People were thrilled. They joyfully prepared for the Halloween party organized by the school's popular kids' club. They never failed to impress, and this year Leon's new idea turned out to be a real hit.
"Anyone who doesn't dress up, anyone who stays themselves that night, is out of the game."This slogan spread through the school like wildfire. Everyone wanted to take part in the event so as not to become an outcast. The youth chose crazy costumes – they wanted to look scary but also make an impression.
Only two people didn't share this enthusiasm – Natan and Alicja.
Nadia frowned as she looked at her roommate, who was staring with a sulky face at the bloodstained prisoner costume lying on the bed.
"You should be glad I ordered this costume online for you at the last minute," she announced. "I thought of you. I didn't want you to actually end up as an outcast. Since you're with us, you have to fit in."
Her gaze shifted to her own outfit. She smiled widely. The soldier's uniform perfectly captured the vibe of the place, as if she had traveled back in time eighty years.
"That night you'll be my prisoner," she added with satisfaction. "We'll be the perfect duo."
"I really hate you. You're the worst," Alicja hissed, shooting her an angry look. "The spirits of this place aren't happy with your ideas. They think the costumes you got for us are disrespectful to them."
"They're overreacting," Nadia scoffed. "It's Halloween. Nobody intends to offend them. It's just a costume."
"You haven't changed at all. You're still a bitch. Just like before."
Nadia froze, then looked at her in disbelief.
"What did you call me? A bitch?"
"I could call you worse. You and Leon… you're both the same. You get your way even when someone asks you not to."
"Why do you drag Leon into this?" Nadia asked, clearly annoyed. "What do you even want from him? Ever since that vision when you saw him with the General, you've completely lost it. You imagined he was acting weird, but that's not true. You're the unbearable one."
Alicja snorted.
"Because you still don't trust me, only him. Why can't you just listen to me? It's obvious something's wrong with him! He used to be completely different!"
Nadia sighed heavily, trying to stay calm though inside she was boiling.
"Give it a rest. Only you see it that way," she said wearily. "According to me and Natan, Leon's acting completely normal. If something were wrong, his roommate would definitely notice it. Especially since Natan is really sensitive to all that paranormal stuff... Let it go, Alicja."
"You're just as naive an idiot as before," Alicja sneered with contempt. "You're in love with him, so now you don't see his flaws. You just want to be by his side and show off."
Alicja's words hit a sore spot. Nadia felt her jaw tighten and her hands almost clench into fists on their own. She wanted to reply, throw something sharp to throw Alicja off balance, maybe even hurt her as she was hurt by her words. But she didn't want to ruin her evening. Not today. Not now.
She was in the mood for the party – she was going to look great, have even more fun, and forget, at least for a while, about all the tension that had been hanging in the air lately.
So she clenched her teeth and spoke coldly, with a fake calm:
"Start getting dressed. We're running out of time," she said, throwing her an angry glance. "And try to smile, because in that costume you really look like a ghost. Natan might think you are one."
***
Nadia was delighted with the interior decoration as she crossed the threshold of the hall alongside Alicja, where the Halloween party was just beginning. Despite their earlier argument, she held her roommate by the forearm—they looked like a real soldier escorting a prisoner. This image caught the attention of more than one person.
Both of them scanned the room, looking for familiar faces, but they didn't see the boys anywhere. Instead, their attention was drawn to Sebastian with Roksana by his side. He was dressed as Dracula, and she was a seductive vampire, linked arm-in-arm.
"Did you come as a couple?" Alicja asked, scrutinizing them. "Are you together or not? I'm already confused."
Sebastian shot her a scolding look, clearly signaling her to watch her words—especially around the seniors.
Roksana only smiled slightly at the corner of her blood-red lips, glancing pointedly at the girls' costumes.
"No wonder, Nadia, she's your prisoner. You have to teach her obedience," she joked, though venom was clearly audible in her voice.
Usually, she pretended to be nice and polite, but Alicja had long seen through her. She just didn't say it out loud—no one liked her anyway, so why add fuel to the fire?
"Someone here really thinks she's the queen of the school," she muttered under her breath.
Seeing the tension between the girls starting to thicken, Sebastian decided to quickly change the subject.
"I saw the boys an hour ago when I was leaving the room. They hadn't even started changing yet. Natan was throwing a fit, saying he wasn't going anywhere, and Leon was yelling that there was no way out."
Nadia sighed.
"So it looks like we'll have to go find them…"
She didn't finish her sentence because at that moment the hall doors opened, and the three boys entered.
Nadia was speechless, and Alicja turned pale at the sight of Leon.
"I don't know what to say... Why that costume?" Nadia asked, blinking in disbelief as she stared at the boy. A strange chill ran down her spine. She glanced at Alicja, wanting to check her reaction. "Why did you dress up as the General?"
Leon crossed his arms over his chest.
"He's my enemy," he replied flatly. "I'm mocking him since he tormented me. It's my way of overcoming the fear."
Alicja frowned, clearly worried by his answer. She turned her gaze to Natan, who stood nearby, dressed as a ghostly spirit.
"And you? Why did you choose that?"
"He told me to," the boy replied, pointing at Leon. "He said that for Halloween you have to dress as what scares you most. I had no choice. He forced me with blackmail."
Alicja leaned slightly toward him, lowering her voice:
"What kind of blackmail?"
Before Natan could answer, Leon turned to her and looked straight into her eyes. In the General's uniform, he looked downright eerie.
"Curiosity is the first step to hell, Alicja. And you don't want to live there again, do you?" he asked, pretending to joke, but the girl shivered.
"I'm just wondering how exactly you blackmailed him. Natan's not easy to break."
"Doesn't matter how," Nadia cut in, trying to defuse the atmosphere. "We're supposed to have fun together, remember?"
"Exactly. We're supposed to have fun together tonight, so I don't understand what your problem is, Alicja," Leon said.
"I don't like your costume. You look terrifying in it," the girl replied.
"That's the point. On Halloween, the scarier you look, the better. That means I succeeded," he said with a cold smile that didn't resemble the Leon she knew at all.
Ignoring the others completely, the boy suddenly grabbed Nadia's hand and, despite the dance floor being empty, decided to dance with her. He was the life of the party, the most popular guy in school at the moment, so people looked at them with admiration. Among the crowd, jealous glances from girls could be seen—girls who would have loved to kick Nadia out of the hall.
Leon spun her around, twirled her in all directions, then finally held her in his arms, and the sixteen-year-old looked enchanted. She—in the soldier costume, he—as the General, made a surprisingly well-matched duo that night.
Roksana looked clearly jealous as she watched them, because they had become the stars of the party. Sebastian quickly noticed and pulled her onto the dance floor. Soon others joined them, while Alicja and Natan exchanged grim looks.
"Start thinking and finally realize there's something wrong with Leon," Alicja said.
"Leon is just being himself. You imagined things," the boy retorted.
The teenager smiled sourly.
"Imagined? I see how weird he's acting! Before, he was terrified of the General, and now he dresses up as him and mocks him? Besides, how did he blackmail you into coming to this party?"
Natan shifted his gaze to her, their eyes meeting.
"He took pictures of me sleeping with my finger in my mouth. He threatened to hang them on the bulletin board. It's embarrassing and humiliating. I had no choice," Natan said quietly.
It wasn't what Alicja wanted to hear. It sounded like a typical Leon move.
"Are you serious?" she asked uncertainly.
"What did you expect? That he'd threaten to lock me in a room full of ghosts? Or with death?" Natan rolled his eyes, as if the whole conversation was exhausting him.
Still, Alicja felt something was wrong. She felt it deep in her bones.
***
It was already past nine in the evening when a cheerful Leon pulled Nadia outside. At this time of year, it was already dark and cold, but that didn't stop them from spending a moment outside the building. They wanted to be alone for a while, to breathe away from the crowd.
They had no idea where Alicja and Natan were. They had disappeared from their sight some time ago.
Leon led her to the pond, repeating how much he loved this place.
"Why?" Nadia asked. "Aren't you afraid to be here, since on the first day you almost drowned?"
Despite the darkness, the boy stared at the water as if hypnotized.
"I can't explain it, Nadia, but I feel a strong connection to this place. Those floating ghosts… they're really intriguing."
The girl frowned, studying his face for a long moment.
"Why?" she started slowly. "Because you were Alan in a past life? Maybe back then this place was your sanctuary?"
Leon gave a bitter smile.
"I don't know… maybe."
Nadia felt like something inside him was beginning to change, though maybe it was just paranoia—Alicja kept repeating that something was wrong.
"Tell me, Nadia, do you really feel nothing? No special connection to this place? I know your roommate often mentioned it. Didn't it occur to you what it might mean?"
The sixteen-year-old shrugged.
"I'm sure it's about my parents. I'm their daughter, so it's normal I'm connected to this place. My grandmother too, since she was locked up here during the war."
Leon turned her face toward him.
"Are you sure, Nadia, that's all it is?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes. The girl felt a strange unease. "Or maybe something is pulling you here, and it's not just the fact your family was here?"
"What do you mean, Leon? Did Alicja tell you something more?"
"Do you want to know the truth?" He took her face in his hands, leaning closer. "Then I'll show you…" he whispered.
Her heart started pounding wildly. She felt as if he was about to kiss her, but then something changed. A devilish smile appeared on his face. He pushed her violently, throwing her into the pond.
As Nadia tried to get out, something dragged her down. Panic filled her lungs to their last drop of air, because even though she wasn't a medium, she saw two ghosts writhing around her. They looked delighted, enchanted by her presence.
If she could, she would scream underwater, but one of them grabbed her mouth.
The lack of air and terror caused visions to flood her mind. She didn't understand what was happening to her, but suddenly the image of a young General appeared before her eyes. The man, cold by nature, looked at her with laughing eyes and repeated one name:
"Hanna, my dearest Hanna… What am I to do with you, since you have sinned?"