In My Dreams

July 17, 1918

17-year-old Anastasia was woken up, much to her dismay by the family doctor, Botkin, at 1:30 in the morning.

One of the soldiers guarding her and her family said, "Приходить. мы должны доставить вас в безопасное место."

(Come. We must get you to safety.)

Anastasia yawned and stretched before getting up to get ready.

By about quarter past two, she was prepared to leave. She, her sisters and their mother were dressed in white blouses and blackskirts. Anastasia held her King Charles spaniel Jemmy.

Anastasia smiled as she heard her father say, "Что ж, мы собираемся выбраться из этого места."

(Well, we're going to get out of this place.)

For 78 days, Anastasia and her family, and some staff, had been imprisoned. If they truly were being freed... Anastasia smiled at the thought and tried to think of everything she would do.

Her gaze fell to her wrist where a strange shape laid. It looked like an ancient creature, but she'd never seen it before.

No one had been able to tell her what it had meant, so she ignored it. Mostly. Oftentimes she found herself dreaming of its endless possible meanings.

The Romanovs and their staff crossed the courtyard and went through the door to the basement. A frown crossed Anastasia's face as she wondered what their captors were up to.

As they entered the basement, they looked around to see no chairs and Alexandra said, "Почему здесь нет стула? Запрещено ли садиться?"

(Why is there no chair here? Is it forbidden to sit down?)

Yurovsky ordered another chair over and another guard muttered to himself. Anastasia caught the word heir and frowned as she looked at her brother.

Two chairs were brought in and Alexandra and Alexei sat.

Maria, Olga and Tatiana were standing behind their mother while Anastasia stood further away.

Yurovsky reentered the room and said, "Я собираюсь найти грузовик, который отвезет тебя в безопасное место."

(I am going to get the truck that will take you to safety.)

He left again and a short while later, Anastasia and her family heard the vibration of a car engine on the windows, which rattled at the sound.

Yurovsky walked back in once again, followed by a group of men, and seemed to be holding things.

Yurovsky pulled out a piece of paper and read in a loud voice, "Ввиду того, что ваши родственники продолжали наступление на Советскую Россию, Президиум Уральского областного совета принял решение приговорить вас к смертной казни."

(In view of the fact that your relatives continued their offensive against Soviet Russia, the Praesidium of the Ural Regional Soviet has decided to sentence you to death.)

Nicholas turned to face his family and asked, "Что? Что?"

(What? What?)

Alexandra and Olga crossed themselves, but before Nicholas could turn back to face him, Yurovsky fired at him with his pistol.

The other guards soon joined in.

Young Alexei, gripping his chair in terror, was splattered with his father's blood. Bullets hit Anastasia and her sisters, but weren't harming them.

Anastasia uttered a silent thank you to her mother.

Another man fired at Alexandra's head from close range. Maria banged desperately on the locked door and the same man shot her in the thigh.

All Anastasia heard was the noise of gunfire and screaming; bullets ricocheting off the stone walls.

The single light bulb, gunsmoke and dust from the shattered plaster ceiling made it hard to see what was going on.

Anastasia heard Yurovsky yell at his men to cease fire, at least she thought that was what he said, but by now they were so manic it took them a while to stop. The guards left the room. Anastasia hoped it was to leave them alone, but she feared they were coming back.

Anastasia and her siblings sobbed and moaned from the pain and from the devastation of the death of their parents.

Once the smoke and dust had cleared in the room, Yurovsky saw that only Nicholas and Alexandra and two servants were dead. As Doctor Botkin tried to get up, Yurovsky shot him in the head.

Then he turned to young Alexei, who was still sitting terrified in his chair and shot him repeatedly, but the former heir was protected by his shirt padded with diamonds.

The man who had shot her mother tried unsuccessfully to finish Alexei off with his bayonet; Yurovsky finally shot Alexei in the head. He fell alongside the body of his father.

The four sisters were screaming and cowering against a wall. As they saw Yurovsky and the other man walking towards them, they scrambled to get away. Anastasia fought her mother and brother's killer as best she could, but within seconds they were all shot and stabbed, the diamonds and pearls sewn into their camisoles only prolonging their agony.

Alexandra's maid, Anna Demidova, tried to get up and screamed, "Слава Богу! Бог спас меня!"

(Thank God! God has saved me!)

As the man turned on her, she fended him off with one of the jewel-filled cushions, until it was snatched from her.

The remains were being wrapped in their bedroom sheets. Suddenly Anastasia sat up, covering her face in her hands.

She wasn't sure what exactly happened, but she swore something stood in front of her. And then she passed out, her memories of that horrible night being buried deep inside her mind.