- -
- 100%
- +
© Eugene Nomak, 2023
ISBN 978-5-0060-5914-6
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Chapter 1
The 80th year of the true era. Phoenix, the capital of the world. Eastern Siberia.
A black electric bike pulled into the deserted nighttime school parking lot almost silently, its hull playing up the reflections of the yellow perimeter lights of the school grounds. The bike stopped in the parking space closest to the entrance, causing an immediate reaction from the elderly school security guard in the guardhouse. He threw his entertainment magazine on the desk, put the cigarette he was about to light behind his ear, hastily removed his glasses and stared at the CCTV monitors, zooming in on one camera image after another.
In the flickering light of the dim phosphor lamp he could barely see the slim figure of a woman removing her protective motorcycle helmet. She hung the helmet on the handlebars and shook her head, straightening her long black hair. She pulled her streamlined yellow-glasses out of her breast pocket, put them on, and headed toward the glass doors of the main entrance of school number one hundred and twenty-one, as the sign on the front read. She was so close to the security camera lens that she could already make out the details of her appearance: a woman in her forties, about five feet tall, wearing a tight suit of dark gray, almost black, with zippers, various pockets, chains, and rivets all over it. On her feet, tight-fitting latex composite boots emphasized her athletic calves. The woman flonked toward the school doors with an easy and brash gait. Her slightly slanted eyes and black hair gave away her Asian roots. And she was heavily armed. On her hips were two heavy holsters with semi-automatic Berettas. On her belt hung four spare magazines and several grenades of various purposes. A knife handle with a built-in LED display protruded from a special pocket on his right boot. And from behind his back, the black hilt of a Japanese katana was visible. The temples of her glasses ended in miniature headphones.
She stretched her lips into a tube for a moment, and her entire face became covered with shimmering multicolored spots, which immediately began to move in an orderly pattern across the skin of her face and change color, forming curved streaks in the form of arrows. A second later, the pattern stopped moving, and the woman’s face was covered with black curved stripes coming from her eyes and ending with arrows in the form of bent bird claws, reminiscent of ancient cave painting patterns.
Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock… She knocked on the door with the hard knuckles of her compound glove.
– Who lives in the little house? Who in the low one will die?
She waited patiently for the lights to come on in the school lobby. A young guard with a flashlight came to the door from inside and directed its beam directly into the face of the night visitor. Smiling, the woman allowed herself to be examined under the bright light.
– We’re closed,» the guard said. – Did you want something?
The woman, clearly expecting a different reception, turned her head toward the surveillance camera hanging under the building’s canopy.
A few seconds later, the sounds of approaching footsteps of a man running could be heard.
An elderly guard with a cigarette behind his ear ran out of the corridor leading to the right wing of the school building. Rattling loudly with a bunch of numerous keys, he stumbled toward the entrance.
– Excuse us, excuse us,» the man shouted, panting. He sharply pushed the young man away with his hand and, fumbling with his shaking hands over the keys, chose the right one and slipped it into the keyhole.
The woman patiently watched all these actions, not hiding a satisfied smile.
The door opened.
– Please forgive him, he’s very young. He hasn’t finished school yet. He doesn’t know you,» the older man stammered.
– Do you? – The woman asked in a husky, low, velvety voice.
– Of course I do! – replied the man, calming down a little. – Of course I know! You are the witch of Coven.
The woman leaned down to the guard’s cheek and sniffed defiantly.
– You smell of incense, old man,» she whispered, and turned her gaze to the young guard. – What a handsome boy! – she said, removing a black rubberized glove from her right hand, weighted with lead tabs on the knuckles. – How old are you?
– Eighteen turned eighteen,» the boy replied calmly.
A translucent dark cloth covered her hand, like another glove over her skin. Then the guest ran her slender fingers over the guard’s face, stopping at his cheek.
“No stubble yet,” she began to twirl the brush in front of the boy’s eyes, showing the material of the covering with her fingers. – Do you know what this is? – Seeing the negative silent answer, the witch continued. – It’s a spider’s web, a material ninety times stronger than steel and about the same number of times lighter. I’m covered in it, except for my head. It’s my armor. The web doesn’t save me from fractures and bruises, but it protects me perfectly from any penetration of any foreign objects into my body. It stops any bullets and any steel of any blade. What a handsome boy,” she whispered slowly. Her eyes glistened in undisguised anticipation, -By the way, about the penetration, do you want to take all the cobwebs off me? It’ll be amazing, I’ll tell you that. And then you and I…
– Forgive him,“ interrupted the older guard, who had calmed down a bit, „he’s too young for that.
– It’s no trouble,» she said, reaching up to touch his cheeks with her lips. – If that’s the only problem, we’ll correct the age,» the witch touched the teenager’s cheek with her lips and exposed her tongue, on which sat a dark green, almost black spider. It crawled over to the young man’s face, and sharply thrust its sting into his cheek, injecting a dark secret under the young skin. The boy was paralyzed. The young guard’s hair turned gray almost instantly, and shallow wrinkles soldiered across his face. The young man aged before his eyes.
– Well, that’s different! – The witch hissed, pulling the fascinated spider off her cheek. You look about forty years old! You’re old! Handsome! By the way, this is Mitsu,» she stroked the spider’s back, «a very obedient boy. He’s the one weaving me the best body armor in the world, – the witch let go of the spider, and it deftly climbed up the clothes and snuck into the nostril of the mistress. She put on her glove and looked at the senior guard, «Where are the fanatics?
– There are no fanatics here,“ the old man whispered in a trembling voice, dumbfounded by what he had seen, „religion is outlawed. We don’t want any trouble.
– See my bracelet? – she raised her left hand directly to the guard’s face. – What shade of glow?
– Yellow,» he squeaked, not taking his eyes off the yellowed matte bracelet.
– That means you’re cheating Aunt Tamura,» she wagged her finger at him.
– I’m not cheating, your bracelet is probably malfunctioning,» the old man switched to squealing.
– Are you an expert in electronic speech analyzers?
– No,“ he shook himself, „please, please. Please.
– Yeah, aren’t you ready to die a martyr for the holy faith? Wow! Mitsu can give you a special death, a graceful death, just right for a martyr. He’ll paralyze you, then enter your brain through your nose, activate the pain center, and give you so much pain that you’ll beg him to kill you,» the witch hissed. – A free pass straight to heaven! How’s that?
– No. I’m sorry. Please,“ the guard howled, „I’ll tell you. They’re here. They’re in the basement of the right wing. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything. Sixty men. They’re closed. They know you’re here. They’ve made preparations. There are children there.
– Of course! Well done! CHPSU! – said the woman, then abruptly pulled a knife out of her boot and with a quick upward motion from the bottom, stuck it into the elderly guard’s throat with the handle, which instantly caked the blood around the wound, preventing it from escaping. The display on the handle lit up and gave out full information on the dying man.
– Johan Bilba. Sixty-seven years old. Previous conviction for aiding and abetting religious terrorists,» she glanced again at the aged young man. – This is a standard witch’s knife. It can analyze a victim’s DNA and query the Coven’s databases. Costs as much money as a unicorn’s liver. But Pride doesn’t skimp on witches. What’s your name, handsome?
– Batu,» I said through parched vocal cords.
– What a powerful and capacious Mongolian name! Don’t go anywhere, Batu, – her eyes sparkled again, and her lips spread in a wandering smile. – We still have sex with you on the list,» she slightly turned the blade half a turn, speeding up the slaying. – Do you like this kind of death? It makes me wildly horny. And another thing. If you run, I’ll let Mitsu finish the interrupted procedure. You’re not gonna leave me, are you? You’re not? – The boy nodded faintly at first, then shook his head. – Smart, obedient boy.
The witch pulled the knife from the throat of the dead man and returned it to her boot. Then carefully removed the cigarette from under the dead Johan’s ear and moved it behind her own ear. Pressed the radio button on her chest.
– Tamura to the high witch. I’m in. There will be no need for an assault,» she said loudly.
– Eira’s on the line. Why didn’t you wait for us? – answered a ringing voice from the speaker of the walkie-talkie.
– I wanted to wait by the door. But it’s so beautiful here,» Tamura replied, smiling at her trophy. – Over fifty fanatics in the basement of the right wing. Aware of the raid. And, I have one executed.
– Caduceus? – The voice asked.
– Chin, mouth, nasal cavity, and brain. I’ve also got a boy in his 40s. Such a paw! – Tamura started making eyes at the guard who was frozen with horror at what was happening.
– Do you know why you’ll never be a high witch?
– I know. Because I’m sick in the head. But I don’t care. How’s Max?
– He’s close by, asleep, ready to kill. We’ll be there in three minutes.
– Tamura took Batou’s hand, «You’ve been through so much today. I have to execute you too, after all. You knew about the fanatics too, didn’t you? You knew, didn’t you?
The boy nodded.
– The girls are coming,» the witch continued, «and they won’t like it. And they’re both meaner than I am. Max is one of them. Don’t say a word. Don’t make any calls, don’t answer anyone. I’ll come and get you when this is over. Then I’ll take you back to my place. Come on! – Tamura slapped the guard lightly on the buttock and looked away. – I’ll go meet the girls,» Tamura whispered to herself.
She went outside, pulled a cigarette out from under her ear, lit it, took a deep drag and coughed. The spider instantly popped out of its boot onto the paving stones, turned around, and got into a fighting stance.
– Yes, I feel that cigarettes are crap! – smirked the witch and puffed even harder. The spider hissed. – Well, I don’t have another one, – answered the witch and puffed, this time, deeply. She held her breath and threw the cigarette butt toward the trash can. – That’s it, that’s it! Finished. Hop back on mommy. I promise I won’t shoot lousy cigarettes again.
Her monologue was interrupted by the sound of a bus pulling into the parking lot. A tall, short-haired, russet-haired woman in a lightweight Kevlar body armor over a light gray SWAT officer’s uniform stepped out of the bus. The butt of an assault rifle protruded from behind her back. She took a quick look around the building and snapped her fingers.
A few dozen fighters in black uniforms and helmets spilled out after her.
– First group – twenty meter perimeter zone! – she twirled her finger at the sky. – Target the windows! – commanded the female commander. – The second group – the roof, cover the first! The third group is behind me!
– Why aren’t you wearing a helmet? – Tamura asked. – Afraid Max won’t recognize me in a helmet? – and laughed through her cough.
– You were told not to come in! According to the intel, there’s a megachron of weapons in here. Enough barrels to arm a small army, and enough hydrozite to make a thirty-meter crater.
– So what? Are they gonna fight me? Or are they on a suicide mission? And besides, the guards let me in. What am I supposed to say to them, «I’ll wait outside for the SWAT team while you warn your people?» What if they’re armed? Besides, I had a vision!
– Galatea will be called Laurence? – the commander joked. – Have you had at least one come true? A vision, I mean.
– Don’t be sarcastic! – Tamura pouted her lips defiantly. – The spirits in my dream gave me a fiancé. I have to meet him today! By the way, where’s Ruta?
– She’s in the back of the bus, talking on the phone the whole way. She got herself a fiancé, by the way. What’s up? Tell me.
– I have a trophy boy,“ Tamura whispered, „Eira, I have a personal request: don’t put him in the report.
– We’ll discuss that later. Does he know his way around here?
– Of course! He’s a student of this very school. He knows everything here,» she took Eira’s hand and led her inside.
– Is it a boy? – Eira was surprised. – It’s a man in his mid-twenties!
– Come on. He didn’t do well in school, he’s had a couple of second years, so he looks a couple years older. Don’t twist my words.
– Show us where the grown men and women with crosses on their necks are hiding, boy, – said the commander. – Do they have a lot of guns? They don’t hurt you?
– We have a gym in the basement, – Batu began in a trembling voice, – come on, I’ll show you. They’re down there. Down the stairs.
They went down and came to the massive metal doors.
– This is a bunker from the war,» said a young thin albino girl who appeared from behind the commander. She wore a short blue dress and barefoot military boots, the kind we used to hide in. Four meters of titanium and lead alloy in case of a preemptive epicentric nuclear strike. The bunker’s locked from the inside, so we can’t get in. Completely self-contained, like a spaceship. If we had ventilation, we could send Max to reconnoiter.
– Ruta! Hello, white witch! – Tamura smiled, «Who were you talking to on the phone the whole trip?
– I’m in love! – replied the girl coquettishly.
– Holy shit! You’re Bluebeard!
– Noooo… This time everything is real, – whispered the girl. – The butterflies are tearing up my stomach. The blood is overflowing with hormones. And my heart – knock, knock. It made me want to write a poem.
– No way! About love? Read it.
– Listen. – Ruta looked up and began, «When the waters of Angara crack and the stars drink the gold from the sun. When the molten metal from the holster through the ribs of my heart touches…
– We have dozens of armed fanatics inside,“ Eira interrupted sharply, „the lead-titanium alloy and the power of prayer will hardly allow us to get inside. They will starve to death and become martyrs. And they’ll broadcast their deaths on their video feeds. And you know exactly where that will lead. So let’s stop talking. Let’s try cutting through the metal of the doors. Somebody get the torch from the bus.
A few minutes later, a laser cutter was rolled up to the bunker door. The team engineer removed the remote control from its mount, pressed a few buttons, and set the device in motion. A wide beam erupted from the nozzle, which immediately focused into a narrow beam. The jet of poisonous blue light immediately left a trace on the surface of the doors. The operator pushed the joystick with her finger, and the beam slowly slid down the metal, leaving a deep furrow that, to everyone’s amazement, immediately healed. The engineer glanced questioningly at Eira. The commander, silently, took the remote from the girl and increased the intensity of the radiation to maximum. The furrow grew a few centimeters deeper, but it tightened again.
– I’m wondering,“ Tamura whispered, „is it the alloy components doing tricks or the power of the fanatics’ prayers?
– Are there any other options? – The High Witch asked angrily.
– Is there video surveillance in the hall? – Tamura turned to the guard.
– No, they haven’t installed it yet,» Batu answered guiltily. – The school has no money.
– The bunker must have a warning system,“ Ruta said, „and it must not be switched off. Requirements for military facilities of the Third World. Am I right?
– There is one,» the boy confirmed. – There’s a microphone on the guard.
– What’s it going to do for us? – Tamura asked. – Shall we play Satanic music for them?
– I can try «whisper,» the white witch said.
– «Whispers? There are fifty religious fanatics, united by blind faith, willing to die as martyrs and completely devoid of fear. What are you going to whisper to them? Sim salabim ahalay mahalay?
– I’ll find the tone, the chilling rhymes, the stagnum, the right words, I’ll go whisper. I’m gonna write them a poem. I’ll start with the Far rune, play with the tonality. I’ll try to open the door from the inside. Out of 60, at least one weak one will be found. In the meantime, think of other options. Please do not engage without me. Stall for time and wait for me.
– She’s right,“ the commander said, „if she can open the door, turn off the lights. Let’s hope they don’t have thermal imaging. – Come on, witch, give the place a scare.
Chapter 2
– "…Do not be afraid of anything you have to endure. The devil will cast you from Wednesday into prison to tempt you, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful to me unto death, and I will give you the crown of Life…» – quoted Revelation from a gray-haired old man. He looked around at the people present, trying to look into everyone’s eyes. The children, surprisingly, seemed much calmer than many of their parents. The women’s eyes filled with tears. Many were hesitant, worried. We had to reassure everyone. – Outside, the devils of hell are waiting for us, armed to the teeth,» he continued. – They call themselves witches. And there is nothing alive in them for a long time. Their only purpose is to serve the devil. Do you know what the witches want to do to us? Most of the Companions will stay here, dying for their faith. The strongest will be tortured physically and mentally to make us renounce our faith. To show that our God is weak. That our God does not exist! That the crucifixion killed our God! That there was no crucifixion at all! – the priest tried to pause, emphasizing the deep sacredness of his sermon, as if it were the last one. – But these creatures will get nothing. The witches themselves will stand side by side with us at the judgment of God. And we will fight no more. We will wait ten days, as the revelation says. Ten days to strengthen our faith. Ten days so that none of us will have a drop of doubt in our faith. I know what constrains you. The devil’s most powerful tool, Satan’s staff, the third facet of Lucifer is fear of death. Fear of disappearing into the void, into nothingness. But did not Christ, our Lord, show us that there is no death? There is no death! – he whispered. – I will quote Paul, who was the enemy of Christians from the beginning: «But if He has not risen, your faith is vain: you are still in your sins. Therefore those who died in Christ are lost. And if we hope in Christ alone in this life, we are more miserable than all men.» Now Paul is the most honored of the apostles because he believed in spite of, not because of. And we will believe the same way. We will believe not in spite of the fear of judgment day, which is at hand. We will believe in spite of the fear of death. Because the Lord is with us! For ten days we will fast and pray. And the power of our faith will keep the walls around us from breaking down. What about the witches? – you may ask. Witches are powerless against this power. They can do nothing. Nothing! And when we ourselves open the doors and let the demons into our abode, we will open the gates of eternal life for us and Gehenna of fire for them! I will personally press the detonator button and give you the promised crown of life, the ticket to the Kingdom of God. We will all die for faith, and in faith we will live on! – The shepherd licked his parched lips. A sip of water would be good now. But the shepherd did not want to show weakness. – The Messiah is coming. He is already born and near. He is already stronger than all of us put together. And if Jesus Christ was born as the son of God and the earthly Virgin Mary by the Immaculate Conception, the new Messiah is a human being, just like each of us. In our image and likeness. And, this man is able to fulfill the prophecy of Revelation. Capable of becoming one with God and leading us to the long awaited Apocalypse. Then anyone and everyone, living and dead, will stand before the Creator. The righteous will receive according to their faith and become angels in Heaven, and sinners, demons and the devil himself will be defeated forever. Do you want to be part of God’s plan? – The old man closed his eyes, so that he could hear with satisfaction the agreement of all.
– We do! – The congregation replied in a near whisper.
– Do you want to stand with Jesus Christ?
The shouts of approval grew stronger.
– Do you want to touch God himself? – For convincing, he turned his eyes to the crowd and raised his hands to the icon of the Creator surrounded by seraphim.
The crowd erupted in a general cheer. An elderly, stocky man standing closest to the shepherd turned to the crowd and raised his palm upward. The people fell silent.
– What should we do, Lord? – he asked.
– Do not be afraid! – The shepherd paused again for a long time. – Do you know what is the special value of Revelation? God Himself speaks to us there! He speaks to us about our last days before judgment. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like toads: these are demonic spirits who do signs; they are coming out to the kings of the earth of the whole universe, to gather them for battle on this great day of God Almighty» The toads are waiting for us behind this door. Demon spirits in the form of fallen women. The witches of Coven! They have worshipped the beast that has found a new name for themselves, «Pride,» and the beast has given them strength and power. But they have no meaning in life! They have no faith! And they call our faith by the god-awful scientific term «stagnum.» The Phoenix, the harlot of Babylon on the red dragon, will turn to ashes. The ashes of our revelation. And we will become part of the revelation. Each of us, in our agony, strengthens each other’s faith. And together, through our deaths, we will strengthen the faith of the messiah.
– A loud hissing sounded in the air. – ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff, fffffffffffffffffffe, ffffffffffffffffffffffffffu, ffffffffffffffffffffffffu, fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffar!
It went on like this for a few more minutes until the hissing changed to a whisper.
– Unborn,» the child’s voice and the old woman’s wheeze echoed in unison right out of the walls.
– Uncrucified. – Suddenly it was unbearably cold.
– Unresurrected, – each pulling syllable penetrated the body.
– Unsanctified, – the witch continued to whisper into the public address system, – in the rotten womb… of a dead whore… teeth… worms… the crying of an old woman… the body of a maiden do not disturb yet… in the body of a maiden… a dead god…
It became unbearably frightening. The children clung to their mothers with all their might. And the adults’ faces twisted in horror.
– Dead God…in the roots of the tree…the leaves are black…the angels are drying… on the branches hangs my faith smraaaaaaad… faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Panic ensued. Some tried to put their hands over their ears. Others just yelled, hoping to drown out the witch’s whispers. One of those present pulled out a gun, and shot himself in the ear.
The voice didn’t stop. The room filled with screaming, which only added to the effectiveness of the whisper’s impact. People were going crazy in front of each other.