The Castrator by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (short books for teens txt) 📕

HAD NO INTENTION OF EVEN ATTENDING, BUT YOU WON THAT RABBIT - YOU COULD TELL THAT DUREITH HAD SOMETHING SPECIFIC IN MIND.

GUS HAD QUITE GENTLEMANLY OFFERED TO BUY HIM A BEER TO CEMENT SOME FORM OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN THEM.

- LOOK, I MAY HAVE BEEN PART OF THE BIGGEST ROCKER GANG IN THE STATES[1], BUT I CAN AT LEAST TRUST MY EYES AND WHAT YOU DID TO WIN THAT DAMN ANIMAL WAS COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE. YOU PREDICTED THE OUTCOME IN A WAY THAT...

GUS REALIZED HE WASN'T GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH THE USUAL DODGEBALL, BUT HE DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY COMPLETELY OPEN CARDS EITHER.

- "IS THERE ANYONE WITH YOU?," HE ASKED EVASIVELY, THOUGH IT WAS PROBABLY ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE OTHERS ARRIVED, OR PERHAPS WERE LURKING ABOUT.

- "TELL ME, MATE," DURAITH BEGAN RATHER POLITELY, "CAN'T WE WORK SOMETHING OUT AND BE INCLUDED IN THIS SCHEME. I DON'T MIND LOSING NEARLY FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS BECAUSE OF YOU. I'LL TREAT IT AS AN INITIAL INVESTMENT IN ..."

- "IN?," HE MADE A FACE, BUT HIS MIND WAS WORKING FASTER THAN EVER, AND HE FELT THAT HE MIGHT BE IN FOR A LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE.

- "IN THIS," THE ROCKER TRIED TO DESCRIBE IT, BUT COULDN'T FIND THE WORDS TO EXPRESS HIS THOUGHTS.

- "DO YOU WANT TO HAVE THESE POWERS OR JUST MAKE MONEY?," GASPED GUS.

HERE DUREITH WAS PUZZLED. THE HELL'S ANGELS WERE NOT ONLY THE BIGGEST GANG - THEY WERE ALSO A BAND OF OUTLAWS LIVING ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY - AND IN MANY COUNTRIES THEY WERE OUTLAWED.

- "I SAW YOU DO THAT TRICK," STAMMERED DUREITH. "TELL ME, HOW DID IT HAPPEN? MAYBE IT WAS SOME KIND OF MAGIC TRICK OR MAYBE IT WAS A TRICK?," GUS LOOKED AT HIM INTENTLY. HE WAS ARMED, BUT NOT WITH A SMITH & WESSON, BUT WITH A BERETTA ARMY PISTOL THAT COULD HAVE PUT THAT COCKY DULLARD ON THE SPOT. BUT THIS WASN'T THE PLACE TO USE FORCE. BTW, HE WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBCULTURE OF ROCKER GANGS - ESPECIALLY THIS ONE, SINCE MUCH SMALLER GROUPS HAD TO REPORT TO IT, AND THAT IN TURN GAVE RISE TO OBLIGATORY CONFLICTS.

BUT IT SEEMS DWIGHT WAS A LOT SMARTER THAN ANY AVERAGE ROCKER:

- LOOK, I DON'T WANT TO CAUSE TROUBLE. NOT EVEN FOR MY FOUR HUNDRED BUCKS. CAN'T I JOIN YOU? I'M NOT PART OF THAT GANG ANYMORE.

GUS CONTINUED TO STARE AT HIM INTENTLY - OBVIOUSLY EXPECTING TO HEAR SOMETHING ELSE.

- "LISTEN, MAN," HE SAID, JUST A LITTLE SOFTER, "YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SPEND ALL THAT TIME IN A FEDERAL PRISON - IN AN ISOLATION CELL BETWEEN FOUR WALLS WHERE YOU CAN HEAR NOTHING BUT YOUR OWN BREATHING. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE NOT TO BE ABLE TO FIND A PLACE FOR YOURSELF ALL OVER THE GODDAMN STATES? AND YOU END UP EXPECTING TO WIN A BUCK IN A COUNTRY RACE..."

- "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT," GASPED THE GUY, "YOU'RE FROM ADX IN THE STATE OF COLORADO? THIS "ALCATRAZ OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS" AIN'T A NICE PLACE, EH? THERE'S NO OTHER WAY OUT THEN, IS THERE? EXCEPT ..."

DURAITH'S HAIR BRISTLED. HIS ROCKER BRAID AND DECORATIVE PLATINUM EARRING DEFINITELY ADDED COLOR TO HIS CHARACTER, BUT BENEATH HIS BAND HE WAS SWEATING.

- HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS? AND ...

- "LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING, BUDDY. WHO DO YOU THINK HELPED YOU GET OUT OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, WHERE THEY SOMETIMES SEND THEM DIRECTLY YOU KNOW WHERE?," MUTTERED GUS QUIETLY.

AS ROASTED AS HE WAS, THE ROCKER REALISED THAT HE WAS NO ORDINARY MAN STANDING OPPOSITE HIM.

GUS BENZOUR'S SAD BLUE EYES CAST LIGHTNING, BUT THEY WERE GENTLE AND CALM.

DURAITH WOULD HAVE SWALLOWED HIS TONGUE BEHIND HIS TEETH.

- "DID YOU DRAG ME INTO THE GANG TOO?," HE SAID IN AN INHUMAN VOICE.

GUS NODDED AFFIRMATIVELY.

- "BUT WHY? APPARENTLY YOU NEEDED ME? I'M OBVIOUSLY PART OF SOME SCHEME OF YOURS? TELL ME! SPEAK!," HE UTTERED, ALMOST BESIDE HIMSELF.

HE HAD THE FEELING THAT HIS EYES WERE GLAZING OVER AND THAT HE WAS GOING TO COLLAPSE TO THE GROUND, WHERE HE WOULD NEVER GET UP AGAIN.

- "SEE, COWBOY, YOU'RE IN THE SACRED LAND OF THE SPIRITS," GASPED GUS, "AND THEY'VE BEEN HERE LONG BEFORE YOU AND I BOTH SHOWED UP. DRAW HUMILITY AND YOU MAY GET THE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS."

DURAITH NEEDED NO FURTHER PERSUASION - HE WONDERED IF HE'D ATTACK GUS, BUT HIS BLUE EYES MADE HIM UNCOMFORTABLE - HE HADN'T SEEN THE LIKE. SOME SIMPLE FARMER - EVEN IF HE WAS GOOD AT HIS JOB - TO HOLD HIS TONGUE LIKE THAT DESERVED TO HAVE HIM DRAGGED ALL THE WAY TO COLORADO ON HIS BIKE, AND WHY NOT CASTRATE HIM AFTER HE COLDLY BLEW HIS BRAINS OUT WITH HIS MAVERICK PUMP SHOTGUN THAT HUNG HOOKED IN A SPECIAL LEATHER CASE ON THE SIDE OF HIS BIKE, AND THEN GOUGED OUT HIS EYES WITH HIS HUNTING KNIFE, ENJOYING THE POWER LAWLESSNESS GAVE HIM.

WITNESSES TO THE LESS THAN PRETTY SCENE HAD GATHERED AROUND, BUT DURAITH HAD TO ADMIT HE SENSED SOMETHING HE COULDN'T EXPLAIN. IT WAS AS IF AN INVISIBLE HAND OR CREATURE - FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN ANYTHING HIS IMAGINATION COULD HAVE SPAWNED - COULD GRAB HIM AT ANY MOMENT AND THAT WOULD BE THE END OF HIM.

- "IT WAS A PITY THAT WHILE HE WAS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT HE DID NOT UTTER A WORD OF PRAYER. DID NOT ASK FOR FORGIVENESS," GUS CONTINUED QUIETLY, "PERHAPS YOUR VOICE WOULD HAVE BEEN HEARD. THE THICK METAL DOORS STOPPED EVERY SOUND - SO YOU COULD BE ALONE WITH YOURSELF AND ADMIT THE TRUTH YOU WERE TRYING TO ESCAPE AND TURN YOUR HEAD AWAY FROM."

DURAITH HAD SPENT ENOUGH TIME IN ROCK GANGS AS A WAY TO SURVIVE, KNOWING THAT SOONER OR LATER HE WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR HIS SINS - THE LEADERS OF SUCH GROUPS SOMETIMES DIDN'T LIVE LONG AND THE WHOLE GROUP INDULGED IN VIOLENCE AND LOOTING, SOWING DISORDER IN THEIR PATH.

SOMETIMES THERE WERE MASS SHOOTINGS BETWEEN GANG MEMBERS - AND THE POLICE COULDN'T EVEN ISSUE CONVICTIONS.

DURAITH WASN'T ALONE - OH, NO, BUT THE OTHER GANG MEMBERS WERE A BIT MORE BEHIND AND HAD EVEN BUILT A CONVENIENT COVER. THEY WERE EXPECTED TO BURST IN AT A GIVEN SIGN AND THE ACTION WOULD BEGIN. ONLY, DURAITH GAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SIGN.

MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THE ROCKERS AS KIND OF DUMB THUGS, BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE THEY NOTICED THE IRON MONOPOLY RULES ENFORCED BY THE GANG MEMBERS - SOME OF THEM RAN BUILT A REAL MONEY MACHINE.

WHEN DURAITH HAD JOINED THE HELL'S ANGELS GANG, SOME SAID IT WAS IN A PERIOD OF DECLINE. HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE JOINED THE SONS OF SILENCE, WHO WERE FAMOUS FOR THEIR HUGE STOCKPILES OF WEAPONS, WITH WHICH THEY STRUCK FEAR FAR AND WIDE, BUT THE REASON HE WENT TO THE HELL'S ANGELS WAS SIMPLE - NO ONE ASKED HIM WHERE HE WAS FROM.

ONLY THAT LEFT ONE QUESTION OPEN? HOW THE HELL HAD GUS BENZOUR GOT HIM OUT OF THAT HELL IN ADX?

THE FEDERAL PENITENTIARY IN COLORADO HAD A REPUTATION FOR BEING THE HIGHEST SECURITY IN THE U.S. IN A PRISON OF THAT RANK, THE SO-CALLED ADMINISTRATIVE MAXIMUM WAS IN EFFECT - IN SIMPLE TERMS, THE WAY OUT WAS USUALLY TO THE GRAVE OR TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION. BUT THERE WERE PRECEDENTS - IN CASES OF SIGNIFICANT COOPERATION WITH THE AUTHORITIES.

- BETWEEN THE FACT THAT THIS PRISON WAS BUILT FOR PRISONERS WHO WERE UNABLE TO ADAPT IN OTHER PRISONS. 'NO ONE HAS EVER ESCAPED FROM ADX.' MURMURED GUS BENZOUR QUIETLY. 'NO ONE! ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU STAYED FOR A WHILE IN THE ULTRA-SECURE AND ISOLATED "SQUAD 13" WING. YOU WERE UNDER SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES AS YOU WERE ONE OF THE DANGEROUS SPECIAL STATUS PRISONERS. SOME LOST THEIR MINDS, OTHERS COMMITTED SUICIDE, AND SOME, IN A STATE OF INDESCRIBABLE TERROR AND SUFFERING, CLIMBED THE WALLS. SOME EVEN HEARD THE VOICES OF THEIR INNER DEMONS. YOU MANAGED TO PROTECT YOURSELF SOMEHOW. BUT WAS IT AN ACCIDENT?

- "ARE YOU SAYING THAT EVERY DETAIL OF OUR ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON WAS PLANNED BY YOU?," ASKED A COMPLETELY DISBELIEVING DWIGHT.

- IT DIDN'T HAPPEN WITHOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT AND PERSONAL DESIRE. IN YOUR SOUL YOU WANTED TO BREAK OUT - LIKE A CAGED TIGER, AND THAT UNLOCKS SPECIAL POWERS AND ENERGIES. MOST PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE IN SUCH NONSENSE, BUT THE IMPASSE MADE YOU CLING TO ANYTHING THAT COULD HELP YOU. THEN THE GUARDS STARTED LOOKING AT YOU WITH DIFFERENT EYES AND YOU GOT A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE. YOUR GOOD BEHAVIOUR ALLOWED YOU TO BE MOVED TO WINGS WITH LESS SUPERVISION, AND YOU WERE SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER PRISON TO BE

- "BUT HOW DID I SHED MY SKIN?," ASKED DUREITH IN A SHAKY VOICE.

GUS BENZOUR LAUGHED WITH A SMALL BUT FRIGHTENING SMILE:

- WELL, REALLY, DID YOU WANT TO KILL US?

PERHAPS DURAITH WOULD HAVE EATEN HIM ALIVE, BUT UPON REFLECTION, HE REALIZED THAT THE COINCIDENCE WAS SO UNUSUAL AS TO BE NATURAL.

- "SO I OWE YOU MY LIFE?," HE TRIED TO CLARIFY THE SITUATION.

- NOT EXACTLY. BUT YET HERE YOU ARE ... AND YOU SEE THE LIGHT THAT MANY MAY NEVER SEE AGAIN. AND THAT'S SOMETHING - AND NOT AN UNIMPORTANT THING. THE ROCKER GROUP PROVIDED YOU WITH COVER AND GAVE YOU AN OUTLET FOR YOUR TALENT - TO SOW TERROR.

- "BUT HOW DID I GET OUT?," WONDERED DURAITH, "HOW WAS MY TRANSFER ARRANGED?

GUS LIT A CIGARETTE - AND THIS GESTURE FINALLY CONFUSED DURAITH. THE SMOKE DRIFTED THROUGH THE AIR WITH AN ALMOST MAGICAL MOTION.

- "THERE'S THE ANSWER," WHISPERED DUREITH, "SO IT REALLY..."

THE ROCKERS, WHO WERE STANDING IN AMBUSH, DID NOT INTEND TO WAIT TOO LONG, FOR THEY HAD A HUNCH THAT THEY MIGHT FIND SOMETHING IN THE VICINITY - IF NOT MONEY, AT LEAST SOME NICE CLOTHES, VALUABLES AND SO ON, WHICH THE LOOTERS COULD EASILY TURN INTO MONEY AGAIN.  INCIDENTALLY, SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING INDIAN ARTIFACTS COULD BE WORTH PLENTY, TOO, AND THE BANDITS WEREN'T PICKING UP QUITE AS MUCH.

BUT ONE OF THE GANG LEADERS HAD GUESSED THAT MAYBE THE REAL KICKER WOULD BE THE TURNOVER OF THE CASINO AND SURROUNDING FACILITIES. THE OTHER MEMBERS WERE IN A WILD BARBARIC RAPTURE - LIKE A PACK OF JACKALS AWAITING THEIR FEAST. INDIAN CASINOS WERE A VERITABLE GOLD MINE FOR THOSE LOOTERS WHO CRAVED TO GET REAL LOOT WITH ALMOST MINIMAL EFFORT - WELL, SURE, THERE WOULD BE A SHOOTOUT, BUT SO WHAT?

GUS BENZOUR, HOWEVER, MADE THE SIGN OF A DURAITH:

- TELL YOUR HIDDEN BUDDIES THAT IF THEY PUSH THE CASINO AND EVEN ONE HAIR FALLS OFF THE LOCALS HEAD - THEY WON'T GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE. AND REMEMBER - YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN PATH... WHAT DO YOU DECIDE?

THE ROCKER WAS DOUBTING HIMSELF - THIS WAS NO JOKE AND HE HAD TO GIVE A QUICK SIGNAL TO HIS OWN. THERE WAS NO AVOIDING THE CONFLICT WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GANG, WHO WERE EXPECTING TO CARRY OUT A SERIOUS ROBBERY AND ENJOY THE VIOLENCE AGAINST THE LOCALS. AND BENZOUR'S BLUE EYES WERE BURNING HIM...

HE FINALLY GAVE IN:

- "BUT IF I DON'T GIVE THEM SOMETHING, THEY'LL KILL ME," DURAITH REPLIED GRIMLY.

- DON'T BOTHER. THE FORCES I SERVE AND REPRESENT WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU, AND SO WILL YOUR FRIENDS. BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW THE RULES.

NOW IT REALLY DAWNED ON DURAITH.

AT THE GIVEN SIGNAL THE ROCKERS BEGAN TO RETREAT THOUGH THEIR SAVAGE INSTINCTS MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THEM TO RETURN AND SCORCH THE PLACE A LITTLE LATER. SOME TIME PASSED. BUT THEY DIDN'T. THEY HAD A REAL DESIRE TO COMPREHEND THAT SOME UNSEEN FORCE, WAS LOOMING OVER THEM.

WILLIE ELLAR WAS THE SECOND LEADER OF THE GANG, AND WAS NOT AT ALL PLEASED THAT THEY HAD MISSED SUCH A CHANCE. BUT HE WAS ALSO AWARE THAT DWIGHT WASN'T GOING TO GIVE THEM THE SIGNAL JUST LIKE THAT.

MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST SHOT THAT PARTICULAR FARMER WHO WAS SWEET-TALKING DURAITH.

EACH OF THE ROCKERS HAD A PISTOL, AND MOST HAD MAVERICK PUMP-ACTION SHOTGUNS. THEY COULD HAVE EASILY WRECKED THAT PLACE BEFORE THE STATE POLICE GOT AROUND TO INVESTIGATING