“What are you most afraid of?”
“Lose my voice. Because the voice is my strength.”
(from Rina's interview for ‘Rock & Roll’ portal)
Nikolai watched Rina go, thinking that he had to leave today. Otherwise, this barefoot ‘bird’ with disheveled braids will turn out for him what Jaguar warned against - vulnerable spot, a sore point.
Rina closed the door, and Nikolai put the ringing phone to his ear.
“Yes, Lev?”
“Did I wake you up?”
“No. I've been up for a long time.”
“That's what I thought. I'm here about your request. Yana and I went to those places, took a walk…”
Jaguar was brief and didn’t tell anything new: twenty years ago the village was deserted because the inhabitants were resettled for some reason. Lev walked along the deserted street that divided the town into two parts, looked into one of the open houses, looked from the bridge at the dried-up river and didn’t notice anything strange.
“But here's what's interesting!” led Jaguar to what he called for. “I found out this already through my own channels. Shortly before the residents were settled, a Russian, a certain Eugenie Sitsov, came to the village. It turns out he served in the same unit as your father. Check everything, Kolya.”
“I'll check."
He wanted to ask Lev a lot of questions, but it's hardly convenient right now. He would like to meet in person! Jaguar's help would be more useful than ever - with his experience and acquaintances.
“What have you got there?” as if Lev guessed his thoughts.
“I have the corpse of the customer, shit and… tea!”
Nkolai again squinted at the half-closed door, behind which Rina disappeared.
“Tea?” Jaguar was surprised. “You're supposed to be having coffee, aren't you?”
“That's the point!”
“I don't understand anything,” Lev gave up. “I'm flying in two days. Will you make it out?”
“I will!”
At parting, Nikolai asked to say hello to Yana and say that she bakes unrealistically delicious pies.
He lingered in the courtyard for a while longer, deciding what to do next. In a good way, it was worth returning to the capital right now, finding out everything about Sitsov and helping with the organization of Gennadiy Sergeevich's funeral. The police contacted the colonel's adult daughter. But Gennadiy Sergeevich meant a lot to Nikolai, so helping his family is a matter of honor. Only, looking at his car, Nikolai hesitated for some reason. And it wasn't a question of whether he could stand the road now, but that he wanted to stay here for at least another day.
Squinting, he looked at the clear sky and smiled, thinking that the silence and tranquility of today is the merit of the vociferous ‘element caster’. And then, realizing that he stayed for a long time, he returned to the house.
“I think we should learn absolutely everything about these anomalous zones!” Yura ranted, pacing around the kitchen and ruffling his already standing on end curls. “If necessary, then go around them.”
“Why?” Vika asked evenly. Despite the early hour and not spending the night at home, she looked as flawless as in the office. Vika changed out of her pajamas into her own clothes, but she didn't put on her shoes, so she moved around the kitchen noiselessly, like a cat.
“How - why?” Yura was surprised, pausing in front of the refrigerator. “First of all, it's interesting! Secondly, if it is confirmed that something like this is being wrapped up in these places, then it will be necessary to warn residents about the danger. If only one creature managed to slash your boss like that, then imagine what a whole army of such monsters will do to people?”
Nikolai involuntarily shuddered at the word ‘army’, but not because this word reminded him of the military past, but because he imagined the scale of disasters. His arm, already aching, ached even more, and he wrapped his good arm around it and stroked it over the bandages. Rina noticed this and frowned. But she kept silent and returned to her occupation - toasting slices of bread in a frying pan.
“Kolya, what do you think?” Vika turned to him.
“I think we should have breakfast. And then to thank the hostess for her hospitality and…”
“Wait, wait!” Yura was indignant and turned sharply to him. “How to ‘thank’? That is, it is necessary to thank Rina, of course, but that's not what I'm talking about. Do you think we should leave after breakfast?”
“And you decided to register with Rina? Don't forget that we came to her without warning. She not only endured us anyway, but also fed us and arranged for us to spend the night.”
“It was a joy to me. Stay as long as you need,” Rina hastily responded, and something like a plea flashed in her dark eyes. “Especially since you are not quite well yet. Not healthy at all, that is.”
“I feel fine…”
“It's very noticeable from your distorted face! I can see that your arm hurts,” she cut him off and turned away, as if angry.
“Kolya,” Vika called softly to him. “Rina is right. I've never seen you so pale and exhausted. We won't let you drive like this. Unless you decide to return to Moscow with Yura, and leave your car here…”
With these words, Vika calmly put her finger in her mouth and licked the stuck bread crumbs from it. Yura said that, of course, he would give everyone a lift to the capital, but he would prefer to stay here a little longer. And, intercepting Rina's encouraging smile, he opened the refrigerator and busily announced that the toast for breakfast could be with an omelette, could be with fresh tomatoes and herbs, or just with butter and cheese. Nikolai could only marvel at how they all got used to it.
At breakfast Yura again started talking about the study of anomalous zones. He couldn't sit still, he wanted to go somewhere and look for sensations.
“Are you going North?” Nikolai sneered. “I'll give you the coordinates.”
Yura replied that for the sake of the cause he was ready to rush not only to the North, but also to the South Pole. But then Nikolai will have to temporarily shelter Shusha at home.
“Your Shusha has a tarnished reputation. Who's going to take him in now? Well, to hell with you! The nearest zone from here is fifty kilometers away.”
“Oh! Fifty is about nothing! I'll go after breakfast! And you wait here. Rina can't shine a face, you look like a dead man, zombies will take you for their own and drag you away. And I'll quickly go back and forth, take pictures, and talk to the people. I can even talk to a mute!”
“Vik, will you go with him?” Nikolai turned to his assistant.
He didn't trust this journalist, even though he tried to show friendliness in every possible way: he cooked and made a damn good joke. But Nikolai felt that Yura was just talking to everyone's teeth.
“Yeah,” Vila replied, but by the way her hand trembled holding the toast with cheese and tomatoes, Nikolai realized that the assistant did not like the task. “But I need to change into something comfortable,” Vika added. “Is there any clothing store or market here?”
“The market,” Rina answered and explained in detail how to get there.
“So we'll go there first,” Yura concluded cheerfully. “At the same time we will buy village products! I'll look for a good tenderloin to make a barbecue! Juicy, fragrant, mmm! Rina, do you have skewers?”
“From where?” she asked with a smile.
“So I'll buy it too! I'll make you such a kebab that you'll eat it together with the skewers!
“Aren't you too settled in here? Shish kebab…” Nikolai grumbled.
“And what? You said to yourself that you need to thank Rina for her hospitality! And how else to do it? And after the study of abnormal zones, such an appetite will play out!”
“If, on the contrary, it doesn't disappear,” Vika objected and nodded with a hint at Nikolai's hand, which he, no longer knowing how to attach, stretched out on the table.
Rina silently got up, left and returned with a package of analgesics.
“By the way, do you know such a city - Tivastopol? Do you have something to do with it?” Yura asked her as she poured water into a glass.
Nikolai froze and, almost hating the nosy journalist for the question, turned his gaze to Rina. But outwardly she was unperturbed. She put a glass of water in front of him, laid out the pills and calmly answered Yura:
“I had a concert there. The audience met very well.”
Yura began, but Vika cut him off.:
“Ready? Let's go! Let's not waste time.”
Yura hastily finished his tea and jumped up after him, pulling the keys out of his pocket as he went.
Nikolai followed the departing car through the window and only after that asked:
“How does he know about Tivastopol and the island?”
“Yura didn't mention the island,” Rina shrugged. “And I mentioned the concert in Tivastopol in an interview.”
But even though she tried to show calm, Nikolai realized that Rina was nervous: she dropped the spoon when she was picking up the dishes from the table, and put the plates in the sink with a sloppy clatter. And she opened the faucet so abruptly that she was doused with water.
“Yes, you're right, he didn't say anything about the island. But I missed what you were talking about before I came.”
“Not a word about Tivastopol and my ability to open and close portals. I told them about Stas. And also about the fact that I saw creatures not only in the river.”
“When did you see them?” Nikolai asked, picking up the remaining cups from the table. “And where?”
“Even before you arrived. There was a strong thunderstorm here, and then fog. And in that fog, terrible creatures ‘swam’, looked into my windows,” Rina replied, starting to wash dishes.
Nikolai silently took a towel and began to grind clean plates.
“Very scary creatures!” Rina continued. “It's like they're trying to break into our parallel, but something is holding them back. According to Gennadiy Sergeevich, it all started before my arrival. There is also talk among the locals about dying animals.”
“I have no doubt that all this started before your arrival. The reason is not you. Gennadiy Sergeevich obviously knew something… only now you can't ask him.”
Nikolai put the last washed cup on the shelf, and Rina took out an envelope and spread out the sheets on a clean table.
“That night when you found Stas at my place, I tried to ‘talk’ to him. This is what he drew in response to my question about how Gennadiy Sergeevich died.”
“Hmm... a bottle?”
“As I understand it, your customer didn’t have heart medicine.”
Nikolai silently put the first drawing on the table and took the sheet with the phone depicted on it.
“And this drawing made me think that Gennadiy Sergeevich felt bad and was walking to the house to ask to call him an ambulance.”
“Or Stas tried to ‘say’ that Gennadiy Sergeevich is your informant!”
“Oh! Exactly… Did he draw Yura and Vika in the park because you met there?”
“Maybe. Or was he trying to warn you about their arrival?”
“Well, whoa, oracle!” Rina admired.
“I am not the oracle here, not but your artist is.”
“There was another drawing - with a scene on the river. Stas depicted everything as it happened later: me on the bridge, a whirlpool with creatures, a man running along the opposite shore… The old man seemed to be trying to warn us about some events!”
“I'd like to talk to him.”
“Okay, but how?” Rina sighed. “I tried, but what's the use…”
“So, we need to send our journalist to him, since Yura boasts that he will talk to a mute!”
Rina laughed loudly, but when she caught Nikolai’s eye, she fell silent and returned to the sheets spread out on the table.
“I am haunted by this paragraph circled in red. Gennadiy Sergeevich didn't mention the story about the deserter recruit to you?”
“Casually,” Nikolai lied, because in fact this case has remained in memory since childhood. “The recruit was found and returned to the unit.”
“And what happened to him next, do you know?”
“No.”
“I see,” sighed Rina, stacked the sheets on the table and went to the window.
Turning away, as if an apple tree had attracted her attention, she hugged herself and thought about something.
“What are you going to do?” Nikolai asked, overcoming a sudden impulse to go up to Rina and hug her - she looked so defenseless right now.
“After you return to Moscow?” she caught the understatement and turned around. “I don't know. Maybe I'll leave. Maybe I'll stay and try… I don't know what I'll try. But I like it here, I like the people I met. And if I can help them in any way, then I will. Your customer overestimated my strength if he expected me to drive through the anomalous zones and close all the portals. But at this point I can try to do something.”
“There are still many details missing in this story,” Nikolai said after a long pause, during which he tried to restrain his indignation at Gennadiy Sergeevich, who, under the guise of helping Rina, dragged her into a dangerous case.
“It's not my war anymore, Nikolai,” she replied wearily.
“Yes. This is not your war.”
“How are you feeling?” Rina changed the subject.
“Better. After painkillers - much better.”
“Svetlana said that you need to lie down. And not to participate… in other people's wars,” Rina nevertheless smiled, moved away from the window and stopped in front of him - deceptively weak, but in fact unbending.
And this combination of crystal fragility and steel hardening in her ‘pierced’ the pain points that he sought to avoid.
“You'd better do as the paramedic told you and get some rest,” she repeated. And she took a step back a moment before Nikolai, yielding to an impulse, would have pulled her to him to look into her eyes, touch her cherry lips with his lips and whisper that that's what the military exists for, even former ones, to protect fragile girls from wars. But Rina retreated, and he didn't say anything. And he followed her into the yard, realizing that she needed a pause. Instead, he pulled the sheets towards him and picked up the phone.
Taking pictures of drawings and text, Nikolai mentally summed up the overall result. And a bad picture was emerging. In several places at once, the line between the parallels thinned so much that the creatures inhabiting them became visible. These monsters have tried to break through here, but so far without success. Although sometimes they almost succeeded. And the fact that these creatures have no peaceful intentions at all was proved by the wounds they inflicted.
Nikolai also thought that Rina couldn’t only open passages between parallels, but also close them. However, she does not have enough strength for a large-scale ‘battle’ right now. Rina didn’t say this, but Nikolai guessed that her abilities depend on emotional uplift or, conversely, anger and fear. Confirmation of this is the island and a successful concert tour. Then Rina had enough energy and strength to close a huge portal and return an entire island to our parallel. Her strength is in singing. But, frightened or angry, she can also do the opposite - open a portal and send enemies to another parallel. Now Rina, deprived of her former life, burned out by betrayal and intimidated, is almost devoid of strength. Maybe that's why she doubts whether she temporarily or permanently closed the ‘gap’ on the river.
Folding the papers into a neat pile, he thought that he needed to work out the clue that Lev had given. In part, Nikolai already understood what had happened to his father and the residents of the garrison. People disappeared in open portals. And, most likely, one of them returned, no longer being human, and killed the remaining ones. It was hard to realize that the father probably knew something, since he decided to urgently move the family to another place. And no matter how much Nikolai hates the idea of new digs in the past, he will have to do it. Because without understanding the causes of that tragedy, it is difficult to prevent new troubles.
He was distracted by the noise of an approaching car. Nikolai still managed to be surprised that Vika and Yura managed quickly. But then the sound of the engine of another car was heard, and then a desperate female scream was heard. Nikolai took off, flew out into the yard and saw two buggers shoving the kicking Rina into the car. It turned out to be nowhere easier for such jocks to cope with a short, thin girl, and Nikolai didn’t even have time to cross part of the yard, as a huge SUV already took off, taking Rina away.
“What a quick one!” a mocking voice sounded nearby.
Nikolai looked around and managed to notice the cute face of Lebedev standing next to the sports car, but was immediately knocked out by a guard's blow to the solar plexus. Nikolai collapsed on the grass, and already Lebedev kicked him in the side with a sharp toe of his shoe, and then commanded the bodyguard:
“Let's go!”
How long he lay on the grass, recovering and trying to get up, Nikolai didn’t know. Maybe forever, maybe just a minute. But by the time another car drove into the yard, he was already able to get up.
“Are we fast?” Yura shouted happily, climbing out. “This is not a market, but a treasury! I found such meat for a barbecue, which you will find in the capital of figs! It will melt in my mouth, I swear! Now I 'll quickly pickle and…”
“I’m going to pickle you myself,” Nikolai spat out angrily, approaching the corrupt journalist with a quick step.
And, before he could blink an eye, Nikolai forcefully hit him in the face.
Vika screamed, but for some reason she rushed not to him, but to Yura, who had fallen to the ground.
“Leaked! You leaked it quickly! The creature!”
Nikolai barely restrained himself so as not to slap the journalist a couple more slaps, but he didn’t want to be like Lebedev and beat those lying down.
“Come on,” he commanded the straightened Vika.
But she, staring at him in fright, shook her head and retreated. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, her lips twitched, but she didn't say anything. Nikolai nodded curtly - not to Vika, but to the shadow that flashed across her face - and got into his car. Taking off abruptly, he managed to see in the side mirrors how Yura was getting up, holding on to his bruised cheekbone, and how Vika, hanging her arms along her body and slouching, was looking after the departing car.
