The snow continued to fall gently outside the windows, but the air was heavy with a tense, unsettling atmosphere. Students moved through the corridors, whispering nervously, their eyes darting anxiously between one another.
Nadia, Alicja, Natan, and Sebastian gathered in an empty room. Each of them was clearly shaken by the events of the previous night.
"None of us can believe it was suicide," Alicja said, gripping her cup of tea tightly. "Everyone feels that something is off. That boy was a model student—he had no problems at all."
Natan nodded, his expression serious."I told you, the General won't let it go. This is his way of intimidating us."
Sebastian looked at Nadia with concern."How are you feeling? Did he scare you?"
Nadia sighed deeply."More than ever. But I can't give up. Not now."
Alicja placed a hand on her shoulder."We're with you. Together, we'll stand against this."
The group exchanged determined glances, knowing that difficult days lay ahead.
***
The General sat in the shadows of Leon's room. The red glow of his eyes reflected in the dark corners, and his hands clenched into fists involuntarily.
"For centuries I've fought for power and immortality," he began, speaking softly but filled with anguish. "The sacrifices I've made, the rituals I've created… all to never die, to make my soul endure forever."
His gaze shifted to a photo of Leon on the desk—a young boy whose body he now occupied.
"And now he… my grandson, who was my only hope, the one I needed. Why is it so hard to control me?" His voice broke for a moment.
He closed his eyes and remembered the old times—moments when he held Hanna in his arms.
"Hanna… you will be mine too," he hissed with hatred. "This time, I won't let you go."
After a moment, a cold smile returned to his face."But if Leon is inside, I must break him. Completely. Destroy his will before he destroys me."
He stretched out his hands, and black energy began swirling around him, pulsating with darkness and power.
"This is a game of life and death. And I am the player."
***
The snow settled softly on the stone benches and the old trees, but the air was taut with tension and unease. Nadia, Alicja, and Natan gathered quietly in a corner of the courtyard, ready for battle, their breath misting in the cold air.
Suddenly, the school doors burst open, and on the steps appeared Leon—or rather, the General in his body. His gaze was icy, and his lips twisted into a mocking smile.
"You thought you could stop me?" he asked, his voice brimming with arrogance.
Nadia stepped forward, her eyes filled with determination."We know your plans. We won't let you rule this place any longer."
The General chuckled softly."And who will stop me? I have the power of centuries. And you? Just a few kids who barely know how to defend yourselves."
Alicja clenched her fists."We are not alone."
At that moment, ethereal forms appeared behind them—spirits of the General's victims, rising to shield the group.
The General frowned, raising his hands to focus the black energy swirling around him."This is only the beginning," he hissed.
The battle for souls, bodies, and freedom had begun. The heroes had to use everything they had learned to repel the dark forces.
The General, in Leon's body, stood a few steps before them. A nearly invisible aura of darkness emanated from his shoulders—it was not mere anger, but something deeper, older, born of centuries of obsession and pain. Snow fell silently, but no one noticed.
Nadia looked him straight in the eyes. Her heart pounded wildly, yet she did not look away. She knew that somewhere deep inside, Leon was still there.
"Leon… I know you're in there. I know you can hear me," she whispered, stepping forward. "This isn't you. You wouldn't hurt us."
The General's smile was frigid."Leon?" he scoffed. "He's long ceased to matter. Just a weak voice in my head. Like you, Hanna. Always trying to save souls that couldn't be saved."
Alicja surged forward, glaring at him with fury."Stop using his face to hurt us. Stop speaking with his voice. You're the coward, not him."
Natan, standing next to Alicja, reached out his hand as if to restrain her."Don't let yourself be provoked…"
The General looked at him with irony."Oh, so the coward speaks. Nice to see you still cling to your newfound courage, boy."
"I cling to the people I care about," Natan replied quietly, but with certainty.
The words hung in the air. For a fraction of a second, the General froze. Something in their simplicity, their truth, struck him—perhaps even Leon, buried deep inside.
"This will end, whether you like it or not. You may have his body, but not his heart. And that is what defines who Leon truly is."
The General laughed softly."You are only children. Feelings won't save you. Loyalty will destroy you. And the heart?" He stepped closer to Nadia. "The heart can always be broken."
Their gazes locked again. Though Nadia trembled inside, she did not move back."But not mine."
The General stepped forward—silent, controlled, like a predator that no longer needed to hurry. Nadia froze, though she knew she should retreat. Her body refused to obey, as if sensing that something irreversible was about to happen.
In a single moment, the General was right in front of her.
Before anyone could react, he wrapped Nadia in a strong arm and pulled her close—brutally, decisively, a cold smile on his lips. Her hands pressed against his chest in instinctive defense, but he held her too tightly, too firmly.
"I've told you before, Hanna," he whispered in her ear, his low, calm voice shaking her to the core. "You once belonged to me. Entirely. Body, spirit… soul."
Her heart froze.
"And do you know what's most beautiful about it?" he continued relentlessly. "The more you fear me, the faster you return to me. Like before. Like every time."
Alicja rushed toward them with anger, but Natan restrained her, whispering quickly. The spirits around them began to tremble, some almost fading, crushed by his presence.
The General tilted Nadia's head slightly to the side, looking her straight in the eyes."I can't wait for you to be mine again. Not through feeling. Through choice. Because you'll understand that no one knows you like I do."
Then he released her. Nadia staggered slightly, still struggling to catch her breath.
The General turned away calmly, as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn't just broken her piece by piece, word by word.
"And now… prepare yourselves, because this is only the beginning," he called over his shoulder.
Then he vanished into the shadows, leaving them with a silence that was no longer just fear—it was the foreboding knowledge that not all of them would survive this night.
***
The air was thick as saliva, motionless and suffocating. The General, in Leon's body, stood at the edge of the pond, staring at the black surface of the water. His eyes shone with a strange, almost hypnotic light, reflecting on the icy surface — as if they were speaking to it on their own.
"I know you're here," he whispered softly, almost to himself. "Both of you. There's no need to pretend."
The water shuddered suddenly. From the murky depths rose a wave of dark energy, seeming to pierce the air itself. The girl and boy — twins — emerged from the mist at the water's edge. Their bodies were semi-transparent, pale, stretched like shadows, but their eyes burned with anger and a desire for justice.
"What do you want, General?" the boy said in a cold voice. "How dare you summon us? You killed us… you and that cursed Hanna."
"I do not ask for your service," the General replied calmly, with icy certainty. "I ask for… justice."
Both froze.
"Hanna," he continued, step by step, like a teacher delivering a lesson — "You believed her. You wanted to help her, you sacrificed yourselves for her. And what did you get in return? Fear. Betrayal. Silence. An attempt at forgetting."
The other twin hissed with disgust:"She… she is the worst of all. She handed us over to you!"
The General nodded slowly, as if approving their understanding:"Because she betrayed you. And now she lives again. But she remembers nothing. She is Nadia now. Free. Innocent. Happy. She does not deserve this. Not after what she did."
He took a step forward."Restore her memory. Everything. Let every second of pain, fear, and screams return to her. Let her see your death once more, but this time truly feel that it was because of her. Let her break."
"Why would we help you?" the boy asked icily, his voice carrying the weight of a wounded past.
"Because I do not ask for help," the General whispered, his words vibrating in the air like a cold blade. "I offer vengeance."
The pond trembled violently. The twins' spirits looked at each other. In their gaze was something broken, rotted by decades of hatred and pain. They were no longer the same people they once were. They had been burned out — and what remained craved only one thing: retribution.
After a moment, one of them nodded:"Let her suffer."
The other smiled faintly, cruelly:"She will beg to forget again."
The General stepped back from the edge, satisfied. The darkness within him pulsed more intensely, almost alive.
"Excellent," he whispered, his voice cutting through the silence like darkness itself. "Finally, you will come back to me, Hanna."