Bloodstains and Betrayal

January 31st, 1850: Tula, Russia

To be honest, I didn't really plan on killing anyone for a couple years, but I didn't have a choice. 

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"Черт?" (The hell?) I mumbled, rolling off the side of a couch. Where was I, and why did I feel so... Hungover? For a second, I feared I was at Leo's, but then I saw Nikolai asleep in the chair beside me. I faintly remembered being stabbed by... Vlad? Other than that my memory was blurred.

"Oh, you're awake."

A big man stood above me, showing a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. His hair was more grey than white though...

"Who are you..." I growled, slowly standing up.

"Rostislav. I'm Nikolai's friend, and I'm also the doctor who managed to save your life."

"You can trust him."

I turned around to see Vlad, standing in the doorway. I flinched when I saw him, the details of what happened flashing back to me.

"You... You stabbed me." I whispered, hiding from him behind Rostislav. He closed his eyes and sighed, as if knowing this would happen.

"Now, now, I'm sure it wasn't on purpose, come on." Rostislav frowned, trying to pull me from him.

"I don't want to talk to him." I murmured, turning away from both of them, stalking into the backyard. The door creaked open behind me, and Vlad's voice rang out from behind me.

"Are you mad?"

"Well yeah Vlad, you stabbed me. I'm not exactly overjoyed..." I sighed. He sat beside me in the snow, linking his arms around his knees.

"I'm... You know what? I know nothing I say or do will make you feel better, but I want you to have this anyway." He sighed. He opened one of his hands to reveal a black cloth with gold trim on the sides. I recognized it from the back of his cloak, it was the cape that trailed down from the back of it. As he proceeded to unfold it, I realized he had attached to my cloak, which he had apparently fixed.

"Vlad, that's yours. I can't take that from you."

"Yes you can. And please, would you look at me?" He asked, handing it to me. I half-heartidly looked up, taking the cloak from him.

"Thanks." I sighed, standing up to slip the cloak on over my bandages. The cape rested on the left side of the cloak, and could be pulled over to conceal my arm.

"It looks good." He smiled, walking behind me. I felt him tie the bow into my hair, smiling to himself.

"Oh, and here." He smiled, ordering me to close my eyes. I did as he said, feeling my hidden blade being slipped around my wrist.

"Why'd I have to close my- МАТЕРИ РОССИИ, Владимир!" (MOTHER OF RUSSIA, VLADIMIR!) I gasped, realizing what he had done. The entire thing was golden, rubies surrounding the edges. I shot out the steel blade a couple times, marveling at how swift the movements were. There was a second one in his other hand, the blade a little bit shorter than the other one.

"There you go. Now you look like a real assassin." He smiled, sliding the second blade onto my other wrist.

"Thanks, and I guess we're cool about the stabbi-" I was cut off when a large bang came from inside the house. The first thing that went through my head was Nikolai got into a fight with Santa, sending me running into the house. Vlad followed close behind me, keeping his hand on my shoulder.

"Leo..." I whispered. Luckily he didn't hear me, but there he was, hunched over Rostislav's now lifeless dead body. Vlad put his hand over my mouth, just as I felt tears prick at my eyes. No, I wasn't crying, not again. Leo smirked, kicking Rostislav to the side. He then walked over Nikolai, who was still passed out.

"You shouldn't have kept me from her." He sang, bringing his sword above his head.

"НЕТ" (NO!) I screamed, breaking away from Vlad and launching myself onto Leo. I punched him repeatedly as he tried to talk, blinded by rage.

"Baby, I can expla-"

"No you can't you bastard! Vlad, get Nikolai out of here." I shouted, slapping him across the face.

"R-Right." Vlad stammered, picking Nikolai up and running into Nikolai's room.

"Who's that?" Leo growled. He gave me an intimidating stare, his ice blue eyes now shining with madness.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you killed my family, and the man who saved my life." I spat, raising my hidden blade above his chest.

"Baby, don't do this. We can still be happy together."

"I don't want to be happy with you. EVER!" I shouted, bringing my blade down on his stomach.

"That was for my dad."

I stabbed him again, this time twisting the blade deeper into his chest.

"That was for my mom."

Again, I brought the blade down, in tears now. I raked the blade down, leaving a gaping hole in his torso.

"That was for Noah."

I stabbed him in the chest once more, stabbing the blade in and out, crying so much my vision was blurred.

"That was for Rostislav."

Finally, I shot out both blades, hovering them right above his eyes, that held a shocked and desperate look.

"And this..." I started taking a deep breath. "Это для меня." (This is for me.) I stabbed both blades into his eyes, doing so repeatedly. I butchered his face, gashing lines down his jawline. I pulled the bow from my hair, dipping it in the crimson leaking from his face. I was no longer pure. And Leo's blood would forever be a reminder of that. I raise my blade above his head again, right as Vlad an Nikolai ran back into the room.

"Mother of Russia..." Vlad gasped, pulling me away from Leo. I thrashed against his grip, finally giving up as I melted into his embrace.

"He was going to kill Nikolai, I had to Vlad... I had to." I cried, hugging onto him as tight as possible.

"What!?" Nikolai said, completely shocked. I tried to explain, but I couldn't find the words to.

"He broke in and killed Rostislav." Vlad explained, running his fingers through my chocolate brown hair. "We were in the backyard when it happened, and came in just in time to see him about to stab you."

"T-T-Thanks." I sighed, to traumatized to explain for myself.

"Hey, you did what you had to." He soothed, trying to calm me down.

"Vlad, can I have a moment with her?" Nikolai asked, struggling to take all of this in.

"Yeah, of course..." Vlad sighed. I shakily pulled away from him, instantly grabbing onto Nikolai. I couldn't stand by myself, not anymore. Vlad quietly slipped away, leaving just me and Nikolai.

"H-H-He was g-going to k-k-kill you Nikolai." I sobbed, holding onto his shirt.

"I know, now listen to me." He said, pulling me off and gripping my shoulders tightly. "You are an assassin now. You can't shut down every time you kill someone. You HAD to do this. I'm more than proud of you."

He reached down onto the floor, grabbing my now blood red bow. He tied it into my hair, not bothering notice it was dripping with Leo's blood.

"That's a sign there's a killer in you, and that's not a bad thing Madie. Now come on, I think you're ready to meet Roman."