Siberian Light Magi, Chronicles of Bratsk. Story 2

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STORY TWO

"CHUPACABRA DIED ON THE OCA"

P r e f e r e w o r d

Here is what I write in my diary again:


There is a river called Oka in the Irkutsk region. There are many villages and towns near it. There are many wonders in these parts, but there are also some that locals can't tell everyone about.

In the distant past, Siberia was a place of exile, and now it is a "gold mine for those coming from big cities," as the older generations gossip. The gold turns out to be counterfeit - sometimes you can't even buy bread for it. Those who are disappointed in life and career live here, so they go to the wilderness - beyond the Urals, leaving everything for money.They especially strive to get to the Irkutsk region, where winters are truly terrible frosts. Summers are rainy or dry. The reason for this is not the fact that they built a lot of dams, but something completely different.

The Oka River... It is about one thousand five hundred kilometers long. This river can tell us a lot. Which I will do in this diary.

Irkutsk Region... Here, unbelief, ignorance, violence and cruelty rule. It is enough to open the history of this place - take at least Bratsk. There, love is replaced by debauchery, even worse - at the so-called "parties" entertainment is valued first and foremost bad type, yes friends, and only then the future and the beloved girl. If she begs her beloved to go out with her too - and not just with friends - the guy immediately goes to his friends, dumps her. When I heard about this in January 2005, my blood ran cold. Here it is, a terrible example of heartlessness - falling in love here is very dangerous.If you like someone, you better bite the bullet, don't go to punks or flats. Anywhere where dubious characters gather. The punks here aren't punks at all: they're people posing as them. These are mostly Dark Ones. Here's an insert about Bratsk and its suburbs. Aren't you scared yet? Then read on.

This time I want to tell you about a small village. But first, I need to delve into its past. SO, NOW SIT DOWN AND STUDY MY NOTES.

PROLOGUE

YEAR 1978 one thousand nine hundred and seventy eight

SUMMER

July. The mother of two children sat on the porch, washing clothes. If she managed to tear herself away from work and raise her head, a wonderful landscape spread out before her eyes. The huge Oka River quietly babbled. Somewhere near Tulun, the Iya River flows. Life there is almost as wonderful. It is very nice to live outside the city, or even far away from cities where there is no stench and odor, because there BRAZ (Bratsk Aluminum Plant) constantly spews smoke from its scandalously famous chimneys.

Two children were frolicking next to the woman - a boy and a girl. They were almost the same age: the girl was ten years old, and the boy was not even seven. They laughed and giggled, running near a large two-story hut. If you look at these little ones from the outside, it seems: there is no one in the world happier than anyone except her brother and sister. The housewife hung the washed laundry on the line and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It's hot... She still has to go to the garden to weed the beds: there are a lot of weeds there. I wonder where her husband is walking now? In the morning, he's always somewhere He drags himself along: sometimes with fishing rods, sometimes with a backpack, a bucket, knives, he hangs a gun on his shoulder. He doesn't help his wife with the housework! He doesn't show up at home until nightfall. He always comes back from hunting angry - there has never been a case where he came back happy. Now fishing is a different matter! He says - there are some very strange game in the woods.

After such conversations in the village "X" (I'll call it that) strange things began to happen - people disappeared for no reason. No matter how much they looked for them - not a trace was found. He left and disappeared. They combed the entire forest - no trace! Only clothes were found on trees or bushes. This happened during hunting season opened. Not only the woman's husband faced paradoxes, but all of them. Also, in the Oka River near the village there was an unnaturally huge fish. Everything was very similar to the following: nuclear tests were once carried out in these places, and that is where such discrepancies with reality arose. No one had heard of radiation in these parts: everyone believed - unpolluted places in such a form should exist. The ecology is wonderful: clean products, plants, air, offspring are healthy in every sense, do not degrade. Unlike Bratsk, Ust-Kut and Taishet. They live in the village "X" for a long time, never get sick. For example - in winter, cities and neighboring villages are mowed down by an epidemic of colds,flu, and the villagers don't give a damn! They live their lives: you can sneeze on them with viruses, or not!

Another phenomenon was observed in the village among the people: if Russian people really like to drink on holidays, then the X-types can't stand vodka, they don't smoke. Not only men of different ages,but also women. There is nothing to say about children at all - angels...

In the winter in December - January, huge wolves roamed the yards and forests, no one knew where they came from. They disappeared at the beginning of February. Where the wolf packs were heading - no one was able to follow. Because everyone was afraid: what if they were killed? When these animals howled - it seemed that someone among them was trying to say words, but he can't: his jaw and muzzle don't allow it. Nights turned into mass madness. Residents locked themselves in their houses and kept silent. Not going outside even to relieve themselves. It could well have been like that - animals were walking around the village, tracking down their prey. Once, on New Year's Eve, the husband of a woman neighbor (who was mentioned above) went into the forest to chop wood -and disappeared without a trace. And then those animals showed up. The state farm and local authorities were running off their feet, but all in vain. They combed the entire area - NO ONE.

The neighbor was very young - twenty-two years old, three months pregnant. The poor thing grieved greatly: she had found a good guy, she had just gotten married. And then her happiness disappeared!The husband did not cheat, did not offend. But he had one serious flaw: very dubious friends. After partying with them, he would show up home well after midnight. Fortunately, such antics continued once a month. But it was quite nerve-racking.

Winter passed, spring, summer came, time to give birth. One bad thing: a boy or a girl will grow up without a father. This brings harm. Harm - in the sense of fatherlessness. Nobody needs other people's children. But the young woman is stupid - she hoped for his honesty. They walked and played,further - friends are more important. Apparently he had enough fun with them. They poured into his ears about his wife - and then it was gone. And to hell with him!

Now - about the good stuff.

In the village "X", about which there were many bad rumors instead of good, lived a young handsome man - a guy. His face resembled characters from medieval paintings by Leonardo, Raphael and other great artists. A slender, enviable groom with long golden hair, beautifully laid on his shoulders. For understanding I'll add - he looks like Lel from the movie "Snegurochka". Where he came from in the wilderness is a big question. Everyone envied the young man: he's playing the hero, you have to spite him! But: he didn't look at women and girls. At all. Apparently, they got so fed up with him in his city - you don't want to look at him!

But liked another quality of his: he loved to help. If needed help digging a garden - please! If you needed help fetching water - please! Of course, someone fell in love with OLEG ARENSKY - but the hard worker answered all the ladies simply and clearly: "I don't like you as a woman, I don't have feelings of love for anyone. That's why I won't drag you to the hayloft, girl! Do you agree with this? You shouldn't bewitch and achieve mutual feelings in other ways: you will make it worse for yourself. I don’t want to depend on anyone, leave me alone! I will help with the garden, repair the house, chop wood, and nothing more, look for the rest among your own people.” With these words, he turned and left, leaving the women in tears and snot for a long time. VERY many dreamed of getting pregnant from Oleg. But alas. It is impossible.

In his free time, the golden-haired man loved to play the flute, wandered through the forest, swam in the river, and the young guy's favorite decoration was an amulet - a giant curved claw on his neck. The size of a palm and white, with cracks. It seemed like there was nothing strange about Arensky, but one thing confused the suspicious people village "X", where the anomalies were raging - the light was on in Oleg's house all night. What he was doing there, no one knew for sure. Only the ancient old women, who for some reason walked around without headscarves, looked angrily at the stranger. The wolves never came near his hut! They came into everyone's yard at night, but they never climbed into Arensky's! Strange.

Sometimes a city or rural guy, who knows, was called out to the huts in the middle of the night for a showdown: either someone was fighting there, or they were celebrating a fight… There was even a case when the host, drunk, splashed vodka in the guest’s face (he was probably in town) – and the guy’s skin peeled off in layers! Oleg remembered this story. But he couldn’t help but recall how he heard heart-rending screams from there:

- I told you! I can't have alcohol!

- A purely Russian way to solve a problem with a glass of vodka. - The young man grumbled, standing under the ill-fated window. Then he went home to sleep again.

- Mom, Mom! Uncle Oleg is coming to us! - The boy cried out, smiling with joy. The woman, weeding the beds in the heat - when the sun was at its zenith - raised her head and smiled warmly.

- Hello, Oleg. How are you? - She asked the golden-haired handsome man.

- Not bad, Elena Dmitrievna. I heard - your husband disappeared in the winter too…

- Disappeared. Then came back - two months later. As always: they disappear, then have a good time, and come back. Well, you understand...

The blond narrowed his eyes - no, he didn't understand.

- Can he tolerate vodka?

- What are you talking about?! Absolutely not! Even when I was steeping cedar nut tincture, he found it and poured it out. Sometimes he yelled at me, but he treats children well.

- I see.

- You're from out of town, as I noticed.

— Yes and no: I've been living here for a year now. I came to get some treatment and take a break from the bustle of the city. Everything grows wildly and luxuriantly here, the silence is sometimes dead, and people sometimes do illogical things that are embarrassing to talk about later. I wonder what your men are doing in the forest, if someone is always finding torn clothes in the bushes?

Elena Dmitrievna swayed:

- Oleg! How can you say that!? You've become a young woman: green! Your stupid head won't give your legs any rest...

And she thought to herself:

"You should get out of here as quickly as possible, Arensky: I'm afraid for you! There's evil swarming in every corner here, I know that, but you don't notice! Wake up and run away!"

Here the son butted into the conversation:

— Mom! Ira, my little sister, — is sitting on the porch and waiting for you to finish weeding. She is asking for help for our neighbor — she is having contractions! More precisely, labor. Very difficult, Aunt Anya could die! She is screaming loudly!

Elena looked around. She can’t come — her hands are covered in dirt, it will take a long time to wash, and time is running out! Why did Anna give birth in the eighth month?

- What are you saying there, my girl? - Oleg asked warily, approaching the boy's sister. - Who's giving birth there?

- Aunt Anya! - the girl shouted.

- Where is her house?

- Follow me, Oleg Arensky: I'll show you everything.

The stranger rushed after a girl of about ten years old, the mother managed to shout:

- Arensky! Don't go there! This sight is not for the likes of you! Better call a midwife - a fortune teller!

But he seemed not to hear anything.

A woman in labor was writhing on a rumpled bed. Her hair was tangled like tow, her face was distorted with unbearable pain. Sweat glistened on her forehead. It was clear: the baby did not want to come out. And Anna would certainly die if the situation did not change. A fortune teller was nearby: she had arrived first. It seemed that things were really bad.

- Push! Push!!!

- I can't...

There was a knock at the door - Oleg and Ira arrived.

- Who's there?

- I came to help. Open up!

Oleg asked the girl to stay outside and wait, and he opened the door and entered. The fortune teller immediately winced: she felt the Power. And the guy went up to the bed, looked into the girl's eyes, and gently stroked her head. The magician is a woman. YES. LIGHT - ALMOST ALL THE MAGES HERE. There are only a few people. And they are dying out. Despite the Witch belonged to the Light, the room became uncomfortable to be in. As if it was not the Lights that had gathered, but the Dark Magicians. It was necessary to act quickly and skillfully - the child did not come out. At all.



He made the cut very carefully. At first there was no blood. Then his graceful, thin hand penetrated the womb, his fingers very carefully picked up the baby. He handed it to the woman. She began to cut the umbilical cord and wash the child, without even looking at its gender. The fortune teller's eyes widened in amazement. He wasn't scared!

— Look me in the eyes! In the eyes! Do you hear? Well?

Anya gasped and fell silent. Oleg stroked her head with his left hand, calming her down, stopping the bleeding. He blew on her forehead, kissed her cheek as a consolation. Like a lover, he ran his fingers along the girl's neck.

- Who was born to us? - The midwife asked the boy.

- It's a boy. A beautiful boy!

Having said this, Oleg winced. It immediately became clear why the room, where the three Light Ones were, was completely pitch black, why the woman in labor had almost died. No one except him understood what had happened. Arensky looked at the child too sternly. Yeah.

"That's all I need here! What a shame, what a joyful thing: I just became the godfather of the Dark One! What a shame... The entire Dark Headquarters, when I return to Bratsk, will laugh out loud!"

- Another non-human - a magician. - The handsome man whispered, wiping the blood from his claw with a handkerchief and putting it on his neck. - Dark one. Sew up the wound! Why are you staring at me?! I don't need anyone here, especially since the child is not mine! Wherever I go - EVERYWHERE they stare like I'm an exhibit!

Oleg could initiate even newborns, but extremely rarely.

“It’s still good,” he added, handing the screaming child over to his mother. The husband must have been a werewolf, because he walked away. Well, that’s it! That’s why we didn’t get along! He put his hands in warm, clean water, washed them, and dried them. “I’ll get out of here. Good luck.”

He left and went home, visibly upset. A week later, Enerik packed his things, locked the house and climbed to the top of the hill. He looked at the Oka. The great river beckoned to itself, small ripples ran across the water. And the Archmage, forever young, adjusted his hair, looked back once more and walked toward the road.


TWENTY-SIX YEARS LATER

SETTING: SIBERIA, BRATSK.

TIME OF DAY: THREE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON.

DAY: TWENTY-FOURTH OF AUGUST.

YEAR: TWO THOUSAND AND FOUR.

A. M.


- Listen, Enerik, stop laughing - finally! - Valyuk couldn't stand it.

- Ha - ha - ha!!!

There was a terrible, wild laughter in the Light office. Everyone was having fun - from the tame vampire Thror to Andrey. No one seemed to give a reason to laugh. But it is known to be contagious. Five minutes later, everyone slid under the table.

And the boss - a Celt, a Viking and someone else all rolled into one with two thousand years of experience, with the face of a twenty-year-old guy - was bawling, throwing his head back. His light hair, like a waterfall, flowed down to his waist.

Having laughed until he cried, the Light One seemed to calm down.

"Light One, what was the problem?" Thror asked.

The Chief looked at the vampire:

"What the... did you come... hic... to Headquarters, Light Ones, if I sent everyone... on vacation?!"

He turned away and blew his nose. I poured myself some water from the carafe and drank:

— What's wrong with that? We were also planning to go somewhere today. So we decided to ask you where. Mrak went to Moscow, his sister Valya is there too. The rest are sitting it out in the city.

— Why did I schedule a vacation so early, despite the applications, and September is indicated there? There are very few people in August. Everyone has scattered, crawled to their dachas, garden beds, resorts. Ours have also mostly left. And the Dark Ones too. Let the people think of something to surprise us with. At the end of September we will start working perfectly. — Enerik,After delivering the speech, I wasn't going to stop laughing today. - Do you want to know where exactly I'm going? It's a long story.

- Go ahead! - I waved my hand in agreement, closing my eyes. I knew: there would be chaos.

— I recently received a letter. In one village, not far from here by the Oka, something terrible has appeared and is giving no one any peace. Chupacabra, most likely.

— Chebura… — Thror asked again.

— CHUPACABRA! — the chief cut him off sharply, his cheerfulness vanished as if by magic. He opened the closet and took out a magnificent Chinese robe made of natural silk. This thing was probably three hundred years old. No less. Our Celt himself was sitting in shorts and a black T-shirt. This did not suit his ancient appearance and the beauty that was on his face The land disappeared a long time ago. Not the one that is being restored now, but another one. And here you go — shorts! Anyway, it's clear. Our blond guy is pretty well preserved!

The robe is cream-colored, painted with special care and attention to detail. Every millimeter is drawn in the drawings! On the back there is an embroidery with a dragon spewing fire from its mouth. Cool!

Now in the cozy office all that was left was to unfold the sofa standing by the wall, bring Indian incense sticks, fruit and other food, a case of Tinkoff light beer, and put up a TV. That's it! We could live. His Serene Highness took a watering can and began to water the flowers on the window that had managed to wither: they were standing in the blazing sun! The entire office was filled with them! Some were blooming…

— What other Poke… oh, Chupacabra?

— A monster, small and dangerous. But there are bigger ones. Also: in the Irkutsk region there is a place where there are a lot of ours. The village is called Ix, it is not on the map. The magicians living there — be it Dark or Light - UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL THEY GIVE A PERSON THEIR SETTLEMENT PLACE!

Aha! That's why "X".

For some reason, at that moment I remembered how I came across a tape of "The X-Files", and it told a similar story: agent Mulder flies to Krasnoyarsk, where he falls into the clutches of terrorists. Who, just like him, are studying an anomalous zone. The UFO crashed, and that's how it all started. It's always like that here.The story ended like this: the FBI agent went to prison and got out of our country thanks to a strange old man who was convicted of crimes and experiments on people.

What the chief said is more drastic than the TV series itself: VILLAGE OF OURS! More drastic than the genealogy of hereditary Mages! When a person turns into one of us, he disappears from the world of people forever. And if he tries to live his old life, he suffers greatly:becomes a stranger in an unfamiliar land. The ability of non-humans lies in their dissimilarity: they can thrive where a mortal cannot live. And where he thrives, non-humans howl. There is nothing in their nature that could satisfy a person’s need for affection, sympathy. If life brought together a non-human with a homo sapiens, the creature has to constantly supplement itself - with those needs and abilities that it is unable to master, much less get used to. And the result is disastrous (maybe that's why people are evil, like animals - they are allowed too much?).

The magician begins to get sick, although the Dark suffers much less than the Light. This is compensated by great charm. Vampires and werewolves take advantage of this - at the same time, people, and even the Light, cannot help but be afraid of them, since the Dark constantly suffer. People themselves create this vicious circle, and therefore it is impossible to love only for appearance. Even our Headquarters Light Forces cannot constantly love the dying. They can only pity them, nothing else. I wonder if our Energizer has gotten tired of pitying humanity for twenty centuries, which constantly gets into trouble? NO, he even likes it, and Siberia too.

But the Dark Headquarters cannot endlessly despise and hate - there is not enough evil for everyone. There is enough strength to laugh, to catch the too trusting, impressionable and to pour into the ranks. There is a lot of such good in Bratsk. Thirty years ago, the Chiefs of Headquarters met in a mortal duel They challenged each other to a duel.On the question: who will get the city? The Light won: the Celt killed his rival, then prudently sent the body to the forefathers. The Inquisition did not even bat an eyelid: it itself allowed everything! Both authorities from the towers gave their consent to the duel. Before this, a tribunal session was held on the case of debauchery, permissiveness in the city of the Dark, the Dark lost the trial. It was 1974.

After some time, the winner (in order to rest from such a significant event) took a four-year leave, appointed someone as the chief, and disappeared. No one knew where the chief of Svetlykh was all this time. The fake "Oleg" began to travel around the villages, helping with good deeds and advice, restoring the spent forces. I drove like that until I completely accidentally came across the village "X", and it began.

The few people who lived there among our people unanimously told the newbie to get out of here while he could. It's dangerous - UFOs fly over the Oka, people disappear and all that. They often told about the glowing balls over the clearing in the forest. Instead of leaving, Arensky began to carefully study the village and very soon discovered that this was the real habitat of the Magi. At first he was happy, but soon there was no time for laughter... He quickly realized HOW lucky he was: there are only a few places in Russia where only their own live.Maybe they even reproduce in batches. Contrary to the statement that said - they cannot reproduce naturally. They live like ordinary people. It is interesting to watch! Almost no one comes here, to the wilderness, there are few birds. Only huge trees rustle, people are almost never encountered - with the exception of those who live in "X".

They live, rarely communicating with anyone. It is understandable - it is scary here. Sometimes rumors circulated among the villagers about strange little animals - with a fox's face and a dinosaur's body. Like Pushkin's lines from "Lukomorye": "There, on unknown paths, are traces of unseen animals. There is a hut on chicken legs without windows, without doors." Enerik, having barely heard the news, immediately understood - they were talking about werewolves.It soon became clear that stories do not come out of thin air. In the spring, while digging up the garden, he noticed a strange creature near the compost pit. He thought that the dog was digging up old seeds, but he threw a stone, and the creature ran away. It whined resentfully, jumping on its powerful hind legs. Its body was like that of a lizard, but covered in long, black fur. On its fingers were curved claws of such a size that they could rip open the belly of a cow or a horse. A forked tongue flashes between its sharp, long teeth.

The man looked fearlessly into the werewolf's eyes and was amazed - HUMAN! Well, well. "Now a dozen of them will show up in the garden and ruin everything," thought the Most Serene, throwing another stone at the creature. This time the creature squealed something, and although the words were unintelligible, several were outlined:

— R — r… rzaraplar — tissya za e — it! — And he jumped over the flimsy fence.

— There are so many evil spirits here…

After that, they hissed at Oleg — especially the old people. The dogs growled, the fortune tellers looked askance at Svetly with suspicion — but he endured and tolerated everything. He studied all the paranormal phenomena in the Oka River area. He was amazed at how everything was distorted. For days, weeks puzzled over what had happened in this village, which had become a refuge for thousands of its own - outcasts. Thought and thought, but could not decide.

- Fire ignites feelings, water quenches desires. When they meet, two elements become one. I still wonder who came up with this heresy. These are illusions. Such things can only be seen in our imagination. In real life - two opposites. - Enerik said quietly, smiling sadly. Now he looked very much like Legolas from the movie "The Lord of the Rings". There was no sparkle or joy in his eyes. He was remembering something that was gone forever. As if our boss had not had any fun that day. His eyes showed weariness - endless.

An archmage with a human soul... An immortal beauty - externally and internally. Tormented by mortal passions. The one who pushed you into the invisible World must have cried? He made such a guy Light! Taking away all the joys of human life, giving him eternal youth. Condemned him to an eternal existence in the world of evil people. That's exactly what I thought, pouring myself a glass of beer. I wonder,who made it that way, right? And we were amazed when the Celt, sipping Czech beer, told a story that happened twenty centuries ago. It was strikingly different from the archived one. Why? Apparently, not everyone is interested in a real biography. And what if both were made up?

HISTORY OF ENERICA

"Despite the fact that I sometimes call myself a Viking, I am a Celt. I remember how our tribe celebrated the victory over the Roman invaders, I sat at the table at the feast, having fun just like a boy. I was at least eighteen years old then. I was hopelessly spoiled. A young rake, who loved to swing a sword, without stopping to have fun. I lived as a complete egoist, so I never paid attention to other people's troubles and requests. And girls ran after me in crowds, hearing only insolent laughter in response to my declarations of love.

My mother is an ordinary Celtic girl, my father is a wandering minstrel. A beggar, at that. Ah! These two turned out to be made for each other! The father, having learned about his daughter's love, locked the girl at home, but the beauty Elindra still met with her lover. Climbing out of the window when her parents were asleep. Then she would disappear for a whole day - they were very good together. The young man took my mother to the most picturesque places, gave in to her every desire. But their embraces were pure, innocent. Their kisses were pure and sweet, their words were sincere.

When my father was getting ready to get married, he turned to the druids. They said he would have a son, but with a terrible character, the boy was destined to become Great. The rest of the prediction was rather vague. No one could fully understand it. In the end, my mother became pregnant. My father got married, then I was born. The birth was very hard, the contractions lasted for two days. Elindra almost died, but she was saved.

At thirteen, I tried wine for the first time. I started to have fun, because I liked it. At fifteen, I lost my virginity to my first love, and off it went. At eighteen, I was seriously wounded in battle. Now I understand - this is the price for selfishness. Maybe it was the wound that determined what would happen next.

Soon, Elindra fell seriously ill and died. My father lived a little and hanged himself from grief. Only then, at nineteen and a half, did my brain finally begin to fall into place. After that, how my parents left for the other world forever. Left alone, I bitterly regretted what I had done before. Friends turned away, relatives too, and it was decided to live differently. It was time! I left the tribe for Byzantium, became a monk, renounced all earthly joys. I led such an existence for five months. Then I discovered the gift of foresight in myself, and began to develop it.

It was then that a certain Ekiestes came to our monastery, whom many people didn’t like right away. And he behaved strangely. But despite this, we became friends. After such an acquaintance, my eyes began to open and I began to look at the world in a completely different way. This guy from Byzantium put a lot of pressure on my psyche, condemning my negative actions. This went on for quite a long time. In the end, I couldn’t stand it and broke away. into the world of people, but I could no longer live among them. It seemed that I had calmed down - the harmful person was not around, but no! In order to avoid his persecution, I began to look with sincere kindness at the people, running away from the intrusive man. But this did not give anything. The more I communicated with him, the stranger and more absurd my dreams and visions became. Sometimes I looked at my shadow for a long time. It seemed to me - it absorbed me, falling into it. I raised my head - and instead of the blue sky I saw only black and white colors, scared out of my wits. Time in this strange space flowed very slowly. I saw the thoughts of those around me, and, making appropriate conclusions on this basis, changed for the better. I became so ashamed and hurt for the past!

So I became a Light Mage. And then an Archmage. Having entered an unknown World through the fault of the Dark One - a vampire. And as a reward I received a very long life, eternal youth. Before the initiation I used to think how I could so calmly endure the suffering of people, come out alive from the hottest battles, and only then it dawned on me - these are the abilities of a non-human helped out. Almost got into court with the churches. My life schedule hasn't changed for centuries."

The Svetlykh chief drank the last drops of beer, took a coin from the table and threw it up. Then he pressed it with his palm. And I thought about it. There are too many inconsistencies in the story. A pagan and a Christian at the same time?! Impossible! Or he's lying to minors - the beer has gone to his head. I DON'T BELIEVE IT!

- Enerik, so you were made what you are by a vampire!? By persecution, and not by natural means!?

- Exactly. - Kelt nodded gloomily. - He drove me to the brink. Now listen. See the coin? I want to organize a small expedition to Oka, to rest there. There are many villages... - and then what I was afraid of came out of his mouth:

- We'll go to village "X" at least!

— We heard about it once. A terrible place. In some of our groups they tell stories that send shivers down your spine. In winter, Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote an article — Chupacabra appeared, or died — they found a skeleton, a small one: all dog, but a fox's head.

— I've seen such! A real werewolf!

— No, boss! After death, the body is immersed in the invisible World. And here is a skeleton. — Valyuk said, frowning.

— You are mistaken, Valera. Village "X", where we are going, is a zone where everything is different. Most likely, the article was written by the Dark, or the Light, tormented by curiosity. He made up things, distorted the facts. Most likely, the writer is a villager from "X". He went crazy from isolation, decided to hand over. I also have a godson living in this wilderness. The boy is probably not happy about this situation at all.

My face stretched out in amazement:

— HOW?! WHY?! To have a godfather, and the Most Serene One at that, is something you can only dream of! It's rare that you get to have a guy looked after by...

- I don't look after him! I haven't seen him for twenty-six years! He delivered the baby, that's all.

- I hope it was from the Light. - Andrey said. - What's wrong with that?

- I don't argue. But...

- What "but"?

- HE TURNED OUT TO BE A DARK MAGICIAN OF TERRIBLE POWER FROM BIRTH! I SAW THE ESSENCE RIGHT IN MY HANDS!

There was silence. Cool.

I LOOK AT THE WATCH: 17 — 20.

THOUGHTS AND POEMS ARE SPINNING IN MY HEAD

“Rain brought or leaf fall this name, but I can’t turn away your gaze with my eyes.” It sounds like an incomprehensible Call. I didn’t like the first one. Despite the fact that it was full of romance. What kind of romance do we have now? Ugh! And the voice, oddly enough, is female. I wonder who exactly it was intended for? Me? Hardly… I wonder if the boss heard? He probably pressed his lips together strangely, as if he remembered something he couldn’t say.

Beautiful verses. They are sung by someone’s heart, which was broken after experiencing unhappy love… Love that is gone forever and will never happen again. A song about a heart that is aching, frozen for a very long time in an evil human world that has long forgot about many things. For example, I have this opinion: external beauty is always deceptive...

Even the Chameleon, who appeared out of nowhere, was the most real embodiment of all our virtues and shortcomings. So he rushed here and there until he brought down all the darkness on himself, despairing of going over either to the side of Good or to the side of Evil. Yes... The boy couldn't take it anymore. He broke. And this strange genealogy... Maybe this is someone's empty and stupid joke? A stupid mistake, not caring about oneself. A joke that Illyo threw at us, downloaded from a website on the Internet. Making us understand: we, non-humans, are too confused, have strayed far from the original plan of life. By putting pressure on the innocent Alexander, we almost committed a crime. We should have stayed out of this man's life altogether the boy, take your time, wait until he makes up his mind... But they couldn't stand it, they started catching the unfortunate teenager - instead of letting him go in peace. No - they were so scared - they couldn't control themselves! Both Headquarters were made fools.

Alexander was strange by nature. Later, when I talked to his parents, I learned that this guy suffered from an inferiority complex, and hereditary predisposition played a fatal role. They say it's true: you can't crush genes with your finger!

Thus, the greatest discovery was made. An event that happens once in a hundred years: a Chameleon is born - very dangerous for others: magicians, werewolves, vampires, warlocks, witches... The best weapon against him is to touch nothing and leave him alone. Then he himself will decide what to choose - Light or Darkness. Even in the capital, this was not known before! What surprised me was something else: the creature cannot be turned, abilities do not show until a certain time, and then the real nightmare begins. The division into Light and Dark principles begins, and if at this stage something jams, you get an albino - Chameleon. Fortunately, everything happens very rarely. But it looks very beautiful.

For all of us, this was a kind of lesson. How late we realized this!

It's raining outside, I'm sitting in the kitchen. Little droplets hit the glass, knock-knock. It's nice, fresh, the freshness has flooded the entire park, the air is mixed with ozone and the scent of flowers... Nature, washed by the rain, seems to be happy. Despite the fact that yesterday there was heavy smoke hanging over Bratsk - smog from BRAZA. I look out the window and I remember my childhood - a distant childhood, when I saw the world completely differently and was happy: I ran along a sunlit path, caught butterflies, loving everyone in the world...

August twenty-eighth. Six in the morning. I don't want to sleep. I read poetry, writing the text in my notebook

I look at the white ceiling and think. Different thoughts come into my head. I think about how to find a common language, a normal language with those around me - people, Mages. Some are physically lonely, and some are morally lonely. I am lonely in the second sense. The Light Headquarters of Bratsk received me rather coolly, and for a while everyone ignored me... except for the boss. He became my best friend and assistant, almost a brother. We talked for hours, touching on extremely serious topics. Sometimes, however, Enerik swore a lot.

And now he laughed at the fact that the entire team showed up for work at the beginning of the vacation. In a good way, we managed to drink beer right in his office! A rare occurrence! We drank, having learned about how our Celt became who he is now... But I still DID NOT BELIEVE this story. The details are TOO far-fetched. And he is unlikely to tell his real biography. That's a fact. The first story has already happened, now there is a second one. What's next?

Personally, beer sometimes helps me relax, forget about the bad,in a good way. Despite the fact that I am an Inquisitor. I don’t drink much, and I can only get drunk on rare occasions. Now I enjoy my rest - if I want, I wander around the city, even greeting the Dark Ones. They, by the way, too. What else... I am not married, I don’t have a lover. And I don’t want this: women are actually such creatures who are always demanding something from us, -constantly, giving nothing in return. I also can't stand them for their overly chatty language, their antics. FOOLS! They consider us goats with big horns. Let them: I don't care.

I got up, shaved, washed myself, and at breakfast I think: is it worth going or not. Probably, it is necessary, since the Inquisition is practically absent here.Enerik has a godson living in a village where there are only monsters... DARK! Another rare case. Such thoughts made him choke on his coffee. Twenty-six years have passed since our Celt left the village "X". At that time, as he says, the village was not on the map. Maybe someone found it and demolished it, just as they have been wanting to demolish the village of Chekanovsky for a long time?

Maybe. The Most Serene One just wants to make sure. He noticed back then: there is no church in the village - the first sign. People remained in "X" - those who were lucky. If this is really so, then they have learned to get along with other creatures. No other way. After all, the blond lived with a human woman at first, until he built a hut! I wonder if she is still alive?

I get up, wash the dishes, clean the room and open the closet.

I wonder what's going on there at the moment? So... I have a jacket with a warm lining, I need to sew up my socks, I put all my underwear in the suitcase first, wrapped in a bag. I'm clearly not going to swim in the river - the water is already cold. All the summer clothes stay at home. Except clothes, I need to take something to read. Anne Rice, "The X-Files" - a widely published book series, very similar to the life of magicians and werewolves with vampires in Siberia. Maybe that's why I like these books.

I am partially deprived of the Force - when I left Moscow, I "discharged":so that here, in completely different conditions, it would not press on the soul and psyche. It still presses! The one that remains. It resembles the torment of a prisoner - his legs are shackled, his arms are twisted behind his back, there is a wall behind him, a window in front, from which light barely breaks through. The prisoner tries to free himself, he strains, writhes,He tries to get out, but these attempts bring him only pain and even greater suffering. He cries for help - but there is not a soul around, NO ONE HEARS ANYTHING. And if pitiful cries are heard - the guards will laugh and go to the end of the corridor.

When the exhausted, maimed, tortured boy is found and freed, he will not be able to take a step, he will fall at the feet of his saviors. They will give him water, food, and carry him out of the fortress in their arms. It will take a long time for the wounds on his soul and body to heal. The freed man will first shy away from the outside world,will be afraid of people. They will look at him like a cornered animal, poke him with their fingers. When all the negativity is erased from memory and health improves, life will become bright and happy.

Maybe it will take several years to heal…

JUST IF HE CAN STAY THROUGH IT!

And now I'm packing. Maybe it will be easier in "X"? And the hell, there are Dark Ones there! The hell, the boss has a godson!

It took me about forty minutes to get ready. Then I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and got out some lard.

"Hmm..." I think to myself out loud. "In vain... In vain you, Inquisitor, were drawn into work in Siberia - to study the behavior and nature of the creatures of these places! To catch vampires, to look into the swollen mugs of cops, bandits and oligarchs, to laugh at the impostors - punks. It may well be that these are not the same ones who are with you at Headquarters work. And creatures tired of life? Eh - no! You can safely cross out Enerik from this list! He is a very strong Mage! I love him like a brother, and respect him."

He went to the mirror, picked up a glass of beer, clinked glasses with himself:

"Really, Max?"

And he answered himself:

"True. But you shouldn't trust it too much. Remember, Maxim, the notes on the history of the city: all sorts of bastards built it! It was a zone! So many scum, outcasts of society and bandits came to the taiga from all over Russia that there was an impossibly large amount of Darkness. The first generation of builders from different cities are now having their day lives out. Their children repeat the fates of their parents, so sometimes you don’t understand the behavior of this or that person.”

It seems that I’m starting to go crazy little by little… I go to the tape recorder, turn it on, press the “play” button. I came across a very clever song on the cassette.

The same day.

Five o’clock in the evening.

An old car is driving through a forest somewhere near the sea outside the city

A Volga-type car is heading towards the forest - or rather, we are already in the forest. There are five of us: Beregond, myself, the driver - Enerik, Valyuk, Yegor - Psycho. We joke, we have fun. Unlike everyone else, the Archmage sits silently behind the wheel, watching the road. Every now and then he glances into the invisible World - are there any obstacles. So far so good. There is a lot of gasoline in the tank - it should be enough for about a hundred kilometers, we stocked up on it to the brim: more poured into canisters, having spent a lot of money. Then the Light Ones will have to do a little mischief at the gas stations: put a false memory on a person, get fuel for free. Not good.

The forest rushed past, merging into a multi-colored strip of scarlet, yellow, green, black flowers. Headphones stick out of their ears, from which great classics flow: Prokofiev (“Montagues and Capulets”), Liszt (“Dreams of Love”, “The Elixir of Love”), Pallo (“Morning”)... Somehow incomprehensibly divine melodies suit the September landscapes and even the weather outside the window.

The car slowed down: we climbed a hill, from where the sea was clearly visible - blue, like a cornflower field. And in the distance on the opposite shore a mountain range was visible, then another one, dissolving into the horizon... In the water, several tiny islands overgrown with grass were visible. There were dead trees on them, which looked like sticks. A rare haze, the smell of mushrooms, colored leaves are already visible on the forest paths - still few in number, but still you can feel the atmosphere of some strange peace - peace that can only be found where there is no man at all. As if the Irkutsk region is a unique place where people do not live at all, but there are only birches, straight as an arrow, pines. Very tall - about twenty meters. I don't recommend looking up for a long time: you can faint from dizziness.

Birches with yellow leaves are bent, bending their branches to the ground, and their cracked bark says something else: the trees are very old, so each leaf is beautiful in its own way. A mountain overgrown with forest, - which we are currently driving along, admiring the unearthly landscapes, descends to the sea, and, in my opinion, we need to slow down: otherwise we will fall down. From the cliff. To my left, the shore drops off, so the mountain resembles a pie from which a piece has been torn off the edge.

Small, thin, young trees and bushes resemble children and teenagers. And taller and thicker trees resemble men and women. Pines resemble young men, birches and aspens resemble girls with chestnut, golden hair, wreaths on their heads. They are in white, greenish dresses made of embroidered linen. They resemble women, in whose eyes wisdom appears. Beautiful, very... and the Light Force is all around. Silence. Dead. Above us and the forest is a clear, blue sky, reflected in the sea, on the surface of which there is not even a ripple! I can’t, I can’t tear my eyes away from this beauty!!!

But we still drive on, and the landscape changes.

A solid golden glow of millions of leaves flared before our eyes, and at high speed we literally instantly “crash”, fly in and dissolve in the birch grove. Violating the innocence of this giant yellow sea. Quietly rustling. If you look from a crop duster plane, it might seem that waves are running across the surface of this ocean — the wind is stirring the beauty birches, so tender, so alive... I don't understand how you can chop down such beauties for firewood! I don't understand! It seemed like the sea had swallowed us, we drowned in it. Birds and animals live in it, and tons of boletus mushrooms grow on the bottom... Mushrooms here... You're collecting! It's probably time for people to open a real business on mushrooms in Siberia, all at once cleared up... I mean ecology. Only no one will ever collect anything - and that's a pity.

A jolt brought me back from my dreams to reality: we stopped. We got out. Enerik shook his head, throwing off his beret - and his golden hair ran down his back in waves. Another gold was added to the landscape. The difference is this: soon the leaves will fall from the trees dead, turning into black soil over time, and the locks of His Serene Highness are alive. I always wanted to touch them with my hand. I don’t know if the boss guessed it or not. Just to touch them, nothing personal! Don’t think anything bad! NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD HAS SUCH CURLS. The Celt’s long eyelashes trembled. He was happy and grinned from ear to ear.


- Do you know why I love Siberia? For the beauty of nature! - He exclaimed. So, the rest doesn't count. As if on wings, the Archmage ran to the old birch and hugged it, stroking the bark. We smiled.

- We need to sit here for an hour. We'll have a bite to eat and decide where to go next.

— A…

— Don’t use the portal: you’ll end up in the wrong place anyway. There’s not enough magic to create it. You can only drive for two days, maybe less: at night I’ll be driving at full speed, like a madman. There are almost no people here, cars are completely unheard of on the roads covered with asphalt. Or we’ll be stuck in a car for three days: if we stop overnight. We’ll put a vehicle around the vehicle magic barrier: it can be dangerous in the forests these days: despite the fact that there are almost no people here - only rapists from prisons and all sorts of unafraid animals walk around. It's very, very good that there are no girls in our company. And we won't make a fire.

Evening - about nine.

Fields of wheat, which are only meant for cattle feed, rush past. It's a good thing I brought a journal with me, but the pen is running out of ink.

Clouds are crawling across the sky. And on the horizon it has turned into a bloody sea - the sunset has flared up. The colors are unusual, provocative, they are of different shades: crimson is predominant there, and complex,beautiful, ecologically clean, webs of wires cross the horizon, adding black to the landscape. Nearby, the tops of trees turn black. Power lines appear before your eyes, like giant stick insects. They rise above a lonely field. A perfect combination of past and present. It’s both scary and interesting: what is this really? They are installed everywhere – all over the field,this is actually the case. They are installed everywhere - all over the field, tiny, pretty fir trees grow nearby. Iron structures even in the forest: sticking out of the forest like a station, the wind humming in the wires... And the radio is playing in the car. Finally, my head fell on the seat, and I fell into a pleasant sleep. We stopped again... And it was wonderful: why wear yourself out?

August twenty-ninth. One o'clock in the afternoon - probably just because my watch stopped for no apparent reason, and not just mine!

Egor is sitting on a stump near the car, playing the guitar. Enerik is singing - finally! Otherwise he's driving and keeping quiet, like a partisan being interrogated. Let him sing about everything... Especially about women. Oh yes, he loved them! In every sense of the word. Closing his eyes, the Most Serene Magician of Bratsk sang quietly, beautifully, heartfelt. Aren't you tired of reading poetry on almost every sheet of paper, huh? By the way, if you've read this far, then no. I'm saying this to those who dare to stick their noses into my notebook without asking.

Egor put his musical instrument aside, reached out and took the skewer with shashlik off the fire, and began to eat with the chef, burning his lips and washing down the meat with low-alcohol beer. Having finished his portion, the golden-haired man threw his head back, inhaled the fresh air with pleasure, picked up the guitar and looked at us again.

- And now I will play. This is a story about a girl who lived five hundred years ago. I loved her, beautiful and smart. It hurts to love and see how people dear to me sooner or later grow old,are sent to another world. Okay, I’ve opened up a bit. Probably because it’s cold…

“Play, Enerik!” Valyuk asked.

“You’re standing there, naked…” the young man said tenderly, but sternly and quietly. He unzipped his bag and took out a warm white sweater. Then he raised his head, and his big eyes suddenly, for no apparent reason, opened wide.

- This is... This is... - he couldn't speak from amazement.

- What did you see there? An airplane?

The guy waved his hand, pointed his finger somewhere up. The boss looked at the sky with his inner vision, smiled. But there was no joy in that smile.

- It's okay, friends. A flying saucer, a UFO. A saucer, a small one, that accidentally got into our world through energy holes. Therefore, we are approaching the village "X".

After these words, something seemed to snap inside me. If Nature is so raging here, - or whatever (or not?), then what will begin going on in the village where Enerik is rushing to, as if possessed? All these poems are nothing other than the Call... The Call that is impossible to resist. The melody from The X-Files immediately came to mind... And the title sequence, depicting a photograph of a man pointing his hand at a UFO. An hour passed. The plate by — still hung in the air, blinking its white lights. What next?

- Enerik... And in "X" there is more than enough of such stuff? - Yegor asked very carefully, looking with bulging eyes at the unidentified flying object.

- Yes. There is an anomalous zone there. Every winter, huge wolves roam the roads. These werewolves of people and Mages - Light ones in general They don't touch you, but you should take some vodka with you just in case: they can't stand alcohol. Throw it in their face if they attack - that's enough for them. The population will not agree to drink at the celebration under any pretext. The good news is that not all of Russia drinks.

Another hour passed: the UFO managed to fly away towards the field, and began to descend. The saucer first flew above the ground, and then disappeared. It has begun. It seems that we will see more than this. And let no one say that the valiant Headquarters of the Light is not like the others! Let's move on. Someone was finishing his shashlik, singing, and was silent. But the Celt became more and more joyful. Without thinking at all WHAT awaits us in the village of creatures and magicians! The Call has really grabbed him! Probably, his godson missed him. It became scary.

At five o'clock in the evening, the gas station sign flashed. It's time to fill up again. No matter how much our conscience gnaws at us, the workers will have to brainwashing... And this is bad, very bad. And the Call still does not lag behind the boss. The Call of the Dark Mage. I wonder WHAT happened in this wilderness, if the Archmage rushed there, as if possessed?! Sorry, I repeat, - emotions.

The night from the twenty-ninth to the thirtieth of August.

Two o'clock - the clock finally turned on

…Rays of light from headlights pierce the darkness. They look like a starry sky: There is more than enough darkness around, but the white on black in the form of dots looks amazing. But there are brighter luminaries - in the city: spotlights, street lamps, three-color traffic lights. There is, unfortunately, an unwritten truth: for fun, you can break a lamp. Or unscrew a light bulb in the entrance. A nasty rule is always fulfilled. Freezing rain is pouring down. No one is sleeping. It is impossible to drive: the road is so slushy that the wheels cannot turn. Drops are knocking on the roof and glass, there are so many of them that the windshield wipers are no longer able to clean the window. And the knocking on the roof gives rise to suspicion: the water is about to bore a hole. Whether you give the power engineer a clean window or a dirty one, his it doesn't bother me at all: it looks through the invisible World to the sides. And in front of us are walls of water.

It's warm - the stove has been working for an hour already. Sleep disappeared as if by magic in the evening, when the clouds covered the sky - everything somehow gathered internally, feeling a threat from outside. It was born in the subconscious, grew with every minute. It felt like there was something above my head something is flying. Big and dangerous, hanging overhead...

The radio is also on, "Nashe Radio" is playing.

Suddenly it crackles and stops playing. The machine is acting up at first, then there is a pretty powerful jolt - that's it...

They finally stopped.

We're almost there. The boss looked at the gas gauge in amazement: full! He sat silently for two minutes, and then... only then... Then he started swearing so much that we were all scared out of our wits. I won't write down all the swearing in the diary.

- ...M... Mother! Start up! Start up! Darkness... so... Start up! -He starts the car, turns the key - no use. He looked at the map from the forties - just a little bit left.

- Enerik, calm down! Why react so sharply - maybe the engine overheated? You turned on the heater so much - we got boiled! You were driving the car at an inadmissible speed even before the storm!

— Maybe… — The boss calmed down a bit. — Although…

— We arrived, since the car suddenly stopped for no reason. Huh? "X"? — Yegor asked in a whisper, without moving.

— There are about ten kilometers left to the village. If, of course, you believe the map. Let's wait a bit — maybe we're crossing the anomaly zone. When that happens, all the equipment comes to an end. Here some kind of strange radiation comes from the ground. But not always, but in short pulses. I cursed, not out of malice, but out of amazement - we drove, drove, then that's it. As if there was an invisible wall ahead of us. And... Ugh! My watch stopped! Everything turned off! Just like twenty-six years ago! As soon as I entered the village "X" - my watch brand new, gold, stopped working immediately! Returned to Bratsk - let's go!

- The equipment is very sensitive to anomalies. We will wait until the nature of the unknown radiation stabilizes. This will take two or three hours.

- And we did not end up in a time hole?

— No. This also stops the equipment. Only with one difference: it breaks down later.

The rain continued to fall, dying down. Sometimes lightning flashed in the clouds, and in its instantaneous flash, small houses were visible in the distance, of which there were probably only twenty thousand. It is hard to believe that such a large village, which once flourished, became something incomprehensible. Where the invisible World claims its rights and supports life. Or not life. But still, hostility emanated from the village called "X". Mysticism! And the lightning is strange: it flashes scarlet, then green. Flying saucers: they want to land, but they can't yet - it's dangerous. Well, that doesn't concern us.

Three hours later.

I stared at the road, not understanding anything. The car still wouldn't start. It was drizzling. After thinking for a moment, the boss opened the door, got out and started walking on the wet grass nearby.

"Here I am, village "X"..." he exhaled. He looked at the sky. The clouds weren't parting. The green and scarlet lights stopped blinking, a warm wind blew, and there was a smell of ozone.

Suddenly, over the field, almost at the very ground, far, far away, luminous dots appeared. Enerik was happy, thinking that cars were coming towards him, but there was dead silence. Five minutes later, it turned out that these were simply spherical clots of energy unknown to man. Five balls of regular shape were flying, as if playing with each other. with a friend in tag. Apparently, they appeared during a thunderstorm, and now they have descended. But no.

“What the invisible World will not give birth to…” Valyuk sighed.

Or maybe there is a special point there that attracts them and feeds this UFO. In addition, the Archmage noticed huge circles and patterns on the field in the glow of the five objects. Now it is clear why The car wouldn't budge: cosmic radiation had put it out of order. And our heads were aching. Oh! We'll have something to tell in Moscow! Twenty-five minutes later the balloons rose into the air and disappeared behind the clouds. Far away on the horizon, where there were no clouds, a new day was being born as a scarlet stripe. My watch with its hands showed the time: two hours, thirty-five minutes and seven seconds of the night. Cold, damp, grey.

I put the pen aside and fall into a deep sleep. And I hear, almost asleep, the engine starts, the car moves on…

What should we do now?

August 30

Nothing like that happened. We discussed what happened, slept after an interesting night, having driven into the thicket.

THIRTY-FIRST OF AUGUST

We pondered over what the boss had seen at five in the morning the day before. We hadn't managed to get anywhere, but the vacation had been extended until mid-October. Summer had passed.

First of September: Knowledge Day.

For some it is, for others it is not. For all of us it is a simple day. We finally got out of the forest - hungry and sleepy. Kelt drove onto the road, we walked side by side. The state is as if someone hit me on the head with a bag.

The village is located almost on the very bank of the Oka River, the most beautiful, calm, wide. Blue and mystical: only ours live on its banks - of all stripes. At least here. What I don’t know what’s going on in the area that’s far from “X”. And why should I know? The autumn forest was turning crimson on both banks. Sometimes there was a green tint: pines, cedars. The sound of an axe was heard, then a crackle – someone was preparing firewood. It smelled of fish and mushrooms. But in the fresh air there was something heavy, incomprehensible – it’s always like that where non-humans live. Where there is no man… But here’s what what was incomprehensible was - he couldn't understand. I was so tired after three days - my head was a complete mess. At first glance, the huts were nothing. An ordinary village.

The boss parked the car by the river in an abandoned barn, cast a spell on the lock. He ran up a small hill near the cliff, from where the vastness of nature was visible, pulled off his shirt... What is it him!? We have come to this… The wind played with his golden hair, caressed and kissed his young, elastic body. His hair reciprocated the wind, swaying like waves. At first it seemed to me that Enerik was about to jump, transforming into a seagull in mid-flight and flying away. But His Serene Highness sat cross-legged, and, resting, began to meditate. Now the reason for the strange behavior - he adapts to the aura of these places, gets used to it. So that various kinds of Force do not press on the soul. I also sat in the Lotus position, froze. The Invisible World hesitated at first, then calmed down and became quiet: two different energies accepted each other. So now you can communicate with everyone - both with the Dark and the Light.

Deuter's lovely melodies, painfully similar to The Call, were playing in my head. When I hear them in my head or in real time, for some reason I imagine a field - a summer endless field, with one single birch tree, overgrown with grass or clover. A warm breeze is blowing and a white butterfly is flying. The body flies up, plays with clouds… Plays until you open your eyes and feel that several hours have passed. That all the negativity has evaporated and it has become light.

We will not stay long in the village.

The same day. Seven o'clock in the evening

We are sitting on a small veranda. There is also a playground for children - abandoned, flooded with sunlight. The children have long since grown up and now, probably, fondly remember their childhood. When Enerik last saw the son and daughter of the owner - they were very small. Now the grown-up guy has probably long ago got married, and the girl is married. I wonder how they will react when they see the Celt again - after almost three decades?

The owner decided that the playground could still be used, and made a flower corner out of it, only a few places remained untouched. On the table in the house there is a huge bouquet of asters and saffron, on the window - white curtains. They are hanging like that - all twenty-six years. Here time does not move forward at all: the same huts, the same people, the same interior in the house as during the Soviet Union in the post-war years... Just like a real museum!

The dacha was a beautiful hut made of round logs, two-story. True - as the boss told me - it has changed a little. The roof is different, the stairs too. The garden has expanded - therefore, we need to help harvest the crop.

The energy balance has also changed: the atmosphere is no longer felt as before - probably because the children have grown up. You can't hear children's laughter, and their mother - Elena Dmitrievna - has grown old. A kind person, very good, you can't turn her into a Sorceress. Too bad! The last time the Celt saw her was when she was very young girl. Now she is a mature woman, who has white threads in her hair. She also has a thick, long braid - four centimeters wide! Thickness - two centimeters. Maybe that is why we, Magi, do not like to depend on anyone - to marry or get married.

Elena greeted us all very warmly, hugged our boss for ten minutes on the threshold, shook hands with the others. A very kind woman...

- Oleg... Oleg! You haven't aged at all! When you left after Anna gave birth, I thought: you said goodbye to us forever. That's probably why he disappeared - he was afraid that they would call you the father of the child... After that, everyone said the same thing! Everyone believed this nonsense, Svetly.

Wow!

- And I am also grateful for saving my daughter from illness. No one could help her, she was lying and dying. You got her back on her feet! For that I loved her like a son! - And she kissed her on the cheek. - My daughter remembers kindness. She grew up to be a beauty, and my son is handsome too. - The hostess sat down on the bench and began to comb her hair with a wooden comb. - Now the children help run the house.

Having sorted out the attic where we were all placed, Enerik went down and asked quietly:

- What about the husband?

- He was killed. - The woman answered dryly, the smile instantly leaving her face. Thin fingers braided her hair, easily tying it with a ribbon.

- Who? Could it be that same undead that bred here in the seventies, or even earlier?

- My husband turned out to be a Dark werewolf. He went into the forest at the end of December to celebrate the New Year with his people - everything as usual, and the next day the crazy Light One went hunting. Bam - and gone! Then they found a corpse - a week later.

Oleg darkened. He bit his lip.

Apparently, Yegor heard the conversation and came up from the porch.

“So what’s going on?” He began with pain in his voice. “In your village, no one has ever heard of anything?! In a village whose existence no one even suspects…” Silence in response.

“Yes. Our village is cut off from both the world of Mages and people. I’ve lived here my whole life, I’ll never move to another place. I’ve never been in the cities, I only know from stories how they live there. No one will ever be able to find us from people. And if a person who accidentally got here tries to harm us, he will pay dearly for it! Creatures from villages, different cities of the Irkutsk region live here, but not from Moscow. Remember: your rules, laws are on us do not spread. We have our own, our own hierarchy! And no one - unlike the city dwellers - is angry that a Dark Mage, vampire or werewolf has snuck in as a suitor for a Light girl.

We listened to the unusual information, literally with our mouths open. They live normally! The man talks about us as if he himself is not human! Such things, apparently, only happen in Siberia!But in general, it's great: the village is full of mixed ones! Although Oleg - Enerik heard something else: rarely do black and white spouses have children - the Rh factor kicks in. Or a miscarriage occurs. Although love stands above Darkness and Light, and the devil knows what the Charter, the clashes of the Dark and Light, and the invisible World - what's the big deal, it's common to everyone, no one divides it. Everything is turned upside down!Well, that's their business. But it's a shame.

Egor was gnawing on an apple. He took a can of beer out of his bag and secretly started drinking.

- Are there any other evil spirits in the forests besides werewolves?

- Yes. CHUPACABRA has appeared here - the entire population is afraid of it. It inspires terror and fear. I don't advise you to look for it. I don't know which of the Dark Ones is so mad. Or a narcissistic guy who has to do nothing. The creature looks scary - like a dinosaur, with eyes all over its head, like the humanoids from flying saucers. Got it?

A strong chill ran down my spine. Aunt Lena, too, apparently felt uneasy: she probably didn't like talking about such a topic.

THE NEXT DAY. MORNING

Elena Dmitrievna took an aluminum bucket out of the cupboard, disinfected it with boiling water, and went outside. Now we'll drink some milk! He went to the washbasin to wash up, and on the way he heard:

- Boys! I'll heat up a bathhouse for you tonight! I didn't think our Oleg would come back, and not alone! I'm glad! - The hostess ran off to the cowshed.

- Strange people: she doesn't even sense any trickery about us and the name "Oleg." - I muttered, and then jumped up in surprise. Because from behind I heard:

- I began to respect this woman: she copes with the household perfectly well without a husband! Not everyone can do that. - It turned out to be Beregond.

After washing up, I climbed up to the second floor and stretched out on the folding bed. My body ached: I hadn't woken up completely yet. From the window I could see the Oka. Around it, as far as the eye could see, was a solid forest. Nothing else. Not a soul. Taiga. Somewhere very far away there was the Bratsk Reservoir. There was also the city of Bratsk, and thousands of kilometers away was Moscow. It seemed I could already see that city – it was very, very small, or I was going in the wrong direction I'm watching? But the boss is not drawn to the capital at all: he has settled down firmly in Siberia. For me, it is just a temporary refuge. We are different. And the people here are completely different.

I couldn't sleep at night. There was a feeling that someone was crawling under the windows, then it turned out: an old apple tree rustled its leaves and the wind was brushing the glass with its branches. It was very cold outside, you could hear the constant croaking of frogs and toads. Although I very much doubted that these were real amphibians. There were no more flashes in the sky, it was starry. Nothing moved in it. The Archmage sat by the window, looking at the horizon through the invisible World. Empty. No Chupacabra in sight. Far, far away on the Oka bank a fire was burning: fishermen were netting were getting ready to set up. What do you want to do here, Chief of the Light? Who did you like here, a beautiful Celt, a Light mage with a dark past? The night was retreating, and a thick fog began to creep over the forest and the river. Then the silence was cut by someone's loud clucking, very similar to a bird.

No matter how much we tried to set the clocks, nothing worked: they stopped dead. Both with hands and electronic ones. Everything looks very much like there are iron ore deposits under the village. True, one type of clock did not stop: sand clocks. This is my joke. But ALL the laws of physics changed here, the nature of the incomprehensible radiation (the same one that caused our car to stop in the rain the day before yesterday) unknown even to Enerik. In the mornings he wandered around the field where strange patterns were displayed. The chief rummaged around in the attic, found a physics textbook and began to conduct experiments. The results were stunning... As if something had jammed in nature. The invisible World is very strong here.

Besides, his head hurts, but as soon as he drinks milk, everything immediately goes away. In the morning, delirium of the following content creeps into his head:

"I don't want to love, and I don't want to be loved here at all. Because I understand how it will all turn out: first meetings, then falling in love, then bed, then the limit comes, and one of the two will say: "I came to the meeting to talk about this: we need to break up. In all this time, I couldn't love you for real. Now let's go to my house and talk about everything, okay? And don't cry: it will pass quickly, I've checked. You will still find yourself a worthy person and with time you will understand what a bastard I am" ... And your friends will say:

"Oh, you shouldn't have kept him/her with you: they're a party crowd. If you start pressuring them to hang out with more than just friends, he/she won't tolerate it and will dump them. You should dump them yourself. Forget about it - you'll find someone better."

Scary, isn't it? My stories probably make the blood of Moscow Mages run cold. I DON'T WANT THIS FATE FOR MYSELF! When our Headquarters found all sorts of ours among the fraternal party-goers and sent its employees to them - in order to check who was Dark, who was Light - the same thing always happened: the stupid losers abandoned their loved ones and went to their friends for good. In the environment who disappeared as individuals. When the abandoned Magi from Headquarters told the details to the chief, he threatened to kill all the underage blockheads. Then the blood of the others ran cold from the terrible heartlessness of the cattle. One thing is clear - you can't trust any parties: there are only Dark Ones there. The Light Ones would never do such a thing. They tried not to show themselves. The saddest thing is that there are so many people in Bratsk most, especially gopniks - as if someone is reproducing them from a template. Or from a Xerox machine - which is jammed and can't stop. All that's left is to take a sledgehammer, smash the machine to smithereens - so that the madness ends...

If you look closely at the past and present, predict what will happen next at such a given pace, then normal life in the fraternal lands will come only in twenty to forty years. Only then will the blackness itself outlive itself (If I become a nuclear physicist, I will work at a military base - I will drop a bomb on this ****SK. It is clear why the renaming: love is confused with sex, a woman is meat, with whom you don’t need to communicate - it’s a waste of time with stupid chatter: that’s what men think). If you open the necessary literature, read the history of Bratsk - from the page when the first exiles to Siberia began, the construction of the hydroelectric power station, and stop around the mid-nineties - you will become scared. If you brush aside economic life, see the truth. And it truly terrifying: the exile of bandits to the city, their freedom, hopeless drug addiction in the late eighties, demonstrations of mothers of drug-addicted daughters along the avenues, tears, red posters: "Save our children." Even earlier, the city became the first - in the region - in the number of divorces. Everything was carefully hidden and is hidden under cultural life, people are incredibly greedy for money, other people's kind, excessively proud, evil. I want to say: "Put up electric barbed wire around Bratsk and don't let anyone in - then, probably, EVERYTHING is yours! Stop yaaking, you bastard!" Here they steal what they want - even children do it. It's a little better now. But at the moment I really want to get out. Even in the village "X" it's much better - despite the Chupacabra. First you need to see, what is really going on near Tulun. Enerik, the bastard, hid it from everyone - he received letters the day before leaving! He opened them, went - very kind.

About ten in the morning

I'm sitting on the porch, drinking milk, scooping it out of a bucket. We don't need sanitation as much as people do. We can eat snow. The real thing,steamed, reminiscent of a mixture of sun and chicken, distant childhood. A completely different taste - it arises when you carefully lower your lips into the glass and carefully, with your tongue, lick off the foam cap. If it stands for a day - real CREAM forms on the surface of the product. I have not seen honey here yet, which is a pity. If there were  nuclear tests - people got out of here - then there are bees here, probably the same size as the insect with a giant sting from the clown show "Pun" - "Village of Fools". There are hives in the field near Chekanovsk. I asked for another treat, having finished the aromatic liquid. There is no refusal, only a positive: "Well, did you like it?" A cool feeling satiety, and in the evening — a bathhouse. Cool! Well done, Elena Dmitrievna! It’s not for nothing that Enerik loves her so much… The rest of the day passed quietly.

The next day in the village “X” — I don’t remember what date and what day of the week!

I woke up at about nine o’clock — with a headache, a sting in my eyes: there was something bad in the air… How the hostess puts up with it all — I don’t understand! The boss was sleeping on the next cot. But it seems she is not sleeping, but lying with her eyes closed: her eyelids twitched slightly. A minute later she looks at the ceiling. I wanted to ask what year the family had been living here since, but he, as if reading my thoughts, said in a sleepy voice:

- Hello, Max. Since 1954. Her parents are from these parts. Since the time when our people weren't around here. Then they left to the construction site. When we returned with our daughter, the girl was only three years old. A little later, she became an orphan.

- Who killed them? - I became wary.

- And you don't know... Vampires: they didn't like it - people settled on the territory of people like us. They decided to fix everything. No one ever found the bodies. It could be different: the parents became Dark, they are hiding. A Light sorceress took the orphan in. The girl grew up, got married early - at about seventeen. To a werewolf, who was killed. They are interesting: they pretend to be pretty, they court... for a while! Then they either go to their relatives, or... — What, did you look at her memory? — Yegor asked, getting out of bed and getting toothpaste and a toothbrush from the shelf. The boss nodded.

— I tried, but it didn't work. Although I managed to catch something. When I touched her consciousness just a little, Lena behaved like a real madwoman. She screamed, broke dishes, rolled on the floor and drank herself unconscious with fermented wormwood tincture. A strong drug and stimulant, by the way. She had to be tied to a bed or a chair. She cried, begged to be let go, asked to drink blood.

Yes, this is the Call! It seems her parents were calling her! This should be written down in the diary. It's a good thing the girl didn't run away into the forest! I wonder how her neighbor is doing?

- Listen, Ene... Oleg, - Elena Dmitrievna knocked on the door, and Valyuk called the boss, as they say, "by passport", - you delivered a baby twenty-six years ago, right? You haven't seen your godson yet?

— I haven’t seen him, and I won’t see him, because the boy is a werewolf! He’s also a vampire! He’ll run from the Light like the devil from incense! — Suddenly Enerik — Oleg became stern. He washed himself, sat down at the table to have breakfast, clutching his head in his hands. Vitaly understood — he had touched the boss where it hurt.

An apple tree with ripe fruits — the size of a large fist — rustled near the veranda. Bright, incredibly beautiful, standing out for their warm tones among the still green foliage. Here one branch, obeying a gust of wind, lashed against the glass - several apples fell with a loud thud onto the concrete terrace. Near the bathhouse, crocuses were in full bloom, from afar they looked like giant red caps, smelling deliciously and cloyingly, planted like this - the red flowers formed a star, and the yellow ones - the background, diluting the two shades with leaves. Above this huge, furry bumblebees were circling the composition: even for the edges of the Oka they are huge - the length of their bodies is FIVE (!) centimeters! The last insects of the summer. Beautiful, but a little scary. Probably, also from our ranks. It is unclear whether it will rain today or not, since clouds have begun to gather on the horizon, although from the "X" they can use magic to disperse. These creatures are the real exceptions to the rule: wild Mages, vampires, werewolves, who have lived their entire lives in the silence and forest, and therefore are sometimes very dangerous. If you offend the Dark Ones, they will burn down your house or do something else. If you offend the Light Ones, all the offense will return with double force.

Our forest relatives have iron health, see perfectly in the dark, go hunting without any weapons - and why the hell do werewolves and vampires need them? Although everyone says that werewolves only hunt people, this is not true at all. The creature will jump on a boar, kill it, and go home. A fascinating sight: a growling, giant wolf with blue eyes drags through the village, dragging behind him the carcass of the same giant boar. The blood in your veins runs cold from this, you won’t want to sleep at night! The Light Ones prefer bows and arrows. It turns out that the X-ers have their own peculiar agreement: the Dark Ones don’t touch the Light Ones, don’t harm them, and vice versa. In times of famine, the Light Ones can slaughter the last cow for meat and give it to them. Call they send — take it! It's good and great! Maybe that's why there is no such squabbling here as in big cities... Here no one ever changes anyone, no one offends.

Today we found the key to the riddle of where Chupacabra is. In the forest. It started as usual — we decided to go mushroom picking, and Enerik stayed home.

Siberian forests are very dense. In addition, the soil in them is dry, there is a lot of windfall. Sometimes it is impossible to get through it, then I have to climb into the invisible reality, jump over thin branches, or wander around the field. There is a lot of fern, nuthatches and woodpeckers jump on the trunks of pine trees, a cuckoo calls, crows caw. There are a lot of chipmunks. It is dangerous to be here in the evening - especially at ten or eleven o'clock. Werewolves gather in the thicket and run through the forest. Squeals and howls can be heard five kilometers around. An hour later, silence falls. No one has any registration or hunting license - and never has. Riots occurred in 1954, when people tried to settle in the village. Light didn't yawn, hid the poor things. Little by little, people stopped being afraid of everything, settled in.

But even among the Dark, there were good ones, and the Light began to marry the Dark and people. To fall in love and all that stuff. Vampires can be distinguished by their very young faces - there were no old people among them. It looked like that to people strange, incomprehensible. Such a union produced children with a special set of abilities, they can easily be adopted both for the side of Good and for the side of Evil.

Suddenly, a plaintive cry was heard in the distance: a girl of about twelve, her aura glowing scarlet - fear. Lost? Not a fortune teller - but a person.


— Darling, why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? — Vitaly asked.

He is silent, does not answer.

— Are you lost?

Silence again. It was necessary to impose a false memory on the child's subconscious: then he finally calmed down and began to tell. It turned out that our Chupacabra had grown up in twenty-six years and was wandering nearby. Seeing the werewolf from afar, the teenager decided: a bear, came closer. The little animal only looked down at her with its gigantic, black oval eyes and jumped onto a thick tree branch. Good thing this thing didn't hurt the child! The creature's trail remained blurred in the invisible reality, but we didn't dare follow it. We had to lure the creature. They brought the human girl home and gave her some porcini mushrooms.

THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER

We are invited to visit from the neighboring street - Elena Dmitrievna recognized the child, took her to the girl's brother. For this, we are due gratitude - to spend the evening with someone. Enerik, the bastard, did not mention - we are going to the vampires! We are having fun, nothing to say! They greeted us all excellently on the first of the month: fed us, gave us something to drink, let us sleep laid down, - therefore, we must make such a conclusion - trust, but verify! Elena returned with the amulet. Gave it to the Chief. Clear: a precautionary measure.

This already smells bad! And our Celt is too trusting of the villagers, and of all of them! That's why the Dark Ones to dinner and invited. For the occasion, I took the vodka I had saved from my backpack and put it in my bag: you never know! Then, after thinking about it, I gave it to the boss. He nodded affirmatively.

- It will come in handy. What if someone doesn't like us?

- Most likely, that's how it will be... - Yegor nodded, his face darkening, - these are wild creatures! Maybe they will be smarter than us. Of course, our team is not that, everyone has their pros and cons.

I wrinkled my brow, slightly surprised: why would the youngest employee, thirteen years old, suspect me of something bad? Moscow, brotherly... He is simply afraid to go, and even very much so. In another World, his aura was glowing scarlet with a hint of violet: curiosity mixed in! Wants to be friends with the Dark Ones. No problem, we'll support you!

"Egor, don't be afraid," I squatted down and smiled, looking softly into his eyes, "everything will be fine, right?" I winked.

"True." He looked embarrassed.

— Let's eat properly in front of the guests! — Beregond suggested cheerfully. — No one knows WHAT they'll feed us! There are plenty of magicians here. Take a cast-iron pot of dumplings and eat. But you need to process them with the Force.

As soon as we sat down, a female voice was heard from the yard, almost at the door. Someone was singing with a guitar. I listened. While the singer was singing, Enerik quietly slipped behind the door. He looked at the sky. There was a flying saucer again. Well, the balance had fallen... And there were also strange tracks in the forest.

A guy with a guitar and a girl were standing in front of Oleg. The Celt's face lengthened in surprise. His jaw dropped. Looking at the stranger, I myself flinched. And there WAS a reason for that! But more on that later.

- Why didn't you tell me anything about the tracks earlier?! - He read the thoughts of those who had come. He turned his head sharply in our direction.

- Well... we decided to tell you later, so as not to spoil the mood before going to visit. - I hesitated, scooping up a portion of dumplings with a ladle, scalding my fingers with the broth. The singing irritated me: it all sounded like a female's call before mating during mating season.

"Who are you, and what do you want here?" Enerik asked, looking at the couple in surprise. "Nobody invited you here."

"You know a lot, Oleg Arensky!" the guy muttered. "Our mother lives here!"

The situation was resolved in everyone's favor. Aha... So these are Elena Dmitrievna's children!

- We remember you. As I see it now, you intend to have fun with your friends all the time! Personally, I don't like this at all! - The boy stretched his left hand forward, made a sign, crossing his fingers. How he did it is unclear. Apparently, they taught him.

Yes, our inaction is not a pleasure for someone, but for the girl - such a flighty one - yes! It seems that someone fell in love with the Celt a long time ago, and can't wait for reciprocity. That same ten-year-old girl who took him to the woman in labor. Who did NOT LOOK the way she should have at thirty-six. And at least nineteen! How she has grown... Still not married - apparently, she is sick of living in the village of Magi. Chief loved Irina like a daughter - she has nothing more to hope for.

"What do you want from me? If it's great and pure love - then go away, leave me! Compared to you, I'm an old man. A young old man, forever young. I don't want to disappoint you, child."

I'll think about this at this moment: "Youth strives to change the world, and maturity is when the world has already changed you."

— Is Elena home?

— No. She went to her neighbor's for some cottage cheese.

The young people smiled, sat on a bench in the yard and left.



- Aren't you a fool, Irina!? - The brother lamented, looking at his sister, who was crying, hunched over. - Understand finally - Oleg is not made for you! An archmage, and a Celt at that!!! They disappeared from the face of the earth! You love him - an imaginary, idealized image! That Oleg who never was and is not! You were attracted by his handsome appearance, golden curls, a pleasant voice, that's all. What he is like inside, what his character really is - you don't even know! Come to your senses! Yes, little children often become attached to adults who replace their father or mother. But it's time to move on from childhood, it's time to forget about it! How much can we talk about it?! - Alexander hugged his sister by the shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. - Don't waste yourself on nothing for twenty-six years, sister! - He combed his dark hair to his shoulders, and the unfortunate girl in response buried her face in the guy's chest. Hair came out from under the Panama hat. Whether they are forty or fifty years old, they still look like they are twenty!

— Do you remember how we came across a hut on the edge of the village where non-humans were constantly dying? When someone started investigating it, it turned out that a family of sorcerers had lived in that house for a long time. The husband died, and the wife also decided to leave, before that she cast a spell on the hut: NO ONE WILL EVER LIVE THERE! And she died that same day. And so it went: a couple of their own settled there - as if they had gone mad, they killed each other with pitchforks. Then - again... - The man tried to divert the conversation.

- Yes, Sasha, that happened. - And she hugged her brother back.

- He is handsome, that's true... But does that make all the other villagers any worse? Do you think I'm ugly? Never get emotionally attached to anyone! Never judge people by their appearance! Sometimes a beautiful appearance hides an evil chimera. You still don't seem to understand that. All the Children of the Millennia are beautiful, I don't argue. We do too. But they are completely different by nature, by intellect, not as wonderful as you think. Remember your father! There is nothing more nightmarish than the marriage of a monster and a human! Your Arensky won't tolerate you for long, you will both suffer unbearably! You will run away from him yourself... If you want such "happiness" - continue to bear it. your stupid crush! Don't beckon, don't break your eyes to him like a complete fool, but find yourself a worthy person... or just a guy... And you definitely won't be able to live in the city.

"What's wrong?" A voice rang out near them. Sasha, standing in front of his sister, stepped away from the road in fear. He looked back. Not far from their house Anna's son was coming. A fair-haired man. The same one whom Enerik had helped to give birth to. A vampire and a werewolf in one person, a seasoned womanizer - a seducer, a complete egoist.

- What do you want, Konstantin Kuskov? - Ira asked, her face having dried from tears.

- Why are you wandering around here, near our house?

- Ira, do you still love him? - The half-werewolf grinned mockingly and predatorily and looked at her cheerfully, mockingly. The woman had long since regretted her actions. Now the Most Serene Mage turns out to be the godfather of this monster!? Did Arensky really make such a blunder? It seems so.

Kuskov held an axe in his hand and came up almost right next to her.

- Where are you going with the axe?

— Chop wood! Not with the palm of your hand! Do you know why a Chinese man can break a brick with one blow of his palm? The blow technique is Eastern, but the bricks are Russian!

Sasha said nothing.

Seven o'clock in the evening. The same day. Enerik is sitting at the table, muttering something and writing. I am sitting next to him, listening with half an ear…

— When you suffer from the stuffy monotony of summer, lazy naked bodies on the beach, dull evenings reflected in a cloudy glass of tart, boring wine — and in the mornings, with boredom and dulled anticipation of such a familiar hangover, you hate yourself for the meaninglessness that life is filled with.

I will wake you up with a drop of rain, and with a cool stream I will playfully whisper in your ear how glad I am to meet you. A new acquaintance - not with a girl, but with a young woman, awakening in you a distrust of another life, completely different from yours... I will quench your thirst, tenderly kissing your tired eyes, your vicious lips, I will make you treat my trust with trepidation.You will feel my every move, all my love - an ocean into which you will dive with pleasure - escaping from the scorching heat, which you will lose - as soon as in the rain that falls from the sky, you get entangled among other drops. And, afraid of the future, you will fence yourself off from me with an umbrella.

When you silently wander along a deserted, autumnal alley, I will accidentally touch your thoughtful face tenderly with a green maple leaf, the only living one among the others, equally yellow, and you will not be able to pass by me... With my bold touch you will remember the bright colors of those good days that once were in life, and with a mad longing for their ghostly breath you will rush following me, wanting to test fate again. And even if a gust of treacherous wind throws me under a thin female heel, you will never forget the feeling of contact with an inexplicable pleasure that was so close, so irrevocably far and inaccessible…

I will descend to you from the cloudless sky as a white snowflake in the cold winter. And I will surprise you with my fragile beauty, which will make you hold your breath so as not to destroy the perfection, the airiness of forms. Causing admiration and vague hopes, returning to the forgotten past, and painfully - sweet, aching sadness will echo in my heart. When I give you the warmth of my Love, - slowly melting on your palm, - and my farewell will be as transparent, unobtrusive as a drop of dew... And with the arrival of spring, I will again remind you of myself with a sunbeam that will get tangled in your hair, and will bring a few moments of incomprehensible joy, will cause a smile. I will give you a thirst for novelty and change, cheerfully tickling your skin.

I will penetrate into the very secrets of your soul, and illuminate it with my excitingly soft, gentle light and take it with me... And you - realizing that you are losing the most valuable thing in your life - as if going crazy, will rush to catch up with me, and people, taking you for a madwoman, will step aside, making way, not seeing me. The fear of losing sight of me will make you forget about everything, rush about in a faceless crowd,to make mistakes and experience the bitterness of defeat, to restrain anger at yourself, to look again and again into the faces of passers-by. Until, in despair, you accidentally find me in bottomless, gray eyes...

So quietly, in a half-whisper and with bitterness he speaks... And I listen and wonder: WHAT IS HE DOING?! Probably, he fell in love with someone, or he suffers from loneliness. From moral loneliness: physical you can endure it, and even then with difficulty. I listen to the text, imagine everything to the music of "Enigma". Here is a clip in which a guy or a girl runs in the rays of light, breaks through the walls of love and infatuation. And transparent fragments of these hopes splash - all lies, deception, complete bullshit, for which it is not worth living! Our whole world consists of falsehood and deception - and a girl runs, just like Neo in the first part in the hall -smashing everything around, stretching out her hands with pistols forward... She smashes all the transparent walls with her fist, and magical music thunders, the Gregoriana choir echoes her, as if helping. She is dark-haired, her hair reaches her waist, she is wearing a white jacket, jeans and boots on her feet, everything around is permeated with light and other multi-colored rays... Stranger wants to warm herself in them, to find out what a real feeling is - but she can't, or doesn't want to. Either because hope has died, or she's afraid of a new puncture, or she's so angry at someone that she can't extinguish the resentment in herself. Or all this is not for her - so she breaks the crystal walls - gritting her teeth, staring into space with an icy gaze of determination, rage, but also calm - which surprisingly harmonizes... She destroys without mercy what once caused acute pain, and fragments fly in all directions. The rays of light do not go out. And she runs and runs, stretching her right hand forward, without stopping…

Music thunders, the wind or the astral whispers a name of eight letters, capital - S... Then suddenly an unforgettable picture opens. The most beautiful. The unfortunate one smiles, the world appears before her in some space - where countless stars shine, tunnels of several spheres of Other Worlds. Darkness looks at her with thousands of eyes, the stars sing with marvelous voices, the starry wind of cold calms the beauty.Which seems to be made of a shard of ice. How a star blizzard swirls around, glass dust... The Galaxy shines far away, a star blinked a couple of times. Hundreds of years have passed, tens of thousands - and still stands, admiring. Behind him are other people, another civilization. But it's too late. All this should be at the beginning, in slow motion. Space is the most beautiful thing in nature!

Often, when I left the office and closed the door, I heard the boss take a guitar out of the closet and sing. What patience, what nerves must one have to hide behind a mask of joy all these years?! How cheekily the Archmage laughed when we showed up last week! Now he is incredibly irritable, and said - either jokingly or seriously:

— I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE! TWO MILLENNIUMS ARE TIRED! I WANT to just up and die. I'm afraid — for you and Elena Dmitrievna's two children — they... I'm like a father to them! Irina, a fragile girl, — fell in love with me. Since childhood, she still can't understand — you can't do this! She doesn't want to see ANYONE except me. Do you think — she sang in vain here, casting sidelong glances at Arensky? — Enerik sighed,took out the prepared vodka, poured more into the mug from a clay jug... It's blood!

"Thick, stinking pig's blood..." I gasped, my eyes wide. The boss pushed it towards me. "Have you gone completely mad?! Why, my friend?! Are you turning into a Dark One, or is THIS how the wilderness works?! Have you lost your mind?!"

— Chupacabra is looking for us... I can feel it. It's not a mutated animal at all, but one of our own. A mage of monstrous power is walking around the village. Just imagine such a bastard?!

It seems that the Dark Ones are also moaning about this terrible mage, since they are calling the Inquisitor and the Light Mage for help? Without us, the whole village would have gathered and killed the bastard.

- Remember, Maxim: to communicate with vampires and werewolves on equal terms, you need to drink blood, like I'm doing now. Don't shy away, drink a glass, you'll hear the call of Darkness.

- What?! Better a glass of vodka!

What does he want from me?! Those who consider it their hobby to cut skin and drink their own blood for their own pleasure are deeply mistaken! It smells very bad. I remember one case - they were catching the Dark Ones, they put a bucket of blood in the corridor of the City Executive Committee - the Light Ones were vomiting. Now something is wrong with the boss: The Power of Darkness is probably at work. It's time to get down to business to cure him of this clouds. The last thing I needed was Irka - she loves him, won't give him a break - will eventually drag him to bed. Enerik poured vodka into another glass, dripped the scarlet liquid into it. The droplets intertwined in spirals - like DNA strands, freely rotating clockwise.

There is a bad aura here: the Archmage is going crazy. Maybe his adopted son is calling him? Or he wants to get into trust in other ways? For example, by getting drunk. Everyone had strange states - when moving to another city, village: the new place hits or caresses the head. The village beats the Light one, the problem with the godson. How can you not be upset - Dark! And he sensed something. The droplets lined up one after another in spirals, continued to spin in the glass. The conversation went somewhere to the left:

- Maxim, - the Celt turned to me, wincing, - do you want to know how I got my passport?

- Well, I want to... Why? - I understood: he was drunk after such a swill. I had to listen. It's good that vodka is booze. If they tried to bewitch the boss, the consequences would be devastating, terrible. The svetoch would first climb the walls, then go on a drinking spree. Then the victim who tried to bewitch him would die. Very quickly. He put his hand in his trouser pocket and put the lilac passport on the table.

— How did you get the document? Normally, without any problems. So… At first, everything was relatively good. I was intimidated by long, quarrelsome queues. So I decided to wait until they dispersed, became less quarrelsome. Finally, the day came when I said to myself: “It’s time. Today or never,” and went to the police. My queue did not fail: over the course of a year, it had managed to thin out, tired of squabbles.In short, ten minutes in the cold, five inside, and I enter the passport office. The answer to the question is “Surname”, and in another half a minute I hold the document in my hands. This is where the “adventures” began. Who among you learned to write with a pen? Aha, a forest of hands. Which means you were born, at least, before the sixties. Correct me if I’m wrong. (There are two of us in the hut!!!) But I belong to the generation that learned to write with a pen didn't write (!!!), and if it did, it forgot how to do it. However, a nice girl handed me exactly that: "Sign here." I dashingly signed it, took the passport: "Thank you," and went out into the corridor. There, glancing at my own autograph, I realized: the decision to close the passport and put it in my pocket was premature. The ink hadn't dried. The drying process needed to be accelerated, I began waving it a burgundy booklet. It never even occurred to me — that’s how blots appear! The signature blurred slightly, and, dejected by the result, I left the passport alone. The ink, however, refused to dry. Then I decided… well, guess what might come to mind? That’s right: I OS — TO — MUZ — NO BLEW on the signature. For the next five seconds, I watched in amazement as my autograph took root: down two streams flowed. Finally, the signature dried. At the bus stop, I opened my passport again and admired it. It turned out to be a nice autograph. It was a hieroglyph, and nothing else. Of course, I couldn’t reproduce the signature later, and why would I?

After hearing this, I threw my head back and burst out laughing. I looked cheerfully at my boss and best friend. His cheeks were slightly flushed: he'd had too much!

- Don't drink too much!

- Okay, you've convinced me. Now, Maxim, drink. Please. If you feel too sick, have some bread with it. At least no one will touch you.

I'm not going to do anything!

— Stop shying away! Drink up, I ORDER!

I silently took the glass and took a breath. I spat on the floor, my stomach was cramping, bent in half. A cough escaped my chest. Ugh! How disgusting! The Celt started slapping me on the back. Beregond was reading poetry behind the wall. As always.

And suddenly, — through the astral, — I heard the following: “You have everything you need, but you do not use it. Because you are not like them. These people… whom even the cover of night cannot catch unawares. They have their own light even in the darkness, but they do not see it. You try to give everything so as not to see the same, but it does not work. Your light is the light of the moon, the flame of a dying candle… There is a soft bed,warming you on a cold winter night, but you don’t accept that either. The bed is a desk. Friends are books that surround you. Dreams are thoughts, because they are magical and don’t belong to this world. You are not even a part of the Universe. You are invisible and unimportant, just as thoughts and actions are invisible and unimportant.” And it was silent.

Something spoke up in me, woke up, as if ancient singers were playing their flutes. But you must never listen to the enchanting sounds, otherwise you will step unnoticed into the abyss, and then there is no salvation. So this is what you are like, the voice of Darkness! Insidious, bewitching, uncontrollable! No, I will not give in so easily! But I must go visit…

Eight o'clock in the evening (if you believe your intuition, the clock still isn't ticking)

After taking the "cocktail" the circles in front of your eyes stopped spinning. You feel like you're drunk: you're swaying, tears are streaming from your eyes. A completely idiotic smile is shining on your lips. You go out with everyone else. You look around. A man is chopping wood near a frail hut. A vampire. Nearby, on a bench under the rowan tree - another one, about twenty-six years old - also a bloodsucker. Plays an acoustic guitar, sings. Original! The song is perfectly suited to the state of depression. He quietly touched consciousness, understood: the mournful sadness was not born out of nowhere. His beloved went into the forest, did not return. Then - two days later - they found clothes and a pile of ashes.

Another song came to mind - by the band "Agatha Christie".

Now it's clear who killed the vampire for no reason. Chupacabra! She doesn't give a damn who's in front of her.

The guitarist looked at us warily, extended his hand, and smiled:

- You have an amulet on your neck. Give it to me.

- I am unarmed, I have no amulets. - I said.

- But I do. - The chief responded calmly, taking the claw off his neck and throwing it to the singer. He caught it automatically.

- Excellent! Come into our house, Luminaries.

And he himself continued singing. Then the guitar strummed plaintively, everything went quiet. That's how a puppy whines behind the toilet door when he's being punished for knocking over a trash can or peeing on the carpet. This Dark One probably visits the city with the help of the Portal - since he knows city songs. It seems that the creature is not vindictive. But no matter how he hides himself, I see everything... I will see it until the action blood and vodka will not stop. Only the Archmage remained on the street. He was silent, silent, then asked:

- Did the legendary Chupacabra torture you too?

- Exactly. - The singer nodded. The second one continued chopping wood. - We invited you all to thank you for saving my sister from death. My beloved died. You know who her…

tore... The damn scum: she, or he, - appears when a UFO flutters over our village. At the same time, an unbearable smell of sulfur appears. The recoil of all our relatives shakes the area. If one of us dies - the situation becomes nasty: Dark mad. It's all sickening, at night and during the day animals jump around the gardens, similar to dinosaurs with blue eyes, these creatures constantly digging up seeds and fruits from the gardens. I've tried everything - it's useless! And you can't poison them in any way!

- Luminaries, - the guy who was chopping wood finally asked, - have you noticed? There are no children here in the village? They were last seen in 1980. As if they had died out!

Are dinosaurs really those same children?! A shiver ran down my spine the frost from such a hypothesis. I stood on the porch, looking around: you never know what might happen.

- Are you scared, Svetly? There are things happening right under your nose that you don’t even suspect! - With these words, the vampire dug the ground with a shovel, dug in it with his hands and pulled out a giant earthworm. I winced. Yegor almost fainted, he was almost didn't throw up, poor thing... He covered its eyes with his palm. The worm was slippery, desperately trying to break free, wriggling. Transparent mucus dripped from the young ghoul's fingers in threads... And the man swung, threw the miracle of nature onto the birch, laughing loudly.

"Why did you do that?" asked the one chopping wood. "Couldn't you eat it alive? Oh, it's embarrassing in front of the guests!"

In another case - in times of famine - a wonderful substitute for blood. The miracle of nature continued to wriggle on the trunk of the birch. It looked very wild. Imagine: a beauty - a birch with golden leaves stands, plus this worm, which has twined around the trunk, just like in the Garden of Eden. A real bright illustration to the biblical story: modern Heaven and Hell on the Tree of Knowledge. Only for some reason the action takes place in our days.

- We want to discuss a common topic, Light Ones: how to get rid of the Chupacabra from here, which keeps everyone in fear. It is impossible to fight it.

- Has it started long ago? - Yegor asked, staring at the tree.

— In 1986, a UFO fell here — not far from the village. They had fallen before, but since that incident, they kept falling. And it all started: first, mutant animals began to appear. Where exactly did the saucer fall — into a swamp or a river? It’s unknown. The non-humans all seemed to have gone mad. Six years later, an incomprehensible creature began to appear in the forest wandering around — they called him Chupacabra. One Dark One here got the same name — very nasty and evil.

— They named him after the creature?

— Yes. — The vampire answered, stacking firewood near the wall of the bathhouse. — UFOs have been falling here very often lately. The more, the worse for everyone. No one has managed to catch the scum yet. Maybe it’s not one of ours at all.

- A mutant.

- Yes and no. That's the horror! Nature here is contaminated, radiation rarely affects us. Or doesn't affect us at all. About the killer. This filth used to be a man, and then someone just took him and bit him.

- Most likely so. - The second vampire nodded. - Okay, let's go into the house!

The house of two vampires inside was no different from the everyday life of a human dwelling. A quiet breeze rustled the pages of a book by the open window, the walls were covered with wallpaper with small flowers, a piano by the wall in a large room, a light bulb on the ceiling was barely lit. The table was set: a white tablecloth, snacks, juices, salads, meat of all kinds of preparation - and most importantly: not a drop of alcohol! I glanced sideways at the chef,feeling: in vain he underestimated and screwed up, and he smiled, remembering the hidden vodka. But it seems that it will not be needed now: The Dark Ones are quite friendly. Maybe that's why each of us drank a shot, including Yegor?

The black-haired guitarist sat down at the table, snapped his fingers to turn off the light bulb, pulled a candle closer to him, and struck a match. The unnatural whiteness of his skin and long, sharp fangs immediately caught the eye when he smiled or smirked.

"Where's the girl?" Enerik asked, looking at him from under his brows.

- Sleeping. I made sure she didn't see WHAT her brother turned into two years ago. I was an ordinary person, dreaming of studying. But there is no way out of here. Someone got scared - I can tell everyone in town about it. I was about twenty then. Now twenty-two is a completely insignificant, disgusting age, when all the nonsense is blown out of your head.

Outside the window the wind rose, tearing leaves from the trees. It began to rain - apparently the Dark Ones had brought clouds with magic so that we would not leave. Or were the two masters shamanizing so that no one would pass? Traces of large drops appeared on the ground. It smelled fresh. This was to be expected. Then something happened that even the chief did not expect:

— E N E R I K, don’t try to hide under a false name anymore, you can’t hide anything from us! Don’t you respect us, if you took a pseudonym? It’s offensive to everyone — like a knife to the heart. Throw away your fake passport and stop lying, posing as Oleg Arensky! Elena and other people willingly believe this heresy, but not us! Please don’t consider the Dark Ones to be suckers and idiots! Similar to those who roams around your Dark Bratsk and other cities! We are a different people, we never have any fairy tales between Light and Darkness, there are no prohibitions, hunting permits, no way out of this wilderness... None of us can live in cities. We are Wild Creatures, as we are sometimes called. Personally, I am not a savage, and we are not aborigines, and our intellect is much higher than that of city dwellers. Since some - like the Chupacabra - never heard of any rules of conduct, but sometimes they do such things that it makes you sick. Sabbaths, for example. But we disperse them. Usually the village council does not spare such people. Under conventions - if the creature does not re-educate, does not look at the world around him with different eyes. The name of our village, its existence were forgotten back in the thirties of the last century. We rarely hunt people - on animals, so that we can eat ourselves and feed the Light Ones. There is a fantastic amount of game here over the past seventy years. I am also a werewolf. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Konstantin Alushkin.

- Konstantin... It is very nice to meet you! - Beregond, who was sitting next to him, shook the Dark One's hand. Without any doubt - he doesn't lie. - How old is the village? How did it become "X"? Since what year has it been full - full of people like us all?

The vampire first looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, took a sip of blood from the glass, and turned to me:


— MAXIM, INQUISITION EMPLOYEE (I raised my eyebrows in amazement: he reads my mind!), I WOULD REALLY NOT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO KNOW ABOUT OUR VILLAGE! Okay, I'll tell you the true story of this backwoods, without discarding anything. And in return you'll promise me that you won't tell anyone anything...

— I swear...

— So, I'll begin.

"HISTORY OF VILLAGE "X" AND WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR ITS APPEARANCE

Now it is a thirty-kilometer zone.

At the beginning of the seventeenth year there was a village of Red Army soldiers, and now there is desolation all around. In general, - if cars are driving nearby, then the drivers, as if on command, go around the place hidden by the forest, through which you can't get through. The people themselves can't do anything from afar see — the village is under the power of Nature and Darkness. They feel an incomprehensible excitement and try to rush as fast as possible. There is another reason — the earth is emitting radiation.

It all started like this. In 1934, UFOs began to appear. People who had never seen anything like it, went and shot down the miracle of technology with a rocket. The plate crashed into the forest, leaving behind the most a real nuclear explosion. Which could be heard six kilometers from the site of the disaster. That's where it all started. Where the devices came from in the wilderness is unclear. The surviving witnesses of this tragedy told the magicians about what happened... Half of them died of radiation sickness. Many developed a nuclear tan, they died in terrible agony two weeks later. People who miraculously weren't irradiated,continued to live as if nothing had happened. This went on until the war began. The men went to the front, the women and children remained in the village. Under the influence of radiation, the structure of the blood began to change, the people began to be mown down by disease again. Suddenly, salvation came: a geologist by origin knocked on someone's door German. He announced that he knew a cure for an unknown illness. He bit the owner, and the owner bit his own. The rest of the residents, not knowing about this, began to visit the mysterious "doctor" in crowds. And when one of the then few Dark and Light realized what was really going on, he went and killed the initiator.

Those who managed to remain human, called the neighboring settlement by telegraph and announced that it was no longer possible to live there. An order soon came from the village of Oyok and Irkutsk: evacuate everyone. But some refused to leave their native places of residence and stayed to live. Vampirism began. The deserted village stood almost "empty" throughout the war, but the vampires lived happily here. Developing their abilities, cast protective spells so that no one else could get here. Ever since the first UFO sighting, the village was removed from the map, citing that it had been burned. Many looked for it, but no one returned.

It turns out to be a strange paradox: nuclear energy was discovered only in the fifties! And nuclear tests in the form of UFO falls began twenty years earlier, and right here! They were sometimes shot down by missiles, without understanding what was happening.

“Back then, in the early thirties, we lived like in paradise,” a contemporary of those events told me. In the Soviet Union, life here was better than in other areas. There were a lot of children - seven or eight in almost every family. They worked in the gardens, helped. Wealth, favorite work, everyone loved each other, everyone was a colleague. The population of the village was fifty thousand. Now - three thousand of their own - ours - and ten person. Interestingly, the tragedy happened on May 1st. That's when the Red Army shot down the saucer. They said that strange creatures with huge, oval, black eyes wandered around at night, their limbs were thin, their fingers were tenacious and long. The gender was not determined. Gray skin, no hair at all on the head. Whether it was just the explosion or not is unknown. After the visit people were thinking about where to run away from the bloodsucker German. The water was contaminated with radiation, the food was contaminated too, and the disease was only getting worse. But until recently they had found some supplies in the village, tin cans… Well, everything started to rot. It was the night from Saturday to Sunday. Only one person died during the explosion: the explosion he was thrown from the turret, broke his neck. The first victim of the village "X". Some saw a distant flash, like a mushroom.

Several fishermen were setting nets at that time. As they said, on the way home they began to have very strange hallucinations: THEY ARE CROSSING THE RAILS! And it seems to them in addition - these are barriers, you have to lift your legs very high,to step over. Other glitches... Probably, because of a very strong emission, radiation can act like that at first. Many people told about a change in consciousness in the zone. Initially, only vampires lived here. Light ones, werewolves began to appear here when engineers and scientists flooded Siberia and the Angara. In the fifties. The outcasts found out about the village, perhaps by the Call.