BLOODY BALLERINA ▹ barnes-romanoff ✓

четыре.

"Little girl, stop waiting for someone to come and rescue you. You are on your own."

The soldier made her wake up when the usual tray slid through the door slot, "Vstavay, Sveta. The food is here." Wake up, Sveta.

A moan rumbled from the six year old's lips and the soldier smirked ever so slightly before moving away from her. Still grumbling simply so he could hear her discontent, Svetlana yawned and sat up on the little cot they still shared. As she rubbed her eyes, she watched while her papa carried over the metal tray and then set it down on top of the ruffled blankets. Svet thoughtfully poked at the food that she saw before them. Two legs of chicken, an apple, a small bowl of beans, three slices of wholegrain bread, one circle piece of cheese, and one bottle of water.

The soldier and the girl criss-crossed their legs simultaneously as he picked up the apple and split it perfectly in half with his two hands. That same look of wonder overcame her features just as it always did whenever he split the fruit that way. It was as incredible to her as it was the very first time she saw him do it. No matter how hard the small girl tried, she could never replicate the motion and the soldier would always faintly smirk whenever she did.

He handed over half the apple and then bit into his own. They were just getting into the chicken when suddenly Svetlana saw the door pull open. The soldier immediately stood and looked straight ahead, like he always did. His jaw, shoulders, and back were all tight and straight, the image of the perfect soldier. Quietly following suit, Svetlana wiped the water from around her lips and looked down at her bare feet. She was aware that the guard was talking, but she was just too tired to try to figure out what he was saying. Just as any six year old would, she just wanted to eat some more and then lay back down to nap.

Then suddenly a harsh hand was grabbing onto her arm and tugging her towards the door. Her eyes flew up and she saw the guard yanking her around. A panicked sound escaped her lips as she craned her neck around, trying to find her papa. He was following behind them with a hard expression on his face and he refused to meet the girl's eyes. He knew what trouble that they were in; he knew what was about to happen. She struggled to swallow before she turned to look back up at the guard. He had short dark hair on his head and face. He had nearly black eyes and he seemed constantly angry.

She could only wonder what she had done.

The man yanked her to a stop before he opened a metal grate and roughly shoved her inside, leaving the gate open for her father to follow. He carefully stepped inside, using his metal arm to clang the gate closed. Svetlana's eyes skidded around the room as she tried to make sense of what was going on. The ground was covered in a dirtied white-gray cement and the walls were made of all metal grating. Numerous men and one woman dressed in black stood with their backs to the walls while other men in red berets and uniforms stood near them. A strange fear seemed to pull at the small girl's insides.

Everyone watched her as she cautiously entered what was basically a very large cage. Her small hands carefully pushed her wavy red hair behind her ears as she swallowed and looked down to her still bare feet. Her toes felt icy against the cement and she imagined cuddling back in the scratchy blankets of the cot where she always felt warm. She became aware of feet moving around her, but she was too scared to look up to see what was going on. A hand grasped onto her shoulder and she looked up with fear only to be met with her papa's eyes. His face and eyes were devoid of all emotion and expression, like it was whenever he returned from a mission. She never liked it when he came back simply because of his distant, cold demeanor that always seemed to resurface whenever he left. Her insides shuddered as she searched for what she knew within him.

He was pushing all of it away.

She felt so confused.

His mouth snapped the words out, "Podnimite kulaki." Put your fists up.