Читать книгу A little time to enjoy eternity - - Страница 7

Inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale, then faster, faster, even

faster. Reana woke up and sat up in bed. It wasn

’t bad, but it was also restless. It seemed that something was wrong. The girl

got up, went to the kitchen and drank cold water. I lay

back down. I couldn’t sleep. Hot. Opened – cold. I rolled

over on my pillow – it was hot. I slid down to the floor – ho-

lodno. She sat up, leaning her back against the bed. Sleep was gone with

everything, I wanted to get up and run somewhere far away, right

into the night haze.

Reana threw on a long button-down shirt and

went downstairs. Turning on the TV, she quickly ran through 25

channels and, not finding anything interesting for herself, turned it off.-

I found him and stood by the window. She was always drawn somewhere, always

feeling that she had to do something

important and necessary right now, but what exactly —

did not occur to her.

She was looking up at the dark sky, trying to remember

if she had forgotten something, when she saw

that a meteorite had fallen into the garden. Or a comet. Or something else.

It gave off a bluish light, but she couldn’t see

what it was. There was only a flash, and then she

heard a thud. Right in her garden, just a few

steps away.

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Reana had always wanted to find a meteorite, so her

first thought was to find it. And the fact that he fell very

close to her made her so happy that she forgot about everything:»

This is such an incredible event! I will have my own space kuso-

check! I can go to exhibitions with it if it

’s big enough. Running,

knocking over a stool that got in her way, she rushed into the

corridor, pulled on her sneakers and jacket, and ran out through the veranda

into the garden.

When she opened the door and jumped down two steps

at a time, the girl suddenly stopped. Exiting the do-

As she stared into the darkness, for a few moments she could see

nothing but the foliage of the lush garden shrubs.

«And why didn’t I bring a flashlight or smartphone to

dedicate? I won’t find anything, she thought.

But his eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness.

She saw a man lying on the lawn and froze.

There was a rustle to the right as another one came around the corner. A dark-

haired man in a light shirt was dragging his right leg

and holding on to the fence. It was hard to see the details in the moonlight and

the dim streetlamp, but it was pretty

creepy.

The man was getting closer and closer, about three meters away,

and then he said her name and some words. At first Reana

didn’t understand, but he repeated it again, and it seemed to her that it

was a request for help. The last words began to echo strangely

in my head, then all over my body. The hands

rose of their own accord and stretched out, and

streams of glowing green smoke flew from the tips of the fingers

,flew to the stranger, wrapped around him, and then disappeared.

Her hands were obedient again. Reana

looked at them in surprise, as if hoping to read an explanation

for what had happened, but there was nothing there. Ordinary palms

with a nearly healed cut from a stationery knife and a smudge

of ink.

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The man looked up from the fence and patted his right

leg.

He was no longer limping, but walked over to the ground

and looked at Reana:

– I actually thought you’d start with him.»

After a few seconds of stupor, the girl also went to the second one.

She had never seen

so much blood near him in her life.

What should I do? – What is it? «she asked

in an agitated voice.

«I don’t know,» the stranger said, and spread his hands. —

Cure him. And preferably as soon as possible!

Reana crouched down to examine the wounded man and thought that

she should probably run to call an ambulance, but suddenly her hand was

drawn like a magnet to the spot just above where

the black arrow had pierced her chest. Once again, the greenish light

began to sparkle and sparkle around the

unconscious man. His broken arm

took shape, something snapped, the bone snapped

back into place, the blood and scratches disappeared from his face and clothes,

and he breathed more deeply and evenly, but the arrow remained

where it was. Reana snatched her hand away.

– It doesn’t work! – No, «she said. «We need to remove this!» she

gripped the black shaft with both hands.

«Wait!» The stranger shouted at her, but it was

too late.

Reana couldn’t help but scream. She jumped

back and looked at her hands – which were covered with red blisters

,as if she had grabbed a pot of boiling water. But then

green light streamed out of her hands, illuminating the garden, and the

burn marks disappeared as if nothing had happened, except for the strip of old

cut that continued to turn pink on the side.

Reana ran back to the wounded man. As luck would have it, it started

to rain.

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«We should probably take him inside,»

she said.

«No, we can’t go to the hospital,» the stranger told her,»

at least not until we have a chance

to sort this out.»

He picked up

the man lying on the ground with no effort at all, carried him across the verandah into the house

,and laid him on the sofa.

– At least there’s something left, «he muttered under

his breath as he passed the veranda, and then said to Reana,

«I’ll put the arrow away, don’t touch it.»

He picked up a cloth napkin from the table, wrapped it around his arm

,and snapped off the back of the arrow. Then

he lifted the wounded man off the pillow, yanked the arrow

out of his body, and threw it far into the corner of the room. The wreckage

they hissed and melted away. Blood spurted from the hole in his chest

,and Reana ran to him, putting her hand on his arm.

above the wound and closed her eyes.

A queasy, unpleasant feeling

came over her, as if she had been seasick on a train. It seemed that she herself

was being dragged down by an unknown force, pulled

inside this man, and that there was no air to breathe

,but after a couple of minutes it was all over. She let out an exhausted sigh

and lowered her head. The man on the couch took a deep breath.

He was asleep. Not a trace

of the terrible wound remained on his chest.

– Are you all right?» The dark – haired stranger

nudged Reana’s shoulder.

«Yes, yes, I’m fine,» she said, looking up

. – Or rather, what is in order there! her voice grew louder

. – What’s going on?» Who are you? What am I doing?

This is some kind of nonsense, I don’t understand!

The man took a few steps back

and forth across the room.

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«You know,» he said pointedly,»I

don’t understand it myself yet. But all that’s clear is that

the three of us» – and he pointed to Reana, the sleeping man, and himself-

«are in some terrible and dangerous scrape, and we

’d better stick together and keep a low profile.

We’ll wait until this one wakes up – " the stranger pointed with some

hostility at the man lying on the sofa. —

Maybe he knows what’s going on…

The guest tore the remnants of his torn tie from his neck and

tossed them on the floor, then continued to pace

thoughtfully.

Reana stared at him, batting her

lashes. «I got into trouble. It’s scary, it’s very scary

.I’m stupid, I can’t get into trouble. It’s not going to end

well.»

The stranger suddenly saw the bottle

through the transparent door of the sideboard. «May I?» —

What is it? «he asked, pointing to it.

«Yes, of course,» Reana said. «Please don’t

get too drunk, because I don’t know what to do,»

and I thought,«What nonsense I’m talking.»

Mentally berating herself for being naive, she went to kuh-

nu for a drink.

– I don’t get drunk at all!» A voice answered

as Reana entered the kitchen. «Alcohol just

calms me down. A little bit.

When she returned with a shot glass, she saw that the guest had already

settled into a chair, his feet propped up on the coffee table,

right on the white lace napkins, sipping cognac

from his throat. He took the proffered glass and set

it on the table beside him. Then he patted his chest.

«Holy shit, I lost my phone,» he said, and smiled.

She forced a smile in return:

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– Can I give you mine? If you need

to make a phone call somewhere…

– Not yet, thank you. I need to think about it,»

the visitor said, and took another swig from the bottle.

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