Eight-Legged Freaks --{Inna}--

Sometimes, in the quiet moments of the night when Ivan was free to not think about work all mental hell broke loose.  He liked keeping busy, because that kept his thoughts focused on one thing.  He didn’t exactly hate Irina, but thinking about her was more pain than he normally cared to feel – at all – ever.  He hadn’t seen her in over two years.  He often wondered where she was and what she was doing.  But most of all, he wondered who she was with.  It was that age-old stereotypical fear that most men Ivan knew possessed.  The fear that somewhere, out there, the girl of your dreams was having better sex with someone other than you.  So much so that she wouldn’t cast a second thought to him ever again.  It was an uncomfortable thought, to be sure. 

Ivan frowned and refocused his attention back to the text he was reading.  It was interesting, a fictional horror involving necromancy – one of his favorite genres.  It was getting to a very spooky moment when something even spookier occurred.  He recognized his youngest sister’s scream of terror as it pierced the silence and echoed through the empty house. 

Without a second thought, Ivan threw himself to his feet and Apparated on the spot, reappearing moments later on the landing outside his sister’s bedroom.  He dashed to the door and threw it open, barging in with the authority of a man who had his kin to defend.  He whipped his wand out from his pocket and brandished it at the room at large.  He didn’t immediately see any threat, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t danger lurking.  “What’s the matter!” he shouted, spying Inna in the room.  She looked positively beside herself with fear. 

Inna was thirsty. While it could of been customary to wake up a servant to get her a glass of water she was too tired to realize she didn't have to do it herself as she was no longer at school and was at home. Habits became habits though. She went to bed, kind of, as it was dark and night, but now the girl wanted nothing else but some water. Inna lit her bedside lamp to assist her feet in finding her dearest slippers that kept her toes warm.

Big spider on the floor. Inna blinked at it for a moment before tensing as it walked quickly, all in its awkwardness, along the floor. This wasn't fun. The thirteen year old inhaled before holding her breath watching it slowly creep toward her feet. No no no. Ew ew ew. Those nasty eight legged things were more terrifying than a rabid and crazy muggle. That said quite a bit to her really. That she'd rather be in a room full of non-magical crazy people than be face to face with this monstrosity.

IT HAD A FRIEND! That fiend had a friend! She was going to die!

Inna decided her first course of action was to remove herself from the floor, taking to standing on her very own bed watching the spiders, not out of interest, but out of the fear that they might multiply again or maybe they'd grow ten times larger or eat her alive. She hated her chamber being this dirty. She was definitely going to have to bother the servant who cleaned her room last. They did a poor job. A VERY poor job. They were in the way of exiting the room so she found herself trapped.

The young Ilyin threw her pillow out of bravery hoping to Merlin she smashed them. It was quiet for a little while. Inna remained on her bed staring down at her pillow feeling like the most pathetic person in the house at the moment. She couldn't really protect herself from them. Not only did they not teach de-spidering at Durmstrang, she was also underage and on top of that Inna was a little lady. Others came to her rescue. Really Inna shouldn't even be doing these stunts in the first place. She could fall and hurt herself. Should she check it out though? Should she see if she actually killed them? She wanted her pillow back, and now maybe it was a mistake to use it as a weapon of destruction and slaughter. What a wicked thought. It was well deserved however.

She bounced herself off her bed in a light manner, taking small little slow steps toward the scene of the crime. With what courage the girl had she lifted the pillow off the ground looking for the dead spiders. They weren't on the floor. The Drakonya Krov found herself confused for a moment before she felt something on her hand. A spider! Inna jumped back with a jolt of wide eyed fear and without hesitation she let out a scream that had no doubt echoed through Zimapokrova and woke up the dead. Ivan's appearance through her door had its sense of relief. Her brother always tended to take care of this kind of situation for Inna. It was probably the best gesture she could ever ask for. She adored him for it.

The girl was white in the face, purely on the verge of erupting into tears. Because who wouldn't after being attacked by a ferocious beast like that? "Spiders," she inhaled, "pillow," another inhale, "two," she pointed to her pillow on the floor, although she was certain she didn't know where they were now. They could be long gone, hiding, or secretly planning another attack against her. Was it improper to shout 'kill them' this late at night? It was a reasonable request. She was sure everyone was awake now - someone would be rushing up to see what happened within time besides just Ivan. Inna wasn't one to be whimsical nor random when it came to making noises. She didn't want to let out another wail. She already made her damsel in distress point quite clear even if she hated being one. Inna crawled helplessly up onto her bed believing it was the safest place for her once again. She quickly grabbed one of the decorative pillows to hug to try and keep herself more stable before looking up at her big brother hoping he'd fix the problem before further chaos occurred.

Spider.  Two spiders.  This is what she screamed in terror for?  Heaven forbid an actual rapist or dirty-scum werewolf broke in and he thought she was crying wolf and didn’t come to her rescue.  He would have to have a serious discussion with her about this.  Ransom was a real thing, and as an Ilyin, she should be more careful about these things.  It honestly wasn't the first time he'd worried about such a thing as this.  Not only were his sisters pureblooded, they were beautiful, and both slightly less practical.  They weren't stupid, but in a situation such as a kidnapping, Ivan felt fully that Ira would lose her head.  It worried him more than it should.  Ivan liked to be prepared however, and he wasn't stupid.  The Ilyin's weren't indestructible as some might think.  Thinking of the worst-case scenarios was a good reminder of that. 

Deciding it would be far more fun to tease her for now, Ivan bit back his urge to smirk.  Instead, he kept his face deadly serious.  “Two spiders?”  He folded his arms.  “You know I have a one-spider limit.  Any more than that and it seriously threatens my safety.  Unless you want to pay me an additional job hazard fee…”  He looked at her gravely.  “In this case, I might recommend it.  They could be anywhere, now…” 

Inna's eyes widened once more, nodding to the fact that Ivan recognized the two spiders. Her head stopped moving however at the knowledge that he proclaimed to only have one spider limit and a fee was in order. She sat still, squeezing the pillow. Threaten his safety, Inna could scoff, he didn't have a fear of them, he was much more taller and bigger than the spiders. Even if they were a little bigger than the average house spider. He was the only person she could really go to for this kind of thing.

"They could multiply," she whispered loudly, frowning at her brother in a small protest. It was true. The girl wasn't sure if there was a boy spider and a girl spider, but regardless - they always multiplied. They could turn into a swarm, or an army... take over their home... they'd have to move! That would not be good! They'd have to live somewhere else, less exciting and grand. She didn't want that. She loved her home. There was a servant she knew that was also afraid of spiders too - she might die if it became an infestation. "That wouldn't be good," she looked down at the floor, completing her own thought out loud.

"I'll pay it," she nodded, speaking quickly, "whatever the cost." For the welfare of Zimapokrova and everyone in it she will pay the fee. She was eager for them to be gone so she could sleep soundly. "Please Ivan," she mumbled softly, because this was a matter of everything to the young Ilyin.