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

FELISTER WAS CONSULTED BY A VARIETY OF SUPERNATURAL CREATURES , WHO HELPED HIM SOLVE HIS OWN PROBLEMS, AND HE WAS THEIR LINK TO THIS WORLD! HE COULD TRAVEL BETWEEN WORLDS TOO! OF COURSE IT WAS A RATHER EXHAUSTING OCCUPATION, AND FOR THAT VERY REASON, AND THE FACT THAT HE WAS DEALING WITH SOME OF THE MOST BRUTAL THUGS AND REPEAT OFFENDERS, HE WAS ALWAYS GRIM - WITH THAT PARTICULAR NOTE OF EXTREMELY CLEVERLY DISGUISED TREACHERY AND BRUTALITY THAT COULD BE THE ONLY DRIVING FORCE FOR A PLACE LIKE THIS. AND FRANKLY EVERYTHING WAS GOING GREAT FOR A WHILE AT LEAST!

ONCE THE GREEDY AND BRUTAL FELISTER ASKED ME:

- ELIZANDER, YOU'VE BEEN WORKING THE LONGEST OF ANYONE HERE. WHAT REALLY MOTIVATES YOU TO GO ON AND ACHIEVE YOUR DREAM? I NOTICE YOU ARE TOO LOYAL AND CONSCIENTIOUS, BUT THIS JOB STINKS, DAMN IT! EVEN THE LOWLIEST BASTARDS FROM TEXAS DON'T WANT TO DO IT AND SOMETIMES I HAVE A REAL PROBLEM FINDING PEOPLE. SOON THE RULES OF THE GAME WILL CHANGE AND THEN WE WILL BE OUT OF A JOB AND HONESTLY I DON'T WANT TO LECTURE YOU BUT IF YOU LOOK AROUND OUR STATE IS NOT THE MOST PROMISING. WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

HIS QUESTION WAS NOT AT ALL UNREASONABLE. MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON FELISTER HAD NO EDUCATION AND WISHED TO STAY HERE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE - HIDDEN FROM SOCIETY AND ITS PREJUDICES. ONE PARTICULARLY FRACTIOUS EXAMPLE WAS AN EX-CONVICT FROM A FEDERAL PRISON IN CALIFORNIA WHO PREFERRED HIDING HERE, ILLEGALLY EMPLOYED, TO SERVING HIS LIFE SENTENCE.

- FEW CAN DO THIS JOB LIKE YOU, ELIZANDER - FELISTER WAS CLEARLY TRYING TO POUR HIS SOUL OUT, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND LET'S BE REALISTIC. - THE MORE WE TRY TO ESCAPE OURSELVES, THE MORE WE GET STUCK IN OUR OWN SHIT. HELL IS AN EMOTIONAL STATE OF THE SOUL AND YOU KNOW IT NO WORSE THAN I DO! AND THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE MAJOR DRUG CARTELS IS GETTING FIERCER AND SOON WE WILL BE THE TARGET. FOR NOW WE ARE LEFT TO EXIST PEACEFULLY AND WITHOUT MUCH PREJUDICE, BUT WHO KNOWS?

- LOOK, FELISTER, I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO KEEP YOUR SOUL PURE, AND IT ALL COMES AT A PRICE. WE MAKE A LOT OF MONEY, BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT WE FORGET WHAT WE'RE DOING. AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IS EXTREMELY WRONG AND DANGEROUS! AND SOON THE AUTHORITIES AND GONNA START SNIFFING AT ALMOST ALL THE FARMS WE USE FOR COVER, BUT I'LL STILL STICK WITH YOU TO THE END, BUDDY! AFTER ALL, EVERYONE HAS TO PAY THEIR DEBTS IN LIFE, RIGHT?

IF THERE WAS ANYONE WHO WOULD HAVE LOOKED OUT FOR ME ALL THIS TIME, IT WAS THE CRAZY BREEDER.

- "WHY?," THE FELISTER LOOKED AT ME IN AMAZEMENT, 'ISN'T THE FACT THAT YOU COULD TAKE A BULLET IN THE HEAD REPEATEDLY FROM THE REST OF YOUR COLLEAGUES ENOUGH FOR YOU? AND ARE YOU AT ALL AWARE THAT EVEN PRISONERS WITH THREE LIFE SENTENCES WORK FOR US NOW - THEY ALL KNOW THAT EVERY DAY COULD BE THEIR LAST, BUT THEY DO IT FOR THE SPORT. THAT IS THEIR DESTINY.

FELISTER TOOK OUT A CIGARETTE AND LIT IT. IT WAS A SULTRY MAY EVENING. THERE WERE SO MANY STRANGE NOISES OUTSIDE, COMING FROM THE GRASS, WHICH MIGHT EVEN HAVE BEEN HIDDEN AGENTS, OR SOME WILD ANIMAL, FOR IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR SUCH TO HANG ABOUT THE FARM. BUT FELISTER DIDN'T SEEM TO CARE AT ALL. ON THE CONTRARY, HE TOLD ME UNEQUIVOCALLY:

- WHEN YOU SHOW YOUR TRUE FACE AND PEOPLE SEE IT, YOU SHOULD RUN AWAY AND NOT EXPECT THANKS! REMEMBER ONE THING - WE ARE ONLY TEMPORARY VISITORS AND NOTHING MORE! SO IF IT GETS HAIRY YOU'LL HAVE TO SAVE YOUR OWN ASS! AND FORGET THAT SHIT ABOUT LOYALTY YOU TOLD ME LAST NIGHT!

I BIT MY LIP - HE WAS RIGHT.

AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS WE REALLY CAME UNDER SIEGE AND BRUTAL ATTACK BY DETECTIVE JAKE DONOVAN'S MEN WHO WERE DETERMINED TO WIPE US OUT. IT WASN'T EASY OR ELEMENTARY TO DEAL WITH HIS TRAINED COPS AND BRUTAL THUGS. MANY OF MY FRIENDS WERE KILLED, AND I RAN AWAY TO SAVE MY HUMBLE HIDE AND NOT FALL SHOT LIKE A DOG. HOW ONLY DID THOSE TRAINED CREEPS SHOOT! THEIR BULLETS MADE THE FARM OF A FELISTER A SIEVE.

FELISTER FELL SOMEWHERE WHEN THE FARM WAS STORMED WITH GRENADE LAUNCHERS BY THE POLICE FORCE, WHO HAD GIVEN THEIR WORD TO WIPE OUT THESE MALIGNANT ENTITIES, AS THEY CALLED US, ONCE AND FOR ALL.

WELL, I CAN'T DENY THAT THE DETECTIVE MANAGED TO DEAL WITH US IN IMPRESSIVE FASHION.

THE MISSOURI POLICE GAVE HIM IMPRESSIVE DECORATIONS TO HIS NAME AND GOT HIM A HUGE AND LUCRATIVE PROMOTION. EVEN MR. DONOVAN HAD A MEETING WITH THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE WHERE HE WAS HINTED AT A FRUITFUL POLITICAL CAREER UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND ONLY IF HE LISTENED TO THE POWERFUL OF THE DAY.

DONOVAN WAS NO FOOL AND GAVE SWEETLY AND DEARLY TO BE NOTICED AND THAT IS WHY HE DEFINITELY SUCCEEDED.

THE ONLY POSITIVE THING WAS THAT THE HEADHUNTERS HAD SET HIM A LITTLE CHALLENGE, NAMELY IN GETTING OFF THE FARM A LANDMINE HAD BLOWN OFF BOTH HIS LEGS AND HE HAD TO HAVE PROSTHESES FITTED. EVEN FROM THE GRAVE FELISTER COULD REPAY HIS ENEMIES PROPERLY.

I MAY HAVE NEGLECTED TO MENTION THAT, ALONG WITH CASTRATING PIGS AND WORKING FOR THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL, FELISTER DABBLED IN MAGIC AND THE OCCULT, AND ALSO IN PURE WITCHCRAFT - HE WAS A CROTCHETY AND BRUTAL BASTARD, AS IF HE HAD STEPPED OUT OF HELL. THAT'S WHY WE LIKED EACH OTHER IN OUR LIFETIMES.

HE COULD SUMMON THROUGH DIVINATION ALL SORTS OF MONSTERS AND SPIRITS WHO GAVE HIM SUPERNATURAL PROTECTION, OR SO HE THOUGHT BEFORE HE WAS SENT TO THE OTHER WORLD.

CHAPTER TWO: SALVATION

AFTER THE DETECTIVE'S OPERATION, THE SURVIVORS WERE SENT TO A CORRECTIONAL "SESSION" IN SOME OF THE PRISONS IN THE STATES OF COLORADO AND CALIFORNIA. THE ONE WITH THE THREE LIFE SENTENCES WAS OUT OF LUCK, FOR HE FELL DEAD IN THE VERY POLICE RAID ON THE FARM.

BY SOME MIRACLE I SURVIVED AND MANAGED TO GET THROUGH THE SWAMPS BEHIND THE FELISTER HOUSE. THEY ORGANIZED A RAID TO LOOK FOR ME, BUT I CROSSED THE RIVER THAT RAN NEARBY AND THANKED MY HEART FOR THE FORESIGHT OF MY NOW DEAD EMPLOYER.

TOO LONG HAD THE UNFORTUNATE EVENTS DRAGGED ON, LEADING THE WHOLE STORY TO THIS SCENARIO. I DIDN'T WANT TO COMPLAIN BECAUSE I WAS STILL ALIVE AND WITH ALL FOUR LIMBS UNLIKE MY OTHER COLLEAGUES.

THE NIGHT I SPENT IN THE SWAMPS WAS TERRIBLE AND I HAD TO SHOW GREAT INGENUITY TO MANAGE TO KEEP MY STRENGTH AND RECOVER FOR THE NEW LIFE THAT AWAITED ME IN THE FUTURE.

FRANKLY THE OPTIONS BEFORE ME WERE NOT TOO MANY, NOR PARTICULARLY PLEASANT, AND I HAD TO TAKE EVERYTHING INTO CONSIDERATION IF I WANTED TO SURVIVE.

I HAVE HEARD THAT THOSE CAPTURED AND SENT TO STRICT PRISON CONDITIONS WERE BRUTALLY FORCED TO "WELCOME". ONE EVEN HAD HIS HEAD SMASHED IN WITH ONE OF THE CHAIR SEATS.

I HAD AVOIDED ALL OF THESE THINGS, BUT THE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT AND NOT VERY CLEAR SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF HOW TO SLIP AWAY AND ILLEGALLY CROSS THE MEXICAN BORDER WAS AHEAD. MAYBE THERE I WOULD GET SOME HELP FROM THE LOCALS, OR MAYBE NOT. I WAS SPANISH BY MOTHER, BUT BECAUSE OF POLITICS IN THE STATES I HAD ADOPTED AN ANGLO SAXON NAME, WHICH SEEMED FAR MORE PRAGMATIC.

YET WHEN THEY REGISTERED ME AFTER BIRTH ACCORDING TO MY PARENTS' STORY THEY CHOSE THAT NAME FOR ME AND OVERALL I THANK THEM FOR THAT!

FOR ALL THOSE FAMILIAR WITH THE HIGHWAY NETWORK IN THE U.S. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE MAIN THOROUGHFARES ARE OVER A HUNDRED IN NUMBER AND GO BY THE NAME OF FEDERAL HIGHWAYS, BUT I HAD TO TAKE THE PANAMERICAN HIGHWAY WHICH STARTED FROM THE NORTHERNMOST PARTS OF CANADA AND REACHED THE SOUTHERNMOST PARTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

IF I STUCK TO THAT ROUTE, HOWEVER, I INVARIABLY HAD TO GO THROUGH SAN ANTONIO. THIS HIGHWAY WAS THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD AND WAS OVER 48 000 KILOMETRES LONG.

THE REASON I WENT TO SAN ANTONIO IN THE STATE OF TEXAS RATHER THAN, FOR EXAMPLE, PHOENIX IN THE STATE OF ARIZONA WAS THAT THE HISTORY OF VICE WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE PAST AND THE LOCALS KNEW WELL THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATIONS HAD FOCUSED MORE ON ACTIVITIES SUCH AS PROSTITUTION, GAMBLING, DRUGS AND PORNOGRAPHY RATHER THAN JUST DRUGS. IT WAS TRUE THAT THE VALLEY OF THE SUN, WHICH ENCOMPASSED THE SEVEN MILLION METROPOLIS ITSELF AND ALSO SCOTTSDALE, MESA, AND TEMPE, WAS CHARACTERIZED BY AREAS OF PARTICULARLY LOW CRIME, BUT I'D ATTRACTED TOO MUCH ATTENTION THERE. SO I DECIDED TO AVOID THOSE COMMUNITIES. AND YET CRIME IN PHOENIX WAS BOOMING DESPITE OFFICIAL STATISTICS THAT THERE HAD BEEN A DECLINE SINCE THE NINETIES. BUT THAT'S WHAT TABLOIDS WERE FOR - TO SPOUT HEADLINES AND TO BELIEVE THE TRIPE THAT FILLED THEIR PAGES, AND WITH THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA THINGS WERE DOWNRIGHT SHOCKING. THE SECOND AND NO LESS IMPORTANT REASON FOR HEADING TO THIS PARTICULAR DESTINATION WAS THE FACT THAT ONE OF THE UNOFFICIAL ROUTES THAT WERE PART OF THIS SAME HIGHWAY PASSED THROUGH SAN ANTONIO. OF COURSE, I SHOULDN'T HAVE FAILED TO MENTION THAT THE ORIGINAL HIGHWAY STARTED JUST ACROSS THE BORDER FROM SAN ANTONIO, AND THIS WAS RELEVANT TO MY ESCAPE ATTEMPT.

FIRST I HAD TO MAKE MY WAY TO THE MISSOURI STATE LINE, WHERE I COULD DEFINITELY GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES DUE TO MY LACK OF PAPERS, AND MY SCRUFFY APPEARANCE. I HAD AT LEAST MADE AN EFFORT TO WASH OFF THE BLOOD AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND THUS DEAL WITH ANY SUSPICIONS THAT MIGHT ARISE FROM SOME UNEXPECTED CHECK BY A HIDDEN ROADSIDE POLICE POST.

IT WASN'T PARTICULARLY EASY RELIVING THE NIGHTMARES THAT FLOODED MY MIND. THERE WAS DEFINITELY TOO MUCH TO DEAL WITH. THE NIGHTMARES OF FALLING INTO A BOTTOMLESS DARK SHAFT, OR JUST SOME STRANGE AND MALEVOLENT CREATURE APPROACHING YOU IN THE DARKNESS, AND YOU TRYING TO KEEP IT AT BAY BY MEANS OF YOUR LIT BEDSIDE LAMP WERE NOTHING COMPARED TO THE ABYSS OF DESPAIR INTO WHICH I WAS PLUNGED. I HAD ONCE READ IN SPECIALIST PUBLICATIONS, SUCH AS WERE FOUND ON FELISTER'S FARM, BUT HE KEPT THEM UNDER LOCK AND KEY IN A WELL-INSULATED UNDERGROUND CLOSET, WHERE THEY WERE LOCKED IN A SPECIAL VAULT BURIED IN THE GROUND. FROM TIME TO TIME, FELISTER WOULD PULL IT OUT AND MANAGE TO ABSORB SOME OF THE NEW DEMONIC KNOWLEDGE, WITH WHICH HE WAS ABLE TO PSYCHOLOGICALLY HOLD THE OTHER ABNORMALS WHO WERE MIMICKING ACTIVITY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF HIS DOMAIN. IT WAS FROM THERE THAT I LEARNED MANY SUBTLE THINGS ABOUT THAT WORLD THAT I WOULD NOT EVEN WISH TO NAME - ONE OF THEM, HOWEVER, WAS THAT ONCE A PERSON IS MARKED IT IS MOST LIKELY FOR LIFE.

IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT ON MY WAY TO THE BORDER I COULD NOT MOVE THROUGH OPEN SPACES AND HAD TO WALK THROUGH SOME DIFFICULT WOODED TERRAIN WHERE TREE SPECIES SUCH AS OAK, WALNUT AND RED CEDAR WERE PREVALENT. OF COURSE, SOMETIMES I WOULD STOP BY SOME OF THE LARGER TOWNS TO GET FOOD OR EVEN THE MOST