The quote above was originally submitted for a #1LineWed offering on June 13, 2018. It comes from my original character Darya in “Number Seven and the Life Left Behind” and it gave me trouble in every single edit of the story. Every character needs their own conflict, and I wanted to give her one that was separate – and more personal – from what we witness through Number Seven’s eyes.
The backstory tidbit quoted here popped into my head in the first draft and went through surprisingly few changes before the final version. What bothers me to this day isn’t that I wrote it or that I kept it in the published novella, but whether readers understand what I was going for.
Darya’s Backstory
Darya Vikhrova is the only daughter of Ana Vikhrova, a cosmetics industry star and nouveau riche socialite. Darya’s father is unknown to her. Darya grew up amid material wealth but emotional poverty; Ana consistently told her she wasn’t worth a damn and no one would ever want her outside of her inheritance. As a little girl, Darya was withdrawn, fearful, and prone to private outbursts of anger. During a trip to Italy when she was 9 years old, Darya performed a near-perfect dive from a cliff. It changed her life. Ana’s boyfriend at the time, recognizing the feat, suggested Ana send her daughter to a professional coach. Ana and Darya were both only too happy to agree. Soon after, Darya earned a place on the national junior division team and started winning. Most importantly, she left her mother behind. Eventually, Darya would meet Kirill Morozov and his bodyguard Number Seven, and her life would change again.
In the Novella
I still don’t know if Darya’s story progression comes completely clear in the final version of “Number Seven and the Life Left Behind.” I left out a lot of the details listed above, leaving only a few lines devoted to her history, with most of them expressed by other characters, but I just didn’t want to delve too far into her backstory. She’s a secondary character at best and describing her motivations would have slowed down the main story. Still, I liked what she brought to the final product, and she was certainly fun to write! If I ever return to the world of Number Seven and his friends, I know exactly where Darya’s life will take her next.
Everyone needs one thing, just one thing, to call their own. For Darya, it’s the dive. That moment where her world is confined to her own motions. It may only exist for seconds at a time, but those little eternities are all hers.
To be honest, and not in a bad way at all, this is pretty close to what I figured her backstory would be. She’s good at what she does either because she’s a perfectionist to an extreme, or it’s all she has that makes her happy. Filling in the rest about her broken home is great backstory for her character and would serve her well in a story all her own.
I hope that idea excites you as much as it does me, because I would thoroughly enjoy seeing Seven return, protecting the one thing Kirill loves most.
Thanks, Chase. There is a part of me that would enjoy writing for Seven again, but the story would have to be compelling enough. Right now, though, he’s found his happiness in a quieter life. As for Kirill and Darya, their days and nights are spent working, loving…and dealing with all the random stray animals Kirill’s tender heart brings home to their tiny apartment.