The Secrets of the Two-Faced Maiden. Part 2

Meeting with Alexander Kovalev

After six months, Natalia learned that her former friend Galina (Alla) Khomich was in a very difficult situation. She lost her apartment (she was deceived by friends of her ex-husband, who allegedly had to be bought out of prison), she drank herself and was about to be at the station with the homeless. Natalia again felt sorry for her, found her and took her to live with her temporarily until she recovered and stopped drinking. She lived with Natalia in her grandmother Irina Afanasyevna’s apartment and at the dacha for about 8 months. She stopped drinking, Natalia took away all her debts, using her connections. At that time, while Alla lived with Natalia in the apartment, through a mutual acquaintance, Alla met a certain man Alexander (Kovalev). Alla fell in love with him without memory. He often came to visit Natalia to meet Alla. When Natalia and her sister began to leave for the capital for sessions at the institute, Alla lived with her and looked after her dog – the marble Great Dane Diana. Then Natalia did not even assume that acquaintance with this Alexander would become fateful in her life and in the life of her sister. And she did not even guess that she had previously been acquainted with this Alexander, but at that moment she did not recognize him. It was acquaintance with this Galina and Alexander that for the next 9 years will turn Natalia’s life so that her life will hang by a thread, and old problems with crime will seem to her a lull before the approaching nine-point storm of passions, dangers and betrayals.

All this story began one evening when Alexander came to visit Alla. At the table during the conversation, Natalia, her sister and Alla discussed various prophecies of famous elders for the coming years, the fulfilled forecasts of psychics and fortune-tellers, to whom she and her sister went several times. Natalia told the case with her mother, to whom a certain woman Liza, even before 1986, had prophesied that her mother would take a relative by her husband from the village to the city and that she would receive a 2-room apartment on the 3rd floor in less than 2 years and even named the number – 10. And surprisingly, everything turned out that way. After the Chernobyl accident, Natalia’s parents took from the village, which fell under the program of mandatory eviction, grandmother Irina Afanasyevna to their apartment. And then Natalia and her sister, on the advice of acquaintances, put their grandmother on the apartment queue and registered her sister Elena as her guardian. Less than 2 years later, the grandmother received a new apartment with Elena on the 3rd floor under number 10. There was another amazing coincidence – the house number 131 in the village where the grandmother lived and the number of the new apartment coincided (d. 130 sq.10) In this very apartment, this whole story began. Alexander, silently, listened to the girls’ stories, and then asked: «And can clairvoyants find what is lost, for example, things, money?». Natalia replied that there are such psychics – searchers. But there are no such in our city, but there are definitely in Moscow.

That same evening, Natalia and her sister began to recall various unpleasant incidents from their lives. Natalia told how one day in the entrance where she lived with her parents, she was attacked by a guy who lost at cards. He scared her badly, almost strangled her, showed her passport, then raped her, escorted her to the apartment and even introduced himself to her mother. After Natalia felt safe, she told this scoundrel «Get out.» Natalia said that after this incident she was in a state of shock for several days, and only a glass of vodka relieved this stress. After that, Alexander asked her if this incident was in the house where Natasha lived with her parents, naming the house number and entrance? Surprised, Natalia asked him «how does he know where it happened and where Natalia’s parents live in another part of the city, where Alexander has never been?» He was silent. And Alla asked Alexander, but why did this guy who lost at cards attack Natalia? Alexander, lowering his head, replied that this happens and that the guy had no way out. After that, Alexander hurried to leave. And Natalia and her sister were at a loss from his behavior. Natalia also recalled that the passport of that guy was named Alexander Kovalev. She remembered him, because then there was a Soviet film with a hero named Koralev. And the replacement of one letter in the surname corresponded to the surname of the attacker. Realizing that Alexander’s surname was also Kovalev, Natalia and her sister realized that it was the same guy who lost at cards. Alla was in shock. Then Natalia decided that, maybe, he really had no way out. Moreover, she had known Alexander for more than six months and he had no maniacal inclinations. But she realized that he was connected with crime and seriously. In addition, at the first acquaintance, one of Alexander’s fellow travelers in a drunken state told her sister Elena that she and her sister should be careful in communicating with Alexander, since he is a certain thief in law. Then Elena told Natalia and Alla about this, but they took the words of the drunken guy for drunken delirium. After that evening, Natalia decided to still keep Alexander at a distance from herself and her family. She asked Alla to secretly look at Alexander’s passport to make sure that it was the guy who attacked her, since she still remembered his place of birth – either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. Her suspicions were confirmed. Natalia decided to talk to Alla about the fact that it was time for her to return to live with her parents. Moreover, at that time Alla was already pregnant with Alexander. And judging by Alexander’s attitude to Alla, he was not very happy about this circumstance.

After that evening, Alexander K disappeared for almost a month. During this time, her sister Elena went to live with her parents, since her brother remarried and her parents bought him a 2-room small family house and he and his pregnant wife moved out of the parents’ apartment. Then Alexander suddenly reappeared again. He came to Natalia’s house very excited and asked her to show him her hands, or rather her palms. She showed. He suddenly changed his face and was very happy, as if he had won the jackpot. At the same time, he began to ask about the origin of her family, whether she was a countess or a queen, claiming that it was hidden from her and Natalia did not know her origin. Then he began to ask about large sums of money stolen once from people from the criminal world, claiming with complete certainty that Natalia knew and saw who and where hid this money. He also said that she and her family were in mortal danger, as the thief of this money would try to kill her entire family. He said that Natalia was sick and that it was a very large sum of money for which she could be examined and treated abroad. At that time, Natalia took his words as a ridiculous joke, since she only knew about her origin that there were only wealthy peasants in our family who were dispossessed. And Natalia, moreover, did not see anyone who would bury money or any kind of treasure in the ground. But Alexander continued to insist that Natalia think and remember – he was somehow sure that she knew exactly where and who had this money. He begged Natalia to tell him who had this money so that that person would not kill her. Natalia asked him to tell her where he got all this from.

But, unfortunately, Alexander did not explain anything more. He also said that Natalia had some personal problems with this person. At that time, she really only had problems with Yuri Semenchuk, who was the only one of her acquaintances who was connected with the criminal world, although he himself was not in prison. Natalia told the curious Alexander Kovalev about this, but for some reason he did not pay attention to her words. And he continued to inquire again and again. So he left, without getting from Natalia the coordinates of the buried treasure.

At that time, Natalia also had problems with one man, Nikolai Stefanovich, who had nothing to do with crime. Natalia also borrowed a small amount of money from him at interest. And when her spinal disease worsened, she gave him half the amount at once. And she asked him to wait for the rest of the amount and stop the interest. Then her sister Elena traveled and traded the remaining goods. But, human greed knows no bounds. Having lived for more than six months on interest, Nikolai Stefanovich, seeing a girl chained to bed, who is fit to be his daughter, decided not to lose his free income. Natalia’s father met with this man and was ready to give the entire remaining amount on the condition that Nikolai Stefanovich would return the deposit that Natalia had given him for that small amount that she had borrowed from him – documents for a 2-room apartment belonging to her grandmother and sister (borrowed 2000 y.e., the apartment cost 50,000 y.e.). On the appointed day, Nikolai Stefanovich met with his father, but did not bring the documents for the apartment. He said that he had lost them, although before that he had threatened Natalia and her sister that he would give these documents to the bandits. Natalia’s father said that since there was no collateral, there would be no return of the debt. But Natalia did not tell Alexander anything about this man.

In a week, Alexander said that his friends would come to him, and that he wanted to introduce her and Alla to them. Natalia and Alla prepared the table to treat the guests. Four men entered Natalia’s apartment at the appointed time – as it seemed to her, three of them willingly, and one man under duress. Three were aged about 50—60 years, criminals in appearance, but they were dressed in chic and very expensive suits. A frightened man of about 45 years of age, half bald or simply light-haired, but short-haired, all well-groomed and very intelligent in appearance, entered with them (or rather, he was almost pushed into the apartment). When he looked at Natalia, he suddenly raised his eyes to the sky and exhaled, calmed down sharply and, looking at those three men with a condemning look, asked – «Where should he sit?». Alexander asked Natalia not to do anything, but just to stand next to him. All four men simply devoured Natalia with their eyes and refused not only the treats, but even tea. After 10 minutes, suddenly the well-groomed man said that he was ready and that they could go. They got up and left. At the same time, this intelligent man, leaving the apartment, suddenly began to speak very loudly:

– Guys, who does that, dragged me out of a warm bed in the evening, shoved me into a car, drove me all night. I’ve already changed my mind, God knows what. I said that a photo was enough for me – I won’t tell you anything new – everything is the same. It was necessary to bring me from Moscow to this backwater – now give me a room in the best hotel – and I am waiting for an apology….

Natalia and Alla pretended to close the door to the apartment, but in fact just covered it and heard everything. One of the guests said to the intelligent man:

– Everything will be fine now: both a hotel, and a sauna, and a restaurant.

To all Natalia’s interrogations, whom Alexander brought to our house, she never received answers. But after this visit, Alexander returned to the topic of the missing money once again during the month. And for reasons that were unclear to her, he was sure that she knew who had this money and where.

During the time that Alla lived in Natalia’s apartment, some unknown people set fire to the front door in the apartment twice at night. Only thanks to the fact that Natalia was awakened by the dog Diana, all the residents of the apartment remained alive and did not get carbon monoxide poisoning. Criminal cases were opened, but they did not yield results. The arsonists were never found. After that, Natalia’s father installed a metal vestibule in the corridor, separating 2 apartments on the site. The arsons stopped. After some time, Natalia decided to send Alla to live with her parents, as Alexander began to accuse her of interfering with their meetings. And Alla began to be very jealous of Natalia to her lover. Natalia collected Alina’s things, called a taxi and sent Alla to her parents to solve their problems together with her cohabitant. All this time while Alla lived with Natalia at home and at the dacha, she did not work and was supported by Natalia and her sister Elena. After that day, Natalia no longer saw Alexander Kovalev. But he was very offended by her, called and threatened to deal with her entire family. What caused his aggression was not clear. Either Alla told him something, or he was offended that Natalia did not tell him about the mysterious treasure.

Unusual Incidents in the Lives of Natalia and Her Sister

Natalia had already grown accustomed to the unusual incidents that happened to her and her sister, as well as to the influence of otherworldly forces. But what occurred one evening in the room of their grandmother, Irina Afanasyevna, was very strange and inexplicable. Natalia was sitting on the couch watching television, her sister was sitting next to her, and a carpet hung on the wall behind them. Suddenly, she felt as if someone were watching her from behind. She turned around and looked at the carpet – there she saw an oval white spot about the size of a small oval mirror. Her sister also turned and looked at this strange spot.

Natalia’s first thought was that it was a reflection from a mirror or some shiny object somewhere in the room (like a sunbeam). She and her sister removed all objects that could reflect light, but the spot did not disappear. Natalia tried moving her hand around to determine from which direction the reflection was coming. But she suddenly realized there was no external source of light. The spot did not fade from any angle. Natalia grew frightened when she understood that the spot was coming from the carpet itself.

She tried to touch it, but suddenly her hand was thrown back as if by an electric shock. After that, the spot curled toward its center and vanished. Her sister Elena also saw how the strange spot disappeared. Later, Natalia and her sister began to call it «the eye.» Natalia and her sister saw this «eye» a few more times in their room, but already on the ceiling. However, they no longer paid attention to it, deciding that if it was hanging there – so be it.

Since 1997, Natalia began to see a very strange turquoise light. It appeared suddenly and remained for some time in the form of a specific shape. Natalia’s parents did not see this light. Her sister saw the same turquoise color as well. And her young nephew also saw this light. Before the turquoise light appeared, there was always a feeling of inexplicable unease. Then, suddenly, a rectangle in the form of a stripe would emerge – its size varying from a small ruler or thin strip to a large rectangle about 1 meter by 50 centimeters.

This object hung in the air, completely transparent, as if a sheet of turquoise glass had appeared in the air. When Natalia moved her hand through it, she felt nothing – only air. The object remained for about 30 seconds and then slowly, point by point, seemed to disperse, without losing its original shape but gradually changing its structure to a more transparent one until it finally disappeared completely.

The Case of a Fortune-Telling That Came True in the Life of Natalia’s Acquaintance

During the same period, another unpleasant incident occurred – one that may have had a profound impact on Alexander Kovalev. Natalia’s former classmate from Israel came to visit her with her children; she had been Alla’s best friend since their school years. The sister of the classmate’s husband also came to visit, along with her husband, Mikhail.

During a conversation, Mikhail joked that his wife should start ordering a coffin for him because all the fortune-tellers had prophesied to his mother that he would not live to see his 30th birthday, which was on March 9. And the date was already February 23. Everyone laughed at his words, since he was physically healthy.

Natalia’s classmate decided to invite her husband’s younger brother – who had recently been released from prison – to immigrate permanently to Israel, and she suggested that Alla enter into a formal marriage with him so that she could also move to Israel. Alla agreed, as she was already in the early stages of pregnancy. Alexander did not object to her departure, which was very surprising. Alla began gathering documents and preparing for the formal marriage. But immigration never happened.

On March 8, Alla and Alexander visited Mikhail. And there, a tragedy occurred. After taking a large amount of drugs, Alla’s future fictitious husband killed Mikhail with a single stab to the abdomen after Mikhail scolded him for using drugs in front of his children and for bringing various drug addicts into his home. The knife struck the liver; by the time the ambulance arrived, there was nothing left to save. Mikhail simply bled to death – one day before reaching his 30th birthday.

Alla’s trip to Israel was canceled, which greatly upset Alexander. But this tragic incident became further proof that the predictions of clairvoyants do come true.

Natalia’s Poisoning with Toxin from an Orange and Its Consequences for Her Health

By that time, Natalia had already been seriously ill for two years due to spinal problems, and she could barely walk. She had simply been misdiagnosed and, because she was denied proper treatment, was essentially condemned to disability. Two months after the quarrel with her friend, Natalia was admitted to the hospital to determine her diagnosis and treatment plan, or to apply for disability status, since her health showed no signs of improvement. With support from someone walking beside her, she could walk no more than 20 meters. Then she needed a 15-minute rest before continuing.

While Natalia was in the hospital, Alla – whom she had argued with a month earlier – came to visit her, which greatly surprised Natalia. Alla came supposedly to make peace and brought Natalia only one orange. That morning, Natalia had finally decided to have a bad tooth removed, but the anesthesia affected her very strongly – her entire cheek drooped, and she couldn’t move her lips. The pregnant Alla «hovered» over her for seven hours, begging her to eat the orange, but the numbness would not go away – her cheek hung lifelessly. Later, Natalia’s sister Elena came and brought her some oranges of her own.

Only six hours later did the anesthesia slowly begin to wear off. Alla pleaded so insistently that Natalia finally tried one slice. It tasted very bitter, and Natalia assumed the bitterness was due to the anesthesia – and swallowing was difficult. So she set the orange aside, telling her friend she would eat it later. Seeing that Natalia had eaten a little bit of the orange, Alla quickly said goodbye and left. Elena, noticing Alla’s unusual persistence, threw the orange away – Alla had insisted far too anxiously that Natalia eat it.

Alla was already five months pregnant at the time. And who could have thought that a person in such a condition might bring poisoned fruit to a sick woman? It was also strange that Natalia suddenly decided to have her tooth pulled on that exact day. Later she recalled how she woke up that morning with the thought that she must finally remove the bad tooth. There was a clinic right next to the hospital. She went to the dental surgeon; there was no queue. Natalia made up her mind and had the tooth extracted. Only a year later did Natalia realize that if she had not done that, she would have eaten the entire orange, and she might no longer be alive. There was no doubt that God had protected Natalia from death in this way – although she did taste one slice.

That same evening, Natalia began feeling unwell – an unexplained weakness appeared, which grew worse each day. On the fourth day, an ambulance was called. By that time, Natalia had already been discharged from the hospital and was at home. What followed were three months of a life-and-death struggle. Natalia exhibited a full spectrum of intoxication symptoms. She lost a significant amount of weight, her pulse was almost constantly at 140 beats per minute, and she suffered from convulsive seizures. She was taken to an infectious disease hospital and underwent examinations at the regional hospital in Minsk after a complaint, but the tests revealed no infectious disease. The doctors diagnosed her with a «nervous system disorder,» having performed only a general blood test. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of our medical system, even though Natalia had requested testing for toxic substances in her blood. The only thing that helped her was drinking ten liters of water a day during severe attacks and convulsions. She was denied disability status, with doctors claiming she was not eligible. No one referred her for additional examinations. This is a separate story in itself, where the doctors seemed to be hiding their mistakes behind an incorrect diagnosis – or perhaps someone was attempting to conceal poisoning. Natalia had a dream in which she was told to drink valerian root tea while it was hot. She followed this advice. After two months, her severe symptoms subsided, though she still could not walk. Suspicions that Alla’s orange had been poisoned were further supported by her strange behavior. Following this incident, Alla never called or sought to meet Natalia again.

A month after the hospital visit, Natalia’s sister Elena saw Alla at the market. Her behavior shocked Elena. Upon seeing Elena, Alla became extremely frightened, did not greet her, and turned to run away. She ran so quickly with her large pregnant belly that Elena could not catch up. Alla jumped onto a trolleybus and left. Mutual acquaintances of Natalia and her sister, who knew Alla, reported similar behavior. Since then, neither Natalia nor her sister saw Alla again.

A year later, Natalia learned from a mutual acquaintance that Alla had given birth to a girl with a heart defect, who had to undergo a serious operation. Apparently, the sins of the parents still affected the child. The further fate of Alla and her daughter remained unknown to Natalia.

Valentin’s Visit from Ukraine

At the beginning of the summer of the following year, a friend whom Natalia had met back in Poland – Valentin – came to visit her. He was a tall and handsome man from Donetsk. Valentin had long been calling Natalia at her parents’ apartment, but they stubbornly refused to say where she lived and did not give out any of her contact information. Back then, hardly anyone even had a mobile phone. Eventually, however, her parents gave him her number. Valentin had courted Natalia in Poland, and this time he came with serious intentions of marrying her.

When Natalia and her sister Elena went to meet Valentin at the train station, Valentin slipped on the train step upon the train’s arrival and fell under the rails. The scene was both tragic and comical at the same time. It took a long time to get the newly minted fiancé out from under the train tracks. When they got home, Valentin told a terrifying story of what had happened to him. After returning from Poland, his ex-wife had thrown him out of the apartment. One day, after returning home from visiting friends, he suddenly felt unwell. He stripped naked in the stairwell and began behaving irrationally for no apparent reason. His parents were extremely frightened and called psychiatric emergency services. He was hospitalized and treated for six months, during which he was practically sedated to the point of being like a vegetable.