Читать книгу Crossroads: The Beginning After the End - - Страница 7

The wind was howling outside the murky windows. Its gusts made not only one old door creak and sway, but it seemed that the whole «mill» creaked and swayed. From somewhere behind the walls came the howling of unknown creatures, creatures of the night, and inside, curled up, a man slept peacefully. The door swung open once more, allowing the light glow of the fireplace to take a few inches of the night’s darkness. Then it swung again, trying to return to its original position, but this time something held it back. The cause was the long, black, charcoal-burned fingers of an unknown creature. It gingerly pushed aside the dilapidated barrier and stepped onto the creaking floorboards. The creature’s entire body was black in color and covered with the same charcoal growths as its fingers. It moved on four limbs, occasionally stopping and crouching on its massive hind legs. Its head was covered in growths, hairless, with no dedicated organs for breathing, hearing, or speech. It was held up by a powerful neck that transitioned into a broad black back.

The creature walked around the perimeter of the room, then stopped at the fireplace. The artificial flames playing in the darkness attracted him. The flames were bright, with rich reds and ginger. It danced, frolicking, without fatigue. This dance captured the attention of the night viewer so much that he lost his alertness and did not hear the old hinge of the door give way. The door fell to the dusty floor with a deafening slam. The sound, followed by the movement of someone alive in the chair, startled the creature. It jumped back into the shadows and lurked.

Adam felt exhausted. He heard something hit the floor, but the fatigue was such that even if the cannonade had rumbled here, it would not have made him open his eyes. He was still warm and cozy. He rolled over onto his side, not having the slightest thought that he was not the only one living in the old mill.

The wind outside the walls had picked up. Its fierce gusts blew warmth through the opening, making him shiver and shudder. Adam dreamed dreams. They troubled his mind as much as the cold stirred his body. Unable to fight both any longer he opened his eyes. The tongues of flame were still frolicking on the old screen, but at this moment they were somehow boring. The man stretched and sat up. Heavy thoughts settled in his head. He wondered where he was, tried to find explanations for the colorful grass and the widespread desolation. Even this house in the guise of an old mill, after all, people had once lived in it and lived well. Why had they abandoned it, how could anyone ever bring their house to such a terrible state?

In the kitchen, in the darkness, something came into motion. At first Adam didn’t pay much attention to the creaking floorboards, but when the sound came closer, the man turned around.

Something from his nightmares appeared before him. It crawled slowly toward him, its whole body pressed against the floor. There were no eyes, no mouth, no nose, but instead a solid black cloth covered with growths. His heart shuddered. Adam staggered, stumbled and fell. The creature’s long limbs seemed to be reaching for him. A little longer, they would grab his leg and drag him to the underworld. There was no doubt about the latter. Only the children of hell could have such a visage, only they could inspire such terror. His hand fumbled for a chair leg, his fingers clenched on it. The chair soared into the air and flew in the creature’s direction, but the creature jumped back and shrieked. It was the most terrifying sound. Goosebumps ran down his spine, his heart hammered in the corner of the rib cage and pounded as if it were trying to break through it, to jump out of his chest and escape.

Adam didn’t remember running out of the house. He was a hundred yards away when he first turned around. The silhouette of the creature, illuminated by the glow of the fireplace, was visible in the doorway. It stood on its hind limbs, and if it could look, it would stare after him. A leap, and the darkness of the night concealed its charcoal-black body.

The new dose of fear added strength, and the muscles tensed again. There was no room in his head for thoughts; there was a voice there. It kept repeating the same thing: «Run, run even faster! As far away as possible! Anywhere, as long as it’s faster and farther!».

Grass and earth crumpled beneath his feet, rocks flying into the darkness from brief encounters with his boots. Adam ran as he had never run before. He ran from fear, from the night, from death itself, whose breath he could feel at his back. He slowed down only when the frequent breathing began to make him dizzy. His lungs ached from lack of oxygen, his body burned, his temples throbbed. Even the voice in his head had lost its former strength and now, if it spoke, it was a whisper, asking rather than demanding. His body, already exhausted to the limit, was taking what little was left of its last resources.

There were no signs of pursuit, though Adam could easily have missed them. He couldn’t trust his eyes; they were too poor at seeing in the dark. He felt in his heart that danger was close at hand and kept walking away from it. What was he doing this for, what was he raping himself and his body for? He was doing it because he had to. He had to survive now, survive after, get out to civilization and show everyone what he could do. And then to tell Annet that he loved her, to send away the ungrateful job and to go away, as he and his wife had planned – to the sea. Everything else didn’t matter, everything else was too much pressure.

As luck would have it, the path became more difficult. The scarlet-colored grass, distinguishable even in the night, had grown larger and thicker, and there was more and more small growth. The exhausted feet stumbled more often than before. It was hard to tell whether they were dragging the body behind them or dragging themselves behind it. How much time had passed, much or little, Adam did not know. The forest around them appeared, as if by itself, in an instant. The wind pushed the branches of the trees together, humming and howling the soulful song of his cursed days. Along with the howl came an odor. A subtle, barely perceptible odor of hope-the smell of human food. Through the sparse growth, he spotted the flicker of a campfire. There were people there, quite definitely. Here it was – civilization, and not in its ideal form! He was saved, all that remained was to get there and not to scare away the tourists.

The fire was only ten meters away. His eyes already recognized the body of the man sleeping beside it, two huge backpacks and camping utensils left on the rocks by the fire. Suddenly, something blunt and hard hit him in the head. Circles ran before the eyes, and after them came darkness. His body collapsed and fell on a soft blanket of forest moss.