Notes of a madman

# 4. Fate, which, like a planet, turns ...

Food Mary and Peter, it seems, have always been rich.

Although I am not one of those who eat a lot, I could not lift my head from the plates-they cook just incredibly delicious!

Connor suddenly coughed, trying to swallow a large cake.

—Be careful! It would be very stupid to die like that!—I said, and the guy immediately frowned.—Do you like sweets so much?—

— I generally like to eat! And who doesn't like sweets?—Connor picked up another cake.—You're an amazing cook, Mary!" The taste is simply amazing!—

-— These are, by the way, corn cakes. Manuel, my childhood friend, taught me how to cook. Perhaps we will visit him soon.—Mary pulled up the oldest and largest chair and sat down at the table.—Eat, eat, don't be shy. If anything, we have plenty more.—

—I'm sorry for what we did. My brother and the rest of the company were so hardened by life that they forgot how to apologize. I apologize for all of them.—Connor said to Mary as he helped her carry the plates away.

—It's okay, no one's dead...—

It seemed to me that the girl's eyes had changed, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I was physically full and mentally calm. It made me feel careless.

Peter took out some albums. They were in such a terrible state that it was impossible to figure out where they came from and how many years they had already been stored.

— Guys! Do any of you know how to draw?—he asks, spreading out the albums on the table.

— Hmm, are you serious?—one of the guys asked.

— Well, yes! I make reproductions of Van Gogh every day, which explains my rich and busy life!—Connor said with a hint of obvious sarcasm, and then he couldn't help but laugh.

- Draw ... yeah... I can't do it at all.—Dalton sighed.—But.. You can make a description of it in words and take it to the police!—

— And you're smart.—Brady smiled.—So, what did each of you remember? Any signs will be important!—

The pen in his hand was like a branch wrapped in ivy.

From all sides from this company poured options, but I put the beginning:

— It seems that she had a dress with an ornament of purple roses and red strands in her hair.—

—Long-nosed she is!—Connor said, pulling the bowl of candy toward him.

—Blue eyes!" Stop... No, not blue... Purple!—Dalton twirled his strange amulet in his fingers.—And a piercing on the side of nose!—

Peter wrote down everything that each of us remembered and there were a lot of records. It is unlikely that there is someone similar to this description. It will be her.

— Now here's the question: what's the excuse for bringing this to the police station? Although... I have an option. Are you guys on wheels?—Peter asked the company.—Me, Mary, Tobias, Tom, and Connor are going to get in my Mercedes, and the rest of us are going to drive our own. Those bikes outside are yours, I assume?-

— Hmm...—Kieran hesitated.—They're rental cars.—

— Never mind, I'll give you money a day or two more for the rental.—

***

Peter walked excitedly out of the police station.

— This is a nightmare!—he said, coming up to our group.—When they ran her through the databases yesterday, it turned out to be Iris Feldman, who has been dead for more than five years. At first, they thought it was plastic surgery,but they found no signs of surgery. I warned her that the girl had already wanted to commit a crime before-I blamed the destruction of our bar on her.—

—Yeah, they'll believe everything, the damn cops!—Dalton took the lighter from Mary and heated a piece of paper with the text on it with a flame.

— See that guy over there? Michael Brady, my little brother.—Brady pointed.—What do you think now? And by the way, everyone here listens to Mike's opinion. He's a valuable employee to them.—

— Hmm, but now things have come to a dead end...—Mary glanced in the rearview mirror.

— Why a dead end? He gave me the address of her parents! Let's go there now. Well, we'll kill this damned Baal!—Peter opened the door of the Mercedes.—Well, what are we standing for? Guys, just follow us!—

***

The climb up after the rickety bridge made me feel uneasy. Sweat broke out on my face, vomit rolled up, everything began to blur before his eyes.

— Mary,—I said to the girl, to distract myself.—do you know a priest named Perez? Oh, I mean the exorcist priest...—

— Yes. I think so. Alvaro Perez baptized me a long time ago. He died a long time ago... He then...—the girl wondered.

— Did he fall asleep and not wake up in the morning?—I asked.—That's exactly how his trap works.—

— And in the future, are we friends?—after a moment's thought, Mary asked me the question, though I could see that it had been in her eyes for quite some time.

— First we wanted to kill each other, then you gave your life for us twice. It's not exactly friendship, but it's too cute for enmity.—I held my breath as the car bounced on a bump.—Peter, are you sure your brother had the right address? It doesn't look like anyone lives in these parts at all!—

— He took the address from the police file. And he himself said that he went to see her parents... And in terms of navigation, Mike is never wrong at all. He even somehow led a lost guy out of the woods without using a compass or GPS.—Peter said.

— That's who's lucky! I always have only trouble in the forest!—Connor snorted enviously.—Yes, unfortunately, there is no good forest here...—

— For a good forest, you need to go to Alaska. That's where the frost and the forests are... If anything, Mary was born in Alaska. She knows the place, doesn't she, Mary?—Tom chimed in.

— Well, yes, I like the cold... But alas, there was once a disaster with me and my parents and so I left there...—startled, Hamilton glanced at the figure on the curb. Peter, stop the car! Stop!—

Connor, forgetting his not-so-feigned lack of senility, hid behind Tom and me. In the back seat, the comfort was gone altogether.

I rarely see real fear, but when I see it, I can immediately recognize it. And now it was him. I can quite understand it.

A three-meter-tall creature with skin torn off was standing on the side of the road. It didn't look like Mary was afraid of him.

— Who are you?—Mary asked, putting her hand on the huge hand.—I've seen you before... How old are you dead? Do you remember yourself?—

I saw Peter fumbling in his pockets with shaking hands,probably looking for the cross...

The creature's features began to change smoothly. It was so slow, like ice melting.

Soon, instead of an unknown creature, there was a transparent woman in a dress similar to a gypsy.

— Can you kill her?—the ghost asked, looking at us hopefully.

— Who are you?—Mary repeated her question without taking her hand away.

— The real mother of this monster. It is at this intersection that I am buried...—the dead woman turned and stared fearfully at our group, who had just arrived on motorcycles.

Dalton uttered an inarticulate sound of fright, but recovered quickly.

— How can I release you?—Mary continued the conversation.

— If there was a priest, it would be very easy. The main thing is to kill her, I beg you! She summons terrible nightmares to this world!—the ghost shook the rosary hanging from her wrist.—I think you'll need them. They had hurt her at birth. Take them out of my grave, put them around the monster's neck, and burn it!—

— Is there a shovel in the car?—Mary turns to her fiance.

— Of course! I've been living with you for years... That's why I love you so much, honey!—Brady replied calmly and even with a hint of enthusiasm.

— It feels like you have a veeery busy life...—Connor chuckled, picking up a second shovel.

There were five shovels in the trunk, all of them made of lightweight material, some kind of plastic, I think, and so they weighed almost nothing. Plus, the shape was narrow and streamlined, they took up little space.

I noticed the rosary first-those rotten pieces of lacquered wood on a thread, they were still in the bone fingers of the crumbling skeleton.

— There they are!—I jumped into the grave and almost choked on the stench of long-rotted flesh. I began to carefully unbend my fingers, one by one.—I'm sorry for your hand...—I muttered softly, with a guilty look, as the bones of my arm finally broke apart and fell apart.

Tom held out his hand and I climbed out of the hole.

— I see. We need to burn the girl!—he said calmly, as he helped us fill the hole with earth, but I noticed that he wasn't really so calm.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and we didn't stop for anything, even snacking on the way up the huge hill. The transport was left at the bottom, it was impossible to climb on wheels here. The earth mixed with the mud, turning into a kind of molasses in consistency. Or even in the swamp... the

boots got bogged down easily. And my sneakers... they were dead. They were so badly disfigured by the dirt. But I will sincerely hope that this is the only loss... the

house has grown on the horizon as the center of the most nightmarish abomination in this whole world.

Peter crossed himself and took out an old crucifix, and Connor, Mary, and I shuddered at the cold, the deathly cold that surrounded this place...