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Nzsyoecsz ran his hand along the third door. The tree seemed a strange symbol to mark something that felt so terrifying. But he trusted his heart. This was the right place. The key fit the lock.

In the total darkness beyond the door, something was thudding at random intervals, breaking the unnatural silence. Someone or something kept whispering a name over and over. It was not his name. Maybe it was the name of someone he knew. It was hard to hear it.

He clutched the bag and the scissors protectively, taking careful steps through the darkness. It seemed to go on forever. Maybe it did, if there hadn't been a large wooden object blocking the way. He slammed into it unexpectedly, and jumped back, scissors at the ready.

There was a thing that stuck out of the top of the crate. outlined in pale red light. It was large, too large to fit. It blossomed like a flower. Nzsyoecsz reached out and grasped what felt like an arm, following it toward a soft center within the crate.

There were no more noises. He hesitated a moment. There was a steady heartbeat, and a dull red glow from within. This, he knew, was the heart.

And this, he knew, was its owner.

The moment the scissors plunged into the thing, it came alive with a horrible scream. The arm flailed and clawed at him. In the red light, he could see images carved in black ink shifting along its muscles. He jumped. A strangled voiced growled the name it must have been whispering into the darkness - "Szczeosny!!"

Nikolay knocked back the rest of his vodka and slammed the bottle back on the bartop. His arm was thicker than Szczeosny’s neck.

“Yeah, I’m Nikolay,” he answered curtly. “Who the are you?”

Nikolay was a pure-blooded Russian. His father, the rumors claimed, was a powerful mob boss from the glory days of organized crime behind the iron curtain, imprisoned for life. When his empire crumbled, Nikolay had claimed his piece, and fled across the border with his men to start anew in Poland. Whether or not this was true, Nikolay himself seemed to have a love for some of the old ways. He’d been to prison, in stints, back in St. Petersburg. He was tattooed heavily, as were all his men. But despite the fearsome looks, they were surprisingly modern. Their specialty was cybercrime, and they were ‘hiring’.

That was why Szczeosny was here...

The memory had hazed out some of the initial process of extracting the heart. By the time he came to again, his hands were deep inside the cavity, which had been ripped open by some combination of the scissors and his own strength. It was open too-wide, and something wet was all over his hands. Things within moved when he shifted them, burst when he stabbed into them with the scissors. He'd retreated into some kind of mechanical state too numb to do anything more than default to his original orders. The calling of his name had dulled into a pained moaning that replaced the thudding as white noise. Snip, snip, snip, went the scissors as they carved the last few sticky tubes away.

The heart came free with a wet schlukk.

He'd seen those images before, on that arm. They were called tattoos.

The world snapped back into sharp focus before it began to swim again.

There was no remorse, no choice. It was him or Nikolay. And he would invariably choose himself. He would always survive, not on the high road but the low road, the desperate road.

The scissors went up Nikolay's nose and into his brain, and he howled and cursed before pulling away. The water vanished, save for what Nzsyoecsz coughed up. There was light again, showing the way out. He moved quickly to it clutching the bag.

He couldn't help but look over his shoulder one last time. In the darkness, something crouched, staring back at him. It held the scissors tightly in its hands.

Nzsyoecsz ran.

It was cold and sterile.

He awoke on a metal table, as if laid out in a morgue, waiting for autopsy. His fingers still clung to the dagger even in sleep, as he whipped it around dangerously in front of him to survey his surroundings.

Satisfied nothing was there (yet), he tried the door. It opened without protest.

So far, so good.

He looked back once again to find nothing. It wasn't long before he began to notice a pattern. A thudding of feet that seemed to move just out of sequence with his down the too-bright hallway. He turned back.

Something stared back at him, holding a pair of scissors in its skull-crushing grip.

His body was a whirlwind of movement in the opposite direction.

He slammed against a door, one that no amount of pressing the number pad seemed to want to open up for him. "No, no, no, no-"

"No."

"What??" he cried out in spite of himself.

"I ******** said no." He cracked the disc in half and threw it in the trash. "Try the Lithuanians, maybe they're hiring sniveling little мазурик."

"Please," he begged. He had nothing left. No money, no home. Just a little bit of knowledge and desperation. "I'll do anything..."

He clawed at the door a little more frantically.

DISTANCE: 35

He coughed up the breath that had caught inside him before freezing up again.


"Welcome to the bratva," he grabbed Szczeosny's hand in a crushing grip. "Brother."

DISTANCE: 25

He just wanted to get out. He stabbed at the door and the blade simply bounced off-

A computer screen buzzed in front of his eyes, shifting patterns of text and code.

He wondered if he was doing the right thing.

He wondered if Nikolay gave him any choice in the matter.


DISTANCE: 15

He barreled through the woods, hardly breathing, the ground crunching far too loud under his feet. The dagger was a dead weight in his hands. How could he - how could he even -

He skittered to a stop at the edge of a cliff. Behind him, the thudding grew closer.

He ran for it.

The wind picked up, and the bridge swayed violently. His hands gripped the sides for support, stopping for what felt like only a moment, for the shaking to subside -

A hand wrapped around his neck and yanked him backward with a sharp force.

The dragging went on for some time, over every wooden plank. He could feel it, but for some reason his body wouldn't move, wouldn't allow him anything but to stare upward toward where the blackened being that might have been Nikolay held a pair of rusty scissors. His body slumped to the ground on a mound of grass. He continued to face up into the grey foggy sky and the trees.

The shadowy figure leaned over him and blotted out everything. There was a smile in its voice as it drew the scissors closer and closer to Nzsyoecsz's shivering heart, bringing the blades down to cut its prize free of the dead weight surrounding it. "Don't worry. It only hurts once."

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘Stop fukkin changing the topic guys’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@KomradKonrad> wb ********> what took u so long
<@KomradKonrad> were on a schedule here
<@KomradKonrad> hello???
<@LuckyBreak> hey
<@KomradKonrad> dont u fukkin hey me sz
<@KomradKonrad> i know when ur not workin
<@KomradKonrad> nik is gonna kill u next u got the s**t job new guy
<@KomradKonrad> ur fukked
<@LuckyBreak> yeah yeah
<@LuckyBreak> ********> can I... talk to you about that
<@KomradKonrad> i cant write that s**t for u man thats not what i do
<@LuckyBreak> no
<@LuckyBreak> about Grzegorz
<@KomradKonrad> oh s**t man
<@KomradKonrad> it was fukked can we leave it at that
<@KomradKonrad> thinking about its just gonna f** us up more
<@LuckyBreak> I know but I can’t stop thinking about it
<@KomradKonrad> try a little harder
<@LuckyBreak> no it’s just that
<@LuckyBreak> well I saw something
<@LuckyBreak> you’re gonna think I’m crazy
<@KomradKonrad> already do so keep going
<@KomradKonrad> what did u see
<@KomradKonrad> was it nik going 2 confession
<@KomradKonrad> how many hail marys u think he gotta say by now w/the s**t hes done
<@LuckyBreak> too many
<@LuckyBreak> maybe he should start now because
<@LuckyBreak> when it all went down
<@LuckyBreak> I saw something over Nik’s shoulder
<@LuckyBreak> like a shadow person
<@LuckyBreak> it was there for a few seconds like I blinked and it was still there
<@LuckyBreak> did you see it?
<@KomradKonrad> the f** r u talkin about
<@KomradKonrad> have u even slept since that happened
<@KomradKonrad> i think ur just thinkin ur seein things bcuz u feel guilty
<@KomradKonrad> its stressful s**t but u gotta move on and not make the same fukkin mistake he did
<@KomradKonrad> look when u have time just hit me up we can get some beers and forget about all this s**t for 1 night
<@LuckyBreak> yeah... yeah
<@LuckyBreak> you’re right Kon I’m just seeing crazy s**t
<@LuckyBreak> I wish none of that had ******** happened
<@KomradKonrad> u n me both

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘busy’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@LuckyBreak> what do you know about ghosts
<@KomradKonrad> what
<@LuckyBreak> ghosts. hauntings. supernatural s**t. ouija boards.
<@KomradKonrad> idk
<@KomradKonrad> that its all a bunch of fukkin bullshit?
<@LuckyBreak> oh
<@KomradKonrad> its just like high pitch noises people lose their s**t over
<@KomradKonrad> fukkin stupid idiots
<@LuckyBreak> haha yeah
<@LuckyBreak> you think by now if ghosts were real someone would have caught one by now or something
<@LuckyBreak> but you’ve really never had something unexplained happen to you?
<@KomradKonrad> wtf man
<@KomradKonrad> course i have
<@KomradKonrad> lost my job
<@KomradKonrad> gf left me
<@KomradKonrad> out on my a** on the street
<@KomradKonrad> livin paycheck to paycheck from a bunch of ruskies
<@KomradKonrad> knowin every $ comes from some rich idiots credit cards we got ahold of
<@KomradKonrad> pretty sure u got the same story tho
<@KomradKonrad> no one works for nik if they got other options
<@LuckyBreak> no s**t
<@KomradKonrad> look just ask me whatever u were gonna ask me about ghosts
<@KomradKonrad> lets get this over with
<@KomradKonrad> like a bad tattoo
<@LuckyBreak> haha okay
<@LuckyBreak> look I’m being serious
<@LuckyBreak> and you’re the only person I’m telling this to because I trust you
<@LuckyBreak> you know me man
<@LuckyBreak> I think the thing I saw was Grzegorz’s ghost
<@LuckyBreak> I don’t know how to explain it I just
<@KomradKonrad> fukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<@LuckyBreak> looked up a bunch of stuff today and
<@KomradKonrad> kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<@LuckyBreak> if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t be imploring you to listen to me
<@KomradKonrad> kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<@KomradKonrad> kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<@KomradKonrad> kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<@LuckyBreak> are you done
<@KomradKonrad> k
<@KomradKonrad> yeah im done hahaha
<@KomradKonrad> dude
<@KomradKonrad> come back
<@KomradKonrad> sz youre killin me here
<@KomradKonrad> maybe im gonna die and haunt u next ohh noooo

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘kon aint afraid of no ghost’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@LuckyBreak> I saw him again
<@KomradKonrad> well hello to you too
<@KomradKonrad> aw thanks sz im fine but enough about my totally boring life lets talk about the fukkin ghostbusters cult u joined
<@LuckyBreak> ******** you man
<@LuckyBreak> I thought it was a one time thing
<@LuckyBreak> but it’s been happening all week now
<@LuckyBreak> just... everywhere
<@LuckyBreak> broad ******** daylight
<@KomradKonrad> woah dude
<@LuckyBreak> I’m not crazy
<@KomradKonrad> i need u to think back real hard for me k
<@KomradKonrad> do u remember sacrificing any goats
<@KomradKonrad> or chickens
<@KomradKonrad> u been sellin ur soul to satan on any forums i dont know bout
<@LuckyBreak> …
<@KomradKonrad> dude r u just fukkin with me
<@KomradKonrad> u take a bet with someone to see how long i could put up with u bringing up my dead friend
<@KomradKonrad> try n convince me hes hauntin us for revenge like some fukkin japanese horror s**t
<@KomradKonrad> cause dude im being honest w/u too now im really kinda done
<@KomradKonrad> bets off cause i called u on it so tell me who put u up to it sz
<@KomradKonrad> ur a fukkin dickbag
<@KomradKonrad> big ol bag of fukkin dicks
<@KomradKonrad> thats u
<@KomradKonrad> oh
<@KomradKonrad>ur fukkin serious
<@KomradKonrad> good to know i guess
<@LuckyBreak> I wouldn’t have said anything about it if I wasn’t
<@LuckyBreak> I don’t believe this s**t any more than you I swear
<@LuckyBreak> sorry man
<@KomradKonrad> wait

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘<@KomradeKonrad> somewhere in limbo is some poor ghost whos freakin his s**t out cause he thinks a human is stalking him’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@KomradKonrad> welcome back from the mysterious netherworld
<@KomradKonrad> of not gettin ur fukkin work done
<@KomradKonrad> keep it up ur gonna join ur ghost buddy
<@KomradKonrad> nik is not happy
<@LuckyBreak> so what
<@KomradKonrad> dude
<@KomradKonrad> nik is not happy
<@KomradKonrad> u know what nik did the last time he was not happy
<@KomradKonrad> he blasted grzegorzs brain all over the fukkin floor
<@KomradKonrad> im tryin to talk some fukkin sense into u man u need to fukkin FOCUS
<@KomradKonrad> u dont get fired u get fukkin dead
<@KomradKonrad> get it?
<@LuckyBreak> okay
<@KomradKonrad> yeah u sound real convinced
<@KomradKonrad> whatever man
<@KomradKonrad> i got my own s**t to take care of
<@LuckyBreak> you were right
<@KomradKonrad> course im right im always right
<@KomradKonrad> bout what this time tho
<@KomradKonrad> gimme the deets
<@LuckyBreak> it’s not Grzegorz’s ghost
<@KomradKonrad> what a fukkin surprise
<@KomradKonrad> what gave u that idea
<@KomradKonrad> u finally pull ur head outta ur a**
<@LuckyBreak> no
<@KomradKonrad> ok what then
<@LuckyBreak> because
<@LuckyBreak> today
<@LuckyBreak> I saw three of them
<@KomradKonrad> three of what
<@LuckyBreak> shadow people
<@KomradKonrad> awesome ok get back to work
<@LuckyBreak> not yet
<@LuckyBreak> I saw them while I walking back today and they never disappeared the whole time I watched them
<@LuckyBreak> maybe they’re still out there
<@LuckyBreak> I’m gonna go back out and see if I can take a picture of them or something
<@LuckyBreak> I’ll get you some ******** proof ok
<@KomradKonrad> oh come on dont

* @LuckyBreak has quit


* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘NO FUKKIN GHOST TALK’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@KomradKonrad> ok before u say anything i want u
<@KomradKonrad> to take a real good look at the topic
<@KomradKonrad> take it in
<@KomradKonrad> really think about it for a minute
<@KomradKonrad> and ask urself
<@KomradKonrad> is it worth it
<@KomradKonrad> is my ugly ghost gf worth pissin konrad off this early into our conversation
<@LuckyBreak> dude I have a problem
<@KomradKonrad> did ur ghost gf break up w/u
<@KomradKonrad> do u need a corporeal shoulder 2 cry on
<@LuckyBreak> ha ha
<@LuckyBreak> ha
<@LuckyBreak> It’s about last night
<@KomradKonrad> ok
<@LuckyBreak> they
<@LuckyBreak> saw me
<@LuckyBreak> and the picture didn’t ******** come out either
<@LuckyBreak> but they saw me take it
<@LuckyBreak> they know I know
<@KomradKonrad> ok what u need is a tinfoil hat
<@KomradKonrad> and maybe u actually need to get some real fukkin help
<@KomradKonrad> from anyone
<@KomradKonrad> like anyone who isnt me
<@LuckyBreak> they’re on my street
<@LuckyBreak> they were standing across the street for a while just looking in my window
<@LuckyBreak> i just looked
<@LuckyBreak> theyre gone
<@LuckyBreak> what do i do
<@KomradKonrad> this isnt like you
<@KomradKonrad> idk what happened 2 u
<@LuckyBreak> i need a weapon or something
<@KomradKonrad> youve changed
<@KomradKonrad> since grzegorz died idk
<@LuckyBreak> i have to go
<@KomradKonrad> jesus man

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘whatever’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@KomradKonrad> i dont want to hear it
<@LuckyBreak> there’s one right outside my window
<@LuckyBreak> i can see it behind the computer
<@LuckyBreak> im trying not to look at it
<@LuckyBreak> but i dont know where the other two are
<@LuckyBreak> i liked it better when i could see them all
<@LuckyBreak> ********> i got a gun
<@LuckyBreak> just in case
<@LuckyBreak> so there’s that
<@LuckyBreak> konrad
<@LuckyBreak> im scared

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘afk’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@LuckyBreak> ok i boarded up the window with carddoard
<@LuckyBreak> i feel a little bettr now
<@LuckyBreak> now that its not lookin gat me
<@LuckyBreak> but i haventslept in 3 days
<@LuckyBreak> and im running out of food here
<@LuckyBreak> i cant keep this up forevr
<@LuckyBreak> i cant go out
<@LuckyBreak> ********> ********> somethings scratching the wall sagain
<@LuckyBreak> konrad can i crash at your place for one night
<@LuckyBreak> can you come by andget me
<@LuckyBreak> pleaase

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘...’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@LuckyBreak> they got in
<@LuckyBreak> it didnt fcuking matter didit
<@LuckyBreak> they keep trying the door
<@LuckyBreak> i barrcaded it
<@LuckyBreak> i got a letter before that though
<@LuckyBreak> really fancy official lookng so it looks legit
<@LuckyBreak> someone who can tell me what they are
<@LuckyBreak> they want me to meet them today
<@LuckyBreak> i hope its not a prank
<@LuckyBreak> but in case it is
<@LuckyBreak> i loaded the gun
<@LuckyBreak> 1 bullet
<@LuckyBreak> why cant anyone else see them
<@LuckyBreak> why wont anyone believe me

* @LuckyBreak has quit

* Now talking in #AktRozpaczy
* Topic is ‘...’
* Set by @KomradKonrad on ù҉̡n̶̛̕ķ̸͘͝͏n̵͘͟͡o̢͘͏͜w̸͜n̵̢̨
<@LuckyBreak> im leaving now
<@LuckyBreak> whatever happens
<@LuckyBreak> im sorry kon

* @LuckyBreak has quit