Nikolai Kazantsev arrives at the mysterious estate of Count Vladimir Pazurkevich, a young man intending to study fine arts in Italy, but lacking the means to do so, he takes a chance on an adventure! Introducing himself as a professor, Kazantsev tries to pretend convincingly that he is studying the Count's extensive library, while at the same time actively hitting on Pazurkevich's fiancée, the beautiful Anna. Strange events taking place at the estate draw the guest into the whirlpool of a mystical and eerie story...

Interlocking narratives, told out of chronological order, about partisans in the Second World War who are a band of nihilistic marauders, roaming the countryside and dispensing what they see as justice to those they consider collaborators with the enemy.