The Fallen (The Sublime Electricity Book #3)

by Pavel Kornev

  "What's the matter with your face?" Liliana asked, only then having noticed the inflamed scratch on my temple.

  "Do you remember the racket last night? Well, there you go."

  "You poor thing! Did it hurt?"

  I remembered the blistering fork strike, shivered internally and nodded:

  "Quite a lot."

  "You should put something on it."

  "Nonsense," I waved it off and sat on the bed. Blood flooded my head as if hanging upside down. My cheeks and ears were burning. The vile ringing sound picked up again.

  "What's wrong, Leo?" Liliana grew alarmed. "Are you feeling alright?"

  "I'm fine," I answered, swallowing fitfully. It went down my dry throat like an emery board. "I'll be fine."

  "Let me bring you something to drink."

  My companion ran out and I collapsed onto the bed powerless, but I glanced at the clock and immediately sat back up. I opened the suitcase from Alexander Dyak and started untangling the rubber tubes.

  While I was doing that, Lily found me. She extended me a high-walled glass with golden champagne bubbling in it.

  "What've you got there?" Liliana asked, having finished her own glass.

  I placed the champagne on the shelf and answered without particular desire:

  "I need to take my medicine."

  "So those needle marks on you aren't from drugs?"

  "No," I assured her, placing the jar of silvered water on the shelf over the bed and poking a tube with a needle into it. After that, I rolled back the sleeve of my shirt, tied off my bicep with a strap and started pumping my fist, bulging out the vein.

  "Sorry I thought ill of you," Liliana grew embarrassed.

  "Nonsense!"

  I adjusted the needle, undid the strap, and the healing solution started slowly entering my blood. My arm went numb but, at the same time, the fever started to pass and the nauseating ringing in my head went quiet.

  Curing lycanthropy with silver – surprising, isn't it? It was one of the ancients that first noted, quite reasonably, that the difference between poison and medicine is, first and foremost, the dose.

  "What's the matter with you?" Lily asked, sitting next to me. "What affliction do you suffer from?"

  "A rare hereditary disorder," I answered the pure truth and laughed: "As you see, money isn’t the only thing transferred by inheritance."

  Lily took a gulp of champagne and shook her head:

  "I can't figure you out, Leo. You don't look like a rich spendthrift."

  "I'm only now learning to be one," I laughed and immediately coughed. I then explained: "Not so very long ago, I had to earn my keep on the sweat of my brow."

  "And what happened? Have a rich aunt die?"

  "Grandmother. And long ago. But I couldn't get my inheritance until I came of age."

  "And how old are you now?" Lily inquired.

  "Twenty-two."

  "Why you're just a little boy!" she laughed, running her fingers through my hair and tousling it, but she immediately grew embarrassed and got up to her feet. "Sorry. Would you like me to fix it?"

  "No need," I refused, not asking my companion's age in response. She was older than me by a year or two, no more.

  The car unexpectedly rocked backward. The bottle with the rest of the solution rolled dangerously, but stayed on the shelf. Lily placed her empty glass on the side table, looked out the window and told me:

  "They're hooking up the engine."

  And that was it. I didn't even have time to pull the needle from my vein and bend my arm at the elbow before two short honks blasted out. The wagon rocked, and we started off on our way. The platform slowly crawled backward. The train drove out under open sky and started picking up pace.

  "You have a new tattoo," Lily noted the bracelet of interwoven crosses on my forearm. "When did you even find the time?"

  I just laughed and shook my head.

  Liliana took my untouched glass of champagne, sat on the bed and turned to the window as if the beginning of the trip home had, surprisingly, put her into a bad state of mind. She drank the sparkling wine in small sips and stayed silent.

  I also stayed silent, not wanting to intrude with my company. I felt like going back into the common room, but the pain was taking its sweet time leaving my body and I still didn't want to get up from the bed. So we just sat and watched the city go by behind the glass, wet and dark. Only rarely did street lights and illuminated windows flicker by like blistering lightning bugs, the rest was just the gray silhouettes of building.

  The clank of our wheels on the rail joints, the dim flickering of the electric light, the rare flashes of light out the window. Silence.

  Finally, I couldn't bear it and went to sit next to Liliana.

  "Lily," I sighed and, taking her by the arm, asked: "what's bothering you?"

  "Doesn't matter."

  "No, it does matter. Is this related to the thugees?"

  Lily turned to me and tears were shimmering in her eyes.

  "Did father tell you?"

  "About your fiancé? He did."

  "That's only part of the story."

  "So, share the rest with me."

  She fell silent again. Looking out the window, she didn't answer at all but also wouldn't let my fingers out of her hand. I wasn't going to hurry her. I sat next to her and waited.

  "I'm at fault in everything here," Liliana said unexpectedly. "Edmund and his family died because of me." She spun the glass stem of her empty champagne flute in her fingers and put it on the table. "I'm cursed, Leo. Cursed..."

  "You know something, Lily?" I allowed myself a cautious smile. "I don't feel I understand it any better."

  "Have you ever been to India?"

  "No. But I've learned a lot about the thugees recently. What happened?"

  "It's hard to explain. But for Indians, Kali is real. As are the other gods. It’s just the fabric of life there. It’s how they perceive the world."

  "And what of it?"

  "My wet nurse was a Kali worshipper. As long as I can remember, she’s been by my side. I’ve spent more time with her than with my own mother. The servant lady told me stories, taught me the rituals. She was the one who consecrated me to Kali. And the most horrible thing about it is that, at the time, I was glad for it."

  "Juvenile rebelliousness?"

  "I was scared of becoming like my mother. I still shake when I smell laudanum. She never cared for me in the slightest. Sometimes, she spent whole days in bed. I hated her then. And, it would seem, I still do. I really want to, but I cannot overcome myself. I cannot – and that's that."

  I nodded and didn't say anything. I simply wasn't ready to comment on what I'd heard. Liliana clasped her pale fingers and continued her muddled confession. Looking forward in agitation, as if every word came at unbelievable effort to her, she continued:

  "I was proud of my affiliation with the secrets of the goddess. It made me feel important, chosen. But when Edmond and I fell in love, my governess forbid me to see him, and forbid me to marry him. She said that my life was in the hands of the goddess, that only the will of Kali could determine my fate. I just laughed, not listening to a thing. But one night, the thugees came and strangled my fiancé, along with his parents, brothers and sisters. Such was the punishment of the goddess for my disobedience."

  Here I couldn't hold back:

  "I wouldn’t be so sure those events were connected."

  "Oh, you wouldn’t?" Lily leapt up. "You don't believe me? Ask my father! Or Adriano Tacini. He was our guest in Calcutta at the time!"

  "Lily, you know perfectly well that the thugees kill every day. It's a mere coincidence."

  "My father led the investigation. He found everyone involved in the murder and interrogated them. They all spoke of the will of the goddess. All of them! And none of them retracted their statements, even when facing execution."

  "And your governess?"

  "She was hung along with the rest. She smiled when they put the noose aro
und her neck."

  "There is no such thing as Kali, do you understand that?" I begged, trying to be the voice of reason. "It's just a superstition held by uneducated Hindoos!"

  "I believe she really exists," Liliana announced stubbornly. "After all, you believe in your god, isn't that right?"

  "I don't..." I wanted to say I didn't believe, but I wasn't sure, so I kept silent. Knowledge and faith are different things. And in that faith precisely was what I had, I used a different argument than the one I was initially planning to: "Perhaps that is so, but that's all far in the past. What difference does it make what happened all those years ago in far-off Calcutta? Forget about it and live in the present. That’s all been over for a long time."

  Liliana bristled up, and I sensed the feeling that shook her.

  "It’s not over, Leo," Lily said fatefully and sniffled. "It’s not..."

  "If you're talking about the rumors in the papers..."

  "I'm not. A half year ago, I was reminded of my debt to the goddess. Why do you think I started dancing in the cabaret? Those are real rituals – dances dedicated to Kali!"

  "Hold up!" I demanded. "You were reminded? By who?"

  "I don't know. One day, I simply found a letter under my pillow. I was promised the protection of the goddess, and in exchange they demanded obedience. And when they strangled that poor photographer, I..." Liliana started sobbing and began wiping her reddened eyes with a kerchief. "I felt guilty! They promised me protection, and they kept their word! I didn't want to have anything to do with that, so I fled the city!"

  My head was spinning from the surreal nature of the situation. It was as if I had been transported into an adventure novel, but I decided not to pay any attention to that for now. Instead, I listened to the instincts I’d gained as a constable and latched into a contradiction.

  "But then why did you decided to return?" I asked. Then, I hazarded: "Another letter?"

  "Yes," she shuddered. "I have no choice. I must return. But I'm afraid. If only you knew, Leo, how afraid I am..."

  I did know. All my senses grew keener and the horror that gripped Lily in prickly waves broke into my consciousness, attracting and repelling at the same time.

  "Everything will be okay," I said and, much to my own surprise, embraced the girl by the shoulders. "Believe me. Just believe."

  Lily turned her tear-stained face toward me and exhaled almost soundlessly:

  "You promise?"

  "I won't let anyone hurt you," I answered confidently, then pulled her close and kissed her.

  Yep, that’s what I did...

  Chapter Four or Spiritualist Seance and a Bit of Mysticism

  RESPONSIBILITY is like having weights on your legs. It's like having your wings clipped. Missed chances in distilled form.

  That was exactly what I was thinking as I listened to the measured clanking of the wheels, watching Liliana as she slept undisturbed. Covered with a blanket, she was breathing measuredly in her sleep, locks of her jet black hair fanned out on a snow-white pillowcase.

  I laid down next to her, admiring the curves of her feminine body, barely obscured by a layer of thin fabric, thinking about responsibility like a right idiot.

  Responsibility, promises I'd made and some other, more pleasant things, which had incited these burdensome and untimely thoughts.

  It seemed as if Lily could sense my gaze. She opened her eyes and smiled.

  "Good morning, Leo!"

  "Long time no see, beautiful!" I hid my piercing doubts behind a careless smile.

  My companion stretched out sweetly, bending her back, but quickly caught herself and pulled the sheet back over just before a breast was revealed.

  "Turn away, please," she asked in embarrassment. And when I carried out her request, she got up from the bed, and hid herself behind the paper divider in the corner. "How much time do we have to get ready?" she inquired, now behind the screen.

  I picked up my timepiece from the shelf, turned its face to the light and told her:

  "If the train's still on schedule, an hour and a quarter."

  "It’s horribly early!" Lily yawned and started rustling the wrapped paper.

  I couldn't argue with that. It was quarter to five – not exactly my usual time to get out of bed. And I really had no desire to get up and get dressed when Liliana came out from behind the screen in a short peignoir that was nearly see-through and spun around before the mirror, admiring her own reflection.

  "It didn't even cross my mind to ask your opinion," she said, giggling quietly, "but what do you think? Does it suit me?"

  "Oh, madly."

  "Is that so?"

  "The chance of missing our stop is growing higher every minute I see you in it."

  "Stop it, Leo! You’re making me blush!"

  "That wasn't mere flattery. It was the pure truth!" I answered, admiring her slender legs and all the rest the peignoir revealed.

  "All the more so, then!" Liliana said harshly, turning away to the mirror to get her disheveled hair in order.

  I leaned a pillow on the bed's headboard, sat down and leaned my back into it.

  "Well, maybe we should miss our stop." I suggested, my heart seizing in panic.

  "Leo, are you serious?" Lily looked around. "And where would we go?"

  "Wherever we want! Even the New World! I'm rich enough to not have to worry about money."

  Liliana set her comb aside and sat on the bed. She spent some time in silence, gathering her thoughts. The silence was only broken by a measured clanking of wheels. Shortly, she opened her mouth, but I already knew the answer. My illustrious talent told me everything. My talent and her fear.

  "They'll find us no matter where we go," Lily whispered. "Be it the New World, or the North Pole. We’ll never be able to hide from the thugees, even on the bottom of the sea."

  "I won't allow anyone to harm you."

  "No, Leo," she shook her head, "I'm the one who's preventing harm from coming to you. I have too many deaths on my conscious. I won't survive another."

  "Come off it!"

  "No, Leo, listen to me! I've learned my lesson. I'll never risk anyone else's life again."

  A sharp needle of pain ran through my heart. It even seemed that it stopped beating, having become a block of molten red-hot metal, but the flood quickly passed. All that remained was the desire to find all the Kali Stranglers on earth and have them quartered in full public view. Either that, or tear them to pieces with my bare hands.

  Lily bowed down, kissed me and asked:

  "What's worrying you, Leo? Be honest."

  I hesitated, but decided to tell the truth, cleared my throat and squeezed out:

  "I may have been a bit incautious last night..."

  "What do you mean?" Lily didn't understand.

  "Well, you know..."

  But nothing needed explanation. Little devils started flickering by in the girl's colorless white eyes.

  "Just a bit incautious?" Liliana repeated with a smile, having instantly forgotten all her fears. "Leo! You were extremely incautious last night, and several times in a row at that!"

  I could feel my face filling with red.

  "And what do we do now?" I asked, taking myself into my hands.

  "Nothing," Lily kissed me. "We do nothing. I'm a grown lady. I can take care of everything by myself."

  "So, you’re saying women have their secrets?" I mumbled, masking my shame.

  "That's it," she confirmed and tried to stand, but I embraced her by the waist and held her in place.

  "Stop it, Leo!" Liliana objected. "Do you want my father to catch us?"

  I really didn't want that, so I let Lily go, threw back the sheet and started getting dressed. But now, she was the thing distracting me: her sharp fingernail slid down my back, tracing the lines of the blank cross.

  "I've never seen anything like that," the girl whispered.

  "Well, at least I'm not boring."

  "Believe you me, you're plenty unusual without the ta
ttoos."

  Lily bit cautiously at my earlobe, embraced me and led her left hand down my chest.

  "Where’d you get that?" she asked, carefully touching the old scars opposite my heart: one had been entrusted to a surgeon, and the second was uneven and bumpy.

  A chill ran down my spine, but I kept my presence of mind and smiled.

  "Something from long, long ago."

  After that, I tried to embrace Liliana, but she quickly moved away and ducked behind the screen to get dressed. I got myself in order first and walked out to get some tea. After that, we sat at a folding table near the window and took in the mountain landscapes with all the precipices and steep slopes blooming in the beams of the rising sun. We saw bizarre rock formations and mountain streams. The blue sky was bright as could be and the forests were emerald green. But it brought little comfort to me and my companion.

  Our hearts were not at ease.

  When the train grumbled over a bridge and rolled into a tunnel, I closed the window so no smoke would come into the car, and walked up to Liliana. She stumbled and immediately leaned her back against the wall.

  "Leo!" she grabbed me. "Be a nice boy!"

  But I didn't stop kissing her and instead reminded her of my suggestion.

  "Let's go to the New World!"

  "Leo!" Lily grew gloomy, sniffled and asked: "Let's not talk about that anymore!"

  "But..."

  I wasn't allowed to finish my sentence. A kiss forced me to go silent half-word. After that, I couldn't have cared less about conversations. In the end, we arrived at the train station a bit more disheveled than the rules of good conduct would allow, so instead of arguing, we set about hurriedly rectifying our appearances. I heard an extended horn-blow, the car shook, and the train gradually slowed its pace until it came to a stop at the platform.

  Lily adjusted my neckerchief and called out:

  "Let's go, the baggage will be brought out."

  I sighed and trailed behind her to the exit. The conductor had already thrown the doors wide open, and Lily was walking hopelessly onto the platform. I, meanwhile, froze in place.

  The ports of the western coast, traveling to the New World, a life without care and troubles... – all that passed through my head like a whirlwind and held me in the car. It was a bad idea to leave the train in the resort town. Too dangerous. The right move was to remain in the car and keep going west.