Chapter 9 Chapter 7
The door swung open.
No inquiries, no peeps out, no hooks put.This is Moscow!And at home alone at night!It was the cyclone that took the last bit of vigilance out of her, and it was this vigilance that kept the girl going for days.You see, that's how they damned people die.
And Svetlana's appearance is still normal.Is it abnormal to have dark circles under the eyes? She still doesn't know how to live at night.She's all dressed up... in a dress, a nice blouse, and loafers, as if she's waiting for someone, or ready to go out.
"Good evening, Svetlana," I said, recognizing me in her eyes.Of course, she had a vague impression of me yesterday.At this point, she knew we met, but couldn't remember how we met, and took advantage of the opportunity.
I move cautiously through the twilight world.On the one hand, because the cyclone seemed to be hovering close to the girl's head, its reaction could occur every second; on the other hand, I didn't want to deceive her.
Even thinking of her well.
Doing this kind of thing is only fun and ridiculous the first time.Because if it's fun later on, the Night's Watch Patrol isn't the place for you.The supreme command to change morality will make people change to the good side forever, but interfere with memory, this is inevitable, this must be done, this is part of the peace treaty.The process of entering and exiting the twilight world will cause short-term memory loss to those around us.
But if ever you get gratified in a game of meddling with someone else's memory - it's time to walk away.
"Good evening, Anton." Her voice softened a little as I reminded her of something she never had. "What happened to you?"
I smiled listlessly and patted my stomach.A hurricane was blowing through Svetlana's mind right now.I'm not the kind of guru who can equip her with artificially engineered false memories.Fortunately, you can only give her two or three hints at this time, and then she will deceive herself.She assembled my image out of some old acquaintance who looked like me, another older acquaintance who hadn't been around very long but liked her temper, twenty patients my age, a few neighbors.I just facilitated the process a little bit so that Svetlana could quickly come up with a complete image.A nice guy...neurasthenic...he's really sick a lot...he flirts a little...but only a little - very unconfident...he lives in the gate next door.
"Does it hurt?" She frowned slightly.Good doctor, this doctor lives up to his name.
"A little bit. I drank alcohol yesterday." I made a regretful look.
"Anton, I have warned you... come in..."
I went in and closed the door—the girl didn't even care about that.While taking off my clothes, I quickly looked around, at the human world, and then at the twilight world.
Cheap wallpaper, torn rugs underfoot, old boots, lamps with plain glass shades under the ceiling, cordless phones on the walls—bad Chinese handsets.Not rich, clean, ordinary.The problem here wasn't even that the job in the local hospital wasn't lucrative, it was mostly because she didn't have a need for comfort in her heart.Not good... very bad.
In the twilight world, this house gives people a better impression.There was neither Flora, nor any trace of darkness, except, of course, the Black Cyclone.It had the upper hand... I saw the black cyclone in full view, the handle of the wind swirling from the girl's head and the flower clusters it unfolded at a height of thirty meters.
I followed Svetlana into the only room.It's more comfortable here.The soft orange polka-dot pattern of the corner sofa is vibrant, but not all over the sofa, with a vintage floor lamp next to the corner.Both walls are blocked by bookshelves stacked one on top of the other, seven shelves high...that's all.
I began to understand her, not to see her as a subject of work, not as a possible victim of some very bad dark magician whom no one knew about, not as an accidental cause of a catastrophe, but See her as a human being; a closed and obsessive, unrealistic child with ridiculous ideals, and a childlike belief that a lovely prince is looking for her and will find her.This person has a career as a doctor, has several girlfriends, has several boyfriends, and lives a very, very lonely life.She labors diligently—a code reminiscent of the builders of communism.She rarely went to a coffee shop, and rarely fell in love.She spent night after night sitting on the sofa with a book next to a telephone and a TV that was blaring some comforting soap opera.
How many boys and girls of all ages are like you who were educated by parents born in the 1960s; how many people like you are unfortunate and will never be happy.How much I want to pity you, how much I want to help you.Just a little touch across the twilight world, not too much effort at all, to give you a little confidence, a little optimism, a little willpower, a little sarcasm, to help you—so that you can help others.
no.
Every good deed has the potential to prompt a bad deed.Peace treaty!patrol team!The balance of the world!
Endure - or go mad, break the law, run through crowds, give people unexpected gifts, change their fate and wait - at what turn former friends and eternal enemies will come out to meet you and send you into the twilight Realm, imprisoned there forever?
"Anton, how is your mother?"
Oh yes, I, patient Anton Gorodecki, has an old mother with osteoporosis and a series of middle-aged and elderly diseases.She is also a patient of Svetlana.
"Nothing, everything's fine. I'm just a little…"
"Lie down."
I lifted my shirt and sweater and lay down on the couch.Svetlana sat next to her.Her warm fingers slid across my belly, touching my liver area for some reason.
"Does it hurt?"
"No...it doesn't hurt right now."
"How much did you drink?"
I answered the question while finding the answer in the girl's mind.There's absolutely no need to act like you're going to die.Yes... a faint pain, not severe... the restaurant... it's a little sore now.
"It's gastritis at the moment, Anton..." Svetlana took her hand away. "There's nothing to be happy about, you know that. I'll prescribe it right away..."
She stood up, went to the door, and took her bag from the coat rack.
During this time I was watching the cyclone.Nothing happened, my presence did not strengthen the damned whirlwind, but it was impossible to weaken it...
"Anton..." The voice came through the Twilight Realm, and I recognized Olga's voice. "Anton, the cyclone has dropped by three centimeters. I don't know which move you made right. Think about it, Anton."
Which step is the right one?when?You know, I did nothing but find a reason to visit!
"Anton, do you still have 'Ometz'?" Svetlana sat at the table and looked at me.I straighten my shirt and nod.
"Yes, there are a few more."
"Go back and eat one immediately. I'll buy it tomorrow. I'll take it for two weeks, before going to bed."
Svetlana is clearly the kind of doctor who believes in pills.It didn't bother me, and I trusted the pill.We, they, feel an irrational unease in the face of science, reaching for metamizole and antibiotics even when a little magic will do the trick.
"Svetlana... I'm sorry, I want to ask." I looked away apologetically, "Is there something you're not happy about?"
"Why do you say that, Anton?" She didn't stop writing, and she didn't even look at me.But she looked unnatural.
"I think so. Someone bullied you?"
The girl put down her pen and looked at me curiously and cutely.
"No, Anton. What's the matter with you? Maybe it's the winter. It's been too long."
She forced a smile.The damned cyclone was shaking above her head, turning the handle viciously...
"The sky is gray, the world is gray. I don't want to do anything. . . . Everything loses its meaning. I'm tired, Anton. Spring is coming soon—everything will pass."
"You suffer from depression, Svetlana." I was thinking about the line she blurted out before her diagnosis.But the girl didn't notice this.
"Perhaps. It's nothing, the sun is coming out... Thank you for your concern, Anton."
This time her smile was genuine, though still forced.
Olga's whisper came from the Twilight Realm:
"Anton, ten centimeters lower! The cyclone is falling! Anton, the analyst is working, keep talking!"
What am I doing right?
This question - it's more unpleasant than "what am I doing wrong".If you make a mistake, it is enough to urgently change the course of action.But if you hit the target, and you still don't understand this, then call for help.It is unbearable for a bad shooter to accidentally shoot an apple, and then try to remember how the hand moved, how the eyes squinted, how the finger was pressed when the trigger was pressed... still can't admit that the bullet hit the target. Blown by random winds.
I came to my senses and found myself sitting there looking at Svetlana, and she was looking at me—silent, serious.
"Forgive me," I said, "Svetlana, please forgive me, for God's sake. I broke in at dusk, meddling in business..."
"It's all right, I'm even happy, Anton. Shall I pour you a cup of tea?"
"Twenty centimeters lower, Anton! Agree!"
Even these few centimeters, the few centimeters brought down by the madness and hostility, are a gift of fate.These are human lives, dozens, perhaps hundreds, snatched from inevitable catastrophe.I don't know, how this happened, but I increased Svetlana's resistance to this hostility.As a result, the cyclone began to subside.
"Thank you, Svetlana. I'd love to."
The girl got up and went to the kitchen.I - follow behind.What is going on?
"Anton, prepare for a preliminary analysis..."
I felt the shadow of a white bird flicker on the drawn window—it flew along the wall, following Svetlana.
"Ignat works on the whole scheme - compliments, interest, courtship, infatuation. She loves it all, but they cause a cyclone to develop. Anton, you went the other way - sympathy. And only verbal sympathy."
There are no proposals, which means no analysis has been done.But at least I know what to do next.Look sadly, laugh sympathetically, drink tea, and say: "Your eyes are tired, Sveta..."
It would be nice if we called you "you" instead, wouldn't it?It will definitely change.I don't doubt it.
"Anton?"
I looked at her for far too long.Svetlana stood motionless by the stove with a heavy frosted glass of juice.It wasn't that she was afraid, she couldn't enjoy this feeling anymore, the fear had been absorbed by the black cyclone; what made the girl even more uncomfortable was that she felt cramped.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, Svetlana. I came here in the middle of the night to pour out my complaints and stay for tea..."
"Anton, I beg you to stay. You know, on such a strange day, I'm alone... Sit down and count it as my medical fee, okay? Sit down and talk to me for a while." Sweet Lanna hastily confessed.
I nodded, any word could be wrong.
"The cyclone is another fifteen centimeters lower. Anton, you chose the right tactic!"
But I have no choice, they don't understand, analysts are useless!I've used other powers to get into other people's houses and into other people's minds to prolong my time there... and now I'm just going with the flow.
I hope the river will take me where I need to go.
"Would you like jam, Anton?"
"yes……"
Drinking tea like crazy.How old is Carol!The craziest tea-drinking pastimes don't happen while sitting around a table in a rabbit hole with the mad milliner, the dormouse in the walnut tree, and the March hare.Residential kitchenettes, morning tea, three-liter jars of marlin jam—this is one scene in which anonymous actors are acting out a real tea-binge scene.Here, and only here, can say things that will never be said elsewhere.Here the magician lures those little hideous secrets out of the shadows with gestures, fetches shelves of bones from the pantry, and finds handfuls of potassium cyanide from the sugar bowl.There is no reason to get up and leave here, because someone promptly refills your tea, offers you jam, and pushes the open sugar bowl towards you...
"Anton, I have known you for a year..."
A shadow, a bewildered shadow in the girl's eyes.I have a clear memory, and the memory is quietly explaining why such a pleasing and nice person is just one of her patients.
"Even if it's just for work, now...why should I talk to you...as a neighbor, as a friend, doesn't it matter?"
"Of course, Sveta."
Grateful smile.My name is difficult to abbreviate to a nickname - Antonshka - it's a little too much, too big a step.
"Thanks, Anton. You know... I really don't look like myself anymore. It's been about three days."
definitely.It's hard to be yourself when the sword of Nemesis is raised on your head.Blind, enraged, Nemesis who escaped from death's control...
"Let's just talk about today... oh, forget it..."
She wanted to tell me about Ignat.She doesn't understand what happened to her, why she almost had sex with a casual acquaintance.She seemed to think she was going crazy.Similar thoughts arise in all who fall into their sphere of activity.
"Svetlana, maybe, you... maybe, who did you quarrel with?"
This is not polite way.But I was anxious, anxious, and I didn't know why.The whirlwind temporarily calmed down, and even had a downward trend.But I am in a hurry.
"Why do you think so?"
Svetlana is not surprised and does not think the issue is entirely personal.I shrugged and tried to explain:
"I do that a lot."
"No, Anton. I didn't quarrel with anyone. I didn't quarrel with anyone. I just somehow..."
You are wrong, girl.You can't even imagine how wrong you are.Hanging above your head is a big black cyclone that only appears once in a hundred years.It means that someone has a deep hatred for you, and this hatred is rarely vented on humans... or others.
"Probably, it's time to rest," I suggested. "Where are you going... go far away..."
As I said these words, I suddenly thought of a solution to the problem.Even if it cannot be completely resolved, even for Svetlana, there is still a threat to her life.go away.Go to the primeval forest, to the tundra, to the arctic.A volcano erupts there, an asteroid or a cruise missile falls.
Hostility will erupt, but only Svetlana herself will suffer.
Fortunately, similar decisions are almost impossible for us.It's like accepting a murder proposal from a dark magician.
"What are you thinking, Anton?"
"Sveta, what happened to you?"
"Anton, that's too sharp! Avoid the subject, Anton!"
"Can you really see it?"
"yes."
Svetlana lowered her eyes.I've been waiting for Olga to yell, the black cyclone started its last disastrous development, I've screwed everything up, and my conscience will carry thousands of lives from now on... But Olga There was no sound.
"I betrayed..."
"what?"
"Betrayed my mother."
Her face was serious, without the base look of someone who has done a dirty job and is proud of it.
"I don't understand, Sveta..."
"My mother is ill, Anton. She has nephritis. Regular hemodialysis... But it's not a cure for the symptoms. Anyway... I was advised... for a kidney transplant."
"Why suggest you?" I still don't understand.
"It was suggested that I donate a kidney to my mother. She would have survived basically, and I had a test... Then I refused. I... I was afraid."
I was silent.Things are beginning to emerge.Something really worked.I found something that completely opened Svetlana's heart.Mother.
Mother!
"Anton, you are very kind. The companions are gone," said Olga cheerfully.Needless to say - we've found the Dark Mage! "It's really good... When we first met, no one felt anything, and thought they would return in vain... Good job... Comfort her, Anton. Talk to her, comfort her..."
In the twilight world, the ears cannot be blocked.Listen, listen to what people say.
"Svetlana, no one has the right to ask you to do this..."
"Yes, of course. I told my mother... and she told me to forget about it. She said that if I made that decision, she would kill herself. She... was going to die anyway. And I didn't deserve to be Disabled. I shouldn’t say anything. I should donate a kidney. Even if my mother finds out, it will be after the operation. Even with only one kidney, you can have children... There is a precedent.”
kidney.What a fool.what a small thing.For a true light magician, it only takes an hour of work to solve it.But we are not allowed to heal. Every real healing is a sin-free talisman issued to the dark magician to curse and recruit disasters.And this mother, the biological mother, probably didn't understand that things would turn out like this. She just lost control of her emotions and said the same thing over and over again, not allowing her daughter to talk about, or even thinking about surgery, and blaming her.
Just like that, the black cyclone swelled up horribly.
"I don't know what to do now, Anton. What a stupid thing I did. I almost slept with a stranger today." Svetlana decided to speak about it, although it required Courage may be as little as talking about your mother.
"Svetlana, you can think about it," I began, "you have to understand, the key is not to be discouraged, not to blame yourself for no reason..."
"I've told her on purpose, Anton! I know what she's going to say! I want someone to stop me! She should curse me, the bloody fool!"
Svetlana, you don’t know, you hit the point... No one knows what went wrong, in the twilight world, curses between strangers, curses between lovers, curses between sons What a difference there is between a curse and a mother's curse.Among them the mother's curse is more terrible than all other curses.
"Anton, calm down."
Olga's voice suddenly woke me up.
"Too easy, Anton. Have you dealt with the mother's curse?"
"No, no." I said.I said it aloud, answering both Sveta and Olga.
"I was wrong." Svetlana shook her head, "Thank you, Anton, but I was really wrong."
"I have done such a job," said a voice from the Twilight Realm. "Anton, dear, this curse doesn't look like it does now! Mother's wrath is a bright black flash and a big cyclone. But it dissipates in an instant, almost forever."
Maybe.I don't argue.Olga is adept at cursing, and she's been through any situation.Yes, you don't want your beloved child to be unhappy...it's been a long time—not.But there are often exceptions.
"Exceptions are impossible," agreed Olga. "Her mother will now be thoroughly investigated. However... I don't expect results anytime soon."
"Svetlana," I asked, "is there no other way? Can you help your mother in another way? Apart from a kidney transplant."
"No, I'm a doctor, I know. Medicine isn't everything."
"What if there is no medical method?"
She answered in a drawn out voice:
"What do you want to say, Anton?"
"Informal medicine," I said. "Folk Medicine."
"Anton..."
"I understand, Svetlana, it's unbelievable," I said hastily, "there are impostors, liars, mentally ill people everywhere. But is everything—is it fake?"
"Anton, introduce me to a man who can really cure serious diseases," Svetlana looked at me sarcastically, "but don't just talk about him, but let me see him, himself and his patients, preferably I can also see the condition of the patient after being cured. Then please rest assured, I will believe in everything. I believe in people with supernatural powers, in witch doctors, in fairy arts and demons..."
I curled up instinctively.The best evidence of the existence of the "demon" law hangs on the girl's head, even if it is included in the textbook.
"I can introduce," I said.I recall a time when Daniela was brought into the office.It's your average skirmish...not the most common, but not too serious either.He's just unlucky.Arrested a family of shapeshifters on the grounds that it was a bit of a breach of the peace agreement.If only the shapeshifters had yielded—it would all have ended with a brief interrogation between patrols.
The shapeshifters are determined to resist.There may have been other crimes committed by them... crimes that the Patrol did not know about and never will know about.Daniela rushed to the front, and he was almost completely torn apart.The left lung, heart, and liver were deeply injured, and one kidney was completely removed.
The chief mended Daniela himself, and all the people in the patrol, those who had the strength, helped.I stand in the third circle, and our task is not only to energize the boss, but also to reflect external influences.But I still look at Daniela now and then.He enters the Twilight alone, sometimes with the boss.Every time you enter the Twilight Realm, the wounds in the real world will be reduced.This is as complex as it is easy to impress, knowing that the wound is new, not preordained by fate.But I have no doubts that the boss can cure Svetlana's mother.Even if her life came to an abrupt halt in the immediate future, even if she must die, a cure would be possible, death would come from another cause...
"Anton, don't you feel terrible when you say these things?"
I shrugged.Svetlana sighed and said:
"Give me hope—responsibility, you know. I don't believe in miracles, Anton, but I'm ready to. Don't you fear that?"
I looked into her eyes.
"No, Svetlana. I'm afraid of many things, but of other things."
"Anton, the whirlwind has dropped by twenty centimeters. Anton, the boss wants me to tell you—you are doing well."
There was something in her tone that I didn't really like.Conversations through the Twilight aren't like normal conversations, but there's still a sense of emotion.
"What happened?" I asked through the dead gray screen.
"Go to work, Anton."
"What happened?"
"If only I had that kind of confidence," Svetlana said.She looked at the window, "Didn't you hear it? There was a rustling sound..."
"Wind," I surmised. "Maybe someone walked by."
"Olga, tell me!"
"Anton, everything in the cyclone is normal. Slowly descending. You somehow improved her internal resistance. It is speculated that the cyclone will descend to a relatively safe altitude in the early morning, and I can start working."
"So what's the problem? Olga, there's a problem, I can feel it!"
It is silent.
"Olga, are we partners?"
It worked.I didn't see the white owl at the moment, but I knew it had bright eyes, and it was looking at the window of Ground Combat Command.It looks at the faces of bosses and dark forces watching people.
"Anton, the kid is in trouble."
"Egor?"
"Anton, what are you thinking?" Svetlana asked.It's hard to communicate in the human world and in the Twilight at the same time...
"I was thinking, it would be nice if it could be split in half."
"Anton, you have more important tasks."
"Olga, tell me."
"I don't understand, Anton," Svetlana continued.
"You know, I realize that someone I know is in trouble, big trouble." I looked her in the eye.
"The female vampire. It got the little boy."
I didn't feel anything... didn't feel any emotion, neither pity nor anger nor depression, just cold and empty inside.
Maybe, I was waiting for this.Don't understand why, but wait.
"Big Bear and Little Tiger are right there!"
"So that's how it is."
"What happened to them?"
As long as it doesn't turn him into a vampire!It's okay to die.Perpetual death—something scarier.
"The little boy is alive. She took him hostage."
"what?"
This kind of thing has never happened before.It simply never happened.Hostage - Human Game.
"The female vampire wants to negotiate. She wants to be judged...she wants to get out of trouble."
I give the female vampire a 5+ in my heart - it's because of her understanding.She has no chance of escape, and she never had, so she puts all the blame on the destroyed partner who inspired her... I don't know anything, I don't know anything.Got bitten.become what it is now.Don't know the rules.Haven't read the peace treaty.Will become a normal law-abiding female vampire...
And her idea might work!In particular, the Night's Watch will make some concessions.And we're going to... there's nothing we can do about it, and anyone's life should be protected.
I even softened at the ease.And what does this little boy actually mean to me?He's unlucky - he's become a legitimate prey for vampires and shapeshifters.Such is life.And I passed by without even catching up—how many night watch patrols missed, how many people died of dark forces... But what is unusual is that I have participated in the task of tracking him, and I entered Entered the Twilight Realm, and shed blood.So now this matter is not indifferent to me, not indifferent at all...
The speed of communication in the twilight world is much faster than in the human world, but I still have to deal with Olga and Svetlana, and I am very busy.
"Anton, don't let your mind be filled with my problems."
Even though it's nothing, I still want to laugh.Her question was now loaded into a hundred minds, and this Svetlana had never thought about it, never looked at it.The girl will immediately bring other people's problems to herself, and the problems of others are not worth mentioning-these problems are so small compared with the hostile black cyclone.
"You know, there's a law," I began, "the law of reciprocity of events. You have some unpleasant things—but I wasn't talking about them. Other people have serious problems. His personal problems, but It’s not easy either.”
She gets it.So I'm glad she wasn't embarrassed.Only she puts it more explicitly:
"My problems are also personal."
"Not quite," I said, "I think so."
"But that man—can you help him?"
"He'll get help without me," I said.
"Are you sure? Thank you for listening to me, but there's really no way you can help me. What a stupid fate."
"Is she driving me away?" I asked through the twilight.I don't want to touch her consciousness right now.
"No," Olga replied. "No... Anton, she felt it."
Does she also have the ability of others?Or is this just an accidental inspiration caused by the procrastination?
"Feel what?"
"It feels like you have to be there."
"why me?"
"This crazy vampire...she wants to negotiate with you, the one who killed her partner."
At this time, my situation was really bad.We have elective courses on anti-terrorist behavior, mostly for the purpose of preventing human beings from using others' skills after the great purge of human beings, rather than for real job needs.We have learned the psychology of terrorists, and from this perspective, the female vampire is very logical.I was the first member of the patrol she met on the road.I killed her mentor and wounded her.for her.The image of the naysayer was concentrated in me.
"Has she already asked for it?"
"About ten minutes."
I looked into Svetlana's eyes, cold, calm, without tears.It is more difficult to hide pain under a calm expression.
"Sveta, what if I go now?"
She shrugged.
"It's all so stupid..." I said, "I think you need help, even if it's just someone who will listen to you. Maybe he'll agree to sit by and drink his cold tea."
She showed a faint smile and nodded reluctantly.
"But you're right... there's one more person who needs help."
"Anton, you're weird."
I shook my head and said:
"It's not weird, it's weird."
"I have this feeling—you know I've known you for a long time, but it's like meeting you for the first time. Also, you're talking to me as if you were talking to someone else."
"Yes," I said, "it is."
"Maybe, am I mentally ill?"
"No."
"Anton...you didn't come to me by chance."
I didn't answer.Olga said something quietly, and then fell silent.The huge cyclone slowly rotated above my head.
"Not by accident," I said, "to help you."
If only the cursed dark mage was after us...if it wasn't an accidental "mother's curse" then a purposeful strike by the pros...
One more drop of hatred poured into this dark cloud overhead was enough to weaken Svetlana's will to live to the minimum.Then there was the explosion.The volcano will wake up in the center of Moscow, the electronics on the combat satellite will go crazy, the flu virus will run rampant...
We looked at each other silently.
I think I've almost figured out what's going on.She was the answer, right in front of me, and everything we said was stupid and nonsense, conventional and dogmatic—the boss told me to drop that.But you should think about it, you should put aside the present for a while, even if you are guarding a bare wall or an empty TV screen, you should not struggle between helping one tiny person and helping dozens or hundreds of thousands of people.I don't want to be swayed in this deadly quagmire of despicable choices, I'm dirty whichever side I help first, and the whole difference is--whether I die quickly, and turn into the gray space of the underworld under the blow of hostility; Slowly torture yourself to death, let the flame of contempt for yourself burn secretly in your heart...
"Sveta, I have to go," I said.
"Anton!" It wasn't Olga, it was the boss. "Anton..."
He stopped talking abruptly, he couldn't give me any instructions, the situation was in an ethical limbo.It appears that the female vampire is sticking to her terms and she doesn't want to negotiate with anyone else.If the boss told me to stay, it would be tantamount to killing the boy who was being held hostage...so he couldn't give orders, he couldn't even ask.
"We arranged for you to leave..."
"Better tell that vampire, I'm going now."
Svetlana stretched out a hand and lightly touched my palm:
"Aren't you coming back after you leave?"
"It won't come before dawn," I said.
"I don't want you to go." The girl said frankly.
"I know."
"Who are you?"
The courier of the secret of creation?Substitute number two?
"I'll talk to you in the morning. Okay?"
"You're crazy." came the boss's voice.
"Do you really need to go?"
"Just don't talk about it!" Olga cried, feeling what I was thinking.
but I said:
"Sveta, when it was suggested that you self-mutilate to prolong the life of your mother, you refused... It was fitting and reasonable for you to do so. Isn't it? But now you are not good. Too bad, even irrational is worse than So strong."
"If you don't go now, aren't you doing well?"
"yes."
"Go away, then, but come back, Anton."
I put down my cooling tea and got up from the table, the damned whirlwind hovering over our heads.
"It will come," I said, "but . . . all is not lost, you have to believe."
We didn't say a word to each other again.I got out and started going down the stairs.Svetlana closed the door behind me.What a silence... deathly silence, even the dogs are tired of barking tonight.
Lack of reason, I act without reason.If there is no morally correct way, do it irrationally.Who said this to me?Maybe it was some sentences in the old outline that I remembered, or empty words in the handouts?Perhaps I have found a reason to defend myself?
"Whirlwind..." Olga whispered.Its voice had grown hoarse, almost unfamiliar.It tightens its neck.
I pushed open the gate and ran onto the icy sidewalk.The white owl rolled in a fluffy ball over my head.
The hostile cyclone has weakened, so stay aside.Compared with the total height, it can be seen that it has been lowered a little, about half a meter to two meters.
"You knew this was going to happen?" asked the boss.
I shook my head and looked at the cyclone.How is this going?为什么戾气会对能使人们心情愉悦的行家——伊格纳特的出现作出如此强烈的反应，为什么我语无伦次的谈话和突然的离去会使气旋降低呢？
“分析组该解散了，”头儿说。我明白，这话已经不是对我一个人，而是对全体人员说的。“什么时候我们才能得到对已发生的事情的工作报告？”
从绿色大街的什么地方冒出来一辆车，车大灯的光照在我身上，轮胎发出嘎吱嘎吱声，笨重地越过破柏油路上的一个大包，停在大门口。矮小精悍的暖橙色跑车置身于单调的预制板制成的多层楼房中间，置身于一座最好的交通工具仍然是吉普车的城里显得很怪诞。
谢苗从驾驶员的座位上探出头喊道：
“上车吧。我奉命飞速把你送到。”
我回头看了一下奥莉加，它也感觉到了我的目光。
“我的工作就在这里，你走吧。”
我绕过汽车，坐在前座。伊利亚伸开四肢懒洋洋地坐在后座，显然头儿认为小虎和大熊这两人的组合需要加强。
“安东，”奥莉加的声音透过黄昏传到我耳朵里。“记住……你今天欠债了。要记住这件事，每时每刻都记住……”
我一下子没有明白它说的是什么。是指守日人巡查队里女魔法师吗？这和她有什么相干？
汽车猛地向前一冲，底部碰到了冰块。谢苗痛快地骂了一下，同时转动着方向盘，汽车随着发动机发出的愤怒的轰鸣声开始朝大马路驶去。
“你从哪个二傻子那里雇来这辆车的？”我问，“这种天气坐在里面……”
伊利亚嘿嘿一笑：
“嘘！是鲍利斯·伊格纳季耶维奇把自己的小汽车借给你。”
“难道是真的？”我转过头来问道。平时头儿开单位的“宝马”车上班。我还没有发现他追求华而不实的奢侈……
“说真的，安东什卡，你怎么它了？”伊利亚朝盘旋在房顶上的旋风那个方向点了一下头。“我没有发现你有这类能力！”
“我没有动它。只是和姑娘说话了。”
“说话了？干了——干了吗？”
这是伊利亚一紧张就常用的说话方式。而现在不安的理由我们可有的是。但我还是皱了皱眉。或许是发现了话里有一点嘲弄的意思……或许只不过是因为我被刺痛了一下。
“没有，伊利亚，不要这样。”
“对不起，”他意识到自己有些过分。“那你怎么弄的？”
“我只是谈了会儿话。”
汽车终于冲上了大马路。
“坐稳，”谢苗简短地吩咐。我缩在座位里。伊利亚在后座忙活，取出烟点着了。
过了二十来秒钟，我明白了，刚才来时的车速和此刻相比不过是悠闲的散步。
“谢苗，事故概率被清除了吧？”我大声说。汽车在夜里行驶，仿佛想超过自己前灯的灯光。
“我握了十七年的方向盘，”谢苗满不在乎地说，“二战时我沿着生命之路开着卡车去列宁格勒！”
他的话没有必要怀疑，可我还是想，那时他开的车还是比这时的危险些。现在的车速不是那时的样子，而且预测到炸弹的降落对他者来说不是问题。车现在尽管不是经常出事故，但还是有的，道路嘛，说得好听点，是极恶劣的，我们的跑车不管怎么样也不是供这类路况使用的。
“伊利亚，那里发生了什么事？”我问，试图把目光从那辆避开我们路线的卡车身上移开。“你知情吗？”
“与女吸血鬼和那个半大小子有关，对吧？”
"right."
“因为我们愚蠢，所以出事了。”伊利亚骂了一句。“尽管愚蠢是相对的……原本一切正常。小虎和大熊向小男孩父母自我介绍说是他们喜欢的远方亲戚。”
“'我们来自乌拉尔吗？'”我问道，回想起与人们的交往方针和结识办法。
“是的。一切都挺顺利。节日的酒食、狂饮一场、食用乌拉尔的美食……从附近超市购买的……”
我回想起大熊那个沉重的包。
“总之，他们度过了愉快的时光。”伊利亚的声音里没有嫉妒，而是对伙伴充满了赞许。“明亮、温暖，苍蝇也不叮。小男孩要么和他们待在一起，要么在自己的房间里……哪能知道他已经会进入黄昏界了呢？”
I feel cold all over.
真的——哪能知道？
我没有说过。没有告诉他们，没有告诉头儿。没有告诉任何人。我陶醉于我牺牲了自己的一点血，把小男孩从黄昏界中拖出来的事迹，好样的，孤军作战。
伊利亚继续说着。
“女吸血鬼用呼唤勾引了他，勾得很紧，同事们没有感觉到。就这么强烈地诱引着……小男孩声都没出，就进了黄昏界，上了房顶。”
“怎么上的？”
“沿着凉台到房顶总共才三层。女吸血鬼早等在那里。因为她知道孩子有人保护，勉强去抓他——她就会立刻暴露自己。现在父母睡得很沉，做着好梦，女吸血鬼搂住孩子站在那里。小虎和大熊在旁边急得发疯。”
我默不做声。这时没什么可说的。
“我们的愚蠢，”伊利亚还在总结，“是不幸的情况的结合。要知道，谁也没有激发这孩子……谁知道他能进入黄昏界呢？”
"I know."
也许，这是回忆；也许，是面对汽车在道路上疯狂疾驶而产生的恐惧。但我往黄昏界里看了看。
做人多好，人们的感觉多好，他们看不到这一切——永远看不到！他们又多不好——不让他们看到这一切！
那里的天空是深灰色的，没有一颗星星，像果子冻似的黏稠的天空发出暗淡的苍白的光亮。一切东西——墙上爬满像地毯似的青苔的房子、树在黄昏界一点也不按风的意愿而摆动着的枝条、灰暗的鸟儿勉强扇动着短短的翅膀在路灯上盘旋——它们的轮廓都变得柔和了，消融了。迎面驶来一辆辆汽车——车速很慢，很慢，人们行走着——勉强挪动着双脚。一切都透过灰色的滤色镜，一切都透过耳朵里的棉塞子。一部无声的黑白电影、一种感到厌烦的导演的标新立异。我们吸取自己的力量的世界。感受到我们生命的世界。黄昏界。你怎么进去，就怎么出来。这个灰色的空间会破开一生都长在你身上的那层壳，拖出被人们叫做灵魂的那颗核，并试着把它放在齿间品尝。而当你感觉到你在黄昏界的颌骨间发出嘎吱的响声，感觉到刺骨的寒风就像蛇的唾液那么厉害时……那时你就将成为一个他者。
然后在黑暗和光明之间选择你站在哪一方。
“男孩还在黄昏界吗？”我问。
“他们都在……”伊利亚在我后面说：“安东，你为什么不说呢？”
“我没有想到。我没有注意。我不太专业，伊利亚。”
他摇摇头。
我们不会，几乎不会互相指责。特别是在有人真的错了时。这点没有关系，我们的惩罚永远在我们的周围。黄昏界会给我们以人们所得不到的力量，给我们以生命，——这生命按人类的概念看来，它几乎是永恒的。时辰一到，黄昏界也会收回一切。
从某个方面来说，我们的生命都是互相依存的。不仅是那些为了延长自己不正常的存在而必须杀害别人的吸血鬼和变形人。黑暗力量不可能行善。我们——则相反。
“如果我干不了……”我一句话还没有说完，一切就摆在了我的面前。
Notes: 等作品而闻名于世。
Notes: 等作品而闻名于世。