Trap. Fantastic fiction

Elena Nesterenko Translator

Svetlana Yvgenievna Smirnova Illustrator

© Irina Muravskaya, 2018

© Elena Nesterenko, translation, 2018

© Svetlana Yvgenievna Smirnova, illustrations, 2018

ISBN 978-5-4493-1441-3

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

TRAP

“Greetings, Trap!” Vengeance took a rapid glance on the room and the Trap, who was clearly bored; then quickly slipped inside, and slouched in the armchair, smiling.

“Well then?” Trap stared indifferently, rubbing her scraggy hands.

“What then? How are you keeping?” Vengeance’s eyes were shifty; she was trying to catch the mood.

“Things go south. I’m totally fed up with it. I speak wrong, I entrap wrong, I spook wrong… I am sickened of my clients. It’s high time to have some rest.” Trap heaved a sigh.

“Rest? Well, people definitely won’t be better off without you!”

“Yes, the will. I’ll let them rest on their own, while I’m slackening cares. Enjoying life, you know.” Trap yawned and wrapped herself in her old shawl. She looked offended.

“That’s all for nothing. It’s gonna be dull as ditch-water.”

“Might be dull for you. You’re having too much fun anyway, it’s me who has to do all the nasty job afterwards. They moan, they scream… My ears are not made of stone, you know. I have to actually scrape quite a number of people off the pavement… Jumping from the window is a weird trend, indeed.”

“Put some headphones on… Grief has presented you cool ones!”

“Yeah, right… It’s only her stinkaroo that they reproduce, totally tiresome. Her music made me lose a taste for good hunt, you know. That present is as good as a headache.”

“How can we get through without you?” Vengeance became nervous. “What if you vacation runs over time?”

“It’s none of your business. I’ll rest as long as it takes. Let Intrigues entertain you,” Trap flatly answered.

“It makes no sense without you,” Vengeance sounded unsure.

“Stop whining, or I’ll get angry and you’ll end up in the end of the queue – forever.”

“We’ll get you a new shawl. A pink of fashion!”

“I have my own fashion,” the Trap made a wry face and turned away.

“I know, I know… Witches knit for you.”

“Oh, you’ve reminded me of something. I need a new witch for the woods, do you have anyone in mind?

“No problems, we’ll look for her. I’ll go through your files, maybe someone will do.”

“Yes, do it,” the Trap yawned. “I’m so sleepy. Don’t bother me any longer. I’m telling you, I want to go back to good old traps in the woods, and to rest in silence. All these loans, bankruptcy, honey-traps… Boring.”

“All right, all right, rest then!” Vengeance pulled a face, tidied her magnificent hair and quietly disappeared outside.

“Tickets to Yaroslavl…” A ticket merchant, wearing suburban worn leather jacket, whose shag covered a large scar on his forehead, walked around the ticket desks, urging people to buy a bus ticket.

“Where are you going, girl?” He approached to Victoria.

“Get away from me, I’m in a queue to the ticket desk,” the girl answered as harshly as possible.

“And still…” The hawker smiled crookedly. “I know that you are heading to Saint Petersburg, and you are in a hurry… You need to pick up an urgent parcel, but it is far away… You are late…”

“I ask you, dude, back off. Don’t you add insult to injury,” Victoria snapped, and silently regretted that she had not bought the ticket via the Internet.

“Well, you are the boss,” the merchant turned around, and, spinning his keys on the finger, headed into the depth of the box office. “Tickets to Yaroslavl!” He continued to tout.

His voice almost blended into the rumble of voices and the noise of the station, but she could still hear it.

“Tickets to London, request stop in Saint Petersburg…” the hawker went on in an indifferent voice.

Victoria flinched and turned abruptly to look at the merchant, who slowly disappeared at the back of the station.

“Tickets to Yaroslavl…” She heard his monotonous voice.

“What’s wrong with me?” Victoria thought. “How come he knows… Holy smokes! What kind of joke is this?”

“Tickets to London…” She heard the merchant again.

“Wait, fellow!” She gave in, she stepped away from the ticket desk and walked briskly towards the merchant.

He turned around instantly, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, caught the girl’s confused look and smiled savagely.

“So, how do I get to London?” Victoria was slightly out of breath, as she was walking too fast. She hoped that she had not misheard. “Request stop in Saint Petersburg… You’re kidding me, right?”

“Am I?” The merchant looked concentrated. “I’m selling tickets. You need them, don’t you?”

“Let’s assume you’re right.” She pulled herself together, although her heart was sinking. “Be that as it may, how is it possible to go there by bus?”

“It’s not by bus, it’s by subway,” the merchant smiled.

“What?” Victoria took a step back.

“It’s possible, if you buy a ticket from me.”

“You are kidding me. Why?” The girl cracked up.

“Easy up, keep in mind the instructions to the ticket,” the merchant grinned. “Here, take the ticket.” He quickly gave the book to the girl. “Leave your phone number. Once you’re in the tube train, you’ll get an SMS with the page number. You open it and then you get off in Saint Petersburg. Then you enter the subway again, and get the second SMS. You open the necessary page and end up in London. Got it? I keep it all simple!”

Victoria froze.

“Hello there…” She heard the merchant. “So, do we take the ticket, or do we hold the line?”

“We definitely will. What’s the figure?”

“Well,” the merchant lowered his voice. “It’s not expensive.”

“And still.”

“You’ll need to become a witch… For a while.” The merchant murmured quietly in a soft-soapy voice.

“A witch?” Victoria smiled in confusion.

“Yes, a casual witch, you know… Just for a little while.”

She laughed.

“I appreciated the joke. Funny. Now let’s talk serious business: how much do I owe?”

“I’ve already told you,” the trader answered dryly.

“I’m a stone’s throw away from becoming a Doctor of biological sciences, alright? And you ask me to be a witch. I used to be cynical about fairy-tales even when I was a little girl.”

“But you did believe in the ticket,” the merchant didn’t give up “You are young and pretty, you can’t be a Doctor of sciences… Alright? It’s you who tells fairy tales.

Victoria blushed slightly. She had a difficult day, and she caught herself thinking that the whole conversation with the complete stranger is akin to the theater bizarre. She couldn’t figure out, what kept her from bringing this senselessness to the end, she was confused.

“You see, dude, I’m very tired, and I’m really late. I have no idea of how you can help me, but if your tickets are real, then – fine, I’ll be a witch for a while. If that’s what it takes. But I can’t do it for a long time, I have plenty to do, you know. So, who do we set up pranks against?” She sighed heavily. “Or what have you – the address of the theater… Although I repeat once more, I’m no actress, I’m a Doctor of sciences.

“Biological, right – a stone’s throw away…” The merchant smiled and suddenly his voice grew louder. “Deal! Now it’s your book, Victoria, thank you so much… And enjoy your trip.”

“Who do we set up pranks against?” Perplexedly staring at the small and bright soft-cover, asked Victoria once again.

“Your trip, Victoria, is what you should concentrate on. It’s very important for you, I know…” The merchant muttered, slightly bowing and taking half a step back. “You’ll receive a payment instruction later. Got to go now. Hurry up, please…”

She smiled faintly.

“Some kind of aberration.” She turned back to the ticket desk.

“Wrong! It’s the subway you need. Good luck.” The merchant whispered ingratiatingly, bowed once more, quickly turned and started moving.

“Wait!” Victoria suddenly recovered her consciousness. “I haven’t told you my name.”

The merchant put the pedal to the metal and disappeared in the crowd.

“What’s the matter with this day! What’s going on?” She kept looking around, staring at people, trying to ask someone for advice. She hoped that someone had heard the weird conversation. But no one would pay attention to her. She realized, that she’d gladly sit and have a rest. Victoria looked around and realized that there were no benches nearby. She caught the sight of the chair near the ticket terminals, but some corpulent lady placed herself over it, wiping sweat from her face with a blue handkerchief and straightening her bags with her legs.

Victoria turned and went to the ticket desk. She bought a train ticket to Saint Petersburg and looked at the book she was holding. Then she checked her watch. She had plenty of time before the train.

“Well, I’ll get down to the subway. At least I shall give it a try. Things do happen. You never know.” She said aloud wearily and headed to the exit. Thoroughly counterproductive, though…”

Victoria was a very educated and happy – in her own way – girl from a wealthy family. Having received an excellent education, she entirely devoted herself to science. To onlookers it appeared that she forgot about her smart appearance and did not take the compliments and attention from the stronger sex seriously.

Her laboratory and test tubes interested her the most.

Hut the sudden departure of her mother, who didn’t even explain the reasons, knocked her sideways.

“What kind of business trip? Why didn’t you tell me? Where? Why?” She kept thinking.

She never knew her father, so, after struggling with several months of abeyance, she couldn’t figure out how to move on.

Every household trifle would cause a lot of stress and effort. Vic realized, that she’s all by herself from now on, and she had to somehow cope with it and learn to live a simple everyday life. Once she got really embarrassed, when she didn’t immediately understand why the phone stopped working. She called to the service company, and found out that she needed to pay the bill. This was always done by her mother, who protected her and took enormous care of her…

Victoria was very surprised by the call from a notary from Moscow. With horror, he demanded to come and register real estate. He didn’t understand, why a trusted person, even a family lawyer, would want to use power of attorney to register the property in their own name, while the owners are both safe and sound. The power of attorney itself caused many doubts, too. He asked to answer him in person.

Victoria faced a real issue. She had to rush from London to Moscow, then to Saint Petersburg to take documents from the cell, and then get back to another notary, who happened to be in London. Otherwise, as a notary explained to her in a rough manner, she will live in her lab with her mother, since their apartments in different cities, will be transferred to their lawyer, and it’s up to her good will to grant them some shelter.

It took Victoria a week to stomach the idea. She looked through the Internet, and couldn’t understand what harm may be done by Angelina Sergeevna, a lawyer and the closest assistant of her mother’s business. Then she rushed to Moscow, following the notary’s request.

Time was running out, but having pulled herself together, Victoria made up a travel plan and set a goal to solve this problem.

Then, all of a sudden, this incomprehensible trader appeared, like some unidentified bacterium. With all the fatigue and absurdity of the situation, Victoria was motivated by mere curiosity, mixed with despair and unknown variables, present in her equation…

Victoria headed into the subway, went through the turnstile and silently stared at the trains that flashed exactly according to the schedule.

“Which way? Apparently, anyway. It’s nonsense. I’ll ride a station and come back. Freaks are everywhere. In Moscow, I did perfectly well, so I might check…” She decided.

“Damn your DNA, merchant, everything is simple, you say…” Victoria whispered, realizing that this was Saint Petersburg subway she was traveling in.

Shocked and amazed, she made it out of the car, then got out into the street, caught a taxi, and took the documents from the bank with her brain on autopilot. Then she found the nearest metro station and headed downstairs without hesitation.

“Who is the core of this transport company…” Victoria thought in horror, realizing that she was in the London tube already.

Forcing herself to pull together, she reached the second notary, and, having resolved all the family matters as planned, rushed home.

“I haven’t eaten anything for so long!” She suddenly thought. Her throat went dry. “I’m just very tired, these weird briefings. Everything is weird. I need to eat, and the brain will help me figure it out. In any case, it’s brilliant, but how does it work?”

Victoria happened along her favorite cafe nearby, sat down at the table in the corner, made an order and sighed.

“It’s OK, there have to be an explanation. I’ll sort it out, and I cease to do so, we’ll sort it out together with my Mom, when she comes back. Of course, I miss something, such movements can’t be explained scientifically. Although, maybe I’m wrong… What a delicious dinner it is! I deserved it!” Victoria slightly relaxed. “I’ve done so much today… Or messed up!” She uttered a cry, all in cold sweat. “Ticket pay instruction!”

The house was within reach. Counting her slow steps while walking under in the rain, Victoria was trying to understand what would happen next. Cold drops hit her face, as if they were trying to pull Vic together.

At home, she bathed, changed her clothes, putting on a warm sports suit, sat down in the corner of the couch and tried to concentrate, but the fatigue took toll.

“No, I can’t sleep. I need to understand what I’m to do next.” Victoria was nervous. “As a decent person, I shall pay for a , and as a fool – for my … Mom, did I get into trouble? When will you come? Of course, I took part in incredible events today… From the scientific point of view… Life is so complicated, I understand it. You see, I’m a grown-up already.” Looking at Mom’s picture, Victoria cried hysterically, and buried herself in the pillow. ticket stupidity

In the morning, she received a text message.

Victoria instantly woke up and took a book out of her bag with a trembling hand.

“This is how the instruction looks like, huh.” Victoria looked at the three figures on the screen. “Maybe I should write at a note to my Mom… Else she comes back, knowing not, where I’m at.

No, no. She’ll get really worried. I’ve done everything right, she’ll be happy, I’ll tell her everything later. I need to wash, I guess…” Her thoughts were interrupted by SMS.

“The figures are the same,” she thoughtfully looked at the phone’s screen, and quickly dialed them, not allowing herself to think long. She closed her eyes.

Ozone-saturated air, mixed with the smell of autumn foliage and thus, hit her hard. Victoria was afraid to open her eyes, having understood, that the soft home sofa had disappeared, and she was sitting on the grass…

“I’m probably in the park. And what’s wrong with that?” She thought quickly. “Probably, the prank will happen here…”

“Well, right, a prank,” she heard a husky female voice. “You open your eyes, it’s your station, ha-ha…”

Victoria quickly opened her eyes. Looking around, she found herself in a dense forest. And there was this woman, smiling, and looking at her.

“I’m not in the park, am I?” Asked Victoria softly. “Who are you?”

“I’m a fare collector,” the woman laughed. “Pay for the tickets, will you? Ha-ha-ha… I’m so amused, well done! A park!”

“Yes, of course… Thanks for the tickets,” Victoria whispered, nodding her head timidly. “How much do I owe?”

“Well, at least you are reasonable,” the woman smiled. “To cut it short, a trifle. You’ll be a witch while I’m on vacation.”

“What did you say?”

“Hearing problems? We’ll fix that.”

“No, I’ve heard you,” Victoria got herself together. “Witch means what? To fly on a broomstick?”

“Oh, men…” The woman sighed. “Well, let’s start with the broom. Pick some branches, make a broom. Do you see the house?”

“Yes,” said Victoria.

“You’ll make a broom and clean up. There’s a stream, you can get some water there. Heat the house properly, it’s damp in here.”

“Are there any matches?”

“Yes. My previous helpmate got them in the village twenty miles away, so lucky you are!

Well, I’ll go for a walk now.” The woman stretched and pulled her nose, eagerly swallowing the air. “Can you feel it? Awesome!”

“Yes, the air is wonderful,” Victoria said quietly, looking around. “Will your vacation last long? And how do I address you?”

“I’ve had it up to here with you all! I’ll rest as much as I want to.” Snapped the woman and headed into the depths of the forest.

Very soon she disappeared, and Victoria sighed with relief, but soon the shivers of fear attacked from all sides, preventing her from concentrating. She cried.

“What a mess! Where am I? It does not look like a prank to me now! This woman is so impudent, talking to me, as if I were her property or something.”

Rubbing her stiff legs, Victoria rose from the grass and, having looked around, headed towards the hut.

“It’s just a task,” she prompted softly to herself. “It should be solved…”

“Let’s say she is the core of their transport company. So, I’m in the woods, huh? Dense woods,” she corrected herself. “And what is it they want from me? Am I a hostage? Whose hostage? She said she was on vacation, okay, so what? Everyone takes a vacation where they want to. She’s in the woods. Why does she need me? And then, a witch! What does she mean? I’m no witch! Maybe she finds it difficult to be here all by herself, and she needs an assistant? And let’s assume, she calls them witches. She told me that her helpmate went to the village to get matches… And now I am the assistant. Well, seems logical to me. The helped me, my family hasn’t lost its property, now I have to help her, okay. Well, somehow it feels better now. I should be afraid. Its vice versa! I have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with non-standard people and stay in a picturesque place! The air is really wonderful here!” not

“It’s all, sort of… Why do my hands and feet keep trembling?” Said Victoria aloud and touched the hut door.

The door creaked open, and a wave of dampness splashed out, slowly wrapping around Victoria’s legs, then her back, slightly pausing on the head, and eventually disappearing in the woods.

“And what was that supposed to mean? Did the air just sniffed me? Well, OK, I keep on hallucinating.” Victoria waved her hand and stepped into the hut.

The room was dark; only scarce rays of light, coming through the shutter cracks, illuminated the space.

“Cleaning, yes, that’s it! Once you are up to some activities, nerves come right. Even more so, it seems that I’ll have to spend the night here today.” Victoria was walking around the house, talking loudly and slowly to herself. “I need to get these shutters open, otherwise I see nothing! And I need to find a rag, I’ll manage without a broom.” Victoria smiled. “What a foolishness to say, to fly on a broom…”

The latches on the shutters were tight, but Victoria managed to open them up. She examined the glasses for a long time. They were really unusual: very thick, with a vague greenish tinge, of different sizes.

“Ancient they are… But looking like armor piercing. Interesting, indeed! I need to move my stupid fears aside. I haven’t seen anything in my life except for the lab. Now I get to know the world!” She encouraged herself.

There was a beautiful fireplace in the corner of the room, built of large river stones. A few firewood was stacked in front of it.

After inspecting the house, Victoria started looking for matches and a rag.

Next to the fireplace, there was a bed, in the other corner there were three massive chests, put close to each other.

Near the large window there was a round carved table and a bench. Vic also noticed a small shelf with clay and iron dishes.

“Well, quite ascetic, yet tasteful, I would say…”

She ceased to find the bucket, but found a wooden barrel instead.

“I hope you can use it to wash the floors… Okay, first we need to find matches…”

The first chest opened easily, it was filled with candles. There was also a heavy iron candlestick, a bag of salt and – a precious box of matches.

Victoria fixed a candlestick, lit the candles, and the room instantly changed.

The day passed very quickly. Victoria went to the stream to get water, washed the floors, removed the webs, collected the branches for the fireplace and even managed to rekindle a fire. At the same time, she gathered some mushrooms, and cooked a nice soup in a cast-iron bowl. She opened the second chest. It was stuffed with old books. She tried to read a page or two, but the text was all Greek to her. The third chest wouldn’t want to cooperate and open either. Victoria tried to find its lid as hard as she could, finally, she sat on the floor beside it and looked at the barely visible pattern on the side wall.

“It’s not working out, is it?” She heard a familiar husky voice behind her.

Victoria turned abruptly, and fell to her side, loosing balance.

“Even a mouse can’t make it unnoticed through this creaking door, and I didn’t hear her come in,” Victoria thought, realizing that her hands and feet were trembling again.

“Yeah, but I’m not a mouse,” the woman said with a grin. She was holding two large dead hares. She walked around the room and threw them near the fireplace on the floor. Choosing a large clay cup, she poured herself some soup and sat down at the table.

Victoria was afraid to utter a word.

“The mushroom soup is delicious!” The woman smiled and scraped her plate with a spoon. Then she looked at Victoria.

“Thank you!” Victoria felt a little embarrassed and sat down on the chest.

“Look in the mirror and you’ll manage to open your chest,” the woman continued.

“But there is no mirror…” Victoria carefully began to examine the walls of the house.

“And… Is this my chest? Sorry for opening these two, I was looking for matches.”

“It’s yours, while you’re here,” the woman yawned and went to the bed. “There are mirrors everywhere,” she added quietly, wrapping herself in the blanket.

“Where can I sleep?” Victoria asked boldly.

“What? Chests make a good bed,” adjusting the pillow, the woman looked at Victoria in surprise, waved her hand and turned to the wall.

“Okay, I understand, good night,” thought Victoria.

“Rest, I had such a nice quiet day today…” she heard in response.

Victoria didn’t want to make noise, although she really needed to find a mirror in the house. She curled up on hard chests and instantly fell asleep.

In the morning, Victoria woke up with an insistent knock on the window. The room was empty, the woman left at dawn. The murky glass hid the one, who was knocking, so she went out into the street.

“What is it you want?” Victoria asked a large bird, who continued to tap its beak on the glass. She noticed the girl, stopped and twitched, quickly nodding her head.

“All right,” Victoria replied with a nod. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a clue of what you’re saying…”

The bird waved its wings, made a circle over the hut and sat next to Victoria.

“I still don’t understand, sorry…” Victoria said, looking at the bird.

She pecked Victoria in the leg and flew away.

“I might not be the nest talk partner, but it hurts!” Victoria shouted after her, rubbing her ankle.

The water in the creek was pure ice, but Victoria didn’t pay attention to the cold. She washed herself, thinking how to open the chest and where to find the mirror.

“And those hares… I need to cook them somehow, maybe, just fry them,” she thought. “I am about to settle down here. I wonder if her vacation is for long.”

After carefully inspecting the house, she didn’t find a mirror, so she started cooking. Then, choosing a book in a thick old leather binding, she tried to read it. It was dark in the house, so, she went out into the street. She had just opened the book, as the bird returned. She heavily pecked it in the hand, so that the book fell down.