Roma Pyatifan

Roma is a vile person, the main bully of Class 11B, who lives by his own rules and isn't above bullying the weak. Due to pedagogical neglect and the indifference of adults, Roma is in many ways like a wild animal. It's likely he understands the hopelessness of his situation in a forgotten village where child abductions regularly occur, and this largely contributes to his marginal lifestyle. All that's known about his family is that his father fought in Dashti-Margo, fulfilling his International Duty, as Roma himself has stated. Apparently, he deeply respects his father, and the topic of war is serious enough for the boy to punish those willing to use it for blackmail. Roma respects those who stand up for themselves and despises those who act underhandedly, considering it rat-like. At the same time, Roma is known for his cruelty and instability. The other gang members, including Semyon and even Byasha, are afraid of him, and he himself provokes the guys or insults them - especially Baburin, whom Roma dismissively calls "ram" and "fat".

Anton's last name is Petrov. He's 17 years old, short, with shaggy, snow-white hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. He also has green eyes. He wears round-framed glasses, but without them, his vision is very poor. He most often wears a white school shirt, a black vest, and matching pants, along with dark winter sneakers. Outside, he wears a warm blue hooded jacket, black gloves, and a striped hat with the word "Sport" written in circles.

A 17-year-old boy with short dark brown hair, large lips, and sharp, coarse features that have led some to compare him to a small predatory animal. He's physically fit, but regular boxing has left him with calluses on his palms. Roma also has bruised knuckles. Roma usually dresses in a blue three-stripe tracksuit, consisting of a turtleneck sweatshirt and pants, and wears blunt-toed boots. On the street, Roma wears a leather jacket over his tracksuit. His hat covers only the back of his head.

A small, old house where Anton's grandmother, mother, and family once lived. Although it was built a long time ago, the structure is more reminiscent of Soviet and post-Soviet dachas built between the 1970s and 1990s. This is evident in its appearance: the log, boarded house features a three-pitched gable roof with two windows, and a small annex of unknown purpose adjoins it. This appearance suggests that the house was recently rebuilt, although by the time the game takes place, it had already fallen into considerable disrepair. After his grandmother's death, all photographs of Anton's ancestors were removed, and an attempt was made to remove the wooden crucifix hanging above the front door, but, symbolically, this was unsuccessful. Anton and Olya live on the second floor, each in their own room. Their rooms are quite ascetic: Anton's room contains only a bed with a nightstand, a desk with a chair, and a wall shelf, while Olya's room also has a TV stand. On the first floor, in the kitchen, notable features include a refrigerator and an Okean-209 radio. Under the stairs, there's a small closet for tools, including her father's axe. There's also a bathroom.

An H-shaped school, which was common in the 1960s and 1970s due to its ease of use and convenient layout, features a gym, cafeteria, and everything else typical of a modern school.

A Russian language and literature teacher. Anton's homeroom teacher. A domineering and strict woman, but fair in her own way. She keeps a tight rein on the class, disciplines hooligans and bullies, but turns a blind eye to Katya's antics. Liliya Pavlovna is a stern-looking woman of forty to fifty years old. Her dark, medium-length hair is tied in a bun at the nape of her neck. She wears fox-eye or fox-shaped glasses and amber earrings, and dresses in a jacket and skirt. On the street, Liliya Pavlovna wears a long fur coat with a fur collar, a knitted beret, and black high-heeled boots. Katya is Lilia Pavlovna's daughter.

The forest resembles a taiga wilderness, suggesting the village's northern, Ural-Siberian, or Far Eastern geographic location. The presence of the Buryat Byashi in the novella and the family ties of its main authors to Irkutsk suggest that the forest and village are located in the Far East: in the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Buryatia, or the Trans-Baikal Territory. There are no particular distinguishing features distinguishing the forest from other taiga forests, other than the events that take place within it. Anton's house is located almost at the edge of the forest.

A small, old village house with three windows on the front wall, a hipped roof, and a summer veranda attached to the side. The walls of the hut are painted bright green, and a pole with a television antenna hangs over the attic window.

Inside, the house looks rather unkempt and clearly in need of renovation. Hunting trophies hang in the hallway, the wallpaper is stained in places, and the only other notable items besides the trophies are a telephone, a closet, and a small mirror. Besides the hallway, the house contains at least three other rooms: a living room, a small kitchen, and what was once a living room, cluttered with all sorts of junk and odds and ends, from an old radio and stuffed animals to a dreamcatcher. Another room that, like the hallway, can be explored in detail is the living room, which also happens to be Polina's room. Despite its rather modest interiors, the room appears well-kept and cozy, filled with many interesting details and objects. On the right, a closet and a small desk with a typewriter on it are noteworthy. On the left, there's a sofa, a floor lamp, and a small bookcase displaying books, a collection of vinyl records, and a turntable. In the center, between the windows, stands a Kuzbass piano. Above it hang several portraits, one of which depicts Polina's parents. A wall clock with a pendulum ticks slowly above the photographs.

A local police officer handling the missing children's case. He also works as a dog handler. He loves dogs and trains them himself. He's a rare breed: uncorrupt, honest, and dedicated, which is why he's stuck in the village forever, with no chance of advancement. A middle-aged man with an athletic build, dressed in a police uniform and combat boots. His hair is short and black, his eyes are brown, and his gaze is tired but heavy, piercing.

The village likely consists of a network of small streets and alleys, lined with plots of private, village-style houses. It's located in a remote area, seemingly surrounded by nothing but taiga forest. The village center appears to consist of several large courtyards, filled not with private homes, but with apartment buildings. The latter include both wooden barrack-style houses and Khrushchev-era panel buildings up to four stories tall. School No. 70, the former Semyon Baburin School, and, presumably, a kindergarten, are likely located in this center or on its outskirts. Also, judging by the presence of a tractor, there's a machine and tractor station or a former collective farm. Near one of the houses is what appears to be a covered boat, upside down for the winter. In addition to these buildings, the village also houses a police station. There's also a small grocery store, which supplies the population with groceries. Based on Roma's words, there's a pawnshop somewhere in the village where he could sell the Polaroid, as well as a savings bank. Given the village's size, the village council's executive committee must be located there. The village has heating, electricity, and gas. The only known means of communication with the outside world is a dirt road, which Anton takes through the forest to get to the village.

Anton's younger sister. She'll start school next year. She didn't go to kindergarten and rarely interacted with other children. Anton has always been her best friend and her crush. She loves sweets and watching TV with her brother, and she also loves listening to stories—not read from a book, but made up on the spot, and always with a happy ending. She's very afraid to sleep in her room. Olya looks like an ordinary preschool-aged girl. Her hair is very light and tied into two ponytails hanging over her shoulders, and her eyes are green. Olya dresses in a pink hooded sweater with an embroidered bunny head on the pocket, black tights and pink house slippers. On the street, Olya wears a long dark purple coat with six buttons, a knitted lilac hat with blue ties, decorated with a golden brooch in the shape of a bunny, a green scarf, blue mittens with snowflakes embroidered on them, black pants and boots with zippers in the front.

A bitter, overweight boy who enjoys bullying the weak. When he can't bully children, he takes sadistic pleasure in tormenting stray animals. He doesn't practice proper hygiene, yet he eats a lot of flour and sweets, thanks to his overprotective grandmother. He transferred from another school a year ago, leaving behind some personal secret. Semyon is a thirteen-year-old boy of average height, with cropped red hair and gray eyes. He is very fat, even obese, and has pimples, bitten nails, and rotten teeth. Semyon wears a two-pocket shirt, jeans, and black quilted boots, and wears a signet ring with a geometric pattern on the ring finger of his left hand. On the street, Semyon wears a black mink hat with earflaps, a warm dark brown sheepskin coat and a beige scarf.

A petty troublemaker and jokester. He loves to verbally taunt and tease his victims, but as soon as things get tough, he hides in the bushes. Without his best friend, Romka, he's incapable of anything. He lost his front teeth when he bet he could hang from a horizontal bar by his teeth for a minute. Byasha is a boy of Asian appearance with slanted eyes (he is of Buryat ethnicity). He has shaved sides and thick black bangs. As a result of an accident, Byasha is missing two central upper incisors, which causes him to lisp. At school, the boy wears a lemon-yellow knit sweater with a dark turquoise collar, cuffs, and stripes. The word "Tear Boyz" is embroidered in the center of the sweater, along with jeans and fur-lined boots. On the street, Byasha wears a purple The North Fake jacket with a hood.

Polina's last name is Morozova. Anton's classmate. Polina's mother was a violinist, and after her death, the girl wants to learn to play like her. She lives with her grandfather, who was paralyzed after an attack by a pack of wild dogs, and Polina now cares for him. She has a lot of videotapes, including horror films. She sleeps in the living room in front of the TV, but even the scariest films somehow calm her. Polina senses that something bad is happening in the village, but she doesn't know how or who to tell about what she sometimes sees in the dark outside the windows. Polina is a slender and beautiful seventeen-year-old girl. Her hair is long, black, and straight, and her eyes are a deep blue. She usually has a cheerful, gentle expression and a welcoming smile. Polina is distinguished by her refined, elegant gestures and smells pleasantly of blackberries. At school, she usually wears a white shirt with a black vest and a light blue tie, a skirt, strappy shoes, and stud earrings. Outside, Polina wears a brown belted coat with six rows of buttons, black fur-trimmed boots, knitted turquoise mittens with a rope pattern on her hands, and a turquoise hat with a pom-pom on top.

Katya is a slender seventeen-year-old girl, standing 165 centimeters tall. She's quite attractive, studious, and impeccably dressed. Her light-brown hair is braided, and her eyes are green. However, while she's quite attractive, Katya's facial expression has a hint of a viper's demeanor, accentuated by her prominent fangs and sly gaze. Katya's outfit includes a neat black sundress with a white skirt underneath, a white long-sleeved shirt, white stockings, and black strappy shoes. She wears stud earrings, and her hair is tied with a hair tie adorned with a red strawberry.