Chapter 22 Chapter 3

I wake up very early.There was silence all around, real suburban tranquility, only the rustling of the wind could be heard.In the early morning, it was finally cool.But all this did not make me happy.My bed was soaked with sweat and my headache felt like it was about to explode.On the bed next to me—the three of us were in the same room—Semyon was snoring monotonously.Torik slept directly on the ground wrapped in a quilt. He refused to sleep in a hammock. He said that his back was injured in a melee in 1976. Now that the old disease has relapsed, it is better to sleep on a hard bed. place. I sat on the bed and put my palms around the back of my head so I wouldn't fall down in the middle of getting up.I glanced at the bedside table and found, strangely, two aspirin tablets and a bottle of Borjomi mineral water there.

Who is this kind person? The two of us drank three bottles of wine last night.Later Torik came and joined us.Then another person came and brought red wine.I didn't drink red wine, and I was a little rational. I took the aspirin with half a bottle of mineral water and sat for a while with a blank expression, waiting for the medicine to take effect.My head still hurts and I can't take it anymore. "Semyon," I called hoarsely, "Semyon!" The magician opened one eye.He looked pretty good, as if he didn't drink as much as I did.It seems that hundreds of years of experience are not for nothing.

"My head, help me take it off..." "I don't have an ax at hand," muttered the magician. "Fuck you," I moaned, "give me the pain!" "Anton, did we drink it voluntarily? No one forced us, did we? Have we been happy?" After speaking, he turned around and continued to sleep. I realized I couldn't get help from Semyon.And, he was right... it's just that now I can't take it anymore.I groped my way past the sleeping Torica and out of the room. There were two rooms for guests, but the door to the other room was barred.But at the other end of the corridor, the door to the master bedroom was open.I remembered what Xiaohu said that she could heal diseases, so I rushed there without hesitation.

No, everything seems to be against me today.Tiger is not there.I guessed wrong, Ignat and Lena were not there either.Xiaohu slept here with Yulia last night.The little girl fell asleep, her hands and feet drooping from the bed like a child's. Whoever I turn to for help is the same now.I went forward cautiously, sat on the edge of the wide bed, and softly called out: "Yulia, little Yulia..." The girl opened her eyes, looked at me, and asked sympathetically: "Drunk, not feeling well?" "Yes." I didn't dare to nod my head, as if there was a small bomb in my head that was about to explode.

"Ok." She closed her eyes, and I thought she was asleep again, with her arms around my neck.Nothing happened for the next few seconds, but the pain miraculously disappeared.It was as if a switch had been flipped in the back of the head, releasing the potent poison that had accumulated inside. "Thank you," I just whispered. "Little Yulia, thank you." "Don't drink so much, you don't know how to drink," the girl murmured, and then snored again—like going straight from work to sleep in a flash, as only children and computers do. I stood up and was delighted to find that the world had color again.Xie Miao is indeed right, I should take responsibility, but sometimes I feel powerless and completely powerless.I looked around the room.Everything in the bedroom was beige, down to the slanted windows, the stereo system, the soft beige carpet.

Overall, the color doesn't feel too good.Fortunately, I was not asked to live in this room. I walked lightly to the door, and when I was about to go out, I heard Yulia's voice: "Would you buy me a Snake brand chocolate?" "I'll buy you two." I agreed. I could go back to sleep a little longer, but this bed is associated with so many unpleasant memories, it seems that as soon as I lie down - the pain hidden in the pillow will pounce on me again.So I just glanced around the room, grabbed my jeans and shirt, stood in the doorway and put them on. Is everyone still asleep?Xiaohu is probably taking a walk somewhere, and there should be people drinking and chatting until dawn.

There is also a small hall on the second floor, where I saw Daniela and Nastia from the research department. They were sleeping peacefully on the sofa, so I hurried out.I shook my head because Daniela had a lovely wife and Nastya had an elderly husband who was madly in love with her. Yes, their families are only human. And we are the other, volunteers of the light.So what the heck, we have another morality.Just like on the battlefield, the comfort nurses bring to officers and soldiers goes beyond hospital beds.On the battlefield, your thirst for joie de vivre is especially strong. There is also a library here.Inside I saw Garico and Farit.They seem to have been talking here all night, drinking, and drinking a lot.They were now asleep in the armchairs, apparently just asleep, for the pipe was still smoking on the table in front of Farit.On the floor lay a large stack of books taken from a shelf.Apparently they had been arguing for a long time about an issue, and had brought in writers, poets, philosophers, and historians to help.

I went down the spiral wooden staircase.Who will come out to share this peaceful morning with me? Everyone in the living room was asleep too.I glanced into the kitchen, but there was no one there except a dog hiding in a corner. "Are you alive again?" I asked. The Hound bared its fangs and howled. "Who told you to attack someone last night?" I squatted in front of the dog and took a piece of ham from the table. A trained dog would not dare to move by itself. "Give." The dog opened its mouth and began to eat the ham in a "clack-clack" on my palm.

"Be nice to people, it's good for you—and it's good for you!" I explained. "Don't hide in a corner." No way, how can I find another energetic person? I took a slice of ham myself, and chewing it, I walked across the drawing room and looked into the study. Everyone there was sleeping too. The sofa in the corner, although pulled out, was still very narrow.So they lay crowded: Ignat was in the middle, with his thick arms outstretched and a sweet smile.Lena clung to his right side, grabbing his thick light hair with one hand and resting the other across his chest on our horny second girlfriend.Svetlana buried her face in Ignat's clean-shaven armpits, and her hands were under the half-opened quilt.

I closed the door very carefully and gently. The cozy restaurant, named "The Wolf of Moscow," is known for its seafood and lovely ship-shaped interior.Plus, it's close to the subway, which is important for the run-down middle class who can save money on transportation by occasionally going to restaurants. The customer came by car. The car was a bit old, but it was a very decent "Zhiguli" 2106 model.However, the waiter saw at a glance that his ability to pay far exceeded the value of the car.This man was drinking expensive Danish liquor in a calm manner, without worrying about the price, and without worrying about the traffic police making trouble, all of which strengthened the judgment of the waiters.

When a waiter brought his order of sturgeon, the man raised his eyes quickly to him.He had been sitting there before, scratching the tablecloth with a toothpick, stopping now and then to look at the lamp glass, and now he suddenly looked up at the waiter. The waiter told no one of his momentary hallucination.It was as if he had glanced into two gleaming wells.The brightness of the well water is like darkness. "Thank you," said the guest. The waiter left, trying to resist the urge to move faster.He repeated to himself: It was just a reflection of the light in the cozy, dim dining room, which happened to hit the eyes in the dark. Boris Ignatievich continued to sit and broke the toothpick in his hand.As the sturgeon cooled, the wine in the carafe began to heat up.Behind a screen of thick ropes, a fake wheel and faux canvas, there's a crowd celebrating someone's birthday, cursing hot weather, taxes and some "unruly" gangsters as they do so molecular. Gesar, the head of the Moscow branch of the Night Watch Patrol, was waiting. The dogs in the yard jumped aside when they saw me.When they were frozen in mid-air for a moment, it was very painful, really uncomfortable, their bodies couldn’t move, they couldn’t breathe, and they couldn’t bark, the saliva was frozen in their mouths, and the air was as heavy as a heavy palm of a fever patient . But the heart is still alive. It's a really hard time for a dog. The door was ajar, and I stepped out and stood there for a while, not knowing where I was going or what I was going to do. Does it matter where you go and what you do? Not wronged, not even painful.I never once got close to her.It's all of my own making, my own efforts to create obstacles.I don't just live for a moment, I need everything, I want it all, and I want it forever. I reached for the Walkman on my waist and turned on the random selection button.It has been very pleasant in my hands.Could it be that like Xiaohu, I have long been able to use magic to remotely control uncomplicated electrical appliances, but have I not discovered this ability yet? All of this is what I wanted and caused myself, so now I can't blame anyone.It would have been better to be with Sveta than to have spent the whole of last night with Semyon discussing the complexities of good and evil, peaceful opposites.Instead of hating Gesar and Olga and their deceitful truths—I'd rather stick to my own.And don't think, never think that you won't win. Just think about it - you've already lost. "It's over," I whisper, taking off my headphones. "Don't wait." We have been taught for a long time—to contribute without asking for anything in return, to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of mankind, every step—like walking in a hail of bullets, every look—must be noble and rational, neither can there be any idle thoughts , nor have the slightest sinful thoughts, because we are the other, we stand above the crowd, unfurl our unblemished banner, wipe our boots and put on our white gloves.Oh yes, we can do whatever we want in our own little world, and there is a legitimate and noble reason for any innocuous act.We have a unique number: we are the first to appear on the stage - all white and pure, while everything around - is in the dirt. I've had enough! A fiery heart, clean hands, a cool head... During the period of revolution and civil war, almost all the Lightbringers joined the Cheka, isn't it accidental?And those who didn't join, mostly disappeared.It was the Darkbringers who did it, but more so the humans we protect.Because of their stupidity, obscenity, hypocrisy and envy.Fiery heart, clean hands, let the mind calm down, or it will be over.I disagree with all but all of this.Let the heart be clean and the hands hot, I prefer this way! "I don't want to protect you," I said into the stillness of the morning woods, "I don't want to! I don't want to protect anyone, children, women, old people, or fools. Do yourselves! Avoid the vampires yourself, beg the darkness Sorcerers and kissing the asshole of goats! If you do it yourself - bear the consequences yourself! If my love is less important than your happy life, then I don't want you to be happy either!" They can and should get better, they are our roots, they are our future, they are our protection, from the little to the big, from the yard cleaner to the president, from criminals to the cops.There is still a faint light in their hearts, which can burn with encouraging tenderness, or become a mortal flame...   I do not believe! I've seen all of you - from yard cleaners to presidents, robbers to cops.I've seen mothers beat their sons and fathers beat their daughters; I've seen sons throw their mothers out of the house and daughters douse their fathers with arsenic; I've seen husbands who have just sent their guests out with the smile on their faces still slapping their pregnant wives Slaps; I've seen wives just settle down with their drunken husbands, go out and give their husband's best friend a big kiss on the pretext of going to the store.Voila - it's easy, if you know how to read.So they teach us before they teach us to see through the Twilight - teach us not to see. But we're still watching. They are weak, their lives are short, and they are afraid of everything.Don't despise them, don't hate them, just love them, pity them, protect them.This is our job and our duty, we are the Night's Watch. I do not believe! No one can be forced to do dirty work at any time.It is impossible for a reputation to be damaged by others, only by oneself.No matter what the circumstances, there is no excuse for falling, nor will there be such an excuse.Yet people still look for excuses, and they always find them.All humans have been taught this, and they are excellent students in this regard. And we, presumably, are just the best of the bunch. Yes, maybe, yes, of course.No matter in the past, present or future, there have been some examples of not wanting to be other and successfully continuing to live as ordinary human beings subtly, but such examples are very few.Maybe we're just afraid to look at them closely?Scared of seeing what it might reveal? "Live for you?" I asked, Lin Zi didn't say a word, it had already agreed with every word I said. Why should we sacrifice everything?Sacrifice ourselves and our loved ones? For those human beings who never knew our existence and never knew how to cherish? And even if they know we exist, the only reward we'll get in return - is people shaking their heads and saying, "Idiot!" Perhaps it is necessary for human beings to see what the other is?See what an Other can do without the shackles of a peace treaty, freed from the Patrol's control? I couldn't help smiling as I thought of the whole picture of the situation.I'm imagining the panorama, not myself in it - I'll be stopped soon.Any great magician or great female magician who decides to violate the peace treaty and show the other world in front of mankind will be stopped. That would set off a huge storm... Aliens who landed in both the Kremlin and the White House at the same time would not do that. Certainly not. This is not my path. First, because I don't need the power to control the world, nor do I need a riot. Second, all I want is this: the woman I love not to be forced to sacrifice herself.Because to be a great magician means sacrifice.The kind of supernatural power they have will completely change them. We all — not quite human, but we remember what it's like to be human anyway, and we laugh and we sad, we love and we hate.The great magician and the great witch have distanced themselves from human emotion.Maybe they also have their own unique feelings, but we can't understand it.Even Gesar, a super magician, is not yet a great magician, and Olga is also unlikely to become a great female magician. They accidentally made a mistake, so they failed to complete the great work of fighting against the darkness. So now there is a rush to throw a new female candidate into the gap that breaks through the defense. For those who ignore the light and the dark. She was driven to complete all the courses that an Other should take, her mana has rapidly increased to the third level, and now she is being intensively trained in the consciousness part, at an extraordinary speed. Maybe I also have a part in this crazy race toward an unknown goal.Gesar took advantage of everyone, including me, who fell into his hands only by accident.No matter what I did—catch vampires, chase wildlings, talk to Sveta in Olga's guise—it was all just playing for the boss. Whatever I'm doing now - the boss probably sees it coming too. My only hope is that Gesar won't have to foretell everything. Hopefully I can find the only way to destroy his plan, the great plan of the Light Forces. And at the same time, it will not bring evil, otherwise the twilight world will be my home. And what awaits Svetlana is still—a great responsibility. I found myself standing with my face pressed against the thin pine trunk.I stood and pounded the trunk of the tree with my fist, not knowing whether it was anger or pain.I put down my injured and bleeding hand, but the sound didn't stop.It came from the forest, from the limits of the magic barrier, that rhythmic tapping, the nervous trembling. Bending slightly, I ran through the woods like someone being pursued in a military game of paintball.I basically guessed what to expect. A tiger, a tigress to be precise, leaped across a small forest clearing.The yellow-black fur glistens in the rising sun.The tigress didn't see me, and now she can't see anyone or anything.It ran in the forest, its sharp claws tore the bark, and white scars burst out on the pine tree.Sometimes the tigress stops still, rears up her hind legs, and starts tearing at the tree trunk with her claws. I backed away slowly. Each of us finds time to rest whenever we can.Because we have to fight not only darkness, but also light, which can sometimes be blinding. Don't pity us though, because we're very, very proud.We are fighters in the world war between good and evil, everlasting volunteers.