Prologe: Solstrice
Warsaw, oh Warsaw, the only place on Earth where the mystical Epione* provides solace. Here, everything exists - the beginning and the end, death and life. The city, like every Polish soul, is gutted, torn apart by suffering and sins. Torn mindlessly, without compassion.
It is here, precisely here, that the gates of Hades opened, and all filth slipped through them. Tearing human souls and condemning them to swift damnation.
- Murdered. Katarzyna Lubcik, eighteen years old, of the Catholic faith... - announced the sergeant, leaning on an old, rusty desk. It was already getting dark, and he longed for the conclusion of the case, dreaming of returning to his own home. Today the atmosphere was grim, snow had been falling since morning, and his tires, unchanged to winter ones, were driving him insane. He cursed his decision from the day before when he ignored the queue at the tire shop. - Cieśla, a resident of Sapieżyńska 3 in Warsaw, reported finding the woman's body on Karski 5 embankment. He last saw the place this morning - he said, tucking the pen into his pocket. With satisfaction, he nodded, glad to finally be done with it, then rose from his chair.
- Bielański, what do you know? - he asked, glancing at his colleague.
Bielański approached the table, holding photographs from the crime scene.
- Many signs on the body. To my eye, some kind of rituals, although I'm not an expert. The full autopsy report hasn't arrived yet, but looking at everything, I see that the organs are displaced, and the liver was pierced with a nail. Strange, isn't it?
- Anything else?
- From witness accounts, she was seen floating there at dawn exactly in that spot - he said, pointing to the map on the table - from the south side. With the river current.
The days were getting shorter, and the lengthening evenings always brought a cold, northern wind. Weary from nightmares, Alexander nervously paced from one end of the studio to another. He thought that this would calm his galloping heart, which tried to escape his chest once again. He felt that with each passing day, he was drying up from the inside, that his inner strength was crumbling. For several days, he couldn't close his eyes, he was always on his feet, and his frustration reached its zenith today. The recovery from the last incident wasn't going well for him. He meditated, trying to focus only on his body or mind, but in vain. He felt that he couldn't endure it any longer, that his psyche would break. The pain was unbearable, and he didn't want to rely on painkillers all the time. He decided this on the day when he ran out of another pack of painkillers.
With resignation, he lay down on the bed, trying to force his eyes closed, wanting to finally experience peace. Immediately it appeared - standing confidently over him with a sword in hand, ready to slit his throat. Ensuring a quick, insignificant death. He couldn't escape from this specter; he knew it would happen sooner or later. That this infernal prophecy and pact would finally be fulfilled. "Why did he knowingly sign up for this, why?" he thought, beating himself on the head. He had no other choice; he had to help. He couldn't leave them like that; his conscience wouldn't allow it.
With a shaky hand, he pulled out a small, blue bottle hidden in his pocket. It was his only salvation from rapid burnout, the most potent numbing agent he had ever made. However, its effectiveness was only temporary and not always satisfactory. He drank the elixir, feeling the garlic-like aftertaste burning his stomach from the inside. He curled up instinctively, reacting to the new pain. Cursing his fate.
With absent eyes, he looked at the phone screen, which, lying next to him, lit up with white light. Exhausted, he tilted his head, and with the last thought, he wondered who could be writing at this hour. "Bielański, what does he want now?" he thought, and he didn't have to wait long for the effect of the potion. He felt the world spin in his eyes in an instant, and he lost consciousness, collapsing onto the bed.
Postscript:
*Epione: In Greek mythology, the goddess of soothing pain.
