Russian Flower [1] EDITING

3 - Cartoons

My eyes blinked away the darkness as I began to come to. I felt sore everywhere. I tried to sit up, but found I was strapped down to the bed I was on. My head throbbed in agony as I tried to shake off the drowsiness, but the lack of light in the room did nothing to help my predicament.

"Oh good you're awake," a voice echoed through the dimly lit room.

It sounded like it was all around me as its sound bounced off the walls for the voice to sound like it was everywhere.

"What's happening?" I spoke with my thick Sokovian accent.

"You should be proud. You will be working for your country." The voice was unfamiliar. It was obviously not Madame B as I would know her voice anywhere. It was a male with a prominent Russian accent.

"Not mine," I whispered lowly to myself.

"Do you like cartoons? I hear children these days do not like them as well as I did when I was a boy."

I did not speak. I knew where this was most likely going, and it wasn't good. Often times, the Red Room would force pupils to watch beloved cartoons. However, there would always be changes to the movie. I knew this from when I first got here and they forced me to watch Sleeping Beauty. The only reason I knew was because it had been one of my favorite movies from when I was still with my family. I had noticed the changes that made a beloved children's movie turn into a dark movie about fear and failure. In the end, Maleficent killed and devoured Phillip and the fairies before going to the castle and laying waste to the kingdom. I remember Madame B had to drag me out of there crying before I was punished.

Typically, they have us recite the movie word for word with the changed scenes in it. But Sleeping Beauty was always the one they played for the young ones who were just entering the program.

"Pinocchio was always my favorite. But let's watch a movie, shall we?"

An older girl came in and unstrapped me from the bed. When I sat up I could see the minimal furniture located in the room. She lead me over to a chair where she handcuffed both of my wrists to the chair. A projection screen sat in front of me and I looked at it before The Lion King began to play.

——————

"Isn't this a little harsh?" Bryce asked as he stood behind Madame B.

The two watched as Dreykov made the poor girl watch the movie.

"Only the ones made of marble are strong enough to serve their country."

"She's crying," he noted as he cast his eyes to the dark floor.

"A consequence, but by the end she will know her place in the world and will take it. As will you."

Bryce's head snapped up as he stared at the woman.

"After you gave Arina such a fit yesterday, Dreykov decided that you will join her on missions. Just make sure neither of you get compromised."

He nodded weakly at this. He knew there was no point in fighting it. He knew he had been fortunate in what the Red Room had put him through. Almost as soon as he arrived, they had preformed a vasectomy on him. They said a male could not be trusted around females and any resulting children would cause the females involved to lose their lust to kill. Bryce instead was put through extensive physical training and countless hours of degrading and taunting. Bryce was not trained by the same people that trained the girls who went through the Red Room.

He was kept isolated for nearly a year with no one seeing him, except for his instructor, before he was was upgraded to almost being Madame B's shadow. When he wasn't training, the woman would order him around with him following her mostly. None of the girls knew why Bryce was there, only to fear him.

"This isn't right," his voice broke slightly as he knew she would hate his words.

If Madame B decided it fitting, she would have Bryce beat the girls as punishment. That was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal for him. Every time he would strike, he would wince as the girl would let out a whimper of pain. He was not malicious by nature, but, here, they were required to be.

Madame B thought that's what made him the most fun to break.

———————

I sat in silence with my eyes glued dead ahead at the empty screen. The movie had ended hours ago, but no one had come to get me. No one even spoke over the intercom. It was just silence, and it was welcoming. Silence meant no pain. Silence meant no punishment. Silence meant no killing.

The movie was made to brainwash me into killing others, I am smart enough to know that. But even the smartest couldn't escape. Soon enough, the door creaked open as a stream of light from the hallway was let in.

"Arina," Madame B's voice broke the silence.

The woman came to stand in front of me with a man and Bryce. The man was older with a slight belly and grey hair. Bryce's eyes were focused on the floor with his head down.

"You are ready," the man spoke. "I am Dreykov. I oversee the Red Room."

I slightly gulped but made sure no emotion was able to cloud over my features. I heard the rumors of Dreykov, he was a General for the Soviets, but in his spare time, he apparently oversaw the training of young girls into weapons of destruction.

"You and the boy here will have your first mission given to you tomorrow," he informed.

Bryce looked up for a split second, but that was all it took for me to see why he wasn't showing his face. His lip was busted and bleeding. Black and purple skin graced the space around his eye. There was a slight dried blood trickle under his nose. He didn't comply. That's what happens when you think for yourself. I heard Dreykov and Madame B speaking, but I paid no mind to it.

"Arina?" Madame B asked.

"I know my place in the world."