Читать книгу Rebirth - Dmitry Nazarov - Страница 14

Riera’s cell phone blared «Rammstein,» and he was engaged in a rather strange conversation most of the way to my house. If he’d been some random man I’d met, I’d have thought he was just being dumb, trying to act like a dangerous «kinda-cool» guy, using phrases like «graze the object» or «copy me all his moves. But I had a chance to make sure that the danger he posed was real, and he didn’t give a damn about me, so it wasn’t about showing off. The way he talked freely in front of me about something that seemed to be about crime, and the fact that he didn’t bother to blindfold me or in any way prevent me from knowing where this «gathering place» was, was like an extra poke in the nose at how little time I had been given. And it was starting to swirl a new vortex of anger in my mind, and I was feeding it, because without it, I had a good chance of deflating and becoming just a whiny, self-pitying girl. But it was too soon to cry for me; I was still very much alive. And then there wouldn’t be anyone else. But I wasn’t going to think about that, either.

He parked his SUV brazenly-almost under the front porch, and I knew exactly how many curses he’d get from my neighbors for that.

– You know, I’d move the car, or I’d get a nasty nail in it,» I said, hissing at first from the burning sensation in my stiff wrists that Ri’er had finally released.

– You could. You can find a suicide bomber by the scent, and you can tear off his naughty hands and shove them up his ass. I’m not you, baby. – Damn, he’s really pissing me off with that «baby.»

– My name is Aurora

– And my name is fearsome pussycat. – He said in a grave voice as he opened his door. – Button up your jacket. Don’t shake your tits, we don’t have time for your filthy needs right now.

– I don’t need to walk the streets naked to find someone to satisfy my, as you put it, ’baser needs,» but apparently you’re used to dealing with girls who attract men’s attention that way?

– You shouldn’t be so angry that you’re not one of the ladies who can interest me sexually,» he snorted as he entered the staircase first. – You’ll get wrinkles before you know it, and you’ll look like a prune.

– I like prunes,» I mumbled as I noticed the two guys who lived one floor above me in front of the elevator. They glanced up, and then stared straight ahead. I bet I looked like a car wreck victim. Not that I cared what they thought after what had happened, but it made me uncomfortable, and I shuddered.

The elevator doors opened with a clang, and Ri’er unceremoniously shoved the guys away, shoving me in the back at the same time. My poor ribs protested violently.

– It is healthier to walk! – He told them defiantly, and they were frightened by his heavy stare and retreated obediently.

– Can you be more careful? – I hissed in the cabin.

On my door found two paper, pasted stripes with stamps, which indicated that the apartment was sealed by the police. Apparently, one of the neighbors had called the authorities on the night of my kidnapping, and they had found the door with a broken lock and no mistress, so they marked it. When I tore off the paper, the door just flew open, and I swore, realizing that, obviously, the locks were in total disrepair, and even the handle with the latch was jammed, which meant that I was left with a courtyard of passageways instead of my apartment. I hurried inside, fully expecting to be knocked around in time, because who could stop a stupid strip of paper on the glue? I didn’t bother inviting Rair. I didn’t want to see him in my house at all, but I had no doubt that he would invite himself.

– Bars! – I called out, glancing around. – «Barse, my little brat, where are you?

But the answer was silence, and nowhere was the cat observed. I whirled, spitting at the pain of every movement, rushed through the apartment, looking into every crevice and nook, a place where Bars liked to sleep, but nowhere to find it. My throat was tight and the tears came. After all I’d had to endure, the disappearance of my cat was what threatened to crush me. Because… well, shit! The leopard was the last living thing I truly cared about. After Dad’s death and the total failure of trying to establish any communication with my half-brother and sister from his first family, I had no one left. Oleg, with whom we had lived side by side for six months out of the seven months of our so-called affair, and who I had once considered as a candidate for something in the long run, had never really managed to become someone dear and close to me.

– Stop fidgeting, pussycat! – Rayer shooed me back, sniffing and looking around. – The cat’s got away from you. And you ain’t got no man, neither. Can’t you live with a temper like that?

I turned back to the unfeeling brute, clenching my fists and squinting viciously to keep my tears from spilling. He stared back at me intently, and, I would say, with a kind of gusto, crooked in his arrogant grin. As if he was expecting my inevitable violent reaction as entertainment. Like I was some kind of mouse in a glass jar that he was poking with a stick, wanting to see how it would behave. And that sobered me up a bit. I wasn’t about to become the source of his perverse amusement. Ri’er raised an eyebrow, realizing that I didn’t intend to throw myself at him, and sniffed as if to say, «Okay, not this time.

– I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that we’re not going back to my place yet,» he said as he looked around my apartment. – If we’re going to track down this mass-entertainer for the next few days anyway, what’s the point of going out of town? So get in the shower and wash up, because you smell awful!

– I don’t recall inviting you to stay,» I snapped.

– Rule one, poops. I’m, shall we say, your acting alpha now, no matter how much I hate it. Which means you can’t argue with or challenge any of my decisions, and everything that’s yours is mine now!

– Roll up your lip!

– Don’t worry about it. I don’t need your khrushevoi for good,» he snorted. – And why are you so fuming? You might not need it anytime soon.

– You can’t wait for that moment, can you? – I grumbled, grabbing my things from the closet and pushing past him, who was stuck in the doorway, toward the bathroom.

– I didn’t really care! – He didn’t move, forcing me to squeeze through, and immediately grabbed my elbow. – Hold it right there!

I walked forward and opened the bathroom door, just took the latch on the inside and went inside. Quickly and carefully he went through all the cabinets, shoveling their contents into the sink, and even looked under the tub under my astonished gaze. He gathered up what he’d pulled out in a towel and jabbed his finger at the mirror.

– You try to smash and cut yourself, and I’ll show you that all the bad guys you’ve met today are just yuppies. – His voice sounded harsh this time, as if pressing into my brain. An unequivocal order that I wanted to unconditionally obey, and yet everything inside was rebelling against the pressure.

– Do you think I’m stupid enough to take my own life? – I snapped.

– You’re a woman! – he said, as if that explained everything, coming out of the bathroom.

– If I were you, I’d be more afraid I’d stab you with something sharp than I was of stabbing myself. – I tried to close the door, but Ri’er held it open.

– It wouldn’t do you any good to get rid of me.

– I’d wager it wouldn’t. It worked on that creep that tried to eat me, didn’t it? – I glared up at him defiantly. – Apparently, if you’re stabbed hard enough, you lose your appetite.

– You mean you were able to fight off a werewolf in animal form on your own? – Now Ri’er was looking at me, seemingly with real curiosity, devoid of a hint of mockery.

– No, I asked him politely to back off. And he obeyed. You know, good parenting is so powerful. You should try it. – I tried to close again, and this time he let me.

I stood there for a minute, staring at my reflection in the mirror of discord. Yeah, I looked terrible. I unbuttoned my jacket, looking at the places where the bandages had been bandaged twenty-four hours ago. The wounds were just pale pink streaks and dots in the skin. She stared into the eyes of her reflection, recognizing herself and looking for differences at the same time. There had to be some. Because, apparently, I was no longer the old Aurora, but something else. Now that I was finally left in at least a conditional solitude, the realization of everything began to overwhelm me. Who was I now, why did everything have to happen to me, was I really only days left to live. And where had my Bars gone?! I felt an endless pity for myself, for my life, for my lost humanity, for my home, which had always been my fortress and shelter, but now had been taken over by an insolent intruder who entertained himself by making fun of me. Hurriedly, I turned on the hot water, climbed into the shower stall, and only then allowed myself to soften. Clamping my mouth shut and squeezing my eyes shut, I stifled silent sobs, reliving every moment of pain and fear I’d experienced and letting myself openly panic about what was to come. Of course, when I came out, my swollen nose and red eyes would give me up to Ri’er. But in those moments, I didn’t care about the new taunts. I had to let the huge suffocating lump out of me somehow, or it would tear me from the inside out. When I opened my eyes at one point, I froze, choking on a sob, because I saw a large, dark silhouette through the foggy barrier of glass. Ri’er, and it was definitely him, was squatting against the bathroom wall, and no doubt he could hear exactly what was happening to me, no matter how much I stifled the noises I was making. The hysteria was instantly gone, and I tensed up, waiting for some quip that he would not fail to utter. But instead he tilted his head sideways, probably still listening, and half a minute later he got up and slipped out of the bathroom entirely silently. It was only when I was relieved that I was leaning against the wall and calming my breathing more or less, that his loud voice, with its usual cynical, mocking notes, came from behind the door:

– If you’re done soaking and feeling sorry for yourself miserable, get out and cook us something to eat!

– You bastard! – I muttered to myself.

– I can hear you!