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

I THANKED HER MENTALLY FOR THE INFORMATION AS ARLO HAD TAKEN TO DRIVING THAT WAY.

IT TOOK US ABOUT HALF AN HOUR TO GET THERE, AS THE PICKUP, THOUGH INFREQUENT, WOULD SKID AND WE EVEN HAD TO GET OFF AND PUSH IT TWO OR THREE TIMES TO GET IT TO START AGAIN. IT WAS HARD ENOUGH. YEAH, I KNOW, IT SEEMED KIND OF CORNY, BUT IT WAS HELL.

THE UNKNOWN HEALER'S NAME WAS YAKUBA, AND HE INTRODUCED US TO HIS HOMELAND'S IDEAS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH, WHICH OVERALL I WOULD SAY WAS NOT AT ALL REDUNDANT.

SUDDENLY THE PICKUP PULLED UP...

I GLANCED BACK QUICKLY - LEST FOR SOME REASON DIEGO HAD BEEN RE-POSSESSED - ALTHOUGH AFTER THE BRUTAL SERIES OF EXORCISM RITUALS HE HAD BEEN CONDUCTING, HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSCIOUS. YES, HE WAS INDEED FINE... IT WAS JUST THAT THE PICKUP'S TIRE HAD GONE THROUGH A HUGE CLUMP OF SNOW THAT ARLO HAD NO WAY OF AVOIDING WHILE LISTENING TO ZONARA'S INSTRUCTIONS. THAT CALMED ME DOWN A BIT.

I WAS AWARE THAT THE HEALER HAD SOMETHING ELSE TO SHARE WITH US. WE WERE NOW SO CLOSE TO THE ASHGROVE THAT I COULD ALMOST SEE IT IN FRONT OF MY NOSE.

- ACCORDING TO THE BELIEFS OF MY PEOPLE, HEALING CAN TAKE MANY FORMS. THERE IS A MIND, A SOUL AND A SPIRITUAL PLANE WHERE EVERYTHING HAPPENS. THIS IS THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLD, AND WHEN YOU NEED TO HEAL SOMEONE YOU NEED TO TOUCH EACH OF THESE.

HIS EXPLANATION SEEMED TO ME RELATIVELY SIMPLISTIC, BUT AT THE SAME TIME OF IMMENSE DEPTH OF THOUGHT.

I REMEMBERED THAT FELISTER WAS ALSO READING A PARTICULAR BOOK WHERE IT WAS EXPLAINED THAT A PERSON HAD ONE MAIN CONSCIOUSNESS BUT SEVERAL AUXILIARY CONSCIOUSNESSES, AND THIS AGAIN WAS RELATED TO SPIRITUAL INTERACTIONS ON DIFFERENT LEVELS.

BE THAT AS IT MAY, WE ENTERED THE ASHGROVE, WHICH WAS HUSHED, AND TOOK UP OUR QUARTERS IN A HOUSE, WHERE THE HOSPITABLE LANDLORD SIMPLY MOVED OUT WITH THE EXCUSE THAT HE WAS IN A GREAT HURRY, AND LET US HAVE IT FOR A VERY MODEST RENT. LEST ANYONE GET THE WRONG IMPRESSION, ASHGROVE WAS A VERY SMALL COMMUNITY CONSISTING OF JUST A HANDFUL OF BUILDINGS - SO FOR THE DURATION OF OUR SHORT STAY WITH DIEGO, WE WEREN'T GOING TO HURT ANYONE. WE MIGHT HAVE STAYED HERE ONLY A DAY OR TWO, AND MIGHT EVEN HAVE LEFT IT IN THE EVENING, HAD WE BEEN ABLE TO QUESTION THE DIEGO HIMSELF MORE QUICKLY, IN WHOM WAS NOW ALL OUR HOPE.

WHEN WE CAME OUT INTO WHAT WAS ALMOST HIS ONLY STREET, I HEARD BIRDSONG FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND I HAD NOT HEARD THEM FOR SOME TIME-THEY WERE THE LINK BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH. SOME SPARROWS[1] WERE MURMURING THROUGH THE AIR, AND I WONDERED IF THIS TIME WE WOULD BE RELIEVED OF THE GREAT BURDENS WE CARRIED IN OUR SOULS.

DIEGO WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO TELL US THE REST OF THE STORY, WHICH HAD TO DO WITH FELISTER'S HERITAGE. THERE WAS A SMALL CAFE NEARBY WHERE WE COULD HAVE EATEN, BUT WE DECIDED TO GIVE DIEGO SOME TIME TO REST. AFTER ABOUT A QUARTER OF AN HOUR WE HEADED THERE - FRANKLY THIS KIND OF SETTLEMENTS WERE A COMPLETE DEAD LETTER AND SOMETIMES THERE WERE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE, OR EVEN JUST ONE OR TWO (USUALLY A FAMILY) WHO OWNED THE PLACE AND LIVED OR EXISTED IN THEIR OWN LITTLE WORLD - WELL, THAT WASN'T EXACTLY THE CASE HERE, BUT ...

IN GENERAL, THE SURROUNDINGS OF ASHGROVE WERE NOT BAD AT ALL - IT WAS JUST THAT SOMEHOW I HAD THE FEELING THAT WE OURSELVES WERE EITHER HELL IN THE PLACE OR NOT QUITE.

DIEGO ATE A SANDWICH AND DRANK A COKE WITH OBVIOUS RELISH - I GUESS HE DIDN'T LIKE THE FOOD THAT MUCH, BUT HE HAD CERTAIN CONDITIONED BIOLOGICAL NEEDS THAT SHOULD AT LEAST BE FORMALLY SATISFIED, LIKE SATIATING HIS HUNGER, SINCE EVEN THE CAFE-RESTAURANT'S PROPRIETOR WASN'T AROUND, BUT THERE WERE OBVIOUS SIGNS THAT SHE WAS INDEED AVAILABLE, AND DECIDED TO EXPLAIN THE NEXT PART OF THE STORY, AND FROM THERE ON OUR PATHS DIVERGED. WE DID NOT ASK HIM ABOUT HIS FURTHER INTENTIONS. DIEGO WAS VERY REALISTIC AND PERCEIVED TIME AS A DISCRETE QUANTITY. ACCORDING TO QUANTUM THEORY, THE FACT THAT TIME WAS CONTINUOUS WAS SIMPLY AN ILLUSION, SINCE TIME WAS SIMPLY A CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE CONSISTING OF DISCRETE REPEATING ELEMENTS[2]. BUT, AS AN OLD FRIEND ONCE TOLD ME, "ALL YOU HAVE IS THIS MOMENT. SO LIVE FOR IT AND ONLY IT, AS NOTHING ELSE EXISTS! EVERYTHING ELSE JUST ISN'T REAL AND WHEN YOU FIGURE IT OUT MAYBE YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN OR YOU'LL JUST ACCEPT THINGS AS THEY ARE - PART OF THE BIG GAME AND FOLLOW..."

DIEGO EXPLAINED MANY OF THE MISSING DETAILS OF THE PUZZLE I HAD THOUGHT ALMOST UNSOLVABLE, AND IN FACT FELISTER'S SCHEME, BESIDES BEING DOOMED, HAD TURNED OUT TO BE TRULY INGENIOUS. ZONARA AND ARLO TOOK ALMOST NO NOTICE. ONLY ARLO HAD TAKEN A BITE OUT OF A COOKIE WITH APPARENT RELISH. MAYBE ITS FILLING WAS MORE SPECIAL - WHO KNOWS! YES, THEY WERE IN THE HUMAN WORLD AND HAD TO LOOK HUMAN, OR AT LEAST PRETEND TO LOOK HUMAN - THEY WERE ON THE JOB AFTER ALL AND HAD TO FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE GAME JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!

SUDDENLY THE OWNER APPEARED - SHE LOOKED A RAGGED WOMAN, BUT ONE WHO WOULD DO ANYTHING IN HER POWER TO PLEASE HER GUESTS.

- "I AM MILBETH SARDEN[3]. MY HUSBAND AND I USED TO ROTATE THIS PLACE BUT HE PASSED AWAY RECENTLY - MAYBE THE CLIMATE AROUND HERE DIDN'T AGREE WITH HIM. AND I HONESTLY DON'T BLAME HIM. WITH AGE, ONE GAINS EXPERIENCE, WHICH IS INVALUABLE, AND GENERALLY LEARNS TO LIVE WITH MUCH, MUCH LESS," THE OLD WOMAN MUTTERED MEANINGFULLY.

THEN SHE WALKED AWAY AND HID SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY AND SANK INTO THE SHADOWS OF DARKNESS. IT WAS STARTING TO GET DARK, AS I MAY HAVE NEGLECTED TO MENTION THAT ALL THE PREVIOUS DAY WE'D BEEN TRYING TO SOMEHOW GET SETTLED IN ASHGROVE - AT LEAST FOR A WHILE.

AND SO DIEGO'S NARRATIVE BEGAN:

- AS YOU WELL KNOW, THE MASTER SPIRIT OR CONSCIOUSNESS NEED NOT BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE PHYSICAL BODY, BUT THE AUXILIARY CONSCIOUSNESS OR AUXILIARY CONSCIOUSNESSES CAN BE AND USUALLY ARE HIGHER LEVEL SPIRITS, AND SOMETIMES MUCH HIGHER. YOU KNOW, DECISIONS ARE USUALLY MADE BY THE MASTER SPIRIT, BUT THAT IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE AT ALL. SO AS WE SAID, THE MASTER SPIRIT COULD ALSO BE DELUDED, LED ASTRAY BY ITS HUMAN BROTHER, WITH WHOM THEY WERE BORN TOGETHER[4] - BEGAN DIEGO FROM AFAR.

WE LISTENED TO HIM ATTENTIVELY. DIEGO HAD A GIFT FOR WORDS AND TRIED TO CONVEY THINGS AS SIMPLY AND CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE. ONLY I NOTICED THAT ARLO AND ZONARA SEEMED TO FLINCH SLIGHTLY - PERHAPS THE CONVERSATION WAS NOT ENTIRELY PLEASANT TO THEM WITH ITS DIRECTNESS, OR PERHAPS THEY SIMPLY EXISTED ON ANOTHER VIBRATIONAL LEVEL. DIEGO'S WORDS WERE OBVIOUSLY AFFECTING THEM DIRECTLY - MORE OR LESS.

I ALSO HAD THE SUPERNATURAL FEELING THAT SOONER OR LATER THE FEDS WOULD COME - AND THIS TIME THEY REALLY DID. MAYBE THEY WERE WATCHING US - IN SOME INVISIBLE AND UNEXPLAINABLE WAY, OR MAYBE WE WERE JUST LEFT WITH A CLOSED MIND - UNABLE TO SEE CERTAIN THINGS.

- FELISTER NEEDED TWO PEOPLE WITH THE NAME DIEGO AND WITH ROUGHLY THE SAME FATE - WE WERE BOTH ORPHANED DERELICTS WITH UNKNOWN PARENTS, SINCE, AS YOU WELL KNOW - ONE OF US IS DEAD AND MAYBE THAT'S PRACTICALLY THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US. AND WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW IS THAT I SWITCHED BODIES, OR RATHER I MOVED THE DEAD DIEGO'S BODY BECAUSE I SUSPECTED THAT SOONER OR LATER SOMEONE WOULD STILL LOOK FOR HIM AND REGARDLESS OF THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE BODY - HIS AURA WOULD BE THERE. AND I THINK I DID THE RIGHT THING - THIS IS THE KEY TO FELISTER'S LEGACY ITSELF, BUT FAR FROM BEING THE END OF THE STORY, IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE END. AND THAT ENDING MAY NOT COME, OR MAY NOT COME EXACTLY AS YOU WISH. HERE'S AN EXAMPLE WITH ME AND THE DEMON...

AGAIN THERE WAS SILENCE.

- THUS HE HAD TWO GOATS TO PLAY THE SAME GAME WITH. FELISTER'S PROBLEM WAS THAT HE WANTED TO PLAY ON BOTH LOW AND HIGH VIBRATIONS, AND THAT MEANT CONTACT AND CONNECTION WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENERGIES - IT WAS NOT SO EASY TO MAKE THAT SWITCH, AND SO HE CHOSE THE SECOND OPTION, WHICH AS YOU CAN SEE HE CALLED FELISTER'S LEGACY. YOU KNOW, EVERY LITTLE THING IN THIS UNIVERSE REPRESENTS A SPECIFIC VIBRATION THAT IS CONNECTED IN A PARTICULAR WAY TO THE WHOLE. BY ISOLATING HIMSELF IN THIS WAY, FELISTER LOST CONTACT WITH HIS GUARDIAN ANGEL AND THINGS WENT COMPLETELY WRONG. THE KEY TO FELISTER'S UNRAVELLING WAS THAT HE WANTED TO CORRECT REALITY IN A VERY SPECIFIC AND PROFITABLE WAY FOR HIMSELF, WHICH OF COURSE SOONER OR LATER COULD PROVE DANGEROUS. AND THAT INCREASED THE LIKELIHOOD THAT HE HIMSELF IN THE NEW VERSION OF REALITY WOULD ALSO BE ERASED. FELISTER HAD ASSUMED DIFFERENT NAMES AND USED DIFFERENT DEMONS TO COMMUNICATE WITH POLITICIANS AND MOBSTERS - IT WORKED, OR SO IT SEEMED. IT WAS NECESSARY, FOR BUSINESS, FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HIS OWN CONSCIOUSNESS, AND FOR ALL OF US WHO LIVED UNDER HIS WING - FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THIS ENTIRE MICROCOSM. HE HAD CHOSEN TO ASK THE QUESTION OF WHAT LIFE WAS IN A RATHER WRONG WAY...

- "WHAT I DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND IS ... WAS HE TRYING TO PLAY THE ROLE OF THE ALMIGHTY?," I ASKED HIM.

- "NOT EXACTLY. EVEN JUST THE OPPOSITE. NOT AT ALL," DIEGO CHIMED IN, SOMEWHAT ODDLY, "HE WAS TRYING TO SLYLY PASS BETWEEN THE DROPS, AND THE CREATION MODEL DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY - AND NEVER HAS WORKED THAT WAY. AND IT'S UNLIKELY TO WORK."

ZONARA PERHAPS INWARDLY WANTED TO SHOOT ME WITH HER EYES, BUT STOPPED HERSELF. SHE WAS CLEARLY TRYING TO MAINTAIN HER PROFESSIONALISM. ARLO WAS STILL MUNCHING ON THE COOKIE - APPARENTLY IT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON EARTH TO HIM - IT SEEMED TO REMIND HIM OF HOME. A FORGOTTEN FEELING! I WAS BEGINNING TO GET A CLEAR SENSE OF WHERE THE CONVERSATION WAS GOING AND THAT IT WAS STARTING TO GET DANGEROUS - PERHAPS A LOT MORE SO THAN BEFORE.

- FELISTER HAD SIMPLY TRIED TO OPEN THOUSANDS OF ENERGY CHANNELS AND CONTROL THEM, BUT CONTRADICTIONS AROSE BETWEEN THESE SAME LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, AND IN THIS LINE OF THOUGHT SOMETHING VERY UNPLEASANT AND INAPPROPRIATE RESULTED, WHICH OF COURSE COULD NOT BE FULLY FELT IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME COMPLEXITY OF HIS DESIGN. AT THE LEVEL OF PRACTICE AND CONTROL HE POSSESSED, THERE WAS A LOGICAL TRICK THAT HAD APPARENTLY CREATED A CONTRADICTION FOR HIM, NAMELY, IF CHECKING THE OPERATION OF A SPELL MEANT THAT IT WAS TO BE TERMINATED, THERE WAS A SPECIAL INSTRUCTION TO CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN IT EVEN IN THE EVENT OF A POSITIVE ANSWER TO TERMINATE[5]. IN THAT LINE OF THOUGHT, FELISTER HAD BEEN UNABLE TO SHIFT HIS OWN LINE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND HAD SUBSEQUENTLY ARRIVED AT ... YES, HE HAD MADE THE TRIVIAL MISTAKE, WHICH I DON'T BELIEVE WAS UNINTENTIONAL BY THE WAY, THAT CONSCIOUSNESS IS UNITY RATHER THAN TAKING A MUCH MORE PRACTICAL AND FLEXIBLE APPROACH - THAT IS, HE HAD SOUGHT ANSWERS WITHOUT BEING ENTIRELY SURE WHAT QUESTION THEY REFERRED TO. AND IN HUGE QUANTITIES. THIS IS RATHER REMINISCENT OF THE CASE OF THE FAMOUS DIOPHANTINE EQUATION ABOUT THE MEANING OF LIFE. WELL, IF FELISTER HAD HAD ENOUGH TIME IN THAT RESPECT MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE DIFFERENT AND HE WOULD HAVE ARRIVED AT THE RIGHT ANSWER - DIEGO PAUSED FOR A MOMENT TO COLLECT HIS THOUGHTS, BUT I SENSED THAT THE MOST INTERESTING PART WAS YET TO COME.

IN ALL HONESTY, WE'D BEEN IN ASHGROVE RELATIVELY RECENTLY, BUT