Notes of a madman

#6. Marked with stigmatas.

 In the morning, for some reason, it seemed to me that the stigmatas had been a dream. But they don't, they still occupied their (I almost said "legal") place on my hands from the elbow to the wrist.

And why did I say "in the morning"? Stupid everyday habits!

Mary stroked Peter's sleeping hair, looked at him as if trying to memorize every line, every line to leave in her memory.

— Are you awake? At least you sleep a hour, yeah? I have a strange feeling that we will need a lot of streight...—I sigh and go to the window.—After I've sleeping I feel myself like an old man!—

— And after that, you asking me to sleep? Nooo!—Mary chuckled, raising her voice just a little.—Have you examined the house yet?—

The girl got up very carefully, without disturbing the sleeping Peter.

— No.—I said.—And Tom doesn't seem to be up yet.—I open the door leading to the corridor and I see our giant with a huge bag on his shoulder. I don't think he bought it all...—I've made a mistake, you're already awake...—

— This is would be very difficult for you, Tobias! We just saw, those soul Baal ate after all.—Perez said, peering over the broad back of the shaven-headed Englishman.

— I think, I know... I can't understand, how, but I know...—I muttered softly.

A little later, I noticed a certain peculiarity: hunger, wounds, tiredness- absolutely everything flowed into my stigmatas. (My??) If I get tired, they start to bleed more.

The canned soups, of which Tom had found so many somewhere, had a terrible taste. But I'll be willing to at least feed on the earth, so that the stigmata don't bleed as little as possible.

— Look what I found here!—Peter brought a large crate into the kitchen (or what looked like a kitchen).

In a normal situation, hardly anyone would be happy about this. A full toolbox!

An axe, very handy. That's what I chose for myself. I hope that he will survive until the beautiful day when I cut off Baal's head.

— The hammers are too small.—Tom said critically.

— I think that's a good thing, too. A small hammer is still a hammer...—

I went into the other room from their boring conversations.

My head ached a little. It seems like we don't need to linger here, I understand that, but I'm just afraid to rush. My consciousness is tumbling into the abyss...

Everything around me began to blink like a faulty light bulb. The colors quickly began to change.

Before I knew it, I was on the floor. My whole body was suddenly as heavy as a rock.

Someone in my head? Apparently, this is so...

— Show yourself!! Who are you? Where are you...—I'm yelling like a madman.

An inarticulate yell interrupts my tirade. It took me a moment to realize that it was my scream...

I look up and realize that I was in Mindless. Just a few seconds, but I was there.

—Tom! Pete! Mary!—I shout hoarsely, running out into the hallway.—I saw them!" They call me!—

— Mindless?—one of Mary's hammers fell out and clattered loudly on the floor.—We must hurry...—

***

We didn't go down the road now. The forest even smelled like a forest now. The smell of juicy grass gives an imitation of calm.

Everything was so dark all around, as if it was a polar night that would never leave here...

— Evil is targeting you because of the stigmatas even more!—Mary shoved me. Her blow was painful on my shoulder.

— You have a heavy hand, Princess!—I gasped.

— Nature is like this... Wow! I don't think anything good is flying, but what a view, what a view!—the girl sighed.

— It looks like a star, but the stars aren't followed by such a nasty garbage trail!—Peter zoomed in on his phone's camera.—I think it's a plane!— The

ground shook. The smell of burning wood, it seems to be far away, but it is felt.

— Is it worth spending time on a plane?—Perez asked Mary.

—Of course! You and Tom, two such strong guys, we can break sharp pieces of iron... You never know who will get in the way in the future...—the

girl's mood was extremely gloomy-I realized this without turning around. She has a very emotional voice.

Everything around the plane was on fire. And so it is clear-there is nothing to profit here...

— Ugh... Only the time was wasted on this!—Perez said angrily.—But, even in this form, I can see that airplanes are a beautiful thing...—

— I would argue with you.—I suddenly remembered my flights and the contents of my stomach shuddered.—Have you ever flown?—

— Dreamed. But I didn't fly...—

— Tobias! Look what I found!—Tom hands me a pair of mirrored glasses that were apparently lying in the grass.

I didn't even touch them. They were similar... I know how stupid that is! They look like Dad's.

— I see.—The Englishman tossed his glasses back into the grass.

— I'm fine as it is. We need to get out of here, and quickly. We don't know what's lurking here...—

— Have the stigmatas come to life?—Perez turned to me.

I carefully lift the fabric of my t-shirt.

***

We could not find any traces of the presence of the mad guys, let alone Baal. It's like he's playing hide-and-seek with us. Or just running away from us.

We've come a long way, I'm sure of it.

The stigmatas began to change. They look like tattoos now, but I can't feel my hands in these places. They are there, but they don't seem to exist.

Now it's my turn to be on duty, our biological clock defines this time as night.

It's not as scary to sit with a fire as it used to be. Less feeling of loneliness ... Mary was the last to fall asleep, as always.

Even though Perez was long dead, he was also asleep. But not so much.

I opened one of the books I'd found in the house and almost laughed hysterically.

"The Dunwich Nightmare", "The Hidden Horror", "The Unnamed" ... no, I won't read it! Not in this environment...

But in a normal one, I would read...

I hear footsteps and start. That's what I think... It's all just my imagination...

Still, I open the book, the titles in which I was so impressed.

— Tobias...—I hear a hoarse whisper and shudder. I shout so loudly that I almost lose my voice. Fire... My own face is reflected in the fire! My nerves have finally given up. I realized that I had run quite far only because I did not recognize these places, but I could not see anything else around. — Firefly...—I hear the voice again. No! It's impossible... It's my father is standing in front of me. I turn away and cover my ears. Not a word, not a single word, not listen! I feel a strange sense of the company left in the camp. I even seem to see them. — You're not Charles Bauer!—I say aloud, almost shouting, and tears roll down my cheeks. — Why do you believe Mary? She was the one who drugged all the people in Mindless, she made them crazy! And I went there for you!—a hand touches my shoulder. Here the stigmatas will not help ... I saw everything else as if in a fog, from the outside. I broke down...