Ring of Madness

by Royden Labrosse

  Two hundred years.

  Two hundred years ago, they paved this square. And it was well paved. It survived both the war and the revolution and communism. And for another two hundred years, it stood still. If it weren't for our jerk governor, who has to build something once a year - or what!

  Under this, you can ask the state for money, divide it among your own, and report - as for a huge matter! Almost turned the mountains, all manured ... although he does not have to proceed.

  Well, I don't like our governor! No, I don't! And let's do it.

  And what else is he gonna dig up here...

  I wish we weren't covered right now! I strongly suspected yelling, "Everybody get the hell out of here, it's cozier!!! " - you can. But there's no result. Except they'll put me in an asylum. This isn't the way out. But to sit here?! Sitting right next to you? When are they gonna start digging? What if he does?

  I inhaled. I exhaled. And slowly I imagined a transparent dome falling on me, Grandpa and Valentine.

  It's a weakness. I got dizzy. Very nauseous. But - there is a God on earth! Now I've seen everything happening in the square as if from under a glass bowl. A little distorted.

  I clung to the hands of the men sitting next to me. The first thing I'm going to do is close them and me. I don't care about everyone else.

  - Whatever happens, don't leave me alone. Okay?

  Valentin nodded. Grandfather raised his eyebrows perplexingly.

  - Why?

  - Because it ends in a "y." Grandpa, take my word for it, please!

  It's been enough.

  - Need some help?

  - No. Just-- just stay with me.

  - If you say so.

  What I love my grandfather for is that deep down he's still a scout. And people are divided according to Vysotsky's principle. Would you go scouting with him? No - or would you?

  Danger? Well. If your granddaughter's talking about danger, then you should listen. Full confidence in a partner who knows more, and a willingness to obey orders. And how many people would wave their hands - what do you think you're doing?

  And they would have died.

  More will die," the woman with the beastly eyes grimly contrasted in her heart.

  And I can't prevent it. If I wanted to, I couldn't stretch the dome for a lot of people. I don't have that kind of strength, that kind of knowledge, that kind of skill...

  And the black glow was turning more and more fiercely. Something was bent by another official. And I could only think of one thing - it had already caught the governor. And many others. Officials, businessmen, all those who sat in the front rows or rubbed against the stage. For a moment, Dosi's face flashed.

  Didn't hit it hard. It's just the legs so far. But I have clearly seen the tentacles pulsating on human auras. And I understood what was happening.

  They were feeding.

  And while they've had enough. But then, a little later, they can grow up. And what's gonna happen is God knows.

  And people don't even feel anything yet. Maybe it's a little tired. Sleepiness, dullness, maybe stupidity, but who doesn't feel it at such ceremonies? Until the tentacles have grown into the aura, they won't appear - sharp. But when they do...

  I haven't heard a word yet. Well, I did see Mischa Peel and Dosya sing something. I saw Misha being given flowers - and I found out in one of the presenters - Natasha. Ah, that's what she came here... Idol sings! Let me listen to you.

  And then the governor waved his hand. The excavator rolled out to the dismantled place, and the bucket sank into the ground.

  I didn't scream. I had my fingernails in my hand, and Valentine wasn't screaming. I wanted to!

  Because something like an oil fountain sprayed from the ground all over the place. Just a mental one. I've seen it, and the rest of them didn't even suspect that black sticky nasty sprayed on the sides, indiscriminately hitting officials, actors, journalists - and innocent workers, cutting their energy shells and burning holes in bright and not very auras ...

  We'd be in trouble. But my shield stood up. And I felt as if black sticky dirt was flowing through a light glass dome - and slipping down, unable to resist.

  There was a noise in my ears. There were glowing flies dancing before my eyes. It didn't hurt. Only hard. It's like something's piled up and he's trying to put it in the ground. And he has to hold on to that weight. Just hold it.

  Then something weird happened. Everybody rushed forward, under this abomination - and became very interested in looking at something. But to what!?

  I don't care, though! That's not what matters! How soon can I get out of here? I won't be gone for long!

  I turned to a werewolf. And I pronounced, clearly articulating with my lips - I didn't know if I was speaking out loud - or just trying, but they couldn't hear me.

  - Get me out of here. I felt sick...

  The shape-shifter nodded, picked me up and dragged me away. I grabbed my grandfather's hand tightly, so he had to follow us. And also our shield was moving with us. Black lumps were also slapped on him, and the powerless fell down. And - full of fierce cold anger. They were denied food. And it was unbearable for them.

  Well, let them die of outrage! If they can't stand the breakage!

  In this rage, I lasted another hundred meters to the parking lot. And it was already safe there. The shield was gone and I relaxed in the werewolf's arms.

  - Praise the gods! They're alive!

  - And you're going to give me an explanation now," Grandpa intervened.

  I obediently covered my eyes. I didn't want to nod. I was dizzy for some reason.

  - I will. At least a kilo. Let's just go to your place, okay? And... grab something to eat on the way!

  Valentin loaded me into a jeep in the back seat. And I relaxed there. Okay. You can put an elephant in there. Grandpa sat down in his black Porsche, and he drove forward. We're going to his office to show him the way.

  On the way, Valentin stopped by the pizzeria and got me a healthy litre glass of Coke and a healthy pizza. I usually don't drink Coke, this surrogate is made of sugar and dye. But right now, it's a big deal.

  * * *

  Finally, s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s! S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s. Humans!

  Well, she'll be fine for a while, too.

  The slabs that pressed me so hard - they've been removed, my hour-stick-s-s-sssssss has taken up my months- and I'll choose how I call them. I'm gonna need some food. Lots of food. S-s-s-s-s-s-a food. And it's nice when you don't have to hunt for it. She'll come to you.

  Then I'll be able to let you have a lot. I'll be able to let you hunt. " We'll be glorified with pain and fear of death The pleasure of a slow death. But not s-s-s-s-s-s-s.

  It took me too much s-s-s-sil.

  I knew I'd be s-s-s-free sooner or later. I waited and prepared. I waited for the "kids" and chewed on the wall from my prison. And they gave in. Slowly, but surely.

  Well, I can go two ways. I can sharpen and tear down the walls of my prison. It's a lot easier to do with the s-s-s-s-s. But it'll take a long time. W-whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Dvs-s-sti? Tris-hust?

  Even for me, it's a lot. Even though I've lived a lot for hundreds of years.

  Or I could change my nose and find someone to perform the ossification ritual.

  Why wouldn't I?

  It's all about finding the right person.

  The kind that polsitz for the award - and obediently follows my orders.

  And he'll get what he promised.

  X-haaas-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s .

  * * *

  Grandpa's office was warm and cozy. And it was safe. I could feel it with all my skin. And I could finally relax. I fell down on the sofa made of grey skin, and I couldn't stop. Valentine sat down in the visitor's chair, his grandfather sat down on the table, and looked at me carefully.

  - So tell me, what did you get me out
of there for?

  I sighed. Well, how do you tell? And then I had this idea.

  - Grandfather, have you ever experienced anything strange in the square? When I was passing by, or today...

  Grandfather, to his honor, didn't dismiss my words. Instead, he thought about it.

  - Well... I was uncomfortable there. They also offered me an office in the building, you know, that old building next to the administration?

  - I know.

  My grandfather loved ancient architecture. As he explained himself, it's strange to live in a house that's younger than you. And the building next to the administration was just his type. It was two-storey, gray and blue, with stucco work, huge windows, high ceilings and marble floors. I know. Now there's a restaurant I went to with werewolves a couple of times. Prices are draconian, but they feed deliciously.

  - I didn't want to go there. It's uncomfortable in there... cold...

  I smiled. Grandpa's good. That's right. It's cold. How else can it be when they just suck the life out of you?

  - And here?

  - It's peaceful here.

  I was shaking my hair.

  - Here you go. You have an amazing intuition. Or you've got a gift. I don't know. If you could develop it...

  - Would I be hunted by horny vampires? It wasn't enough yet, my grandfather cried out.

  I snorted. And for the first time, I looked at my grandfather with a different look, trying to see the aura. I've never done that before. I didn't want to get this damn metaphysics involved in my relationships with my family and friends. But now...

  Grandpa's aura was... amazing. Bright, iridescent tones. Scarlet, green, yellow, blue. Even a little white. There's black, too. The stains. So somebody on grandpa's conscience is dead. But he didn't do a lot of mean things. And he didn't mess up his karma much either.

  - Julia, come back from the astral - and talk to people - Valentin printed me.

  I shook my head, and I spoke with determination, without choosing expressions. Word for word, I described to Grandpa and Valentine everything I had seen and felt in the square. They wouldn't call me stupid or laugh, but instead began to wonder what had happened. They wondered what had happened for ten minutes. Then Valentine slammed himself on his forehead and pulled out his cell phone.

  - And what are we suffering from here? I had a friend there!

  - Who?

  - One cute kid, works as a cameraman for a local TV channel. I saw him there today... shit!

  [6]

  Yulka! He must have been covered, too!

  It's been a long time.

  - Is he human?

  - No. Werewolf. But a boar.

  I shaken my head.

  - Well, call him here! We'll see what and how! Clean, treat if you need to. We'll pay for the video of what happened there! Yeah?

  Valentin shook his head. Dialed a number, and he spoke into the phone.

  - Yeah? Hey, Leshka, you?

  - – …

  - Yeah, I know. But you were working.

  - – …

  - I am not a boar, I am a fox. You are the wild pig. Okay, it's a hack. Leshka, you've got a serious problem. How are you feeling?

  - – …

  - Okay, here's the deal. I was in the square with Leoverenskaya. Do you know that last name?

  - – …

  - Thanks to me, our family name knows all the evil of the neighborhood," I whispered to my grandfather.

  - If they'd respected you in the process," he snorted.

  - I'm not scary enough for that. In fact, what can scare a wild boar?

  - Take the tape and come to the Soviet 72. You know the Leotrans firm?

  - – …

  - Here we go. When will you be?

  - – …

  - We're waiting.

  A werewolf clicked a button and nodded at me.

  - In ten minutes.

  - Why is it Ma...?

  [7]

  - Leshka said he was dizzy and his stomach was like scratching his claws. And he doesn't like it very much.

  - Is that from a werewolf? You'll be fucking killed! It doesn't even affect you... if she's pointed at the body!

  Valentin looked at me in a cursive way.

  - We're vulnerable, too.

  - Yeah. If you get run over three times by a paver. And then bury it deeper.

  - This is an artistic exaggeration.

  - You're the one who's going to tell others...

  - For instance, my grandfather smiled at me with a sneaky smile. - Because I'm so gullible today...

  In bickering and jerking, ten minutes flew by unnoticed. And when the phone rang on the table, we were even a little surprised. Already? Where did the time go?

  - Konstantin Savelievich, here to see you... Alexei Danilovich Izhevsky.

  - Are you sure it's not Rzhevsky?

  - That's right," said Sofia Petrovna, a faithful grandfather's secretary for twenty years. - Shall I let her in?

  - Let me through.

  The order wasn't random. When she was one meter tall, Sophia Petrovna had a weight of one hundred and twenty kilograms, command voice and sightseers of fish traders from Odessa. They had been friends with their grandfather for about thirty years. They were friends. And when the factory, where Sophia Petrovna worked as a technology engineer, fell apart, her grandfather offered her to go as a secretary. To learn - and go.

  No one would have made her a better offer at forty. So she ran off to the course and went to the grandfather's waiting room.

  In fifteen years, the lady became a professional.

  No uninvited guest could pass by. And even the invitees had to wait for them to be reported. Grandfather said that once she held in the reception room for twenty minutes three "bulls" from the "security agency", and simple - racketeering from a rival firm. Well, such a trifle as "official bribe-takers" (firefighters, Sanitary and Epidemiological Station and other shushera), distributors of anything and just crazy, wishing to make you happy with the light of his knowledge, it did not pass by. She sat so that it was enough for her to push her leg - and her chair would have blocked the door to the director's office. And without permission, not even a fly would pass by. And when she tried to bribe her, the arrogance might well have ended up in an emergency room.

  I knew she had a first aid kit, a shocker, and even a bottle of powerful laxative in her desk just in case. For especially bad visitors.

  But the work was organized perfectly. In everything but one. Sofia Petrovna didn't want to brew coffee. Grandfather didn't ask for it. And if one of the visitors offered to take a younger secretary, grandfather said he'd better buy a coffee machine. Because he'll survive without the pesticide. But Sophia Petrovna is indispensable.

  While I was distracted, the door swung open and entered the office... uh, yeah... This one, and no fists. Lies and weights crush. For the first time I thought that the hypostasis of an animal should somehow affect the appearance of man. We should talk to Peter and check it out.

  The one who came in was two meters tall. The figure... what can I say? I'd say it was a steroid burned jock. Muscles bumped under a thin sweater, rolled like bowling balls every time they moved, and hinted that a comrade of any opponent would rub into powder. No discussion. Such a man could easily lift the camera, tripod and correspondent with one hand. And at the same time - a completely unexpected type of face. On a powerful short neck sat the head, with which the ancient sculptor would not bother to sculpt Apollo, and our animators - to draw the bylon hero. Almost perfectly correct classic facial features. Maybe a slightly short straight nose and a slightly high forehead. And at the same time a luxurious hat of golden hair and big brown eyes. Women should fall and stack up.

  - Meet Valentin, who spoke cheerfully. - Konstantin Savelievich Leoverensky. This is Julia Yevgenyevna. That's the one.

  - Yeah, which is the same thing," I burst out.

  - About that," Valentine did not embarrass himself. - And this is Alexey Danilovich Izhevsky. I a
sk you to love and pay a hussar.

  Yeah, right now. I'm just gonna get something heavier to make love come...

  - Good afternoon, my grandfather gave me a rich hand. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and then they must have come to some sort of opinion - and split in different directions. It was my turn.

  - Good afternoon," my hand drowned in the paw of a giant, "and in the same moment I almost arced out. - Oh, shit!

  I have rapidly fallen to another level of vision. And before my eyes I saw the aura of a werewolf as if entangled by a black net. So far, I've only seen it in Peter. It was as if the grid was covering his energetic body from head to toe, underneath which the bright pink, lilac, and green colors of the aura faded, even hiding a silver pattern responsible for the transformations. She was shimmering, fluttering, and felt as if the werewolf's Aura had been wrapped around like a sausage from all sides... though not everywhere, but this - what?!

  And this is interesting. We should take a closer look. Oh, yo! Not only that, while we were holding hands, that shit tried to crawl back to me too.

  I had to hurriedly pull out my hand and step back.

  - I'm sorry.

  - Is something wrong? - Valentine abruptly asked.

  I didn't hide a sad fact.

  - Yes. Tell me, Alexei...

  - Lesha.

  - Okay. Then - Julia - and you?

  - It's a deal.

  Hands until we shake. I want to live.

  - Lesh, are you a strong werewolf?

  - I'm a member of my pack.

  - Can you at least try to flip over some of it now?

  - It's easy. I just have to get naked. I don't want to throw up the sweater.

  - Take off your sweater and try to change your face there... or your hands, whatever you can. At least grow some wool, huh?

  - Okay. What for?

  - We have to. How are you feeling right now?

  - A little naughtiness and weakness. Stomach's making me sick.

  - Here you go. Try to do what I asked, and then tell me how you feel. Yeah?