***In a dim morning light, silence filled the space, as if everyone had been drained by thoughts too heavy to bear. We could no longer stand being prisoners of the ignorance that tightened around us like a choking thread. I knew we couldn't move forward without understanding—but where were we supposed to begin? Only Filip had some of the answers, and yet he kept hiding behind his walls of silence, as if he feared touching the truth would shatter him.
Szymon, unusually, chose to stay silent too, but his eyes betrayed his worry. He didn't want to be the one to confront Filip, so he chose Zuzanna instead—maybe her warm calmness could untie his tongue.
She approached him carefully, sitting beside him without imposing. She whispered:
— It must have been overwhelming… right?
He slowly raised his eyes. His voice came out fragile, as if torn from a broken heart:
— Yes… I feel lost… as if I'm completely alone.
She looked at him steadily—without pity, but full of understanding:
— But you're not alone, Filip. You know that.
He gave a faint smile, as if he couldn't quite believe it:
— Maybe I only seem that way because I don't know what really happened…
There was a pause. He thought Zuzanna was about to leave, but instead, she took both his hands and said in a voice blending gentleness and resolve:
— We all think we're not involved—that we'll survive if we stay silent. But the truth? We're pawns. A game we don't control and can't even see who's playing it. I know that… but I never found someone I trusted enough to tell. And you… you're living this helplessness just like I am.
She paused again, and this time her gaze allowed no room for pretense:
— We don't have time anymore, Filip. If you know something—tell us. We need you.
Filip's gaze drifted. Tears welled up in his eyes. He shook his head, as if something inside refused to be spoken—as if the truth within him was too big for words.
Zuzanna felt it, and didn't want to push further. She stood up, her voice now firmer:
— Oscar is no longer here. You have to take his place. You're the oldest now.
He looked at her with sorrow and said bitterly:
— And what if I don't want to?
She answered, this time with a quiet yet firm tone:
— Do what you want. But don't forget—they left trusting you. Don't let them down, Filip.
In his head, Marceli's words echoed—the ones he said before leaving: "Filip, go back… tell them we'll return, and we won't abandon them."
He meant Jan, the one everyone thinks ran away. But he… he died. He was killed—faded in the shadows.
Filip's body seemed to shrink in on itself. Zuzanna noticed, and asked Lina to keep an eye on him. She feared he might do something reckless… or disappear silently like the others.
The day was heavy. That feeling of helplessness—it spread through us like poison, killing the soul without touching the body.
Szymon told me he had decided to go into the back facility—hoping to find something to pull us out of this fog. Zuzanna cried, begged him not to. She reminded him of his promise never to return there. But he simply said:
— We can't wait any longer. If we don't act now, everything will be lost.
Filip, meanwhile, remained silent. Lina watched him from a distance. And while we tried to make sense of this chaos, two of the younger kids got into a fight after bullying one another—as usual. But this time, the fight escalated into unexpected violence.
Oliwier rushed to Filip—everyone knew the eldest usually stepped in to stop such things—but Filip didn't move. He stayed still, like a statue.
That's when Lina exploded.
She screamed from the depths of her chest:
— Damn all of you!
She shoved the two boys apart and turned to Filip, crying as she yelled:
— What do you think you're doing? Why are you making things worse? Is our situation so sweet that you want to ruin it even more? And you—idiots—what makes you think you're any different? We're all here… all drowning in this filth!
Everyone went silent. Even the kids who had been laughing froze, pale-faced. The bitterness we had all been pretending wasn't there finally spilled out.
Filip ran out without saying a word. He climbed the stairs quickly and shoved open the stairwell door so hard it nearly came off its hinges.
The kids gasped, and Zuzanna rushed after him.
Inside, a strange silence settled. Some kids cried. Others sat in corners staring into nothing. Everything felt fragile.
I looked into the eyes of those who had been bullying. And I remembered Mia… the red-haired girl they called "Eyebrowless," because her brows were so fair they were barely visible.
But to me, she was the most beautiful of them all. With her red-hair, sleepy green eyes, her upturned nose, and pink lips… she cried a lot. She always came to me when they called her those stupid names.
Above, in the attic, Filip stood at the edge.
Zuzanna cried out:
— Filip! Please, don't!
He slowly sat down, as if something inside had broken. He sighed and wiped his face with shaking hands.
He said, in a trembling voice:
— I'm sorry, Zuzanna. Forgive me… for being so irresponsible.
She sat next to him and gently touched his shoulder:
— Who said we want you to be responsible? Just come back to us… as the kind, passionate Filip we know.
He looked at her slowly, like someone returning from a distant world:
— Yes… I have to help you. I'm not a coward… right?
She smiled, a tear glistening in her eye:
— You've always been the most remarkable among us.
He took a deep breath and finally decided to speak:
— Back there, when they took us… everything was blurry. The truck stopped halfway. One of them got out—he looked angry—and said: "He didn't find anything." Maybe they were expecting someone… or something that never came.
He paused, then added:
— We stayed in the truck for hours. No talking, no movement, just waiting… and this strange feeling inside. After a while, another car arrived. New men stepped out. The two who were with us argued with them—one of them had a sharp voice, things seemed serious. Then suddenly, everything went quiet.
They opened the doors and looked at us. There were three new men—I think they were armed. Hidden guns tucked behind them—we all noticed. We looked at one another, reassured each other silently, and kept going… in silence, until we reached an isolated place, deep in what looked like a forest.
Then, one by one, they started asking strange questions—about visitors, relatives, illnesses, medication…
Then came a man who looked like a doctor—but he smelled strange. Like freshly butchered meat. He examined us quickly, took blood samples, and never explained why.
He stopped for a moment, then continued in a faint voice:
— We were hungry to the point of pain. Time passed slowly without food, and we asked to go to the bathroom — permission was granted, but only after a long delay. The darkness outside was thick, suffocating, and we could no longer distinguish the path or the faces. When the food was finally served, it came late, as if it were yet another test of our patience .
In the early morning, they unloaded us one by one, then each of us was returned to the truck. This was to take pictures of us.
After a while, they decided to take only two people. For some reason, we felt disappointed. But Oscar reassured me, saying it was better for us to stay at the orphanage until they returned.
Flip spoke for a long time until he reached the point that was really concerning. When Marceli and I returned, after wiktor and Oscar were chosen, we stopped halfway again, following a phone call from one of the men. His conversation on the phone was long, until another car arrived. They exchanged words, then opened the truck and asked Marceli to get out.
"Marceli, is there something wrong?" I stood next to him. The man looked at me with a sharp gaze and said, "You, go back to your place." As soon as Marceli got out, the door was immediately closed. I shouted, asking them to open it, trying to listen. After a while, they reopened the truck, and Marceli climbed in while I was kneeling.
He told me they had asked for a third person, and that he was the one who would leave. He hugged me and whispered something to me, but the looks of the men were suspicious, and their smiles were devilish. I hoped that it was all just an illusion created by my anxiety.
Zuzanna reassured Filip, and told him that he was brave, and that we would all search for the truth, no matter the cost.
***That day, Madame Magda did not return until late in the evening.
She arrived in a taxi, getting out while the driver helped her with an elegantly rolled-up rug. Her expression was stiff, a mixture of anger and sadness. She didn't glance at any of us; she simply entered her office and closed the door behind her.
Szymon, with his usual curiosity, approached and pressed his ear to the door, trying to listen. Suddenly, we heard loud crying from within. Madame Magda was breaking down inside, sobbing uncontrollably, silently, without saying a word.
At that moment, I saw Madame Mir approaching, and her curiosity was as obvious as ours. I quickly pulled Szymon away, and we hid in a nearby corner. Madame Mir knocked on the door and waited for permission. After a moment, Madame Magda opened the door, wiping her tears and trying to compose herself.
Madame Mir, looking concerned, said, "My God, you don't look well."
Madame Magda replied coldly, forcing a smile, "I'm fine. Maybe I just enjoyed the party too much and didn't sleep well."
It seemed she was trying to provoke Mrs. Mir, who followed up with a question: "Did you stay in your house in the village?"
Madame Magda answered in a neutral tone, "Actually, Madame Zofia invited me to stay with her, but I declined. The atmosphere wasn't great, and most of the guests were elderly… you know how it is."
Madame Mir smiled sarcastically, "Good thing I didn't go then."
She then noticed the rug laid aside and said, "Oh, it looks beautiful!" and stepped closer to examine it.
Madame Magda quickly interrupted her: "No, not now. I'll open it when I decide."
Madame Mir felt awkward and said, "I've always wanted one, I just wanted to see what kind it is." Then she left, walking away hesitantly.
We returned to hiding, our curiosity eating away at us. What happened? And why was Madame Magda crying so hard? Szymon stood by the door, and I told the others what had happened.
At exactly seven, a scream echoed from Madame Magda's office. It sounded like she was searching for something. She opened the door angrily and shouted, "Mir, did you enter my office?"
Madame Mir replied, "No, no one has entered since you left, and you always lock it."
Madame Magda returned to her office, then came out to us as we were having dinner, scrutinizing our faces as if searching for some hidden guilt.
Suddenly, she said, "Zuzanna… come with me."
In an instant, her eyes met Educk's, and she paused, staring at him for a long time. She then remembered he was in the office and said, "And you too… come."
I knew at that moment she was looking for the picture, and I was in trouble... she just hadn't remembered me yet.
I looked at Szymon, hoping he would save me. He rushed to their room to grab the hidden picture. Szymon… damn! I had forgotten about the picture!
There... Madam Magda rushed out, and I saw her in my face. I knew it was the end.
She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into her office. She threw me to the floor, saying, "You wretched girl! How dare you touch what doesn't belong to you?!"
I looked around, and Zuzanna seemed frightened. Zuzanna? I don't think she took the picture; she would have told me.
Madam Magda said sharply, "Shut up, Zuzanna!"
Educk said, "She was the one who searched the office."
Educk was in the corner, scared, with signs of being hit on his face. He looked at me regretfully. I thought quickly, he wasn't sure I took the picture.
I spoke up: "I… I took the candy, but I didn't take anything else."
Madame Magda approached me, gripping my ear so tightly I felt it crack. "It's my favorite, Jan! How dare you?!"
There was a loud knock at the door. "Madam Magda, who's there?"
The door opened… it was Szymon. At that moment, I felt he would tell her it was him, but I shook my head no.
"Madame Magda, what do you want?"
Szymon panted. "Can I search for the picture? Maybe you didn't look well enough."
She replied angrily, "You fool, don't interfere!"
But he answered, "She would have told me if she had taken something…"
I then said, "Yes…" to stop his chatter.
Then I kneeled: "I'm sorry… maybe I dropped it when I took the candy. I was hungry from standing so much..."
I tried to appeal to her, knowing this was useless, I just wanted to buy time for Szymon to think of a way.
She said firmly, "If you don't bring the picture… I will kill you!"
Everyone looked surprised. Madame Magda reconsidered what she said and noticed. Then she grabbed my hair with force and dragged me outside until we reached the junk room, throwing me in there.
It was a filthy and dark place. I was hit hard on the head when I collided with an old table, and my knee was scraped by a piece of metal. The wound was large and started bleeding. I didn't notice I had lost consciousness.
Back in the office, Szymon rushed behind the desk and hurriedly placed the picture under the rug. Zuzanna noticed and looked at it sadly, saying, "Jan… why didn't you return?"
Szymon hastily said, "We really should look together, please."
When Madam Magda returned, they both claimed they had been searching.
"Madam Magda: You… stop. What are you doing?"
Zuzanna replied, "Maybe you didn't look carefully. Please..."
Madam Magda sighed and sat on the couch. She looked at Educk and asked him to leave, promising him punishment for not telling her earlier.
We continued searching. Zuzanna picked up part of the rug and pulled out the picture. Before she could announce it, she looked at it for a long time and started crying uncontrollably, saying, "Jan… why didn't you return?"
Madam Magda rushed to take the picture and collapsed back onto the couch, crying, "He won't return… he won't return..."
Zuzanna said, "No, I don't think he will."
Madam Magda's words seemed confident, but Zuzanna kept denying it.
At that moment, Szymon pulled Zuzanna's hand and began to leave because he knew Zuzanna would be very upset. He looked sadly at Madam Magda and said, "Now… will you take Karina out of there?"
Madam Magda replied firmly, tears in her eyes, "Never. Let that wretch learn her lesson… and close that damn door."
Outside, Zuzanna started trembling and fell. Szymon embraced her. "Please, don't cry, Zuzanna."
She said to him, "Again… will he come back, right? He left without saying goodbye, and that wasn't his right."
Szymon said, with tears in his eyes, pressing his lips tightly as he lied, "Yes… yes, he will come back."