Nicholas S. of Kiev never thought that a painting could influence a person's fate. “Prison became my salvation, but it seems that soon I will lose my only chance to survive,” he wrote in a letter.
FATAL PORTRAIT
By the age of thirty-two, Nikolai had a good reputation in his company. From the age of fifteen, Kolka was engaged in theft. At first, he carried wallets for little things from gaping passers-by or careless passengers of buses, then he got the hang of getting into the windows. He managed to get the patronage of one of the "authorities" in his city, and from the age of nineteen he lived happily ever after, working with the chief on parcels.
Once Nikolai and two of his friends were assigned a task that was not difficult at first glance. It was necessary to secretly enter a house and take out a picture.
The house was not easy. There lived a noble person in the city - the owner of a large bank, one of the companions-in-arms of the “godfather”. If the elderly thief in law had any weakness, it was expressed in excessive love for the female sex. When the boss had another girlfriend, he acted as if she was the only woman on earth, trying not only to shower her path with pink petals, but also to satisfy the slightest whims of his beloved.
The next lady of the heart was deeply impressed by the portrait of a mysterious stranger, which she saw in the house of her business partner “sugar daddy”. Upon learning of this, the former thief, now in the status of a decent businessman, offered his partner a large sum for a portrait hanging on his stairs.
But, to the surprise of the "godfather", the old friend flatly refused to sell the painting. Negotiations went on for several months, but the banker never wanted to part with the canvas. Therefore, Nikolai and two of his assistants - Dmitry and Konstantin - had to resolve the issue in a cardinal way …
Promotional video:
EVIL GIRL
The planned event went off without a hitch. Dima, Kostya and Kolya entered the banker's house and took out the portrait. In the trembling light of a flashlight, for a second it seemed to Nikolai that a girl in a blue dress from a portrait slashed him with an evil glance, and goose bumps ran down his spine. For a second, he felt the urge to immediately put the painting back in place, but quickly suppressed it.
The next day, their boss's girlfriend received the coveted "toy". A few days later, Nikolai overheard a conversation between the chief and one of the assistants.
All my Sveta's roof has gone because of this picture, - the big boss grinned. - Imagine, she found the inscription "evil girl" on the back of the canvas and began to find out who the girl in the portrait was. It turns out that the painting is about two hundred years old, and the girl Marishka depicted on it was illegitimate and was considered a disgrace to the family. She was assigned two small rooms in the attic of the family mansion and was not allowed to communicate with other relatives. It seems that she died young in 1798, having fallen down the stairs, and after death, embittered and unhappy, she settled in her own portrait. Oh, and what women can't come up with!
Nikolai grew cold, remembering what an unkind look the portrait had awarded him with.
A few days later a banker came to visit his partner. Kolya was surprised that the robbed did not raise a fuss about the loss of an expensive painting. The “big bosses” talked about something for a long time, but they never came to an agreement.
As he left, the banker looked at Nikolai with a sharp glance and suddenly muttered: “You would be better if the portrait were returned! "Bad Girl" kills almost anyone who touches her only image. Probably afraid that the portrait will be damaged. If you fools have even a drop of common sense, you will return it to its original place."
WAITING FOR FREEDOM
The day after the banker's visit, Nikolai went to church, tried to pray, but the lousy portrait did not come out of his head. The girl on it was wonderfully beautiful, as if alive. And Nikolai was afraid that the talk about the ghost of the illegitimate Marishka living in the canvas might turn out to be true.
And a few days later, Dimka disappeared - one of those who went with Nikolai "to the case." It was said that he was last seen with a beautiful girl in an old-fashioned blue dress.
Three days later, his mutilated body was found in the river. It was as if he was being torn with claws, and the pathologist could not determine what kind of animal attacked Dmitry. The word "thief" was carved into the chest of the corpse.
At Dima's funeral, Kostik disappeared - another participant in the night theft. Some of the guests, when asked by Nikolai, replied that his friend had gone with some young lady in a blue outfit. Three days later, another mutilated body with a bloody inscription "thief" was found in the river …
Realizing that he was the last participant in the theft, Nikolai decided to hide as safely as possible. He went to the police, where he wrote a frank confession about how he stole the painting and then sold it. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
The “Godfather” tried to help Nikolai, but he stubbornly “drowned” himself in order to get the maximum term. It seemed to him that by the time he was released, everything would somehow settle by itself …
Now Nikolai's term is coming to an end. And he ought to be happy, but for several months now he has been dreaming the same dream every night - the "evil girl" from the portrait, Marishka, smiles at him and beckons him to her, saying: "I'm waiting for you!" Each time he trustingly takes a few steps towards her and with horror sees how her face turns into a frozen grinning mask, fangs come out of her mouth, and her hands turn into claws.
He tried to go to prison doctors, but nothing helped to get rid of the terrible nightmare. Nikolai is convinced that at large he will die from a fatal portrait …