Scarlet Silence

Prologue ⧗

TW: Violence, mention to blood, death.

Russia, November 19th, 2011.

The bitter, cold air of Russian winters made some of the girls shiver. The students were all lined up outside, arranged like pieces on a chessboard. Like pawns. And really, that's all they were. Pawns in a bigger game.

Each girl was dressed in the same uniform, white tank tops, in the centre, a small embroidered red symbol, making it clear they were property of the Red Room, and nothing more. They wore black shorts, with flexible material, white ankle socks and black plimsoll shoes.

The girls in this class were all 6-10. Tiny, but composed.

Anzhelika herself had her blonde hair in two long pigtails, as most girls had braided hair.
She made attempt to stand tall and strong, being nine, the older side of this age division, however she was small for the average nine year old. Regardless, she knew what she was doing.

Madame B strutted her way amongst the girls, staring them all down as they stood tall with emotionless expressions. She made her way to the edge of the small 'arena', in the middle of two girls lined along the outskirts.

She finally spoke, "Teper', devochki. Davayte dvigat'sya dal'she." (Now girls, let's move on).

Her tone was cold and her Russian accent was thick.

"Nadzeya Poloza."

Nadzeya, a ten year old girl originally from Belarus stepped forward into the middle. Her brown hair was also in two long plaits. Nadzeya wasn't easy competition, being strong and a good height for her age, and also having been in the Red Room since she was five.

"Anzhelika Lukyanova."

Anzhelika subconsciously stepped forward, though immediately realising who she was up against, not only was it a girl stronger and older, but a girl she considered her only friend. Unlike Nadzeya, Anzhelika had no memory of a life outside of the Red Room, and had been shooting guns since she was so small, the recoil would send her crashing to the ground.

The two girls stood to face each other, nodding their heads before waiting for Madame B's first whistle.

A high pitched shrill ran through the air, and both girls immediately squared up, clenching their fists, rotating their torsos and limbs, making sure they were prepared, because in the Red Room, one little stumble, could cause a big fall. One you may not be able to get up from.

At the sound of the second whistle, both girls started to battle it out. As they went along, the girls made a series of 'ha', 'huh' and 'hm' noises, occasionally a strained grunt or yelp whenever they got hit badly. Anzhelika went in for a high kick, which connected with Nadzeya but she had already stepped to the side, and it brushed her top. Nadzeya through a series of punches, which Anzhelika blocked with her arms, however, Nadzeya managed to grasp one of Anzhelika's wrists and pull her forward and downward sharply. Anzhelika countered by grabbing Nadzeya's wrist and doing the same. They got into a slight tugging match.

Nadzeya, being taller, took Anzhelika's wrists and spun, causing Anzhelika to fall really far forward, luckily she caught herself with sloppy cartwheel. They both got into defensive stances.
When Nadzeya attacked, Anzhelika counted, in an attempt to get her opponent onto the floor, however Nadzeya put a foot in Anzhelika's stomach and fell strategically in a way that sent Anzhelika flying over the top.

Anzhelika groaned as she sat up, her nose was bleeding, scarlet-red blood gushed out of it. But there was no time to stop for a break. Anzhelika and Nadzeya were getting tired, until Anzhelika ramped it up a little.

She rushed forward, kicking Nadzeya in the stomach, sending her doubling over. As she recovered, Anzhelika jumped off Nadzeya's upper torso, backflipping off, to knock Nadzeya down, her landing wasn't the smoothest, but Nadzeya was down.

As the older girl began to arise, Anzhelika quickly scrambled over, kicking the back off her knee, and wrapping her neck in a deadly headlock.

It was only then when Anzhelika realised what she was doing.

Nadzeya desperately clawed, trying to pull Anzhelika over her, but the young girl didn't move, instead, she turned her head to face Madame B, looking for confirmation, but deep down, hoping she wouldn't have to...

To her dismay, Madame B nodded her head. But Anzhelika couldn't do it. Which was odd, she had been killing since she was four.

Madame B quickly caught on and growled at her. "Sdelay eto seychas, devochka!" (Do it now girl!)

Anzhelika wasn't convinced, Nadzeya began to beg quietly. "Pozhaluysta, Anzhelika..." (Please, Anzhelika...)

Madame B was getting frustrated.
"Lukyanova. Ty znayesh', chto proiskhodit, kogda ty oblazhayesh'sya." (Lukyanova, you know what happens when you screw up.)

Anzhelika knew all too well what the consequences of not following through were. She had suffered them years ago. She started to wrap her hands around Nadzeya's neck.

"Mne zhal, Nadzeya..." (I'm sorry, Nadzeya.)

In one swift movement, a loud crack echoed through the arena, bouncing off of the walls that confined the girls to the small yard, Nadzeya's body fell limp on the floor.

Even at the young age of nine, Anzhelika had been the reason behind the same fate of many other people. But this was different, and for the first time in a long time, she felt regret as she walked back to the sidelines.

Unfortunately, like many other girls, all Nadzeya was, and all Nadzeya ever would be, was simply another failure. Another weak girl who couldn't hold her own, and who wouldn't be remembered by anyone.

Except for Anzhelika.

Authors Note:
This was hard to write 😭😭
The first few chapters may be a bit choppy, for that I apologize 😭 I'm trying to balance between school, that I barely go to, my shit mental health and my own free time 💕