Читать книгу: «I’ve brought you God!», страница 5

– Vince, kitty, let’s get out of here. See, aunts are crazy,» Ruta took the boy’s hand and pulled him toward the exit. – Bye, girls! – she said without turning around.

– We’ll go too,» said Cataleya, who had returned from the balcony. – We have work tomorrow. Thanks for the alcohol and the food. And here, I made you something too,» she pulled a metal dragonfly with mesh wings out of her purse. – It’s for evil eye and curses. You wear it on your belt.

– Red, you took it off the corpse, didn’t you? – Tamura asked as she put it on her belt.

– The owner is dead, but he’s not cursed. And as you know, death cleanses amulets. Besides, I know you like that kind of thing.

– Nice girls,» Eira said, finishing her champagne.

– I don’t know,» Tamura replied. – They’re boring. Predictable. Ruta’s cool. And Cataleya… Except for the amulets. She gave Ruta an arrow of love for her last birthday. Lucky her.

– Yeah, lucky. She’s so lucky. As long as I’ve worked with her, I’ve never seen her like this. What happened to her last boyfriend?

– When she was explaining the rhymes, she mentioned Seryozhenka for a reason.

Eira opened her eyes wide, showing a look of surprise bordering on shock.

– Uh-huh,» Tamura nodded. – She had a boy about thirty-five years old. He was macho, and they started dating. And then he began to impose his will on her. A man, he said, and you’re a green teenager. The man said it, the man did it. She found an infusion system somewhere in the lab, tied Seryozhenka to a chair with pantyhose, gagged him with a teddy bear and stuck the donor needle of the drip directly into his brain. She put the other needle in a vein on his elbow. Then she climbed on top of him and started fucking him. And when he came, she pumped all the orgasm hormones into herself with an infusion pump. He’s in a pre-stroke state and she gets a double buzz. And she did it for a week until he went cuckoo. She whispered a poem to him every time. I’ll find it, I had it somewhere,» she pulled out her phone, «listen:

my Sergei

liquid wax

empty eye sockets

I’ll fill them

and two candles

as they do in church

to make it look like eyes

♪ but they’re false ♪

♪ and there’s a waxen tear running ♪

♪ and in my soul ♪

black god

gently

♪ with a dessert spoon ♪

♪ eats my heart out ♪

♪ under the still warm skin ♪

carefully

so as not to eat you at once.

my Seryozhnya

took the devils to the autobahn.

– Oh, come on! – Eira stretched out. – I thought you were the sick one. But something like that! You wouldn’t dream of it. It’s so creepy! The verse, by the way, is no less creepy. It’s also the most prophetic! Let’s toast her,» she topped up the glasses with champagne.

– Let’s toast Mitsu. He’s part of me, after all.

– By the way, you never said anything about your spider. Where’d you get it?

– Nobody believes me. That’s why I don’t.

– Will you tell me?

– Okay, listen. I had an older sister named Linda. Arachnophile. Had a wild fascination with all members of the arthropod family. Raised and bred them. Over 60 specimens in her collection. And she loved to touch them. And even more loved it when they climbed on her naked body. She got goosebumps and moaned when spiders bit her. Most of them were highly poisonous, and her body eventually developed an antidote. Her parents didn’t share her sophisticated hobby, but they didn’t forbid it either. But Linda loved her little sister more than spiders. She was crazy about me. Said she’d never leave me alone and would take care of me till the end of time. But one day she did. She was already fourteen, and her boy asked her out. And I was nine. She put me on a bus and sent me home. There was a fanatic on the bus with an explosive device, which he detonated when the bus was barely away from the stop. I was badly burned and one piece of shrapnel went through my heart. They put me back together piece by piece, but they couldn’t save my heart. Anyway, I needed a baby heart with a high coincidence factor. I didn’t see Linda in pain at the time, but I know what she did. Landed a female hermit spider, the most venomous spider of the new world, on her and it bit her. There was no antidote for it in her system, and an hour later Linda was found blue, covered in some kind of slime. She was dead, and the parents made the decision to save at least one child. The doctors refused to transplant the heart, which had toxin levels that exceeded all acceptable norms. So the father paid them well. The heart was transplanted, but it did not beat, despite direct massage, defibrillators and all the actions of doctors. And this is where the strangest and most mysterious event began. I opened my eyes during my resuscitation and clearly saw a hermit spider descending from the ceiling on a spider web. At one point in time he froze, I suddenly thought he was looking at me with all four pairs of eyes. Then the spider broke away from the web and dropped right into my open chest between my ribs. And my heart gave its first beat, then another and another. I was saved. No one believes me, because I couldn’t have seen it, because I was dead at that moment. But I remember it very clearly and distinctly. That boy has lived inside me ever since. Taking care of me, healing any open wounds, stopping internal bleeding, injecting antidotes and antivirals into my body, fixing broken limbs.

– Cool! – Eira nodded. – Really cool. Doesn’t it cure radiation?

– I don’t want to check. But I have a little girl secret,» Tamura leaned across the table conspiratorially and put her finger to her lips, «shh, shh, shh. I’ve never been on any diet,» she whispered. – All the extra glycogen is consumed by him. That’s who it is, if not Linda’s reincarnation? Yes, I don’t deny the power of my stagnum, and that if it weren’t for the stagnum, maybe Mitsu wouldn’t be here now. But where does a nine-year-old girl with no stagnum come from?

– Okay, but I have a question that’s been bugging me since I met you. May I?

– Yeah, go ahead.

– How do you remove with your fingers the web, the strength of which allows you to stop bullets and, as you say, fix limbs in fractures?

– No way! Mitsu lets me do it. It’s like he’s in constant control of all the coverings on me, and when I start tearing at my webs, he loosens those places. I don’t know how to explain it scientifically, but I think it’s about the protein that makes up the web. It’s like the spider is changing its molecular structure. Or degrades some component that binds the protein. But the web always comes off easily and flushes down the toilet just as easily.

– Wow! Doesn’t he get jealous of your men?

– Ooh! This is a special case! Mitsu realizes that my partner would be at least embarrassed if he found a spider on him or me during sex. So he leaves me, climbs onto the tallest furniture in the room, and quietly observes. And when a man begins to show dominant intentions, he lifts his butt in preparation to jump.

– И? Keep going! Have you ever jumped?

– Niiiii, no? Not once! – Tamura was clearly lying. – If I let that happen, how many handsome men would die an agonizing death, writhing in pain from painful shock. Though I really, really want to see it sometimes.

– I’ll pretend to believe you,» Eira tried to be serious. – And all your partners are alive and well. You know, let’s drink to your great gift! – she filled the glasses under the questioning look of the birthday girl. – Never, under any circumstances, never be discouraged! I’m serious now. I often envy you. You’re always bellowing like a wheezing horse, making jokes in any most hopeless situation. And most of all, your inability to see the evil in people. It’s a gift I envy terribly. Sometimes I look at some sectarian scum, my eyes bleed, and only my position does not allow me to burn him alive. It’s hard to live with that. But you’re not! You’re different! You even kill them out of curiosity or for fun, as the severed head will roll down the stairs, or whether the shoulder will fountain blood. As paradoxical as it sounds, you’re the kindest witch I know. And, in terms of forbidden theology, it turns out you’re a saint if sin is a thought. Well, sinless, at least. You don’t meet men like that, and it’s a unique quality among women. And the main thing is that you’re not afraid of death.

– I’ve died so many times!

– Come on, cheers! Oh, I’m out of champagne. I’ll try to find another bottle.

– No need, – replied Tamura. – I have some Ledum, – she took out a copper five-hundred-gram flask. – I took it out in the winter. I insisted on herbs for six months, so you can try it now. You don’t need to drink it.

– We’re not going to die? – Eira smiled.

– Don’t worry. It’s my guest’s, a selection,» she carefully poured her homemade aperitif into champagne glasses. – So I’m going to poison the guests? Cheers! – she drank to the bottom and snacked on berries. – They had a karaoke somewhere. I’ll try to set it up.

Twenty minutes later, the witches were already trying to outdo each other in karaoke.

***

– You don’t see that driving a bike,» Tamura said. They were riding in the back of a squad car on an empty street at night. Eira was studying something on her tablet computer, and Tamura was just staring out the window, leaning her temple against the glass. Along the road, storefronts and various salons flashed with brightly lit signs that read, «Love Horoscopes. Taurus 50% off,» «Battle shaman 24/7,» «Totem tattoos,» «Training in clairvoyance. Set girls from 7 years old», «Descendant magician. Return husband or money!».

– A lot of…, I forgot the word,» Tamura began snapping her fingers, trying to remember. – Such a succinct old word to describe it all.

– Obscurantism,“ Eira replied. – „That word is ’obscurantism’

– Exactly! Obscurantism, endless, varied, for all tastes, ages and orientations. The sellers of happiness.

– People have to believe in something,» Eira said, turning her attention from the tablet to the flickering, endless garland of light-effect signs. – Not everyone is comfortable with the scientific explanations of stagnum and what it can create. As they say, don’t teach physics in school and your life will be filled with wonder and magic.

– Speaking of physics,» Tamura replied without turning around. – What is the nature of your stagnum? And why Max? And where is he all the time? Where is he now, for example?

– Oooh! I remembered about Max. Look,» she pulled a cigarette out of the pack, waited until Tamura’s curiosity made her pull her groggy head away from the glass.

– Are you going to burn me?

– «Max is not only a born and brutal mass murderer, but also a delicate gentleman with manners,» Eira said the moment the tip of the cigarette flared up. – Thank you, Max. «The nature of my stagnum is based on a phenomenon that physicists call «Maxwell’s demon’.

– Yes, I remember such a thing,» Tamura said with difficulty moving her lips. – A made-up devil that regulates the probability streams of the distribution of particles with the same characteristics. Holy zodiacs, how do I know that?

– From the academy, I guess. I only learned it there myself. Now, Max knows how to distribute the probability streams of molecules by separating them by temperature. So it turns out that molecules with increased energy gather in one place, increasing the temperature of the object, and calmer – in another, respectively, cooling the air or bodies. In this case, almost no energy is used. After all, it’s not the temperature that’s being regulated, it’s the probability.

– What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t get it. Maybe when I sober up, you can tell me everything. I just realized why Max. Shortened «Maxwell’s Demon» to «Max,» huh?

The car made a smooth turn down an alley and pulled up to the school’s main entrance.

– Maybe you won’t pick up the bike today. I see you’re all messed up.

– Niiiii, I’m fine. I haven’t ridden like this before. Besides, Mitsu’s taking care of me. Good boy,» she opened the door and staggered toward the bike, trying to find the hilt of her katana behind her back. Then abruptly turned around and walked over to the car. – Where’s the pipidastre?

– You’ll pick it up tomorrow,“ Eira replied, closing the door and throwing it to the autopilot, „Let’s go!

– I’ll pick it up tomorrow,» Tamura nodded at the departing car, saddled the bike and slowly drove in the opposite direction.

Eira sent the service drone to the garage, took the elevator up to the sixteenth floor. Then she poured the duty coffee from the coffee maker, lit a cigarette, made herself comfortable on the wide windowsill, converted into a recliner and looked out the window.

– It’s obscurantism,» she said almost syllabically and took a deep drag.

Chapter 8

A tall, thin man of about forty in a black robe walked down a wide street with dilapidated buildings. All around were thick thickets of straw, the queen of oblivion, which spread like a green river through the city and did not cover only the narrow path trampled down to the broken asphalt. The houses along the streets were at the mercy of the red-green king – wild grapes, whose powerful and dense stems tightened their loops on the dilapidated houses, breaking them, crumbling the brick and concrete, and giving the dead buildings an unreal and terrifying look.

The path turned smoothly to a dead end, ending in a one-story building, completely intact in contrast to the residential buildings that once surrounded it. The low building of the hypermarket, almost entirely made of glass and metal, had not yet been spared the roots of the plants.

A man in a cassock approached the entrance, pulled on the handles of the creaking glass doors, and grinned. From somewhere in the back of the store came the frequent clatter of spanking heels, clearly out of size. After a moment more, a girl of about seven wearing huge boots appeared. She ran up to the man and stopped in front of him, keeping her head down.

– You sly little devil,“ the man said in a serious voice, hiding a smile, „did you think I wouldn’t notice? Thought I’d see your sandals and think you stayed home?

– I’m sorry, Dad. I thought you were already on duty, – the girl was almost unable to lie, and her intonation clearly failed her.

– You’re at it again? – her father raised his voice. – Did they teach you to lie? Are you running to the idol again? – He grabbed the child by the handle and led her to the old storeroom, which was located thirty meters to the right of the main entrance. He stopped abruptly at the door and pointed his finger at the bottom of it. – It’s a simple piece of wood,» the man said in slow syllables. He clutched the girl’s tiny hand tightly, though she made no attempt to break free.

– Don’t you see, Papa? – she squeaked in a ringing voice. – There’s the head, there’s the wings, there’s even wings on the head. It’s an angel! And he’s alive. He’s crying. See the tears flowing? He’s trapped in a tree, but he wants to fly through the air.

– Why don’t I explain it to you? – I could hear the irritation building in my voice. – Angels are invisible. They fill our community with the will of God and carry his holy spirit. They care for us, protect us from deadly radiation, give us food. And do you think God would allow his angel to live in a tree? He wouldn’t! And this is just a pattern. The head is a cut twig and the wings, as you say, are parts of the annual rings. Every tree has a texture that creates the images that your silly childish brain assigns to an angel. You scrubbed it clean of paint, that’s why you can see the pattern so clearly. And the tears are resin,» he ran his finger over the amber droplet on the knot and rubbed it with his fingers. – Smell it! It smells of wood, pine. Do real tears smell like that? Marie, this is obscurantism,» he said in syllables. – We are not idolaters. We serve God. And I forbid you to look for angels anywhere, do you understand?

– But it’s warm, touch it.

My father squatted down, slipped his hand out of his deep sleeve and placed it on the wooden pattern. The hand was partially stripped of skin and flesh so that the rib bones of the palm and two fingers were visible.

– Warm,» he agreed, ignoring his daughter’s squeamish look at his mutilation. – But that’s because you’ve been sitting here for hours, breathing on the door and rubbing a soulless idol with a rag. Isn’t it?

The creak of the front door opening was heard. The man got up and hurried to the entrance. On the threshold stood a woman with a scarf almost completely wrapped around her face, despite the warm summer weather. Behind the woman stood two similar-looking boys. Both were missing ears and lips.

– Father Chris,» the woman whispered softly, making a deep bow. The voice seemed to come not from her lips, but from somewhere in her neck. – Are we on time? The church is empty.

– You are the first,» the priest smiled and looked at the twins. – Are the boys keeping you awake?

The woman stood behind the children and gently pushed them forward.

– Say hello to Father Chris,» she commanded sternly.

The boys obediently approached the man, who hugged them and kissed them.

The woman, meanwhile, unwrapped the scarf from her head, approached Marie and turned part of her disfigured face toward her.

– Thy Will be done,» the girl said loudly and crossed the woman. – Thy kingdom come. May I not kiss you today? – But catching her father’s stern look, she squeamishly touched the woman’s face with her lips, went up to the boys and kissed them.

– Sister Angela, help me meet the congregation for the service,» the priest turned to the woman. – I need to get ready. Today is an unusual service. A festive service.

The woman bowed silently, closing her eyes for a moment in agreement.

– Come with me,“ he called to the girl and moved down the center aisle toward the iconostasis, „You can help me.

The church room with a very low ceiling had wide windows on three sides, so it did not need artificial light during the day. In the huge central hall there were chairs, pews, and other furniture all around the area where one could sit. Only the central aisle from the entrance to the iconostasis and small aisles along the windows were free. Just beyond the iconostasis began the service rooms.

– Come, help me put on the festive cassock, – said the priest to his daughter and took her into one of the rooms.

– Red dress, – the girl looked at the cassock hanging on the rack. – Like on Easter?

– Today is also a special day, – Father Chris explained.

– Why am I different? – interrupted his daughter. – Why is everyone so ugly?

– Don’t call them that. They feel pain all the time. They have to put up with discomfort. Do you think I’d call you to help me dress if I could do it easily?

– What do you call them? Marie persisted.

– It’s God’s holy will. And God marked it with his invisible hand.

– Radiation? God likes to hurt?

– Of course not, – smiled the priest. – You are still very young and naive.

– I want you to explain it to me,» the girl said almost syllabically, throwing her cassock over her father’s shoulder.

– All right, I’ll explain. You are not another! You are the first survivor without flaws, despite the deadly radiation around you! You are the new hope! You are proof of the Holy Will! Perhaps you will be the mother of the Messiah.

More and more voices came from the hall. Father Chris looked at his watch.

– They are waiting for us, we mustn’t be late,» he said and left the locker room.

Marie climbed up on a chair so she could see the entire audience. Almost the entire congregation was gathered in the hall. Many were sitting in the aisle, for there were clearly not enough seats. On either side of the pulpit, other priests in red robes stood whispering.

Almost all of those seated had deep blemishes on their exposed skin. Some had superficial but complete disfigurements on their faces. Others partially, like Sister Angela’s, but down to the bone. The process of decomposition and putrefaction never ceased, and there was a terrible stench in the hall. Necrosis affected many people’s respiratory tracts, causing them to wheeze loudly. But more frightening were the empty eye sockets of the few parishioners. And the strangest thing was that it didn’t prevent them from navigating easily. Moreover, even they looked at the beautiful and not a bit disfigured girl who had risen on the chair. They looked and nodded appreciatively.

– Eden,» Father Chris began, addressing the congregation. – «Today is the fifteenth year we have been here. After years of wandering, we have finally found our home. In the heart of the radioactive zone,» the head of the congregation knew how to speak in public. He deliberately paused after short sentences to emphasize the effect of what he was saying. He often switched to a whisper, stretched the endings, varied his timbre. – God gave us this paradise to separate the grain from the chaff, faith from ignorance. And many did not survive. For others, it became an ordeal. Fifteen years ago we walked along the river looking for food, shelter, warmth. But we met God! Do you remember when our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to us? It was not a vision! Do you remember how he stretched out his hands to us, and the angels trumpeted victory over death? We were dying of radiation sickness. But we survived. Survived in spite of the terrible stigmata of radiation. Stigmata that God continues to test us with unceasingly. Survived, and that is proof of God’s will, our faith, and our purpose. Survived, and God has given us a new sign,» he turned his head toward his daughter. The whole room followed suit. – Eden, this is the first person not affected by deadly radiation. This girl is the concentration of our faith and prayers, the great Providence and the word of God. Eden, I congratulate you on your new hope!

The hall rose and burst into applause, and the girl jumped from her chair and ran toward the exit. There she stopped for a moment, looked toward the patterned door, pushed it open, and ran out.

However, the congregation gathered in the building of a former hypermarket converted into a temple did not react in any way and cheered. They had a big celebration ahead of them.