Читать книгу In still water - Райса Каримбаева - Страница 3

The tormented unfortunate woman was chained and hung from a damp, moldy wall in a dark, closed stirring. Being in a semi-faint state all this time, she began to come to her senses. Her whole body ached, bleeding. Cuts and abrasions made themselves felt. In her eyes there was complete horror from what was happening. She wanted to scream so hard to break this oppressive, gloomy silence, to scream to wake up, to escape from the clutches of the sticky nightmare, because everything that happened to her seemed like a wild dream, a fiction, unlike the truth. She screamed as loudly as she could, but her scream got stuck somewhere deep in her throat, and only a soft, stifled wheeze came out through the dirty, disgusting-smelling rag that was bandaged around her mouth. She jerked, trying to free herself from the chains, but the chains were strong, and the shackles severely chafed her delicate, snow-white arms and legs, not spoiled by backbreaking work. Thin as a reed, in a dress torn to shreds, she was like a feather grass, swaying in the direction of a strong, stormy wind, dangerous for her, capable of tearing her out of the ground by the roots and carrying her away.

Suddenly footsteps were heard behind the wall. She again tried to scream, calling for help, swaying even more and beating against the wall to which she was attached, but when the heavy iron door boiled open with a screeching sound and through the bright, painful light she saw her tormentor, she shrank with fear, trying to run away into the darkness, into the very depths and hide.

Entering, he fumbled for the switch and a dim little honey lit up a small basement-type room in which here and there hefty, impudent, unafraid white rats were running around. Taking a bloody ax that was lying in the corner, he went up to her before she could scream with one blow and cut off her head. The head rolled like a soccer ball, and red hot blood poured from the open wound like a fountain. Sucking on it, he began to greedily drink it, as they drink life-giving water during thirst in the desert. His face instantly lost its human essence, began to look more and more like the face of an animal, covered with thick, black hair, and from the grown wolf’s mouth, … fangs appeared. Grabbing the body with them, he tore it to shreds, greedily eating it and making disgusting sounds like a champ. Having satisfied his insatiable hunger, he felt his heart suddenly pinch, and wiping away a tear… threw the rest of the meat… to the rats. Sensing food, they ran from all corners to the center of the room and gathered a whole horde of greedy rats, which surrounded him, running around in blood-splattered clothes. he lovingly took them off, kissed, admired, calling them by female names. Each rat had its own name. And if for others, they seemed the same, then for him they were completely different personalities and shook their character. Here, the rat, the one that hid in the dark and stuck out only its nose, very shy and timid, nicknamed Masha, and that graceful one in dazzling white and with black big buttons-eyes – Magdalena. She is very fond of music. And he always plays his violin for her, but not now. Now is dinner time. And you can’t be late for it under any pretext.

Having played enough with all his horde of rats, he took off his bloody clothes and, putting on a clean, expensive three-piece frock coat, left the room, not forgetting to turn off the light.