The guys patiently waited outside the door while I changed. Kaandor seemed to have lost interest in what was happening and disappeared. That strange creature, which I didn't know how to perceive, might actually have been a product of my imagination. The voice inside told me that if I wanted answers to my mounting questions, only two people could help me: Vladimir and my father. But not knowing what part of the truth the two fathers were willing to reveal at the table made me uneasy: if Kostya could omit details to protect me, then for Vladimir, people were just pawns in a big game of humanitarianism.
Stas walked ahead of me, attentively listening to Diana's chatter as she hurriedly filled the household members in on recent events on the way to the dining hall. When the topic turned to my visions, Viola and Stas exchanged meaningful glances: the apples hadn't fallen far from the tree. They probably knew more or at least suspected the nature of Kaandor, since there wasn't a trace of surprise on their faces—only worry.
"Tell me," Stas addressed me, "was that the first time you saw this creature?"
"In person, yes, but maybe I sensed Kaandor before and just didn't realize it."
Trying to apply Denis's theory about merging with a guardian spirit to myself, I began to reflect on my life in Kserton since arriving and compare it to how I felt before. I had noticed something was wrong while talking to Nikita, but it remained just a premonition, never forming a complete thought. Following these warning signals, I started to get irritated by things I used to take calmly. What happened at school with Arthur today defied logical explanation: I flared up like a match over something so trivial it should've been laughable. But I didn't want to laugh—if an ordinary person had been in Arthur's place, things could have ended far worse.
"Kaandor?" Violetta asked cautiously, and all I could do was shrug.
"That's what the creature calls itself."
"What does it look like?" Stas started asking.
"I don't know. At first, I thought it was just a shadow of your dad, but when he stepped away from the wall, it became clear—Kaandor had nothing to do with it. It was taller somehow, and its silhouette appeared completely black in any light. As if everything it touched faded into a mass of darkness."
I stopped, sensing an important word I hadn't paid attention to before. Darkness. It was like a knot had unraveled inside me. I recalled my strange, fear-filled dreams that always ended in impenetrable darkness on repeat. Every nightmare, every bad omen was as vivid in my mind as the edge of a black-and-red plaid shirt on that fateful day when Gleb and Galina kidnapped me from the pizzeria. That unpleasant memory, like a starting point, changed everything I knew about myself and this world, about my father and Kserton. And inevitably every thread, every episode led me to the Darkness, whose name was Kaandor.
"I—" I began, almost breathless from tension, feeling trapped again in a dark van, "I often dream about the day I first encountered Galina. I thought the kidnapping haunted me, mixing with the overwhelming fact about you, about vampires. But today, today I saw a very different dream."
My chest tightened as if squeezed by bear paws. I felt a vein pulsing at my temple, and the image before my eyes began to slowly blur.
"Don't resist," came Kaandor's deceptively gentle voice. Whatever the creature wanted from me, there was no way it was going to get it. I thought that since this dark companion was blocking the way, I must be heading in the right direction. The idea that Kaandor could be my friend was impossible to accept. So far, all it did was wrap me in soft nets and carry me away into sweet oblivion. Far from here. Far from people.
"But isn't that what you wanted?" the creature purred, invading my thoughts.
"Asya, are you okay?" Stas grabbed my elbow just in time. Without him, I would have collapsed.
Stanislav looked at me worriedly, but I wobbled again. His other hand rested on my hip. Stas gently pulled me closer, helping me stay upright.
"Diana, hurry up and follow Father."
"No need, I'm fine."
But no one cared about my protest. Diana quickly disappeared around the corner, and I realized time was running out.
"In there, in the room, I saw a completely different dream. Darkness wrapped all around me. There was nothing but darkness until a tiny point of light appeared in the distance. As I got closer, the outlines grew until I found myself before a large oval mirror the height of a person, and behind it—a nearly colorless room. Soon a stranger in a black cloak rolled a chair up to the mirror, like it was a window, and when he turned it around—there was Nick, covered in blood."
The corners of Stas's lips dropped. He looked at me like a sick child tormented by feverish nightmares. Barely touching me with his fingertips, Stanislav stroked my cheek, and a pleasant warmth spread through my body from his touch. I would never have guessed Stas's skin was so soft. Giving in to the brief impulse, I relaxed completely in his arms but again felt my legs weakening. Searching for support, I clung even closer to Smirnov, carefully gripping his shoulder.
"What did Father give her to inject if she can't come to?" Violetta's stern voice sounded, clearly more disturbed by what was happening than I was. "When we were in the room picking clothes, she was fine."
"No idea. Whatever it was, it shouldn't have happened. Father isn't an idiot to let a patient go when he knows they need rest after medication," Stas hugged me tighter again. "Asya, sedatives often bring vivid dreams. It'll pass soon, you'll see."
"It wasn't a dream. That mirror… when I woke up, I saw the exact same one in the room, you understand? But the room was completely different, not like in the dream. It felt like there was something behind that mirror. It drew me in like the point of light in the dream. I didn't know about that mirror before, hadn't seen pictures of it—it was a vision."
"You might have noticed it at the room's entrance when your father carried you in, and then your mind played a cruel trick on you."
"But I wasn't conscious. Diana said something strange happened as we approached the house. I felt like I was about to turn into a wolf. At least she heard bones crunching. He couldn't have carried me if I was still conscious."
"What room were you in?"
"I don't know. It was small, like the rest of the house. The walls and carpets matched. There was a medical bed in the center and some beeping machine next to it. There was a huge mirror and only artificial warm light. Yes, no windows, but there was a low metal shelf with syringes and stuff. At least that's where Vladimir came back from, holding a syringe. I think there was also a cabinet with ampules and jars of medicine."
"Father's medical room," Stas guessed.
"I see. I'm going soon," Violetta turned on her heel and walked away decisively.
"Where are you going? Father will be back soon."
"To check something. I never liked that mirror. It radiates magic," Viola shrugged and slipped through one of the doors.
"Well, great," Stas muttered through clenched teeth.
"What's all the noise here?" Max appeared out of nowhere, and judging by how Stas jumped, the blond witch's arrival surprised not only me.
"Stop sneaking up! There's enough chaos in the house already."
"Can't help it. It's a hunter's trait."
Stas mocked him, mimicking syllable by syllable with his lips.
"I know your innate tricks: 'It wasn't there, it wasn't there, and suddenly it blossomed!'"
"I'm working on my gifts, unlike some people. That's all," Max nodded toward me. "So what's going on here?"
"Asya's not well."
"Why?"
"If I knew!"
"You seem nervous today."
"How can I not be nervous when the whole day feels like a bad movie script? First, Asya lunged at Arthur in front of Tanya and Dasha, then Father decided to host a dinner for two families while Mother has been missing for at least a month and no one's rushing to search for her, pretending everything in the Smirnov family is normal. Then you yourself—you're distancing yourself from us, driving Diana crazy with coldness, and when Olga left in an unknown direction without explanation, the middle son suddenly turned into Father's shadow and got into witchcraft, like he's preparing for the end of the world. What changed? Hey, Max? What do you know that I don't?"
Stas blurted out all his complaints to his brother in one breath. His whole body was trembling, his fingers digging painfully into my skin, but I endured, trying not to move unnecessarily. The news that Vladimir's wife had left home without explanation a month ago was unsettling, and I couldn't help but connect it to recent events in the city. What if Olga didn't know the truth about what her husband was involved in, and when Vladimir's true nature was finally revealed, she couldn't accept it? Olga's departure suspiciously coincided with the clash with Galina.
"Did you say everything?"
"Yes."
"When the time comes and father thinks it's necessary, he'll tell it himself."
What an interesting quarrel these boys have started. This might turn out much more entertaining, a clear click echoed in my mind, and I felt strength fill my body. At least my legs stood firmer on the ground, as if weighted down, and the half-drowsiness receded. Afraid to feel worse again, I kept holding onto Stas, inhaling the spicy scent of his cologne, which reminded me of mulled wine notes I once tasted from my mother's cup at a New Year's fair.
"Better hold your girlfriend tighter. Mother is an adult woman and can deal with father herself," Maxim stretched his lips into a sly smile and winked.
"Asya is a family friend, not my girlfriend."
"It shows. Well, kids, you have so many interesting discoveries ahead of you. Right, Kaandor?"
Maxim turned around, and out of nowhere in the hallway appeared, what seemed to me like a sand whirlwind. The grains joined together, forming the familiar outline of the dark companion's silhouette.
"You see him too?" I gasped.
"Of course. Violetta can see him if she tries, but Arthur probably won't — too weak."
"What is he?"
"Your spirit-lycan. At least, Kaandor definitely was one once. I noticed him on the first day at school when you just moved in. Back then he looked quite different: almost normal for a spirit, but the curse changed him too much. As I said, I managed only to materialize the parasite and separate the curse from Kaandor. It's sealed now but not destroyed. Whether the spirit will return to its original nature when the curse or the witch who cast it is dealt with, I can't say for sure. And do we really need to change such a handsome guy?" Maxim waved his hand toward Kaandor, who snarled. For the first time I noticed the creature's pure white teeth and shivered.
"I'd like to meet the witch capable of changing a lycan's spirit like that."
"You will very soon," Dr. Smirnov appeared in the hallway, followed closely by Diana, who lowered her head. "Looks like everything is fine now."
Vladimir looked at us and Stas with a tender gaze, and his embrace instantly loosened.
"Violetta isn't with you?"
"No," Stas replied tensely, "she'll join us later."
"Well then," Vladimir placed a hand on each son's shoulder, "let's go to the dining room before the food gets cold."