Angel of Death

Justyna opened her eyes. She saw, as she did every morning, a slightly grayish, dirty ceiling, crawling with all sorts of insects you could find in an apartment. Justyna always watched them with curiosity. Most likely because, try as she might, she couldn't imagine being one. Scientists had long ago discovered that these creatures (animals) didn't have souls, and their personalities were merely survival instincts bestowed upon them by God.

The girl closed her eyes again and rolled over. She kicked the duvet to the floor, and only when she started to feel cold did she get up and go to the bathroom to change. She passed the kitchen so quickly that she only caught a glimpse of a note on the refrigerator. She didn't feel like going back to read it, though. She decided to change first. In the bathroom, she pulled off her nightgown in one swift movement, then tossed it onto the pile of dirty clothes waiting in line for the washing machine. Naked and shivering from the cold, she stood before a mirror larger than herself, gazing into her pale face. At one point, she even approached the mirror and touched it with her hand, as if to be drawn into a world of dreams and fantasies. However, her eyes didn't seem happy at all. On the contrary, they looked sad and soulless. As if Justyna were merely an android, devoid of any emotion. She turned her head slightly to the side. Seeing the spots on her body (caused by the cold), she turned away from the mirror and began dressing. She put on white corduroy pants and a cotton T-shirt with a smiling angel motif, then turned off the light and went to the kitchen. There, she also examined the note she'd noticed earlier. It was a letter from her parents, saying they'd be home late. Justyna crumpled it and threw it in the trash. She opened the refrigerator, took out a carrot, peeled it thoroughly, washed it, and finally popped it in her mouth. She glanced at the clock. It was seven fifty-five. The girl grabbed the backpack she'd packed the night before, put on her jacket, and ran out of the house, closing the door tightly behind her. She set off toward school, still chewing on the carrot. As if for fun, she snapped her fingers. She walked slowly, not looking around. She knew this landscape very well, after all. She knew when she was passing a gate, behind which stood a motionless dog, its jaw agape, and when she was passing an old woman's house, where two cats, a brown one and a black one, always sat on the porch at this hour, watching people pass by. Of course, they never even twitched their tails while doing this, as if hoping Justyna would mistake them for statues. But it wasn't their fault.

Let's leave the motionless animals behind and return to Justyna, who had soon reached the school. Entering the building, she snapped her fingers again and, without changing her shoes, slipped into the hallway. She had barely reached the classroom where the next lesson was to be held when a classmate called out to her cheerfully:

"As usual, you arrive just in time for the bell!

" "Hi," Justyna replied, smiling brightly, "has the priest arrived yet?

" "No, not yet, but he'll surely grace us with his presence soon.

" "How nice," she sneered.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a priest appeared from behind Justyna. The girls waved him through, greeting him with "God bless you," and then entered the classroom. Justyna and Monika stood at their desks, joined their hands in prayer, and together with the entire class, they said the Our Father, looking directly at the cross hanging on the wall above the blackboard. Then they crossed themselves and sat down in their seats. Throughout the lesson, they listened intently to the priest, who spoke on the subject of satanic possession and the influence of satanic music on young people. It was one of the most interesting lessons the priest had ever given the class. Strangest of all, everyone listened intently. This was likely due to the fact that strange things had been happening in the city where they lived recently. Most people believed that Satan himself had a hand in it. Could such a high-born person have come all the way here for such a trivial reason? To this tiny town like Częstochowa? It's unlikely, but it doesn't mean it's not true... But wait! The question is! Would Satan himself want to be near Jasna Góra...? And one more thing – what are those who don't believe in God, let alone Satan supposed to say? No, it couldn't be him?

Karolina had just returned from church when, no sooner had she entered her apartment, she heard a sound so familiar to her. She quickly took off her coat and shoes and ran to the room where she'd left her cell phone. The phone was no longer ringing, meaning Karolina had only received a text message. She picked up the small device, pressed a button, and was already reading the message: "

Karolina, I just sent you something really cool. Check your mail as soon as possible, and maybe we'll meet again on Gadu Gadu. Best regards, Madzia."

As soon as she finished reading, she put her phone on the desk and, with a single leg movement, turned on her computer. She was very curious to see what her friend could have sent her. With a deft flick of her wrist, she pressed a button on the monitor and speaker, which activated both. Soon, a blue desktop appeared on the screen, displaying several icons. She opened Outlook, connected to the internet, and then opened Gmail to check if her friend was still online. A moment later, her email downloaded automatically, and she was able to talk to Magda, who, as it turned out, was still online. The girls greeted each other and began a conversation. The email had already downloaded, so Karolina was about to disconnect from the internet. But just then, she saw a white rectangle at the bottom of the screen, announcing that someone wanted to chat with her on Gmail. She clicked on it, and the rectangle expanded to the size of the conversation between the friends.

"Will you honor me with a conversation?"

The girl wasn't surprised by this start, as she often began her own conversations in a similar way. She quickly replied,

"Of course, if only I can find a suitable reason." J

"I can give you thousands of them...

" "Really? Name at least a few, so I know I'm not wasting my time...

" "The first and most important is that I can fulfill your deepest dream...

" "...But only on one condition..." ;P Thank you so much for such offers, but I receive similar ones every day, so I'm tired of them.

" "This one is different from the ones you've heard before, because there are no conditions, and you can make any wish you want...

" "Are you a goldfish then? I'd like you to be in my aquarium." J

"If that's your wish..."

At that very moment, the stranger disconnected from the internet. Karolina heard a strange sound behind her and turned around. Suddenly, the girl screamed so loudly that her terrified parents rushed into the room. The aquarium on her desk was shaking strangely. The fish, as surprised by this event as their owners, peered through the glass with terrified eyes, if such a thing could be. Karolina's mother clutched her head, her husband held her to prevent her from fainting, and their daughter couldn't move in fear. The aquarium looked as if it was about to explode... Suddenly, white foam appeared inside, the glass began to shatter, the household heard a loud bang, and before they could do anything, the aquarium shattered into a thousand pieces. The entire scene lasted only a minute, but for Karolina, it seemed immeasurably longer. Now the girl was kneeling on the floor, moaning in pain. Shards of glass had pierced her body, just as they had her parents. Blood was seeping from her arm, several places on her legs, and from her stomach. She looked at her mother. She was unharmed because Karolina's father had already tucked her in his arms in case she fainted. Which happened just as the glass exploded. He, however, had his back and legs completely scarred. The entire room was covered in the corpses of colorful fish. One of them was even lying on Karolina's father's head.

The girl tried to get up, but a searing pain in her leg made her give up. Her father couldn't move either. Only then, revived by her husband, did her mother go to the phone, even though her legs were wobbling, and called 911. When the ambulance arrived, no one asked Karolina how it had happened. They simply put them in the ambulance and took them to the hospital without asking any questions.

Meanwhile, the next day, the school was abuzz with rumors about the incident. Justyna also listened with great interest to her friends, who were telling all sorts of outlandish stories...

"I'm telling you," Dagmara began, "it's probably some ghost wanting revenge..."

"Sure, and I'm a holy angel," Monika interrupted her friend.

"I think someone could have broken into their house, taken the valuables, and smashed the aquarium to prevent them from calling the police!

" "What are you talking about! Nothing's missing! And there's no doubt about that, because I heard it from a confidential yet reliable source!" Jola said.

"I wonder who this source is that you're talking about so nicely?

" "Hey, but how much do we actually know for sure?" asked Justyna, who had been listening to this conversation for a moment. The girls looked at each other. Suddenly, silence fell, like a cemetery... if I may put it that way, of course. Only after a moment did Magda speak up:

"I can tell you something that's certain...

" "What?" asked several voices at once.

"Before it happened..." Magda lowered her voice. "I sent Karolina a text message telling her to get online as soon as possible...

" "And what next?" one of the girls asked.

"Do you know how it happened?" another asked.

"A moment later, Karolina was on Gadu Gadu." Magda continued her story, ignoring her friends' questions. "We started talking, as usual. Then she wrote that she was also talking on Gadu Gadu with some man who seemed strange to her...

" "And how long did it take? I mean, did he have time to get to her house?

" "She wrote that he started writing something about a wish that he supposedly would fulfill..." Magda paused, but after a moment of prodding from her friends, she finished. Then she didn't write anything more, even though I waited a long time...

" "Really? So it has something to do with that stranger? He's definitely some scoundrel, he probably broke into her house and smashed the aquarium!

" "Don't talk nonsense! Then Magda would have to know something about it!"

"And why is that?

" "Because Karolina was also talking to her on IG, in case you've forgotten. And she was telling her what she was talking about with that stranger, so if she'd given him her address, she probably would have told her too, right?

" "You're right, maybe you are! But you can't deny that Karolina had to write everything to Magda! Maybe she was ashamed to admit some of the details?

" "No..." Magda interjected. "Karolina wrote everything down for me as she went along; they wouldn't have had time to write anything more in that time...

" "Maybe you're right..." her friend admitted.

The girls would probably have continued talking for a long time, but the bell rang and they had to go to class. Justyna quietly entered the classroom and took her seat. Monika sat down next to her, her expression suggesting deep thought. The professor began the lesson as usual, in the most ordinary way – by writing the topic on the board. Everyone immediately copied it into their notebooks, and the teacher began to explain the given topic aloud. The lesson that day was about Jan Kochanowski's songs, but the students, unusually, did not participate. Only at the end of the lesson did Justyna raise her hand. The professor asked her if she would like to speak. The girl nodded.

"Jan Kochanowski's songs contain many stoic and epic thoughts, and he also mentions capricious fortune, fickle fate, and an almighty God who laughs at human worries. He writes that after suffering comes a smile, just as the sun rises after night and day comes. However, Jan Kochanowski, after the death of his dearest daughter, doubted God and his own beliefs. He discovered that true wisdom cannot be acquired. This was the truest truth, which is now being fulfilled daily before our eyes. So let us love the merciful God and praise His name above the heavens, Amen."

As she spoke the last word, Justyna smiled at her classmates. After this beautiful speech, accompanied by an extraordinary silence, the bell rang again, and everyone left the room.

It was already evening. Jola had finished her homework and was relaxing on the couch with a book in her hand when the phone suddenly rang. Her parents were watching a movie and didn't feel like moving, so she decided to be a good girl and get up. She went to the phone and picked up the receiver. She heard a familiar, pleasant voice.

"What are you doing?

" "Actually, I started reading out of boredom...

" "Not bad, I guess you really must have nothing to do."

"Well, you're right about that, although the book isn't bad at all...

" "So, maybe you'll go out on the town? We'll be at the "Pod gałązką" pub in half an hour. So?

" "Hmm... I don't know, I'll try to pop in, but I'm not promising anything."

"Okay! So we'll wait!"

Beep, beep, beep... Her friend hung up the phone. Jola did the same, then went to her room to ask her parents if she could leave. They didn't mind, though she wasn't sure if they even heard what she was asking... She grabbed some clean clothes from the closet and went to the bathroom to change. She slipped into black tights, a matching skirt, a red T-shirt, and a black denim jacket. She combed her long, blond curls and tied them with a red ribbon. She said goodbye to her parents ("I wonder if they even noticed me?" she thought as she left the house) and a moment later she was walking briskly toward the "Pod gałązką" pub. As soon as she entered, she saw familiar faces somewhere on the other side of the premises. She quickly walked past several tables, pushed her way through the crowds looking for a seat, and finally joined her friends.

"Hey there!" she said.

"Oh! You're finally here!" We thought you wouldn't come!" Magda said.

"Well, I'm only a few minutes late! What do you expect from me?!

" "You'd better sit down!" Gośka said.

"Okay, okay," Jolka smiled, then sat down in the empty chair next to Dagmar.

"So, what were we talking about?" Magda asked.

"Hmm... I think it's about the harmful effects of computers... My brother can't take his eyes off us..." Gośka said.

"Well, what can I say! I have two, and both are always taken! Strangely enough, my brother flew somewhere yesterday and they were free... but I don't need both myself!" Magda said.

So the conversation heated up in earnest, and Jola joined in. But then Gośka decided she needed to use the restroom, so Magda went with her because why go alone ("What are you talking about!? We shouldn't go alone! Not even to the restroom!") when we can do it together? The conversation was interrupted, and just as it was picking up speed again, a waiter approached their table and asked Jola to use the phone. This surprised the girls, as no one knew she was there. She had told her parents, but it seemed to her they couldn't hear... or rather, they weren't listening. In any case, she got up and went to the phone.

"Hello?" she said.

"Good evening," a deep, male voice answered.

"Excuse me, but who am I talking to?" She hoped it wasn't her dad or someone in the family; it would be a shame not to recognize...

"My name won't mean anything to you, but I'd like you to tell me what your wish is."

"What? What wish? Who are you?"

"A simple wish, anything," the male voice replied calmly, completely ignoring the question of his personality.

"In that case, I'd like to know who you are," Jolka replied angrily, but then...

"If that's what you want..." she heard the stranger's name.

"Is it true what they say?!?" Monika asked Gosia the next day at school.

"What are they saying?" her friend asked in a trembling voice.

"What do you mean? They say you were at the pub, Jolka was called to the phone, and when she didn't come back for a long time, you went to check on her and..." Monika suddenly stopped, as Gosia began sobbing loudly. "Come on! Don't cry, it's not your fault..."

"What, it's not ours?! And who dragged her to that pub, right?! Damn it, it's my fault!" Magda suddenly interjected. However, there were no tears in her eyes, only clenched fists, most likely not from anger but from regret. "You shouldn't have called..." She stopped mid-sentence, however, as if unwilling to continue, clenching her fists even tighter, and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Maybe you'll say you knew you were dragging her straight to death, huh?" Justyna asked slowly, looking intently at Magda, who immediately lowered her head. It looked like she had started crying.

"But is it true that you saw her still standing by the phone, only... dead?" Monika asked sadly.

"Yes," someone answered from behind them. The girls turned; it was Dagmara, standing behind them, her eyes red from crying. "When we found her, she was still standing, but she was cold, stiff, and her face expressed terror. As if she had died of fear...

" "Terrifying," Monika said.

"But..." Justyna hesitated. "Who could have killed her? Who knew she was there? After all, if she wasn't a random victim, as that's a possibility, then it must have been planned, and if so, by whom?

" "What do you mean, 'random victim'?" Dagmara asked.

"Well, if, for example, someone was sitting in a restaurant thinking about who to kill, and unfortunately, it happened to be Jola, then that's a random victim," Justyna explained.

"But how did he know her name? He must have known her! He could have followed her all the way to the house..." Magda stated fearfully.

"He could have heard her name. You were probably talking loudly; I've never witnessed a quiet conversation between you two, my dears," Justyna said, a tiny, mocking smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"It's possible..." Gosia confirmed, wiping her eyes, tears refusing to stop flowing.

"But of course, she didn't have to be a random victim," Monika added. "Let's consider that Karolina's aquarium and now this... Maybe someone targeted our group?

" "Maybe, but I hope not..." Dagmara replied, her face paling.

"First of all, I'd like to know how she died... young girls don't die of fear," Justyna stated, frowning.

The girls' thoughts were interrupted by the bell. Now they had math. Justyna and Monika sat down at the last desk, but despite the teacher's warnings, they somehow couldn't concentrate on the lesson. They kept wondering about what had happened to their friends. Justyna occasionally bit her lip and scratched her head as if searching for answers. Monika was drawing something on the back of her notebook. When her friend unexpectedly looked over her shoulder, it turned out they were eyes. Eyes lying on the ground, eyes bulging from their faces, eyes with a terrified expression... None of them were listening to the teacher. Most likely, no one in the entire class was. Everyone was intrigued by recent events. Everyone hoped the same thing wouldn't happen to them...

Dagmara pushed open the door and entered the apartment. Her parents weren't home yet, of course. They worked late and never had time for her. That's why she had no rules or regulations. She did whatever she wanted, even though her parents wouldn't always be happy with it. But they didn't know that. They never asked for anything, weren't even interested in her grades. Today, however, she didn't feel like going out. She felt a distinct need to hide in a closet and wait for the police to catch the man who had attacked her friends. On the other hand, she didn't want to be alone. She would have been happy if her parents had arrived earlier. But they didn't feel the same need at all. Quite the opposite. She found a note on the refrigerator saying they'd be back later. Dagmara wandered into the kitchen and began to wonder what to cook. At least she'd learned that much thanks to her parents' constant absences. She was a great cook. But what could she do? She suddenly felt the urge to bake a cake.

"Maybe apple pie?" she wondered aloud.

So she started taking out all the ingredients for the sideboard, turned on the oven to preheat, and began preparing the cake. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ring. She ran to the window. She saw a familiar face, felt refreshed, and rang the bell. Her friend came in, and she felt happy that she didn't have to sit here alone anymore. That she hadn't thought of calling someone sooner! She walked into the hallway and let her friend in.

"I was thinking maybe it would be more fun with just the two of us, since there's no one else at my place,

surprisingly." "At your place? You said you'd give anything for a moment of peace!" Dagmara said, surprised.

"Well, yes, but when I don't need a moment of peace, they left me alone out of spite... And since I knew you were usually alone, I dropped in. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No, no, I'm actually very happy, because the silence was really starting to bother me." I'm making a cake right now, do you like apple pie?

- Yum! When will it be ready?

- Well, not anytime soon, because then you still have to wait for it to cool...

- It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry today!

Dagmara was mixing the ingredients when she suddenly noticed something was missing.

- Damn it! - she said.

- What's the matter?

- I'm missing one ingredient! And I didn't notice it before, and now it's gone, I have to go to the store!

- What do you need? - asked the guy, looking intently at the girl's face.

- Baking powder! Stupid baking powder! - Dag shouted indignantly.

"If that's what you want..." the guy whispered so quietly that Dagmara didn't hear, and the girl pulled baking powder out of her bag. "I bought it because Mom wanted to make a cake tomorrow, but at most I'll buy it again when I get back," she said, handing her friend the package of baking powder.

"Really?" Dagmara smiled as she saw her friend nod. "Thanks!"

She took the powder from her friend, opened it, and poured it into a bowl. She mixed everything with a mixer, poured the mixture into a cake pan, and put it in the oven.

"Now we just have to wait!" she said, pleased with herself.

She didn't wait passively; she kept talking. From time to time, she glanced at the oven. When she decided she should take the cake out, she pulled the oven door, and then suddenly heard a bang and felt a terrible pain... And then she stopped feeling at all.

The school was buzzing with gossip. All the girls were still walking in groups, as if afraid someone would suddenly jump out at them from around the corner. Only Justyna and Monika hid in a corner, as if unaware of what had happened to their friends. They behaved as usual. The students even began to look at them suspiciously, but they paid no attention. Or perhaps they didn't notice.

After school, they parted ways at their favorite shop, as usual, and then walked home separately. Justyna whistled cheerfully until she heard footsteps behind her. But she didn't turn around. She never turned around. She didn't want to be mistaken for a coward. She wasn't afraid, after all. She wasn't afraid of anything. But this time, the person behind her spoke. And it seemed to her that he was addressing her.

"What does your soul desire?"

Justyna didn't stop. She didn't even speed up. She walked forward as slowly as before. No one overtook her. The person behind her matched her pace. Justyna tried not to breathe faster. She tried to think logically.

"What do I want? What could I want?"

She didn't think. She spoke whatever came to her mind.

"Money, love, clothes, books... what do you want?"

She continued walking. Still at that steady pace. She still didn't notice what was happening around her.

"I want you dead."

And the footsteps faded away.

Justyna began running like a madwoman until she ran into her room and collapsed onto her bed. And then she started crying.

The next day, she was late for school. Meanwhile, everyone was talking about another victim. Magda hadn't come home the previous day. Justyna, hearing this, sobbed. And no one knew why now, since she had been so calm the day before. So cold. They were still talking about the deaths of several of their friends. Everyone was wondering who the next victim would be...