Hannes went back into the living room, sat down on the sofa in the dark and looked out of the window, lost in thoughts. The night sky was bright, the full moon shone, it was starlit.
Hannes found it strange that this green pimple was so annoying and that the funny thing kept him so busy. Ibby and him were a couple, no, they loved each other. He at least loved Ibby, he wasn't so sure that Ibby loved him, but she was a stranger and he could only guess. She hadn't told him yet, and neither had he. That might have had a little time. He puffed. Now, that everything seemed to be fine, why did this little green pimple disturb Hannes’ world of thoughts and feelings so massively?
Because it's not just a little green pimple, the voice in Hannes' head said, because it's much more than just a little green pimple, much more. Because that means the voice continued that you caught something. It means little shit Alban did something. It's the spot Alban patted on. He did something. Hannes tried to suppress the voice, but the voice prevailed. Remember, it said, Alban patted you on the back and it hurt. This is where this pimple is right now. So, Alban injected you with something. That becomes visible now. Ask Ibby!
But Hannes didn't want to wake Ibby up and point at the pimple like a little child and ask what it was. Hannes decided this had time until tomorrow. Hannes sat lost in thoughts in the dark. He felt again for the pimple, which was only noticeable when you drove your finger over it. It didn't hurt now. But Hannes had no desire to move his arm until it hurt. He took a deep breath, pulled the T-shirt by the shoulder to the side and looked at the pimple. It didn't glow in the dark. The living room door opened a crack and Ibby stuck her head through the crack.
"Come", she said, "I'm cold." Hannes got up, took Ibby in his arms and they went into the bedroom together. Ibby snuggled up to him, he heard her fall asleep after a short time, he himself lay awake for a long time.
Hannes woke up with a floury taste in his mouth and a dull headache. He got up, saw that Ibby had gotten up already. He went into the kitchen, made himself a coffee and sat down at the table with his cup. Ibby was in the bathroom. Hannes slurped the coffee, hoping that the drink and his obligatory cigarette would dispel the headache, but that didn't happen. Still, with a slight headache and a strange taste in his mouth, Hannes rummaged for pills, took two aspirins, sat down again and waited. The headache didn't go away. After another cup of coffee, the strange taste disappeared in his mouth.
Ibby came out of the bathroom with wet hair, saw Hannes sitting at the table and was visibly frightened. She frowned and slowly walked towards Hannes. "What is it?" she asked, "What’s up with you?"
She took his face in her hands and looked at it closely. She looked deep into Hannes's eyes. "Open your mouth," she said. Hannes obediently opened his mouth and Ibby looked inside. She let go of Hannes and sat down at the table. "You're sick," she postulated.
"Yes," Hannes said, "I have a headache and when I woke up and I had a strange taste in my mouth."
"Are you in pain?" Ibby asked. Hannes looked at her and noticed that Ibby was worried, unlike usual. She was tense.
"My arm hurts a little. I've got a funny pimple on my shoulder. I noticed him last night. You were asleep, so I didn't show it to you."
"Show me!" she demanded, and Hannes took off his T-shirt. Ibby got up and took a good look at the strange pimple. She touched him and the skin around him. She sat down again. "That's not bad," she said after a moment and looked out the window, "but if it gets worse, you have to tell me."
Hannes had become nervous. "Ibby?" he asked, "if we humans have a pimple, it's red. When the pimple is ripe, there's a yellow dot in the middle. You can then express the pimple and the matter is settled."
"That's not a pimple," said Ibby.
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know." Ibby lied, Hannes felt it deep inside.
"Ibby, please tell me the truth. What's that? You know it."
Ibby looked Hannes in the eye for a long time. Then she moved her eyes and looked at the table. Several times she was about to say something, but it took her a long time until she looked up again and looked Hannes in the face.
"I'm not sure," she said, "it's been a long time. There are only reports. A way of life that lives in another body. It eats you up if you're one of our species. Since you're human, there's no great danger. This life form will die. How did this happen?"
Hanne's stomach contracted. "I have a parasite?"
Ibby nodded.
Hannes groaned. "This is from Alban. Do you know him?"
Ibby denied it.
"Watch out. When Sergej and Alban dropped me off here, Alban patted me on the shoulder to say goodbye. I thought it was a buddy gesture, but I realized it hurt. I thought it came from my bones. I discovered the pimple last night."
"The parasite is not dangerous to humans. It is for us. It can only be killed by poison. By our poison."
"And what happens to me now?"
"Nothing bad, Hannes, nothing bad. You will have pain, the pimple will get bigger, then your body will repel the life form. It'll be a black spot. The dead life form can be cut out with a knife. It'll take three or four days."
Hannes was torn between relief and great concern. He didn't feel well. The headache was still there. Hannes moved his arm over his head, the pain did not recur.
"Come," Ibby said, "get dressed. We're going to the river."
The two dressed and went to the Rhine. The spring sun warmed their faces as they stood on the banks of the Rhine, but the wind was still cool. Ships passed them and the people on the Rhine promenade were in a good mood. They strolled along the Rhine for a while, some passers-by looked at them without much interest, others passed by without looking at them.
Hannes bought a Coke for Ibby and a bottle of Kölsch for himself at a snack bar. They sat down on a bench, lost in thoughts, Ibby sipped the drink through a straw and Hannes enjoyed the first beer outside.
Later in the afternoon, they were home again, Hannes thought about what to cook, and Ibby sat at the kitchen table, obviously amused, because she knew Hannes wouldn't eat with her. He still had Ibby's way of throwing up her digestive juices on the plate in his head. But Hannes knew that Ibby didn't care about his cooking either, because she didn't care about the unusual taste; the meal just had to be nutritious and available in sufficient quantities.
Hannes went shopping and when he came back, Ibby stood at the window and was looking out. The curtains were pulled back, but Ibby had thought of it and put on a wide T-shirt so that no one could not see Ibby's naked body from below or from the opposite side. Ibby seemed thoughtful. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and looked only briefly to Hannes, who unpacked his purchases and began grabbing everything he would need for cooking. "What is it?" he wanted to know.
"I'm thinking," Ibby said and was quiet again.
Hannes began to cook, then sat an hour later alone at the kitchen table and ate. He had left Ibby a big portion and when he was done, he cleared his stuff and went into the living room. Ibby got up, went into the kitchen, not without closing the living room door. Hannes turned on the TV but still heard Ibby throw up in the kitchen. Meanwhile, it didn't bother him anymore, on the contrary, he always had to grin when he heard these noises. After a while, Ibby came into the living room and sat next to Hannes. "Yummy!" she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You’re always cook with love!" Hannes waved off.
"Show me your arm," she demanded, and Hannes took off his T-shirt. The pimple hadn't changed. Ibby nodded calmly.
Hannes woke up that night. His arm hurt like hell. He was nauseous. His head was booming. When he tried to get up and go to the bathroom, he felt like his head was about to explode. Everything turned black in front of his eyes. He fell out of bed and tried to crawl into the bathroom. He didn't notice Ibby jumping out of bed and kneeling next to him. In a violent gag, Hannes vomited on the floor. His aching arm bent, and he fell into the vomit. He passed out.
Ibby grabbed him and put him in the sho
wer, took his clothes off, washed the vomit off and let the water run. She hurried back to the bedroom and removed the remains of dinner. Back in the bathroom, she found out in horror that Hannes was still unconscious and hadn't moved. The green spot on his shoulder had enlarged, it looked like a pulsating star. Ibby felt him carefully and found her worst fears confirmed. She sat down in front of the shower and watched as the water ran down on Hannes. For the first time, she didn't know what to do.
Hannes woke up when it was morning already. Ibby had taken Hannes out of the shower and put him back in bed and covered him up. She had only walked out of the bedroom for a moment when Hannes moved, and she knew he would wake up soon. She had made a big cup of coffee and waited with the cup in her hand, for Hannes to wake up. Hannes was scared when he saw Ibby. He sat up quickly. Ibby held out the cup to him, Hannes grabbed it. Hannes felt good, except for the pain in his arm. Ibby had a swollen face like she cried for hours.
Ibby had been crying for hours. She hated that feeling of crying abysmally, she hated that feeling of sadness, she hated herself for feeling that way. Crying in pain, that's what they had been taught, was forgivable. There was no crying out of sadness. Beings of their kind were never sad. No way. Everything they did, everything they experienced, everything that had been done to them, was a reason for revenge. But never a reason to feel sad.
The situation with Hannes and the parasites required a cool head, but she was so terribly sad because she knew exactly what would happen. And she had to tell Hannes sometime soon.
Hannes chugged the coffee down, then he held the cup to Ibby. "One more, please!"
Ibby went into the kitchen and got another cup. Hannes also drank it, although the coffee was very hot. "I'm fine now," he said and stood up. He went to the bathroom, peed extensively, washed and shaved, then went back to the bedroom to get dressed. Ibby was sitting on the bed.
"Dear Hannes," she said, "we need to talk. I want to tell you something." Hannes sat next to Ibby in amazement.
"It's different than I thought. The parasite won't die. The stain's grown bigger. The parasite is alive." Hannes flinched. "What?"
"The parasite cannot survive in human bodies. That's reported. He's only dangerous to us. That's reported. But that's wrong. The parasite lives in your body."
Hannes felt a cold rising in himself. "And? What can we do?"
Ibby put her arm around Hannes. "Nothing."
"Ibby cut that crap!" Hannes felt the panic rising in himself. "You know that thing. You know what this is about. Is there no medicine? Can't you cut that thing out?"
Ibby shook his head. "We can only kill the parasite with our poison. If I had that parasite, someone of my kind would have to bite me. It would make me sick, but the parasite would die."
"Then bite me!"
"No, Hannes, you can't. Our poison is deadly to humans. The parasite would die, but so would you."
Hannes stared at the wall.
"What's gonna happen?" he asked.
"The parasite will spread to your body, settle in your organs. If he's adapted to your body chemistry, he'll change. The life-form is getting bigger. Now the parasites are small, but they're getting bigger. Then they'll try to reach your brain."
"What?"
"It'll eat you up."
"Ibby, you can't be serious!" Hannes jumped up. Ibby tried to hold him, but with a movement of his arm, he got loose. He walked up and down in front of the bed. "There's got to be some way. antibiotics or something!"
"Hannes. The parasite's not in the blood. It’s in the tissue. It's wandering into the bones. And when it gets stuck in the organs, it encapsulates itself. It's not a bacterium. It's not a virus either. It's a multicellular organism."
"Then why does poison help?"
"Hannes, you know that. There are digestive juices in the poison. These dissolve the encapsulation."
Hannes collapsed. Ibby jumped up and held Hannes. "We still have time together. The parasite only grows when you sleep. Because the parasite needs the sleep hormone to grow."
"And you just tell me that? You're just gonna tell me I'm getting eaten by a thing? You tell me so simply that I will die?" Hannes shouted with a bright red head.
"What else am I supposed to do? You want me to lie to you? Should I pretend that nothing happens?" Ibby asked back with a raised voice.
Hannes was stunned. He drove his hands through his face, looked out of the window, and finally sat down on the bed again.
"How much time do I have?"
"I can't tell you exactly. It depends on how long you sleep."
"I can't stay awake forever, Ibby. I can't do that."
"Hannes, I know that. And I'm not leaving you alone. I'll stay with you till the end. Because I still have something to do."
Hannes looked at her. "What else do you have to do? “
Ibby leaned on Hannes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I have to destroy your body when you die. The parasite will multiply very quickly in your body. It will form a kind of spore, which then escapes into the environment. Anyone who approaches your body will be infected. It is reported that..."
"Ibby!"
"I'm sorry, Hannes, it's reported that one possibility is to burn the body. The other possibility is dissolving it through our poison. I have to do something to keep the spores from spreading. But I don't know what I can do yet."
"Why not, Ibby? "Hannes said in a soundless voice, "if you have two choices about what to do with my body."
"My hearts only beat for you, Hannes," said Ibby, "you know that. I won't be left behind. I'll follow you."
Hannes didn't know what to say. He had just learned that he would surely die soon. He had just learned that his death would be an unpleasant thing. That the parasite would eat his brain. Would he go insane? He'd know if his brain got eaten. He sighed. He'd know. He'd know and that'd be enough. He'd go insane.
"Ibby ... "
"Hannes, I know. There's no way out."
"What are we supposed to do now? What do you want me to do? What can I do?"
Ibby sighed. "We still have a little time together before the parasite changes."
Hannes took a deep breath. "Ibby, I'm going for a walk. I need to think."
Ibby got up and started getting dressed. "Hannes, I'm not leaving you alone. I'll go with you."
Hannes didn't care. The two dressed and went through the city to the Rhine. They stood at the railing and both looked at the river lost in thought, watching the ships and the birds flying through the air. Hannes tried to think a clear thought, but after the first shock of the news of his near death, a fear spread within him whose nature and the extent he had never known before. "I'm scared," he said quietly. Ibby held his arm but didn't say anything.
Late in the evening Hannes sat in front of the TV and looked at the pictures but didn't notice anything. He had fallen into a strange kind of trance. Many pictures of the last weeks with Ibby haunted through his head, but none of them he could grab.
They had tried to make love, but Hannes and Ibby couldn't make it.
Then they lay arm in arm, cuddling, without saying anything, in bed. Hannes stood up when he heard Ibby's steady breaths. He went into the living room, sat in front of the TV and stared at the screen. His arm hurt. The pain was still bearable, but in the mirror, he had seen, after taking a shower, that the stain was now palm-sized. He pulled towards his shoulder blade. The stain itself did not hurt, but the tissue around the stain had become pressure-sensitive and felt hot.
The next morning both went aimlessly through the city, then ended up again at the Rhine. A throat-clear behind them made them turn around. Behind them stood Major Alban Vllasi, dressed in an elegant dark blue suit. He looked at her with a slight smile. "Good day, Mr. Rachmiel, good day Excellency!" Hannes looked at Ibby perplexed. "Excellency?" he asked. Ibby nodded casually. Alban walked past them to the railing and leaned his arms on it.
"It's a wonderful day. And if you trust the weather forecasts, we'll have a wonderful summ
er." He turned his head and looked at Hannes. "Only it's a pity, Mr. Rachmiel, you won't be here this summer."
Hannes felt a never-before-seen rage rise up in him. He took a step toward Alban, but Ibby held him back. "Why?" she asked, and Alban smiled.
"Excellency, that is not a question. Look, you're a coveted person. You are wanted by two gentlemen who would be happy to meet you. And since Mr. Rachmiel has been very uncooperative so far on his behalf to think about whether it would not be better for him to live without your presence, we have brought another argument into the discussion."
He took a small vial out of his jacket pocket. "You see, Mr. Rachmiel, that's the solution to your problem. If you drink this, dissolved in a glass of water, you will feel unwell for a few more days, but your problem will disappear into thin air."
Ibby pushed Hannes aside, extended her claws and grabbed Alban's lapel. She opened her mouth wide, it cracked quietly, and two white, long teeth flapped forward. "Please, Excellency," Alban said without a sign of fear, "will you not be silly. I have an antidote, and on the other hand, you won't kill me. Too many witnesses, but also a violation of the Code."
Ibby held Alban for a moment, then let him go. The teeth were clapping back into her mouth.
"All right, I'll stand by for the hunt. It can begin immediately."
"It's not that simple, Your Excellency. Your companion must release you."
Ibby turned to Hannes, her eyes flashing with rage. "Go!" she hissed, "Release me. I want to fight. I want to kill!"
Hannes stared at her. The seconds passed. He turned around, looked at the city and looked at the cathedral. He saw all the people who were also on the promenade. Older people walking along with a walker, couples strolling hand in hand along the way, he looked at the benches on the green strip, saw construction workers taking a break there, probably telling funny stories and laughing loudly, saw a skinny male sitting on a bench, folded his hands on his lap and enjoying the sun, saw a young man struggling with a kebab, his girlfriend next to him munched a burger, Hannes turned around again, looked at the Rhine glistening in the sunlight, at the birds gliding through the air.
E.B.E. 21- the Hunt Page 29