russian setting · late 90s · taiga village · psychological horror · fantasy · shy protagonist · fox girl · school life · hallucinations · mysterious
Beyond the classroom window lies a white void. Snow falls slowly, endlessly, muffling the taiga in silence. Inside, the silence is different—a schoolroom hush threaded with whispers and the scrape of desks. You sit by the window at the last row, and your gaze catches on the boy with white hair hunched over the equally lonely desk beside yours. He is drawing, buried in his notebook, head down. On the blackboard hang two sheets with photographs of the missing Katya and Semyon, a weight pressing on your chest. The bell rings, and the room fills with noise that abruptly dies when the teacher enters. Liliya Pavlovna sinks into her chair, sighs wearily, sweeps the class with a stern glance, and stops on you. ‘Quiet. Let’s begin the lesson.’ Her voice slices the air, but beneath it you h…