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

SOME UNAUTHORIZED MEANS OF INFLUENCING OTHERS! MAYBE HE WAS JUST SOME UNEARTHLY BEING WHO HAD ONLY VISITED HERE BRIEFLY - BEFORE HE WAS GONE FOREVER!

IN THE EVENING, AS HE LAY DOWN TO SLEEP, HE HAD A STRANGE DREAM WHICH WAS CONNECTED WITH THE CASE. HIS FOREHEAD WAS DRENCHED IN A COLD SWEAT AND HE WAS SIMPLY DELIRIOUS. HE WAS WALKING ALONG SOME MUDDY COUNTRY ROAD, AND THE COLOURS WERE FADING FROM RED TO BLACK, AS IF SOME UNSTEADY HAND WERE PRESSING THE RED OUTLINES INTO THE INK-BLACK SILHOUETTES, WHICH SEEMED HELLISHLY SURREAL. THE RED BLOOD WOLF MOON WAS GOING TO SINK INTO AN OCEAN OF DARKNESS AT ANY MOMENT. THE BLOOD-RED WOLF MOON, WHICH ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL LORE BROUGHT MISFORTUNE AND EVIL, AND ACCORDING TO SOME, ALMOST SPELLED THE APOCALYPSE, BUT PERHAPS JUST MADE US QUESTION ALMOST EVERYTHING THAT WOULD SHOW US THE EXISTING REALITY FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE. THE DUSKY COUNTRY ROAD CURVED AND PASSED BEHIND THE TREE. THE DREAM SEEMED TO HIM QUITE AS REAL. WHO KNOWS WHY HE DID NOT AVERT HIS EYES FROM THE ROAD, AS THE NEARBY GRASS MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN HARBOURING SUNDRY VERMIN THAT MIGHT ATTACK HIM, BUT CONTINUED STEADFASTLY FORWARD. THE TREE DIDN'T SEEM TO BE TOO FAR AWAY - IT EVEN SEEMED TO BE WITHIN ARM'S REACH.

AND YET THE PATH SEEMED ENDLESS. BUT HE SOON FOUND HIMSELF ALMOST BESIDE THE TREE ITSELF, AND A BOY AND A GIRL WERE PLAYING UNDER IT-SO IT WAS ELIZANDER AND JEANIE MAGOOD-YES, THE SAME JEANIE WHO WAS THE KEEPER OF A BROTHEL IN NEW ORLEANS. THE SAME ONE WHO HAD EXPLAINED TO BARNAYNE WHAT A DIRTY AND BRUTAL THING LIFE WAS. BUT HOW SHE'D GOTTEN INTO ELIZANDER BARNAYNE'S HEAD AND READ HIS MIND. HOW THE HELL WAS THAT POSSIBLE? WAS HE NOT LOSING HIS OWN REASON!

THEY DIDN'T SEEM TO NOTICE THE DETECTIVE AT ALL AND HE MADE ABSOLUTELY NO IMPRESSION ON THEM. HOW NAÏVE OF HIM TO THINK HE WAS INCONSPICUOUS - BUT INDEED HE WAS. HE WAS DAMN DAMN ALONE - HE HAD THE FEELING THAT HE WAS IN THE SITUATION OF FELISTER EMBANKS HIMSELF - AT LEAST EMOTIONALLY. A WHOLE NEW WORLD! THEN HE REMEMBERED - IT WAS THE CURSE OF THE FELISTER! HE'D JUST BECOME PART OF THE STORY AS HE'D INTERFERED WITH THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE MAIN PLAYERS IN IT AND THERE WAS NO GETTING OUT. THE VICIOUS CIRCLE HAD ACTIVATED! AND THE WOLF IN IT SYMBOLIZED GOOD AND EVIL, AND OUTWARDLY SEEMED SO CONTRADICTORY! IT WAS LIKE A FAIRY TALE WITHOUT END! BUT HE DECIDED TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING AFTER ALL!

THE BOY AND GIRL'S CONVERSATION WAS NOTHING SPECIAL:

- "YOU MEAN YOU'RE LEAVING?," ELIZANDER TURNED TO HER, KICKING THE GROUND WITH HIS FOOT AS IF IN SYNC WITH HIS INNER THOUGHTS. - I'D SAY I'M GOING TO MISS YOU. THOSE FEW YEARS WHEN WE THOUGHT THE WHOLE WORLD WAS OURS AND LIVED EVERY DAY AS IF FOR THE LAST TIME. IT WAS A GOOD TIME, BUT ALSO KIND OF FAKE. A DISTORTED REALITY!

- "THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS FAKE, BARNAYNE," JUDY RETORTED, "THE LEVEL OF OUR PERCEPTIONS MAKES IT REAL!"

HE LOOKED LIKE SOME INNOCENT BOY, NOT A LIFE-BAKED TARIQA-THOUGH THOSE WHO KNEW HIM WOULD HARDLY DOUBT FOR A MOMENT THAT HE WAS STIFF AND FILLED WITH AN UNBEARABLE SADNESS-THE SADNESS OF THE WOLF SOUL MOVING WITH THE PACK, DRIVEN BY THE INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL AND THE NATURE OF HIS OWN NATURE-GUARDIANSHIP, RITUAL, LOYALTY, AND SPIRIT!

JENNY MAGOOD WOULD HAVE LAUGHED AT ANY OTHER BOY AND DECIDED THAT HE WAS HITTING ON HER, BUT SHE STILL OWED PART OF HER OWN SURVIVAL TO ELIZANDER, WHO HAD SECRETLY HELPED HER MAKE CONTACT WITH VARIOUS ADOPTIVE PARENTS, AND SO SHE GAVE HIM A FRANK AND FRIENDLY ANSWER ABOUT THE PROSPECTS OF HER LATER LIFE AND FINDING HER PLACE IN SOCIETY:

- YES, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE COUNTRY RESIDENCE OF MY NEW GUARDIAN, MR. EDMUND[4], WHICH IS LOCATED IN GOLD LAKE -A PRETTY COOL AND PEACEFUL PLACE. IT'S WHERE HE'S STAYING TO REST AFTER ALL THE STUFF THAT'S GOING ON WITH THE INDUSTRY HIS BUSINESS IS IN - 3D PRINTING HOUSES THAT SELL LIKE HOT BREAD. DID YOU KNOW THAT, WITH GOOD MAINTENANCE, SPECIALISTS GIVE THEM A LIFE SPAN OF FIFTY TO SIXTY YEARS? THE COMPETITION IN THIS SECTOR IS HUGE. MAYBE THAT'S WHERE I'LL FINALLY FIND SOME SEMBLANCE OF A HOME. YOU WILL MISS NOT ME, NOT SO MUCH MY IMAGE, BUT THE EMOTION, THE FEELING, THE SMELL OF YOUTH AND UNCERTAINTY THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ME, AND THAT IS DIFFERENT. THIS WHOLE UNIVERSE IN WHICH WE BOTH EXISTED, TWO DOOMED SOULS CRAVING PEACE. IN FACT, AFTER SOME OTHER DAY OR OTHER, I WILL BE BUT A PALE SHADOW AND AN ANNOYING MEMORY - NOTHING MORE. BUT THERE WAS DEFINITELY SOMETHING NOSTALGIC ABOUT YOU - SOMETHING THAT REMINDED ME OF MYSELF IN THE BEGINNING, WHEN I WAS BEING FUCKED BY THE STORM OF LIFE, AND YOU APPEARED QUITE BY CHANCE AND FOR SOME UNKNOWN AND COMPLETELY ILLOGICAL REASON GAVE ME YOUR HAND EVEN THOUGH YOU OWED ME ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. MAYBE YOUR OWN SURVIVAL HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH ME - I DON'T KNOW, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LOOK THAT DEEP FOR THE ANSWER EITHER - IN THIS WHOLE UNIVERSE THAT ...

- "IT'S THE WOLF MOON, AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT SOMEONE IS WATCHING US," SAID ELIZANDER THOUGHTFULLY, "BUT I WAS STILL OBLIGED TO COME AND SEE WHAT HANDS YOU WERE IN - NOTHING PERSONAL. I HOPE YOU REMEMBER THAT MAGICAL PROTECTION I TAUGHT YOU TO AVOID OBSERVATION, AS I SUSPECT THAT PURELY AND SIMPLY SOME TIME TRAVELER WILL SOONER OR LATER BECOME INTERESTED IN SOMETHING RELATED TO US - IT'S EVEN POSSIBLE... I KNOW THE METHOD OF LOCKING THE FIELD IS ELEMENTARY AND ALL. FURTHERMORE, WE CAN ALSO USE SO CALLED NESTED RINGS[5], TO STRENGTHEN OUR ENERGY PROTECTION FURTHER."

JENNY IMMEDIATELY CROSSED HER ARMS AND LEGS, THUS LOCKING IN HER BIOFIELD, THEN PERFORMED THE REST OF THIS SYMBOLIC RITUAL, WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY, AND YET - SHE TRUSTED BARNAYNE'S INTUITION - THIS STREET DOG HAD SURVIVED ON A HAIR'S BREADTH ALL HER LIFE.

- "ARE WE THAT IMPORTANT?,“ JENNY NODDED RATHER SERIOUSLY, AGREEING WITH HIS POSITION, "WILL ANYONE REMEMBER US? HUMAN MEMORY IS SO PERISHABLE AND NOT EVEN WORTH DESCRIBING AT ALL, YET IT IS AMAZING.

- "I HOPE WE SEE THE SUN ONE LAST TIME, AND THAT IT IS NOT THE SUNSET OF OUR JOURNEY," BARNAYNE WHISPERED SOFTLY. - "WHO KNOWS IT MIGHT EVEN BE THE BEGINNING OF IT!"

- "AT LEAST THIS UNIQUE MOMENT WAS ALL OURS," SHE MURMURED SOFTLY WITH A LITTLE NOSTALGIA, "AND NO ONE CAN TAKE IT AWAY FROM US! AND MAYBE I REALLY DID LOVE YOU - JUST AS I LOVED MYSELF AND MY OWN EXISTENCE, AND MAYBE EVEN MUCH, MUCH MORE!"

BOTH OF THEM HAD YET TO DIVE AGAIN INTO THE STORMY SEA OF LIFE. THEY HUGGED EACH OTHER GOODBYE. JUDY RELAXED HER HEAD ON HIS SHOULDER, HER HAIR DISHEVELED, BLENDING INTO THE BLACK TONE OF EVERYTHING AROUND HER.

THEN THE SCENE ABRUPTLY CHANGED AND BARNAYNE WAS SOMEWHERE AROUND HER ORPHANAGE. HIS BUILDING LOOKED HELLISHLY EMPTY-ALMOST UNINHABITABLE. IT WAS ACTUALLY SO STRANGE FOR SUCH AN INSTITUTION. HAD TRAVELED MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES BECAUSE HE HAD A PURPOSE TO LIVE FOR - TO REDISCOVER HIMSELF. AND THEN HE BEGAN HIS NEW LIFE ON FELISTER'S FARM-THE HELL OF HIS NEW MASTER AND FATHER. BUT THERE HE FELT OUT OF PLACE!

SAW, TOO, THE CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE GIRL AND ELIZANDER IN THE DISPOSAL OF THE GOODS. EXPERIENCED MADAME AS SHE WAS, JENNY NEVER MARRIED-AS IF SHE HAD BEEN DUMBFOUNDED BY HER ENCOUNTER WITH BARNAYNE, OR SOMETHING ELSE. BUT SHE HAD AMASSED AN ENVIABLE FINANCIAL FORTUNE - SHE HAD EVEN COMMISSIONED SOME MEMBERS OF RIVAL ORGANISATIONS ON BEHALF OF FELISTER, WHICH MADE HER SOMETHING OF HIS AGENT, AND HER VERY NAME INSPIRED AWE AND RESPECT.

THE MEMORIES LINED UP BEFORE AGENT MORALES' EYES. TIME-TRAVELLER, HE SOON FELT A STRANGE INFLUENCE UPON HIS OWN THOUGHTS-AS IF FELISTER HIMSELF WANTED TO DRIVE HIM TO THE GRAVE.

HE ALSO SAW THE GRAVE OF JAKE HIMSELF, WHOM DIEGO HAD UNEARTHED - AND THEN HE AND HIS TEAM HAD PERSONALLY TAKEN HIM TO A SECRET LOCATION WHERE HE WAS GIVEN FIRST AID SO THAT HE COULD TESTIFY LATER.

 

[1]   Candor in English means frankness and directness.

[2] Specific exclamations or emotional intensity that are associated with exaggeration.

[3] List of the five hundred richest companies.

[4]  Edmund means defender.

[5] This is an ancient Indian technique for magical protection.

THE END GAME

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: THE END GAME

 

TIME TRAVEL, OR MORE ACCURATELY, SO-CALLED TIME STREAM MAGIC, REQUIRED A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF CONCENTRATION AND A CERTAIN LEVEL OF SKILL ON THE PART OF THE MAGICIAN HIMSELF. NOT EVERYONE WAS UP TO SUCH A CHALLENGE. BUT DEFINING THE RELEVANT TIME SENSE WAS THE CONSCIOUS PERCEPTION OF THE TIME FLOW. IT WAS ALSO THE BEGINNING OF A MAGICIAN'S TRUE AWAKENING TO HIS JOURNEY AS WELL AS TO THE NATURE OF WHAT WAS GOING ON AROUND HIM. THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND THE TRANSCENDENT IN THIS RESPECT WAS MAINLY IN THE FACT THAT IT WAS NOT THE UNITS OF MEASUREMENT THAT WERE A FACTOR FOR TIME ITSELF, BUT ITS SATURATION WITH EVENTS, WHICH IN TURN MEANT THAT WITH MORE EVENTS EXPERIENCED, MORE SUBJECTIVE TIME SHOULD HAVE PASSED. MANY DIFFERENT METHODS EXISTED FOR THIS PURPOSE - BUT THE ONE WHERE THE RELEVANT DISTINCTION WAS MADE BETWEEN SO-CALLED SUBJECTIVE TIME, WHERE THE MAGE WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE HIS OWN POSITION AND HAD A KEEN EYE FOR ALL THOSE ANOMALIES THAT DISTORTED THE FLOW OF TIME WAS GENERALLY THE STARTING POINT FOR MOST TIME TRAVEL - SOME OF WHICH COULD END UP BEING TRULY CATASTROPHIC.

THERE WERE, HOWEVER, A FEW SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN MAKING THE JOURNEY IN QUESTION. THERE WAS A SO-CALLED TIME POLICE THAT COULD PREVENT SOME OF THESE MANIPULATIONS, AND IT CONSISTED OF OTHER PEOPLE WITH MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE WHO COULD EASILY SENSE THE VIBRATIONS INVOLVED, AS THEY WERE AWARE OF WHAT AND WHERE TO LOOK. IN THE METHODOLOGY OF SO-CALLED VISUALIZATION, THE MAGICIAN HAD TO MEMORIZE VERY PRECISELY ALL THE DETAILS OF A GIVEN PLACE AND KEEP IN MIND THAT NEXT TIME THEY MIGHT NOT BE THERE, OR THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING ELSE THAT WAS ALSO TOO SPECIFIC. FOR EXAMPLE, IF HE WANTED TO SUCCESSFULLY MANAGE HIS JOURNEY TO A PLACE, THE MAGE SIMPLY HAD TO IMAGINE ITS OUTLINE IN GENERAL TERMS, AND THEN ADD DETAILS, WHICH WAS ONE OF MANY OPTIONS IN THIS REGARD. THE MOST CRUCIAL POINT IN THIS TECHNIQUE WAS THE ABILITY TO HOLD THE CONSTRUCTED IMAGE IN THE MIND LONG ENOUGH TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED MAGICAL EFFECT. THIS WAS ALSO EXTREMELY USEFUL FOR ASTRAL TRAVEL, WHICH BELONGED TO SPACE TRAVEL.

BUT IN GENERAL, SOME OF THE MAGES DIDN'T DARE TO GO TOO FAR AND DIDN'T HAVE THE KNACK FOR SUPER-SOPHISTICATED REALITY CONTROL, WHICH WOULD MEAN THAT WITH REALLY BOLD MANIPULATIONS OF TIME, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF TIME-SPACE PARADOXES COULD ACCUMULATE, WHICH WERE TO THE MAGE'S DETRIMENT AND AFFECTED AND TAXED HIS PSYCHE CONSIDERABLY, AND ALSO HE HIMSELF COULD BE ERASED THE NEXT TIME