Ruslana Viktoriya Carnegie

Rus, the shortened pet form of her name and she prefers people to call her so, only allowing those close to her to call her Ruslana

Seventeen

Female

Undefined

Junior

With a pale complexion dotted with freckles and beauty marks, the Ukrainian girl has often been mocked by close friends as a ghost. However, her upturned nose and angular face give her an elegance of beauty, as well does her high cheekbones and crystalline blue eyes. She prefers to wear neither lipstick nor foundation, but does wear ample amount of eye makeup. Her brown hair is naturally curly and she usually leaves it loose, straightened or not, but will place it in a hairstyle if she feels like it. When she smiles, Rus reveals dimples and large front teeth and she is not particularly tall, but not short. When she walks, she holds a suppressive air with her shoulders relaxed and her legs staggering, yet she holds her chin up in an air of authority. She has been known to vaguely smile at the queerest things, a smile that is almost imperceptible except for the slight twitch of her lips. Other times, she laughs loudly with a hiccup and dimpled cheeks. When she talks, it is of the lilting sort and there is a slight accent, though it has gotten better. Rus often dresses in skinny jeans or large billowing dresses with long armholes. She has received much backlash from her clothing choices, often leaving to others seeing her as a whore and slut.

On the outside, it is easy to see Ruslana as a daredevil. She does whatever she wants and lives without a care. She appears to think little of her safety and, at certain points, even the safety of those around her. Ruslana loves the idea of being consumed in something, to have her whole being captivated: by music, by alcohol, by water, by air. She loves the heady, breathless feeling that makes her mind numb and her body vibrate. Many see her actions as self-destructive and harmful to her; Rus cares little for her life, but rather lives on the “edge of life.” On the inside, she is depressed and lonely and scared. She hates her life and is pining for something to take over her being, to make her numb and has no value for her life.

Despite being a troublemaker, Ruslana has a penchant for activism. She feels empowered when she writes about the injustice facing people in third world countries. As such, Rus has developed a journalist’s will and is curious. She often pries in people’s houses for no reason and is always trying to learn more. But she never plays her hand early, and is always careful on what she says. She is opinionated and seems to have a black-and-white scale on right and wrong, even though she herself tends to live in the gray.

During conversation, Ruslana is blunt and to the point, never bothering to soften her words. However, Ruslana, while not the most friendliest of people, never turns anyone away, always willing to be whoever’s friend if they want to (though she never voices it aloud). Ruslana hates talking about her feeling and would rather have others discover it by her expression or not know it all. She’s known to quip a joke here or there, typically of the dry humor variety and she can often come off as harsh because of her sarcastic, critical comedy.

Being alone and snakes

Ruslana was born in the Ukraine to the Kozak family, a rather poor family of four living in the city. She lived her life in an apartment with her parents usually gone working, with her older sister, Tatiana, taking care of her. Ruslana and Tatiana were very close, sharing a bond over the stars. However, when Ruslana was fourteen and Tatiana was seventeen, their apartment building caught on fire, killing their parents. They became orphans, entering the system. Eventually, Tatiana was able to live upon her eighteenth birthday, but she couldn’t get custody of Ruslana. Eventually, Tatiana lost track of Ruslana and where she went. Ruslana had entered a destructive phase in her life, no longer caring for herself and having depressive episodes. When Ruslana was sixteen, a rich American CEO named David Carnegie adopted her and took her to America, much to her chagrin.

Ruslana Viktoriya Kozak became Ruslana Viktoriya Carnegie, daughter of David and Susan Carnegie and sister to Charlie and Maureen Carnegie. Ruslana was the oldest of their children, if you could call her their child; she fought with them a lot despite their kind nature, refusing to call them her family. She did everything she could to be kicked out and taken back to the Ukraine where she could find her sister. David attempted to have her in public school so she could settle to life in the States, but he decided to send her to Ashbury Academy in hopes to give her better opportunities than she had before.

Rus remembers the day clearly in her head: Tatiana was laying on the carpet, drawing in her notebook and Ruslana had gotten bored of playing the board game alone. Their parents were gone, Rus doesn’t remember where, and the air smelled like cinnamon candles and burnt microwaveable macaroni. Ruslana began to pester Tatiana, obviously bored, so Tatiana forced Ruslana to lay still as she told her a story about a princess from the stars – it was a flawed and terrible story, but Ruslana remembers Tatiana striving to placate the petulant baby Rus.

The day that Rus came home to her burning apartment building with her parents trapped inside. Rus tried to get in, but the firemen held her back as she screamed for her parents until Tatiana came and started whispering a story about the stars into her ears to soothe her.

The Ortega Corporation owns a popular social media website and has branched out into other services, such as Ortegon, a popular new streaming website, and Orti, a video game production team. The CEO, David Carnegie, sent his new adopted daughter, Rus, to Ashbury Academy in order to give her better opportunities in the world.

February 14, 1998

Pisces

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