Глубокий вдох.
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSvXSZZIM8
Maxim sat on the cold floor, in complete darkness, leaning against the door. It had been about ten minutes since he decided to hide from Lapin, yet the trembling in his fingers refused to fade. His heart was pounding wildly, tears streamed down his hollow cheeks on their own.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMGu9C84Tz
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSYT9Sdl5F
He couldn’t anymore. He was done.
As if on cue, the neighbors decided to start yelling too. Strangely enough, he couldn’t make out their words this time. Maybe his brain had simply switched to a more pressing danger?268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvanPNOmEny
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxtFa1mBrC
A deep breath—and still nothing. The air seemed unable to reach his lungs. Maxim exhaled quietly, pressing his forehead against his knees. The cold from the floor seeped into his bones, but at least it was something real. Something that actually existed. Unlike everything else.
In truth, he had no idea how long he’d been sitting there—maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour. Time had stretched out, thick and viscous like tar. Each second pressed down on him. He closed his eyes, hoping that if he just sat a little longer, everything would disappear. That the door wouldn’t tremble. That there wouldn’t be footsteps behind it.
But his hearing betrayed him—there it was, an echo, like someone dragging their nails along the wood. Maxim flinched, clutching the sleeve of his hoodie so hard that his nails dug into the skin through the fabric.
“Just my imagination… just that,” he breathed almost soundlessly, trying to convince at least himself.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TH67Q4AyL
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNsEHXaPBi
He remembered the look in Lapin’s eyes when Maxim had dared to fight back.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY4kCcf97J
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabR8tUJzo2
Yeah… he was definitely playing with him.
A floorboard creaked somewhere above. Maxim lifted his head.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6RL1UJDhB
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihzf3acVcH
Silence returned—dense, suffocating, as if someone had wrapped the entire house in cotton.
“I’m not going out,” he whispered. “Not a chance.”
He slowly straightened up, feeling the numbness in his legs. The trembling hadn’t gone, but something new had taken its place—an exhausted dullness, bordering on indifference. Maybe this was what the end of panic felt like—when fear burns down completely, leaving only ash behind.
He ran his hand along the wall, feeling the familiar uneven surface. The house had never felt like a safe place, and now less than ever.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcyIKzhDDd
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdXUAJjBlo
A glint caught his eye—something shining in a sliver of light leaking through the cracks in the door. Maxim squinted, stepped closer, and picked it up.
“A shard…”
He stated it flatly, and his thoughts drifted, unbidden, back to his school years.
Children’s laughter. Wobbly school desks. Chalk dust. A mocking giggle behind his back.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9f6fnNzjI
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrT3v11iDeR
Little Maxim stood in the middle of the classroom, soaked from shoulders to heels, a rag hanging from his head like a crown—what his classmate had called “the Garbage King’s crown.” The air reeked of bleach and dust. The teacher pretended nothing was happening, letting her gaze slip past him—as if he simply didn’t exist.
He remembered how, for the first time, that hollow ache had spread under his ribs—not pain, not even humiliation, just cold.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjj519uVDZ
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuByUhjlr6
Just like now.
Maxim clenched the shard in his hand, the sharp edges biting into his skin and pulling him back into the present.
“Everything comes full circle,” he whispered, as if confessing a secret.
He uncurled his fingers: a thin red line crossed his palm, blood slowly gathering into a bead. It gleamed faintly in the dim light—cold and lifeless, just like the shard. There had never been any light in his past… almost.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBm1TtuOVo
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgz4P218TD
Something flickered nervously in his chest.
After yet another round of mockery, Maxim couldn’t take it anymore.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoCmnxRlnB
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNHy13Pk0w
He stood up in the middle of class and left for the bathroom without asking the teacher. He was done. He didn’t care.
The shouts followed him down the hall:268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6IpBRC4IZ
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1620uCC86
“How dare you, you stupid street rat!”268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuvUunOdZz
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBTc3gvZMN
“Oh, look, the motherless freak’s leaving!”268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBCybrPlra
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pvZiqYtL3
“Nice clothes—did he dig them out of the trash?”
He was used to it. He didn’t even want to hold on to the anger anymore.
When Maxim entered the bathroom, he wasn’t thinking about anything at all. Just a little sleepy. A little tired. Mostly… nothing.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79x7LCk9jc
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyisV9vb7u0
His head felt heavy, and all he wanted was to lie down and sleep.
At twelve years old, he didn’t know what to do. He never did.
He went to the sink and turned on the tap—a thin stream hissed, as if offended by the touch. Maxim looked up, and in the cracked mirror before him, a face he barely recognized stared back.
His messy blond hair hung over his forehead, long unacquainted with a comb. Dark circles shadowed his eyes—not from sleeplessness, but from something worse. His lips were cracked, his skin so pale it was almost translucent. His cheeks had sunk, his cheekbones sharp beneath them.
He wiped a blurry spot from the mirror with his finger. The reflection moved with him, and he noticed—how thin he had become. His school shirt, once too big, now hung loose like a sack, emphasizing his narrow frame and slouch.
His brown eyes—once warm and alive—were dull now, hollowed out, burned from within. There was no anger in them, no resentment. Only exhaustion—thick, sticky, bottomless.
He exhaled, struggling to keep his gaze steady. For a moment, it seemed as though the mirror had darkened, and the face in it wasn’t his anymore.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjwfYtr1pf
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshV7DGpJej
As if someone else was looking back at him from the depths—268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhZxlgoFkP
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjApEVIFV8W
Someone who already knew there was no escape.
And back then, the small boy had noticed it too—268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fsx55LkP5
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbcivaXmm0
that same glint.268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04P9qmkJ9o
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnvMJefekt
Yes. The shard.
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1F8h3Pvdcv
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Hq9Xxur4A
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnzYDvnPcK
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSlYxqyQQL
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIkOfeZDDx
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡww8AMBXTH0
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4toCp8IJb
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vZR7cZ37j
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vbfg1KDbE
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdH37znXQe6
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWHeunNRim
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbyECVLoSy
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsSBp7COw1
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKVl3UVE68
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQ7imlpbJC
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIyUc7xuKW
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzaDzQhpfo
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlB03d3atQW
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYakVhahAL
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLon5eSO38
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdVK6qLf72
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWN4mJ81SPg
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaOrssmqV9
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYzpMYzxRk
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBygkREhLDc
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uXEGfAyeS
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LTX1vmzf0
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYo1zkv40x
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAft3P22SEl
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLVFHPQUUc
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlHKu1GHpN
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJA6uIYHci
268Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8AIe5WEtI
and then Add to home screen.