Anastasia Romanov

CHAPTER IX (SEIZE)

CHAPTER IX (SEIZE)

I can hear my heart pulsate against my ribcage.

Dimitri was still by the door, holding the handle protectively, ears pressed against the hard wood of the door. Nikolai had placed himself in front me while holding a revolver. What was he shielding me from? If there were soldiers outside this room, there will be no shielding anyone from the bullets that would penetrate these walls.

Dimitri slowly made his way towards us . He touched Nikolai's shoulders and grabbed my wrists. Is this his habit? My wrists are starting to hurt from all these grabbing. Damn you Avdeev!

He then brought me to the side of the hearth with Nikolai in tow. He still hasn't let go of his hold. He was staring at me, even when Nikolai started to speak.

"We need to get out of here child. It is not safe for us to be seen here. The door can hold the guards. Anya, you don't need to be scared, Dimitri and I have been prepared for this. But we did not expect it to be so soon. Since the other escape route is blocked, we need to devise another escape plan. Dim?"

"There is still another way out from the palace. Right Anya? Do tell. There was another secret passage from the garden to this place. But if I recall so well, Aleksei mentioned something about you knowing the different passages out from the palace to the streets." Dimitri said. He was still looking at me. 

We could just stay in this room until the soldiers leave. But it would be too dangerous.

With the lack of food we still need to go out and find it. But it has been years, and my memory really isn't that good anymore. Still, I tried to rack my brain and come up with an answer. Dimitri was right. Aleksei always knew that I sneak out of the palace to enjoy the crowded streets of Petrograd (St.Petersburg).

"How did you put that fireplace here?" I asked.

Nikolai and Dimitri looked baffled with my question, but Dimitri answered anyway.

"We built it. Why?"

"Clear all the ashes and put out the fire. If I did remember it well, there used to be a hidden passage below the floor. It leads to some abandoned cells below the palace then out to the square."

Without a second thought, Nikolai and Dimitri slowly went to work as to not alert the soldiers outside the room. But the fire was the problem. Putting it out would leave a smell that something was burned here, then that would be enough for the soldiers to barge in here. So Nikolai took a wet cloth and placed it to the gaps on the door and the window. Dimitri slowly took out the burned charcoal as well as the ashes and placed it on an empty canister. Then slowly he pulled the metal platform that was used as the burning tray for the hearth. It revealed the hatch. Although unlike any other door to a secret passage. It does not have any knob on the outside, that's why it was kept as it was and forgotten. I tried to feel for the button, but the wood was too hot. So I asked Dimitri to bring water with ice cubes on it and a cloth. I wiped the floor with it and continued to feel for the button of the hatch. But the sound of the door made me and the other two stop. I turned my face sideways and silently praying that they wont see anything that would interest them. The knob of the door kept on rattling as the voices of the soldiers were heard outside.

My heart was still pounding against my chest, and my hands were trembling. But I kept going. I tried to feel the wood once more and prayed that we would be getting out this place in one piece.

Then there was a click. I found it.

I slid the door to the side. The smell of old wood and rust welcomed me as I got down. The other two followed me suit and closed the passage.

Dimitri was laughing hysterically.

I looked at Nikolai and the only thing he did was shrug.

"What's so funny?" I asked

"We almost got caught. That's what's funny. Damn Romanov, I always knew you were a troublemaker, but I never thought that you'd be this bold. But that was a good one. You thought of it pretty quickly. Well done. Lets get out of here" He patted my shoulder as he walked out.

"That's the wrong way idiot. Unless you want to find yourself in the middle of this place's library or the kitchen or even the middle of those guards." He seemed skittish after hearing me say that.

"Lets go Avdeev. We still need to find you a place to stay."