Demon

Unusual girl

The sky hung low that morning, like a rotting sheet of lead. The clouds seemed pressed against the rooftops, weighing them down toward the earth.

Under that sky, the city looked dead-gray, faded, blurred, like an old black-and white photograph forgotten in some dusty drawer. A cold mist hung in the air, seeping into bones and thoughts alike.

Puddles on the cracked asphalt reflected fragments of the gloomy sky like twisted mirrors where nothing living remained.

People, wrapped tightly in their jackets, hurried about their business. Quick. Sharp. Heads down. No one noticed one another. No one cared. An ordinary morning in an ordinary city.

But behind the iron gates of an old, long-forgotten institution-hidden behind stone walls and rusted fences-something else was happening.

There, three levels below ground, where neither light nor fresh air reached, the footsteps of three men echoed through the concrete corridors. Beside them- walked a girl. Bound, chained, but moving under her own power.

Bringing her here was not easy. Not because she resisted-no. She walked calmly, silently, as if it made no difference to her. It was difficult because even in chains, even with a metal collar around her neck, she made them feel exposed and vulnerable. Her eyes... they were too black. An abyss. No glimmer of humanity. They started straight ahead-past them- as though thoughts walls, through people.

She offered no resistance. But the guards could feel it: something was wrong. Deeply wrong. And that wrongs crept into their blood, making their bones tremble.

-Is she... brainwashed? on elf the younger guards whispered, his voice shaking.

-Shut up, idiot. -The older one hissed. -Don't joke with her. Reznik tried last week- nearly had a heart attack.

-What kind of girls is this anyway? Damn creature...

But none of them said it aloud. They only tightened their grip on their rifles and glanced more often at the blinking lights Hoping-maybe it would be help.

Her name is Agnessa. Thought many on the staff had long stopped using it. Among themselves, they called many things: "little Demon", "The Black One", "Possessed". And in whispers "The Cursed".

No one knew her exact age. By appearance 16 at most. Slight build. Barely 158 cm tall. Skin pale as porcelain, her thick black curls falling below her shoulders. Her clothing was simple: a black sweater, black pants. No extra details- everything sterile. Even the laces of her sneakers had been removed upon arrival. No jewelry, of course. But the most striking were her eyes.

Two black, bottomless voids. Not simply eyes-nothing reflected in them. No light. No hope. No fear. Even life itself seemed to have long vanished from their depths. However, long one stared, they would always turn away in the end- as if gaze left scars on the soul.

And then there was the pendant. A small, oddly-shaped metal amulet she had once worn around her neck- a symbol of her true power. It had since been taken from her. Hidden away. But even without it... even with the cursed collar... they feared her.

The corridors they led her through were old-concrete stained with mold and rust, walls etched with scratches. The very air seemed to breathe rot and despair. The prison block for cases like hers was cut off from the others. No windows. Not a single internal camera. Everything was monitored only through external sensors. People preferred not to look too closely at what happened here.

For her, they had designed a special collar. Massive, inscribed with rune-like symbols, embedded with the latest microchips and an instant shutoff mechanism. It suppressed her power- but not completely.

They stopped in front of her cell. A thick steel door, battered and scratched, paint peeling in places, claw marks gouged deep. Sealed edges left no gaps to pass anything through. Only a small feeding slot at the bottom- and nothing more.

The lead guard sighed heavily, then looked at the girl. She stood still, arms at her sides, head slightly owed. Staring straight at him. He instinctively looked away.

-Go in, -he growled though clenched teeth. Agnessa didn't move. One second... two... His throat went dry. Rage, strained by fear, broke free:

-What dead already?! -he snarled, shoving her hard. She stumbled into the call, crashing against the damp, peeling wall. A dull thud echoed off the concrete. Silence.

He slammed the door shut. Locks clicked-one, two, three. Bolts slid into place. The electronic lock beeped and sealed.

Only then did he wipe the from his brow. -Dam thing... not even human. -he muttered, hurrying away without looking back.

The cell fell silent once more. Agnessd slowly rose from the floor. Unhurried. There was no pain, no fear in her movements. Only cold focus. She sat down in a corner, pulling her knees to her chest, her head bowed, fingers clasped together over her legs.

For several minutes, she did not move at all. Then one finger twitched... then another. her slender wrists barely trembled-as if something inside was struggling to break free. What that was- only she knew.

But if anyone could have glimpsed her thoughts at that moment... they would have heard only a voiceless, black, roaring vortex. Slow, yet relentless. And with each passing hour, it drew closer.