~Chapter 1~
Fascination
The sound of the doorbell reached Michał's ears. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door. He peered through the peephole—on the other side stood Aunt Krysia, Uncle Paweł, and the much-awaited guest—his cousin Marta, four years his senior. Michał locked the door and let the guests in, then returned to his room, waiting for Marta to enter. As she entered, Marta exclaimed, "
Michał, I saw a wonderful movie at the cinema!"
He made the remark casually, but the girl hadn't expected a different reaction:
"The point is, three people come to the town of Burkstville to film a documentary about a famous witch who used to kill children there. They set up camp, but they all die under mysterious circumstances. And the film is so suspenseful that... The most interesting thing about it all is that it's supposedly based on a true story...
" "Paranormal phenomena?" "This might be interesting!" her cousin asked.
He slid the keyboard out from under the desk and launched a web browser.
"What's the title of this movie?
" "The Blair Witch Project."
They looked through about a dozen websites about the Blair Witch. All of them were full of contradictory information. Some claimed the events were real, others claimed the film was a complete fabrication.
Curiosity consumed Michael; he couldn't bear the uncertainty, so he put on his shoes and left the apartment. He was walking to the library near his house.
He left his jacket in the cloakroom and headed for the popular science section.
UFOs, Psychology, Paranormal Phenomena, Magic... They're here! Witches! Finally, he found the section. He pulled out the title he was looking for—"Spine-Chilling Tales of Witches." He pulled out the page, hurriedly tossed it to the librarian, and ran out of the building.
He was so excited that he marched on, ignoring the pouring rain lashing his face and the wind howling through the yard.
Arriving home, he threw his jacket on the dresser and went into his room.
The thunder outside and the rain drumming on the windows created an atmosphere conducive to horror stories.
"The Witch of Burkowo, Joan of Arc, the Death Witch!" Michał read the chapter titles aloud. However, not a word about the Blair Witch.
"Let me look for it! You don't know anything about it!" Marta shouted, snatching the volume from his hand.
"The Witch of Burkowo, called the Polish Elly Kedward..." she began to quote the first chapter aloud, as a look of great surprise crossed her face. "Michał!" she said, feeling strangely pleased. "Elly Kedward is the Blair Witch's real name! If we can't find out about the Blair Witch, let's at least investigate her Polish counterpart!"
Michał's eyes widened in surprise. Suddenly, footsteps reached their ears. Aunt Krysia entered the room. On the threshold, with a soft light falling on her gaunt face, she looked like the Witch of Bytom.
"Okay, listen, little brats," she began in the tone she used to "talk some sense into them." "Your mother and I have decided (she pointed at Michał) that we need to go somewhere for the weekend. However, we can't agree on where to go on vacation, so we've decided that you should decide. "
Michał and Marta looked at each other, exchanging meaningful smiles, and replied in unison:
"...Burkowo."
~Chapter 2~
A Scream in the Night
It wasn't easy to convince their parents to let them spend one night in the Burkowo forest. Hours of negotiations and exceptional currying paid off, as their parents, albeit reluctantly, agreed. They even gave them a tent.
And now Aga (Michał's sister), Marta, and Michał found themselves alone at the edge of the forest, with only a backpack full of provisions, a compass, and a few other items essential for survival. And a forest map borrowed from the local library.
"So what now?" Marta asked, looking out into the endless forest.
"Shall we go forward?" Michał suggested hesitantly.
Aga unfolded the map and pointed to one of the marked points.
"How about here? It's the Death Rock. Apparently, that's where Hela Edward* sacrificed children.
" "Oooh, this could be exciting," Marta commented, and signaled for the rest of the group to follow her.
They had been walking for about three hours when they were more than halfway to the Death Rock. They were exhausted, so they set up camp by the lake.
Aga's watch read
1:34 PM...
They pulled out a wide sleeping mat, which would now serve as a blanket to prevent their bottoms from freezing on the cold grass. They pulled a couple of cheese and ham sandwiches from their backpacks and began devouring them with relish.
"Do you think this Hela could have really existed?" Aga began the conversation.
"She could have, but was she a witch?" Michał began to wonder aloud.
"You're talking nonsense!" Marta, who had been passively listening to the conversation until then, exclaimed indignantly. "If we hadn't believed in her, would we be here?
" "Poor children..." Aga deftly tried to change the subject.
Michał sighed. He felt as if he were one of those children himself. But after death...
He didn't have much time to think, as they were soon on their way again.
They arrived at their destination around 5 PM. The Rock of Death turned out to be a large stone standing in the middle of the river. It was surrounded by eleven smaller stones. As many as Heli Edward's victims...
The smaller boulders were flat, because, legend had it, the Witch placed children on them and brutally murdered them.
Everyone, as if on command, swallowed hard. A strange, mysterious atmosphere surrounded the place, and the air was filled with death. If you listened closely, you could hear the moans of the abused children. You could feel their gentle, innocent breaths filled with fear.
However, after a while, Michał, Marta, and Aga unanimously decided they had to climb the famous boulder and experience for themselves the atmosphere emanating from the epicenter of suffering.
The river was exceptionally calm, the water, knee-deep, gently lapping at their legs.
The boulder was full of ledges, so climbing it posed no problem even for the obese Michał. The top of the boulder was flat and wide enough for all three friends to easily fit on it.
Suddenly, a shiver ran down their spines. A feeling of Arctic cold enveloped them. Marta's eyes filled with terror.
"Look at this," she stammered, pointing at one of the points on the Boulder.
Michał leaned out from behind Aga and saw blood in front of Marta's feet—not the clotted kind, centuries old, but fresh, recently shed blood.
It was too much for the teenage psyche. They quickly ran down the Boulder, tripping over stones at the bottom of the stream and constantly choking on water.
The sun had set...
Luckily, they had left their backpacks and tents on the bank. Marta and Aga were to pitch the tent, while Michał was responsible for lighting a fire from nearby branches.
After a moment, with an armful of brushwood, Michał turned toward the working girls. The tent was almost pitched.
They spent the evening around the campfire chatting carelessly about nothing. Each tried to erase the memories of the Boulder of Death...
No one could sleep that night, but they didn't speak at all. Suddenly, a child's giggle reached their ears. Marta's blond hair stood on end, and she fixed her eyes on Aga. They froze in terror. They heard a terrifying scream...
~Chapter 3~
A witch?
"No child has ever left this forest—why should we survive?" This question had been nagging Michał since morning. Just at sunrise, they left the area around the Death Rock. Until then, they hadn't known what the scream they'd heard last night had been. Or maybe they didn't want to know...
Marta tried to distract herself from the dramatic events of the previous day. Only now did she notice how pretty eleven-year-old Aga was. Despite her boyish style of dress, she was very girlish—her short blond hair flowed gently in the wind, and her short blue shorts accentuated her shapely hips. But in reality, Marta resembled Aga, except for her curly hair.
"Where are we going?" Michał asked, bored with the aimless walk.
"Since, pretending to be brave, you've decided not to return home, we're going to the Landing Glade," Aga replied.
"Where?" Marta asked, surprised.
"Apparently, during World War II, Allied troops hid in the Burków forests. The Germans landed a platoon of their troops there to wipe them out. They disappeared without a trace," the boy quoted from the book.
"CENSORED!" Aga cursed.
The others looked at her in surprise. A tear fell from her eyes. She rolled up her sleeve and pointed to her watch...
It read 5:04 PM.
And the sun was just reaching its zenith...
"It's simply broken," Marta ignored her.
"You don't understand! I changed the batteries at the hotel in Burków!" she shouted through her tears.
Marta gritted her teeth. They had just realized that every step brought them closer to the end. Michał protectively embraced his sister. They had to go; they had no choice.
Soon, a vast clearing came into view, sparsely covered with trees. And under each tree... a skeleton, a naked skeleton.
Marta slowly approached one of them. The fear was so intense that she became indifferent; she decided she had nothing to lose. Suddenly, a silver object caught her eye. Marta already knew what it was—this object had appeared too often on television.
Suddenly, she heard a scream escape Michał's lips. Marta spun around and beheld a terrifying sight—a creature, partially skinned, with protruding muscles. It was a zombie straight out of a horror movie.
When Marta snapped out of her stupor, she bent down, picked up the magnum, and tossed it to Michał.
"Shoot him!" she screamed, terrified.
Michał repeatedly pulled the trigger. Nothing fired. "
It's a silver button on the back of a revolver!"
He did it... He fired... The zombie staggered back, but still headed for the boy...
He fired again... And again... Once again...
"Marta! What should I do?! He's still standing," panic spoke through him.
Marta made a cartwheel towards another skeleton. A more valuable item lay beside him...
She grabbed the machine gun, aimed, and fired a quick volley at the zombie. He fell and didn't get up again...
"He's down now," Marta replied coldly, but Michał saw a glint of desperation in her eye.
Aga knelt on the grass and burst into tears. Michał and Marta cautiously approached her.
"Was that a witch?" Aga asked the question everyone feared.
~Chapter 4~
Everything
They couldn't bear it anymore; they wanted to go back. They remembered they had come from the north, and another route led west. And now! The only way from here led south.
"This ancient forest has many paths?" Michael quoted from the book with a hint of horror in his voice.
The sun had set...
Despite their exhaustion, they decided to continue. Fear was stronger. They were exhausted, but they continued... south. They kept thinking they heard children laughing... Or maybe it was true...
Suddenly, Aga's sharp eyes spotted a white owl, its color standing out in the darkness of the night.
And Aga's watch
read 5:04 PM.
The white bird perched on Marta's shoulder and hooted, as if encouraging her to follow. It flapped its wings briskly, flew a few meters away, and perched on a branch.
The teenagers exchanged a meaningful look and followed the owl. They reached a strange cottage, surrounded by a small wooden fence.
And then the terrible experiences of the past few days and the exhaustion gathered within them. Sleep overtook them...
They woke up lying on soft animal skins. Michał rubbed his hand over his eyes and looked around the room they were in. Next to the bearskin on which Marta lay, stood a chest of drawers. On it stood a deep bowl and an apple. Michael didn't notice any other furniture in the room.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. A portly man, dressed in a linen tunic, entered. A red plume hung from his temple, pushing his black hair back. The man was a red-skinned man.
Marta and Aga rose, rested their weight on their forearms, and stared at the strange host. It was certain that it was he who had brought them here when they... Fell asleep? Fainted? Had they been bewitched? They didn't know this, and they sensed they would never learn the truth about the events of the last few days.
"Sit down," the host said coaxingly, "I need to talk to you."
All three rose and sat down on their skins. All three were trembling with fear and terror.
"Call me Injun," the red-skinned man began. "I am your ally in the fight for life." You're safe in this hut thanks to the magical protection of Ca-Kaik-Ahu.
"So what?! Are we supposed to hide from the Witch in this hut for the rest of our lives?" Fear spoke through Michael.
"Calm down," Marta reminded him. "What is this Ahu?
" "This!" The Indian reached into the bowl and pulled out an amulet no one had noticed before. The amulet resembled a human being.
"Only this one is more powerful than the one in Tlen's house.
" "Who?" Aga asked.
The Indian laughed condescendingly.
"You study the legend of the Witch, but you know nothing about him?" So he was a hermit living in the Burkina Faso forest. One day in 1921, he came down to town, announcing, "I'm finally finished."
The bodies of eight local children were found in his house. He said the ghost of an old woman told him to do it.
- Do you know - asked Michał suspiciously - What connects Hela Edward with Elly Kedward?
- Everything...
~Chapter 5~
Redemption
They had no other chance, only this could bring them redemption—visiting the epicenter of evil. And so they stood before a shabby, windowless house. Robert Tlen's house.
And Aga's watch
read 5:04 PM.
The Indian explained that what was eternity to them, in this forest, meant a single minute, and vice versa.
They crossed the threshold. They had no way of knowing that this house had burned to the ground 81 years ago.
Inside, they were greeted by cold and a musty smell. The small hallway had three exits: up, down, and straight ahead.
"In 'The Blair Witch Project,' Robert killed in the basement, so we'd better go upstairs."
That's what they did... They forgot this wasn't an 'IFV,' because here, Robert murdered upstairs...
He fell over. Three magnum rounds to the temple were enough, and he was down. A zombie in the form of a child... What did that Tlen do to them?!
Marta stood with the gun pointed at her body. Michał embraced Aga, who was sobbing and sobbing with terror.
"I'll kill you all, CENSORSHIP!" Marta screamed, trying to act brave. Her nerves couldn't take it. She curled up on the floor and began to sob uncontrollably.
And he had to save them. Go down to the basement and see. He didn't come back...
...He didn't come back empty-handed. He had an amulet that held an ancient evil within the entire forest. But neither the colorful knife from their backpack nor the lighter wanted to destroy it (the amulet). And then he noticed it—a bowl identical to the one in the Indian's house.
"Since he took it out, I'll put it in," he thought, and did. Nothing. But faith works miracles. He heard footsteps behind him. Moans. Another zombie. Michał didn't have time.
"I adjure you by God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, depart! "
A golden light fell upon the amulet.
There was no longer a house, no zombies, only a forest bathed in golden sunlight, and they stood among a group of cheerfully laughing children. Spirits of children. One of them—a radiance in the shape of a tiny girl—approached them.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, our souls can now go to heaven, not wander the Earth." And they rose into the sky... Tears of joy welled up in the heroes' eyes.
There was no longer a dark forest with countless unexplored paths. There was only a bright forest with a single path leading to the exit.
The teenagers set off, wanting to forget and enjoy life. During their one-day journey, only one thing disturbed their peace—they found the body of a dead Indian. He simply knew too much, had helped them too much to be able to exist. Even Ca-Kaik-Ahu hadn't helped him. But he died before Michał even cursed evil...
There was no end to the greetings and tears of joy. The parents feared their children would never return.
When the parents herded Marta and the others into bed, Aunt Krysia shouted,
"Kids, go to sleep. It's already 9:12 p.m.
And Aga's watch is on."
It showed 21:12.
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