Vera

 My best friend Vera and I went to university together. There were no places in the dorm, so we found a cramped "one-room apartment" at some granny's. The apartment was ugly, dark, and neglected, but we paid pennies for it. They've arranged it a bit, and it even seems to have become cozy. Grandma rarely came to visit us, and what was there valuable to spoil — the furniture was old, everything was falling apart, even if you throw it away.

We studied for an excellent year, then Verka got a taste of life without parents. I found a biker guy, disappeared with him at night, ran around the city on a motorcycle. I've never liked her racing.

Vera was especially prepared that evening — the guy was supposed to introduce her to his parents. He picked her up, and she was beaming with happiness. I reminded her that the test was tomorrow and that she shouldn't stay up too late. She invited a classmate to her place — we were good friends, and it was easier to prepare for the test together. We had a very fruitful evening, we searched the Internet, then Leshka ran off for a beer, we wrote cheat sheets, had fun, and figured out where to hide them unnoticeably. We stayed so late that we didn't notice how one o'clock struck. We decided that Lyosha could be put on the floor, and tomorrow we would go to university together, and we would somehow help Verka with the test.

I fell asleep just instantly. I remember dreaming of something so blue, as if some kind of abyss was pulling us into itself, and Vera was being dragged into a whirlpool. I started calling out to her, like I was screaming (maybe I was actually screaming), but then I heard the front door slam. The dream got mixed up with reality, and I felt creepy. The room was dark enough, but the light from the street illuminated it a little. I began to fall asleep again, seeming to realize that my friend had come, so as not to step on Leshka in the dark. There was a familiar creak of floorboards and footsteps. Without opening my eyes, I told Verka to go to bed, otherwise she wouldn't pass the test in the morning, but no one answered. I opened my eyes a crack and saw her figure against the background of the window. She was all shaggy, and her head was turned unnaturally onto her left shoulder, as if she were lying on it. I froze and felt that I was cold— I was shivering. I asked Verka what was wrong with her, but she froze like wax. I stood up and asked her to stop joking. I took my cell phone from the bedside table — the time was 3:17 a.m., as I remember now. Lech stirred, probably woke up too. And then the light from the mobile phone illuminated Verka's face, and I involuntarily screamed — it seemed to me that it was somehow wrong, disfigured. Verka staggered, and her head lay unnaturally on her shoulder. She moved a little closer to me, then said in a barely audible voice that she would not go to the test, and moved into the kitchen. My heart was thudding rapidly, and I was shivering. Lech woke up and asked what was wrong with Vera, and I turned on the wall sconce. The room looked familiar, I followed my friend and was stunned — the kitchen was empty!

Lech came for me — he also saw Vera and also noticed the strangeness. She couldn't get out, we have a creaky front door and a loud rattling lock. But where did she go? What kind of prank is this?

We searched the apartment. Basically, there was nowhere to hide. An old chest of drawers with shutters, a dining table, a sofa and a bed...

We spent the night awake, not understanding what had happened. Each of us felt bad. They even walked around the house—maybe she's saying goodbye to a guy somewhere? But she was nowhere to be found.

We took a test at the university this morning. Verka was still missing, her mobile was disconnected. We just couldn't find out where she was.

I have a headache. When we were gathered in the audience, I was already distracted. Then the dean came in and informed us that our classmate had died that night. Verka and her boyfriend crashed...

Then everything was a blur. They took me to the infirmary, and I was hysterical.

Later, we learned the details that shocked Lech and me: Verka crashed around two o'clock in the morning, her neck was broken, her head was literally dangling, and her face was scratched. The guy's lungs were damaged, and he suffered a brain hemorrhage.

After all this, I started to stutter. I moved out of that apartment on the same day and moved in with Lekha. Then I had a dream about a friend who was carrying a brand-new motorcycle helmet, handed it to me and said she didn't need it, but I could use it.

We started dating Lech. I stayed with him, and then we got married. Sometimes we go to Verka's grave, and I can't hold back my tears, because she was so young, so cheerful and carefree. And on the night of her death, she returned to where she lived...