Finally, the forest ended with a clearing, which in turn turned into a small clearing. The outlines of a castle rose on the horizon . Light shone from two windows. The trees creaked ominously in the wind. The road through the clearing led to a high wrought-iron gate that locked a stone fence. When the car pulled up, the gate swung open noiselessly and closed behind her just as silently. After making a semicircle around the dark mass of a flower bed, the flowers of which were difficult to see in the dark, the car stopped in front of a high dark door, which immediately swung open. A tall, gray-haired man in a gray sweater stood in the doorway. Approaching him with a simple luggage, Boris shuddered: on both eyes of the man there were thorns that completely covered the pupils.Welcome to us, - he said in a hollow voice and smiled. His face instantly changed: he looked like a cunning dwarf. Pierre will take your things. A stocky man with a stiff expression stepped out o
The silence was broken by the melodious chime of a clock that stood somewhere in the darkness. The candles had long been extinguished, and only the light of the moon, softly pouring from the window, dispelled the darkness. The clock, having finished cooing, struck eleven.It's time to get up, - Katya said languidly, stretching under a light sheet. The shifted corner revealed Boris's contentedly resting nature.So you can’t see a damn thing, ”he muttered, sitting up on the bed.And what? - Katya jumped off easily and ran barefoot to the door. – Peter! she called. - Light!What are you? - Boris involuntarily covered his penis with a sheet and stared in amazement at Katya. - Cover up! But she did not pay attention to his words, impatiently tapping her bare foot at the door, while the impassive Pierre lit the candles in the room. He walked from one chandelier to another. It seemed that the darkness and twilight did not bother him at all. When he finished with th
Entering, he saw the hostess standing by the fireplace. In her hand was a frighteningly long mouthpiece, at the end of which a cigarette smoldered, spreading a sweet, intoxicating aroma.I don’t understand you, Boris,” she said. - Why was it necessary to hide and eavesdrop if you are a member of the family, and everything will be told to you anyway?However, about Agnia, you fooled me. Boris walked over to the fireplace and took a cigar from a box on the shelf. The flame of the candle danced merrily at the tip. The woman smiled as she puffed out a puff of smoke.You already think we're out of your mind. What if we told you the whole truth right away? You would run and call a psychiatrist here. We don't need more noise today. Boris thought and nodded in agreement.You were talking about guests. Will there be someone else? The woman stepped away from the fireplace and, taking a cigarette out of the holder, put it out in an ashtray on the table.I received a
The room they arrived at was huge, dark, lit only by candles and torches. Through the high window openings one could see the starry sky and the full moon. A circle was drawn in the middle of the room, in which a pentagram was inscribed. There was an inscription in Latin around the circle, black candles burned at the corners of the pentagram. A cross was inscribed inside the pentagram. A smaller part of him was looking at the door. In the place where the planks of the cross met, there was a bowl. Along the walls of the round room were couches with pillows and bedspreads, which could be guessed from the outlines, since most of the room was in the shade. Bertrand de Gault came out of the darkness with a tarred torch.“Here you are,” he said, and lit a torch from a nearby candle. Sweetish smoke drifted across the room. Bertrand waved his hand. Pierre put a three-legged stool over the cup in a pentagram and led Boris to it. Boris, who had already begun to have its effect on the smoke,
Well, - Guillaume clapped his hands and rubbed his hands. – Would you like to have a bite to eat? A simple question reminded Katya of a monstrous feast, and nausea rose in her throat.No, no, she shook her head. - Do not worry.Then coffee. Suddenly, quickly, the little man rode up in his chair to the corner where he had a kitchen. It really was a miniature kitchen with a refrigerator, electric stove, microwave and dishwasher. A switch flipped, and a soft, muted light lit up the corner. Everything was sparkling clean and tidy. Jars of coffee, a sugar bowl, a teapot, a salt shaker and other little things were at arm's length. Katya watched in amazement as Guillaume deftly managed all the objects, moving his chair along the way.Yes, in this sense I am not disabled, - he said without looking at her. I have been living with a chair for a long time. It is my legs, and it would be surprising if I had not learned to manage it for so many years. He pointed Katya to
Guillaume looked attentively at Katya, sighed and opened his mouth to continue the story. Suddenly he became alert. Katya also had an unpleasant feeling. For a while, an uneasy silence surrounded and weighed on them. Then there was a thump of feet, and the door swung open. Katerina stood in the doorway, alarmed.Catherine,” Guillaume turned to her. “I feel the presence of a member of our family. Who is this? Katerina suppressed her surprise and spoke quickly.Some woman came and brought the police. She screamed that her friend had gone mad here and she was being locked up like a beast. That people are being killed and eaten here. She brought her hands up to her face. “And worst of all, the commissar who came with her is a distant descendant of ours. Guillaume looked at Katya with a smile. Then he turned to Katherine.But is it possible to influence him?Bertrand finds out just that,” Catherine said calmly.And what is the name of a friend, she did not say? Katya ask
During the same week, Katya tried to leave the castle , worrying about Agnia. She was also made nervous by the ever-increasing number of relatives gathering in the castle . And also the strange behavior of golems, wearing something all the time, dragging and repairing. What caused such a pilgrimage of relatives to her, no one could clearly say. However, the sane, interrogated by her, fell into some kind of inhibited state and insisted that they should be here. By the end of the second week, Katya became more and more worried. Moreover, Guillaume became somehow apathetic and clearly tried to avoid her. And Katerina just stopped noticing her. Discouraged Katya tried to act herself. But then her clothes suddenly turned out to be dirty or washed, then the keys to the car or passport disappeared somewhere, then it rained from morning to evening, turning the roads into impassable obstacles, then the candles in the car flooded, then gasoline disappeared somewhere, then she herself ha
After a while, when there was no place for the apple to fall in the hall, the door slammed shut with a loud noise. Katya looked doomedly from one face to another: so different and so the same. Bodily deformities and mental pathologies, the gifts of the psyche and the curses of the soul - all this must soon be destroyed. All this will die and not be reborn. The poems written by a novice boy centuries ago were just poetry. And no prophecy. And now some fanatic decided in his own way to fulfill what he considered a prediction. All of a sudden, all heads went up to the glass ceiling. Katya also heard a sound and raised her head. High above her in white robes and a white mask on his face stood a man.Dear relatives! Suddenly, a voice sounded in her head. “Today, the prophecy of the old monk who was killed right on this spot will be fulfilled. Many years ago, the abbot Gilbert Orsi was crucified by our ancestor and, dying, predicted his punishment up to the thirteenth degree. Only