Nikita Ivanov

I ran as fast as I could through the snowy streets. I slid across the snow and took a sharp left to hide around a corner shivering and exhausted. It's always cold in Russia, you'd think I'd be used to it by now but I just can't stand the cold. I peeked around the corner to see if they were still following me.

“Where did he go? Hey, have you seen a boy with brown hair run by here?” a man said through the glass of one of the shops with two men behind him. I couldn't hear what the man in the shop said but then the three men's heads instantly turned in my direction. I turned around hoping they didn't see me and noticed that it was a dead end but there was a stone wall I could try to climb over.

“Well, well, well, got nowhere to run now kid. You think you can just take some jewelry from my shop and get away.” I backed up looking back at the brick wall. I turned around quickly and started climbing but before I could get over one of the guys grabbed my leg and pulled me down. I immediately punched him in the face before he could grab me knocking him to the ground in pain. Then the second guy threw a punch that I barely dodged and punched him in the gut but before I could do anything else the third guy punched me in the back of the head knocking me to the ground. I felt ringing and was hard to hear. I heard muffled yelling then they all started to kick me causing pain everywhere then he searched my clothes to take back the piece of jewelry I stole then decided to kick me again in the head causing my head to spin and cough up some blood then decided to walk away. I lay there in pain staring at the sky and watching the snow fall. After a while, I saw something flutter down with the snow and eventually landed on my face. I moved my bruised arm to take a look at it.

“Heaven?” I regretted reading out saying and coughed. I turned it over and it said “For those who have lost their path, we offer a place to stay and food to eat. You will be taught and put through many tests. if you succeed among others you will receive a great reward. At the bottom, it had a location that was not too far from here. I flicked it away weakly. Anyone who would fall for that crap would have to be stupid. I slowly got up grunting in pain. My stomach growled and twisted. I looked over at the card I flicked away and sighed.

After walking for around an hour in the snow I saw a giant building in the distance. The winds grew stronger and I couldn't feel a single limb in my body. I was so cold I felt hot. I tripped and fell in the snow. I never knew laying in the snow could be so comfortable. I guess I can take a break maybe the blizzard will be gone when I wake up. Before I was about to close my eyes I heard a familiar voice.

“Nakita…Nakita, get up.” The figure walked up to me in a white dress with long straight brown hair. “The Ivnovs do not give up.”

“Mom?” I started to get up but collapsed again. I tried again but failed once more. After a few more failed attempts I finally got up, then looked around to see where she went.

“That's my boy, strong as a dragon, just like your father.” She smiled and walked in the direction of the building I was headed and slowly faded off.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Mom, wait!” I said pushing forward through the snow to try and follow her. No matter how fast I tried to go I couldn't see her anymore and I eventually ended up making it to the massive building and knocked on the door desperately trying to get out of the cold. Nobody answered I sat as close as possible next to the door trying to stay warm when suddenly the door opened making me fall on my side. The person gasped and pulled me inside then as soon as I relaxed I blacked out.

I slowly woke up to the sound of beeping and murmuring of someone talking nearby. I got up and pulled some of the wires that had been attached to me, and looked around the small room that looked like a hospital room.

“Woah woah take it easy”

I felt a little dizzy after getting up too fast but noticed he was speaking English. Thank god for those English lessons I thought were useless that my mom used to drill into my head.

“Where am I.”

“My name is Dr.Volkov. You're in Heaven now, a place that we have created to help the many people who are homeless with a place to live and eat,” he said with a smile on his face.

“What's the catch” I said sitting on the bed feeling the pain all around my body

“All that we ask is for you to simply participate in tests and study what is the cause for a person to develop special abilities.”

“Fine,” I said after sighing as I didn't have anywhere else to go, and if all I had to do was participate in some tests for free meals and a place to sleep it would be stupid to decline.

“Good, put these clothes on and knock on the door when you're ready,” he said setting them on my lap. They were white clothes the black numbers that said 277 on the top right. I put on the clothes carefully trying to not touch the bruises I had all over my body then knocked on the door.

“Alright follow me,” he said once he opened the door. We walked down a long hallway and made many turns and each hallway had a vast amount of rooms. some people would walk by wearing the same clothing as me all having different numbers, 136, 119 … 374, and everyone had a different number.

“Hey, how many people are participating like me here.”

“Hmm it's supposed to be 600 but I believe the exact number is 407 and the rest might not make it on time,” he said as he walked looking at each room number. “For now you can stay in this room until rooms are announced”. He said while knocking. After a few seconds, a boy with blond hair opened the door.

“Hey, number … 252 for now this young fellow will be staying here until the rooms are decided later today.”

“Okay,” the blond-haired boy said while looking me up and down.

“Great hope you guys get along,” he said as I walked in and closed the door behind me. There was an awkward silence as I looked around the room that just had a bunk bed with a sink.

“So um what's your name, my name is Arthur, Arthur Lewis,” he said holding his hand out to shake. I looked at his hand and then back at him hesitantly before shaking it.

“My name is Nakita… Are you from the UK”. I said confused hearing his accent. Now that I think about it not everyone that I've seen was RussianRussian and everyone spoke mostly English.

“Yeah I'm very fortunate, we got a free flight over here thanks to the man in the mask,” he said smiling.

Interesting so I guess people from around the world are here.

“Test, test, test, all numbers are required to head to the gallery at this time. rooms and roommates will be assigned there.” a woman's voice came from the speaker on the ceiling.

Arthur and I exited the room and managed to find the gallery thanks to the signs around the long hallways. The gallery was just a giant decorated room that had a stage up front but there where already hundreds of people standing around waiting. I noticed Arthur looking around frantically looking for someone in the crowd.

“Welcome, everyone thank you all for joining us” a distorted voice that was coming from the direction of the stage. Everyone went silent and looked in the direction of the voice. It was a man dressed in all black and wore a black mask that covered his face.

“My name is Shane August welcome to Heaven.”