Into Another World (The Lost Souls Trilogy)

-Old Friends-

The cold wind blew leaves around in the dark sky, which showed signs of rain to come, possibly snow. Alyona shivered and pulled out her phone. A message lit up on the screen, having been sent almost an hour ago from her Uncle.

"Hey kiddo, Canada told me to tell you that he can't pick you up, something about 'no gas' and how I 'owe him money'. You'll have to walk if you can't find a ride." Various emojis scattered throughout the message depicting whatever mood America was in. Alyona narrowed her eyes, trying to translate the message. Reading English wasn't her strong suit.

She sighed and sat down on the curb, dropping her phone into her lap. The parking lot was completely empty of any cars, and the only people left were the students from detention which trickled out as they finished their cleaning. Elizabeth silently walked past her, heading towards a car which pulled up at the end. Alyona hesitated and considered doing something as absurd as asking for a ride. She looked back down at her phone, changing her mind. The screen lit up displaying the time, 5:58.

A shadow covered her face from the faint sun, hiding behind the clouds. She looked up in surprise and saw Russia there, staring down at her. "It is getting late, da? You should get home before it rains."

"Well I would if I had ride," Alyona replied sarcastically. "But looks like I'm walking."

"I can give you a ride, da."

She glared up at him. "No thanks, Strana, I'll be fine." Alyona stood up and began walking away. Russia didn't follow, but just stared after her.

As she got out of the parking lot a raindrop splashed down on her nose. Alyona jumped in surprise and wiped them away. More and more raindrops fell, wetting the pavement around her at an alarming rate, she groaned and took shelter under a tree up ahead, her clothes already partially soaked.

Russia walked up, an umbrella in his hands protecting him from the water. He seemed unbothered by the cold, it was either that or the water that kept landing on Alyona sent a chill through her body. "Now you want ride, da?" Alyona shivered and glared up at him as she stepped under the umbrella.

His car wasn't that far, and the two of them got in the front. Russia shook off the umbrella and stuffed it in the back next to a towel on the seat. "Here, it's clean." He set it on the center console and started up the car, turning on the heat which started as a burst of cold air. Alyona shivered even more and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around herself. "Always be prepared, da. If it's not snowing in Canada, then raining." Alyona could think of plenty of dry summers that disproved his idea, but didn't say anything.

He started driving towards Canada's house. "You know your mother had same reac-"

"Don't. Don't talk about her," Alyona interrupted him, pulling the towel around her tighter. "You don't get to talk about Mama."

"You've grown up a lot since I last saw you," he said, changing the subject. "You were four, da." There was an awkward silence as Alyona ignored him. "YA obeshchayu, chto tvoya mat' ushla ne iz-za menya."

"Well then what else did, besides my father; who she met because of you. Mama said it herself when we left, knowing you was too dangerous."

"I never did anything-"

"You didn't have to."

"I get you don't like me, da-"

"We're long past 'don't like'," Alyona turned towards him, "do you even know what effect it all had on her? For almost nine years I watched her suffer because of what happened."

"Why do you hate me for it?" Russia asked her, glancing over for a split second.

"Potomu chto ona lyubila tebya! I ty ostavil yeye!" The car pulled up in her driveway. "And I had to deal with that." Alyona stepped out into the rain, and tossed the towel back into the passenger seat. "Leave me alone, Strana." She walked into the house and went directly up to her room, ignoring Canada and her sister.

"Alyona you're ho-" she was already up the stairs before the country could finish his sentence. Him and Aoi glanced at each other, and Aoi followed her sister upstairs.

The door was closed, so she knocked. "Go away, I'm changing," her muffled voice said.

"What happened?" Aoi asked, leaning against the wall and waiting.

"I..." Alyona sighed and finished changing into her warm and dry pajamas and curled up in her bed. "I don't want to talk about it."

Aoi cleared her throat quietly. "Okay." She hesitated for a moment, considering asking about it again just to be sure, but changed her mind, she wasn't going to bother her sister.