30/10/2025
Here's the second part of my short story 'A Potion of Love' - a haunting tale for halloween - Hope you like it :)
“What’s your name?” she asked as she dipped her foot into the cold water.
“Andrej,” he replied.
“What do you do?”
“I help a few villagers with the farming,” he said. “I never went to school.”
“I wish I worked on a farm,” she murmured. “I don’t like school.”
“So what are you doing here?” Andrej asked.
“Waiting,” she replied simply.
“Waiting for what—for whom?” he asked, puzzled. She only smiled and stirred the water with her feet.
The moonlight fell upon her pale face, and her eyes gleamed beautifully. When their eyes met, they sensed the heaviness in each other’s souls. Slowly, they leaned closer until their lips touched.
It felt like magic—a fairytale, pure bliss. The weight inside them vanished.
From that night on, Andrej never missed their secret meetings. He would wait for the forest to darken and then walk down to meet the love of his life. Maja would slip out of the boarding school once the lights were out. Together they would dance near the river, kiss, and make love beneath the trees. They awakened the sleeping spirits of the forest and felt truly alive.
Their love was pure, mysterious, and intense. Despite the age difference, their souls intertwined softly and seamlessly.
But one night, Maja did not appear. Andrej waited. She was always on time, but this night was different. After an hour he crept closer to the boarding school and peered through each window. Nothing—only darkness.
Then he heard a noise—a chuckle, soft footsteps. Inside, though the corridors were dim, he could make out a familiar figure. Maja.
She was dancing with the shy birthday boy from before. He saw the way the boy looked at her—his eyes burning with yearning.
Andrej’s heart pounded violently, but he couldn’t look away. She laughed, spinning gracefully around the boy, who took her hands. She didn’t resist.
Andrej sat in silence, watching. His heart sank under the weight of it.
He felt angry. Furious. Betrayed.
Belittled. Vulnerable. Envious.
It was too much to bear. He stumbled away, tearing at the branches that blocked his path. He ran until he reached his cabin, slammed the door, and collapsed in pain.
He wept until dawn—but he could not stop loving her.
________________________________________
The following nights, she returned. Then she vanished again. Their love became fragile, uncertain, haunted by absence. And then—she was gone for good.
Rumors began to circulate. Su***de. Abduction. Murder.
But only the school—and the forest—knew the truth.
Andrej shut himself inside, refusing to leave his cabin. The laughter and music were gone. He stared out the window, waiting for a movement, a shadow, a sign.
One day, unable to bear the silence, he descended the hill to the school. The building was empty, half-rotten, abandoned.
He stepped inside.
Dust. Silence. Memory.
A woman appeared suddenly behind him, carrying papers.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“I came to see my niece,” Andrej lied.
“Your niece?” she repeated, confused.
“Yes… she’s a student here.”
She smiled faintly. “There are no students here.”
He frowned.
“Sir,” she said softly, “there hasn’t been a boarding school here for thirty years. The building has been abandoned since the fire.”
Andrej’s lips parted, but no words came. He turned and left quietly.
Back at his cabin, the truth suffocated him. He looked around—dusty walls, silence, decay. He remembered everything: the villagers calling him mad, insane, psychotic. His uncle bringing food every now and then. The years of solitude.
She had been born from loneliness. From longing. From the ruins of his own mind.
But at least he had known love—even if only in a dream.
________________________________________
Suddenly, rage overtook him.
He shouted, smashed furniture, tore at the walls. Then his eyes fell upon a photograph: Mama and baby Andrej. He sank to the floor, shaking.
Everything was gone—the love, the warmth, the belonging.
He must have slept through an entire day, for when he awoke, it was already dark.
He preferred the nights.
He dressed and went outside. The cold bit at his skin, but he didn’t feel it.
He walked down the hill to the old building, now wrapped in silence and snow. He stood before it, breathing heavily.
How he wished he could hear laughter again. How he longed to see Maja dancing barefoot beneath the trees.
He closed his eyes and saw her.
She was there in the moonlight, hair wild, eyes bright, spinning among the trees. He reached out to her—but only the wind brushed his hand.
Snow began to fall.
He walked slowly, touching the trees, his fingers tracing their frozen bark. Warm tears slid down his cold cheeks.
He stepped toward the school and opened the door. Darkness. Emptiness. Silence.
He climbed the creaking stairs. The last room at the end of the corridor called to him. He opened the door.
The room was bare. On the windowsill, a single candle stood, long extinguished.
Then came laughter. Soft, distant laughter. Singing. The Happy Birthday song.
He turned.
There she was.
Maja sat by the window, her pale skin glowing faintly, her feet bare, her eyes luminous. She reached out her hands.
Andrej moved closer, fell to his knees, and took her cold fingers in his. Their lips met—a kiss soft as snow.
He knew it wasn’t real. But he didn’t care.
He closed his eyes and laid his head upon her chest. Her fingers brushed through his hair.
When he woke, she was gone.
He stood and went to the window. The world was white, silent, and still.
On the floor, something glimmered. He knelt and picked it up—a small golden pendant shaped like a scroll.
He turned it over.
Engraved upon it was one word: Maja.
Andrej smiled.
He closed his eyes.
