It was an ordinary evening. The city streets were filled with the soft light of lanterns, and people were hurrying about their business: someone was walking a dog, someone was returning from work, someone was chatting near a store. A police patrol, a gray SUV with a characteristic stripe, was driving slowly along the sidewalk. Inside were two officers – Kovalev and Melnikova.
“It’s calm today,” Kovalev yawned, looking out the window.
“I wish it were always like this,” Melnikova smiled, “but this is usually the calm before the storm.”
Before she could finish speaking, a little girl ran out of the entrance of one of the houses – no more than five years old. Light hair, pajamas with bunnies, barefoot. Panic on her face.
She ran straight to the patrol car. Kovalev immediately hit the brakes, and the officers jumped out of the car.
“Hey, are you okay?” Melnikova squatted down in front of the girl.
– You… you are policemen, right? – The girl gasped for air.
– Yes, dear. What happened?
– Under my bed… there’s a man. He’s wearing a mask. I saw it.
“Where are your parents?” Kovalev frowned.
– Mom is in the bathroom. I shouted at her, but she told me not to scare her.
The officers looked at each other. It seemed like a child’s fantasy, but the girl’s eyes trembled with horror.
“What did he look like?” Melnikova asked softly.
– Black clothes. A mask like a ninja. I woke up and saw him crawling under the bed. He thought I was sleeping…
Kovalev and Melnikova exchanged a quick, serious glance—both of them instantly understood this wasn’t something they could ignore. Children might imagine monsters in the dark, but the fear in this girl’s trembling voice was too real.
“Which apartment?” Kovalev asked firmly.
The girl pointed to the entrance she had just run from. “Second floor. Door with the yellow sticker of a cat.”
Without hesitation, Melnikova took the girl gently by the shoulders. “Stay here with me. Don’t move, okay? You’re safe now.”
Kovalev pulled his flashlight from his belt and signaled to his partner. “Let’s check.”
They climbed the dim stairwell, the sound of their boots echoing softly. A faint smell of damp concrete and old cooking lingered in the air. Reaching the second floor, they saw the cat sticker, exactly where the girl had said.
Kovalev knocked sharply.
“Police! Open up.”
A muffled woman’s voice answered from inside. “One moment!” A sound of running water stopped, then footsteps. The door opened to reveal a woman in her thirties, hair wrapped in a towel, irritation on her face.
“What’s going on? My daughter—”
“Ma’am,” Melnikova interrupted carefully, “your daughter came to us outside. She says there’s someone under her bed. We need to come in.”
The woman frowned, clearly on the verge of dismissing it as childish nonsense, but then she noticed the grave expressions of the officers. “Alright… come in.”
They stepped inside. The apartment was small but tidy. Children’s toys scattered neatly in a corner, faint cartoons still flickering on the TV. The girl’s room was down the hall.
Kovalev went first, flashlight in hand, pistol unholstered just in case. The door creaked as he pushed it open. The little bed with bunny sheets stood by the window. A doll was on the pillow, eyes staring into the dark.
The officers exchanged one more look. Kovalev crouched down slowly, lowered the flashlight beam…
For a split second, nothing. Only the usual shadows.
Then—two glinting eyes stared back.
“Police! Don’t move!” Kovalev barked, reaching with his free hand.
Suddenly, a man in black clothes bolted from beneath the bed, knocking the flashlight from Kovalev’s hand. The room erupted in chaos—the masked figure lunged for the window.
Melnikova drew her weapon. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
But the man was fast. He smashed the window latch, glass shattering onto the street below, and half his body was already through.
The mother screamed. The girl clung to the doorway.
Kovalev lunged, grabbing the man’s leg before he could escape—
