Mariya’s first chapter (Alina): Gasping for air, I woke up from my nightmare with one thought on my mind - I despise my father more than anything in the world. For giving me me these repeating nightmares that come back almost every night to haunt me. I rarely sleep, and when I do, I never sleep for long.
I hate him for making me into what I am today - paranoid and afraid. I’m going to get revenge for my ruined childhood, I decided. And if I could I would get revenge against the whole Russian government, especially the president himself, my father’s best friend; for corrupting my country, my family and my life. I will get revenge. With these disturbing thoughts, I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I decided to go outside and get some fresh air. Paris is usually a rather peaceful city, even at night, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I took my dagger, hid it in my boot, and curled my whip around my wrist. I usually only brought my dagger, but now, during night time, no one would see it anyways, so it didn’t really matter. The chance of something unexpected happening was always there, and it was best to be prepared. I stepped outside and felt the rush of cool air on my face. It felt nice and refreshing, much better than the suffocating, warm air of the dorm room. But something wasn’t right, I realized. Something felt very much off, and looking around, I was determined to investigate. I could now see a shadow on top of the building. A very suspiciously shaped shadow. A shadow that looked very much human. I decided to climb up the dorm building, because if I went through the inside and used the door to get to get to the roof, I would most likely be noticed and would cause much more noise than scaling the side of the building would, and plus, climbing was easy and fast. I ran to the side of the building, easily finding handholds and footholds on the sides of the building from years of practice here and in Russia, and started climbing. Don’t look down, I reminded myself with a sigh. I wasn’t really afraid of heights, but when I was climbing I didn’t particularly like to see what height I was at. When I reached the top, I was fine, but the process rather bothered me. It took me only a few minutes to climb up the side of the building, but to me it seemed like hours, because I was worried that the mysterious shadowy figure might disappear by the time I got up there. As I neared the top, I quietly peaked over the edge. I didn’t want to disturb whoever was up here, but I did want to discover their identity. I carefully climbed over the edge of the building, keeping a lookout for anything out of the ordinary. That’s when I saw it. Behind the chimney, there was a masculine-looking figure hiding in the shadows. I wondered if he noticed me yet. Just in case, I decided to keep my dagger, and whip, at the ready. …show more content…
I didn’t dare disturb the peacefulness in the room, I just grabbed my worn copy of “The Hound of Baskervilles”, my small reading lamp and settled into bed.
***
My prediction that I wouldn’t sleep that night came true. I didn’t sleep a wink, but now I didn’t feel beat or tired, no, I felt ready to go. I was used to being sleep deprived, as I had suffered from insomania for quite a long time, so now, the less time I slept, the more awake I felt.
In the beginning, I just didn’t want to go to sleep, because night time was the only time when I could do whatever I wanted without Father seeing or bothering me. I also took the chance to read as much as possible. The other reason was the nightmares. Well, actually, there was just one nightmare. I kept dreaming of my mother, holding her arms out to me, saying “My baby girl, please, save her.” I didn’t understand what she meant, maybe she was hinting at the fact that I was going insane? In any case, the nighmare also featured my dad, poisonous spiders, and having a brain tumor. Some of my worst
I hate him for making me into what I am today - paranoid and afraid. I’m going to get revenge for my ruined childhood, I decided. And if I could I would get revenge against the whole Russian government, especially the president himself, my father’s best friend; for corrupting my country, my family and my life. I will get revenge. With these disturbing thoughts, I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I decided to go outside and get some fresh air. Paris is usually a rather peaceful city, even at night, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I took my dagger, hid it in my boot, and curled my whip around my wrist. I usually only brought my dagger, but now, during night time, no one would see it anyways, so it didn’t really matter. The chance of something unexpected happening was always there, and it was best to be prepared. I stepped outside and felt the rush of cool air on my face. It felt nice and refreshing, much better than the suffocating, warm air of the dorm room. But something wasn’t right, I realized. Something felt very much off, and looking around, I was determined to investigate. I could now see a shadow on top of the building. A very suspiciously shaped shadow. A shadow that looked very much human. I decided to climb up the dorm building, because if I went through the inside and used the door to get to get to the roof, I would most likely be noticed and would cause much more noise than scaling the side of the building would, and plus, climbing was easy and fast. I ran to the side of the building, easily finding handholds and footholds on the sides of the building from years of practice here and in Russia, and started climbing. Don’t look down, I reminded myself with a sigh. I wasn’t really afraid of heights, but when I was climbing I didn’t particularly like to see what height I was at. When I reached the top, I was fine, but the process rather bothered me. It took me only a few minutes to climb up the side of the building, but to me it seemed like hours, because I was worried that the mysterious shadowy figure might disappear by the time I got up there. As I neared the top, I quietly peaked over the edge. I didn’t want to disturb whoever was up here, but I did want to discover their identity. I carefully climbed over the edge of the building, keeping a lookout for anything out of the ordinary. That’s when I saw it. Behind the chimney, there was a masculine-looking figure hiding in the shadows. I wondered if he noticed me yet. Just in case, I decided to keep my dagger, and whip, at the ready. …show more content…
I didn’t dare disturb the peacefulness in the room, I just grabbed my worn copy of “The Hound of Baskervilles”, my small reading lamp and settled into bed.
***
My prediction that I wouldn’t sleep that night came true. I didn’t sleep a wink, but now I didn’t feel beat or tired, no, I felt ready to go. I was used to being sleep deprived, as I had suffered from insomania for quite a long time, so now, the less time I slept, the more awake I felt.
In the beginning, I just didn’t want to go to sleep, because night time was the only time when I could do whatever I wanted without Father seeing or bothering me. I also took the chance to read as much as possible. The other reason was the nightmares. Well, actually, there was just one nightmare. I kept dreaming of my mother, holding her arms out to me, saying “My baby girl, please, save her.” I didn’t understand what she meant, maybe she was hinting at the fact that I was going insane? In any case, the nighmare also featured my dad, poisonous spiders, and having a brain tumor. Some of my worst