((Ilya Volkov continued from The Unlucky Clover Field )) Ilya remembered when Lana had first told him about her fascination with bats. He had caught a glimpse of her looking at one on the computer, an odd combination of bat and human. It was a more common phenomenon than he thought at first, with an...

(( Ilya Volkov begins )) As befitting the kind of high-schooler who read heady high art and philosophical texts in his spare time, Ilya spent his time immediately after waking up on the island considering what this next, likely last, phase of his life had left him with. He immediately noticed that t...

So that was that. Ilya shook hands and cemented his partnership with Batgirl and friend. It wasn't much, but it was something. Would it prove to be a last bastion of decency and hope among the world of savagery and murder, or would it just be a more gentle transition into their inevitable breakup an...

Ilya clasped Lana's hand in his and shook it. Both of them had a firm grip and a strong shake, Ilya thought. Their partnership would be a good one, with each of them at the top of their physical game. Lana had some sort of firearm with her, which would be their biggest help of all, and Ilya's presen...

Ilya saw Stephanie rip something from her hand as she looked up at him like a deer in the woods alerting herself to a potential predator. The sight made him wince. He'd really have to stop doing that. After all, a little bit of blood coming from a hand wouldn't be the worst thing he'd see out there....

((Ilya Volkov continued from Fight the Break of Dawn )) Where did he go from here? Set aside questions of life, death, loyalties, treachery, terror and despair and this turned out to be Ilya's most immediate concern. In life, Ilya blocked out his schedule by the hour, filling it out with even privat...

Now that the danger had passed, the shock, the horror of seeing another life snuffed out like a candle wick, what could Ilya say? Nothing at all. He felt no grief for a girl he barely knew, who hardly even seemed like she was worth knowing at all. No, his grief targeted Lana, his friendly Batgirl, f...

Bury her. What a nice thought. But it didn't matter how nice it was because it wouldn't happen. Shedding their collars and flying away would have been the nicer thought. Ilya waited for his tears to spill, but they were indecisive as to whether or not they actually wanted to amass and jump. They had...

There it was again, the panic. The cool facade cracked, and Ilya's stomach lurched. He took a step over to Venice and nearly collapsed thanks to a new-found vertigo. What could he do? What could he do? He needed to call in a doctor stoppage! The match couldn't continue with a competitor bleeding tha...

Ilya was only somewhat surprised to see Lana brushing him off, ignoring him in her grief. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel losing a friend in this wretched game. Perhaps he'd shut down just like Lana did now, or maybe he'd have a full-on anxiety attack just like he nearly did when he woke up on the...

((Ilya Volkov continued from Bats, Birds, and General Flying Things )) The question of what life would be like on an island where the only way to survive was to murder your fellow man, dancing at the whims of a sadistic group of puppetmasters, hadn't really crossed Ilya's mind. Why would it? Like ev...

Rose dug her chemistry textbook out of her backpack and opened it on the table. As she flipped through it to get back to her bookmark, she felt a deep sense of shame. Why did she think that sitting with Cody was a good idea? He remembered what they did to each other just as well as she did. The firs...

((Rose Matheson continued from Debates and Discourse )) If it were up to Rose, free study period would be a perfect naptime. When she was in the right state of mind, the chairs and desks in the library were far more comfortable than she thought from looking at them. But several things conspired agai...

Over time, Arthur had developed a myriad of ultra-specific, trivial skills, whether it be an eye for detecting gratuitous adverb usage in otherwise enjoyable books or keeping a sense of proportion when drawing the human hand. Today's most valuable skill proved to be reflexes far beyond what he norma...

Arthur couldn't help but pay attention to everything going on at the table, and soon he couldn't concentrate on eating or drawing. It only figured that his decision to mingle would end up badly. Whoever this guy hitting on Rachel was, he was bad news. No way would he settle on being turned down. Art...