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THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 9
Another nightmare hit like a suffocating wave. Another escape, another whisper that calls his name, trapped again. However, this is not the case now. This time, Alex knows that the Oni are after him , that after Zoey's death, he is next and there is nowhere to run. He is in a trap. There is no way out of the city. There is no way out of nightmares. There is no escape from Them."When the Dark finds you. You will meet Us alone!” - this time he feels their words, as if burned somewhere inside, on the subcortex. He tries to run faster, but how to run from Them if even his mind cannot find the answer to the question “what did I see?”The whisper drives him like an animal into a trap, and envelops him with paralyzing horror. Getting close. Soon…Alex, wake up! An icy hand shakes his shoulder, the other covers his mouth.Brantford area. Night. Fog spreads along the roads. It lies across the road. Nearby, on his knees, Fox tries to push him.- Come on, get up, quick! the girl hissed. “We sti
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 10
- What fight? We have lost all our battles! the girl snorted. - After they appeared on our way , our life ended. Now you can choose: either the fate of being devoured by the monsters of the city, or wait for the Oni to get to you and repeat the fate of Zoe, but you can also let it all go and live the happy life of the librarian Thomas. It doesn’t pull too much for a happy ending, but it’s quite tolerable! Better than my current life, and I just wasn't given a choice!Alex wanted to apologize and promise that when he returned to the library, he would do everything as Fox said, but did not say anything. I didn't want to lie to my friend. Even realizing that he was going against common sense, he simply could not force himself to give up. Zoey was in front of her eyes, and anger bubbled in her soul. I wanted justice, I wanted retribution, but most of all I wanted to return everything back, so that there would be no nightmares, incomprehensible demons, mysterious cities. Only their crazy F
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 11
He decided to find a childhood friend, and at least incognito, but have time to tell him a couple of warm words. The movie theater was close to the border between the city center and the park area that separates it from the area where, according to Lis, they make the most delicious cupcakes. Despite the relative distance, he reached the cinema in less than an hour. The location of the cinema far from the main streets gave hope that Charlie would never even accidentally see the Circus Troupe and would not be at the mercy of the Man in the Mask. Finding a best friend turned out to be a difficult task, since it was too dangerous to openly ask everyone you met about him. And the assistant projectionist himself was in no hurry to show himself to all the visitors of the cinema. “A very important worker, but so inconspicuous!” Alex sighed as he walked past the doors marked "Staff Only" in the hope that luck would smile on him and for some reason a friend would show up in the common hallway.
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 12
His right hand began to tremble, a wave of numbness, already familiar in recent days, went through his fingers. They are close, and this time it will be in earnest. But something happened in the cave. Previously silent, it was filled with an incomprehensible echo, devoid of a source. It was something between the rumble, whisper and creak of shells rubbing against each other in the surf. Their approach was impossible to confuse with anything. The wave of animal horror completely paralyzed the body, making it impossible to run or call for help. His right arm was twisted with a spasm and tightly nailed to his chest. The legs stopped holding the body, which already seemed to have partially stiffened in advance, and Alex fell to his knees. They were getting closer. Slowly, as if stretching out the moment of his triumph, while the uncomplaining victim marinated in his own fear. A little closer, and Alex's thoughts fled cowardly, leaving only a sticky panicky fog in his head, in which he sa
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 13
I remember our family calling us the "Mad Four". I remember our serene days. Yes, we did not create anything reasonable, good or eternal, but, on the other hand, we never harmed anyone. Every day in this Cursed City, I ask myself: what terrible thing have we done to deserve such a punishment? Is naivety so severely punished now? Or are we just unlucky? Wrong time, wrong place?At first I felt how They were sneaking somewhere invisibly, approaching my mind from within. How they test us for strength, study them, in order to then poison us with fear, enjoying its taste in our minds. I thought it was the worst.Later, I saw the dead face of my best friend lying on the stones of Istanbul. It was imprinted in my memory like a red-hot brand. It felt like part of my heart had been torn out of my chest. I was sure that I would not experience more grief.Already in the City itself, Ghoul's five razor-sharp claws ripped open my right side, only miraculously not touching the internal organs. Blee
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 14
Incredibly tall, broad-shouldered, eclipsing the horizon, the road to salvation in the Shop and even part of the thought process for his own salvation with his mysterious figure in dark Victorian clothes. A white mask with red and black patterns turned the Man into a living statue, raising doubts about his "humanity". Only a mane of real light blond hair, majestically lying on his shoulders, hot living hands and burning through gray-blue barite eyes that even the Mask could not hide, forced to believe that the Man was alive.Frozen in place, the Fox could only look at the Director of the Circus with a frightened doe, while the crowd of people and circus performers, not noticing anything, walked past them, willy-nilly forcing them to move towards the Circus. Time seemed to stand still, and only a light night breeze cooled cheeks wet with tears, sobering and reminding of the need to do at least something.“If I stay so meekly standing, he will take me to his Circus, put a mask on my fac
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 15
She smiled approvingly and, during breakfast, briefly introduced me to the products of the shop, promising that evening tea would correct all misunderstandings, and the old life would become a terrible dream on the way to a new carefree life. I was too crushed by the troubles that fell on our heads, I barely felt alive, I did not have the strength to doubt the words of a kind woman. I nodded and believed that everything would be as she says.The day passed quietly. Later I noted that all Saturdays are calm. People come for the usual teas, ointments and creams. There are not very many clients, there is time to relax, and from lunch until almost the evening - to take a calm nap.Claudia rushed to the closing, disheveled and angry, like an owl on the hunt. The sight of her added a few more coins to my panic bank, but she quickly regained her composure, smiling sweetly and patting my cheek as if I were her great-niece, and announced:“I’ll make tea for you, it will be stronger and taste c
THE MYSTERY CITY CHAPTER 16
The first night passed without dreams, but the morning did not bring the desired oblivion: I continued to remember everything, Claudia continued to tear her hair out. The first blue flask fell into my hands. The first of many. Drives them away from me, dulls emotions. Less tears, more rational approach to the problem.On the second day, I found Alex, found out that his new name was Thomas, got a reader card in the library under the name Hope, and took the volume of Lewis Carroll with me. As the day wore on, I managed to explore the city center and, so that Claudia would not see, I walked almost to the very Circus Tents. In daylight, the Circus did not seem infernal or satanic. Ordinary tents.Third morning. Still me. Claudia offered to replace her at the Lavka for a day's pay, and she would select the right composition of tea for me. From hopelessness and lack of alternatives, I agreed. At breakfast, I listened attentively to the tea course of the young soldier. During the day, the Te