchen this evening that he had had sense enough to hide in the pantry instead of running away. If he had he would have never been able to hear their important conversation.

It was true then, that there was really something in the basement. But Ghost wasn’t really a ghost after all. He was a man! He was Ivan’s prisoner. And most importantly his name was Prussia.

Somehow though, that knowledge did not make him less afraid of the whole situation though. Belarus said the man was dangerous. What if he was just waiting for the Latvian to come back so he could hurt him and make him cry? What if he wanted to break his fingers and eat his flesh!

“Stop it!” He hissed to himself firmly. Belarus was just trying to scare him, unintentionally of course since she didn’t even know the Baltic had been listening in to her conversation.

How could someone who had held him like that be a dangerous man? If he had wanted to hurt Raivis he could have lots of times, the whole night. But he didn’t. He was nothing but nice…well, as nice as a ghost could be.

His thoughts only strengthened his resolve. No one wanted him down there. No one wanted him to see this man, this Prussia. But he would do it anyway. He would see just what this man was like, a man that Ivan was so secretive about that he had to keep him in the basement. Surely something like that, one of Ivan’s secrets had to be amazing.

“Or very terrifying…” Raivis mumbled nervously to himself as he let himself out of the pantry into the now dimly lit kitchen. Nervously he tried to calm himself with a large breath.

He wished Toris hadn’t been in such a bad mood. It would have been nice if the elder took interest in him once in a while and actually did things with him. Helped him… It would have been nice if he was there for him like a brother period, even if they weren’t really brothers at all.

Shaking his head the other forced his trembling fingers to grab the doorknob that led down the basement. For a long time he merely stood there, his heart thudding in his chest, one hand on the knob and one gripping his flashlight like a dying man.

“You have to do this Raivis,” He told himself firmly. “You have to. No one else will do this for him.”

And so he did. He opened the door and stepped down into the dark frightening basement under Ivan’s house.