Chapter 2 Primer
The escalators were slow and laborious to climb.Old station, no way.However, the wind was blowing wildly in the concrete tunnel - messing up the hair, tearing off the hood, getting under the scarf, blowing people straight down.
The wind did not want Yegor to go up.
The wind wants him back.
Strange, but no one around seemed to notice the wind.Not many people - it was almost midnight and the station was empty.There were only a few people coming towards him, and there were very few people on the escalator on Yegor's side: one was in front, and two or three were behind.that's it.
Perhaps the wind should also be counted.
Yegor put his hands in his pockets and turned around.It's been two minutes since the moment he got out of the car, the feeling of being watched by a stranger never let him go.For some reason, it was not a feeling of terror at all, but a feeling of being possessed, a strong feeling like a needle prick.
At the end of the escalator stood a tall man in uniform.Not a policeman, but a soldier.Further back—a woman with a sleeping child in her arms.There was also a man, quite young, wearing a bright orange coat and carrying a Walkman.He also appears to have fallen asleep on the move.
Nothing suspicious.Nothing, even for a little boy who came home too late.Yegor looked up again, and there was a policeman, leaning against the polished railing, despondently searching for an easy prey among the few passengers.
Nothing to be afraid of.
The wind gave Yegor a last push and then he calmed down, as if he had surrendered, knowing that it would be useless to fight any longer.The boy glanced back again, and ran up the battered steps.Should have been quicker.Don't know why, but should hurry up.He was stabbed again, inexplicably and uneasy, a chill passed over his body.
It's all because of the wind.
Yegor jumped into the half-open door, and the bone-piercing cold came back to him.My hair froze instantly - still wet from the swimming pool - and the hair dryer didn't work there again.Yegor pulled the hood back up again, passed the stall and entered the aisle without stopping.There are more people above, but the uneasy feeling has not passed.He even turned his head—he didn't slow down now, but there was no one following.The woman with the baby was walking towards the tram stop, the man with the Walkman stopped by the stall to study the bottle, and the soldier never got out of the subway.
The boy walked down the aisle, walking faster and faster.From nowhere came the sound of music, soft, barely audible, but surprisingly pleasant.The flute is humming softly, the strings of the guitar are rustling, and the xylophone is singing together.Music is calling, music is urging.Egor dodges the oncoming group, overtaking a shambling, merry drunk man.All the thoughts in his mind seemed to be blown away by the wind, and he was almost running.
The music is calling.
Some words and phrases flew in the music... I can't hear clearly for the time being, the voice is too soft, but it is so attractive.Yegor went out of the tunnel, paused for a moment, and took a breath of cold air.It happened that a tram was coming to a stop.In fact, you can take one stop, get off the bus and almost arrive home...
Slowly, as if his feet were suddenly numb, the boy walked towards the tram.For a few seconds the tram waited with the doors open, then closed the doors and drove off.Yegor stared at it blankly, the music became louder and louder, filling the whole world, from the semi-circular top of the high-rise hotel building to the "box with bracket" visible not far away - the place where he lived house.The music made him walk home.Walking home along the brightly lit street, there are still many people on the street.It takes only five minutes to walk to the entrance of the corridor.
And before hearing the music - less time.
After Yegor had walked about a hundred meters, the hotel could no longer shield him from the wind.The icy air beat against his face, almost covering the melody that called to him.The boy staggered and stopped.The allure of the music faded, but the feeling of being watched by strangers returned, now tinged with dread.He turned his face away—another tram was about to pull in.Also, the bright orange coat flickered in the light of the street lamp.The man who had gone up the escalator with Yegor followed behind him.His eyes were still half-closed, but his pace was quickened unexpectedly and with purpose, as if he saw Yegor.
The boy runs.
The music called again with a new force, piercing the wind.He could already make out the words in the music... could, but he didn't want to.
The most correct thing to do now is to walk along the street, passing the closed but lighted shops, and walking alongside the speeding cars with those latecomers.
But Yegor turned into the doorway.There the music beckoned him.
It is almost completely hidden in darkness, only two shadows are moving by the wall.Yegor saw them as through a kind of mist, a dim, luminous mist.It was a boy and a girl, and they were both very lightly dressed, as if it wasn't twenty degrees below zero in the courtyard.
The music rose for the last time, sharp and self-satisfied.The music fell silent.The boy felt his body go limp.He was sweating all over, his legs couldn't stand, and he wanted to sit on the slippery sidewalk covered in dirty ice.
"Good boy..." the girl said softly.She has a thin face, sunken cheeks, and pale skin.Only the eyes looked alive, black, big, and soul-stirring.
"Stay here... just take a shot..." said the young man, smiling.They were alike, like brother and sister, not because of the contours of their faces, but because of something impenetrable and common to them that enveloped them like a dusty, translucent veil.
"For you?" The girl immediately turned her eyes away from Yegor.The feeling of bewilderment subsided slightly, but the feeling of fear surged up.The boy opened his mouth, but he couldn't scream when he met the young man's eyes, as if he was wrapped tightly by a cold rubber film.
"Yes. Take it!"
The girl sniffed mockingly.She turned her gaze to Egor, pursed her lips as if blowing a kiss.She whispered the words Yegor was already familiar with, the words that flew by with the seductive music.
"Come here... come to me..."
Yegor stood still.The strength to escape was gone. Although he was completely trapped in fear and couldn't cry out when he wanted to, he could at least stand still.
A woman walked past the doorway with two tall collies on a leash.She walked slowly, with slow steps, as if she were underwater, as if in a nightmare.Out of the corner of his eye, Yegor caught a glimpse of the dog rushing towards the door, and his heart burst with strong expectations.The collie growled, but somehow not confidently, and there was a mixture of hate and fear in his bark.The woman paused for a moment, peering suspiciously into the doorway.Yegor caught her eyes—indifferent and empty, as if walking through a clearing.
"Go!" She tugged on the leash, and the dog happily returned to her feet.
The lad laughed softly.
The woman quickened her pace and soon disappeared.
"He's not moving!" cried the girl capriciously. "Look, he's not moving!"
"Come on," said the boy shortly.He frowned, "You have to study."
"Come, come to me!" said the girl with a little effort.Yegor was standing about two meters away from her, but it seemed important to her to let him walk the distance.
At this moment Yegor also understood that he could no longer resist.The girl's gaze was fixed on him, like an invisible rubber rope, and her voice was calling to him, so he couldn't do anything about himself.He knew he couldn't pass, but he still took a step.The girl smiled—her straight white teeth gleamed."Take off the scarf," she said.
He could no longer resist.With trembling hands he pushed off the hood, pulled off instead of taking off the scarf, and walked towards the dark eyes that beckoned him.
The girl's face changed—the lower jaw drooped, the teeth squirmed, crooked, long and shiny, and they were no longer human teeth, but fangs.
Yegor took another step.
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