– I stayed to protect him, but I went out, and the nurse came in and he was already lying dead. It is a stroke.
– Something does not add up.
– Stop talking about it. I need to bury my brother. And to honor his memory.
– There is already a ready-made grave in the cemetery. When we were busy for an unnamed grave, and found out about its outcome, we also made a fuss. There is already a ready-made grave; it is next to the nameless one.
– Wow, what a coincidence. Vova sat in silence and did not delve into the conversation. The friends who came drilled him with their eyes. The sister did not understand what the matter was. – We have to go. We need to take the body from the morgue and bury it.
– Rely on us. We will arrange everything. We will not abandon you. One of her friends took her by the arm and led her. We all set off together.
– Oh, my little brother, he could not fly away. What a sad fate he has.
– Yes, to buy a ticket three times and not fly out, it is really fate. If he had not run away that night, then maybe nothing would have happened.
– Who knows? Maybe it is really fate. We all fell silent and reached the morgue.
– Vova, will you go with us to the end, or will you leave us?
– I will leave you later. Now I will go to the end.
– How can I find you? I want to hear his whole story. I do not know everything.
– You do not know only the latest events. I will find you and tell you everything I know. One of my friends was looking at me from under his forehead, and he almost attacked me with his fists I gave no sign, and stood aside. I did not like this story myself, but I could not change anything about it.
The body was taken out of the morgue and taken to the funeral service in the house of God. There was a deathly silence at the funeral service, Vova, for some reason of his own, did not enter the temple. -«My God, what’s wrong with his face?» He was cut with a knife?
– We do not know. Only he knows about it. And pointed in the direction of Vova. – What about the nameless grave now? Only your brother knew the full details of the deceased. He communicated with him in the kingdom of darkness. The sister was tearful and did not really understand what she was talking about.
– It is too early for her to think about it now. Do not touch her.
– No, you are wrong. This passage needs to be closed urgently. If we had done it earlier, it would have been better.
– «They’re right. We need to make an effort and do it right. Vladimir listened to the conversation and stood with a dissatisfied look. Why does my brother look so awful? He is like an elderly battered wanderer. His face and hands took on the same appearance as on the first day in the hospital. His hair was gray. His sister could not understand why, and I could not tell her. – I will not leave here until I erect a monument to my brother.
– You need to get out of here. A friend blurted out. You have small children. Think about them. She will clean you up, too, and we will do everything ourselves. Do not worry. Friends stood up for their sister. I was standing on the sidelines. The sister hesitated. She understood the problem.
– «You’re right. But I have nothing to do with it. She must not touch me.
– We do not know. Therefore, it is better not to take risks. Alternatively, do it in the summer. The nurse sighed heavily.
– I have a feeling that this grave was dug for my brother a long time ago.
– We have the same feeling. But we don’t know. We have not seen her. So many times, they came here, put up a fence. She definitely wasn’t there.
– That’s weird.
– «You’re right. But I have nothing to do with it. She must not touch me.
– We do not know. Therefore, it is better not to take risks. On the other hand, do it in the summer. The nurse sighed heavily.
– I have a feeling that this grave was dug for my brother a long time ago.
– We have the same feeling. But we don’t know. We have not seen her. So many times, they came here, put up a fence. She definitely wasn’t there.
– That’s weird.
– And now what? Will this passage remain open? My brother told me so much about him. I know the danger of this grave. And who will be next? Me? Or one of you? Vladimir stood silently and listened to the dialogue.
– In the course of this question concerns only the three of us. The sister looked at us questioningly. She guessed something, but did not show it. The funeral was over, and we left the cemetery for a memorial lunch in a cafe.
There was a deathly silence at the table, no one dared to break the silence. The sister sat in silence and stared at one point. Victor’s friend and I looked at each other with hateful eyes. I understood his condition, and did not dare to resist his emotions.
– What a ridiculous death my brother has. For what? The sister came out to talk on the phone. The three of us stayed together and broke the silence.
– Tell me how it was.
– She took it. He committed an unforgivable act by touching her. This could not be done in any case. Friends were peacefully silent, and I was waiting for the next question.
– And who are you?
– «You don’t want to know.
– You had better answer it.
– «You can’t do anything to me. I am already dead. I am a resident of Navi. I am immortal. I have moved into this beautiful body and will leave this terrible city. With these words, I got up and left the table.
My sister stayed with Victor’s friends. – When do you plan to leave?
– I do not know. Her voice was gone and she did not have the strength to speak. – Tomorrow it is necessary to go to the cemetery, and then fly.
– It can be done in one day, departure in the evening.
– I want to stay here a little longer.
– It does not make sense. You need to fly. It is dangerous to stay here. Moreover, that grave is not safe.
– He is right. Fly away. We will do everything without you. Their voice sounded convincing that she could not disagree.
– «You’ve convinced me. In the morning, I will go to the cemetery, and in the evening, I will fly away.
– And that is right. We will accompany you to the end. After a short pause, she asked why we dislike his new friend.
– Because it is dark. It is immediately visible. He is smelly.
– I noticed too, there is something wrong here.
– I really wanted to talk to him.
– It is not worth it. Do not collect troubles on your head. Your brother is beyond help. He is dark. That is for sure. The nurse reluctantly leaned back in her chair.
– «I don’t know myself anymore. Maybe it is not worth it. It all happened so fast. I did not expect such a result from this story. On the other hand, we just did not take this adventure seriously. I do not believe there is not one. Her voice was gone and she was wheezing.
– No one took this story seriously. But it happened, and the result is deplorable. Let us take you to the hotel, and tomorrow we will go to the cemetery together. My sister readily agreed, and we left the cafe.
Early inВ the morning, the car drove up toВ the hotel. We quickly found aВ fresh grave ofВ the deceased. My sister stood motionless, and we turned from side toВ side trying toВ remember what we had experienced. IВ froze for aВ moment.
– What happened?
– Look over there.
– «Where is she?» The sister involuntarily shuddered.
– What happened?
There was no trace ofВ the unmarked grave.
– Where did she go?
– Mysticism continues. I am scared.
– Let’s get out of here. In addition, I headed for the exit.
– Wait. We need to figure it out. We need to go to funeral services. They should know.
– I am afraid. This is not normal. It is a sign. I am leaving this town. It is the city’s fault. It is always winter here. A friend had a tantrum.
– Let’s go together. I am coming with you. This also concerns me.
We politely said goodbye toВ the fresh grave ofВ aВ friend, and left the cemetery. InВ the funeral services, we were told that there were official relatives at this grave, and they decided toВ reburial it inВ another city. They had an official permit on hand.
– How is this possible? That is so fast.
– When there are credentials and an official document, everything happens quickly. These words sounded in such a tone that we did not dare to object.
– And what, everything was cleaned up so quickly? And the cross? And the fence?
– What is there to clean up? There is nothing to clean up there? This woman was clearly not suitable for funeral services. And we went out into the street in silence. There were a few hours left before the trip to the airport, we accompanied my sister to the hotel, had coffee with her, and agreed that we would pick her up and take her to the airport.
– That is the nightmare over! We all smiled with relief. No grave, no problem.
– That is for sure. And we will personally install a fence for our friend. We left. The nurse went up to her room.
I found Victor’s sister at the hotel and arranged a meeting for us.
– How good that you came.
– This is our last meeting. You wanted to ask me for details about your brother.
– Yes it is. I looked into the eyes of this girl and did not dare to lie to her. For a moment, I wanted to become her close friend, but I knew that it was impossible.
– What did you want to know?
– The last thing he told me about was the ball. Then he bought a ticket, I was waiting for him, came to the airport to meet him, but he did not arrive. We lost contact, and I find out that he is in the hospital. For a moment, I felt what she felt. And I felt sorry for her. – I just need to know what happened next. What happened? I know there was something. But what? Tell me. You can tell me.
– I know I can trust you. Victor told me everything in detail, as well as the fact that he told you everything. I will tell you what happened. We were sitting at a table in a hotel cafe. And she was waiting for my story.
– Your brother was a wonderful man. He loved you very much. And I blamed myself for not being able to take care of you. Yet, he could not. He could not resist the dark forces, and this force dragged him down. She dragged him to the bottom, and he will not be able to get out of there. He told me how he had been in Mara’s arms. She dragged him away, and whirled in her circle.
– How’s that?
– «He saw his grave with his own eyes. He was lying in his own coffin. He experienced all this while still alive. His sister sat and stared at one point. She did not say a word, so I continued. He went to the cemetery at night in search of her. He was in love with her. He wanted to find her, and he found her. He was in hell. He was with the devils. And none of this would have happened if he hadn’t made a fatal mistake.
– Which one?
He touched her. My sister listened to me with amazement. She understood what I said and understood the whole point of my story. – He was the only one who dared to look into her eyes, and it ruined him. She dragged him to the bottom.
– I understand you. You do not have to continue. She said dryly. We sat in silence. I did not dare interrupt our meeting first. – And who are you? And how do you know all this?
– I am the one who took the place of your grandmother with him. The sister was stunned. So that means…
– Yes. This is true. Now this place is his.
The meeting was over. The girl went toВ the landing and sat inВ the airplane seat.
CHAPTERВ 4
After aВ while, the whole story was forgotten. InВ addition, remembered with fear. Those who were eyewitnesses and saw everything with their own eyes were even afraid toВ mention what they saw, so as not toВ bring trouble upon themselves. Everyone remembered it inВ silence, and could not believe what had happened. This story did not fit into my head, and everyone was sorry for the departed friend who so absurdly left this world ofВ the living. Everyone was silent about it, but every breath ofВ wind, aВ blizzard ofВ snowflakes, and aВ change inВ weather conditions did not let them forget. Everyone would like toВ see aВ person dear toВ him or her who has passed away.
The only person who was not afraid to investigate this case was Victor’s sister. She was waiting for the summer to send the children to the camp and fully investigate. Victor’s friend occasionally wrote to her, he casually asked how she was doing. And he didn’t write a word about his late friend. He was afraid to touch a sore subject, and even more, he did not want to bring trouble on the sister of the deceased. Sometimes he asked about the weather. In addition, for fear of looking ridiculous, he stopped the correspondence. My sister treated this correspondence so coldly. She meant nothing to her; she needed this friend as a weapon, nothing more. Moreover, she kept in touch with him. She blamed herself for letting her brother go to the autonomous okrug at this time of year, knowing that he was unable to take care of himself. But she blamed his friends even more for the fact that they were directly involved in what happened. Her head, heart and thoughts were busy with revenge. The illusion settled in her head that she would be able to rescue her brother, and his friend would take his place. She believed that he left by accident, and he could be returned, swapped, as had already happened with their grandmother. This thought did not leave her, and she did not think about anything else. She constantly reread the messages he wrote to her during his stay in Norilsk. She kept them as an important document confirming his innocence, and the saddest thing was that she could not tell anyone about it. It was all so unreal, and she understood her brother when he asked her if she believed him. Now she understood his inner state, but he was no longer there, and this pain from injustice was suffocating her. She felt herself fading away, and waited for her hour, the hour of retribution.
The feeling ofВ revenge settled inВ Natalia with the arrival ofВ spring. When the heat came, and the snow began toВ melt. Mourning has passed, winter has passed with it, and the feeling ofВ fear has left her. Instead, she did not notice how she became obsessed and every time before going toВ bed, when the children fell asleep, she imagined everything that her brother described toВ her. She firmly decided for herself that she would get there toВ the kingdom ofВ Navi, not knowing how, but she would get there and see everything that he described toВ her inВ his letters.
One day one of my friends started a conversation on this topic. – I wonder how our friend is now.
– You are interested, you go and see. I do not want to go back there and go through all the things I have already gone through. I want to forget everything and not touch this topic anymore. These words were uttered with such aggression that Sasha even began to doubt that his interlocutor was grieving for a departed friend.
– Okay, fine. We will not touch on this topic anymore. But do not forget that it was you who became the source of this adventure. It all started with you. These words sounded like a reproach. And the so-called friend changed his face.
– What do you want to say?
– You do not want to touch this topic, so live with it. I will not say anything more. With these words, Sasha got up and left the table. Left alone, Sergei plunged into his thoughts. He himself could not understand why he was considered a cause of disagreement. What did I do? Why me? He did not like the whole story, and especially the fact that everyone blamed him. He did not consider himself guilty, did not want to be responsible for it. He considered this story a misunderstanding, and did not want to be involved in it. Sometimes the idea of selling his apartment, giving up everything and moving further away from this story settled in his head. Nevertheless, he believed that everything had calmed down and there was nothing to worry about. Subconsciously, he felt a sense of fear, rather than a sense of guilt, suddenly history would repeat itself, and with it, the horror he had experienced. What then? Who will be next? He firmly decided for himself that if he did not move out of this city, then he would never find peace.
Sasha was a closer friend and he, like the deceased’s sister, had no peace. He did not tell anyone about it, but he also wanted revenge. He did not know how, but he was ready for it. The feeling of revenge clouded his mind, and became stronger every day. Along with the feeling of revenge, which he carefully concealed, there was a feeling of love for the sister of his best dough, which he hid no less carefully than the feeling of revenge. This feeling woke up in him as soon as he saw her, at that moment he had not realized it yet. After she left home, the friend realized that he was hopelessly in love and harbored the hope that they would certainly meet again. He was afraid to admit it to her, because not much time had passed since mourning. He was also afraid of being rejected and looking ridiculous in front of a woman like her. He wanted to pick up the keys to her and become the one that every man dreams of being.
