- Katya, it wasn't a nightmare at all.
And I froze, trying not to blink. My eyes were filled with tears. It hurts. Why does it hurt so much...?
- What? My friend didn't get it.
I looked at Duška. Higher Powers, I wish I could break his throat! Slowly, across the ridge, with his head hanging on his spine! And then don't burn it, just wait for that bastard to wear himself out! The vampire must have read something in my eyes and even taken a step back. Then he came to his senses and took two more steps forward and a little away from me. That's funny.
- Did you keep her under hypnosis all the time?!
- It wasn't hard. She's very suggestible.
I squinted at a vampire for evil.
- Andre, why do you even need Katka? What, nobody else agreed?
- No way, Jane! I have a lot of flaws, but you have to agree, I'm pretty enough not to lack female attention.
- Then why the hell did you have a crush on Katka?!
- Did you fall asleep? - the blue eyes laughed.
I made up my mind.
- Mr. André, even if you try to French, the ears of Nizhny Novgorod will still come out. Can't you just answer the question? We're not at Buckingham Palace to go through every word! Why exactly is it now? You've already noodled me about her beauty and controllability, but I want a truthful answer. I couldn't argue then, but I've now proved my right to demand it. Or do I have to kill somebody else to get your answer?
This time, Andre wouldn't scream. His voice was quiet and serious.
- By law, I can create one new vampire once every fifty years or in exchange for a murdered one, with special permission from the Elders. The deadline has come. And I just liked your friend. She's beautiful, smart enough, manageable, but very weak. She can never raise a riot against me. That's very convenient. I've been picking out the right vampire clubbing. And by the way, I wasn't lying. Beauty, stupidity, controllability were all on the list of qualities.
- That's all? - I specified. - Just like that?! And human life is broken?
- Yes.
- And you could also have me if I was at the club that night?
- I don't think so. Your willpower can be felt from a distance. And then, you're not my type.
- That's why you were going to rape me.
- Because you weren't doing your own thing.
- My friend is my business!
- She's not your friend anymore, she's my vampire.
We threw words like a ball. And I was losing. I was hopelessly losing.
- One does not exclude the other.
- In a certain sense, it excludes. Any action that hurts me will do the same to her. She will die if I die.
I looked at Mieczysław.
- Is it true?
- As always, almost.
- So, what's the catch?
- Andre forgot to warn you that a stronger protector could take control of his vampires. For instance, I can.
- I doubt it," Duke smiled boldly. - Elizabeth says you're just a bum and a loser. She is tired of punishing you for misses and foolishness," said Elizabeth.
- Better punishment than death, - Mechislav shrugged his shoulders. It turned out to be graceful, like a leopard. - If she knew what I was capable of, she'd just kill me while I was in her power. I advise you not to rely on what she says.
Did it seem to me - or was there a scare in Duchka's blue eyes? I would have explored this phenomenon further, but then Katya intervened.
- I don't understand anything! Explain to me what's going on with me! Who are you?! And what am I doing here?
There was fear in her voice. And I could clearly distinguish the impending hysteria. And I didn't know how to stop it. Just to tell me everything that touched her.
- Katya, do you remember when we were at the club?
- Yes.
- And nothing else? Are you sure?
- That's right! What kind of stupid questions?!
- Katya, - it was difficult to tell me for some reason. It was as if a lump of clay was stuck in my chest. - I don't know what exactly happened to you during this time, but I can see how it ended.
- And with what?! - my friend's voice was angry and hysterical.
- It wasn't a dream. It was just a real nightmare. You've become a vampire.
- WHAT?! Jane, what the hell are you talking about?!
I didn't say anything. Katya wrapped her eyes around the vampires standing around her, delayed her gaze at Mieczysław (I suddenly felt jealousy and surprised myself. I don't feel anything for him!) - and finally I saw Dyushka. Further reaction of the girlfriend was familiar to me. Katya squealed, trying to push someone away from herself, then fell to the floor - and clogged up in cramps, indistinctly something screaming. The vampires looked at the hysterics like a beer can in an urn - indifferent and calm. They will only intervene if the master commands.
- You always knew how to choose your friends, Andre, - Mechislav used all the poison released to him by nature. Duška glinted at him with his eyes.
- You're the main expert on chicks! And not for nothing! You've often had to play the role of a woman...
- To think the sky calls the water blue," said the vampire.
I snorted. It's better to say nasty things than to cry in heartache.
- Andre, are you with the boys, too? You naughty bastard!
The vampire shone his eyes at me.
- I'll still have time to explain it to you, Curly. When you are finally in my power.
- Fifty years from now," I answered. - When the deadline comes up.
- Oh, but you killed Vlad, didn't you? I'll ask you to replace him with you.
- And I'll wait until you're at a certain distance and rip off everything that hangs and hangs.
- Dreams, dreams...
We could have argued for a long time, but Katya intervened in the conversation again. She was a little hysterical, but seeing that no one cared about her, quickly wrapped up with an exhibition performance. Nothing stops hysterics as well as the lack of an audience. Now she was just lying on the floor. And she had a face... I twitched, but Mecislav wouldn't let me go. Danielle intervened.
- Let her go.
- Are you sure?
Danielle nodded.
- I'll go with her myself. Let go of me. It's the right thing to do.
It's the only words I could love Daniel for.
Just because he understood - if I don't do anything for my friend now - I will never feel human again.
Mieczysław's fingers were loose.
- If anything happens to her, you can't live. Do you understand?
Danielle had a gentle hug on my shoulders.
- Jane, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to be there for you. I can't leave you alone. Do you understand?
I nodded.
- Let's go.
The vampires parted, and I knelt down next to Katka. On the other side of the insensitive carcass, Danielle went down.
The skating rink was lying with open eyes, looking at the ceiling. And there was so much hopelessness in her face that I could not stand it.
- Katya, Katya, Katya, forgive me, please!
Zero reaction.
- Katya, I had to get you out, I shouldn't have run away, I had to find you... I just couldn't...
Tears have rolled down my cheeks of their own. Damn reaction. Danielle shook his head, and then ripped my friend's hand off.
- Sit down! And stop playing the Greek tragedy here. It's hard for everyone, not just you!
Katka, obeying the power of the jerk, sat on her ass.
- Are you crying?
I wiped my nose angrily with my sleeve.
- Doesn't it look like it? Katya, I'm terribly sorry, but I couldn't have done otherwise. The night we came here, I miraculously managed to escape. I didn't know where you were or what was wrong with you. I didn't know anything.
- Any attempt to get you out was doomed to failure in advance," Danielle intervened. - But Jane has to be credit
ed. She was looking for you. And instead, she came across me.
- And you didn't look any further," said the friend.
- I couldn't find you, let alone Jane. Yes, I didn't let Jane risk his life - and I'm not ashamed of what I did.
- Aren't you ashamed, too? - Katya turned her angry eyes on me. - If you hadn't thought of coming here, I wouldn't be a vampire!
- I would," Danielle answered calmly. - Jane just gave you another day to live. Be grateful to fate for that. Duchka... Andre has already bitten you. And he could have called from anywhere. At least from Australia. You'd have come running and convinced him to make you a vampire.
- I don't believe it!
- You don't have to believe me. Sooner or later, you're gonna check my words on the case. In the meantime, you can't blame your friend. Jane really didn't know what she was going to face. No one could've guessed. Not ever.
Katya rubbed her forehead.
- Why are you telling me all this?
All I could do was keep quiet. Whatever I just said is gonna come out stupid. Will you forgive me? How can you forgive me for that? I didn't mean it? That's understandable enough as it is. And the worst part is, you can't fix it. It's forever. It's forever. You can't stop being a vampire.
- There's only one thing you can do right now. Get over your new position and accept it," Danielle shrugged. - As we all did in our time. You'll never get old, you'll be much harder to kill, you can even fly. Maybe not right away, but in twenty years you'll definitely have your first vampire skills. You'll be able to do whatever you want. Yeah, you won't be able to do anything, but did Jane say you were a mathematician?
- Yes.
- What do you care if you do theoretical calculations day or night? If all goes well, in a couple of years you can even visit your parents. The only downside is you'll never have children again. But it's not that scary, you can believe me.
I was ready to kiss Daniel. He's so good, he's so good! Gods! That's it, just and easy to break it down into shelves. No, not everything, though. But I'll tell you the rest.
Katya put her head down for a while, and then she lifted it up and looked at me.
- Jane, so it's all vampires?
- Yes.
- And I'm a vampire now, too?
- Yes.
- Immortal and virtually invincible, with fangs and wings...
- Unclean and undead.
My words were falling like the toads of that girl in the fairy tale. I could feel their slippery cold with all my tongue. Katya is a vampire! Horrible!
- Well, that might be curious!
Her voice sounded so genuinely enthusiastic, it just skewed me. She moved quickly from hysterical to counting.
- Katya, do you have any idea what you're talking about? You're a vampire! You'll have to sleep during the day, you'll never go out in the sun, you'll have to eat blood and only blood, and sometimes you'll have to kill innocent people for your subsistence. And you will also be completely at the mercy of the goat who initiated you! And I suspect I haven't listed all the pros of your current situation yet. There's a lot of things they don't tell me either, thank you.
Katya slammed her eyelashes.
- Jane, I'll be practically immortal...
- Practically. And in life, who knows? I already killed a vampire. Day comes and you'll be exchanged like a D in the cards. If they don't throw you out before.
- But even so, I'll live a lot longer.
It was a shame to cut her wings off, but I was always for the cruel truth.
- And I'm not even sure about that. See, your boss and I have big scores. And I strongly believe he doesn't belong on my planet.
- Jane! Are you willing to risk my life, too?!
- You already risked mine when you didn't come to the police or the orderlies for help. - Now I wasn't going to get almonds. - And the fact that I'm still without fangs isn't your fault. In fairness, it's my turn.
- So it's because Andre didn't turn you? So ask him!
Mecislav bent in half. Laughter came right out of him in an unbridled wave.
- Yeah, ask him, curly. And maybe...
Grunkle wasn't behind him either. It seems he even had tears in his laughter. I couldn't help myself if I wasn't so angry.
- Laugh more! - I snapped at you. - Katya, it so happens that I do not need fangs, in any form. It's enough that I have certain feelings for five vampires!
- I don't understand you," said a friend. - Being a vampire is so... romantic.
That word was more than enough for me. I got off my knees. Danielle followed my example.
- Jane, how do you feel and who do you feel about? What are the five vampires?
- The strongest are for you. But about that, at home. Vadim, Boris, Mechislav are friends. Dyushka is a creature and a bastard. I hate it. Here's five vampires for you.
- Oh, I see. Shall we go? Our place in the entourage. Mecislav was already more than generous.
I nodded and went to Kata again:
- Katya, I'm not going to fix your brain. This is not my calling. I suppose that in a few years, or decades, you'll understand what trap you've fallen into by letting Andre make you a walking corpse.
- Curly! - Mechislav was outraged.
I didn't pay any attention to him. Danielle helped me get off the floor, and now I was standing right above my friend.
- Mind you, you had everything to be happy. Home, family, friends, profession. Now you're nobody and you can't be called. Even if you get your education by correspondence - who will hire a vampire?! Even though it doesn't matter! You'll miss your normal life. You'll dream of children, home, human warmth and drink blood. Kill instead of living your life, and fuck everyone instead of love. This is not the best existence, because Andre, though he is the last goat, is right about some things.
- In what way? - I was curious about a vampire.
I turned around and poked my finger at one of the vampires next to his throne. Totally young, in his twenties, with bright red hair and brown eyes. There was not a single freckle on his pale skin. You bet, vampires don't sunbathe! But it wasn't just his face I saw. Now I was looking deep. And I remembered perfectly well the aura of power of that redheaded vampire.
- He's not over a hundred years old, right?
- You guessed it, Jane.
- I saw it. But he already has a powerful aura. He'll be strong. But Katya will never be like that. Even if she drinks the blood of all the people on the planet.
Danielle slowly but surely took me closer to our five. Andre looked at me with square eyes.
- Can you feel these things, Jane? - The prince was clearly surprised.
- I don't know, I was suddenly tired and devastated. - I guess I can. I'm a fast learner, especially if my life depends on the exam. - And I turned to Mieczysław: - I must apologize for my morning flash. You were absolutely right. I was wrong. Is that enough or should I say something else?
- It's enough," Mechislav calmed me down. And he looked at Dyushka. - I suppose that we can move on to our little business?
- It's time," agreed Duchka. - Come here, Anna.
Katya looked at him with surprised eyes, but still got up from the floor and came up. Katya hugged her behind the waist with a careless gesture.
- You'll see better from here.
- Thank you," she said.
- Lesson one," said Duchka. - When you address the creator, you must say - sir.
Katya slammed her eyelashes, but nodded.
- Thank you... sir.
Duke was pretty scared. I made up my mind.
Daniel led me to Mieczysław, and he shook my hand and stepped back and forth a little. I realized that now there was no need to break the comedy. The King's entourage is playing.
Mechislav suddenly attracted me to him, hugging my waist. It was worth taking off and explaining to him that I preferred Daniel, but I didn't. I didn't want to ruin a scene like that. And then, I just wanted to annoy a friend. I was mad at her. I'm tearing up
my veins, negotiating with vampires to save her, risking my life, and she says she's satisfied and happy with her fang share! At least in little things, but I really wanted to eat her. Especially since Mieczysław, unlike Dyushka, looked very appropriate and just great in this interior. I imagined how we looked together, and decided that Katya would be jealous. And I wasn't wrong. A friend looked at me angry, but she didn't dare to open her mouth. I sent her a charming smile. Yes, if she had four rows of fangs, it was still the same Katya. And being a vampire didn't change her. Or is it just for now?
- Who's speaking on your side? - It's Duke.
- Boris. What about yours?
- Frodo.
- Frodo? - I whispered.
Mecislav snorted funnyly.
- I'm familiar with this... Frodo. And one hundred and seventy years ago, his name was Frodo.
I giggled. Changing time, changing names.
- Why would he do that?
- And he's the one who personally met Tolkien.
- What, really?!
- Yeah. Personally, I think he wrote off Rottenstone.
I looked at the vampire and snorted even harder. It's really an exact copy, just like the author described it. If a vampire was throwing up right now: "Beautiful, oh, my Beautiful", the resemblance would be absolute.
- Didn't you personally know Tolkien?
- No, curly. I was in other places back then.
- By the way! Is Mechislav your real name?
- Of course not," the vampire shrugged his shoulders. - That's the nickname they gave me when I sliced the meat salad out of a werewolf. You just didn't see me fighting.
- I was already sorry. But I hope never to see it," I confessed honestly.
- I hope you won't see me in battle, too.
While we were whispering, two vampires repeated the procedure I knew, fencing the circle.
Aspen stakes, gloved hands...
- How does an aspen work on you? - I asked Mieczysław.
- It paralyzes us and eats away at our flesh. We can't remove it ourselves, but we can heal the damage it does. And it's very easy. This is not a cross or holy water.
- Why the cross?
- It's on fire. And the vampire will burn with him.
- Does holy water kill you?
- It dissolves, and we fall into dust.
- Didn't I kill Duke?
- It's his property. Hypnosis and resistance to holy water. A long time ago, he was a monk. It's been since then.
Ring of Madness Page 36