Natan glanced anxiously at his roommate as, with combined effort, they managed to move the wardrobe that was blocking the entrance to the underground. He wondered if it was a good idea for him to go down there with them, but curiosity was the first step to hell—and he wanted to see with his own eyes the place that had, for many years, been a gathering of the dead.
"Can you handle it?" Leon asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not that much of a wimp," he muttered. "I'm just scared of ghosts, not the places where people died."
"But you do realize that the underground is the perfect place for wandering souls?" Nadia joined the game, and together with Leon, they decided to scare their friend half to death before he even had a chance to go down and run off.
"Stop making fun of me," he grumbled, offended.
Leon smiled broadly and threw his arm around his roommate's shoulders.
"We're just teasing. If you're ready, let's go."
The boys opened the door and were the first to descend the stairs. Nadia lingered for a moment, wondering if this really was a good idea. In her mind, the screams she still heard from down there echoed. Maybe it was just her imagination playing tricks on her, but...
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, trying to stay brave. She didn't understand why, but she was beginning to fear this place—she had a mental block stopping her from going down. She didn't know if it was because of the stories her parents told her, or something else entirely...
"Nadia, what's wrong? Don't tell me you're chickening out now," Leon said when he saw she wasn't following them.
"Are you crazy? Nothing scares me," she lied, then quickly caught up to them.
Her heart was pounding as she followed them. The boys lit the underground corridor with their phone flashlights since there was no electricity. The sixteen-year-old noticed old lightbulbs swaying on wires overhead, but none of them worked.
The place was completely dark, gloomy, and chillingly cold—as if the low temperature was also caused by the presence of the dead...
A shiver ran down Nadia's spine as they reached the place she knew from the stories. Old, rusted bars blocked off the area where people had once been tortured. The place where her mother had found the corpses of orphans.
Another shiver went through her body when, despite the darkness, it seemed like she saw a silhouette of a woman hanging helplessly by ropes behind the bars. Her heart stopped when the woman raised her head and looked straight into her eyes. It was strange, but the moment felt like a memory—another reality...
"You killed me... it's your fault," a voice said.
A scream escaped Nadia's lips as she collapsed onto the cold floor, trembling. Leon knelt beside her, visibly concerned.
"What's going on?" he asked gently, brushing her hair with his hand.
"I'm sorry... I thought I saw something," she replied, looking back at the same place, but now it was completely empty and dark. "I'm fine."
He helped her stand and held her hand, trying to comfort her. Nadia was surprised but didn't react.
"Do you guys feel like we're being watched?" Natan asked suddenly, walking ahead of them.
"I feel like I can hear people screaming," Nadia admitted, still thinking about what she had seen behind those bars. She still didn't know what it was, but it felt like a fragment of some memory...
Leon squeezed her hand tighter, as if trying to show her that she was safe with him, that nothing would hurt her.
It was kind of sweet. Very sweet.
Natan shone his flashlight into one of the corners, and all three of them felt sick when they saw old, dried bloodstains.
"They must've closed this place down without cleaning it. Everything looks just like it did in the past—untouched and terrifying," he said, covering his nose with his hand. "Who do you think this blood belonged to?"
"Why are you all here together?!"
They nearly had a heart attack when they turned and saw their classmate Alicja. Pale as a ghost, she stood glaring at them with fury in her eyes.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in when the entrance is behind us?" Leon asked, pointing down the hallway.
Natan now looked terrified. Their peer was just as scary as the ghosts. There was no difference.
"Because of your reckless behavior, you're going to release all the souls!" Alicja shouted.
"Didn't you want to bring me down here in a dream? Why are you angry at us now?" Leon asked.
"Because you can't see them—I can. They're circling around you, happy to see their victims."
She was so frightening they all went pale. Natan looked the worst—on the verge of fainting.
"Tell me you're just joking. Trying to scare us."
"You're the perfect victim, coward. The spirits gather around you the most," she said bluntly.
Everyone knew how terrified Natan was of ghosts, but the moment he suddenly fainted shocked them all.
"Did he actually pass out from fear?" Nadia asked, kneeling next to him with Leon, trying to wake him.
"Why did you bring him to a place full of souls?" Alicja scoffed.
"Everything was fine until you showed up, so shut your mouth!" Nadia yelled. "It's your fault he fainted!"
The pale girl's eyes widened in horror as she saw the black shadow of the General resting on Leon's shoulders. He was a demon—the only dead soul in this place that truly terrified her.
It seemed he was pleased that the reincarnation of his grandson was here, in the underground, where he was strongest.
Had Alicja misunderstood something? She thought he would be weakest here... This was where all the souls he had murdered lingered, so he should avoid it, fear their revenge—but it seemed the spirits still feared him, even though they outnumbered him.
Was it because he was a demon? Stronger than all of them?
"I made a mistake. Leon, you should've never come down here," she said suddenly, staring at him with terror. "Get out, now!"
"What are you talking about? In my dream, you wanted me to come down here with you, like this was supposed to be a safe place for me. So why now?"
"I was wrong. The General is strongest here. Please, get out," she said, panicked—and in that moment, something incomprehensible happened. An unknown force hurled Alicja against the concrete wall. She slid down with a cry of pain, tears in her eyes.
"Oh my God, Alicja, are you okay?" Nadia ran to her, looking down at her with concern. "Can you stand?"
"Don't leave Leon alone. Stay by his side, hold his hand—don't give the General a chance to possess him."
Nadia turned to Leon, her eyes full of fear. The flashlight from a phone on the ground shone right at him. For a second, she thought she saw a sinister smile on his face, but dismissed it as a product of fear.
"Let's get out of here," she said, helping Alicja up. "Leon, grab Natan and let's go!"
He obeyed. Though his roommate was heavy as hell, he managed to hoist him up like a puppet. When Alicja was able to walk on her own, Nadia helped him carry their unconscious friend.
Behind them, the injured girl glanced over her shoulder and saw many spirits standing in a row, shaking their heads in disappointment.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed.
*
When Natan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw were two faces leaning over his own.
"What happened down there?" he asked immediately, his gaze full of worry. "Were the ghosts really there?"
"Alicja scared you on purpose," Nadia lied, smiling at him in a friendly way.
The boy shifted his hateful glare to the pale sixteen-year-old girl lying on the bed, grimacing in pain.
"Did you beat her up for it? She looks like she's suffering badly," Natan remarked, sitting up and eyeing Alicja.
"She deserved a beating for what she did to you," Nadia replied, sneaking a glance at Leon. The boy had no intention of interfering in the lies. It was better for his roommate not to know that Alicja had been thrown violently by something lurking in the underground.
"You let her beat up your roommate?" Natan looked stunned as he turned to Leon.
"I don't get involved in girl fights. I'd end up the one most beaten," he stated.
Alicja lay in silence, feeling as though something was tearing her back apart from the inside. She had no doubt she'd bruised her tailbone and hoped it was nothing worse.
"I'll take you to the nurse. You look terrible," Nadia said, walking up to the bed. "And I don't want to hear any refusal."
"Good thing you're willing to take care of her after you beat her up," Natan muttered.
Leon helped Nadia lift Alicja, who winced in pain.
"Maybe I should come with you?" he offered.
"I think it might be awkward for her," Nadia replied, mostly out of jealousy. She didn't want Leon showing any concern for her roommate. "I'll take care of her."
"All right, we'll head back, then. We probably shouldn't be hanging around in your room."
The boys followed them out and parted ways in the hallway. The girls walked in silence for a while until they stopped on the ground floor. Then Nadia spoke.
"That wasn't just a regular ghost, was it? That thing had incredible strength. I saw with my own eyes how hard you hit that wall."
Alicja closed her eyes, deciding to finally open up to her. Despite not really liking her, Nadia was the only person who could protect Leon from being possessed by the General. If anything went wrong… they'd all suffer, and the hell from the past would become reality again.
"It was a demon. The General is the demon. He's the one who did that to me. I didn't think he'd be strongest in the underground."
"That's why you were shouting not to leave Leon alone? Because the General might possess him?" Nadia looked confused. "Why me, though? Why am I supposed to be the one to save him?"
"Because I can see you like him. You're into him," Alicja muttered, partly telling the truth. She couldn't reveal everything, but that part was obvious—she'd noticed it some time ago. Her roommate's eyes lit up every time she looked at Leon.
Nadia blushed at the comment.
"We're just friends. I've always had guy friends," she mumbled, looking away.
Alicja watched her for a moment, then said:
"Believe me, you're in the greatest danger. You can't let the General possess Leon. I suspect you'll be the first to die. You'll go through real torture."
"Are you trying to scare me to death?" Nadia snapped. "Why would the General want to kill me first? Because of my mom? My great-grandmother?"
"Don't worry, I'd be next in line," Alicja said seriously.
"Because you're a medium?"
"More or less," she replied with a crooked smile. "Now help me get to the nurse before I die from the pain—before the General even gets the chance. Who would've thought he could hurt me this badly even without a body to possess."
That was the moment Nadia truly began to feel afraid. Maybe her parents had been right when they said she shouldn't come to this place… but it was too late now to turn back.
There was no way she'd ever tell them the truth about what was really happening here.