Tasked With Insanity || A Hetalia Horror Story

The Disappearance of Ivan Braginsky

'Everyone's scared of you,

You know that?

I'm not. Let's be friends.'

..Was I too scary for you all?

**

English girl found dead under snow in Russian forest. Autopsy claims she was strangled to death, but it is also predicted she was caught in a snowstorm unprepared and froze.

Ivan was the scary one- the intimidating one- ...the one you'd least expect to run away.

At the next Allies meeting, no one saw him. He wasn't present at the World meeting, either.

For some, it was a relief. The scariest country had magically disappeared, without a trace left behind.

But some worried. A country as big as Russia doesn't just disappear, it's absurd. Unheard of.

So I looked for him.

Starting at his home country, which seemed the most logical option, I searched. I searched up and down, interrogated his sisters (Natalia seemed very eager to help me, but I remain alone in my search because even the very thought of her intimidates me.), and talked to The Baltics.

No one had seen him.

And that's why I stood now, in front of a house just at the edge of a snowy Russian forest, looking up into the darkened windows. Nothing.

On the brickwork of the outside were faded, chalked on drawings of sunflowers. Three just as badly drawn figures could be seen among the flowers, figures that took quite some time to distinguish as Irunya, Natalia.. And Ivan.

Did he live here once?

Once long ago, when he was a small child who didn't know any better than to draw on the walls of his house?

I trudged forward in the snow towards the door, old and broken. As I neared closer.. A faint noise reached my ears.

A music box.

It rang in my head, resounded in my ears, and sent shivers down my spine.

I stepped through the doorway as it got louder.

"Ivan?" I called out, my voice feeling strange in my throat.

No response.

Just that creepy, ever playing music box.

My footsteps echoed through the halls of the freezing- or maybe that was just fear making me shiver- house.

Again, I called out into the house.

Again, the only change was the increasing volume of that damn music box.

Another corner I turned, and I found it.

The music box.

And Ivan.

In the only room that had an open door, the one all the way across the hall from me. His back faced me, and the music box was louder than it had ever been.

I walked forward.

"Ivan?"

As I got closer, I heard him humming along to the music box.

He ignored me.

"Come on Ivan, you're creeping me out more than usual."

The humming just continued.

"Ivan!"

With my shout, both the music box and Ivan's humming ceased.

The silence hit me like a ton of bricks.

Ivan still didn't turn to me.

"Ivan, stop ignoring me!"

"Why did no one tell me?"

My expression took a dramatic turn from my tone of voice, and I smiled patiently, even though he couldn't see it.

"Tell you what, Ivan?"

He turned, finally, but slowly, to face me. From where I stood- just about one step outside of the room- I could see the few tears staining his face.

It took me entirely by surprise.

I had never seen the big boned Russian cry.

"That I was too scary..."

My patient smile turned sympathetic, and I moved forward to comfort him.

"Ivan, it's okay-"

He stood.

"Ivan?"

"I promise... this is the last time I'll be scary."

My eyes clouded with confusion.

"What-"

And before I knew it, his scarf was tight around my neck. Ivan's eyes seemed to have at least a small flash of regret in them, but he was now grinning, tears forgotten.

"It's much more fun when I know how scary I'm being, da?"

I struggled for air as he pulled his scarf even tighter, the scarf itself, unfortunately for me, not tearing in half. I clawed at the fabric, trying to pull away-

"Dasvidaniya~"

And my eyes clouded with darkness.

END