The room was silent. Nadia sat at the edge of the bed, holding a damp towel in her hands. Alicja, curled up in the armchair in the corner, stared at Leon without saying a word, as if afraid that any sound might shatter the fragile moment of peace.
Leon leaned back against the wall. The pallor had left his face, though his gaze was still distant, unfocused. At last he spoke, his voice low, each word dragged out with effort:
"It was… like dreaming inside my own body. As if someone peeled off my skin, put it on himself, and moved in it—speaking with my voice." He swallowed hard. "But I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I was just… there. Locked away."
Alicja approached slowly."Did you know what he was doing?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes I was completely gone. Other times… I saw everything. Like through glass." He shuddered. "And I hated it. Hated that he touched you with my hands. That he said those words with my mouth. As if he spat my guilt in your faces."
Nadia took his hand."It wasn't your fault. We know it wasn't you."
Leon looked at her with gratitude, but pain as well."He… he's old. And very strong. But what terrified me the most wasn't his power. It was his calm. He never shouted. Never raged. He waited. Like someone who already knows he's won. That everything else is temporary."
"He knows you," Alicja whispered. "And he knows us. He chose you because… because you're the reincarnation of his grandson—Alan."
Leon nodded."Sometimes he spoke… about a 'past in the blood.' That it all began long ago. That it wasn't just you who were reincarnated." His eyes lifted to theirs. "That I was there too. Back then. As Alan. And maybe… maybe I let him in."
Nadia and Alicja exchanged a quick glance."You think you were someone who helped him?" Nadia asked cautiously.
"Maybe. Or someone he twisted to his will. But I feel it inside me. This bond wasn't born now. It was renewed." He closed his eyes. "That's why I'm his gate. And that's why… I have to close it."
Alicja knelt beside him."We won't let him take you again. We'll find a way."
Leon gave a faint smile."But he already knows you're trying. And if I know it… then so does he."
Nadia turned toward the window, where the forest swayed gently in the morning light. She had the dreadful feeling that something was already waiting among the trees—something that would not allow them to linger in the shadows for long.
"We need to act faster," she said.
***
Fluorescent light flickered across the ceilings. The air smelled of cheap detergent and dampness. Leon—no, Alan—walked slowly down the corridor of the facility, passing closed doors of therapy rooms. Everything was so familiar, as if he had returned to a place he had never truly left.
As he turned the corner, he saw him. Sitting on a chair in front of the empty common room—the General. His gray hair was perfectly slicked back, his eyes black as tar. He did not look like an ordinary old man. He looked like someone who still hadn't died, though he should have.
"Alan," said the General without turning his head. "It's time. Do you remember what I promised you?"
Alan stopped. His heart thundered in his chest. He knew this conversation. It had already happened once. But now… he was living it again.
"That you'd teach me to master fear," answered his younger voice.
"Not just fear. Everything. People are weak, Alan. They need strong hands to guide them through the night. You could be those hands. But to gain strength… you must sacrifice."
In the distance stood Sara—Nadia's mother. She was seventeen then. Long dark hair. A face closed in on itself, yet her eyes burned with fire.
Alan flinched. He knew what was coming. What was supposed to happen—if not for him."Leave her. She's done nothing."
The General rose slowly, as if he were thirty, not eighty. His voice hardened."She is the Gate, Alan. She holds what I lack. That's why I'll take it. And you will help me."
Alan clenched his fists. He remembered the feeling—that betrayal coiled inside his chest, but not for the General. For Sara.
"Never." A whisper, but firm. "Not anymore."
The scene began to tremble. The corridors pulsed with light. Black smoke seeped from the ceiling. The General turned his head and looked him straight in the eye. In those eyes there was no age—only hunger.
"This isn't the end, Alan. Even if you betrayed me then… now you return to me of your own will."
Alan's breath came ragged. Sweat slicked his face. His heart pounded like a bell.
Natan sat by the bed, reading. Sebastian slept in the corner, wrapped in a blanket."Leon?" Natan lifted his gaze. "Another bad dream?"
Leon stared at him with emptiness in his eyes."It wasn't just a dream. It was twenty years ago. I was in the facility… as Alan."
"What did you see?"
Leon swallowed hard."Him. The General. I saw him trying to kill Sara—Nadia's mother." He turned his head away. "He would have… if I hadn't—"
He broke off.
"If you hadn't what?" Natan leaned closer.
"I deceived him. Pretended I was on his side. But I was there to destroy him."
***
Alicja slept restlessly, tossing from side to side. The blanket had slipped to the floor, and a cold draft touched the back of her neck. Something stirred her awake.
Silence. Too perfect, too absolute.
She lifted her head and froze.
The door to the room was slightly ajar. And yet they had locked it. She remembered clearly—she had latched it just before going to sleep.
Nadia was still asleep, breathing shallowly, curled up under her blanket.
Alicja got up carefully and approached the door. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw something tied to the doorknob with a thin red thread.
A pendant from an old locket.
It had once belonged to her previous incarnation. She had seen it in memories from her past life.
Her fingers trembled.
On the back, engraved in barely visible characters, were the words:"Return what you took before I send you to where she was meant to go."
The writing was carved with a trembling yet confident hand. It sounded like a voice from the past. The voice of the General.
***
Nadia sat on the bench, far earlier than usual. As soon as Leon approached, she felt that something was wrong.
His smile was slightly too wide. His eyes… unnaturally calm.
"We haven't talked in a while," the boy said, sitting beside her.
His voice had a soft, almost seductive tone.
"We've been passing each other by," she answered cautiously.
"Such a shame. You know, Nadia… you're not using your full potential."
She looked at him."What do you mean?"
Leon tilted his head, staring straight into her eyes."Hanna knew how to reach the source. You're still afraid to look into it. And because of that, her death was in vain."
This was not Leon. Not like this. Not with this intensity.
Nadia froze. She didn't want to reveal that she knew whom she was speaking to.
"The past is the past," she whispered.
Leon leaned even closer."No. I am the past that never died."
He blinked. His body shuddered—for a second. Then—as if something inside him had broken—Leon jerked back. His breath came ragged, uneven.
"Nadia…?" he whispered. "He… again… I was there. Inside. I heard what he said. But I couldn't move…"
The girl grabbed his hand immediately."We need to act faster, Leon. He's growing stronger. He left a warning for Alicja."
Leon closed his eyes."He's beginning to understand. That I remember. That you and Alicja are connected. He doesn't just want to return. He wants to break us."
***
The sun was sinking toward the west, casting long shadows across the grass. Leon sat leaning against the tree trunk, knees pulled up to his chest. There was weariness in his eyes, but something more as well—guilt.
Nadia approached quietly, as if afraid to startle him. She sat down beside him, saying nothing. For a long moment, they just watched the setting sun.
"I'm sorry," Leon finally spoke. His voice was rough. "For everything. That I couldn't… that I couldn't defend myself against him."
Nadia turned to him. Her gaze was soft, yet attentive.
"You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't your fault, Leon."
"And what if he takes control again? What if this time I don't wake up in time? What if I hurt you… all of you?"
"Then I'll stop you," she said quietly. "I'll do everything to protect you. Even from yourself."
Leon held his breath. He looked at her as if seeing her face for the first time—not just the compassion, not just the strength, but also the fear she hid beneath a layer of composure. And the fact that despite it, she stayed.
"Nadia…" he whispered. "You don't owe me anything. You could walk away. Leave me. And yet…"
"And yet I don't leave," she interrupted him. "Because you're not just Leon. You're also Alan. Remember how you fought back then? How you tried to protect my mother? You weren't just a pawn. You were someone who loved. And you didn't let her die."
Leon lowered his gaze. Tears glimmered in his eyes.
"And if now I were to lose someone again…"
"You won't lose me," she said firmly. "I won't allow it. And you can't lose me either. You have to fight. For yourself. For us."
Their hands met without words. Leon entwined his fingers with hers, and for a moment, they remained there in silence. No grand declarations, only one simple, human desire: to be together, safely, truly.
"Promise," Nadia whispered, "that if he possesses you again, you'll call me. Even if only in your mind. Promise me that you'll let me protect you."
Leon nodded.
"And you promise," he replied, "that you'll never let him take you. Ever."
"I promise."
"Good. Then we've found them," came a familiar, slightly annoyed voice.
Leon and Nadia turned their heads. A pair was approaching—Alicia with arms crossed over her chest and Natan behind her, wearing a face that said he'd rather be anywhere else.
"And of course, you had to hide in the most melodramatic spot on the entire campus," Alicia added, rolling her eyes. "What was this supposed to be? 'Lovers under Tree Number Six'?"
Natan chuckled softly.
"Leave them alone. At least they're not sitting around like you, throwing spells at the wall and complaining to the ghosts about the quality of the paper in the school library."
"Because someone forgot the map from the underground," Alicia replied icily.
"Says the one who had it last," he shot back immediately, raising an eyebrow.
"Because you lost it! You were flipping through the papers like a madman because you 'felt something strange in the air'! Maybe it was just your ego, Natan!"
Leon and Nadia glanced at each other, both unable to hide smiles.
"Do you always communicate like this?" Leon asked, lightly amused.
"No!" Alicia and Natan replied simultaneously, then immediately looked away.
"Back to important matters," Alicia said, straightening and trying to regain seriousness. "We've gathered information. The underground has several levels, but it's the lowest one, sealed for decades, that hides the main ritual chamber. That's where the spiritual remnants that strengthen the General are."
"And probably also the object to which his soul is bound," Natan added. "Something that must be destroyed to truly banish him. Only… there's a problem."
"Of course," Leon muttered. "There's always a problem."
Alicia sighed.
"This place is full of spirits that were sacrificed. They're terrified. They don't want us there… especially me."
Natan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He knew that look—it was more than cold analysis. There was a trace of guilt in her voice.
"Because you're like her," he said quietly. "Your previous incarnation took part in this, even if she was forced to."
"And yet I feel as if I did this to them," Alicia replied, not looking him in the eyes.
A short silence fell.
Natan sighed and cleared his throat.
"Hey, spiritual genius," he said, with a teasing edge, "maybe stop blaming yourself for something that happened a hundred years ago and focus on what we can do now?"
"Maybe you could stop treating everything like a battle of sharp comebacks and start listening to the people around you?" she shot back immediately.
"Okay, stop," Nadia interrupted them. "Maybe save your emotional sparring for later? Because we have a powerful demon from the past to stop, and he wants to take over reality."
"All right." Alicia took a deep breath, still glancing sideways at Natan. "We leave tomorrow night. We must take everything we have. Herbs, amulets, your great-grandmother's old book. And Leon has to come with us. He's the only one who has contact with the General's soul from the inside."
Leon nodded.
"All right. But this time… I won't just be a vessel. This time, I'll take him on myself. And I won't let him win."
Four pairs of eyes met in silence. Four people—bound by the past, by the present, and by a fate not yet sealed.