Surrounded by the darkness of the past

Sara can't get to sleep. She keeps thinking about the photo she found in the underground, and Alan's reaction when he saw the General featured in the photograph. He was as surprised as she was, yet this sight must have shaken him more, as he bears an uncanny resemblance to the man. There is not much difference between them in appearance, only that Alan is blond, and his facial features are softer. However, comparing him to the person in the photo, it can be concluded that they look similar.

Sara is also concerned about why Alan is having nightmares related to the past. It's as if someone is strenuously trying to tell him something. In addition, she is concerned about the shape in the form of a swastika that was burned into her skin. Why did the ghost do something so cruel to her when moments later he showed his help? She doesn't understand any of this. She is afraid every day, not knowing what awaits her. In the underground lies the corpses of kids who have learned more than they should. Now she and Alan are also at risk, because when the teacher discovers the truth, they too will be in danger. There is no escape from here, so the chances of rescue are slim, to say the least. They find themselves trapped.

- Now that you have learned the truth, there is only one way for you to help us free ourselves from eternal suffering. - She hears a hoarse voice over her ear. Sara knows that as soon as dusk falls, she will appear again. The ghost of a woman who, like many other souls, wanders around the building, unable to find peace. They were murdered here, and their desire for revenge is so great that they can't leave. - You are our only hope, Sara. We are connected by blood ties, so you must exact revenge so we can leave here.

She opens her eyes wide and leans on her trembling hands. She rises to a sitting position. From the beginning, this woman has been appearing in her room, claiming that they are family. The first time she wasn't very polite and scared the girl to death, but the second time she said she would rather not hurt her. She just needs help so she can free herself and the other souls suffering here once and for all.

Sara doesn't know what she means, since she's no slayer, but her face is so frightening that she can't deny her words. She, as well as the other phantoms, give her goosebumps on her body. The whole thing is terrifying.

- What kind of revenge? - she asks quietly, fearing her answer. The phantom looks at her with a blank stare, so the girl feels her heart go up to her throat. With each passing moment, she is more and more frightened.

- You have to get rid of a boy who resembles the General. He is his grandson.

In the first moment, she freezes. She can't move. With terror in her eyes, she stares at the apparition, which does not take its eyes off her the entire time. She swallows her saliva harder and, despite her fear, shakes her head.

Is she telling her to kill a man? Does she want her to murder Alan?

No, it's just my sick imagination, he thinks, patting himself on the head. It can't be true. I just went crazy.

- You have to do it, Sara. Otherwise, we will take revenge on you," she says the words with clear anger, and the girl panics and throws a pillow at her.

The woman melts into the air.

She is so shaken that she does not control her behavior. At that moment, she probably looks like a madwoman, but no one sees her, of course, she thinks, until Laura speaks up:

- What's wrong with you? You are beginning to scare me.

The brunette mirrors her with her eyes. From her perspective it must indeed look strange, yet Sara herself no longer knows what is fiction and what is reality.

- Laura," she chokes out her name, not knowing what to answer. She has already laughed at her once when she confessed to her that she sees ghosts. She doesn't believe her, so how can she tell her the truth? - I just dreamed a nightmare.

- It didn't look like an ordinary nightmare, Sara. I was watching you the whole time. You actually see them, don't you? I was watching your face. - The roommate's statement surprises the teenager.

Laura is just starting to believe her.

- It's worse than you think," she whispers quietly, so the brunette gets out from under the bedclothes and goes to the girl. She sits down on the edge of the bed, watching her carefully.

- I can see that something is wrong. You and Alan are hiding something from us. There is something bad going on here, isn't there? I want to know the truth, can you tell me everything? - she asks cautiously, not taking her eyes off her. Puzzled, Sara blinks her eyelids, wondering how she may have believed her so suddenly. - Ever since Alan confessed that you found dead kids down there, I can't stop thinking about it.

The brown-haired woman steps off the bed and, with a trembling hand, uncovers an arm bearing a scorched mark. Laura opens her eyes wider.

Sara turns to face her.

- In the underground, a ghost did this to me. I don't understand why and if it's related to what's going on here, but I guess what this symbol means," she says quietly, looking at Laura. Her brave attitude suddenly disappears somewhere, and a frightened girl sits in front of her.

At this point, she doesn't resemble himself at all.

- The ghost burned a mark on your skin? - she asks in a trembling voice, to which Sara nods. Now she's the one showing more courage than her roommate, who acts like the terror of the corridors daily. - Do you know what it means?

- This is a swastika," she announces, and Laura opens her mouth. - Terrible things used to happen here, many people died. My guess is that all this took place during the war. They killed people, and I'm sure that this center was one such place where our compatriots went through a real hell.

Laura is trembling and rubbing her hands, as if trying to warm herself. Sara sees goosebumps appear on her skin.

She is not cold, she is afraid.

- Is it related to what is happening at the center?

- Yes, but I don't know what kind yet. Alan and I are trying to find out," she replies and sees a strange glint in her roommate's eye.

- These secrets seem to have brought you two closer together," she says unexpectedly, making Sara blush.

- You need to see something. - She brushes her off, not intending to talk about Alan. She is too embarrassed to bring up the subject. She'd rather keep it to herself than spread right, and left, how infatuated she is with him.

From under the bed, she takes out a photo, which she guards like an eye in her head. The only person who has seen the photograph is Alan. Her roommate may be mean, but when she needs her help, she always takes her side.

She hands her a photograph, and she glances at it and suddenly shakes out her eyes as she looks at the man in the picture. She shifts her gaze to Sara and blinks her eyelids, as if she can't believe her eyes.

- This is Reinchard Heydrich, who tortured and killed innocent people at that time. He is behind all the atrocities that took place here," she says, watching Laura's face as she stares at the photograph with her lips parted. - He is Alan's grandfather, that's why they are so similar. I just learned this from a ghost a while ago.

The brunette puts down the photo and looks at it carefully, as if trying to see if in a moment she will laugh and tell her it's just a joke.

- Did Alan see it?

- Yes. He was as confused as we were. However, he doesn't know who this man is to him, but he probably guesses that they are related, she replies.

Laura sits down on her bed.

- I think I learned too much for one time. Definitely too much," she claims, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

*

Sara expected that since she told Laura about everything, this information would also reach Simon. She doesn't resent it, since he is her best friend and she would rather not hide anything from him, but Sara wonders how come Matthew and Oliver also found out about it. Alan didn't squeak a word, so she guesses that this is also due to her roommate's overly long tongue.

The fact that Matthew and Simon found out everything doesn't bother her at all, but it's worse with Oliver. She is not fond of him, and now he has another reason to tease her. For two days she has listened enough to malicious remarks on his part while they were serving their sentence.

Once even Alan stood up for her when he accidentally heard Oliver teasing her. There was a sharp exchange of words between them, but Matthew defused the situation in a timely manner.

- Today is only the third day that we have cleaned up the dirt. I've had enough," purrs Laura sitting down on the rocking horse, which is her favorite toy. - You can't see the results at all. I'm sure they will extend our punishment.

- So get to work instead of forever grumbling," Oliver says, throwing her an angry look. - Your colleague is doing more than you, even though he shouldn't be here at all. I think he's got something wrong with his head if he's doing all the work for you.

- With your head it's you. You look down on everyone as if we were worthless bugs. I'm sure there's something wrong in your head," Laura bites back, to which Oliver smiles mischievously.

- Next time you leave our room don't forget your underwear, because I don't feel like looking at your pants," he whispers quietly, surreptitiously looking around to see if anyone heard it. He would rather not turn his friend in, because the fact that he is sleeping with Laura is a secret. - And get to work, princess.

Oliver walks past Sarah, the girl hopes he will let her go, but nevertheless he stops next to her, and leans against the shelf with his hand.

- Are there any invisible friends here? - He asks, but she does not honor him with a glance. She decides to ignore him. She hopes that this way he will stop teasing her. - In horror movies, girls usually have tea with them at a small table. You should try it. Maybe you will become friends.

- Oliver, I can hear you. Stop teasing Sarah. - Matthew's voice sounds on the other side. The brunet smiles half-heartedly, disregarding his friend's words.

- Just don't play hide and seek with them, because this game typically leads to tragedy. - Sara could have sworn that, for a moment, she noticed his eyes glazing over.

He wordlessly walks away.

It sounded as if he had bad memories associated with this game.

Someone stabs her in the hip with a finger. She turns around and feels her face blush when she spots Alan. The blond man is standing by a shelf, pretending to clean something, but she can see perfectly well that he wants to talk. It seems to her that he is not happy that the entire group serving their sentence knows about their secret.

- Sorry, I only told Laura. I didn't think she would tell the next people. - Alan nods and gets busy pulling things off the top shelf. Thanks to his help, she doesn't have to use the chair. She glances at him surreptitiously and smiles, which he catches her at. She quickly turns her face away and feels herself turning red. Her cheeks begin to burn, so she puts her cold hands to them, wanting to cool them down.

She is embarrassed.

The lights go out throughout the warehouse, and Sara gets a strange feeling that something bad is getting ready to happen. She hears a curse from Matthew's mouth, and a moment later an apologetic Laura, who stood on her toes.

Sara hears a noise coming from the other end of the room. She bites her lip in fear, having a strange feeling that the light did not go out accidentally.

Something is not right.

She finds Alan and grabs his hand. She digs her fingers into his skin.

The blond man places his hand on her palm, and the girl's attention is caught by a pale figure moving between the shelves.

- I can see them again. They are here," she whispers to Alan. Goosebumps appear on her body as she realizes that it's not one phantom, but more than a dozen. They circle among them, making her panic more and more with each passing moment.

- Calm down. You're trembling all over. Close your eyes and stop thinking about it," Alan prompts her. She closes her eyelids and tightens her lips, trying to stand it. This is hard, because she is even more afraid. She wants to see what they are doing and if they are close to her.

She shivers when she feels the cold on her skin. Furthermore, she feels as if the temperature in the room has dropped by several degrees.

She embraces Alan's hand more tightly.

- Kill the boy. - She hears a whisper right next to her ear, and vigorously opens her eyelids. In front of her floats a phantom with a terrifyingly massacred face. Her legs refuse to obey her. It's a good thing she's holding on to Alan's hand; otherwise she would have fallen to the floor.

- I won't do it," she whispers quietly, and feels the blond man's gaze on her despite the darkness. The ghost lets out a shrill squeal that makes her feel as if her head is about to explode. The pain is so unpleasant that she has to lay her head on his torso.

At that moment, she doesn't think about shame or what she's doing. She simply needs safety, even if Alan pushes her away. Fortunately, he doesn't, and additionally puts his arm around her.

- Kill the boy, otherwise you will know our wrath.

Then the light appears, and Sara uncertainly pushes her head away from Alan. She lifts her face and sees that he is watching her with clear concern in his eyes.

- Are you okay?

She shakes her head and feels tears gathering under her eyelids.

- It's getting worse and worse. I can't handle it anymore," she whispers, and then her attention is caught by Oliver, who looks at them.

Sara gets the impression that he is furious. Seeing that she has caught him, he turns his back on them and walks away in the opposite direction.