All right. Here's **Chapter 25: Who's Coming Down the Stairs?**—long, full, dark, and atmospheric, just like the previous ones. --

 

# **Chapter 25: Who's Coming Down the Stairs?**

The library stairs creaked under the weight of someone—or something—slowly, step by step, approaching the basement. The silence in the narrow corridor was so thick it seemed to choke the air. The flashlight trembled in the commissioner's hand, its light jumping across the old bricks like a lost luminescent worm.

Argo stood before Jakub, tense as a steel wire, growling so low that the sound rose to an almost menacing growl.

Radecki took a half step back. His face was paler than the paper used in his library.

"It's impossible..." he whispered.

Jakub didn't take his eyes off the stairs.

“Who… or what… could this *impossible* be?” he asked sharply.

The director didn’t answer.

Because a figure emerged from the darkness at the top of the stairs.

First—a hand. Emaciated. Dirty. The fingers trembled, as if walking on air, not steps.

Then an arm. Shoulders hunched, like those of someone carrying a burden greater than their own life.

Finally—a face.

Jakub held his breath.

It was… a man. Older, though it was difficult to judge his age. His face was covered with scars. His eyes—empty, cloudy, as if nothing remained in them. His clothes—washed out, long out of fashion.

But worst of all was his mouth.

They moved soundlessly, as if he were trying to utter words he couldn’t express.

Radecki covered his mouth with his hand.

“God…” he whispered.

Jakub looked at him hard.

“You know him.” The director squeezed his eyes shut.

"He... shouldn't be alive."

The man on the stairs stopped. He placed his hand against the wall, as if the descent required a superhuman effort.

Argo's barking grew increasingly fierce, but he didn't move forward. He felt all too well that this creature... was not ordinary.

Jakub raised his flashlight higher.

"Who are you?" he called.

The figure stirred. It slowly turned its head, as if the movement required great patience.

And then—she whispered.

Barely audible. As if the words were torn from the wind.

"Oh... nothing... don't... ask..."

Jakub felt a chill creep under his skin.

Familiar words.

Words that had appeared in one of the letters found in the box.

"**If you're reading this... don't ask anything**."

"It's impossible," the commissioner whispered.

Radecki began to shake.

"He... died thirty years ago. This... this can't be him..."

The figure took another step.

Then the flashlight fell on his chest—on a metal plaque sewn to an old, worn shirt.

The letters were worn, but still legible:

**ANDRZEJ KAMIŃSKI**

Jakub held his breath.

"That name from the letters..." he whispered. "The author."

Radecki stumbled back, his back hitting the cold wall.

"Andrzej is dead! He's dead!" he exclaimed. "I was at the body identification! It was him! This... this has to be someone else!"

Jakub raised a hand, signaling silence.

"If it really is Mr. Kamiński... how did he end up here?"

The figure raised his head.

Eyes—dull. Skin—sallow. As if… as if the man they saw here shouldn't be walking the earth anymore.

Hands clenched into fists.

Mouths whispered:

"*You've forgotten… about me…*"

Argo barked loudly and wildly, as if trying to chase away a ghost.

Radecki began to shake more and more.

"He was following me!" he exclaimed. "He always followed me! He knew that… that…" He suddenly stopped, clutching his head as if overwhelmed by something invisible. "He knew! He knew everything!"

Jakub shot him a look.

"What did he know?"

Before the director could answer, Andrzej Kamiński took the final step and stood at the very bottom of the stairs.

He stood facing them.

Quiet, trembling. Empty.

As if time had stopped above him.

And then…

He fell to his knees.

Jakub took a step forward.

“Please don't come any closer!” Radecki shouted, but it was too late.

The figure looked up.

Eyes—dull. But now… livelier. As if something had been activated.

Hands rose. Trembling. Pointed at the commissioner.

“*Please… stop him…*” he whispered with difficulty.

Jakub felt a wave of adrenaline course through his body.

“Who?”

Kamiński raised a trembling finger.

He pointed at… Radecki.

The director took a step back, stumbling.

“No! He's lying! This… is delusional! He hated me! He always hated me!”

Another shiver shook the figure.

“*He… killed… them… all…*”

Jakub looked at Radecki.

The director stood still.

Eyes wide.

His face was as pale as chalk.

As if the mask he'd worn for thirty years had finally fallen from him.

And then Argo barked… unlike usual. Not in warning.

Just… triumphant.

As if he'd just caught the scent of truth.

And then Radecki took off running.

--

**End of Chapter 25**

Want **Chapter 26: The Underground Chase and the Revealing of the Truth?**

I can continue now.