Beyond the North

Letter

Just like always, everything happened in the blink of an eye, everything ended in a single second, his friend who was once eager to leave that hell was now in front of him, dead. After all that happened, he then ran to his building, again, put his hand over his mouth, and quickly ran to the bathroom, again vomiting. That feeling from before had returned, he didn't know what to feel, anger, sadness, fear, but as his consciousness regained, he remembered the letter his friend had given him; he quickly ran to the computer, and noticed that the letter was still there, again, remembering Kazöt saying to play dumb "if someone shows up."

He grabbed the sheet, read that text again, and finally decided to research it, but not before protecting himself from possible tracking. After installing some programs and using small devices on his PC, he judged that he was now safe, and then started researching the letter. Several minutes passed, and he seemed to find nothing, which increased his suspicions, after all, why would they try to hide just a new language?

His thought was interrupted when his doorbell rang, he froze instantly, then, all possible scenarios came to his mind, he stopped thinking for a few seconds, but then, the doorbell rang again, he felt a tightness in his chest and then got up and went to the door, his hands trembling, he turned the doorknob...

— "Rejto...?" His friend, Tel asked, concerned, and next to him was Cynna. "Uh, everything okay over there?"

Rejto then felt a wave of relief wash over his body, and then responded:

— "Yes... uh-why?"

— "Well, after all that happened, we saw you running here, we're worried, did something happen? Was any of them an acquaintance of yours?"

— "Ah... no, no, I just... remembered I left the PC on."

— "Are you sure?"

— "Absolutely! AH! Wasn't today the day we planned to go out, right?"

— "...Well, yes."

— "Just wait a moment, I'll just grab a sweater and be right there."

— "Rejto," Cynna interrupted; "We're here to support you, okay? If you want to talk about something, just talk."

Rejto nodded, entered his room, hid the paper in his sweater, and then quickly erased anything from his searches on his computer. Tel and Cynna still showed signs of concern, but decided to see where this would lead. After leaving the building, they started walking randomly.

— "Should I talk about the letter...?" Rejto thought conflictingly, "But... what would happen next? Damn... after all that happened, I don't even know what to think anymore... what would they do? What would they say?..."

Soon, his train of thought was interrupted by Tel's calls, then he snapped back to reality;

— "Rejto!"

— "Huh? What is it?"

Cynna and Tel fell silent for a few seconds, which was then broken by Cynna:

— "Rejto. Were any of those guys... someone you know?"

— "Why are you trying to hide it from us? Don't you really trust us?" The albino asked.

The young man with black hair pondered, he didn't know what to say, but still decided to at least put the subject of the letter aside.

— "One of them... the red-haired one," Rejto paused for a moment, but then continued: "He was a guy I met about 2 years ago when I started working as a programmer... Wait, let's go somewhere else, I don't want to talk about it here."

"He was a guy well-loved by other people at work, even though he showed his face little, still, everyone had a feeling of respect for him, he knew a lot of things, and was especially fascinated by conspiracy theories, mainly about what was outside the box, but for him, everything was just fun, until a certain day, when his father was killed by the paramilitaries, for trying to escape the barrier, and that's when he began to doubt that place, and then, a feeling of escape began to rise in his mind. He said he wanted power, because then he could do whatever he wanted without anyone judging him, especially if he left the barrier; he said he wanted power because then he could create a better world, and then, after Aleksandr's execution, it was the last straw, he immediately tried to escape, but......"