Chapter Text
Time passed turbulently in the coming days. Sometimes, an hour would feel like a minute, slipping through her grasp like quicksand. Other times, she'd be sat in a class or meeting for what felt like an entire day, only to check the time to see only half an hour had passed.
Riri left her room only as much as was required to keep up appearances. She sat in the dining hall with the others, went to all of her classes and attended to any council duties. She even made sure to spend time with Kira outside of the necessary work to avoid suspicion. Outwardly, she appeared to be the perfect robot that everybody saw her as. Internally, she was barely holding herself together.
She still hadn't been able to utter a single word and it was getting frustrating. At times, she found herself alone in her room, desperately trying to say anything - a simple sentence - just because she needed to know that she could.
That she wasn't entirely broken.
Kira had tried to bring this up a few more times, only to be immediately warned to leave it alone with the type of glare that suggested she'd awaken with a knife in her chest if she continued.
Safe to say, she stopped pressing after a while. After all, the younger sister had spent longer without her voice, and always found it in the end.
—
Riri awoke from another fitful sleep, in which Blake's body lit up before her again and again. She hadn't actually smelt the burnt flesh or ever seen the actual corpse, yet her mind had no trouble imagining it in a disturbingly realistic way.
She blinked back tears. Timurovs don't cry. Her fathers voice rang sharp and clear in her head. Deciding that there was no point in trying to fall asleep again, she got up and reapplied her eyeliner, which she hadn't bothered taking off the night before and was smudged from a combination of tears and restless tossing and turning.
By the time she'd finished meticulously applying makeup to cover up the bags under her eyes and had showered and dressed - not in her uniform since it was the weekend - , her phone was vibrating with messages. She sighed and ignored it, knowing it'd be the groupchat which rarely had anything useful to say. Since she'd awoken early and didn't need to be anywhere quite yet, she picked up a worn, leather bound classic off her bookshelf and read for a while, allowing herself to be lost within its pages. It was rare that she wasted time doing something she enjoyed rather than doing something useful but she allowed herself this weakness just this once.
Her phone continued to buzz aggressively, and she finally opened her phone to see if it was anything important. If not, she would mute it.
Council:
Nobodycares: Guys. I had an idea.
Onesieweirdo: Careful, wouldn't want you to strain
yourself thinking too hard <3
Nobodycares: :(
Anyway my genius idea is…..
COUNCIL GAME NIGHT!!!
Motherrr: Ew. Absolutely not.
Socialmediaaddict: I agree with whatever mother says.
Stalker.: Suck up.
But also I agree, wouldn't want to waste time
with you idiots when I could be watching
mikeyyyyy ❤️⛓️🔪
Onesieweirdo: dude you need help fr.
Cmon tho it could be funnnnnn
Nobodycares: pls
I won't even suggest we play strip poker
Stalker: fine but only if we play something violent
Socialmediaaddict: only if mother agrees.
Nobodycares: @Motherrr plssssssssssssss
Motherrr: Fine. But Riri had better come too.
@Silentbutdeadly
We can meet at 8pm in Runa's room
Nobody cares: why not mine
Motherrr: I do not need to know what's in your room
Chad
Riri sighed, there was no way she'd be able to get out of this one, unless she wasn't people asking questions. She couldn't afford to seem suspicious at the moment. She responded with a simple “ok” and mentally prepared for the torture that she'd have to suffer later.
Games nights with the council never ended peacefully.
By midday, Riri found herself bored of following Kira around and watching people gamble, so found herself heading to the room that had become her sanctuary - the music room.
As per usual, she found it empty upon arrival. She took her usual place at the piano and was about to begin playing when the door swung open, revealing Mary.
She spotted Riri immediately and spoke, “Oh, I'm sorry. I can leave if you want.”
Riri thought for a moment. Whilst she preferred to be alone, she also didn't want to take away music from anybody. She understood more than anybody that it was an outlet for feelings that could never be spoken out loud.
She looked up and shook her head ever so slightly.
Mary looked surprised at this, and made her way over to the violins.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
As the girl picked up a violin and began to play, Riri found herself watching, transfixed. Mary played so gently, the bow sliding over the strings with utmost precision as the sun shone through the intricate stained glass window, bathing her in colour. She had such skill that didn't come only with practice, but with talent. It was beautiful.
She was beautiful.
Riri tore her gaze away, blushing under her mask and cursing herself for thinking such a thing. If her father knew she was even thinking such a thing-
She shuddered at the idea and turned back to the keyboard. Mary had stopped playing for the moment so Riri took the opportunity to begin playing. Barely thinking, her fingers began to move across the keyboard, playing the first few notes to a song she knew off by heart - Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers. Almost immediately, the music began to flow, fluid and never skipping a beat. Something about playing in front of somebody else made her feel like the was stripping back her outer layers of skin, allowing them to see inside of her.
It was weakness.
No, it was raw. It was real.
Although Mary didn't realise it, it was as though she could finally share some of her fear, despair and anguish instead of keeping it contained. It was freeing.
Riri's hand hesitated slightly as she startled, almost missing a note when the smooth yet sharp tones of a violin rang out, not drowning her out but playing alongside her. Supporting her. Oddly, she found herself not objecting to it.
For the better part of an hour, the two girls played together, never once speaking but taking turns to select a song and play. It turned out that they both had extremely similar tastes in music, and if they didn't know the song could pick it up and play by ear.
Riri hadn't felt so relaxed in weeks. Somehow, this girl had managed to get her to lower her guard without even trying, and Riri found it terrifying.
Soon enough, Mary stood, checking the time on her phone. “Sorry, I promised Yumeko I'd hang out at two.”
She turned to exit, hesitating slightly, “You're a great pianist by the way. I'd love to come by and play again sometime if you didn't mind.”
“I'd like that,” Riri found herself surprised at the sound of her own voice, slightly husky from lack of use.
Mary didn't pause as she left, but the masked girl could tell by her expression that she too was shocked that she'd been spoken to. Thinking back, Riri came to the conclusion Mary may not have heard her speak before.
Her head spun as she tried to organise racing thoughts.
Why the hell was she finally able to speak with Mary of all people?
She was tired today, she reasoned. She'd been so stressed recently, and barely slept. That must've been why she'd let herself slip around Mary.
It wouldn't happen again.
It couldn't.
—
At exactly eight, she arrived outside of Runa's dorm, knocking lightly. There was a commotion inside and a yell that likely came from Chad, before Runa - dressed in a shark onesie today - opened the door, allowing her to slip inside.
Everybody else was already there, sat in a circle on the floor. Kira and Runa had commandeered the two beanbags that the latter owned, and the older Timurov had kicked off her Louboutin heels, tucking her legs beside her. Dori was playing with a pocket knife, throwing it in the air and catching it, whilst Chad complained about his lack of bean bag. Suki was glued to his phone screen. Riri opted to sit to the left of Kira, slightly off to the side so that she wasn't actually in the circle.
Runa pulled the lollipop that she was sucking on out of her mouth with a pop, and spoke with excitement.
“Tonight,” she announced, “We play a dangerous game. It had ended friendships, broken undying trust and probably been the reason for at least one homicide.”
She walked over to her wardrobe, pulling out a box.
“Monopoly.”
She ignored the collective groan that the group released and set up the games board, sitting back down in her place.
The arguing started before they even began the game. Both Runa and Dori had decided that they wanted to be the Scottish Terrier, which resulted in Dori pulling out one of her many knives, almost skewering the other girl. In the end, Kira, fed up of the bickering, had assigned tokens to everybody. Chad was the race car, Suki was the top hat, Runa was the penguin, Dori was the terrier, Kira was the cat and Riri had been given the battleship, although she didn't particularly want to play.
From the second the game began, it was carnage.
“Chad! I can see you stealing the money. Who even made him banker?” Runa had shouted upon seeing the boy slide multiple notes up his sleeve.
“I swear to god, if anybody takes any of the blue spaces, they will pay.” Kira threatened.
Dori had even pulled out yet another knife, and embedded it in the board, despite already having five confiscated.
“Runa! Get your paws off the zoo card. Just because you cosplay animals every day doesn't entitle you to it!” Suki yelled when Runa had attempted to purchase it.
Guilt sat heavy in Riri's stomach as she mutely watched everybody from her seat in the corner. She'd given up on playing already - she'd gone bankrupt within the first round anyway, since she wasn't really trying. The people around her were having so much fun, and she didn't deserve to be there.
Murderers didn't get games nights.
They didn't have friends.
They certainly weren't supposed to be participating in monopoly whilst she was the reason multiple people would never be able to play board games again. She shook off the thought trying not to get too lost in her head. She didn't want to ruin tonight for everyone else with her low mood.
The game came to an end when Dori stood up and flipped the board, proclaiming, “This game is so rigged! Where did all my money go! Chad you're cheating!”
She picked up the board, smacking it against his skull with a hollow thud.
“Dude! We were playing that.” Protested Chad.
The game was soon abandoned and replaced with truth or dare.
Suki went first, asking Runa who chose dare.
“Who's inside of the beaver costume? I wanna know who's chasing round students with a bat.”
“Honestly, I have no clue.” Responded Runa, eye twinkling in a way that made you unsure of how truthful she was actually being.
She turned to Dori, who chose a dare, then looked at her expectantly.
“I dare you to bring the pile of love letters I know you wrote to Michael and burn your favourite one.”
“What? Fine. I'll do it.” Dori rolled her eyes and ran out the room.
Five minutes later, she returned to the room with a large stack of papers and a lighter.
“This is the best one I've written-” she pulled a piece of paper out of the stack, “I wrote a fantastic bit of poetry about how much I'd love to lick him.”
A groan of disgust erupted from Suki, as Chad made a noise of protest.
“Oh my god, just burn it already!” Kira muttered.
The second the lighter touched the paper, setting it alight, Riri froze, breath hitching.
There'd been a time where she'd loved fire - its captivating nature fascinating her as she watched the flames dance.
Now it just reminded her of what she'd done.
Placing the bomb.
Pressing the detonator.
The burning bodies.
The way she'd stayed and watched it all happen
She was twisted. Evil had rooted itself deep inside of her. She'd never be truly free from it. Her father had only asked for one person to be taken care of, yet she'd stolen the lives of three.
She tried to remind herself that it was just collateral damage, but it made her feel worse. They weren't objects that had just gotten in the way. They were people - with lives, families and feelings. Blake had had her whole future ahead of her.
How long until she killed again?
How long until she hurt somebody she cared about?
“-ri! Riri!” Kira came into focus, knelt down in front of her.
“There you are,” Kira noted the way her sister's eyes met hers, “It's okay, you're fine. Breathe.”
Riri hadn't even noticed that she wasn't. Her mask was suffocating as she tried to inhale, but she refused to remove it. She'd be too exposed. Vulnerable.
Her hands were clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms. Tears pricked at her eyes. Everybody was staring at her with a look of concern.
Riri, the unfeeling machine, had somehow lost it in front of the council.
The worst bit was that they actually cared.
She didn't deserve sympathy from anybody. She certainly didn't deserve comfort.
She stood up shakily and pushed past her sister, leaving the room. She ignored it when somebody shouted her name. She didn't look back.
She found herself in the school gardens, letting the cool air spill over her whilst she paced. Something about the atmosphere of the night was calming as she tried to organise her thoughts.
She'd given in to her panic in front of other people.
She wasn't strong enough.
But she'd be better.
It wouldn't happen again.
She walked for an hour before she returned to her dorm, planning how she would do damage control and how she'd repair her reputation. If word got back to her father about her moments, he'd punish her - or her sister - for weakness.
She was the formidable Riri Timurov. And she would make sure that everybody saw her as such.
She didn't bother changing into her pyjamas or getting into bed, knowing she'd be plagued by nightmares. She'd just have to apply a good concealer in the morning to disguise the growing eyebags that were darkening by the day.
Instead, she sat at her desk and read. Surprisingly, it was one of few pastimes that her father actually agreed with. He said that by reading books - both from the past and present - she could gain knowledge on the different views of people. Of course, knowledge was power.
He, however, did not approve of rather a few books. He preferred that she read non-fiction - various biographies and things along those lines. Riri tended to enjoy fantasies, heists or even sapphic romances that she could become lost in. She didn't often read the latter - or when she didn't she'd find them in a library and read them within a day, then leave without a trace. Her father certainly wouldn't approve of them.
Tonight she'd settled on a classic - Dracula. She enjoyed the idea of vampires. The way such powerful beings could be brought to their knees with something as simple as sunlight was amusing.
Throughout the night, she made her way through multiple books, ignoring the way that her eyelids drooped and sleep begged to be allowed to arrive. When light finally began to peep through the blinds, she stood up, allowing circulation to return to her legs.
Riri showered before reapplying her makeup, ensuring it was flawless. As she looked in the mirror, she ensured that there were no cracks in her carefully crafted walls.
Nobody would see through her.
She was perfect.