Surrounded by the darkness of the past

The meeting of the director during curfew from the beginning does not bode well. Sara expects that they will get a corresponding punishment. And when it comes down to it, it turns out that they have to clean out the entire warehouse in which there are unnecessary junk belonging to the building. The room is huge, so the girl does not count on a quick cleanup of these things. She guesses that it will take them a long time, even if there are five of them.

As soon as they enter the warehouse, a quiet moan comes out of their mouths.

Only Laura curses loudly, not hiding her anger. She doesn't even care that there is a teacher behind them. She doesn't care about her good image and doesn't intend to change at all.

- You have three, long hours ahead of you, which you will use to clean the place thoroughly. When I return to you, I want to see the results. Within a week, this place is supposed to shine, so you'd better not slack off. Unless you prefer to prolong your punishment," the woman declares, mirroring them with her eyes. Her gaze lingers a moment longer on Laura, who is sitting on a rocking horse and yawning loudly.

- I wonder where such things come from here. Does the director like toys? Maybe they are sex toys? - she asks boldly, looking at the object. - You can certainly have fun with it in some way," she adds, trying to get his head off.

- This is your field, so you should know best," Oliver interjects bitingly, at which the girl throws him an angry look.

- I advise you to behave appropriately. You are supposed to clean up here, not play games," the teacher announces, and then throws them a contemptuous glance. When she leaves, Laura shows her tongue and gets down from the rocking horse.

- Not only are we after so many lessons, but they also make us clean up the mess.

- You know the rules," Oliver says sternly, but the girl disregards his words. She walks past him without even honoring him with a glance. He disappears behind the shelf where Alan had wandered a moment earlier, and Sara feels a stab of jealousy.

Without a word, she moves in that direction, but is stopped by Oliver, who unexpectedly appears in front of her, not allowing her to pass. He looks carefully at the girl, crossing his arms over his chest. A mocking smile appears on his face.

She wants to elude him, but he does not allow her to do so.

She has done nothing wrong to him, and yet he has been spiteful toward her since the beginning.

- It is also possible that there are dead bodies here? Are you going to go look for them? Let me accompany you," he says sarcastically, so the teenager admonishes him with a glance. She wonders if he is trying to be funny this way, because his thinking is definitely different from the others. - Maybe you attract them in some way? Be careful that they don't turn into bloodthirsty zombies.

- If this happens, I will notify you right away. Usually, the first people to die during a threat are malicious assholes," she replies, which comes to her tongue, and she doesn't regret it at all.

She decided that she would stop letting herself be pushed around; otherwise, she would always be a pushover again. Possibly, she won't change her character, but at least she'll try to be braver. After all, she can't spend her whole life being like a frightened kitten who curls up at every blow she takes. It's time to learn to defend herself and stop suppressing her pain.

The brunet laughs quietly, which surprises her. This is the first time she sees his sincere smile. However, the boy rapidly returns the mask of indifference to his face.

She learned from Matthew that Oliver has been hurt by his family more than others, hence his cool behavior. This is his way of trying to unwind, but he shouldn't be pushing his peers away, quite the opposite.

The teenager doesn't know exactly what happened to him, but having friends around is the best way to forget the pain. If the girl's character allowed her to make friends easily and if she could get along well with people, she would certainly struggle to have as many friends as possible. Oliver attracts peers to him, but because of his despicable behavior, they move away from him.

- Laura, where are you? I think I need to have a short chat with you. - She watches Matthew, who evades them and disappears behind the shelf where the other two are staying. After a moment, he pulls the brunette from there and forcibly drags her to the back of the room. Laura pretends to resist, but you can see the smile on her face. She can't stay mad at him.

Matthew pushes the girl against the wall, preventing her from leaving. Laura swallows her saliva harder, surprised by his behavior. She has to admit that it is appealing, but she does not know his intentions. After all, he does not give her any sympathy because of some misunderstanding that happened quite recently. She knows she can't count on what she wants most.

- You did it deliberately, didn't you? - he asks unexpectedly, not taking his eyes off her. A slight smile appears on Laura's face. She has no idea what he's thinking about, but when he's angry, he looks sexy.

- It depends on what you're talking about," she whispers in a seductive voice, looking at his full lips from a close distance. Matthew gently jerks her, and she opens her eyes wider, surprised by his behavior.

- About last night. You purposely doused yourself with that drink, didn't you? You knew you'd look sexy that way. - A smile appears on her face. She bites her lip and Matthew squints his eyes like an angry cat. - You're doing it again. You're trying to seduce me because you know it works. Because of you, I couldn't sleep. All night thinking about how you made me want you.

- And did I make it? - she asks quietly, feeling Matthew moving closer and closer to her. At one point he clings to her with his body, and their faces begin to divide by centimeters. She feels his warm breath on her skin. Laura wants to touch his cheek, but the boy grabs her hands and pushes her against the wall so that she doesn't make any moves.

- If you hadn't done that, at that moment I certainly wouldn't be so close to you," he replies, and she smiles cocky. Matthew captures her chin, poking his fingertips into her cheeks, and Laura moves restlessly. - Do you want me so much that you will do anything to make what you dream about happen?

- Try to go further, and you will see," she whispers, looking into his eyes. The boy embraces her around the waist and presses her tighter against him. He leads her to a low cabinet and plants her on it, bestowing kisses. Laura tilts her head back, satisfied that she has finally succeeded in fulfilling what she has long desired. She knows it's only a matter of time until Matthew falls into her grasp.

*

Sara curiously leans out from behind the shelf, trying to get a sneak peek at what Matthew and Laura are doing in the back of the warehouse, especially since it's too quiet. They should be arguing, since the boy didn't look happy when he led her there. However, she hopes Matthew didn't do anything wrong to her, because watching dead people is going out of her mind.

- What are you looking out for? - Alan leans over Sara, looking in the same direction as her. She blinks her eyelids in surprise when she sees how close his face is. The blonde perceives that she is abashed, so he moves away from her. The girl feels herself blushing.

She thought she had already fought it off, but the too-close proximity between them leads her to be embarrassed.

- Nothing of the sort. - She sees that the cleaning man, Oliver, surreptitiously glances in their direction.

The teenager hisses as she feels the piercing pain on her arm again. Yesterday when she went to take a shower in the mirror she noticed a scar. It resembles a scorched mark.

She has no idea what the phantom did to her, but her skin hurts terribly, as if she was burned. She hasn't told anyone about it, not even Alan. He's the one she can trust the most in this case, since they've been through this together, however, confessing to him that she's seeing ghosts and flashes from the past might burn her on the spot. She doesn't want to lose in his eyes.

Someone enters the warehouse. At first, he thinks it's a teacher to check on him, but is relieved when he spots Simon. The blond man looks around the room, probably looking for his friend.

- Laura! - she shouts, and a noise comes from the back of the warehouse. The brunette comes running from there with a wide smile on her face. - Why are you so happy? - She puts her arm around him and leads him to the other end of the room, not letting him turn around.

- Do any of you smoke? Simon is such a sweetheart that he fixed cigarettes. - Laura walks back toward them after a while. Oliver snorts under his breath, so the brunette shows him the middle finger. Fortunately, the boy doesn't see it, because he is standing with his back to her, and knowing his nasty character he could make her uncomfortable.

- I smoke, but weed," jokes Matthew.

Simon looks at him with visible disgust. This is probably due to the jealousy that is caused by Laura's affection for this boy. Simon would do anything for her, and not just because he is her friend. This is about something more.

- Piggy, maybe, but how relaxing. - Alan shakes his head disapprovingly.

- I know a better way to stress; at least it's healthy," announces Matthew. The girl throws him a warning look, so Simon looks at them suspiciously.

The skin is starting to burn the teenager in one place again, so she walks away from them, hiding behind a rack of cardboard boxes. Her attention is caught by a large mirror, standing against the wall. It is slightly cracked, but one can easily look into it.

She walks up and exposes her arm. She has a burnt mark, which symbolically resembles a swastika.

Furthermore, she tears her gaze away from her arm when she notices Alan in her reflection, who is also looking at the symbol on her skin. Shocked, he moves his gaze to her face, and she quickly covers her arm. The blond man comes closer, so Sara swallows her saliva harder.

She has no choice but to tell him the truth, even if he thinks she's crazy.

- Things look worse than you thought. There's something I didn't tell you," she announces uncertainly as the boy looks at her closely. She turns to face him, then continues. - You may take me for a crazy person, but I've been seeing ghosts for some time now. That sign, that's what one of them did to me yesterday, there in the tunnels," she adds more quietly, watching his reaction. She thinks he will burst out laughing and say she is abnormal, but he also looks concerned.

- I may not see ghosts, but since I've been here, I've been having strange nightmares every night. Realistic dreams, as if they were excerpts from the past. Cruel scenes," he utters in a whisper, and Sara opens her mouth. - That swastika on your shoulder.... in these dreams I often see it. I see it on the uniform of the man who is the perpetrator of this terror. I get the impression as if someone is strenuously trying to tell me something....

She opens her eyes wide when she remembers the photograph she found in the tunnels. She doesn't want anyone to find the photo, so she carries it with her. This is the right time to show it to Alan as well.

She takes a photograph out of her pocket and hesitantly hands it to the blond man.

- I found this in the underground yesterday," she says in a trembling voice, waiting for his reaction. The boy looks at the photo, and then she gets the impression that he freezes instantly. His eyes widen. He is as confused as his accompanying friend.