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

FELISTER HADN'T USED ANY WEAPONS, BUT THAT WASN'T EXACTLY HOW THINGS STOOD DOWN HERE. THERE WERE OBVIOUS TRACES OF THE ARSENAL THAT HAD BEEN USED BY THE BRUTAL FARMER.

TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I'VE ALWAYS LOVED DOGS MORE THAN PEOPLE - AT LEAST THEY DON'T WANT TO TAKE YOURS. BUT HUMANS ARE AS HYPOCRITICAL AS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THE ROAD IN FRONT OF YOU WAS COMPLETELY BROKEN AND NOTHING COULD FIX IT? YOU CAN'T FIX IT, SO TO SPEAK!

FELISTER HAD GATHERED THESE CONDEMNED SOULS TOGETHER, AND WISHED TO FIND A KIND OF SOLACE FOR HIS SOUL, WHICH LONGED TO GET AWAY FROM THIS LOATHSOME LIFE! ONCE AND FOR ALL!

I SOMETIMES DREAMED OF A BLACK HAND REACHING OUT TO ME AND TRYING TO SNATCH ME AWAY AS I SLEPT. IT WAS BLOODY STUPID AND DISGUSTING! WHY ARE WE HERE? BECAUSE WE HAD MORE WORK TO DO! WHEN SHE WAS DONE, WE'D LEAVE QUIETLY - WITHOUT DISTURBING ANYONE.

I PRAYED TO GOD, BUT IN TIME I CLEARLY REALIZED THAT IT WAS OF LITTLE USE - I WAS POURING OUT MY SOUL AGAINST A PICTURE. THE PICTURE AROUND ME WAS EVEN UGLIER. I DON'T THINK THAT SO MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SAID THAT THEY MISSED ME, OR THAT THEY COULDN'T GO ON WITHOUT ME.

DONOVAN CLEARLY SENSED THE CHANGE IN THE SITUATION, BUT DIDN'T WANT TO INDULGE HIS SENSE OF SHAME. HE KNEW THAT FELISTER HAD BEEN DRIVEN BY HIS INNER DEMONS TO TAKE THIS DECISIVE STEP, BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP HIM FROM ADMITTING THAT FELISTER HAD TURNED OUT TO BE A MUCH BIGGER MAN THAN HE HAD EVER LET ON. HE WASN'T A SAINT, BUT A MAN WILLING TO EXIST IN HIS OWN LITTLE WELL-BUILT WORLD, AND WHEN THAT WORLD WAS DESTROYED, HE WAS SIMPLY GONE - LIKE SO MANY OTHERS BEFORE HIM!

USUALLY THE REBEL IMAGINES HIS DEMISE IN HEROIC TERMS, BUT FROM THE SIDE HE MAY SEEM TOO PATHETIC FOR MANY. SUCH WAS FELISTER. A FALSE KNIGHT!

HIS FAMILY WAS ONE OF THE STRANGEST THAT COULD HAVE EXISTED. HIS FATHER-THAT WRETCH! WAS A DRUNKARD AND A BRUTAL RUFFIAN-A FREQUENT GUEST OF THE POLICE. AND HIS MOTHER A LOST SOUL! FELISTER FELT SO WRETCHED AND FORSAKEN! SAD AND GLOOMY THAT HE WAS NOT LIKE THE REST! SOMEWHERE IN THE DEPTHS OF HIS TWISTED MIND HE FELT THAT ALL MEN WERE CREATURES OF LIGHT, BUT IN REALITY THE REALITY WAS OTHERWISE - AND IT TORMENTED HIM GREATLY. NOT EVERYONE GOT THE SAME CHANCE - AND THAT WAS TRUE.

DONOVAN WAS DISGUSTED - SO FELISTER MIGHT EVEN HAVE BEEN GOOD AS A CHILD! HE HAD A SIMILAR CHANCE, BUT NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO SHOW HIS DISTINCTIVE QUALITIES!

DEMON CULTS WERE A STRANGE BUSINESS - THEY COULD BURN YOUR SOUL, BUT THEY COULD ALSO GIVE YOU A SENSE THAT YOU'D GOTTEN HELP FROM SOMEWHERE.

FELISTER WAS DOOMED FROM A YOUNG AGE - JUST A LOST SOUL.

IT WAS SAID THAT THE SOULS OF PEOPLE WHO HAD UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN THIS WORLD WENT AROUND THE EARTH FOREVER, SUFFERING AND PRAYING TO BE FORGIVEN AND GIVEN THE RIGHT TO A NEW LIFE.

MANY ASPIRED TO RECEIVE SOME FORM OF SPIRITUAL VINDICATION, BUT FEW WOULD SUCCEED IN EARNING IT.

A NEW LIFE? NEW LIFE? NEW LIFE? WHAT WAS THAT?

THE DEMONIC CULT SEEMED TO BE SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE WASTING SOME PEOPLE'S TIME, BUT IT WAS BY NO MEANS AN ANNOYING DETAIL THAT DONOVAN WAS GOING TO LEAVE JUST LIKE THAT.

THEY FOUND MANY ARTIFACTS, BUT DONOVAN DIDN'T BOTHER TO DESCRIBE THEM OR VERIFY THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. HE JUST DECIDED HE HAD PEOPLE FOR THE JOB. APPARENTLY HIS BOSSES WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASED.

AFTER SURFACING AGAIN, HE TOOK A BREATH OF FRESH AIR! WHAT A RELIEF!

MISSOURI WAS ONE HELL OF A DANGEROUS AND BRUTAL STATE! MU MOM! EVERYTHING HAD TO BE SORTED OUT SOMEHOW!

THE DETECTIVE GAZED AT THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSET-BRUTALLY REAL AND SENSITIVE, TOUCHING HIS SOUL! HE LOOKED AND LOOKED, AND FELT THAT SOMETHING WAS LEFT UNSAID-PERHAPS HE HAD FAILED TO CATCH THE SOUL OF THIS MAN. MAYBE...

FELISTER KNEW HOW TO REPAY HIS ENEMIES EVEN FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!

I COULD SENSE THAT SOMEWHERE IN THERE, SOMETHING WAS CHANGING DRASTICALLY. AND EVEN THOUGH I COULDN'T WITNESS DETECTIVE DONOVAN'S FEELINGS, I COULD SEE EVERYTHING CLEARLY ENOUGH.

THE WOMAN IN RED

CHAPTER FIVE: THE WOMAN IN RED

 

THE DEAL I HAD STRUCK WITH THE WOMAN IN RED WAS IMPRESSIVE. SHE WAS GOING TO GRANT ME THE LEGACY OF A FELISTER, AND I WAS GOING TO BE THE CONDUIT BETWEEN IT AND THE AFTERLIFE AND THIS WORLD. IT SOUNDED SHADY, BUT I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS MY DESTINY.

OVER TIME, THIS WOMAN GAVE ME THE IMPRESSION THAT SHE WAS PECULIAR TO SAY THE LEAST. I DIDN'T WANT TO ASK HER WHERE SHE HAD ACTUALLY GOTTEN THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FELISTER HIMSELF, NOR WHAT WAS BEHIND THE PLOT.

- YOU KNOW THAT FELISTER LOVED YOU-IN HIS OWN WAY, BUT HE LOVED YOU ALL THE SAME! YOU WERE HIS ESCAPE FROM REALITY.

I GRITTED MY TEETH! SHE WAS RIGHT. I AGREED TO DO A SPIRITUALIST SÉANCE AND CONTACT HIS SPIRIT FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE TO REVEAL THE DETAILS I NEEDED, INCLUDING HOW TO GET TO HIS HIDDEN TREASURE.

WE PREPARED A SPIRIT BOARD AND I FRANKLY ASKED HER:

- DO YOU BELIEVE IN THIS NONSENSE? THIS SEEMS LIKE A GIANT SCHMECKER TO ME. BUT I HOPE IT WORKS! AND MAYBE I SHOULD!

I SOON FELT A SPECIFIC WARMTH AND SMELL OF INCENSE. PERHAPS SOME DEMON HAD GOTTEN IN, OR PERHAPS I WAS UNABLE TO SENSE THE SUBTLE VIBRATIONS OF THE SOUL.

THE SPIRITUALIST SESSION WAS NOT GOING VERY SMOOTHLY AND AS I MOVED THE PLANCHETTE ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE BOARD I BEGAN TO HESITATE.

THE WOMAN IN RED OPENLY STATED:

- SPIRIT OF FELISTER, WE WISH YOU TO REVEAL TO US WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT! AND WHAT MADE YOU TAKE THOSE ACTIONS!

A VERY SIGNIFICANT SILENCE FOLLOWED, AND LITTLE BY LITTLE THE ANSWER TO THIS ENTITE WAS REVEALED TO US. I FELT HIS PRESENCE IN THE ROOM AND INVOLUNTARILY SHUDDERED. IT WAS MY FORMER EMPLOYER-HE WAS DEAD NOW.

- "THE ETERNAL PURGE BETWEEN THE CARTELS IS NOT FROM YESTERDAY. BUT IT'S THE SAME IN LIFE," THE GHOST REPLIED IN A DRAWL, USING THE LETTERS ON THE BOARD.

THE GHOST STOOD IN SILENCE. BUT I KNEW HE WAS HIDING IN THE SHADOWS.

- "WHERE IS YOUR INHERITANCE?,“ THE WOMAN REPEATED LESS CONFIDENTLY, TRYING TO FIND OUT AS MUCH AS SHE COULD FROM THE SPIRIT.

- "WELL, THAT'S A QUESTION THAT HAS NO EXACT ANSWER," THE GHOST STAMMERED.

- "AT LEAST TRY TO DIRECT US," SHE INSISTED.

- "IF YOU WANT THE MONEY," THE GHOST CONTINUED IN THE SAME MONOTONE STYLE, - "THEN, YOU WILL EASILY TAKE IT. THEY ARE IN... "

JUST THEN SOMETHING FEATHERED THE SPIRIT-BOARD. AND THE SESSION BROKE UP.

- "SHALL WE LOOK FOR IT AGAIN?,“, I WONDERED HYPOCRITICALLY, "PERHAPS HE HAS SOME PLANS AND DOESN'T WANT TO SHARE THEM WITH US."

- "OPPOSITE. 'I'M CONVINCED HE'LL SAY ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING," THE WOMAN IN RED TURNED TO ME.

WE TRIED AGAIN.

THIS TIME THE GHOST REALLY POINTED THE PLACE OUT TO US. IT WAS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN MISSOURI AND OHIO.

- "IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET THERE," I TURNED TO HER.

- "DON'T WORRY, WE HAVE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE," WAS HER CURT REPLY. "WHERE FELISTER LEFT SOMETHING, THERE'S PROBABLY SOMETHING ELSE HIDING."

THEN THE FOLLOWING SONG WAS HEARD IN THE BACKGROUND:

''WEARING A THONG,

WHEREVER I GO,

I HAVE NOT A MOMENT'S REST,

MY SPIRIT IS NOT FOR HERE.

YOU FORGOT ME,

BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER

THE GOOD OLD DAYS!''

I LOOKED AROUND AND NOTICED NO ONE AROUND. IT WAS DAMN DESERTED. THEN THE WOMAN IN RED TURNED TO ME AND SAID.

- WE'RE GOING TO FIND FELISTER'S WILL AND HIS LEGACY. WE WILL SOON REGAIN OUR POSITION AND EVERYTHING WILL GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS!

- "IT SOUNDS LIKE AN ADVENTURE, ONLY I'VE NOT BEEN A FAN OF THAT SORT OF NONSENSE FOR A LONG TIME," I UTTERED, TORTURED AND DRAWN OUT, "WHAT I WANT IS AN ANSWER TO MY QUESTIONS."

SHE LOOKED AT ME QUESTIONINGLY - FOR THE THIRD TIME:

- OK!

MEANWHILE, THIS WHOLE SPIRITUALIST SESSION HAD BEEN TAKING PLACE IN HER HACIENDA, AS SHE CALLED IT.

LIKE ANY HACIENDA, THE VAST ESTATE HAD EVERYTHING AND ALSO HAD ITS STABLES, BARNS AND STOREROOMS.

- "NOW GO AND REST," SAID MY STEWARDESS TO ME, "TONIGHT WE WILL TALK IN MORE DETAIL."

I FELT THE ADRENALINE RUSH. APPARENTLY, WE WERE GOING TO GO SEARCHING FOR FELISTER'S REAL FACE.

"WILL YOU GROW UP WITH ME?," LIKE THE REFRAIN OF SOME FORGOTTEN SONG.

SADNESS HAS THE FOLLOWING PROPERTY. IT LINGERS IN OUR SOUL ONLY IF WE LET IT. THROUGH THE EYES OF SADNESS WE SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY.

THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE DONE, I RETIRED TO MY GUARDIAN'S CHAMBERS. I REALIZED THAT MY LIFE WAS A COMPLETE LIE AND FELT LIKE I WAS IN A MOVIE THAT WAS JUST GOING TO END - WHETHER SOONER OR LATER DIDN'T REALLY MATTER.

I FELL ASLEEP AND HAD A DISGUSTING NIGHTMARE. SOMEWHERE THERE WAS A RIVERBED - THE MOON REFLECTED IN ITS MIRRORED SURFACE. THERE WERE PEOPLE AROUND, BUT THEY WERE SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY - LIKE BARELY NOTICEABLE SPECKS. I WAS ALONE. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND PLEASANT, BUT I COULD TASTE THE STRANGE TASTE IN MY MOUTH. WAS THAT THE GHOST?

THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN DEMONOLOGY AND OCCULTISM KNEW THIS. THE WHOLE ESSENCE OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE AFTERLIFE, BASED ON OUR DESIRE TO LEARN MORE AND FEEL SOMETHING THAT IS MOST LIKELY NOT THERE.

I SLEPT LIKE A SLAUGHTERED MAN. I'M SIMPLY UNABLE TO GIVE A DIFFERENT DEFINITION FOR THE TIME SPENT DURING WHICH MY SENSES HAD TIME TO RELAX AND EXPECT SOMEONE TO POINT A GUN AT MY TEMPLE. AND DESPITE THE NIGHTMARES, WHEN MY BEAUTIFUL GUARDIAN CAME TO WAKE ME, I WAS SUFFICIENTLY RESTED.

- "BRACE YOURSELF," SHE INSTRUCTED ME GRAVELY. "WE HAVEN'T MUCH TIME TO LOSE."

WE HAD RECEIVED INFORMATION THAT SOME OF THE CARTELS OPERATING OFF THE GULF OF MEXICO COULD HARM OUR SECURITY. A LITTLE LATER WE LEFT THE MANSION.

BUT, THEN I REALIZED ONE THING - I COULD TRUST THIS WOMAN. SHE KNEW WHERE SHE WAS GOING AND WHAT SHE WANTED OUT OF LIFE, AND I DIDN'T.

FELISTER WAS MY STARTING POINT FOR SO MANY THINGS THAT MADE ME FEEL LIKE PART OF A BADLY ORDERED PUZZLE. BUT IN TIME, I REALIZED IT WAS NOT OKAY TO BE OVERLY CRITICAL OF MY LATE BENEFACTOR. FELISTER WAS AN ANGEL TO SOME AND A DEVIL TO OTHERS!

I FIGURED THAT GETTING US ACROSS THE BORDER WAS GOING TO BE TRICKIER THIS TIME.

THE MEXICAN BORDER IS ONE OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE PLACES. BUT ALSO ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS. USUALLY THE MERCHANDISE TRAVELED TO PHOENIX ARIZONA AS THE SONORA DESERT, WHICH WAS IN MEXICAN TERRITORY, WAS ALSO CONDUCIVE TO DRUG TRAFFICKING. TUCSON, YOU COULD SAY, WAS ALSO PART OF THE ROUTE, BUT WE COULDN'T STAY THERE AS MANY OF THE PEOPLE KNEW ME. THERE WERE A LOT OF FORMER FELISTER ASSOCIATES THERE. IT WOULDN'T HAVE DONE ME ANY GOOD IF ANY OF THEM HAD BAD MEMORIES OF ME.

I HAD HEARD THAT SOME OF THE MOST BRUTAL KILLERS, DESTROYED THE BODIES OF THE INCONVENIENT IN BARRELS OF ACID. BUT STILL, WE WERE ON AMERICAN SOIL. THE LAWS OF CIVILIZATION WERE AT WORK HERE!

AND THE IDEA OF A DRUG DISTRIBUTION ZONE WAS HARDLY A COMPLETE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM EITHER.

DON'T ASK ME HOW THE CORRUPT CUSTOMS OFFICIALS MISSED US BECAUSE THAT'S