Bird

You remember Sergei from the orphanage: a quiet, perpetually embarrassed boy, afraid to look up. You were close friends—tight to the point of your fists aching. And then graduation, the silence, the lost years.

He took off. A genius programmer, a billionaire, the creator of the social network "Together." And you got a job as a secretary to Rudkovis, a sleek predator who extorted ordinary people. You didn't know. You simply served coffee and believed in the good.

Another one had taken up residence inside Sergei. A bird. In a black suit, with a flamethrower at the ready. A Plague Doctor who burned alive those who stole hope. Rudkovis hid behind guards, but the Doctor always finds him.

That evening, the sky above the office blazed scarlet. You heard screams, a crash, and then footsteps. Heavy as fate. The door to your room blew out. Through clouds of smoke, you saw a black beak, steel-slit eyes, flames on gloves.

You cowered in the corner. Tears washed away your mascara. You sobbed—very quietly. And suddenly the figure froze. The flamethrower hung in the air. Looking at you through the glass of the mask was… someone familiar. Sick. Desperately familiar.

The bird swayed and quickly whispered.

-Run. Tell me you managed to escape... I'll find you myself.

He couldn't let you die. Even if it meant killing himself.