## **Chapter 9 - The Circle That Never Closed**

 

The next day, Zofia didn't feel like herself. There was a strange tension within her—as if she could still hear the echo of that whisper from the place where her ancestors' house had stood.

Marta had been digging through documents since morning.

Piotr and Łukasz were searching the registers for old reports.

And Lena was searching the church parish records, which, as a local journalist, she had easier access to.

After a few hours, she gathered everyone at one table.

"Okay... listen. This is going to be a shock," Marta began.

Zofia felt a cold knot in her stomach.

"Your great-grandmother, Helena Zamelska, had siblings. Two. There's almost no trace of them, but..." she raised her eyebrows. "They had children."

Zofia frowned.

"Are you saying there are other descendants?"

Marta nodded.

"Yes. And what's more—someone tried to *erase* their trail."

Piotr flipped through more documents.

"Parish registers, then lost population records after the war. But not all of them…"

Łukasz placed the recovered copy of a baptismal certificate in front of them.

"Here's a surname that keeps repeating itself."

Zofia leaned forward.

"The **Sarnowskis**."

Marta added:

"This family still lives in Skalin."

Lena tucked a clipping from a local newspaper from years ago between the pages.

Three young members of the family **died** within a few years of each other. Mysterious "sudden cardiac arrest." No explanation.

Zofia felt something tighten in her throat.

"So they too…"

"They were part of the Circle," Łukasz finished.

Klara began to pace nervously.

"If someone in your family and theirs has been dying for generations, it means that…"

Piotr looked at everyone seriously:

"The Circle is still active. Or it's been reactivated."

"And someone's trying to finish it," Marta said.

Zofia asked quietly:

"Why?"

### ***And then the phone rang.***

Lena looked at the screen, her face paling.

"The number is unlisted."

After a moment, everyone heard a voice…

cold, calm, almost emotionless:

"Don't look for them. They are part of what needs to be awakened. And you're only delaying what will come anyway."

"Who are you?!" Piotr shouted.

Silence fell on the other end.

Only a single whisper:

"The Circle was never completed."

The connection went dead.

Zofia placed her hands on the table.

"We have to find the Sarnowskis. Immediately."

Marta nodded.

"And find out who's still alive..."

"Because someone's watching them," Lena added. "And they know more about us than we do about them."

--

### Write **"Next"** if you want chapter 10:

➡️ **"A Family in Hiding"** — The heroes reach the Sarnowskis and discover that the family has been living on the run for years.