|
Archived
Heterosexual
Sexuality
Petty Thief
Occupation
|
Marley
Offline
Dec 23, 2021 19:30:28 GMT 2
Tag me @lena
|
|
Post by Lena Melnyk on Feb 28, 2016 7:57:45 GMT 2
Lena shrank back, shaking her head and whimpering. No no no. Not again. No. She would be good. She would she would she would. Before she could assure them of that--and promise that age would never never do it again--there was a commotion. A woman suddenly was in the alley. She stabbed one of Bruno's men, and knocked out the other, kicking him in the back of his head. Lrna's mouth feell open. Who was she? The woman pointed her knife at Bruno, who just laughed. Till he noticed both his men on the ground. Then he scowled, glaring at the woman. "You some kinda Wonder Woman or somethin'? What do you want with her anyway?" He jerked his head at Lena, tugging her closer.
|
|
|
Archived
Heterosexual
Sexuality
Petty Thief
Occupation
|
Marley
Offline
Dec 23, 2021 19:30:28 GMT 2
Tag me @lena
|
|
Post by Lena Melnyk on Feb 8, 2016 6:49:09 GMT 2
TW: abuse, ableist language, use of the r slur ((OOC: I don't know how to tag for that exactly, sorry)), sexual harassment, vague threats of sexual assault
She hadn't meant to. Hadn't meant to be so stupid. Hadn't meant to be so careless. Hadn't meant to get caught. Today had started out nice. She and Mouse Baby and Dolly had gone for a walk, and on the way home--not really home, but a homeless shelter that hadn't kicked her out yet for causing-trouble-with-the-other-res-i-dents--she'd stopped by the pawn shop. It wasn't in a nice part of town, and the owners didn't like her, and she didn't like them. But they bought what she brought them, and sometimes she took from them, too. She wasn't going to. Not today. But then she'd seen the necklace. It was a diamond on a gold chain. Enigma would pay a lot for it.
It was too easy--she should've seen that--to pick the lock on the display case and slip the necklace into her pocket. Too easy to duck into the bathroom and put the necklace in Dolly. Too easy to leave by the front door, with nobody the wiser. She'd gotten away with it, she thought.
Till she heard the footsteps behind her and felt the hand on her arm.
One of the men grabbed her, pinning her arms behind her back. Dolly fell and Lena screeched, squirming, but he just held on tighter, lifting her up and setting her back down, trapping her feet in between his crossed ankles when she tried to kick him.
Clicking his tongue, Bruno, the man who owned the shop, came up to her. "Lena, Lena, Lena. Didn't expect I'd see you back after last time." He bent and picked up Dolly, fishing out his pocket knife. Ignoring her pleading, he slit the doll's back and reached inside, pulling out the necklace. "Well, well, well." Bruno shook his head, holding it up. "Somebody's been a very bad little girl." Chuckling, he took a step toward her. "You remember what happened last time you stole from us, don't you?" The men with him snickered and Lena whimpered, nodding.
How could she forget? They'd dragged her back to the shop and pulled her into a back room, where one of Bruno's thugs had undressed her from the waist down. Bruno had pulled her over his lap. spanking her hard enough to make her cry--and leaving bruises that didn't fade for several days, before making her apologize for-being-a-bad-girl-and-stealing. Then he'd made her stand in the corner and-think-about-what-she'd-done.
All the while, the others stood around watching, laughing and making jokes. One of them had filmed the whole thing with his phone. For insurance, he'd said.
"Hey!" Bruno snapped his fingers in front of her face, startling her out of her thoughts. "I'm talking to you." When she looked at him, he smiled. "That's better. Now. Like I was saying. You've either got real guts, or you're even stupider than I thought you were. So, which is it?" He waved the necklace in front of her. "You take this?"
Lena shook her head. "No. I found it."
"You found it. Right. Nice try." Bruno grabbed her jaw, squeezing her cheeks between his thumb and first finger. "Last time, I told you not to lie to me. You forget about that, retard?"
Turning her head, Lena sank her teeth into his thumb. He screamed and dropped his hand, stumbling away from her. "Don't call me this," she spat.
Growling, Bruno grabbed her by her shirt front, his curled feet an inch away from her mouth. "You want to lose all your teeth, freak?" Abruptly, he dropped his fist and pulled out his knife, resting the blade against the bottom of her shirt. "Change of plans, kiddo. I'm gonna let my buddies here have some fun with you. After I finish beating your sorry butt black and blue for stealing from me, of course." He leaned forward, leering at her. "What do you think of that, huh? Sound like fun? We'll have us a regular play date."
|
|
|
Archived
Heterosexual
Sexuality
Petty Thief
Occupation
|
Marley
Offline
Dec 23, 2021 19:30:28 GMT 2
Tag me @lena
|
|
Post by Lena Melnyk on Feb 7, 2016 21:40:46 GMT 2
Ruby BlackwoodLena hummed to herself as she browsed through the boutique's collection of things. There were scarves and necklaces, hosts and bracelets, purses and rings, shirts and shoes. Many , many, many things. And she couldn't afford any of them. She knew this from squinting at the price tags, lips moving as she worked out what the numbers were. Stupid English. Stupid numbers. Stupid, stupid, stupid. One hand slipped from her pocket and she ran her fingers down a string of beads. In her head, competing voices whispered. One, the shaky, soft voice of Sister Sofiya, said, "Отче наш, що єси на небесах, нехай святиться ім’я твоє, нехай прийде царство твоє, нехай буде воля твоя, як на небі, так і на землі. Хліб наш насущний дай нам сьогодні, і прости нам провини наші, як і ми прощаємо винуватцям нашим; і не введи нас у спокусу, але визволи нас від лукавого”. The other, her father's voice, also quiet but sharp, hissed, "Don't touch that," and she jerked her hand back, flinching from the phantom pain of his ruler across her knuckles. Biting her lip, she stuffed her hand back in her pocket, shoulders hunching as, inside her head, she could hear him say, "Good girl." She could almost feel him patting her head, as he'd done when she'd done well. But he wasn't there. Lena made herself look around the shop. He wasn't there, he wasn't there, he wasn't there. He was back home, in New York, and she was here, safe and sound in Chicsgo. He couldn't hurt her anymore. He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't. She reached out, lifted the necklace down, and slipped it into her pocket. There. That made her shoulders un hunch. In its place, she left another necklace, one she'd made, from broken brown buttons strung together on a purple ribbon. Though she sometimes took and didn't pay, usually, she left something behind, either something she'd found or something she made. To take without paying was a sin, but she had no money, and anyway, the things she left were worth more than what she took. They were homemade. Lena smiled as she turned toward the small bathroom at the back of the shop. Maybe someone in Enigma would like the necklace and want to buy it. If not, she'd keep it. It could replace the one she'd broken last month from gnawing on it too much. Usually, she sold bigger things to Enigma, things they sent her after, because she was small and people thought she was stupid because her English was poor and sometimes she forgot and talked to Mouse Baby when people were around and sometimes she brought Dolly along too. Usually, when she was hunting for something for Enigma, she brought Dolly. Dolly was her baby doll, she'd found her in the garbage not long after she'd come to Chicago. Nobody wanted Dolly, like nobody wanted her, so she took her. Dolly was special. Dolly had a tear in her back where something used to go, only nothing was there now but stuffing--and sometimes jewelry, or flash drives, or any number of small things that could hide in a doll's stuffing and not be seen. Inside the bathroom ,she locked the door and sat down on the toilet. She fished her sewing kit from her other pocket and opened it. All it took was a quick snip from the scissors to remove the stitches, then she took the necklace from its package and stuffed it inside Dolly. The package had a small white knob on it which would go off if she left with it, but luckily it wasn't attached to the necklace. Thst would've meant using the pocket knife that was also in the kit. Once the package and the white thing were in the trash, she stitched Dolly back up and put her kit away. Pulling Dolly's dress back doen, Lena gave her a kiss, put her sewing kit away, flushed the toilet-in case anybody was watching--and left the bathroom. She made for the door, reaching for the handle, when someone caught her arm. Lena yelped, looking up to see a woman standing beside her. "Alright, hand it over." Lena blinked, tugging on her arm. "Let go!"The woman shook her head. "Not till you hand it over." "Hand what over? Let go!" The woman couldn't have seen her take the necklace, could she? And there wasn't anyone in the bathroom with her, she'd checked. "Don't play dumb. I saw you take thst necklace. You want me to call the cops, let them search you? Put it back, and we'll forget about it." Lena shook her head, blinking away sudden tears. This wasn't happening. She couldn't get picked up again. Not so soon after last time. They'd never believe she'd accidentally left with yet another something from a high-end-store, especially if they found it in Dolly. "I didn't!" She stamped her foot. "Let go of me!"The women sighed. "Fine. Have it your way." Fingers tightening on Lena's arm, the store manager started to tow her to a door marked Employees Only.
|
|
|
Archived
Heterosexual
Sexuality
Petty Thief
Occupation
|
Marley
Offline
Dec 23, 2021 19:30:28 GMT 2
Tag me @lena
|
|
Post by Lena Melnyk on Feb 7, 2016 3:08:50 GMT 2
About Lena is an odd young woman. She roams town, looking for things to steal, which she then sells to Enigma, though she'd sell to anybody else with money. Shy and easily startled, she's slow to warm up to people, but once she does, she can be friendly, if stilted. She keeps to herself for the most part, though people have seen her talking to herself, though she'd say it was a small white mouse. She likes to bake, especially sweets, and she loves children and animals. Besides her "job", Lena also attends Mass regularly, and goes for semi-regular appointments with a psychiatrist. Frirnds She really doesn't have any At the moment, besides possibly some folks from Enigma or her fellow Plebes. She's probably been seen around town, too, but that's it. Despite her peculiarities, she's a sweet girl, and could do with another buddy or two to coax her out of her shell. Enemies Lena can certainly be off-putting, and she can be violent if provoked. Just ask the guy she bit on the bus. Anybody who tends to be a bully or rude would likely end up here. Lovers Thanks to her unconventional upbringing, Lena hasn't had a lot of experience in that regard. She does tend to become infatuated with people, and has been known to stalk her crushes from afar. Any unwanted attention, or unwanted contact, she'll rebuff, violently, so tread carefully. Others Any and all other ideas are equally welcome. Let's plot! |
|
|
Archived
Heterosexual
Sexuality
Petty Thief
Occupation
|
Marley
Offline
Dec 23, 2021 19:30:28 GMT 2
Tag me @lena
|
|
Post by Lena Melnyk on Feb 7, 2016 0:31:50 GMT 2
x Lena Petrivna Melnyk [break]NAME. Lena Petrivna Melnyk[break]NICKNAME Lesya[break]AGE. 19 [break]BIRTHDAY. April 5, 1997 [break]MEMBER GROUP. Plebea[break]RANK. Petty thief [break]GENDER. Female [break]SEXUAL ORIENTATION Hetero[break]ACCENT & NATIONALITY. Ukrainian, Ukrainian[break]LOYALTY.Enigma and the other Plebes[break][break]OCCUPATION Petty thief for hire [break]ADDICTIONS & SICKNESS. Self-harm, hoarding, developmental delays[break][break]FACECLAIM Olivia Cooke [break]HEIGHT 5'3[break]EYE & HAIR COLOR Brown/brown[break]IDENTIFYING FEATURES her back is scarred, some are self-inflicted.[break]APPEARANCE. Lena is small and plain, her eyes are brown, her hair, thick and brown and straight as a stick, and her skin often has a sickly, sallow tint to it. She is short and dresses simply, in ragged, tattered clothes and sturdy boots. Her hair is usually hanging loose, often in her face, and frequently has mud, pebbles, and the odd flower or two, trapped inside it.[break][break]LIKES. Sweets, animals, children, the outdoors, flowers, the color blue[break]DISLIKES. The dark, thunderstorms, small spaces, police, bullies [break]STRENGTHS. Loyal, compassionate, good pickpocket [break]FLAWSAwkward, anxious, timid[break]DREAMS Find a real family, maybe find an honest job [break]FEARSHer family finding her again, being arrested and locked up, thunderstorms, the dark, small spaces [break]PERSONALITY Lena is sheltered, childlike, and very mentally ill. She lacks a great deal of practical knowledge and, while literate, her English skills are poor. She's deeply religious--a strict observer of Eastern Rite Catholicism, thanks to her time spent in a convent ran orphanage. She has a particular fondness for sweets, and will happily eat them for hours on end. Though shrewd and clever, Lena is also plain and simple, with a naturally curious--and quite gullible--streak. She's easily manipulated, and can be talked into almost anything, if it's presented to her in the right way.
Extremely moral, Lena holds everyone--including herself--to the same high standards. There are no shades of gray for her. Everything is either black or white, good or evil, and every person is the same. She has no tolerance for mistakes, either from herself or another person. Approval--primarily from her friends, especially Aldrin--means the world to Lena and she will go to great lengths to obtain it. More than human approval, however, Lena seeks the approval of God, and the salvation of her soul, which she hopes to merit by being as good as she possibly can be.
Timid and bold by turns, Lena resembles a vicious, but well trained, attack dog. Formerly obedient to her family, she remains wary of strangers, and is prone to attacking first and asking questions later. Her training in self-defense hasn't exactly helped this tendency. She can be painfully shy and awkward, but, if pushed enough, she can stand up for herself. Her history makes her particularly susceptible to threats of physical harm, but threats of a religious nature work as well. Lena desperately wants to be "good," which, for her, means doing what she's told, when she's told, how she's told.
Lena does possess a fascination with and fondness for children, and is unwilling to harm them. Their innocence comforts her, and she seems to see them almost like angels. Though usually feeling little remorse for her violent actions, if Lena brings harm to a child, she's wracked with guilt and sorrow. Guilt plays a large part in other areas of Lena's life as well.
When she feels that she's been disobedient, or has failed in some way, she cuts herself with a sharp silver razor blade, on her back and shoulders. She sees this as a form of penance, and a well deserved punishment for not living up to expectations. The blade is always with her, so that she can use it whenever the need arises. The pain she feels provides a kind of release, helping to assuage her feelings of worthlessness that come from her failures.
Receiving a rudimentary education at the convent, she can read and write well enough in Ukrainian, but her grasp of English is poor, and while she can speak enough to get by, she has difficulty reading and writing in the second language. She's also not terribly proficient at practical self-care--her penchant for eating candy at every chance she gets, in lieu of actual food, serves as but one example[break][break]FATHER. Birth father, unknown, Thomas Melnyk, 58, psychiatrist[break]MOTHER. Mariya Boiko, birth mother, 50, Agnes Melnyk, foster mother, 53 [break]SIBLINGS. Unknown birth siblings, n/a foster siblings[break]OTHER PEOPLE/PETS. mouse Baby, imaginary friend[break]HOMETOWNvKiev, Ukraine[break]HISTORY. She was four minutes old when she started breathing. The eerily still baby was born at midnight, on April the 5, 1997. She came out into the world with her chord wrapped around her neck, as though her mother's body was trying--too late--to undo the damage her conception had caused. The midwife, muttering prayers, snipped the cord, and after several desperate attempts to coax air into the baby's lungs, finally succeeded in coaxing out a pitiful cry from the small girl.
She was two hours old when the midwife took her, wrapped in a blanket, and made for the orphanage. Her mother. Mariya Boiko, was a poor woman and she had found love with a man who wasn't her husband. Now, she had to get rid of the evidence, so she sent the child away..
She was five the first time the sisters who ran the orphanage locked her in the closet. There have been other punishments--she'd been dunked in ice water for having toileting accidents, she'd had her mouth washed out with soap for talking back, and she'd been spanked--too many times to count--with Sister Polina's leather strap for many different things, but mainly for taking things that didn't belong to her, and for biting, and for scratching--and this wasn't the first time they've shut her away from the other children. But it was the longest, up till now, and when they let her out, five months later, she was<I>different</I>. Before, she was loud, always running, always screaming. Now, she was quieter. She rocked instead of rages, hummed instead of screamed, sucked her fingers instead of scratching. They thought they'd tamed her at last.
They hadn't.
She was quieter because she was smarter. She was smarter because of the friend she made in the dark. A friend no one else could see. A friend she called Mouse Baby. At first, Mouse Baby was just a pile of bones and some fur. Then, she she started talking, and walking. Mouse Baby kept her company in the dark, and stayed with her afterword, giving her advice. Mouse Baby was her best friend.
She was seven when the sisters claimed she was possessed for the first time. She'd heard the sisters say something similar before. The sisters said it when they beat the children till they were more bruises than skin--<I>I'll-beat-the-devils-from-you-if-I-must</I>. She'd even heard them said it to her, right before she got the strap--she'd stopped asking what she'd done; the answers, when they came, didn't make sense: she-had-a-proud-look, she-didn't-do-her-chores-well-enough, she-was-sloppy. She-was-impertinent. She-was-alive. Mouse Baby told her the last one, and she was always right.
This time, it was different. This time, they didn't beat her. They took her to the cellar and left her there.
She was eight when they let her out, hoping--praying--that the demon--the one they saw her talking with, the one they locked her up to banish, has left her.
It hadn't.
She was nine when she killed another creature. It was a kitten, and she'd found it, roaming the outskirts of the small town they went to to buy supplies. She'd smuggled it home, hidden it in her room.
Sister Polina had a rule. No pets. But Lena had brought home creatures before--rabbits and birds, mice and squirrels--and always, they'd been kept hidden till they were better be she could let them go. Surely, the kitten would be the same. Perhaps she could even show Sister Polina how good she was at taking care of a pet, and she would let her keep it.
Several hours later, it escaped, running through the orphanage before she could catch it.
The sister caught it, and took both kitten and girl outside. The nun took them to a pond at the back of the orphanage--and talked to her of sin and its consequences--then, holding her hands over the girl's, she helped her drown the kitten.
That was the last time she brought an animal home.
She was nine and a half when she snapped, sending Sister Polina to the floor, and poking out her eyes with a stolen knife. This time, when the sisters locked her up, they weren't going to let her out.
She was ten when a couple from the U.S brought her home. Mr. Melnyk had heard about her through friends living near the convent. He was a well-known, and wealthy, psychologist famous for working with troubled children. He said Lena had an attachment disorder. He said they would help her. Suddenly,there were new rules. She wasn't to go to school. She wasn't allowed anything in her room but a mattress and pillow on the floor, covered with a sheet. She wasn't allowed clothes beyond two outfits--one outfit that was meant to last the week, with another for Sunday mass. She was to earn anything extra by being good--obedient, dutiful and pleasant, at all times.
She was to ask for food, for water, and to go to the restroom. She was to do chores and homework promptly, and neatly. Requests weren't to be repeated--she was expected to do as she was told the first time. She wasn't to rock, or suck her fingers, and she wasn't to take things thst didn't belong to her.
When she was bad--did things she wasn't to do, or was short-tempered or hesitant to carry out a request or careless in her chores or schoolwork--she was beaten and confined to the basement. When she forgot the Asking Permission Rule and took food or water, she was starved--of whatever she'd taken--or, sometimes, given too much, till she was sick. Asking Permission to Use The Restroom was easier to remember. A few days locked in the dark, in soiled clothes, and the lesson took.
She was eleven when she become a proficient thief, stealing food and clothes to supplement the restricted diet and clothing choices her parents allowed her. She took to hoarding toys and other things she found--a habit she'd had at the convent, too, where the other children called her Magpie for it.
She was twelve when she discovered vodka. The liquid fire burned her throat, but helped her sleep. So did curling up on park benches, or inside churches, or on peoples' porches--anywhere thwt wasn't home. One night, the police found her and brought her back. Her father beat her, shutting her up in the cellar for a week. As soon as she was out, she ran.
This was how it went: she ran, she was found, she was brought back. She stopped crying when her father beat her, stopped asking to be let out when he locked her up. He said she was stubborn, willful. Mouse Baby said she was stupid. Maybe she was, because she kept running, each time he let her out.
She was eighteen when it stopped. That time, when she ran, she left New York City behind, hitchhiking and taking buses till she ended up in Chicago. Six years later, she was still there. She had a small apartment a s she worked as a janitor, cleaning office buildings at night and the public library by day. It was a quiet, simple life, and she was, for the most part, happy.
[break]PREVIOUS GROUP/RANK.None.[break][break]ALIAS. Marley[break]HOW YOU FOUND US.Ad on RPG-D [break]EXPERIENCE 5-6 years[break]OTHER CHARACTERS. Nope[break]RP SAMPLE. Ні, ні, стоп. Будь ласка. Я буду хорошим. Я буду хорошим, я обіцяю.“ Behind her eyes, it was dark. It was dark and she was small. It was always this way, behind her eyes. It was always dark and she was always small. Against the dark, she saw them–Sister-Inessa-or-maybe-her-father–it was dark, behind her eyes, and she couldn’t see, but they–whoever they were–were taking her somewhere, dragging her, and it hurt. It wasn’t supposed to, not while she was dreaming–she was, because she was only little behind her eyes, at night when she slept--but it did. Whoever it was, they didn’t have to drag her, she would do whatever they wanted, she would, if they would just tell her. If they would just–--.
She sat up, heart pounding in her chest and eyes flying open. It was only a dream. Well, maybe a memory of something, but whatever it was, it was gone now, and she was safe. She was safe, she was safe, she was safe. Lena whispered the words to herself till her heart stopped thump-thump-thumping like a fist in her chest. She opened her eyes, waiting till the room stopped spinning. Sliding her feet out from under the blankets, she hissed at the cold floor pressing into her bare skin. Bending over, she yanked her socks out of her books and put them on. That was better. Flinging back the covers, she slipped from the bed.
Maybe a walk would do her good. She grabbed her coat and her keys and ducked out the door. Perhaps she'd even find things to bring to Enigma to sell. .[break] |
|
