I wake to someone slapping my face. "Deitich! Deitich! Wake up!" hisses a vaguely familiar, male voice. I groan, and then wish I hadn't. Even groaning hurts. My head is pounding and I feel slightly sick.

"Deitich! Please wake up." I open my eyes and find a pair of violet ones staring back at me.

"Ah!" I say, jumping back. Well, I'm lying on the floor, but you get me. The man leaning over me pulls away and I realise that it's none other than Russia. My heart starts pounding.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

"I... Where are we? Why are you here? Wait, who..."

He cuts me off. "I apologise, I hit you over head. I didn't know who you were, and, well, you are in my territory."

"Wait, what?" I sit up suddenly, but the pain in my head rebounds so fiercely that I have to lie down again. He puts a hand on my arm.

"Shh... It's ok," he says soothingly.

"You hit me over the head with a metal bar?"

"Lead pipe, actually." He pulls a lead pipe out of nowhere and shows me.

"W-was?!?" I splutter. "Do you usually try to kill everyone who comes here?"

"Well, yes. Everyone who isn't invited, anyway." He looks at me, confused. "Wouldn't you do same?"

"Nein!" I stare at him, shaking my head. Ludwig was right, I think to myself. He is a psycho.

"So, are you ready to get up now?" he asks, and I realise I'm still lying on the floor. Which isn't my fault, it's his, but still.

"Oh, um, ja..." I struggle up, but he holds out a hand. I take it gratefully and he pulls me up. Damn, that guy is strong.

I dust myself off and gingerly feel the back of my head. It still hurts, a hell of a lot, actually, but the pain isn't as bad as when I first woke up.

"Are you ok? You look pained." I grit my teeth. Why is this guy still grinning at me? He just knocked me out with a lead pipe and, what, he expects me to smile back?

"I'm fine," I growl. He beams at me, looking amused.

"Well, dat's obviously a lie."

"Well done. Would you like a medal?" I mutter, properly annoyed with him now.

"No dank you. Anyway, what are you doing out here at this time?"

I sigh. "Trying to get home." Russia looks at me, puzzled.

"So why are you here? You don't live here."

I groan, exasperated. "I know. It's dark and I got lost. Plus, it's raining." I look around and shake my head. "God knows how I'm going to get home now."

"You don't have to go anywhere. You can come my house and stay dere for de night." He checks his watch. "Or, what's left of it."

I swallow. "I..." I genuinely have no idea what to say. If I say no, then I won't be his guest and, in his sick, messed up mind, he'll have every right to beat me to death with a lead pipe, which I really do not want. But in the other hand, if I say yes, then I'll have to spend the night at Russia's creepy-as-hell house. I consider it, and make my decision. I have no idea whether it's the right decision or what, but I don't really have a choice.

"Ja. Thank you very much." I bite my lip and try to swallow back the impending feeling of dread that's building up inside. He terrifies me, I won't deny it, and being alone in a house with him at night is a repulsive idea, but it's better than freezing to death out here.

"Great!" Russia leaps to his feet and nods to me. "Follow me!" So I have no choice but to follow this crazy man to wherever the hell he lives.

Look where walking out on your brothers got you, a nasty little voice in my head hisses. Now you're following Russia of all people to his house where he will probably be even more terrifying. You're such a pathetic baby. I tell this voice in my head to shut up, although it doesn't make any difference. I follow Russia through the darkness.

"So how come you're out?" I ask, struggling to keep up with him. He walks fast.

"I sleep whenever I need to, not at set times." He shrugs. "I have eleven time zones."

"Right.... And how far away is your place, Russia?"

"Please, call me Ivan. Ivan Braginski." I'm not entirely sure why he's saying that, but I don't really care right now.

I nod. "In that case, I'm Sophy. Sophy Beilschmidt." Again, I have no idea why I'm saying this, I barely know the man.

He nods. "Anyway, my place isn't too far. About ten minutes from here." Right. Ten minutes is ten minutes too long when you're alone in the dark with only Ivan Braginski for company. Germany and Prussia were right; I am too trusting. How the hell else would I have gotten myself into this situation?

I follow Russia through the dark. I can barely see anything, and it's difficult to make him out in the black. Somehow, I manage not to lose him (whether this is a good or bad thing I can't say) and we walk in silence. I'm still stewing over what my brothers said to me, although it's now more regret than anything else, and God only knows what he's thinking. Probably the best way to kill you, a small voice in my head hisses, but I ignore it. If he'd wanted to kill me, he would've done it ages ago.

That said, I don't think Russia's mind operates quite like mine, so he could be plotting my death right now for all I know. Well, I hope not, but.... You never know.

"We're nearly dere," says Russia, turning around to face me and smiling. In the distance, I can see a large house, which I'm guessing is his. I can't really see much in the dark, but I can see the basic outline of it. And, well, it's huge. He can't live there all by himself, surely? Then I remember. Before the Soviet Union broke up, all the countries in the Union probably lived there. But now..... It's just him. I feel slightly guilty, for some reason, and also, well, quite sorry for him, really.

Russia pushes open the doors and we go inside. The place is oddly eerie, probably because it's dark, and also because it has the air of a grand house that has been neglected recently. Although it's clean and richly decorated, the whole thing seems slightly out-of-date and, in a way, shabby. It's a lot bigger than my house, I should add, but mine is better kept.

"Do you live here on your own, then?" I ask. Russia shakes his head.

"No, de Baltics live here too. Belarus comes and goes... She's not here now, I know dat. And the rest are probably asleep."

"Belarus?"

"My little sister."

"Oh. Ok..." I've heard Ukraine mention Belarus a few times, and from what I can gather, she seems a bit.... Odd. That said, she's Russia's sister, so what can of expect? Although, Ukraine is fairly normal. Fairly. But then my brother is Prussia, and he's definitely not normal.

"Dere is plenty of room, find bedroom dat nobody's in and you can sleep dere." He pauses. "You hungry?"

I shake my head. As a matter of fact, I am quite hungry, but I don't dare to ask anything else of him. Anyway, I still don't trust him. "I'm fine. Thank you," I nearly forget to add, but I remember my manners just in time. Fortunately, I've had it drilled into me by England that I should be polite all the time, although I doubt he was thinking I would get into this situation when he taught me that. Oh well.

So I nod to Russia and set of in pursuit of somewhere to sleep. I walk down corridors in this huge house, and stumble across one that is lined with rooms. At the end of it is a door leading to Russia's room, so I decide to avoid that one too. Eventually I come across a few rooms, noises coming from a few of them. Probably the Baltics. So I take one next to those. I don't know why, but I've noticed that all of the rooms the Baltics sleep in are as far away from Russia as possible.

This house is creepy, and I don't like it. But what can I do about it?