In The Three-Ninth Kingdom

Chapter 5



-Back to Now-



Raivis peered down the dark stairs, his whole body shaking as he forced himself to step down onto the first stair. The whole plan seemed a million times less scary when he was safe in the pantry just merely thinking about it. Now that he was actually doing it, it was utterly terrifying.



“Ghost?” He whispered down the stairs in a pathetically small voice. There was no way the other could hear him when he was talking so quietly. Unhappily he clung to the banister, unwilling to step down further into the gloom even though he was well armed this time with a flashlight.



The Latvian couldn’t do it. It was way too scary just to go down there again. And just because Ghost had been nice the first time didn’t mean he would be nice every time. Maybe he didn’t like people bothering him all the time. Maybe what Belarus said was true, he could be really dangerous. He could be like Ivan…pretending to be nice, smiling when inside he was picturing your insides on the ground, your body full of bullet holes.



“Nnngh….” Raivis shivered helplessly at the top of the stairs, glancing over his shoulder into the warm inviting kitchen. He could go back right now He could just do nothing and pretend Ukraine was right, that there was nothing down there.



“Eduard I heard a noise…maybe we shouldn’t…” It was Ukraine and Estonia.



Raivis squeaked in surprise, hastily pulling the basement door until there was only a crack of light from the kitchen shinning in on him as he stood on the stairs.



What were they doing down here this time of night?! No one should have been here! There were no chores and it wasn’t time to stroke the fire. He absolutely couldn’t get caught. Especially after the conversation he had heard with the two women earlier. Nervously he peered through the cracks at the two.



“’Rina there is no one, it was probably a mouse.” Eduard was pinning the woman against the cabinets and Raivis barely smothered a cry as he watched the two kiss hotly in the dim firelight of the kitchen. Was Estonia insane?! He couldn’t! Not with Russia’s sister! Oh god… If Russia ever found out!



It was like a train wreck, Raivis couldn’t look away as Eduard laid a trail of hot kisses down the woman’s neck and Katerina squirmed in his arms. The smaller man could feel his heart thudding so hard in his chest he was sure they could hear. It was just like the books from Ukraine’s room. A real blossoming secret romance, right here in his own home! Raivis felt almost giddy at the idea, it would be like having a story come to life!



“You’re a very beautiful woman Rina, why don’t you take a husband?” Eduard murmured against her jaw line as he kissed the woman’s warm skin. He could feel her shudder with the touch of his lips. Truthfully he had no intentions of ever marrying her, but it was what a woman wanted to hear. It was what paved the way for a place in her bed. And of course the first part was true; she was a very attractive woman.



“You know why, Ivan would never allow something like that. If he caught you even looking at me, he would kill you. We need to be more discrete.”



“We already barely meet, how much more of this should I have to endure?”



“Eduard please,” She begged, her body arching into him as his hands wormed their way under her shirt, his hands cupping her breasts. His thumb brushed over her hardened nipple causing her to gasp. Her breasts were lovely, any man would have been glad to have a handful and feeling them filling his hand made the Estonian’s blood boil and drift southward all too eagerly.



The man pulled her shirt up, freeing her breasts from their confines as he leaned down to latch his mouth to a nipple, suckling and causing her to gasp and squirm above him.



“Oh please, Ed…” Her fingers burrowed through his hair, tugging slightly in pleasure. It was sinfully good. The feeling of their naughty secret meetings, the pleasure he gave her. He was the only thing she had ever done to defy her brother and somehow it gave even more thrill to their sexual escapades.



“One day you’re going to get caught like this,” Toris leaned in the doorway, staring at the two with a disgusted look. “And it’s going to be someone worse than me.”



“Toris!” Ukraine jerked back from the other man, covering her breasts in embarrassment before sense enough came back to her to pull down her shirt. Eduard tried to smother his annoyance with the other.



“Well it’s only you this time, and you of all people should understand,” He snapped, unable to keep his temper in check when he had been interrupted so abruptly. Toris looked a bit stung at his words and the other man immediately felt apologetic. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”



Toris just looked away, trying to hide the discomfort in his eyes. There was no secret that he found Belarus a very attractive woman. But of course she would have none of it. It was her brother, always Ivan and their twisted situation. He was Ivan’s favorite and she had eyes only for Ivan. It was one huge cosmic joke at his own expense.



“Yeah well…” Toris wanted to snap back, ‘At least mine is for love and not just her breast size.’ But he didn’t have the heart to say it. Not when Ukraine was standing there like that. “You’re lucky I wasn’t Belarus. She’s looking for you two.”



“It’s the middle of the night,” Ukraine seemed puzzled.



“Raivis is missing. When Belarus did her rounds he wasn’t in his bed. And neither were either of you.” Toris gave them both a pointed look. Ukraine flustered uncomfortably, self-consciously covering her breasts again even though they were covered already by her shirt.



“What is wrong with that boy?” Eduard sighed heavily, rubbing an eye. Everything was messed up now, thanks to the Latvian. “He knows better than all of this nonsense he’s been on about lately. Does he really crave a beating that bad? He’s usually so good natured and well behaved…”



“It doesn’t matter, what matters now is finding him before Belarus does. Because if she does…” Toris left it hanging. They all knew just what would happen if an enraged Belarus found the boy when he was suppose to be in bed.



“You don’t suppose…” Ukraine’s eyes drifted towards the basement door causing Raivis to shrink back behind the door away from the crack nervously as everyone in the kitchen looked over towards the door.



“No, absolutely not, he’s scared to death of the dark. He sleeps with his lights on for god sakes. He would never go down there willingly.” Toris dismissed her words casually, more out of his own fear than anything. He did not want to go down there. “He’s probably hiding behind some drape somewhere sulking because no one would humor him in his…ghost hunting escapades. Look, let’s just split up and look for him. The faster we find him the fast we can all go back to…what we were doing before.”



Eduard leered at him in annoyance at his taunting words reminding him of what the elder had interrupted before but didn’t disagree as the three turned to leave the kitchen.



Raivis let out a small sigh of relief when he was finally alone again. He was starting to get really good at this eavesdropping without meaning to thing. The Latvian couldn’t believe that Belarus was so paranoid that she checked their beds. But then again…he wouldn’t put it past Ivan to do the same thing. The Russian was strange and obsessive about his possessions.



Now though he couldn’t worry about them. Right now he had to pull up the courage to find Ghost, like he had planned before getting side tracked by his housemates. If he didn’t hurry they might discover the truth and stop him before he could finish what he wanted to accomplish.



Glancing back down the dark stairs, Raivis felt a tremor run down his back. What Toris said was true. He was terrified of the dark and even the flashlight clutched in his sweaty fingers didn’t seem enough. But he had to be brave. It was always his dream to be big and strong like all the other countries, no matter how frivolous the dream seemed to others who thought him a coward and a crybaby.



“I can prove them wrong,” He sniffled slightly through clenched teeth, even if he had to do it crying like a big baby. The Latvian’s shaking fingers flicked the flashlight on and he felt marginally better as the strong beam of light lit up the steps in front of him.



It took him several minutes to get to the bottom of the stairs. Every sound, every imaginary thing lurking in the dark made the boy stop and quiver in fear as he jerked the flashlight around wildly at imaginary monsters and not so imaginary mice that skittered away from the bright beam.



By the time he reached the cement floor, his knees were shaking and his legs felt like jello. It took all of his strength not to collapse into a weepy heap. Only his knowledge of how he could very well be a hero like the ones in his books kept him from running back up the stairs to the safety of his room.



“G-ghost?” His voice cracked with the fear he tried to keep shoved down deep inside of him. Self consciously he snuffed, rubbing the back of his hand against his snotty nose that had started to run when he had started to cry. “A-are you here?”



“Where else would I be? What are you doing here again” The voice sounded older, even more tired than the first time he had heard it. For the first time Raivis felt relieved, he was doing the right thing, he knew it.



“I…I just wanted…”



“You shouldn’t be here.”



“H-hey!” Raivis snapped slightly, his face scrunching up. He felt like crying all over. How could the other sound so ungrateful?



“What, you want to get beaten?” Ghost let out a dry laugh and then a grunt of pain as Raivis abruptly shone the flashlight on his form. The figure let out a small hiss, rolling over onto his side to give the other his backside as he shielded his eyes.“Fuck kid get that out of my eyes!”



“I came to g-get you out of here! A-at least you could sound grateful!” The Latvian’s voice broke and he hiccupped unhappily, the tears starting to prick the corners of his eyes again. This wasn’t how it was suppose to go, the other was suppose to be happy! He was supposed to be grateful and shower the Latvian with praise!



“Shit…don’t cry,” The man mumbled, still refusing to look his way. “Just…stop shining that thing on me…’s painful.”



“S-sorry,” Raivis tried to stop the tears dribbling down his cheeks as he turned the beam to the floor. Even so he could still see the shadowy form through the waterworks clouding his eyes.



The other looked like nothing but a lump with a tuff of silver hair and when the man turned his face towards him he was shocked to find himself staring into a pair of blood red eyes. Just like Belarus had said, the man had devil eyes! Raivis started to tremble again helplessly.



“Why are you really here?” The man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the form behind the flashlight. Was this a ploy, a trick of some sort? If he really said he wanted to leave this place, go somewhere else, what would happen?



“I told you…” Raivis mumbled unhappily. “Y-you shouldn’t be down here. I j-just wanted to…help you.”



“Help me…” The words sounded foreign to him. Who in their right mind would want to help him? This wasn’t real. It had to be a trick. His face twisted into a painful sneer. “Did He send you here?”



“…Who?” Then it dawned on the Latvian. Ivan. “N-no! H-he’s not even here!”



“No? I don’t believe you,” His eyes flickered closed, his face turning away from the other.



“Please, this isn’t a t-trick! I just…you…that is…” Raivis flustered unhappily

“You seemed like….It’s just….its so lonely down here!”



For a long moment the man was silent. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say back to the other. If it was a trick, it was very good. He found himself almost believing in the kid’s words.



“Ivan really doesn’t know you’re down here?” The red eyes flickered over the other again, almost curious now.



“Ivan’s gone…he’ll be gone for a few days. Business trip…”



For a moment there was a spark of something in those red eyes. Something that Raivis couldn’t place now but later would recognize as a defiant glare. Even if he couldn’t remember anything else, the other knew, nothing was more satisfying than getting a one up on the Russian.



“So he really doesn’t know you’re doing this,” Ghost chucked in the back of his throat. “You really must want to get hurt.”



“W-well no…but…” Was his transgression that that serious, Raivis wondered. “It isn’t fair….you shouldn’t be down here all alone…It’s too sad.”



“Too sad? You’re cute really, you are.” He didn’t know what to think about that really, no one had ever told him his life was too sad before. It just was what it was, no more no less. For a moment he was silent, weighing his options.



“You really want to help me out of here?”



“Y-yes…please,”



“Shine that stupid light over there, there’s a key, its hanging on the post. It unlocks the collar.”



Raivis’ eyes automatically shot to the man’s form. He hadn’t noticed before but the man was chained to the wall, a thick metal collar. No wonder he had said he couldn’t leave here.



“Are you listening kid? Or are you just going to stand there and gap at me all day!”



“Y-yes sorry!” Raivis squeaked slightly at the others harsh tone. He almost couldn’t reach the key, Ivan was by far much taller than him and he knew the Russia was the one who had hung it there. The boy was forced to jump several times with his arm out stretched before he could tug the key free from the nail.



“You know if this a trick I will kill you right?” The man murmured when Raivis came close enough, the key gripped in his fingers. For a moment he paused and his whole body stiffened at the others threat.

“It’s not,” Raivis whispered back after a moment before working on the lock around Ghost’s neck.



The man smelt horrible, and he hand to cover his nose and mouth before he could even unlock the collar. Even so he gagged several times, embarrassing himself at his own weakness. To his credit, Ghost only laughed at him, not appearing to be offended in the least. Maybe he knew, that he smelt like a mixture of piss, rotten eggs and other assorted garbage that had sat out too long in the sun on a hot summer’s day.



“You’re brave kid, I’ll give you that,” The man struggled, trying to climb to his feet. Raivis loathed to touch him and then promptly felt ashamed of himself. What kind of rescuer was he if he couldn’t even help the man just because he didn’t smell or look nearly as nice as a bed of roses?



“Let me help you,” He forced himself to say but the other just waved him back, propping himself against the wall until he could force himself to his feet.



“Just get out of the way. I can do this shit on my own.” Ghost snapped, his legs wobbling when he let go of the wall. Raivis gave him a reluctant look; really the other should have been more thankful!



It was slow and grueling. The man could barely climb the stairs on his own but he refused to let the other touch him. Several minutes were spent with the man hanging over the railing panting desperately, as his legs threatened to give out from under him.



“Please let me help you,” Raivis begged, but the other just smacked his hands away angrily. “You could fall!”



“Shut up, I can do it myself!”



Raivis flinched back slightly at the other man’s harsh tone and he felt sorry about it when he saw the way the kid shrank inward. But he couldn’t let himself admit he didn’t want to be touched. Just because he had held the other the first time didn’t mean he wanted to be touchy feely all the time. Truthfully he had only done it because he thought he would never see the other again and it wouldn’t matter. But he had been wrong and now he felt exposed and vulnerable enough as it was.



“You don’t have to be so mad,” Raivis whispered under his breath as he pushed the door open into the kitchen. He let out a small breath as the two stepped into the warm, well lit room. For the first time he could turn and look at the other man beside him, taking in the sight that made him almost physically sick.



Ghost stood ramrod straight in the middle of the floor, his red eyes flickering back and forth nervously. The man had no shirt but clutched what looked like a dirty old military shirt tightly in his fist. His pale skin was splotched with what looked like dried blood and crisscrossed with even paler scars and fresh red wounds. Raivis could have counted his rib bones if the thought hadn’t been so nauseating. The man looked like he hadn’t seen a real meal in years. Raivis was a bit startled when the red eyes roving around the room suddenly landed on him and he was pinned to the spot under the harsh glare.



“You’re a boy,” He stated, as if it was a shock and Raivis felt his cheeks warming in embarrassment.



“W-what? Of course I’m a boy!”



“Huh…sounded like a girl,” And then his eyes were flickering away, leaving Raivis standing there with an utterly shocked look on his face and feeling like he should have busted out in tears at the embarrassment of it all. He did not sound like a girl!



“Well I’m not a girl,” Raivis muttered hotly, turning his face away to hide how embarrassed he truly was. But Ghost had already lost interest, his eyes wandering elsewhere.



“Can I eat that?” His eyes were glued to a basket of wax fruit sitting on the counter. Raivis felt his anger melt away almost immediately at the desperation in the others voice.



“T-that isn’t real,” The Latvian told him reluctantly, not even able to take any sadistic glee in the moment of embarrassment that brushed across the man’s face.



“I knew that, I was just testing you,” He clarified. “To see if you would lie to me.”



“I can find some leftovers if you want,”



“No- I don’t need that,” But the sudden gurgle of his stomach said otherwise. The man wished it would stop it, it was a weakness. He didn’t need the other to know how good that sounded. The albino knew just what would happen; the boy would take advantage of it, taunt him with food and not give him anything.



“It wont take anything,” Raivis ignored his words and before the man could protest again he found himself hesitantly sitting down behind a plate of chicken scraps that the smaller man had pulled from the fridge.



His eyes flickered over Raivis and then the plate before his hand shot out to grab the meat in his fist quickly, as if the other would take it away. The way he gobbled it down quickly made the Latvian’s heart ache. How many times had Ivan teased him in the past with food? How many times had Ivan done anything to this man? He was nothing but a bag of bones and scarred skin.



“Belarus says they call you Prussia,” Raivis said as casually as possible as the albino was downing a cup of water, which the man promptly choked on at the others words and started to cough violently. For several seconds Raivis was afraid he had killed the man.



“What…did you say?” His red eyes narrowed at the smaller man, causing him to shrink slightly.



“I….I just thought you’d like to remember part of your name.”



“Don’t ever call me that again,” Prussia told him.



He refused to speak after that for the rest of the night.