Chapter II
Incision
They say that on that day numerous disastrous natural phenomena occurred in different universes: tsunami, hurricanes, supernovas…
Balance Chronicles
Book III: Catastrophes
Dmitry Kiperov
A paper was spread before me, where I had to write a kind of essay on the subject of Character of Raskolnikov in “Crime and Punishment”. I hated literature classes in general and essays in particular, since my teacher wanted template phrases, and I desired to speak my own thoughts, rather than someone else’s. I mean, rather than hers. On the bright side, at home I could dive into the Internet and copy-paste some stuff, that would satisfy her, which would ease my suffering. Still I was irritated for no apparent reason: even tic-tocing of the clock across the room was getting on my nerves.
“First there was Word”, - I thought. I was rolling the phrase on my tongue, trying to figure out if it will suit the introductory piece. Being unable to find anything better in my head, I took up the pen. As soon as “F” was written my doorbell rang. I went to check on it, but did not see anyone in the speakerphone, although, as soon as I headed back to writing – another ring. All I could see in speakerphone was just the door across mine. Same thing with the peephole.
I thought it was neighbor boy from apartment above taking the kicks from annoying hard studying (not really) me and decided to straighten him up a bit. He stole papers, set them on fire a few times – he did deserve some “spanking”. I reached to the handle, but after a plop I found myself lying on half a wall of the hall I was standing in, with splinters from wooden door and bent metal door on me. Besides the fractured wall there appeared to be bits and pieces from the bed and mirror.
Thoughts were swimming about, vision was blurry, bones aching. As soon as I thought, that it would be great if nothing was broken pain encircled my chest and I could not even understand whether I was still breathing or not. Through painful haze I felt, like pressure on my chest diminished: a creature, mongrel of gorilla and human, took the metal door off of me and threw it in the direction of the balcony. Another creature slapped the first one and they started arguing in some strange language full of hissing and snarling sounds.
In a daze I was examining these creatures that looked like brothers somehow. Both were dressed in same military uniform with knives in each of the jackboots. One of them was tall and with narrow shoulders; the other one was stooping, as if a retired lifetime loader, who can’t unbend himself. Both had ashen skin covered by short fur. Only the monkey-like faces were covered by out of place reptile-like scales.
When their argument had ceased, both stared at me. The taller one (to myself I called him Croag, playing on his croaking-like voice) asked his “brother” something (whom I called Creag, since he was creaking like an old door, which did not fit his appearance). Creag looked at him with silent question on his face. Croag shook his head, raised his huge paw-like hand and from a ring on his index finger a lilac spark ran flew towards me, but was intercepted by a light green one, sent by Creag. Their arguments started anew.
“I need to stop lying around and do something” – I thought to myself and tried to get up. Lightning of pain passed through my left knew and I whimpered. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, trying to stop pulsation in the hurt knee, which was burning through my nerves. Through the pain I heard one of the creatures coming up to me. I raised my head, a smirking monkey glaring at me. A fist replaced it and I was knocked out with just a quick thought, that now my nose was broken as well.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
I woke up in a room the size of a small bathroom, lying on a cold floor with something rattling underneath. I felt numb, but as soon as I tried to stand up the feeling of my body returned and I found the weight of chains. I tried to get left hand out from under the chain pressing it against my right hand, but as soon as I heard crackling, I backed out. Despite the cold floor, the room felt stuffy and sweat was pouring all over me. I was thirsty.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
The wall before me (or rather before my legs) literally disappeared into thin air. A frail old man stood in the doorway. He was stooping and in the bleak light from the hall I saw two metal dowels coming out of his back. He was limping with some metallic noise and his mouth with zipped tight. Literally – with a zipper.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
Old man hanged over me with his brown tired eyes looking into mine. He looked away as if listening to something. Then he passed his hand over a bulged vein on the other and I saw him taking out a syringe from it. He stab me in the neck with it and then…
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
After a few more hours (or days?) of sleep I woke up from feeling the chains being pulled off of me. I opened my eyes and saw one of those gorilla-like creatures (I think it was Creag). He was untying the chains as if they were simple threads. When finished, he took me by shoulders and put me on my feet. He pushed me to the hall, which turned out to be a room absolutely different from the previous one: spacious, high ceiling almost three times my height, walls painted white, which was blinding me after a dark room. Near one of the wall there was a table, full-metal one, which looked like a surgery table. Assortment of tools was lying on it, and those tools also seemed like the ones, that could be used by a doctor. Besides syringes, knives and pincers there was a set of flasks, some were empty, but some were filled with colorful liquids.
The old man that came to me before was standing at that table, occupied by the tools and flasks. When Croag and Creag entered the room after me, I looked back and instead of a door saw monolith wall. When I turned, the old man was standing right in front of me. He did not have the zipper on his lips and was wearing a monocle. He checked my pupils with a flashlight, nodded in satisfaction and returned to the table to take a syringe. I stepped back from him, but strong grip of a gorilla changed my mind. A needled pierced my neck and through the fog I was able to hear a metallic voice coming from the old man, saying to take me away.
I woke up to the cold of the stone floor. Looking around I saw stalactites – I was in some kind of cave, in one end of which I saw a blinking light and in the other… A whole frigging army. Probably a hundred, if not more, of creatures in masks (I doubt that any face underneath was human one) had me on point of different guns: some were quite familiar and mundane, but some were as if from a sci-fi novel. Those guns did make me realize, that I had only one way to go – to the light.
The floor of the cave turned out to be quite smooth, as if it was not natural stone, but rather asphalt. I think it took me about an hour to get to the light, which turned out to be a huge fire setup near the right wall of the cave. It was so hot, that I thought I’ll start to melt near it, so I hurried past it, but for quite some time it continued lighting my way, but in the end I ended up in total darkness. I felt like the floor curved a bit and started to go down. At some point, out of fear of a more significant curve, I decided to crawl forward, instead of walking – there may be a hole on the Earth soon for what I cared.
At some point my hand got into a puddle of what I hoped to be water. I cursed. When I got my hand out of it I realized, that I can see a blue-ish flickering light in that puddle. I raised my head and, yes, there it was, the light far ahead. I could see the rode a bit clearer now thanks to the light and the fact that my eyes adapted to the dark. I started walking again. In fact, at some point I got tired of waiting for something to happen and I started running. And then rolling after some rock got under my foot. The more I rolled the bumpier the road became with some stones being quite sharp. In the end my jeans and gray t-shirt with small red dragon on it were torn here and there, as was my skin. Bruises were aching, but at least it did not seem like I had any broken bones, which brought me to realization, that someone must have healed my ribs before.
Before me spread a place of awe. A great hall made of stone blocks, graven right in the cave’s walls. Along the round wall – lots of torches with blue fire, as if they were using natural gas as fuel, but perhaps a bit lighter in tone and it did not seem like they were giving off any heat. Right before me and to the sides there were waterfalls, the water from which gathered in a circle in the center of the hall. Inside the circle the water split to fill in a pentagram. And in the pentagram there was the most strange and amazing creature I ever saw. Well, at least, at that moment.
The creature was the size of at least ten men, had redish skin with bulging muscles. Round face with ears like an elf’s, eagle like nose, flat lips and dark-violet eyes with no eyebrows above them. It had 6 arms, 4 of which were chained down to points of the pentagram. Fifth chain coming out of the pentagram’s point right in front of me was attached to a choker on creature’s neck.
I remember how I stepped towards the creature pushed by curiosity. After that, though… Just a blur of blood, water, fire and mud. In fact, I remembered that cave only recently. And I do intend to learn what happened there.