The clock above the hall struck four. Winter dusk began to settle over the building, sparkling with tiny flakes of snow lazily drifting from the sky. Nadia walked out of the library, notebook pressed to her chest, still carrying a slight unease fluttering in her stomach. Alicia had a meeting with a teacher, Natan was studying, and she… felt lonelier than usual.
She stepped outside, wanting to get some fresh air, when she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Nadia!"
She froze. Ariel stood before her, casually leaning against the railing, arms crossed over his chest.
"I didn't get a chance to say this earlier… but it was really good to see you smiling this morning. Although…" He took a step toward her. "I feel like you're hiding something. Everyone can see it."
Nadia hesitated.
"It's nothing, it's just… a lot has been going on lately."
"I know I haven't known you for long," he said gently, "but something tells me you're trying to carry everything on your own. If you want to talk—I'm here. Seriously."
He smiled. And again, just like in the morning, he laid a hand on her shoulder. Not intrusive. Just… warm.
At that very moment, the space around them trembled.
Nadia first felt it as an icy breath on the back of her neck. The snow stopped falling. The air seemed to freeze.
And then…
Leon. He was standing on the other side of the alley. Watching them.
This time he didn't hide in the shadows. Tall, straight-backed, hands in his pockets, but his eyes…
Those weren't Leon's eyes. It was pure fury. Cold, cruel. One glance was enough for Nadia to feel that something was coming. Something bad.
Leon moved toward them.
"Nadia." His voice was low. Terrifyingly calm. "Come with me."
Ariel looked at him in surprise.
"Hey, is everything okay? Will you be at the bonfire tonight? I asked Nadia this morning. It'd be nice if—"
Leon didn't even look at him.
"I wasn't talking to you."
Nadia took a step back.
"I don't want to go anywhere."
Leon raised an eyebrow, smiling coldly. He stepped closer, glancing at Ariel, who was still standing between them.
"Touch her again, and they'll find your body in the spring, under the ice in the pond."
Nadia paled. Ariel let out a nervous laugh, confused.
"What…? Leon? What's wrong with you? Dude… if you're together, I'll step back, seriously."
Leon didn't answer. He stepped aside, bypassing Ariel, and looked straight into Nadia's eyes.
Everything was in that gaze: possessiveness, rage, threat.
"You can't keep running forever, Hanna." He whispered just for her. "Sooner or later… you'll remember everything. And then you'll be mine. Like before."
Nadia froze, clutching her notebook as if it could protect her.
And then… Leon walked away.
Nadia stood still for a moment, as if the snow, now falling again, could freeze her in time. Ariel's hand, which had just rested on her shoulder, now hung limply at his side. He was confused, silent, trying to understand what had just happened. But Nadia no longer listened. She started walking quickly.
She had to get away. She needed to breathe air that didn't carry a threat.
With each step toward the building, her heart pounded louder. Her legs trembled, fingers numb as ice. She crossed the threshold when a familiar voice called out:
"Nadia?"
She spun around. It was Alicia—returning from the teacher's office, a scarf draped over her shoulders, a stack of papers in her hands. She stopped at the sight of her roommate's face.
"What happened? You look pale as a wall."
Nadia didn't answer immediately. She just closed her eyes and, suddenly, unexpectedly, hugged Alicia tightly, as if only that gesture could anchor her to reality.
"He… was there. Leon. The General. He saw everything. When that boy… Ariel… put his hand on my shoulder. He got furious."
Alicia tensed, cautiously returning the embrace.
"Did he… do anything to you?"
Nadia shook her head, but her voice trembled:
"No… But he said that if anyone touches me again, they'll only find his body in the spring. Alicia… he looked at me like he already… like he already owned my life."
Alicia stepped back slightly, holding Nadia by the shoulders.
"You will never be alone again, understand? Not for a moment. He wants to break you, to scare you. But we won't give him that satisfaction. I'd sooner drive him out of this world myself than let him hurt you. I won't make the mistake I made in the past life. This time I will protect you, because I know back then I had no choice—you were too weak with him to fight."
Nadia looked up at her. Tears glistened in her eyes, but also a shadow of relief.
"Thank you…"
Alicia sighed, adding softly:
"Come on, let's find Natan. We'll make something warm to drink. And then we'll make a new plan. That bastard doesn't know our strength yet."
***
Alicia and Nadia walked down the corridor, which at this hour was nearly empty. Only distant sounds of conversations and footsteps from other parts of the school could be heard. When they reached the old classroom, long unused, at the end of the wing, the door opened without a creak. Inside, by one of the windows, Natan was already standing, holding a cup of hot tea, nervously stirring it with a spoon, even though nothing more needed dissolving.
He looked at the girls with obvious relief."Finally…" he muttered, approaching them. "I was afraid something had happened."
Alicia silently closed the door behind her and slid the latch shut. The room was dimly lit—one ceiling light flickered slightly, as if it too sensed the tension hanging in the air.
They sat on the old, dusty carpet in the corner of the room. Nadia told them everything—about Ariel, the touch, the General's gaze. About the threat.
"It wasn't jealousy. It was possession. He looked at me as if I were something that belonged to him. As if he knew every fragment of my past. As if nothing was mine anymore."
A silence fell.
Natan rubbed his face with his hand."He's watching us. All the time. It won't end if we just react. We have to start anticipating his moves."
"Easy to say," Alicia growled. "Every time we try to plan something, he… outpaces us. As if he can hear what we're thinking."
"Maybe he can," Nadia said quietly. "Or maybe he just knows us too well."
Natan looked at her cautiously."You think… since he was with you back when you were Hanna… he could really have access to your memories? To your emotions?"
Nadia nodded."And I'm afraid that if I get them back—if Hanna returns completely—I'll lose myself. The one I am now."
Alicia leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees."That's why we have to protect you."
Natan looked out the window, where snow had begun to fall. Cold, silver flakes settled on the glass, and his reflection looked as if it didn't belong to him.
"Maybe it's no coincidence… that we met."
Alicia looked at him, then at Nadia."In that case, it's time to find out the whole truth. About the past…"
***
Darkness. First there was darkness and the echo of her own breath. Then came the light—not warm, but sharp, piercing, like the flash of a sword cutting through silence.
Hanna stood in a cold, marble room, hands clasped before her, staring at the stone face of the man who was her master. The General—young and handsome, yet already inhuman in the way he treated others. His eyes were like ice—without a trace of humanity.
"You told her, that cursed medium, that she can no longer take part in the rituals," he hissed. "Are you questioning my decisions? My rituals?"
"I just wanted to protect Maria. She's exhausted, barely standing. Her body… it won't survive another—"
SLAP.
His hand cut through the air and struck her face with such force that she staggered, falling to her knees. The sting, the silence, the shame. She lowered her head, and her long hair covered her burning cheek.
"You're not here to think," he growled. "You're here to serve."
Everything froze, then dissolved into darkness. But the dream did not relent. Another memory surged into her like a violent current.
Now Hanna ran down a dark corridor, bare feet softly tapping on the stone floor. Her dress, undone at the chest, fluttered behind her, and her eyes were full of tears. She reached a narrow door, behind which a faint candlelight burned.
"Maria… Maria, it's me…" she whispered, opening it without knocking.
Inside, sitting on a low bed, Maria lifted her head. Her face was pale, emaciated, and her eyes—empty. On the floor before her lay a toy made of gray fabric.
"Hanna?" she croaked. "What happened?"
Hanna sat beside her and covered her face with her hands.
"He… he hit me. Not for the first time. But today… I was only talking about you. I wanted to protect you."
She paused for a moment, choking back a sob.
"Maria… I think I'm pregnant. I haven't had my period in over two months. And I feel it… I know it. I can feel it in my bones."
Maria froze, then lowered her head.
"They took my child from me, Hanna. Shortly after the birth. They tore it from my arms. They said it was a gift. That the spirits needed a new vessel."
"This is hell… this place… It's only his sick thirst for power and hatred," Hanna said, pressing herself into her friend's arms, trembling. "I won't let them take my child too. I won't… I promise I'll do everything to save your son, Maria."
But deep down she knew that here, in this closed reality created by the General, nothing belonged to them. Not even the life that was just beginning to stir.
***
The night was heavy, cold, and silent as a grave. Ominous stillness hung over the corridors of the estate where they were staying. Hanna and Maria now sat together, curled up in the corner of a small, hidden room, where they sometimes came to escape his gaze. The walls were stone, damp. The candle they had lit cast shadows trembling like their hands.
"We can't go on living like this," Maria whispered, eyes fixed on the void. "After what he did to me… after what he does to you every day…"
Hanna touched her own belly, almost unconsciously. She still could not comprehend that she was carrying the child of a monster.
"He said we would bring him power," Maria added bitterly. "That after all this, Poland would disappear from the map."
Hanna closed her eyes. She remembered the rituals—the ones Maria had performed. Drawing symbols in blood, chants in languages neither of them understood, incense with the scent of decay. All of it only to keep the General strong. To let him dominate death.
"He said we were his chosen ones," Hanna said quietly. "But in truth, we were only his victims."
The memory shifted—darkened. Another scene flooded her with a wave of unease.
She walked alone through a meadow, the night thick and damp with fog. From behind her, she felt a chill—not ordinary, but one that reached her bones. She turned. There he was. The General.
"You can't go to her anymore, Hanna," he said in a calm, almost polite tone. "Maria poisons you. She doesn't understand that I chose you."
Hanna took a step back.
"Leave me. I never asked to be chosen. I don't want to serve you."
He smiled. Cold. Terrifying.
"But you already serve me. Your body. Your soul. All of it belongs to me."
She froze.
"Hanna," he said her name, as if savoring it. "I know everything. I know when you start to lie. I know when you start to rebel. And I know when you try to betray me. But you are my vessel. And your fear only strengthens me."
Then he moved closer to her, touching her with both disgust and fascination.
She screamed. She ran. But her legs would not move. Her body was heavy, as if already under his control. As if it already belonged to him.
***
Hanna's eyes were wide open, but they saw nothing but darkness. Her own uneven, sob-filled breath thudded in her ears. Maria pressed her close, trying to soothe her, but Hanna's trembling shoulders would not calm."He knows. He knows I want to defy him," Hanna's voice was almost inaudible, as if it evaporated with her last breath. "He said he knows everything."Maria froze, as if that thought had collided with her own fear."I won't let him hurt you. Not anymore. You'll run. I'll hide you, even if I have to pay the price myself.""He'll find me. He always finds us.""That doesn't mean it's not worth trying," Maria grabbed her hands, shaking with terror. "You have something more to protect. Someone. And I won't let you end up like me. He already took my child, Hanna… he cannot take yours too."
Tears streamed down Hanna's cheeks. Everything inside her was shattered, torn between fear and the quiet hope Maria whispered into her heart.
But hope did not last long.
The door slammed open. The General's strong hand grabbed Maria by the arm and yanked her violently aside. Hanna wanted to scream, but she didn't have time — the man's hand landed heavily on her face, throwing her to the side."You betray me. Again." His voice was icy. "You've always been weak, Hanna. But I will root that weakness out of you. Even if I have to break you piece by piece.""I won't be your toy!" she screamed, struggling to rise from the floor. "Never again!""You already are. Always have been. Even if you don't remember it yet…"
A scream tore through the night.
Nadia shot up from her bed as if struck by lightning, hands pressed to her face, body trembling. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, and her nightgown clung to her skin, damp with sweat. Alicia leapt from the other bed, terrified."Nadia! Hey, hey! Wake up, it's just a dream!" she called, rushing over and grabbing her by the shoulders.
But Nadia did not respond immediately. Her gaze was distant, suspended somewhere between the present and the past where she had been trapped. Her lips quivered, tears streaming down her cheeks."It wasn't just a dream…" she whispered after a long moment, her voice broken and full of pain. "It happened. He… he beat me. And he took Maria's child… And… I… I was pregnant with him…"
Alicia froze. She knelt beside her, holding her tightly, wordless.
Nadia pressed herself into her, as if wanting to disappear, as if the evil of that life still lived under her skin."He broke me back then. But now… I won't let it happen again."
Alicia nodded quietly."We won't let it. You're here, Nadia. You're with us. And no one will take that strength from you."