prologue
KATYA IVARNOVA
UNEDITED
⚠️ warning: death
THE SOUND OF CUTLERY AGAINST PLATES FILLED THE ROOM. Katya sat between her older brother and her father, Nikolai and Ivan. Opposite them was her mother, Persephone and her three year old brother, Stefan.
The mansion was dark, the only light source was the candles on the table and on the cold stone walls.
The five year old girl sat and happily munched on her strawberries as she had refused to eat the fish that was served, her mother had told her she should be grateful for the food and roof over herhead. Katya being the stubborn five year old she was, still refused. Her father had simply laughed as he knew she took after him, Ivan then ordered a servant to provide her with some fruits.
Nikolai talked about his education in Durmstrang, he was much older than her, as he was in his third year now. Katya watched her parents eyes and how they glinted with pride, she would make them proud one day. One day.
Everything was peaceful, until it wasn’t. Black smoke filled the room as dark wizards appeared. Katya had seen it many times before as her father’s work acquaintances apparated in and out of their house, discussing in hushed voices.
Her mother screamed in fright as the wizards shot spells on them, Nikolai grabbed his younger sister and baby brother that was handed to him from his mother. Ivan casted a protection spell over them, although Katya knew it wouldn’t hold for long as the masked men fired spell after spell.
Ivan knew the time would come that they would attack.
Ivan put his hands on his son’s cheek, “Take them through the emergency room and run through the woods as fast as you can, don’t stop and don’t look back!” He shouted urgently. He kissed Nikolai and Stefan on the on their foreheads and then looked to his daughter. He tightly embraced her, “Listen to your brother, ok? I love you my sweet girl.” The tears burned her eyes as they formed, she let them fall, as her mother mirrored her actions.
“I will lift the spell and you have to run. Remember don’t look back, ok?” Nikolai nodded, with his own set of tears forming, Persephone looked at her children with such adoration it made Ivan’s heart hurt as he knew they would never see their beloved children again.
Katya watched as the green shots of light were over powered by her father lifting the protection spell, but that would only distract them for a minute. It caused a massive explosion temporarily blinding the men. “Run!” Persephone screamed to her oldest son.
Nikolai ran with Stefan in his arms and Katya holding his hands, they sprinted down the stairs into the basement. Katya was sobbing heavily and Stefan was crying for his mother. Nikolai let go of his baby sister and got out his wand, hurriedly whispering a spell that opened the secret passage way to the underground caves—or the emergency room.
Nikolai quickly looked to the stairs as he heard footsteps. He ushered his sister in and spelled the door closed, Stefan still in his arms. Katya leaned against the damp cave wall. She was out of breath, mostly because she felt her throat close up and found it hard to breathe in the thick air.
Nikolai put a finger to his lips as the wizards had entered the basement and could probably break into the secret room as they were much more capable at such things then a third year. Katya heard one of the men slam his fist on the wall in agitation as he knew he had half failed his master.
As the basement door slammed closed. Nikolai once again grabbed Katya and Stefan and began running through humid tunnels, his footsteps echoing on the walls the raven haired girl tried to keep up with him but it was like he was dragging her with his long legs.
“Niko? Can we stop my legs hurt, I don’t want to run anymore.” She whined and hicupped, “No, we have to keep running. It won’t take them long to figure it out once they raid the house and find the map of the hidden passages.” Nikolai gently rubbed his sister’s hand as he ran, trying to calm her nerves.
They soon came to the end of the tunnel, the door once again looked like a massive rock bolder. Nikolai took out his wand and muttered the same incantation as he did the first bolder. The door slowly moved to reveal something Katya recognised, the snowy forest that surrounded their mansion.
Nikolai sighed, “We should be ok now, just have to wait for them lit to clear off.” Katya looked to her big brother through her big blue eyes, “And then we’ll see mummy and daddy again?” Nikolai’s heart shattered in a million pieces as he saw the hope in her eyes. He glanced to Stefan to avoid them, “No Kat. We can’t see Mummy and Daddy they’re gone.” Although he wasn’t looking he could almost sense the heartbreak in her eyes, “T-they’re dead?” She snivelled, wiping her eyes, “Probably not yet, they’ll want information and to get that they have to-” Nikolai hesitated, no he couldn’t tell her she was only five.
Katya’s eyes went to the snow that coated the forest ground, she listened to the crunch sound it made. She knew what he wasn’t going to say. Torture, they would have to torture them. Katya had read all the books in the mansion library on dark magic and blood magic, she was quite skilled with her knowledge.
Black soon covered the sky as it turned darker and darker with each hour of walking through the freezing environs. They had stopped and started a fire for warmth. Katya laid by it watching the flames dance around the logs that her brother had gathered. Her baby brother, Stefan was sound asleep wrapped in her coat, she watched the peacful expression on his face and how unaware he was to what was going on. Katya noticed his red forehead and how hot he was, she clutched him closer. Nikolai was sat upright leaned against the rock, his eye lids closing and opening.
Katya felt her own eyes feel heavy and soon she gave into the slumber that called to her.
••••
KATYA AWOKE TO THE ABSENT FEELING OF HER BABY BROTHER. She sat up and looked to where Nikolai was. He was gone too. “Niko?” She stood up and her sapphire eyes searched the trees for her brothers, “Stef?”
“This isn’t funny, Niko!” She tried to laugh as if it was all just a joke, that she wouldn’t see her parents again and that she was all alone in the woods with no idea what was in them. “Nikolai!” She called again more panicked, she ran through the forest. North, West, East and South. Yet she couldn’t find them Katya ran as far as her little legs could take her.
She soon found that she was back at the mansion she grew up in. It was the back of the house though she moved to the front of the house and walked in as the door was slightly ajar. Katya noted that was probably a warning but once she was inside she searched the top floor, nothing, ground floor, nothing.
Katya walked in to the basement and gaspsed at what she saw. Her parents drenched I their own puddles of blood. Cuts adorned their bodies and nasty thing carved into their skin, she ran forward to them and cried as she shook them, trying to wake them up although she knew deep down they were definitely dead.
Katya sobbed. They had to be buried. She grabbed her father’s wand out his pocket, surprised that it obeyed her when she levitated their bodies and walked outside and dug a hole. Not separate ones knowing they would want to be together even in death.