《Song By Unreality》


 Chapter 1

    ¡°...Singing for me is like breathing. If I stop singing, I''ll suffocate¡­¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with the publication ¡®Music In Our Life¡¯)


    ¡°No, there''s something wrong here¡­¡±


    Yura ran his fingers into a pile of brown curls and even more disheveled hair, which neither a comb nor styling products could tame. Manya glanced disapprovingly at her brother but said nothing, only lowering the lid on the pan with an unnecessarily loud clunk and turning off the gas.


    ¡°Why did Rina do that? At the peak of her career? Suddenly?¡±


    ¡°She could have had a hundred reasons!¡± Manya couldn''t stand it, because Yura had been talking about one topic for an hour.


    As he burst into the apartment at ten in the morning, plopped down on a stool that creaked under him, and so he chatted. Manya had already managed to cook soup, treat her brother to coffee with homemade cupcakes, and listen to a hundred and fifty ¡®why?¡¯, and he kept pouring out versions that he dismissed.


    ¡°Yura, should I fry potatoes as the second meal? Or is it better to boil?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Do you think she¡­¡±


    ¡°So fry or boil?¡± Manya interrupted, deciding that it was time to stop this monologue full of rhetorical questions. In part, she understood Yura: if he lit up on some topic, it was a fiasco for everyone who tried to talk to him about something else. And then journalistic interest mixed with personal: her brother was a fan of the popular singer Rina, didn¡¯t miss a single concert in Moscow, and was extremely proud that he once interviewed her for the magazine in which he worked. Manya also liked the talented singer, she even went to a concert with Yura one day instead of the girl he broke up with, so the news about the cancellation of the tour upset her.


    However, the brother, in his meticulous desire to get to the bottom of the reason for Rina''s act, crossed all boundaries.


    ¡°So what to do with potatoes?¡± Manya reminded.


    ¡°Fry it!¡± Yura answered briefly, as if waving off, and started over again: ¡°Rina suddenly canceled all concerts and unconditionally paid the penalty. Do you know what kind of money it is? But she paid and... disappeared. No one knows what happened or where she is.¡±


    ¡°Yura, she could get sick!¡±


    ¡°In this case, the concerts are not canceled, but postponed. Rina has repeatedly performed with a sore throat and a fever. One day she lost her voice right on stage. She was very worried about the postponement of concerts, personally appeared on social media, and responded to comments and messages. Now - complete silence. Just announced that it was possible to return tickets, and that''s all.¡±


    ¡°Rina, first of all, is a young woman who could get bored with publicity. She could have secretly married¡­¡± Manya involuntarily got involved in the discussion, forgetting about the soup cooling on the stove. ¡°Or maybe she''s expecting a baby and that''s why she went into the shadows.¡±


    The upcoming wedding of the popular singer and famous businessman Dimitri Lebedev was trumpeted by all the tabloids. The paparazzi were chasing a young, beautiful couple, looking for something in their relationship that could make a sensation. However, neither Rina nor Dimitri gave reasons for the scandal, and the journalists themselves fanned the rumors. Therefore, when someone noticed a ring on Rina''s finger, only an illiterate person didn¡¯t write about it.


    ¡°She broke off the engagement!¡± Yura exclaimed, jumped up from his seat, and walked from the window to the table. Two steps there, two steps back. From the movement, the light colorful curtain swayed as if in the wind.


    ¡°Well, maybe their ¡®parting¡¯ is another fake! How many times have Lebedev and Rina been ¡®divorced¡¯ in the press?¡±


    ¡°Flore, you see, I didn¡¯t read about this from competitors but received information from a trusted person. No one has yet had time to write that Rina and Lebedev broke up! Me first.¡±


    Yura checked the magazine''s website again through his smartphone and exclaimed triumphantly:


    ¡°Here! Already! Published! Well, now it will begin! Now our competitors will be bustling¡­ But we''re still the first! I''m the first.¡±


    He smiled vainly, and Manya grimaced with displeasure. She loved her brother, who was eight years younger than her. But as an older sister, she used to pull back if it seemed to her that he was behaving ill-mannered.


    ¡°Yura, don''t you think that¡­¡± Manya began, instantly ¡®turning on¡¯ the strict tone of the elder sister.


    But Yura interrupted her:


    ¡°I don''t understand... already? So fast?¡±


    ¡°What''s fast? Did competitors respond with the same news?¡±


    Yura poked his finger at the smartphone screen, squinted, and then broke into a satisfied smile.


    ¡°Awesome! Of course! The best confirmation that Rina and Lebedev broke up!¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand, Yura.¡±


    ¡°The article was deleted! It didn''t even hang for five minutes! What does that mean? So, Lebedev''s people were bustling! And since they reacted so quickly, they were ready! Monitored! The break up of Rina and Lebedev is not fake!¡±


    ¡°You''re so happy as if you''re going to marry her yourself!¡± Manya couldn''t resist sarcasm. But Yura, continuing to smile happily, shook his shaggy head:


    ¡°Nope. Not going to. Flore, don''t you understand? It''s all so strange! The situation with Rina is extraordinary!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Manya stopped him, not because she wanted to put an end to the topic, but because of a guess that came to mind. ¡°What if it was just Dimitri who parted with Rina, and she went into the shadows? Canceled all the concerts, took time out to get over the breakup?¡±


    ¡°Hm,¡± Yura pondered, patted his chin with his fingers ¨C on the same dimple that his sister had, and after a pause said: ¡°A good version.¡±


    He automatically updated the magazine''s website from his phone and suddenly jumped on the spot.


    ¡°What t... the website is down! A coincidence? Or¡­¡±


    ¡°Yura, are you now even in the fact that the site was unavailable looking for a trick?¡± Manya grinned and put a frying pan on the stove to fry the promised potatoes.


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    ¡°I want to know what happened! Why¡­¡±


    He didn''t have time to finish, because his mobile broke out with a sharp tinkling. Manya grimaced but said nothing.


    ¡°What?!¡± Yura exclaimed into the phone to someone so loudly that Manya almost dropped the knife from her hands, with which she was slicing potatoes. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Yura shouted into the phone with unexpected desperation. ¡°Hey? Hello?! That asshole!¡±


    Manya watched anxiously as her brother threw the phone on the table, and then collapsed on a stool and put his head in his hands.


    ¡°Yura, what happened?¡±


    He just shook his head. Manya turned off the fire under the frying pan and quietly moved another stool to her brother.


    ¡°Yura?¡±


    She gently touched his back with her palm, and stroked him carefully and fearfully, afraid to ask questions. But Yura finally raised his head, looked at Manya with a frustrated look, and smiled bitterly.


    ¡°I was fired. And as I understood, just because of this news.¡±


    ¡°So it happened twenty years ago?¡± Vika clarified and carefully stepped over a rusty sawn-off metal pipe lying in the young grass. Nikolai didn¡¯t notice it and would have stumbled if not for Vika''s involuntary ¡®warning¡¯.


    ¡°Yes. Or rather, twenty-two. I was seven at the time. Of course, I didn''t understand much of what was happening. Parents suddenly decided to move. However, my father has been asking for a transfer closer to the capital for a long time and finally got it.¡±


    Vika nodded, making it clear that she didn¡¯t see anything strange in this. To Nikolai up to some point, his father''s transfer didn¡¯t seem suspicious either.


    ¡°I didn''t want to leave this place. The town, though small, like many garrisons, is one street of several houses, a school, a shop, and a couple of offices, but it was close to this amusement park from us. My parents took me here almost every weekend.¡±


    ¡°It''s hard to imagine that all this once worked,¡± Vika shivered, put her hands in her pockets, and frowned, becoming like an exotic bird.


    A bright crimson strand stood up on the back of her head in a tuft, an ultra-short haircut resembling plumage. The skirts of Vika''s black cloak flew apart like wings when walking. At the same time, trying not to stumble over stone blocks, rebar, and fragments of faded signs, she carefully rearranged her legs, thin and long, like a heron, wrapped in crimson tights, and her gait evoked associations with a bird even more.


    ¡°Yes, once the park was full of life¡­¡± Nikolai drawled thoughtfully and with regret squinted at the skeleton of a boat embedded in the ground ¨C the remains of attractions. He remembered that loved boating so much and, maybe, rocked this one, squinting with delight.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Vika cursed loudly because a branch of a dried tree that had fallen to the ground had left a puff on her tights. Vika stuck out her foot, pulled the fabric with her fingers, and cursed again when she saw that the puff had increased.


    ¡°Now it''s just for throwing away!¡± she sighed.


    Nikolai didn¡¯t say that earlier during the period of total shortage in country, girls didn¡¯t throw away tights, but darned them. He was born in the year when a huge and indestructible country was splitting into unequal fragments, the usual life was going to hell, and the new one seemed not so much bright as foggy. And even though they got out of the crisis, the habit of repairing torn tights remained with his mother for a long time.


    ¡°So, the end of the crimson period?¡± Nikolai couldn''t resist teasing.


    Vika glanced at him and smiled slyly:


    ¡°I have six more pairs. I usually buy seven at once.¡±


    Nikolai already knew about Vika''s inexplicable passion for colored tights. And everything would be fine, but every time she dyed her short hair to match the color. Purple tights - purple ¡®plumage¡¯, green - hair was dyed in the appropriate shade. Thank God, Vika wore every color for at least a couple of weeks, otherwise Nikolai would have gone mad from the daily ¡®color music¡¯. He had long been tempted to ask Vika what she did in the summer when it was impossible to wear tight tights because of the heat. Shaves her head? And even though every time he refrained from asking, he expected one day to see her with a bare skull - in the ¡®tone¡¯ of her bare legs.


    ¡°So, you say people started disappearing from houses on your street?¡± Vika brought the conversation back on track.


    ¡°Yes. This didn¡¯t happen abruptly, but imperceptibly. It''s just that one evening the windows of an apartment in the building opposite didn¡¯t light up. Then another. At first, no one attached any importance to this. But then, every evening, there were more and more such dark windows, and they turned black not only in the house opposite but also in ours. We had a dog, a cross between a lapdog and a poodle. I walked with her during the day, and in the evening - one of the parents. One day I heard a mother telling my father that there were almost no lighted windows left in the apartments at the neighboring entrance. And there are fewer people on the streets. For example, my mother has not seen a familiar saleswoman in the market for several days. All this worried her so much.¡±


    ¡°But people could have moved somewhere? Maybe those houses were resettled en masse?¡±


    ¡°There were rumors that the unit was going to be disbanded. This fully explained the fact that the village began to empty. Besides, I could have misunderstood something from adult conversations and imagined God knows what. For example, this park seemed huge to me then, but in fact, it''s not that big. When I was seven or eight years old, I, like any child, didn¡¯t suffer from a lack of imagination and could imagine empty streets and houses.¡±


    ¡°And yet it wasn''t your imagination,¡± Vika said.


    The road from the broken asphalt, into the cracks of which the grass made its way, forked with a slingshot. One lane ended with a rickety wooden ticket booth. The other led to the racetrack. Once there was a noisy attraction, attracting music and light. But right now, this place was a pitiful sight. Rusty fence blocks faithfully guarded the perimeter of the circuit destroyed by time, bad weather, and vandals. The weed, strong in the thirst for life, boldly made its way to the light, ¡®corroding¡¯ the remnants of the metal coating. The wind in hooligan gusts tore off the roof of the pavilion long ago, leaving only the frame, to which the mummies of two colorless cars still clung with metal arcs. For some reason, Nikolai thought that despair had reached its peak right here, and not near the frozen Ferris wheel or the sine wave of the roller coaster. Maybe because this attraction was his favorite, although, for the sake of a few short minutes of delight, he had to stand endless minutes of tedious waiting in a long queue. But there was always music playing and it was noisy. And it also smelled deliciously of rubber and electricity, and it was the fragrance of happiness and childhood. Nikolai couldn''t resist the temptation and jumped over the fence.


    ¡°Kolya?¡± Vika doubted, and her call brought him back to reality. He looked around and saw that Vika, having picked up the skirts of her coat, was trying on the height of the fence.


    ¡°You''ll finally tear up the tights,¡± Nikolai grinned.


    ¡°Oh, throw it away anyway!¡± she responded nonchalantly and climbed over to him on the racetrack. She did it very cleverly - with her long legs.


    ¡°How scary it is here! It''s like being in a cemetery.¡±


    ¡°You''re right. We are in the cemetery,¡± he agreed, approaching one of the cars and casting a glance at the seat. The cheeky sprout of an unknown tree made its way even through the plastic. Death circled with life ¨C as it should be.


    ¡°I don''t like this place,¡± said Vika and looked over her shoulder, as if she felt someone''s gaze. It''s strange, but before that, she behaved calmly, she even took a trip to an abandoned amusement park with enthusiasm. Nikolai didn¡¯t torment her, especially since there was not much time left before the meeting, he climbed over the fence and helped Vika to get over.


    ¡°Let''s get out of here,¡± he said, deciding that the walk in the park was over for today, but feeling that it would continue another day. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich is about to arrive.¡±


    ¡°So you won''t have time to tell me everything now.¡±


    There was a flirtatious half-smile on her lips, but Nikolai didn''t smile back. To tell her everything means to dive a run into the pool of a long-standing misfortune. Some questions will be followed by others, and certainly, those that he doesn¡¯t want to answer either to her or to anyone else. But he still has to tell Vika something, since he dragged her into this case.


    Nikolai was silent until he left the park. And when they passed a wide arch with broken light bulbs, he said softly, as if to himself:


    ¡°There were rumors that those who left the village were sometimes noticed there.¡±


    ¡°Did people come back?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they did,¡± Nikolai nodded. ¡°But were there people?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Vika recoiled and looked at him with a frightened look, expecting him to laugh, to say that he was deliberately scaring her. But Nikolai only winked conspiratorially and, seeing the heavy figure of a man walking slowly towards them at the end of the alley, waved a friendly hand.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Who would you call first in a difficult situation?¡±


    ¡°I''m used to relying on myself, but if the situation is very difficult... to Dog.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview to ¡°The World Of Show Business¡± magazine)


    As soon as Rina turned on her smartphone, it burst into a series of trills. Forty-nine messages and sixty-three missed calls. Despite the fact that only a few people knew her personal number. Rina hesitated whether to open the messages, but then, without reading any, resolutely pulled out and broke the SIM card in half. That''s all. With a dry crunch of the sim card, her life also seemed to crack. As it turns out, just in one second, everything that has been built over the years - career, love, friendship - collapses. Now she has no past, no future, only the present. And her present - tears welling up in her eyes and two tiny fragments of a SIM card in the palm of her hand. Rina clenched her fist, and then, swinging, threw the remains of the plastic into the raspberry bushes.


    Don''t go limp! The situation is a stalemate, but this is not the final.


    She pulled out another phone from her jacket pocket - a simple one that she can''t access the Internet from, and inserted another SIM card with a single number into it. And then, without giving herself time to doubt, she pressed the call. And when she was answered, she said decisively:


    ¡°I did.¡±


    This time was answered with silence. But Rina didn¡¯t expect any praise or comments, and a second before the phone rings, she dropped the call herself. That''s all. She did.


    She shoved a smartphone that had become useless into her backpack, lifted a pot with a cracked lump of earth standing on the dirty windowsill and saw the promised key. The lock, seemingly flimsy and unreliable, yielded reluctantly. The door swung open with a plaintive creak, complaining, like an old woman, about a hard life. The house smelled of dust and dampness. Rina winced, but immediately mentally cheered herself up: it''s not scary, she will restore order and comfort, throw out everything old, moldy and rotten, and wash the room to sterile cleanliness. There''s nothing else she can do anyway.


    She dropped her backpack on the floor and carefully stepped inside. A small hallway, in which there was only a floor hanger from the ¡®furniture¡¯, led to a large room adjacent to a small bedroom. There was a bathroom on the right side of the hallway, and a spacious kitchen on the left. In the kitchen, Rina immediately liked it: she imagined how she would arrange pots of flowers on the wide window sill, how she would hang elegant curtains, pull them apart in the morning and admire the apple tree drowning in bloom from the window. But the window still had to be washed, because through the dirty, as if sooty, glass, the silhouette of the apple tree seemed to be a blurred shadow. And the apple tree itself is overgrown with weeds to the lower branches. Rina hastily examined the drawers and cabinets of the kitchen and made sure that they were empty and not as spoiled by dampness as she feared. Whoever lived here before her kept the house tidy and clean.


    The fact that the lockers were empty seemed to be both a plus and a minus. On the one hand, she doesn¡¯t have to disassemble someone else''s utensils. On the other hand, she doesn''t even have anything to boil tea in. However, she didn''t have any tea or groceries either. But there was a pot-bellied refrigerator with her height, which, despite its small size, promised happiness. And happiness was also promised by a water supply system with a heater, a stove and an oven connected to a gas cylinder. Fine! Rina, already in a different mood, explored the rooms and the bathroom and was satisfied. The former owners took out their belongings, leaving only the necessary furniture: a quite tolerable bed with a new mattress, a wardrobe and a bedside table in the bedroom, a round table with two chairs, a sofa, a folding chair and an empty bookcase in the living room. In the bathroom, instead of the expected shower, to her joy, Rina found a deep bath. It will clean it to a snow-white shine and will enjoy nightly bathing with foam! Life suddenly turned the other way and even smiled with a gap-toothed smile. The house turned out to be more than habitable. So, the fact that in the nearest village you can buy everything you need - from groceries to clothes and kitchen utensils - the former owner didn¡¯t deceive.


    Rina hid her backpack in the closet, took a small amount of cash with her and carefully locked the house.


    The sun, as if mocking all the troubles, splashed in the face with dazzling glare. The warm wind kissed her cheeks, wiping the remnants of tears from them. And Rina, smiling at the sun and the wind, came down from the wooden porch.


    The trail is overgrown with wet grass, saturated with juicy greenery after recent rains. Her feet in soft sneakers immediately got wet, and Rina added rubber boots to her mental shopping list. And she also decided to buy a shopping cart so as not to carry purchases in her hands, and, perhaps, a bicycle, because the village was more than a kilometer away, and this was also a plus in buying this house. Rina needed a secluded place, but in relative proximity to the settlement.


    A meadow immediately began behind her plot, and Rina stopped, admiring the natural beauty of the grassy sea. The immaculate greenery was broken by bright splashes of yellow, red and blue flowers. And this picture involuntarily brought her back to her childhood memories - to those few glimpses of happiness in the prolonged haze of everyday life. Rina remembered how once she went for a walk with an elderly Korean woman which she called Nuliya, who treated her like her own granddaughter. Nuliya that day begged eight-year-old Rina from the teachers and took her to her place to treat her to a sweet pie with berry filling and lemonade. The road also led through a meadow, and Nuliya told Rina, and then Vita Naumova, something about each flower.


    For a second it seemed to Rina that she was squeezing the warm and hard hand of her benefactress. Tears welled up in her eyes, but not because of the memories, but because she couldn¡¯t write or call Nuliya. And an elderly woman will worry, read the announcements about the cancellation of concerts in the press and wonder what happened to her ¡®sa¡¯ - bird. Rina regretted that she had not secretly sent her at least a short warning. But then she remembered that she would put not only Nuliya, but also close friends at risk: Dog, Violet, Elvira and Valery.


    She took a slow breath in and out to get rid of unnecessary regrets, and resolutely headed across the meadow to a lone tree that spread its thick crown to the sun like open palms. The former owner said that she needed to walk to this tree, and then turn right and, guided by the old water tower, go straight to the road. And that will lead to a village shop where she can buy basic necessities. And if she needs furniture, clothes or gardening tools, then a bus runs from the village to the city, which will bring her to the market. Rina saw a leaning tower with a rusted barrel at the top as soon as she turned right. Leaving behind a tree, the breed of which she could not determine, she walked briskly in the direction of this barrel and went out onto the road.


    To Rina''s delight, there were no other customers in the village market. The gloomy saleswoman measured the unfamiliar customer with a curious look, but she let go of the right one in silence.


    At home, Rina first put the kettle on and made a big sandwich from a thick slice of bread and ham, and after lunch she started cleaning. By the time the crimson twilight descended on the meadow, the house was washed to a shine. A blooming apple tree peered into the window, which was clean to transparency, the aroma of freshness filled the room, expelling the musty smells of dampness from it. Rina closed the windows, took a bath and got into a clean bed. She fell into a dream as if into an abyss, and despite her worries, she slept soundly and without dreams. She was woken up long before the alarm clock by a playful ray of sunlight sliding down her cheek. Rina had a quick breakfast, changed into comfortable pants and a hoodie, braided her long hair into a thick braid and left the house. The first bus to the city left in forty minutes. Rina checked in her pocket the list of what she was going to buy, and walked to the already familiar tree on the grass crushed the day before.


    But two-thirds of the way through, she saw a wide crack in the ground, which ran in an uneven zigzag to the tree. Rina squatted down and spread the meadow grass with her palms. The crack seemed as deep as a rift. There was an earthquake at night, but she, tired after the road and cleaning, didn¡¯t feel the tremors? Looking down at her feet, Rina reached the tree and discovered another frightening oddity: green the day before, now it turned out to be only on one side. The other part of the crown had dried up, and the grass under it was covered with a thick carpet of brown-brown foliage, like in fall.


    ¡°Stop here,¡± Yura commanded, following the numbering through the window. There was a sign with the number ¡®77¡¯ on the high gate, they needed another house, but Yura liked a tall tree with a wide crown, in the shade of which it was possible to hide a car. Manya obediently turned to the curb and parked.


    ¡°Yura, I think this is a bad idea.¡±


    ¡°It''s a great idea!¡± he objected and rubbed his palms in anticipation. Then he craned his neck to see if anyone was walking down the street. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to attract other people''s attention, but it was easier to take photos and shoot videos on a deserted street.


    He once again mentally thanked fate for such luck: the right address was indicated by the owners on their website. It was more difficult to find out who Dog whom Rina once mentioned in an interview was. Yura rummaged through a bunch of publications, researched all the official and personal pages of the singer, joined all kinds of fan clubs and assembled the necessary mosaic from tiny puzzles. He even found one photo taken after some concert. Judging by Rina''s short haircut, it was one of her first performances. The singer was hugging a tanned girl, and a tall man was standing next to them, smiling. Yura was stubborn when it came to investigations, he didn¡¯t give up before difficult tasks, otherwise there would not have been so many interviews with ¡®stars¡¯ in his track record. Therefore, he found out not only the name of that mysterious Dog - Vsevolod Volkov, but also his profession and address.


    ¡°Yura,¡± Manya tried to reason with him, but out of habit, because she lost even at the moment when she agreed to take her brother out of town.


    ¡°Everything will be fine!¡± he answered cheerfully and opened the door. ¡°Wait for me here! I''ll walk.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think they''ll want to talk to you,¡± flew after him. But Yura had already slammed the door, pulled out his phone and took a few pictures of the street, then turned on the video and, dictating on the go, walked to the right house. However, he hesitated at the door and put his mobile phone in his pocket. This family was engaged in training dogs, including those that their owners could not cope with. Yura immediately imagined how a pack of pit bulls and bull terriers would be brought to the gate at the bell, and his resolve cracked for the first time that morning. But he immediately reminded himself that giving up was not his style. He will talk to Vsevolod, even if he has to leave his loin in the pit bull''s teeth. Many colleagues report from hot spots and risk their own lives for sensational material. Here just dogs! And Yura resolutely pressed the bell button.


    To his surprise, there was no barking or other noise, giving away the presence of dogs behind the fence. Yura even thought that he had made a mistake and took a step back to make sure that the address was correct, but at that moment the door next to the gate swung open.


    The owner himself opened it for him, and it seemed like a good sign.


    ¡°Hello!¡± Yura greeted cheerfully and smiled as affably as possible, wanting to immediately win over someone whom Rina considered a close friend. In reality, Volkov wasn¡¯t as tall as in the photo, and Vsevolod now wore a short haircut and a stylish beard. But Yura would have recognized him anyway, even if he had accidentally met him on the street.


    ¡°Hello,¡± the owner greeted calmly, glanced at Yura and lowered his eyes, as if hoping to see someone else. A dog or someone else. They probably come here right away with dogs. Yura suddenly felt uncomfortable. And not only because he appeared in another case, but also because Volkov was a whole head taller than him, and this ¡®automatically¡¯ gave him an advantage.


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    ¡°Um¡­¡± Yura began, because the owner of the house continued to wait patiently, while blocking the guest''s view and still not inviting him to pass.


    ¡°You were recommended to me,¡± Yura blurted out, not at all what he was going to say. But Volkov''s gaze suddenly warmed up, a smile even appeared on his lips. Vsevolod stepped aside and invited the guest with a gesture.


    ¡°What breed?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yura didn¡¯t understand, following the owner across the yard to a small gazebo.


    ¡°What breed is your dog?¡± Volkov explained patiently, looking over his shoulder at him.


    Yura hesitated and mentally scolded himself for such a blunder. It was necessary to at least read something about dog breeds on the Internet before going to visit a dog handler! It was a mistake to tune in only to talk about the singer and not work out the ¡®dog¡¯ topic.


    ¡°Poodle!¡± Yura gave out the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Such, you know¡­ cute. Dancing on its hind legs like this¡­¡±


    He folded his arms in front of his chest like paws, stuck out his tongue and imitated something like a dog dance. It looks like the improvisation was a success, because Volkov smiled again. And this dog handler is nothing, pleasant, kind and, it seems, open! A person who loves dogs cannot be angry and angry. Yura cheered up completely, deciding that the conversation would go like clockwork, and stole a glance around the yard: spacious, clean and bright. Not far from the porch there was a children''s swing, which gave away the presence of children in the family. Two pink scooters were lying next to the playhouse. And behind the house, next to the flower bed, Yura saw a small sandbox. On the other side, not far from the gazebo to which his owner led him, there were a couple of long tables and benches on a neatly trimmed lawn and, a little further away, a barbecue. It seems that large companies often gather in this house. Everything was arranged for a pleasant pastime, but Yura didn¡¯t notice anything hinting at the occupation indicated on the website.


    ¡°The training ground is not here,¡± Vsevolod explained, catching his gaze. And, deciding that it was better to show the guest its location, he led past the gazebo to the mesh fence separating the living area from the large lawn. There were some buildings near the fence, and in the distance Yura noticed something similar to an ¡®obstacle course¡¯ - logs, shields, cones.


    ¡°There''s a playground. And there will be a nursery next to the house. We''ve already set it up.¡±


    ¡°And... and I think, why is it so quiet?¡± Yura laughed, returning with the owner to the gazebo. He sat down on a bench, which Volkov hospitably pointed out to him, and drummed his fingers on his knee, thinking how to turn the conversation to the right topic.


    ¡°Classes will start in less than an hour, and the dogs are brought to another entrance,¡± explained Vsevolod, sitting down opposite Yura. ¡°So tell me about your dog. What age, what is its name, where and at what age did you take it, how did the adaptation go? But it''s better to start with the problem.¡±


    ¡°With a problem?¡±


    Out of the corner of his eye, Yura noticed that the door in the house opened slightly and a girl of about four years old in a white blouse and a denim skirt came out on the porch. Her hair was braided into two disheveled pigtails, the strands that had escaped from her hairstyle curled finely, forming a dark cloud over her head. The girl was holding a gray cat under her front paws, whose hind paws were hanging limply, like a rag doll. The poor animal either had already resigned itself to its fate, or was half-dead after playing with a young mistress, or simply turned out to be so lazy that it didn''t care what was being done to it. But before the girl could sit down on a bench near the orphanage, the door opened again with a loud bang and another girl, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, flew down the steps like a fiery sun. Yura''s eyes were already filled with such a riot of red.


    ¡°What are your difficulties with the dog?¡± Vsevolod returned his attention. The conversation was taking the wrong turn, risking finally slipping into a dog topic. And the time for everything is less than an hour, because then Volkov will leave to study with other people''s dogs. But just as Yura was about to admit that he had come upon a completely different matter, a piercing squeal was heard from the side of the house. Yura looked around in fright and saw that the girls were already sharing the cat: one was dragging it by the front paws, the other was pulling it out of her sister''s hands by the hind ones. But it wasn''t the cat that was screaming at all, the twins were screaming in a duet.


    ¡°Marta! Marfa!¡± Vsevolod reacted instantly. ¡°Leave cat alone! I''m counting to two!¡±


    The girls simultaneously unclenched their hands, and the cat plopped down on its paws in the grass. Yura expected that it would instantly start running away from the tormentors, but the cat remained lying in place. Moreover, it began to slowly lick its paw. And the twins had already switched to a scooter: despite the presence of a second one, they both needed the one that lay closest. Vsevolod quickly resolved the dispute with a shout, and one of the girls, the one in a skirt and blouse, obediently went to the second scooter. Yura watched the twins accelerate along the concrete path leading behind the house, and turned to Vsevolod.


    ¡°Actually, I didn''t come to talk to you about dogs,¡± he said decisively. ¡°Although we can talk about dogs too! Another time! I will be happy to write a whole article about you and your pets¡­¡±


    ¡°So you''re a journalist?¡± Vsevolod asked bluntly and narrowed his eyes. The warm honey hue in his eyes dissolved into cold greenery, and Yura immediately realized that this look of Volkov didn¡¯t bode well. But he didn¡¯t shirk.


    ¡°Yes. I came to talk about your friend. Rina. Do you know she''s missing?¡±


    ¡°Do you know where it is?¡± Volkov answered the question with a question, getting up from the bench. He answered sarcastically, without a shadow of curiosity or concern, and crossed his arms over his chest. Yura also jumped up from his seat, but Vsevolod, due to his height, continued to loom over him menacingly.


    ¡°No, but¡­ I want to find out where Rina is and what happened to her!¡±


    ¡°Let the police find out, not the journalists.¡±


    ¡°But Rina is your friend! Aren''t you afraid for her? Aren¡¯t you interested in where she disappeared and¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly! Rina is my friend! That''s why I''m not going to discuss her life, her decisions, or herself with anyone!¡±


    ¡°Her decisions?..¡± Yura seized on the phrase like ice breaking off around him, still trying to get something useful out of the conversation for himself.


    ¡°Will you leave or I need to throw you out?¡± Vsevolod asked quietly and took a step in his direction. Yura understood right away that Volkov would handle him like a puppy, so he obediently nodded and backed away. Twins girls had already rolled on scooters and were now throwing sand in the sandbox with a squeal. The striped cat lay down on the roof of the house, exposing its back to the May sun. A window on the ground floor opened, a young woman leaned out to the waist and shouted something to the girls. Normal life continued around. But Yura''s life, judging by the bad squint of the owner of the house and the cold in his eyes, was in danger. What a blessing that this fiery family does not keep bull terriers!


    ¡°Hurry up, hurry up. The exit is there,¡± Vsevolod hurried him, and Yura backed away faster. But, already going out into the street, he managed to shout:


    ¡°Rina could have been kidnapped! A misfortune could have happened to her!¡±


    The answer to him was the eloquent roar of the slamming door.


    Yura hypnotized the door with his gaze for a moment, but didn¡¯t ring again. They won''t open it for him. The conversation he had pinned such hopes on failed miserably. And Yura failed it himself. It was he who managed to bring the most unapproachable ¡®stars¡¯ to frankness. Shame!


    Yura trampled on the spot, then stepped aside, but didn¡¯t return to the car, but stopped on the side of the road, giving himself time to cool down after the failure and mentally prepare for Manya''s exclamation: ¡®I told you so!¡¯


    But just as he decided to get back into the car, fortune suddenly turned to face him. The door opened again, and a young woman whom Yura had glimpsed a few minutes ago came out into the street. A tall mongrel dog appeared behind the hostess, and behind him, stepping with long paws, a young wolf.


    The wolf! Yura grunted in surprise. He was afraid of bull terriers, and it turns out that a predator lives in the family of a dog handler! It was lucky that Volkov didn¡¯t set his... pet on an unwanted ¡®guest¡¯.


    Meanwhile, the young woman pulled a wavy dark strand behind her ear and, without looking back, led the dog and wolf on leashes for a walk. The street ended in a wide field, at the end of which was a dark forest landing. That''s where this strange trio headed. Yura smiled happily, smoothed his tousled hair and silently followed in the hope that this ¡®red riding hood¡¯, who tamed the wolf, would be much friendlier than her husband and would tell something about Rina. What is the name of Vsevolod''s wife? Her name was unusual, foreign and beautiful. She was just as beautiful: her photo was on the website, and Yura, he remembered, lingered on the page, considering the unusual features and rare aquamarine shade of the eyes of Vsevolod¡¯s wife. What is her name? Violet! The name came to mind immediately, as soon as Yura mentally imagined a page with photos.


    He followed this Violet, who, because of her short stature and fragile physique, seemed like a girl, especially against the background of a tall dog and a long-legged wolf, and figured out how to start a conversation so as not to cause the hostess to want to unleash toothy bodyguards on him. For how deftly Violet handled both the dog and the wolf, Yura immediately felt both sympathy and respect for her. However, if she has learned to tame juvenile red-haired beasts, then to cope with a wolf for her is a snap.


    Meanwhile, the road narrowed to a trail. Violet leaned over to the ¡®bodyguards¡¯, who had been pacing peacefully on either side of her, and unhooked the leashes. The adult dog stepped aside sedately, unhurriedly lifted his hind paw and thoughtfully marked a tall blade of grass. And it was as if a firecracker was inserted under the tail of the young wolf: he started off towards the forest at such a speed that only he was seen.


    ¡°Dimik!¡± Violet shouted, and then ordered the mongrel dog who looked back at her: ¡°Iso, bring him back!¡±


    And, to Yura''s surprise, the dog obeyed and rushed to the forest. But even more stunned was the fact that the dog managed to stop the cub and make him turn to the owner. Yura, almost betraying his presence, cried out in amazement. But Violet didn''t hear anything, because at that time she answered the phone.


    ¡°Yes, Elvir. How are you?¡±


    Continuing to talk as she walked, she slowly walked on - to where a wolf and a mongrel dog were frolicking at the edge of the forest. After asking the unknown interlocutor about the baby and other mom''s difficulties and joys, Violet said with a heavy sigh:


    ¡°No, Elvir. There is no news about Rina. Her phone is still unavailable, she has not sent us any messages. I am restless with worry, and Vsevolod too. We have reported it to the police, but nothing is known yet. She could have been abducted in order to somehow influence or put pressure on Dimitri. You know¡­ With his business, money, turnover, competitors and so on... but Rina paid all the penalties for canceled performances! If she had been kidnapped, would she have had time to do it? And her managers would rather postpone the concerts than decide to incur such losses. Do you also think she was planning her disappearance? But why didn''t she call any of us? She would have come to us¡­ I''m afraid she''s suddenly revealed something she shouldn''t have... I hope you get it. And fell through there. But we can''t tell the police this version! Only Vsevolod, you, Valery and I understand¡­¡±


    She suddenly looked around, and Yura, taken by surprise, smiled confusedly. Violet abruptly ended the conversation, put the phone in her pocket and frowned.


    ¡°Uh... is that a wolf you have?! Sorry, I couldn''t resist. I saw it, and I followed you to ask.¡±


    ¡°A dog,¡± Violet replied dryly, clearly not buying this excuse. Her husband couldn''t help but warn that a journalist was sneaking around their house. ¡°Czechoslovakian wolfdog.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god. I dream of such a thing! I''m going to Google it,¡± Yura muttered hurriedly, in order to avoid questions, bowed and, under Violet''s stern gaze, turned around. He almost ran, now and then expecting an attack from behind, and he overcame the way to the car in a matter of minutes. And only when he was already next to his sister and caught his breath, he said with feeling:


    ¡°Manya! We urgently need a dog! Or rather, you!¡±


    He briefly outlined his plan, but received only an indignant cry from Manya in response:


    ¡°Are you insane?!¡±


    ¡°Manya! There is no other way out. These Volkovs know me by sight! And they know that I''m interested in Rina. But they didn''t see you. You will come to them under the guise of the owner of the dog and¡­¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Manya,¡± Yura whined. ¡°This case is very interesting! Violet said a lot of things on the phone. She knows something, I can smell it!¡±


    ¡°You were fired because of this interesting case!¡±


    ¡°First of all! Fired! So I need to look for a new job! And the case of Rina''s disappearance is my chance! If I dig up sensational material, not only will my competitors pay well for it, but they will also order another thing! And I''ll also promote a blog! Bloggers, too, do you know how much they get on one ad? Manya, it''s all for the cause! You just need to take the dog to class¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of dog, dumb asshole?! I don''t have a dog!¡±


    ¡°You will have!¡± Yura promised with an oath.


    ¡°Why did it give up on me?! I''ve never had a dog in my life! And I don''t want to have it!¡±


    ¡°Manya,¡± Yura came in from the other side. ¡°A dog is a company. You''re lonely and¡­¡±


    ¡°It''s a shame!¡± Manya threw angrily and in her heart started off at such a speed that Yura was already pressed into the seat.

 Chapter 3

    ¡°What will you never forgive a loved one?¡±


    ¡°Betrayal.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with the portal ¡®Lady¡¯)


    A fat fly was beating against the unwashed glass, and it''s buzzing irritated to the point of gnashing teeth. Nikolai put down the folder, opened the window and released the insect into the wild. He didn¡¯t return to the table, but cast a longing glance at the street, where parked cars were densely crowded in the courtyard. He looked for his own and sighed softly: because of the stuffiness, he wanted to go home early - to a cold shower, icy beer and a fan, but a stack of dusty folders from the archive clearly hinted that the working day would drag on until midnight


    It was still cool in the morning, and it seemed that May would turn into June without the expected warming, but by lunchtime the city was covered with a stuffy blanket of heat. Nikolai pulled back the tight collar of his shirt and unbuttoned another button. All meetings ended in the morning. The tie had long hung like a lifeless snake on the back of the chair, and the jacket was still lying on the visitor''s chair, where Nikolai had thrown it at lunch. If not for meetings that often happened unexpectedly, he would have changed his ¡®uniform¡¯ for informal jeans and a polo. However, to hell with conventions... Vika doesn¡¯t care about them, having stopped at such an extravagant style of clothing, goes to meetings with him, bribes clients with professionalism.


    Speaking of Vika. Nikolai took a step towards the exit with the intention of asking how things were going with her. But Vika beat him to it, opened the door and entered the office. Despite the heat, she was wearing the same tight crimson tights and a black short dress.


    ¡°Did you find something?¡± Nikolai looked away from her long legs and with difficulty suppressed the urge to ask if she was hot. Hot. Just like him. But she doesn''t show it, she tolerates it for the sake of beauty and style. So what was he saying about ¡®to hell with conventions¡¯? By the way, he needs to ask Vika to call a technician to fix a non-working air conditioner.


    ¡°I found it,¡± she answered shortly, carefully hung his jacket on the back of a chair and sat down. ¡°I looked at the archives for the period from ninety-seventh to ninety-ninth years and found two more similar cases. Along with the one you told me about, there are already three of them. Two occurred in Russia, the third ¨C a year earlier in some Korean village.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about ours¡± Nikolai asked, walked around the table and sat down in his chair.


    Vika opened the notebook and, without taking her eyes off the sheets covered with small handwriting, said:


    ¡°All cases occurred with a difference of several months. Your city was the third. The second was in a village.¡±


    ¡°Also a military?¡± Nikolai asked.


    ¡°Um... I need to clarify it.¡±


    He nodded, and Vika continued:


    ¡°Everything happened according to a similar scenario: natural disasters, reduction of daylight hours, death of animals and birds. By the way, was there a reservoir in your town?¡±


    ¡°The lake is behind the forest. The water in it was clean, but it became muddy. The animals died. Give me the names of all the villages, Vika.¡±


    She dictated the coordinates.


    ¡°We need to check the other years,¡± Nikolai sighed and nodded at a stack of folders. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich doesn¡¯t rule out cyclicity. It is necessary to check whether something similar happened in the period from the two thousandth year to the present day, or if those cases are the only ones. Well, except that something similar has started happening now. Before dealing with the current case, we need to study the past. Perhaps Gennadiy Sergeevich is mistaken and this is just a coincidence. It would be nice if so¡­¡±


    Nikolai paused, involuntarily remembering what had happened in his city, and again doubted whether he was doing the right thing by returning to that case. After all, he ¡®let go¡¯ of history in the past, pacified the burning desire to get to the truth, and Gennadiy Sergeevich also understood this. Then why¡­


    ¡°Kolya?¡± Vika called out, alarmed by his silence. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    He blinked and smiled tightly.


    ¡°Nothing. By the way, if you found a mention of something similar in the Korean village, then we need to expand the geography of search. Let''s start with the current year, and then dig into the past. Otherwise, we will completely bury ourselves. Check out international news for the last two years. If there was something, I think you''ll notice.¡±


    ¡°Understand,¡± Vika reported, got up and straightened her short dress. He looked longingly at the stack of dusty folders that Colonel Gennadiy Sergeevich had brought them. The folders need to be returned to the archives, so he''ll have to deal with them first. Moreover, it was to him, once in a while, that he had already given the task to Vika.


    ¡°Looks like I''m going to spend the night here tonight,¡± Nikolai grumbled. ¡°Everything would be fine if it weren''t for the heat¡­¡±


    ¡°I called the service, a technician will come tomorrow and look at the air conditioner.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Ahead of me.¡±


    ¡°Not for the first time,¡± Vika smiled and winked. ¡°I''ve already ordered pizza and cold beer, too. For two. So we''re going to suffer here together.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! I want to marry you!¡± Nikolai exclaimed, feeling emotional, but she shook her short-cropped head


    ¡°I don''t have office affairs, especially with my superiors.¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll have to fire you.¡±


    ¡°And it will be your mistake!¡±


    ¡°You''re right,¡± he pretended to sigh and narrowed his eyes slyly. ¡°Who else will sit with me until the night in such a stuffy place and sneeze from dust over old papers?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. So-so plan for the evening,¡± Vika grimaced.


    ¡°You don''t have to stay. If you have other plans, I''ll understand.¡±


    ¡°There was a plan, but it fell through. If it hadn''t fallen, I wouldn''t have stayed even under the threat of dismissal, dear boss! I wouldn''t have missed Rina''s concert for anything if it hadn''t been canceled.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Who is this Rina?¡±


    ¡°Serious?¡± Vika was genuinely amazed. ¡°A mega-popular singer! There''s no way you haven''t heard of her.¡±


    ¡°I''m not a fan of modern pop. Give me the good old rock.¡±


    ¡°Pop songs!¡± Vika snorted indignantly. ¡°It is immediately clear that you are not familiar with Rina¡¯s works! But even if you''re not her fan, you couldn''t help but hear about her! Who doesn''t write about her. Especially in light of her affair with businessman Dimitri Lebedev.¡±


    ¡°I''ve heard about Lebedev, but I''m not interested in the gossip columns.¡±


    ¡°I see. Although... If you haven''t heard Rina sing, you''ve lost a lot.


    ¡°Okay. Almost persuaded. I''ll go to the next concert with you.¡±


    ¡°If these concerts will be. Rina suddenly disappeared,¡± Vika sighed in frustration, got up and headed for the exit. Nikolai followed her with his gaze and, feeling a pang of conscience, thought that he should tell Vika the whole story so that she would know what he was dragging her into. She is a nice girl, and because of this case they may have problems.


    When the door closed behind her, he looked at the folders with dislike, and then went online and found videos with the singer''s performances.


    The old bus rattled all the way, ¡®complaining¡¯ about life, ¡®coughed¡¯ with a worn-out engine and smoked mercilessly. The cabin stank desperately of diesel fuel, and Rina began to get seasick. She fumbled in her pockets for a caramel or mint gum. But she didn''t eat caramel, and the gum remained in her purse, which means in a previous life. Rina leaned her cheek against the dirty but cold glass in the hope that the nausea would recede. She would like to reach the right stop. There''s just nothing left. Wanting to distract herself, Rina mentally began to recall from the list everything she was going to buy at the market ¨C from groceries to kitchen utensils. But even this was not successful. The women sitting in front of the whole salon were discussing a certain Zina who brazenly cut off half a meter of the plot from one of the interlocutors, installing a fence in the wrong place. And behind his back, a teenager was listening to music with headphones, and the monotonous ¡®bic, bic, bic¡¯ that reached her ear pecked out the brain


    On the next bump, the bus almost lost its poorly fitted pieces of iron, which made Rina¡¯s stomach jump, it seemed, to the very throat. She hastily clamped her hand over her mouth and rushed to the exit. How timely the bus stopped! Rina flew out into the street. And before the doors slammed behind her, she managed to hear one of the aunts still announce to the whole salon:


    ¡°She¡¯s maybe pregnant. Poor girl¡­¡±


    Pregnant¡­ Fortunately or unfortunately - no. Rina bent over, put her hands on her knees and squeezed her eyes tightly, and then took a slow breath in and out. Fresh air quickly brought her to her senses, nausea receded, Rina wiped her sweaty forehead with her palm, checked the schedule and saw that the next bus would be only in forty minutes. During this time, you can also walk. She pushed her hair back in two braids, took off her jacket and moved along the dusty roadside towards the city.


    On the way, she kept looking around, checking if the car was coming, but not to ask the driver for a ride to the city, but on the contrary, in order to get off the curb in time. She didn''t want to sit down with anyone, maintain an uninteresting conversation and answer other people''s curious questions. But the road remained deserted. At least she was lucky in this.


    Soon the first village appeared on the way. Rina went under the visor of an empty bus stop and sat down on a bench to rest. There was a green meadow on the other side of the road, similar to the one next to her house, and she involuntarily remembered the strangeness that had happened to the tree. Why did it dry up overnight on one side, and on the other it remained green? Is it somehow connected with the crack that ripped open the ground?


    Realizing that time was running out, Rina got up. Let her days not obey the schedule, but it is better to come to the market early to catch fresh herbs, fish and wok. In addition to the products, Rina planned to buy dishes and all sorts of things necessary in the household, and therefore she was going to return home by taxi: private traders were on duty near the market on a special patch, waiting for customers loaded with purchases. The villagers, who were on the way, united and took a car for everyone. Rina didn''t want to sit down with anyone, so she needed to reserve a car early.


    She adjusted the jacket tied at the waist and only then noticed that she was not alone at the bus stop. Because of the baggy clothes, thinness and disproportionately long limbs, Rina took this man who sat on the edge of the bench for a teenager. It was only when he turned to her that she saw that his tanned face with small features was dotted with wrinkles, and his bushy eyebrows were white, as if powdered with flour. The elderly man''s head was covered with an old-fashioned felt hat, skinny wrists sticking out of the frayed sleeves of an obviously short bolognese jacket. The stranger stared at Rina with childishly round eyes, and she, embarrassed, nodded in greeting.


    ¡°Hee-hee-hee!¡± the old man exhaled long and jerked the hand in which he held the leash. Rina involuntarily lowered her gaze, expecting to see a curly-haired mongrel dog, but was surprised to find a pink piglet in dried mud spots.


    ¡°Heh!¡± the weird stranger either sighed or snorted again, and the piglet lifted up his piglet and grunted in greeting. Rina laughed and held out her hand to the piglet. He boldly poked a wet piglet into her palm. The feeling was unusual and unexpectedly pleasant. Rina grew bolder and lightly scratched the animal behind the ear, and then, realizing that she had not asked permission from the owner, looked up at him. But the stranger seemed to like the fact that his pet aroused sympathy: he twisted his mouth to the side, which apparently meant a smile, and blinked often. Rina stroked the piglet again and straightened up.


    ¡°I have to go!¡± she said and also smiled. The piglet sniffed her sneakers with a grunt, and the stranger ¡®grunted¡¯ again.


    Rina had already turned around to leave when she suddenly heard:


    ¡°Bi¡­r¡­¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± she asked in surprise and looked around. The man''s face twisted pitifully, as if he was going to cry, the corner of his mouth went to his ear, and his eyes moistened.


    ¡°Bird,¡± he breathed, pointed his finger at the sky, and then abruptly lowered his hand. ¡°Bird! No, no!¡±


    Not understanding what he wanted to tell her, Rina nodded just in case and made a mournful face.


    ¡°No, no,¡± the eccentric old man repeated, gathered his lips into a tube and exhaled loudly. Rina spread her hands, smiled politely and backed away. After making sure that he was still sitting on the bench, grazing the pig, she turned around and hurriedly walked away.


    During the entire journey, she didn¡¯t meet anyone else. But when there was very little left to the city, Rina noticed that the path ahead was littered with dark blots. At first she mistook them for clods of earth or cow cakes, but when she got closer, she saw that the ¡®blob¡¯ was actually a dead crow. Rina shuddered and carefully walked around her. ¡®Bird! No, no!¡¯ she remembered the words of the stranger from the bus stop and hurriedly walked the rest of the way, trying not to look at the carcasses of birds littering the road. And when Rina saw a parking lot with cars ahead, she started running. But even jogging didn¡¯t help to get rid of the unpleasant sediment. Did she hear birdsong in the morning?


    A few meters before the parking lot, Rina took a step, looked at the parked cars from a distance and went straight to the driver walking near the old Audi to negotiate.


    Disappointment awaited in the fish row: the counter was empty. Not a fish day? There was no delivery? Having trampled in confusion on the spot, Rina returned to the vegetable rows, and then went to the dairy ¨C for rustic cottage cheese and some wok.


    ¡°Do you know why there are no fish today?¡± she asked the freckled trader, accepting purchases.


    ¡®Not for a week already!¡± she shrugged her full shoulders. ¡°She left the river. If you need fish, then go to Southern market on Thursday. It''s an hour''s drive from here.¡±


    Rina listened to the detailed instructions, thanked the woman, took the bags to the car and returned to the rows of dishes. On the way, she met a newsstand, and she involuntarily slowed down, noticing the fresh press laid out on the counter. ¡®Where did the famous singer go missing?¡¯ - read the title of the photo posted on the cover. Rina was filmed arm-in-arm with Dimitri when they were leaving one of the presentations. Then they were both happy, looking not at the lens, but at each other and smiling. Shortly before that, Dimitri proposed to her, and Rina accepted him. They were happy, full of plans for the future, he was even going to organize Rina a tour of Europe and Asia. But everything was destroyed in an instant - their future, her career and life. She herself.


    Rina lingered at the photo, looking bitterly at herself ¨C so beautiful and happy, and then, overcoming the temptation to buy a magazine, lowered her head so that she wouldn¡¯t be recognized, and resolutely walked past. The mood was completely ruined.

 Chapter 4

    ¡°What other country would you like to be born in?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere in South Korea.¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview with ¡®Around The World¡¯ magazine)


    ¡°Fool?! You completely banged your curly head!¡± Manya blazed with righteous anger, not letting Yura insert a word. With her hands on her hips, she stepped on him until she completely cornered him.


    Yura pressed his shoulder blades against the cold wall, put his palms forward and again tried to calm his raging sister:


    ¡°Manya¡­ It won''t be long! Just for the job¡­¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t be long?!¡± Manya roared and waved her hand in the direction of a stray dog the size of a great Dane sprawled on the parquet, in whose unwashed fur the burrs were entangled. ¡°And then where will you put it?! Will you throw it back on the street?!¡±


    ¡°Well... I haven''t thought about it yet.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t thought! You stopped thinking at all!¡±


    ¡°Manya, we agreed on everything,¡± Yura whined and touched her wrist. But Manya pulled her hand away, as if she had been burned by nettles.


    ¡°We didn''t agree! I was against it!¡±


    ¡°I''m out of work! And this dog is my chance to make sensational stuff!¡± Yura went on the offensive in response, realizing that it would not be possible to soften his sister. The culprit of the quarrel moved its brown eye, got up on its long paws, clattered its claws on the parquet and fell on the light carpet. Fortunately, his sister hasn''t noticed it yet.


    ¡°So take this dog for yourself! What do I have to do with it?!¡±


    ¡°Manya, I explained it,¡± Yura sighed wearily. ¡°You just need to take the dog to the instructor''s classes and find out what Volkov and his wife know about Rina''s disappearance.¡±


    ¡°And how do you imagine it?! How am I going to question them?!¡±


    ¡°Well... I don''t know. You''ll think of something!¡± Yura gave up and looked over Manya''s shoulder. The dog began to scratch itself behind the ear with delight, strewing the carpet with fleas, burrs and lumps of dried mud.


    Manya nervously jerked at the sound and, seeing such a picture, went into a scream:


    ¡°Get out of here! Fool dog!¡±


    The dog squinted at her, but it didn''t stop scratching. Yura, looking at the dog combing fleas with such pleasure, involuntarily put his hand to his hair and scratched the back of his head.


    ¡°It''s got fleas like horses! Out, they''re already galloping across the carpet!¡± Manya continued to shout. ¡°How can such a dog be allowed into the house? And to the playground for other dogs?!¡±


    ¡°We''ll wipe out the fleas,¡± Yura wasn¡¯t at a loss. ¡°And we''ll take it to the vet.¡±


    Manya glanced sideways at her brother and let out a long sigh. Apparently, she was tired of screaming herself, because she asked more calmly:


    ¡°Where did you find it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s he, Manya. At the bus stop, lying under the bench. Poor and unhappy.¡±


    ¡°And he followed you?¡± the sister doubted and again made an attempt to drive the dog off the carpet.


    ¡°Followed?¡± Yura grinned. ¡°As well! Anyone will go for a piece of fresh boiled sausage!¡±


    ¡°Okay. So, we can no longer feed him,¡± Manya said sarcastically.


    But Yura realized that she had given in, so he detached himself from the wall and took a step towards his sister.


    ¡°Manya, now we will take the dog to the vet. And then you''ll make a phone call and make an appointment with a dog handler¡­¡±


    ¡°I haven''t agreed yet!¡± Manya shot Yura an angry look. ¡°And how are you going to take this monster to the clinic?¡±


    ¡°Others bring even scarier dogs to the veterinarians. They are familiar!¡±


    ¡°I''m not talking about that! I''m not taking this flea truck in the car!¡±


    ¡°We''ll walk. The vet''s a couple blocks away. Well, now we are buying the dog.¡±


    ¡°You will bathe! And then scrub the bath with bleach, too!¡± Manya pressed and turned away. The dog, feeling that she began to thaw, affably beat his powerful tail on the floor. The sound was like a rolling pin hitting the floor. Manya grimaced, but said nothing, instead she looked at the dog with a businesslike look, calculating the ¡®front of work¡¯. Fortunately, the coat was short, which means it will not be difficult to rid the dog of burdock. The dog looked up at Manya, stuck out a huge tongue-cloth and bared strong white teeth, as if in a smile.


    ¡°I''ll wash it! And a dog, and a bath!¡± Yura rejoiced, considering that the matter had already been decided. Manya is the best sister in the world! But before he could say it out loud, she flashed her eyes and suddenly smiled maliciously.


    ¡°All right, dear brother, I''ll keep this monster for myself. If you need help in the investigation of the century! But only in exchange for¡­¡±


    ¡°Whatever you want!¡± Yura rashly promised. ¡°I''m even ready to buy food for this dog and pay for a veterinarian! And I''ll pay for Volkov''s classes, too.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m able to pay for all this myself. And you''ll need the money¡­¡± Manya grinned, and Yura frowned. Such a smirk of the sister didn¡¯t bode well. He expected that she would demand some expensive gift or ask him to pick up the dog during her trips, but what Manya requested made Yura recoil and press his shoulder blades into the wall again.


    ¡°You should get married! Until the end of this year! That''s it!¡± The insidious sister proclaimed with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Get married! Until the end of the year,¡± Manya repeated patiently and, noticing that the dog had laid down on the light carpet again, didn¡¯t chase him away. ¡°You are almost thirty years old, and childhood in your curly head is walking like the wind! This trick with the dog is the last! Get married and finally come to your senses! That''s it! I put forward my condition. I don¡¯t agree, take your ¡®gift¡¯ and take it yourself wherever you want.¡±


    ¡°Manya¡­ You''re asking too much!¡±


    ¡°No, brother! Not much! To settle this hulk here is another sacrifice on my part! It''s necessary to walk with a dog, feed it, take it to classes, and sweep the wool. It''s such a responsibility! I agree to take it on myself in exchange for you coming to your senses and settling down! Now, dear brother, I''m not going to take care of you, but about this monster!


    ¡°Who should I marry?!


    ¡°Oh! It''s not a problem for you! On one of your girlfriends, whom you change like cowards!¡±


    ¡°I don''t have any girlfriends right now!¡± Yura tried to talk himself out of it.


    But Manya was relentless:


    ¡°That''s not my problem! Marry at least this Rina, since she''s the cause of all the fuss!


    Yura even laughed:


    ¡°At Rina?! Um... I''m for it! But I will not trample on her oligarch!¡±


    ¡°You yourself wrote an article that the singer left him,¡± Manya reminded, squinting badly. ¡°Go ahead¡±


    ¡°Rina is missing!¡±


    ¡°Aren''t you going to do a sensational investigation and find her?¡±


    ¡°All right, all right! Only Rina is unlikely to agree¡­¡±


    ¡°And that''s your problem, brother! Rina or any other girl ¨C I don''t care. If only it was decent! Come on, write a receipt that you undertake to fulfill the promise¡­¡±


    Manya searched the drawers of the desk for paper and a pen and laid it on the table with a triumphant smile.


    ¡°Write!¡±


    ¡°Manya, you''re crazy!¡± Yura panicked.


    ¡°Yeah! You''ve driven me crazy! This louse''s house was the last straw,¡± Manya said, nodding at the dog. ¡°Write or take this street miracle for yourself! And don''t hope for my help anymore!¡±


    ¡°Okay, how to write?¡±


    ¡°That''s how you write: so-and-so, passport data¡­ I intend to marry a decent girl by the end of this year¡­ Date and signature!


    ¡°And how will you determine the degree of her decency?¡± Yura sneered.


    ¡°I''ll figure it out!¡± Manya barked. ¡°Write!¡±


    ¡°I hope you won''t force me to sign a contract with blood, devil?¡±


    ¡°I won''t make you. Your squiggle is enough.¡±


    ¡°I just sold you my soul, you know?¡± Yura sighed, handing his sister a piece of paper.


    ¡°You sold it when you entered the journalism faculty,¡± Manya chuckled, carefully putting the ¡®receipt¡¯ in a file and locking it in a drawer with documents.


    Yura watched with longing how his sister had just locked his freedom in this very box, but immediately reassured himself that there was still a lot of time before the end of the year. He will come up with something or persuade Manya to have mercy. But his sister seemed to read his thoughts:


    ¡°And don''t hope that you will be able to soften me! If you don¡¯t fulfill your promise, you can no longer hope for my help!¡±


    The new day was met with even greater heat. Nikolai was suspicious of such generous advances of summer in May: would it spend the entire heat limit in a matter of days, would it break out with snow in June and prolonged rains in July? Then they will need a heater instead of an air conditioner. Nikolai turned on the air conditioner, mentally thanking Vika and the master for their prompt work, and went to the window. If not for the huge amount of work, he would have taken a day off, gone to nature for a day: to the lake ¨C ¡®recharge the batteries¡¯. He had wanted to rest for a long time, because since autumn he had been working almost seven days a week. But now he got involved in a case, because of which he had to abandon several simple orders. Worst of all, this assignment drained him of his strength like a vampire. It was too personal. Too heavy memories were associated with him.


    Nikolai glanced at the street, stretched, stretching his back, and after a minute''s pause returned to the table and called Vika. She came in, as usual, without knocking.


    Vika changed her ¡®image¡¯ again: she dyed her short hair and nails blue ¨C to match the tights. Otherwise, she remained true to the dark colors: today Vika chose black loose shorts and a top. Nikolai caught himself thinking that another girl in such a flashy outfit would look vulgar, but Vika ¨C stylish. Only when did she have time to repaint her hair and nails, if they worked until night the day before? Nikolai didn''t get enough sleep, he was going to work in a hurry, so he came to the office not in a suit, but in black jeans and a dark green short-sleeve shirt. However, in the afternoon he was going on trips, and such clothes were more convenient.


    ¡°You look great,¡± Vika paid him a duty compliment.


    ¡°You too.¡±


    ¡®I noticed, I noticed your new color,¡¯ he replied with a laughing look at her questioning. Vika smiled contentedly and sat down at the table opposite him. And Nikolai suddenly thought that he had never noticed that she wore colored eye lenses because the attention was attracted by bright hair and long legs in the notorious tights. And only today, when Vika chose the blue color, he saw that her lenses were also a heavenly shade.


    ¡°Chief, ow?¡± Vika called out, because the pause dragged on.


    Nikolai blinked and laughed it off:


    ¡°Every time I need time to get used to your new image. Vik, put a schedule of flowers and their change dates on the wall!¡±


    ¡°I''ll think about it,¡± she suddenly answered seriously and spread out the printouts on the table.


    ¡°What do we have there?¡± Nikolai also focused on his work.


    ¡°I compared, as you asked, the old cases in our and Korean cities. You''re right, there are a lot of coincidences. Everything went according to the same scenario: the reduction of daylight hours, the death of livestock, the shallowing of reservoirs, then the gradual disappearance of people.


    ¡°I see,¡± Nikolai muttered, glancing through the sheets. Then he unfolded a map on the table, marked the coordinates on it, connected three points with lines and measured the distance between the settlements.


    ¡°Is there anything for other countries?¡±


    Vika rustled her notebook pages.


    ¡°I''ve been monitoring the news, as you asked. In Korean, Russian and a little English. Nothing, Kolya. But I''ll look again in Europe.¡±


    ¡°And we have for the last two years?¡±


    ¡°We have nothing yet, except for the case that Gennadiy Sergeevich said. But it is still difficult to say whether everything repeats or not. Maybe it''s a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°Great. So far we have had three cases in the past with a time interval of several months. And perhaps one in the present. If cyclicity takes place and everything really repeats, then it''s worth waiting for more. You follow the news.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡±


    He finally looked up at her from the papers and after a short pause said:


    ¡°I''m leaving today. I''ll go back to my hometown. Before we study a new place, we need to go back, so to speak, to the roots. I''ll check how true the rumors are that someone began to appear there.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Looters? Or fans of ¡®abandoned¡¯?¡± Vika asked.


    Nikolai hesitated with the answer. What should he say to her? The version he was going to test would have seemed too implausible to anyone. But Vika asked something else:


    ¡°Can I come with you? Or should I stay in the office?¡±


    Nikolai wanted to ask the assistant to contact the administration of the region by phone, where the second case occurred almost twenty years ago, but he saw a request in her eyes. Apparently, she also got tired of sneezing from dust over archival documents.


    ¡°Okay, let''s go,¡± he smiled. ¡°But I don¡¯t know when we will be back. Perhaps by nightfall again. The one-way trip will take two hours. And I still have to go to a friend''s house.¡±


    ¡°I have no plans for the evening,¡± Vika answered readily.


    Nikolai held her gaze and suddenly thought that it was strange for a young beautiful girl to spend so much time at work. Okay, him. But she?


    ¡°Today I am absolutely free. But for tomorrow, dear chief, I have plans,¡± Vika was ahead of him, as if reading his thoughts.


    ¡°A date?¡± he blurted out.


    She grinned and suddenly nodded.


    ¡°Some kind of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, finally!¡± he exclaimed, making a deliberately surprised face. ¡°I was already beginning to suspect that work replaces your personal life.¡±


    ¡°Don''t even hope,¡± Vika snapped, slammed the notebook shut and got up. But she stopped at the door and looked back. ¡°What time do we leave?¡±


    ¡°I would at least now, but I''m waiting for a client. Gennadiy Sergeevich called, and said that a person would come from him. I don''t know what time. I would refuse the meeting ¨C it''s not up to that now, but Gennadiy asked! Perhaps this person is related to our case and will bring more documents.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Vika nodded. ¡°I''ll be there, I won''t even leave for a break.¡±


    When she closed the door behind her, Nikolai scanned the printouts again, then flipped through the notebook and compared his own notes with those made by Vika. And then he picked up the phone and found the right number.


    ¡°Hi, Jaguar,¡± he grinned into the phone when he heard the greeting. ¡°Yeah, me again and again on business. Although it would have been necessary to meet for a long time just like that, to talk for life, drink beer, watch football at the bar. But it''s a job, just like yours.¡±


    They exchanged a few obligatory questions and answers, and then Nikolai made a request, for which he called:


    ¡°I want to ask you for equipment. For the evening.¡±


    ¡°What exactly is needed?¡±  Lev asked matter-of-factly, and when Nikolai listed it, he clarified: ¡°Should I give you someone? Or can you handle it yourself?¡±


    ¡°I can handle it. My assistant is a very intelligent girl. Well, you know, it''s not always possible to attract someone else. Even if it''s about your guys.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Lev reported and said that he would be waiting at home.


    Nikolai put down his mobile phone and looked up at Vika, who looked into the office.


    ¡°Nikolai, visitors from Gennadiy Sergeevich¡±


    He personally went to the reception and instead of the expected one client saw a whole family. Apparently, the surprise was reflected on his face too clearly, because Vika slightly shook her head. No, of course, married couples and mothers with children came to them, but Nikolai managed to tune in to the fact that a lawyer would come from his boss, who would bring the documents. Visitors also felt uncomfortable: a young woman in a dress that fit her slender figure well cast an inquiring glance at her husband and gently pulled one of the twin girls when she curiously reached for Vika''s keyboard.


    ¡°Hello! I am Nikolai Melnik,¡± he smiled affably and extended his hand to the man to greet him. The man''s grip was firm and resolute.


    ¡°Vsevolod Volkov. And this is my wife Violet and our daughters. Sorry, the whole family came. At the last moment, it turned out that there was no one to leave the girls with.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay!¡± Vika hurried to help with a smile. ¡°These charming princesses will stay with me.¡±


    One of the twins cast a mocking glance at Vika and with irritation pulled down her airy dress with a flounce, protesting both against the ¡®princess¡¯ and the uncomfortable outfit. The other girl looked at Vika''s blue hedgehog with fascination, and then, emboldened, stretched out her hand and touched her tights.


    ¡°Marfa,¡± the girl''s mother was confused.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Vika laughed, seemingly charmed by the young beauties.


    The girls took after their father in the color of their eyes, their mother''s hair color and her features were guessed in their doll faces. Nikolai involuntarily noted that this family is very beautiful and bright. Vsevolod is tall, the same height as Nikolai, his wife is red¨Chaired, with delicate features and huge aquamarine eyes. The twins inherited the beauty of both parents at the same time.


    ¡°We''re going to draw now! I have a lot of colorings in my computer,¡± Vika winked at the girls. ¡°And a whole box of pens, markers and pencils!¡±


    ¡°I want such blue hair!¡± said one of the twins, the one who did not take her fascinated eyes off Vika.


    Nikolai hid a smile, noticing the obvious embarrassment on Violet''s face.


    ¡°I want the ones like yours!¡± Vika replied. ¡°Your color is much more beautiful than mine! You know, in fairy tales, princesses usually have golden hair. And with blue ones like mine - evil witches!¡±


    ¡°Are you a witch?¡± the girl asked, but her sister answered her:


    ¡°No! She''s a Vaporeon! Don''t you see?¡±


    Vika raised her eyebrows in surprise.


    And the girl seriously repeated:


    ¡°Vaporeon! It''s a Pokemon. So old and you don''t know!¡±


    ¡°Marta!¡± Vsevolod already reproached his daughter, but Vika laughed:


    ¡°No, Pokemon, so Pokemon!¡±


    ¡°Marta really likes Pokemons,¡± Violet explained, smiling shyly.


    ¡°And I love dragons! I don''t like princesses!¡± Marta interjected.


    ¡°Okay, we will paint Pokemon and dragons,¡± agreed Vika and turned to the parents of the twins: ¡°The girls are just lovely.¡±


    ¡°Don''t flatter yourself,¡± grinned Vsevolod. ¡°After a quarter of an hour of communication with them, you will ask for mercy.¡±


    ¡°So you have a quarter of an hour to talk about your case,¡± Vika said deftly.


    ¡°Don''t worry, the girls will be fine,¡± Nikolai said, inviting the guests to his place.


    ¡°I''m not worried about them, I''m worried about your assistant,¡± Violet laughed, following him in.


    ¡°It''s hot,¡± Nikolai began the conversation to win over the visitors. ¡°Turn on the air conditioner? Vika can bring drinks. What do you want?¡±


    But the guests refused both air conditioning and drinks. Violet looked up at her husband, nodded slightly to him, and Vsevolod immediately got down to business:


    ¡°We have lost a loved one. A girl.¡±


    ¡°Who is she to you?¡± Nikolai clarified and opened his notebook.


    ¡°A friend. It so happened that she had no relatives left, so we - friends - became the closest to her. Of course, we told the police. But Gennadiy Sergeevich advised me to contact you. Especially since it''s a delicate matter.¡±


    Nikolai made an interested and at the same time sympathetic look, trying not to betray the annoyance he experienced. He has absolutely no time, energy and resources to search for some girl. It''s strange that his boss forgot about it. And if the police and, for sure, volunteers joined the search, what should he do?


    ¡°And what is the delicacy?¡± He asked with deliberate politeness and, catching Violet¡¯s serious look, realized that she didn¡¯t buy his sympathetic tone.


    ¡°Rina is a famous singer, and also the fiancee of Dimitri Lebedev. Her disappearance was kept secret for some time, but now all the media have trumpeted it,¡± Violet said and unconsciously, in search of support, squeezed her husband''s hand.


    ¡°Journalists came to our house. But we sent them with nothing,¡± Vsevolod added and covered his wife''s hand with his other palm.


    ¡°Rina¡­¡± muttered Nikolai.. ¡°So you want me to look for her?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the couple said at the same time with equal firmness. Nikolai paused, considering the answer. Most of all, he was interested in what connects Gennadiy Sergeevich and this family, and is there any... trap here? But he didn''t ask directly.


    ¡°So, Rina. A popular singer,¡± he repeated thoughtfully. ¡°Vika is her fan and was going to a concert, but it was canceled.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. All concerts are canceled. Fans were offered to hand over tickets rather than exchange them for other dates. Do you understand? And Rina paid all the penalties out of her own pocket.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know about this?¡± Nikolai seized on Vsevolod''s last phrase. ¡°Did Rina call you after her disappearance? Or did she give some hints?¡±


    ¡°No. I found out from her producer. Not that we were close acquaintances, but we saw each other. Naturally, after the disappearance of Rina, I contacted whomever I could. And they contacted me too. The producer is also alarmed by her disappearance.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Nikolai sighed. ¡°Tell me everything you know.¡±


    Little was known toVolkov. The last time they saw a friend was two weeks before her disappearance, and then Rina seemed happy. She was discussing with friends her upcoming wedding with Dimitri and his wedding gift ¨C a concert tour of Europe and Asia.


    Nikolai made a note to find out when Rina transferred money to the concert organizers ¨C how many days passed after this dinner with friends, at which no one noticed anything strange.


    ¡°Rina  really wanted to go to Korea,¡± Violet continued, pulling a strand of dark wavy hair behind her ear. ¡°A close friend of hers comes from there. Rina was brought up in an orphanage. Then she was still called Vita. She changed her name, moving to the capital and starting a career as a singer.¡±


    ¡°Is Rina a stage name?¡±


    ¡°Not only that. Now her name is Ekaterina Sokolovsky on her passport. But she is known to fans simply by her name.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Nikolai nodded, making a new note, and asked Violet to continue. She said that in the orphanage where Rina was brought up, there was a cleaner named Nuliya, who was brought to the USSR as a child.


    ¡°For Rina, Nuliya was like her own grandmother. She also taught Korean and songs from her homeland.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any of this woman''s contacts?¡± Nikolai asked, but shook her head.


    ¡°No. I don''t know how the news of Rina¡¯s disappearance will affect her¡­¡±


    Nikolai wrote down the address of the orphanage, deciding that he needed to call there and find out N¨³l¨«y¨¤''s contacts: it is possible that Rina took refuge with her. He also marked the name of the Korean band, with the soloist of which Rina, according to Violet, was familiar and planned to work together: she would give Vika a task to write to this musician. Maybe he knows something.


    ¡°Why are you looking for her, and not her fiance?¡± Nikolai asked, looking from Violet to Vsevolod. ¡°By the way, do you know him personally?¡±


    ¡°We know each other,¡± Vsevolod replied. ¡°Rina introduced us at the very beginning of their relationship. Then we crossed paths twice at events to which she invited us. And once they came together to inform us about the upcoming wedding.¡±


    ¡°And how did Dimitri seem to you?¡±


    ¡°How-how¡­¡± Vsevolod shrugged his shoulders. ¡°A normal guy. Only very busy. Both of his phones rang incessantly. But it was obvious that he was in love with Rina. I think Dimitri is also looking for her through his channels. He and I aren¡¯t close enough to exchange phones. But he had Violet''s number from somewhere. She got a call from a hidden number, connected with Dimitri. And he asked in detail what we know about the disappearance of Rina.


    ¡°Did it seem to you that he was offended? His fiance left him.¡±


    Vsevolod shrugged his shoulders again and squinted at his wife. Violet was sitting with her back straight, as if stretched, her palms folded on her knees, and nervously biting her lower lip. Is she worried about the loss of her friend or do the questions for some reason seem uncomfortable to her?


    ¡°More like he was worried,¡± she replied. ¡°The conversation was short, Dimitri asked questions. I told him everything I knew. He didn''t call back again.¡±


    Nikolai asked a few more questions about the relationship between Rina and Lebedev, addressing Violet, because who, if not women, are better informed about the affairs of their friends'' hearts. He asked about Rina''s habits and everything that could help in the search in one way or another. However, the more he listened to Violet and Vsevolod, the less he wanted to take up this case. And not only because he had more important things to do now, but because a popular singer and the former fiancee of a famous businessman was missing. And Nikolai doesn¡¯t need any publicity, nor the difficulties that Lebedev''s people could cause. Does Gennadiy Sergeevich really not understand this?


    ¡°Is this all that is known about Rina?¡± He summed it up. ¡°Maybe you remembered something else?¡±


    The couple looked at each other, and Violet''s lips twitched, as if she was going to say something, but Vsevolod barely shook his head.


    ¡°No. That''s all.¡±


    Nikolai paused in the hope that Volkov would change their minds, but Vsevolod looked at him with such a direct look that Nikolai eventually nodded.


    ¡°Okay. But if you remember anything, call me.¡±


    He saw the visitors off and returned to the office. Vika followed him with a tray in her hands. The astute assistant even without asking brought him a glass of cool water, a cup of coffee and a saucer of cookies. Nikolai nodded his thanks and reached for a glass of water. Vika didn¡¯t leave, patiently waiting for him to speak.


    ¡°These were close friends of the missing singer, to whom you didn¡¯t get to the concert.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± the assistant was amazed and broke into a smile. ¡°So we''re going to look for her?¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, Vika,¡± Nikolai grimaced and massaged his temples with his palms. ¡°First our business. And then I''ll decide what to do. First, Google the Korean group¡­ What''s its name?¡±


    He looked at the piece of paper.


    ¡°yuri goyangi¡± Vika read. ¡°¡®Glass cat in our language.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Find this glass cat, or rather, its soloist and write to him. Rina was planning some kind of project with him. It seems that the fiance was going to arrange for her to tour Asia and Europe. In general, maybe this musician knows something?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Vika was delighted.


    ¡°And also call this orphanage and find out the contacts of a certain Nuliya. She worked there as a cleaner. Just don''t say anything about Rina yet, and if Nuliya is called to the phone, say that you will call back later. I''ll talk to her myself.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Vika nodded. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°What else? We''re leaving in ten minutes. You will complete these tasks later.¡±


    Before the trip, they had lunch at a familiar restaurant near the office. Vika, referring to the fact that she was not used to eating enough on the road, pecked at a salad of fresh vegetables, although she usually didn¡¯t deny herself a hearty lunch, and washed down everything with black tea. Nikolai, knowing that the path ahead is not close, on the contrary, turned up a good chop with a side dish.


    They had to make a detour to go to the cottage village to the Jaguar. Nikolai stopped the car in front of a two-story house and looked questioningly at Vika.


    ¡°I''ll wait in the car,¡± she correctly understood him, took out her mobile and opened some apps.


    Lev heard the noise of a car approaching and went out to meet the guest in the courtyard. They shook hands, and then, at the same time grinning at this ¡®officialdom¡¯, they embraced bluntly, after which Jaguar invited Nikolai into the house.


    ¡°I can''t stay too long, Lev. The road is long, but I want to return today.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Yana is cooking dinner for us,¡± the owner became sad.


    ¡°I didn''t know, and my assistant and I have already had lunch,¡± Nikolai spread his hands regretfully.


    ¡°Well, at least come and say hello to Yana.¡±


    ¡°This is of course!¡±


    They crossed a well-kept courtyard with flower beds along a stone-paved path, but stopped near the porch.


    ¡°I''ve collected everything you asked for. Give it back when you can.¡±


    ¡°I''ll bring it tomorrow, Lev.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe in the morning,¡± Jaguar grinned. ¡°Yana and I are flying to South Korea tomorrow for a few days. You called in time.¡±


    ¡°To Korea?¡± Nikolai started up. Korea again. That''s so lucky that Lev is flying there!


    ¡°Yes. Yana has a scheduled checkup in Seoul. She feels well, but every couple of years you need to fly to the doctor.¡±


    Nikolai already knew that Lev''s wife had a serious illness, but after the operation in Korea, the disease receded. Yana now led a normal lifestyle, practiced yoga and wrote historical novels, which were published in a major publishing house.


    ¡°It will take us only a day to inspect, but we decided to take the opportunity to relax. Do you need something from Korea? Kimchi? Tteok?¡±


    ¡°It is necessary,¡± Nikolai didn¡¯t shirk. ¡°But not food. I''m interested in one village.?


    ¡°If it¡¯s near Bukchon Hanok Village, then we can go there,¡± Lev nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s so near,¡± Nikolai rejoiced. ¡°I''ll email you what I need. Okay?¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡±


    ¡°Very helpful!¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Lev grinned and with a sly squint asked: ¡°How are things in your... detective agency?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. Just like in your... security,¡± Nikolai answered in the same tone, with the same sly smile.


    ¡°It pleases. But be careful,¡± Lev added seriously and opened the front door.


    Yana, of course, was upset that the guest wouldn¡¯t stay for lunch, but, accustomed to the fact that her husband isn¡¯t always free to manage his time, offered:


    ¡°I''ll wrap up some pies for you on the road! I just took it out of the oven. With green onions and egg, and also with cabbage!¡±


    Nikolai didn¡¯t refuse the pies, and Yana ran off to the kitchen to collect goodies.


    ¡°Here, everything you need is here,¡± Lev said, handing him a heavy sports bag.


    ¡°I will cherish it like the apple of my eye!¡± Nikolai promised, but the owner laughed:


    ¡°Eyes are more important than this rubbish. So better take care of the apple of your eye! If you don''t figure it out, call me. I''m in touch.¡±


    Nikolai wanted to answer that he would try to figure it out himself, but at that time Yana came out of the kitchen with a voluminous bundle in her hands.


    ¡°I hope the pies turned out delicious. It was only the second time I baked,¡± she explained, a little embarrassed. A smile touched her lips, and Nikolai thought for the umpteenth time that Jaguar had a very beautiful wife: with cute features, with white skin like a porcelain doll and reddish curly hair. Yana was so gentle that she wanted to be immediately taken under protection, and against the background of the tall Lev, she seemed especially fragile. Jaguar, as if reading Nikolai''s thoughts, hugged his wife, and Yana, clinging to his strong shoulder, smiled ¨C like a farewell to the guest, but in fact ¨C to her happiness. ¡®Be careful¡¯, is out of place, or maybe just right, Nikolai remembered the warning of the more experienced and older Lev. After getting married, Jaguar became more vulnerable, because now, in addition to his grown-up daughter from his first marriage, he had Yana. And in his words, Nikolai heard not so much a request to take care of himself, as a warning to avoid such ¡®weaknesses¡¯.


    He''s careful. Still, how careful. That''s why he decided to live without affection.


    Carrying a heavy bag in one hand and a bundle of pies in the other, Nikolai returned to the car and opened the back door.


    ¡°I don''t know where¡­¡± he heard the voice of the assistant talking on the phone. Nikolai carefully put the bag with the equipment on the floor, and put the package with the pies on the seat. Vika heard the noise and quickly curtailed the conversation:


    ¡°I''ll call you later!¡±


    Without saying goodbye to the interlocutor, she put the phone in her purse.


    ¡°Well, that''s it, we can go!¡± Nikolai said cheerfully. Vika glanced at him, and something like concern flashed in her eyes. But she immediately smiled and said cheerfully:


    ¡°Let''s go, chief.¡±

 Chapter 5

    ¡°Do you believe in any ¡®devilry¡¯? Have you ever encountered anything unusual?¡±


    ¡°I don''t believe in "devilry", but I have no doubt that the world is much more complicated than we think.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with the magazine ¡®Brownie¡¯)


    After lunch, clouds suddenly crept into the sky, cut off the bright sun in mid-sentence, leaving unsaid, and plunged the day into evening twilight. There was a sharp smell of ozone and wet earth. The silence rang, ready to end at any moment with a clap of thunder. The wind, driving away the clouds, hastily darned the bright heavenly gaps with them. Her heart was booming because of a premonition, the tone of which remained unclear. Rina froze on the porch, greedily inhaling the freshened air and peering into the clouds in anticipation of the first flashes of lightning. Before the forces of nature, she was negligibly small, but at the moment when the silence suddenly became absolute, she felt like a conductor in front of an orchestra frozen in anticipation of her actions. Now she will wave her wand, and a symphony will break out. Rina involuntarily raised her hand, but when she came to her senses, she gently lowered it. And at the same moment, the first flash flashed in the blackened sky. A bright lightning tore the cloud apart, and a downpour fell on the ground like a wall. Rina held out her palms to him, and then, unable to resist the temptation, ran barefoot down the steps, froze in the middle of the courtyard, arms outstretched and face tilted to the sky. Her ecstatic cry was drowned in the thunderous rumble and the noise of the rain. But with this cry, the trouble that poisoned her burst out, and the soul, having got rid of the poison, was filled, as if with spring water, with short-lived joy. Rina squinted from the rain beating on her face, smiled, catching the water jets with her lips, and screamed, screamed until her cry turned into a song ¨C not in her native language, but in the Korean language of Nuliya.


    Rina returned to the house only when she finished the last verse. Her soaked clothes clung to her body like a second skin. Rina went straight to the bathroom and stood for a long time under the now hot jets. Such a contrasting ¡®shower¡¯ shook her up and for a while got rid of the bitter memories that had filled her teeth.


    After changing into a wide flannel shirt, loose jeans and thick socks, she returned to the kitchen, where she had been putting shopping in drawers and putting new dishes on the shelves, and made herself tea. The rain still ¨C a solid veil ¨C hid the visibility outside the window. Bright flashes cut through the darkness of bad weather every now and then. Rina turned on the light and returned to the interrupted lesson.


    The fact that something had changed, she, being carried away by the case, didn¡¯t notice immediately. It was only when she got down from the stool for a stack of plates that she realized that silence reigned in the house, no longer disturbed by the pounding of rain on the windowsill. Rina glanced at the street and made sure that visibility was still as bad, only not because of the rain, but because the window was covered with a fog curtain. The haze rose from the ground, swirled as if alive, and something dark was moving in it. Rina put the plates back on the table, slowly approached the window and recoiled in horror when someone''s silhouette suddenly emerged from the fog on the other side. She covered her mouth with her palm, stifling a frightened squeak. The silhouette, swaying, approached the window, and behind it loomed several more of the same vague figures. Rina glanced at the other window and screamed when she saw two palms pressed against the glass and someone''s flattened face. Someone was looking in the window, perhaps it had been watching her for a long time, but when it saw that it was noticed, it disappeared into the fog again. Rina managed to notice only the coal-black pupils and a wide slit in the place of the mouth.


    She didn''t realize how she jumped up and jerked both windows shut. The curtains were light, translucent, but still hid the fog and its terrible inhabitants. Rina ran around the whole house, turning on the lights and curtaining the windows. But when she got to the bedroom, she saw that the fog outside the window had already dissipated and the first ray of sunlight was timidly looking into the room. Along with the fog, the terrible creatures also disappeared. Rina returned to the kitchen and squinted at the plates that had not been removed. There was no trace of the recent joy caused by the storm. Fear and anxiety crept into my soul like cold snakes. Longing squeezed my throat with such force that it was difficult to take a new breath. Tears welled up in my eyes. But Rina didn''t have time to cry, because she heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°No, no, no!¡± she muttered, grabbing the countertop. The knock was repeated, and with it there was a noise of scuffling, as if someone was wiping his feet on a rug, followed by a rather distinct grunting.


    Rina cautiously approached the door and froze.


    ¡°Hee-hee!¡± someone lamented and knocked weakly on the door without any hope. The distressed ¡®hugh¡¯ was supported by a piglet grunting, and Rina hastily rattled the keys.


    A familiar strange old man gave her a delighted asymmetrical smile and again gave a long hoot. But even though he was smiling, he looked pitiful: the brim of his wet hat hung down dejectedly, and water trickled down from them to the old man''s collar, his clothes were soaked, his trousers stuck to his skinny legs. Only the piglet, which the old man still kept on a leash, radiated joy and contentment. The downpour took the dirt off him, and it turned out that there is a rather large spot in the form of a blob on the pink skin near the tail. Rina motioned the unexpected guests into the house.


    The old man crossed the threshold and timidly turned his head. The piglet grunted merrily and trotted down the corridor as far as the leash allowed. Rina cautiously looked behind the old man, fearing to see the fog and its frightening inhabitants. But outside the door, the day was already blazing with a bright sun, and the sky was shining with innocent purity again. And only wide puddles and rain-beaten grass reminded of the recent storm.


    Rina closed the door, locked it and motioned to the old man to take off his wet hat and jacket. The guest took off his shoes, took off his jacket, remaining in a large-knit sweater and trousers, but refused to take off his hat. Rina didn¡¯t insist and escorted him to the kitchen. There she put the kettle on, reasoning that a wet and cold person first of all needs to be given something hot to drink. Then she turned on the heater and brought a blanket from the room. The old man wrapped himself up, stretched out his feet in soaked socks and grunted gratefully. While he was warming up, Rina made tea and a simple treat, moving around the kitchen with extreme care so as not to step on a piglet getting in the way. When she pushed a mug of tea and a bowl of cookies to the guest, the old man looked at her with such pleading pity that Rina filled her own mug, even though she didn¡¯t want to eat.


    It was an unusual tea party in an extremely strange company. The piglet grunted contentedly over a saucer of chopped vegetables. The old man, sipping tea and carefully biting off cookies with one side of his mouth, hooted and hooted with pleasure, and Rina was silent, thinking what to do next. What should she do with this old man? Take him to the bus stop where she met him for the first time? But she wouldn''t dare leave him alone. So, we''ll have to call other people''s houses and look for someone who knows him. And she didn''t want to communicate with anyone. How did he get to her? Did she come on purpose or did she lose her way when the storm started?


    And one more question haunted her: had her guest seen scary creatures? He had to catch the fog: too little time had passed from the moment when Rina saw the creatures outside the window to the knock on the door. But the old man didn''t look scared, just cold and a little worried. As he warmed up, his face also smoothed out, and the haunted look disappeared from his watery eyes. The guest put down his cup and smiled his crooked smile.


    Rina asked and pointed to the teapot. The old man shook his head negatively, and then stretched his neck anxiously, looking out of the window.


    ¡°It''s not raining anymore! The sun is out,¡± Rina explained.


    But it wasn''t the weather that seemed to bother the old man. His face wrinkled again, the corner of his mouth went to his ear.


    ¡°No! Poof!¡± he said and waved his hand.


    Rina involuntarily shuddered, remembering again the terrible creatures peeping at her through the windows. But she nodded cheerfully:


    ¡°No. Poof!¡±


    The old man cast another wary glance out the window, and then frowned and wiggled his fingers, trying to show something to Rina. But she, not understanding him, shook her head. The guest grunted, got up from his seat and looked for his jacket.


    ¡°It''s already dried out,¡± Rina said, realizing that he had decided to leave. ¡°Shall I help you?¡±


    But the old man had already neatly folded a blanket on a chair, dressed and smacked his lips, calling the pig.


    On the porch, the guest paused and pointed to a wide crevice in the ground.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    And spread his hands. Rina realized that he was trying to tell her about the rift. The old man had already pointed his finger at the darkening tree in the distance.


    ¡°Heh! No! No-o. The bird! No.¡±


    Then, with a rueful wave of his hand, he left the porch and wandered away from the house. The pig trotted obediently next to him. Rina watched the strange couple and noted that the old man was trying to stay away from the crack. After making sure that he had reached the road leading to the village, she returned to the house and locked the door. For some reason, even though the old man could not tell her anything, it seemed to her that he understood what had happened here. And that he, too, like her, saw frightening creatures in the fog.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The sister took the dog to the first lesson, which they hastily called Pencil for the black and glossy coat after washing with Manya''s shampoo, and Yura was left alone in the apartment waiting for their return. He could have gone back to his room, but he knew that he would not be satisfied with a telephone conversation and would still rush to his sister to find out how the first lesson with the dog handler went and whether she managed to find out anything about Rina''s disappearance. Manya, of course, was skeptical and tried to convince Yura that the idea was actually a failure. But he didn''t lose his enthusiasm, so he helped his sister load Pencil into the car and even waved goodbye with a pen.


    Only when Manya returned to the apartment, nervousness took hold of him. After wandering aimlessly around the small but tastefully furnished room, he drank two mugs of coffee and reasonably reasoned that work would distract from the excitement. Yura returned to the room, turned on the laptop. There were few files in the folder with the name ¡®Rina¡¯ so far, apart from the article that cost Yura his dismissal. Why he was fired, he guessed, although the boss did not personally explain to him. Surely Lebedev put pressure on the magazine''s management, demanded the blood of the one who first wrote about the couple''s separation. The page was restored, but Yura''s articles were removed. It was a shame, as if he had never worked in this publication. But annoyance only fueled his activity and desire to write sensational material. Yura, of course, called a couple of colleagues with whom he was on more or less friendly terms, but the conversation didn¡¯t work out. Some didn¡¯t pick up the phone, others referred to their busy schedule and quickly curtailed the conversation, confirming the suspicion that Lebedev was behind all this. Well, Yura wasn''t going to give up.


    He opened a search engine, typed in the name of the singer and made sure that the competitors did not write anything new about the disappearance of Rina. Then he wandered through forums and fan communities, but the versions that were put forward there seemed either too banal ¨C illness or pregnancy, or too fantastic. However, Yura didn¡¯t consider versions like the abduction of Rina for the purpose of blackmailing Dimitri to be unthinkable.


    He wrote out to himself all the assumptions discussed, flipped through the tape and was pleased to see that the fan communities reposted his material as well. Yura carefully read the last two interviews, trying to find something between the lines that would indicate the mood of the singer in the last days before her disappearance. But he didn''t notice anything strange. So, it is necessary to talk to those who knew the singer personally ¨C her colleagues, concert organizers, stylists. He had some contacts, he hoped to get some. Yura sent several messages and again dialed the number of the informant who sold him information about the couple''s separation. But the phone was out of range again. Yura suspected that the informant had changed the number. Well... expected.  But it''s too early to get upset, because Yura was hoping for Manya''s help.


    While reading the usual news, he accidentally stumbled upon an interesting note. It had nothing to do with Rina, but it seemed funny. In one town that has been empty for many years, stalkers have recently begun to notice something unusual: light in empty apartments, shadows, rustles. Someone even captured a dark silhouette on camera. And in a nearby park, according to rumors, broken rides began to move.


    Yura chuckled and looked for the location of the town. Then he Googled the topic and was happy to see that there was little news on it. Rina is Rina, but he wanted to start his own channel and was just thinking about its concept. Yura wrote about celebrities in a magazine, but for his personal page he wanted something else. He didn¡¯t want to get involved in politics. Writing about ecology, the environment and the rescue of seals seemed boring. But blogging about mysterious and abandoned places is not a bad idea. This is much more interesting than interviewing the celebrities of the nineties that are coming out in circulation and the modern idols that are quickly flaring up, but just as quickly fading out.


    Yura rubbed his hands, glad that he had found a topic for the channel. And at that moment he heard the key turn in the lock. Following this, a loud barking and Manya ''s voice were heard in the corridor:


    ¡°Okay, baby! At home, we are already at home!¡±


    By the fact that she didn¡¯t swear irritably at the dog, but cooed affectionately with him, Yura concluded that the first lesson went as well as possible.


    ¡°Well?¡± he asked, looking out into the corridor with a joyful smile. ¡°Did you find out anything about Rina?¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± there were still notes of discontent in the sister''s voice, but they did not relate to Pencil, noisily slurping water from a bowl in the kitchen, but to Yura. ¡°I didn''t find out anything about your Rina!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t!?¡± Yura was upset and was about to scold Manya, but she went to the bathroom to wash her hands.


    ¡°Manya!¡± he reproached, standing in the doorway and leaning his shoulder against the jamb.


    The sister raised her head, and her face was reflected in the mirror ¨C pretty, round, with good skin and brown eyes like her brother''s. By her almost forty years, Manya managed to keep her face fresh and young, while she was not fond of any injections of beauty. Perhaps it''s all about good genetics, perhaps it''s that Manya lived alone, didn¡¯t waste her nerves on young children and her husband, did what she loved and walked for at least two hours every day. She was married in her youth, but the marriage quickly broke up, and since then Manya preferred to live alone. ¡®And she wants to marry me with someone,¡¯ Yura thought resentfully, frowning at his sister''s reflection in the mirror. But Manya suddenly smiled.


    ¡°Let''s go get some coffee.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to eat something,¡± Yura replied.


    ¡°So prepare it,¡± the sister retorted and grinned.


    Big deal! And he will cook! He cooks deliciously, all the passions highly appreciated for his culinary abilities. Therefore, when Manya appeared in the kitchen, applying cream to her washed face, Yura was already in full charge, taking out eggs, vegetables and a saucepan with meat soup. Without asking if his sister would eat or not, he put the saucepan on the fire, then coarsely chopped tomatoes, red peppers, onions and threw everything into the pan. And while the vegetables were toasting, he whipped up a few eggs in a mug. Soon there was a delicious smell of warmed cabbage soup and omelet with vegetables. Manya silently set the table, and Yura poured the first into two bowls, took sour cream from the refrigerator and put portions of omelet on flat plates. Slate, who was closely following his actions in the hope that he would get something tasty, put his head on the table and sighed noisily. Yura had no choice but to share a piece of meat from his plate with the dog and cut off a piece of vegetable omelet.


    ¡°Don''t spoil the dog for me,¡± Manya disapproved. ¡°Pencil has his own diet. I discussed it with Vsevolod, and he agreed with all the recommendations of the veterinarian. By the way, Violet, Vsevolod''s wife, also graduated from veterinary medicine. Everything is well arranged for dogs there!¡±


    ¡°You''re not talking about dogs, but about the topic, Manya,¡± Yura interrupted. ¡°I take it you didn''t manage to talk to Volkov about Rina?¡±


    ¡°And how do you imagine it, Yur?¡± Manya sighed. ¡°I brought the dog to class. By the way, Pencil is a great fellow. Despite being homeless. And domestic dogs are so spoiled!¡±


    ¡°Listen, did Volkovs turn you into their dog sect?¡± Yura couldn''t stand it. ¡°If not with Vsevolod, then I could talk to his wife! As women, you would understand each other perfectly! I would have started asking her about the diet for Pencil, then came up with some heartbreaking story about the disappearance of a friend, you see, Violet would have bought it!¡±


    ¡°I came up with it,¡± Marya suddenly answered and smiled, not to her brother, but to her thoughts - dreamily. ¡°There was such an incident... There was one crumb on the playground. Italian Greyhound with a behavioral disorder.¡±


    ¡°You''re talking about dogs again!¡±


    ¡°Listen a minute! If you interrupt me again, I won''t tell you anything!¡±


    ¡°I''m silent,¡± Yura gave up, barely restraining his irritation.


    He didn¡¯t think that his sister would be so imbued with the dog theme! Now he still has to listen to some greyhound with problems! Once Yura had to listen for an hour to a long story from an elderly celebrity about her ¡®best creature ever¡¯ - a bug-eyed misunderstanding the size of a glove, which someone mistakenly dubbed a dog. But she answered any interview question with enthusiastic exclamations about her dog.


    ¡°This greyhound is extremely nervous,¡± Manya continued. ¡°Even sparrow chirping can scare her. And she also can''t stand other dogs, just sees ¨C and falls into hysterics. The owner already took her to the veterinarians, and gave her all sorts of sedatives. But the problem was not in physical health, but in the wrong upbringing. Greyhound got a new owner from some relative. So the previous owner ¡®spoiled¡¯ the dog. Whether she indulged her in everything unnecessarily, or something else, I didn''t get into it. But Gennadiy Sergeevich now takes Shusha to individual classes with Vsevolod. And then Shusha will study together with other dogs on the playground.¡±


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich?¡± Yura asked.


    ¡°Yeah. The owner of the greyhound. A nice man,¡± Manya replied and smiled slightly. ¡°We met because there was embarrassment. Gennadiy Sergeevich and Shusha were already leaving, and then we met them with Pencil. The pencil just reached out to meet them¡­¡±


    ¡°And greyhound went into hysterics and died?¡± Yura joked darkly, but Manya gave him a look full of indignation.


    ¡°No. It didn''t die. But it was so scary that it peed.¡±


    ¡°I would also pee if I were a lefty, and Pencil came up to me,¡± Yura agreed and looked with respect at the huge dog, who stretched out near the table, occupying almost half of the kitchen, and while waiting for another piece of meat, he did not take his eyes off Yura.


    ¡°That''s why Shusha was scared. I was just trying to pull Pencil away from him, so Shusha accidentally wrote to me on a sneaker.¡±


    Yura snorted with laughter.


    ¡°The owner was very embarrassed, even though I said it was okay. But, can you imagine, he waited for me after class and said he was ready to pay for the damage! He was going to buy me new sneakers. Of course I refused! The sneakers are old, and even Shusha pisses like she''s squirting from a syringe, but if Pencil had doused my foot, then yes, it would have turned out flawed. Then Gennadiy Sergeevich invited me to a cafe, and I agreed.¡±


    ¡°And how did they let you and the dogs in there?¡± Yura was surprised.


    ¡°There, at the end of the street, there is one cafe with a terrace! Owners often come there after classes with their dogs. The owner of the cafe is friends with Volkovs, so¡­ We sat for a while with Gennadiy Sergeevich, and got acquainted. Shusha, of course, was nervous. But Pencil was well done, he lay quietly, he didn''t climb to Shusha anymore.¡±


    ¡°If I were in his place, too, I wouldn''t climb to such a¡­¡± Yura wanted to add ¡®asshole¡¯, but eloquently kept silent. He has already accepted that Manya will not talk about business, but about dogs and a new acquaintance who seems to have charmed his sister.


    ¡°Word for word, we had a conversation with Gennadiy Sergeevich. And I don''t remember how, but we started talking about missing people. No, not about Rina. I decided to keep quiet about her. Gennadiy Sergeevich talked about one case. And I came up with the idea that a close relative of my friend had disappeared, they were looking for her, but without success. At least go to a detective! And then Gennadiy Sergeevich said that he just had a detective friend who, among other things, had once been engaged in the search for the missing. Once upon a time, because now he is doing something else. But Gennadiy Sergeevich gave his phone number to Vsevolod recently, because he also seems to have someone missing. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Manya!¡± Yura exclaimed and jumped up so that he almost dropped, to the joy of Pencil, a plate with an omelet. ¡°I need this detective''s phone number!¡±

 Chapter 6

    ¡°Do you regret any action? Would you take the opportunity to go back in time and correct mistakes?¡±


    ¡°I am an ordinary person, so I was wrong. But I wouldn''t fix anything. Because by changing the past, I wouldn''t be who I am.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with the portal ¡®Celebrities speak¡¯)


    They were silent for most of the rest of the way. Nikolai  thought gloomily that meeting with the ghosts of the past usually doesn¡¯t bode well. Vika, seeing that he was thoughtful and frowning, didn¡¯t get involved with conversations. But the moment Nikolai looked at her, she broke the silence.


    ¡°Kolya, what are we going to do with the singer? I watched the news a little and noticed that they were talking about Rina cautiously. I think the fact is that people from Lebedev''s team track the news and immediately delete everything scandalous.¡±


    Nikolai shrugged his shoulders, because he didn''t think about the singer: he talked to her friends and forgot for a while. He and Vsevolod haven''t even signed the contract yet.


    ¡°You''re not interested in this case,¡± Vika correctly interpreted his gesture.


    ¡°It''s not that it''s not interesting¡­¡± he said reluctantly. ¡°But I''m busy with something else right now. And, if we take up the search for a singer, there is a risk that Lebedev''s people will put a spoke in the wheels.¡±


    ¡°But Dimitri should be interested in finding Rina!¡±


    Nikolai shook his head vaguely.


    ¡°I''m not one hundred percent sure about it.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Only that, Vika, I don¡¯t know his plans, nor what orders and to whom he gave. Why do journalists write about the disappearance of the popular singer ¡®carefully¡¯, and not trumpet at every corner? Why do Lebedev''s people censor everything written about her so harshly? Is it because of the businessman''s unwillingness to shine in his personal life or for another reason?¡±


    Nikolai wanted to close the topic about Rina ¨C at least for a while, because there was nothing left to get to the right place, but Vika, on the contrary, shifted briskly in her seat.


    ¡°There are rumors that Rina and Dimitri have broken up. And before that, she canceled all performances and tours.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, her friends told me¡­¡±


    ¡°Kolya, are you really not interested in this case? Do you want to give it up?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t decided yet. If it wasn''t for Gennadiy Sergeevich, I would have given this case to someone else. I''ve already told you why.¡±


    ¡°Kolya?¡± Vika called after a short pause.


    He looked at her questioningly and noticed that she was biting her lip, as if she wanted to ask something else, but did not dare.


    ¡°Speak,¡± Nikolai hurried with a slight irritation. The right signpost appeared ahead, and his soul involuntarily pricked. He didn¡¯t think that he would ever return to this dead village and that returning here would be so difficult.


    ¡°You''re not an ordinary detective, are you?¡± the assistant asked, and Nikolai involuntarily grinned.


    Vika came to his detective agency eight months ago, sympathizing with the fact that she was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And although she quickly realized that Nikolai sometimes takes on cases that are atypical for a detective, she didn¡¯t ask unnecessary questions.


    ¡°I mean that you aren¡¯t an ordinary detective who collects evidence of infidelity of spouses or searches for a missing lapdog of some old lady. And you obviously didn''t study at law school.¡±


    ¡°I graduated from the military academy,¡± Nikolai said firmly, believing that this would answer all her questions


    The road, which had not been repaired for a good two decades, led them to the former military unit. Nikolai remembered that the part was small and was not considered an important strategic object, such as a military airfield. Barracks, warehouses and a parade ground were located on its territory. And right behind the fence with the barbed wire snaking along it, the forest began, into which a recruit once escaped. As soon as Nikolai  remembered that incident, a picture appeared before his eyes: his father, red with anger, loudly chastises an unknown officer in the kitchen, and his mother drives the frightened Nikolai into the room. The soldier was soon found, the case seems to have ended with a delivery from his father.


    Nikolai stopped the car near an inactive barrier and a booth with broken windows.


    ¡°Shall we start from here?¡± Vika asked, even though he never told her about his plans.


    Nikolai nodded, got out of the car and took out a bag from the back seat.


    ¡°This is a military unit in which my father once served,¡± he explained when they passed the checkpoint and entered the territory of the unit. ¡°They came here with my mother shortly before my birth. Before that, dad served in the North. And he received a new appointment at a time when people began to disappear from the village¡­¡±


    ¡°You mentioned that there were rumors about the disbandment of the unit,¡± Vika reminded.


    Nikolai nodded silently and, squinting, looked around. They walked at a brisk pace and moved a considerable distance away from the checkpoint. A long barrack that had once been a barracks loomed ahead. The windows in the building had long been blown out by wind and hail, and a young tree that had grown right inside boldly stuck its branches into one of the window openings. It was a dreary sight. Nikolai couldn¡¯t explain to himself why he started the ¡®excursion¡¯ from here. Maybe because he was drawn here because of his father.


    ¡°Yes, Dad was transferred to another part, closer to the capital,¡± Nikolai continued the story after a slight hitch. ¡°He moved my mother and me to a new place of residence, and he returned here to finish some business. There was nothing strange about it.¡±


    ¡°And yet it was?¡± the astute Vika understood and stopped when Nikolai climbed the low porch of the two-story building in which the headquarters was once located.


    The door was heavy, but it gave way, and there was a smell of dust and damp wood from inside. Nikolai took his phone out of his pocket, turned on the flashlight and lit up the rotten floor. Vika quietly followed him in and stopped behind him.


    ¡°It was, but I noticed it when I grew up,¡± said Nikolai. ¡°Dad didn''t get a new assignment. He wasn''t transferred to another unit, as my mother and I thought, but he took us away from here.¡±


    ¡°What happened here?¡± Vika asked quietly. ¡°What didn''t you mention? We dig into archives, compare cases in the past, you ask to monitor the news, but I don''t have a complete picture.¡±


    ¡°I don''t either, Vika,¡± he replied regretfully and closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the photos he had seen in the secret archive.


    His father died at his desk, not having had time to finish his tea from a glass in a bronze cup holder. The body of the attendant was found near the front door. Perhaps it was he who first met those who brought death here. Some of the personnel were later found in the corridor, and some on the second floor.


    ¡°Kolya? Do you hear me?¡± Vika called, bringing him back from his memories to reality, which smelled of dust and damp wood, and crumbled whitewash crunched dryly under his feet.


    Nikolai shuddered and turned his gaze to the assistant.


    ¡°People died here. Both those who served in the unit and those who were at home - all in one night.


    ¡°How?!¡± Vika gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in horror.


    ¡°Many had their throats torn out. Fortunately, there were not many dead. However, the rest of the residents disappeared somewhere. Their fate remained unknown. And for more than twenty years it has not been possible to find out what happened here, Vika. Why did some die and where did others disappear?¡±


    The pause that hung there turned out to be so weighty, and the fright in the assistant''s eyes was so obvious that Nikolai wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if she had asked him to return to Moscow immediately. But Vika asked something completely different:


    ¡°And... was your dad among the missing or dead?¡±


    ¡°Among the dead. He died at his desk over the documents spread out on it. Without finishing the tea.¡±


    After answering, Nikolai took several pictures of the table and chairs pushed into a corner, and then quickly walked out into the corridor and headed for the stairs. But there he hesitated, deciding whether to go up. He already regretted that he had come straight to the unit, and had not started the inspection from the village. But for some reason, all these years he had the confidence that it all started from here. Putting aside his doubts, Nikolai went up the stairs.


    A heavy bag with equipment reminded him how a few years ago he came here with Lev to find out the truth about the tragedy that happened in the past. Nothing good came out of that idea. Did Jaguar understand where Nikolai went today? Most likely, yes.


    Vika silently got up after him, but when Nikolai put the bag on the wide windowsill with peeling paint, she asked:


    ¡°You didn''t think that your dad knew or assumed something, that''s why he moved you to another place?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking,¡± Nikolai answered briefly, pulling out a small camera. ¡°Maybe he did. Did you bring a notebook and a pen?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You will write down the testimony that I will dictate. I want to measure the temperature, humidity, electromagnetic field and radioactivity here.¡±


    ¡°Do you think there is radiation here?¡± Vika shivered.


    ¡°I doubt it. But I will measure it.¡±


    He installed cameras at different ends of the corridor and turned on the sound recorder. Vika watched his preparations in silence, although it was obvious from her face that she was impatient to ask him a lot of questions. Nikolai winked at her without a smile, letting her know that he would tell her everything later. There is no point in hiding the whole story from her, he has already dragged her into this investigation, willingly or unwittingly. He shouldn''t have brought her with me. Not now, but on the day he went to an abandoned amusement park.


    Vika obediently followed and wrote down all the testimony that Nikolai dictated to her in a whisper. After finishing the research at headquarters, they went down to the street and took measurements there, and then - in the dining room and in one of the barracks. All these manipulations took quite a long time, and there was still a village. Nikolai glanced anxiously at his watch, and then at Vika. But the assistant remained calm, as if she really wasn''t in a hurry.


    ¡°Let''s go to the village,¡± he commanded, carefully picking up the bag. ¡°Of course, we won''t have time to go around it all. It''s going to get dark soon. I''ll have to come back another day, because I would like to see the amusement park.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say, boss,¡± Vika replied carelessly, but Nikolai caught a note of fatigue in her voice.


    ¡°Break,¡± he conceded. ¡°There''s a bag of pies in the car. We''ll have a snack, and then we''ll go further.¡±


    ¡°I would like to go to the toilet,¡± the assistant smiled shyly and shifted her long legs. ¡°There aren''t even bushes here. Listen, if I use the toilet in that barracks¡­ Although it is not working, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Go,¡± Nikolai nodded. ¡°I''ll wait for you here.¡±


    Vika sped off, and he put the bag at his feet, took out his phone and was not surprised to see a message from Jaguar. Lev asked how things were going, whether Nikolai had sorted out the devices and wrote that it was possible not to return the equipment yet. And then he added that he guessed where he went, and asked to be careful. Nikolai smiled at Jaguar''s insight and started typing him an answer. But at the same moment, a heart-rending female screech was heard from the barracks. Forgetting about the bag with expensive equipment, Nikolai rushed to help Vika, burst into the room and almost fell, hitting his foot on a rotten floorboard. Pulling out his leg, he rushed around the corridor, trying to figure out where to run.


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    ¡°Vika?! Vika, where are you?! What happened?!¡±


    ¡°I''m here,¡± came after a pause, during which a part of Nikolai''s life flashed by train in front of his eyes.


    Vika jumped out to meet him, but when she saw him, she stopped and smiled awkwardly:


    ¡°I''m sorry. I was... just scared.¡±


    ¡°What scared you?¡± he asked abruptly.


    ¡°It''s nonsense. It seemed,¡± Vika nervously pulled her earlobe and involuntarily looked back at the room from which she had left. ¡°It seemed as if someone was peeping at me through the half-open door. I was looking for a toilet¡­ I entered this room, and the door suddenly closed. And when I looked back, it seemed to me that someone was looking through the crack.¡±


    She looked around nervously again. Nikolai slightly pushed her aside with his shoulder and resolutely walked into the room. Vika immediately rushed after him, apparently, it seemed scary to stay even for a second alone.


    ¡°No one,¡± Nikolai said shortly, quickly looking around not only this room, but also the forecastle, in which the skeletons of bunk beds with rotten skinny mattresses have been preserved.


    ¡°I''m telling you, it seemed,¡± said Vika, but uncertain. Nikolai touched her shoulder a little, wanting to both encourage and hurry, and went outside to the abandoned bag with equipment.


    ¡°I''ll walk you to your car. Lock yourself in and wait for me there.¡±


    ¡°And you?


    ¡°And I''ll take measurements here.¡±


    ¡°I''m with you!¡± Vika immediately objected, and fear clearly flashed in her blue eyes.


    What scared her so much, if she doesn''t want to be alone even in a securely locked car?


    ¡°Vika, let''s do it again. Describe to me what you saw.¡±


    ¡°It seemed to me,¡± she suddenly became stubborn.


    ¡°If it seemed, you wouldn''t be clinging to me in a panic right now,¡± Nikolai grinned, and the assistant only now noticed that she was actually holding his elbow tightly.


    ¡°I''m sorry,¡± she said, embarrassed, and took a deep breath. ¡°Okay. I went into the room, and the door suddenly closed behind me. But not to the end, there was a gap. I looked sharply back at the creaking and saw that someone was spying on me. I didn''t see the face, only the eye - dark, without protein, as if it wasn''t an eye, but a solid pupil.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the beast wandered?¡± Nikolai suggested. ¡°A moose. Here, behind the part, the forest.¡±


    ¡°No. I would say that a person was spying on me. Average height and elderly, because the eye was surrounded by wrinkled skin. And I also saw part of the grin. No, Kolya! It wasn''t a moose at all, but a man! I think I scared him with a squeal, and he hid somewhere. Most likely, it was a tramp. Homeless man.


    ¡°Vika, let''s you wait for me in the car, and I''ll quickly check everything,¡± Nikolai repeated, but she resolutely shook her head.


    ¡°I won''t let you go alone! Whoever is hiding there can be dangerous!¡±


    He couldn''t even hold back a smile.


    ¡°Vika... I am a strong man, tall and not a weakling, I was engaged in martial arts. I can protect myself, if anything. And if you have to fight off the girl, then¡­


    ¡°Okay,¡± Vika reluctantly gave up.


    ¡°Come on, I''ll show you. Lock yourself in and wait for me. I''ll be quick! I promise not to linger.¡±


    ¡°I''ll call you in ten minutes. And if you don''t answer, I''ll get out of the car!¡± she warned.


    ¡°Good. The control call is in ten minutes,¡± he agreed, just to calm her down.


    Vika stayed in the car, and Nikolai returned to the barracks with the equipment. It was already getting dark, and he understood that he would have to explore the houses in the village another day. But perhaps tonight will also be productive. Nikolai went around the whole room, looked into all the lockers, but found nothing but old clothes and some personal belongings of the soldiers. No one. He pulled out his phone and called, as promised, Vika. After that, he filmed several angles on the camera, took measurements, recorded the indicators and returned to the car - to a pretty nervous Vika.


    He put the bag in the back and took out a bag of pies from Yana, handed it to Vika and started the engine. The road home was going to be long, they should have had a snack, besides, Vika never found the toilet. They''ll have to make a shortstop, but not here.


    ¡°Did you take measurements there too?¡± the assistant asked dully, clutching the bag of pies with such force that her knuckles turned white.


    Nikolai gave her a brief glance and turned it back to the road. Darkness descended on the surroundings rapidly, as if it didn¡¯t hastily descend from the sky, but hurriedly escaped.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said shortly.


    Vika rustled the bag, but did not get the pie, apparently, she didn¡¯t dare to eat in the car without permission or alone.


    ¡°While you were there, I Googled this place a little. It''s one thing what we read in reports and other documents, another thing what they write on the Internet. It turns out that there are several blog posts about this village, or rather, about the amusement park. And they''re all pretty fresh.¡±


    Nikolai nodded, encouraging her, because Vika paused.


    ¡°This place is considered abnormal. ¡®Abandonments¡¯ has always attracted fans to tickle their nerves. So they came here with ¡®excursions¡¯. Judging by the posts, something strange began to happen here: they saw shadows, light in the windows of houses. And I also found an amateur video, of poor quality, with a lot of interference and from afar, as if it was filmed from a poorly controlled drone. But I can still see how the Ferris wheel is moving very slowly. I don''t know if it''s true or fake, but the post says that the wheel is from that abandoned park in which you and I were¡­¡±


    She paused again, waiting for an answer. But Nikolai was also silent, concentrating on the empty road illuminated by the yellow headlights.


    ¡°Kolya, I usually don''t ask questions, you know,¡± Vika couldn''t stand it, turning to him in half a turn. ¡°I do everything you ask, I search for information, monitor news, dig into archives, conduct correspondence, view statistics, catalogs, and so on. Of course, you have the right not to tell me all the secrets. That''s why they¡¯re secrets. Usually we discussed all the cases from the very beginning, but this time you don''t say anything at all, just give tasks. Perhaps this case is too different from everything we''ve done before. I wouldn''t bother asking questions, but I''m scared. This place scared me! Of course, I asked for it myself. Out of a desire to help you.¡±


    ¡°You''re right,¡± Nikolai finally broke the silence. ¡°It would be better if I didn''t take you with me.¡±


    She blinked resentfully, understanding his phrase in her own way.


    ¡°Vika, this order is unusual,¡± he relented. ¡°I regret that I thoughtlessly dragged you into this case.¡±


    ¡°I''ve always helped you well! And I signed a non-disclosure document,¡± she said in a voice ringing with resentment, and Nikolai smiled conciliating.


    ¡°That''s not the point. Your help is really invaluable, which is why I unwittingly dragged you into a new case. Although it would be better if I took over the entire investigation. It is associated with certain risks.¡±


    ¡°I understand that all our work involves certain risks.¡±


    ¡°But this case is different from the others,¡± Nikolai sighed, and Vika turned back to him.


    ¡°Then it would be more correct to tell first what we are getting into. And at least theoretically give me a chance to decide whether to help you in this case or completely pull off.


    ¡°Would you pull off?¡± He smiled involuntarily, and Vika snorted indignantly:


    ¡°Of course not!¡±


    An answering smile appeared on her lips, and after a short pause, Vika added in her usual tone - a little playful:


    ¡°Come on, boss, tell me what we got into. And what were all these measurements for. Who or what are you going to see here?¡±


    ¡°Well, tell. After a short break. Our pies threaten to spoil. And you asked to go to the toilet.¡±


    ¡°Is the truth so scary that you''re afraid I might get the seat covers dirty?¡± Vika quipped, but in a more cheerful tone, and looked out the window. ¡°Slow down over there. But don''t talk my teeth into pies!¡±


    ¡°As I already said, people began to disappear from our town,¡± Nikolai began after stopping and having a quick snack with pies. ¡°Father moved my mom and me to another place under the pretext that he had received a new assignment. And he came back to supposedly finish some business. Two days after his return, tragedy struck. People finally disappeared from the village, and those who still remained were found dead. Growing up, I decided to find out the truth about what happened to my former neighbors and, of course, to my father. There was very little information. Rather, it turned out to be classified. At the same time, I found out that my father had not received a transfer appointment. And I concluded that he was afraid of something and therefore moved my mother and me.¡±


    ¡°Have you developed a secret weapon or virus there?¡± Vika asked.


    "The part was small and was not considered a strategically important object.¡±


    ¡°Here!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so, Vika,¡± Nikolai replied, but not so confidently. ¡°There was definitely no laboratory on our part. I also found out that later some businessman tried to buy these lands. He wanted to demolish the old houses, and instead build a cottage village and a shopping and entertainment center with a casino. This place is suitable for recreation, fishing and other entertainment. Nearby is a forest, then a lake. Nature, silence, solitude. But the deal did not take place because the businessman died.¡±


    ¡°Very timely,¡± Vika nodded.


    ¡°Maybe. Or maybe it was just an accident.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe that?¡±


    It seems that the assistant has already built her own version and now she summed up everything she heard under it. Nikolai decided not to argue with Vika.


    ¡°I think that there was not enough open information, it only piqued my interest. And I managed to get to the secret archives¡­¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Vika started up, her eyes flashed with excitement, and she fidgeted with impatience.


    ¡°It was banal,¡± Nikolai cooled her ardor and grinned. ¡°I was caught. I didn''t have time to find out anything. And the accusation was rolled over to me seriously. Allegedly, I was going to sell classified information to foreign intelligence.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Vika exclaimed and looked at him with a mixture of respect and fright. ¡°So did you go to prison?¡±


    ¡°Everything was going to that - sentencing and imprisonment for many years. But at the last moment, everyone suddenly overplayed. Some people intervened, the case was closed, I was released, but they fired me from the army. Over time, I opened a detective agency, which would not have had anything to do with my past activities if... if it weren''t for old acquaintances,¡± Nikolai answered evasively.


    ¡°Is Gennadiy Sergeevich one of these acquaintances?¡± Vika clarified so seriously that Nikolai suddenly felt like he was being interrogated.


    Or maybe it was just his imagination, because the conversation stirred up memories that he would prefer to forget. But it was impossible to erase this part of his biography, just as it is impossible to erase a burnt brand with an eraser.


    ¡°Let''s say,¡± Nikolai answered evasively again, not wanting to tell to Vika about the details, ¡°And let''s agree that all this will remain between us.¡±


    ¡°You offend, boss!¡± Vika exclaimed expectedly, but he stopped her with a gesture.


    ¡°And promise me you won''t ask for any more details. You know less, you sleep more soundly. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Is it that serious?¡±


    ¡°Vika, I poked into a classified case about an incident in a military camp and paid for it with my career, and I almost ended up behind bars. So-so life scenario for a guy a little over twenty years old. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Good. I''m your assistant, I only do what you tell me, I don''t ask questions. If necessary, I''ll play the fool. But one more question is possible? Right now?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Nikolai allowed.


    ¡°Why did they decide to raise this classified case right now? And they turned to you for help?¡±


    ¡°Nice question! Correct. And dangerous. One of those that should not be asked,¡± Nikolai grinned. ¡°Probably because I got into it once before.


    ¡°Sewn with white threads,¡± Vika snorted.


    ¡°Or because I don''t think in accepted categories, but admit, for example, that this zone may be abnormal. If they tell me that ghosts have been seen here, I will not laugh, but will come and take measurements of the electromagnetic field, temperature, humidity and¡­¡¯


    ¡°Wait!¡± exclaimed Vika and turned back to him. ¡®Have we been ghost hunting today?¡±


    ¡°No. We were taking measurements of the electromagnetic field,¡± Nikolai replied in a boring tone.


    ¡°Okay. I get it,¡± Vika laughed tightly and shivered. ¡°That''s why you were so happy when I said that someone was spying on me!¡±


    ¡°I have already returned to this place once with a friend from whom I took the equipment today. Lev is a former military man, now he has his own business - security agencies. And his long-standing hobby at first glance doesn¡¯t fit in with the image of a harsh warrior. Once he assembled a team to investigate anomalies. I went out to him, and we came here together, took measurements, but we didn''t find anything interesting, that is, abnormal, then. That''s where our research ended, because I got caught with the archives.¡±


    ¡°Wow, chief! How many interesting things I learned about you today!¡±


    ¡°I wish I didn''t know,¡± he sighed and reminded her that the conversation should remain between them.


    They spent part of the road in silence. Vika decided to take a nap, but before that she asked to turn on the radio and chose the wave herself. Nikolai didn''t mind. Fortunately, the assistant chose not club music, which he could not stand. The repertoire of the radio station turned out to be quite wide: pop music was interspersed with rock ballads, Russian-speaking performers were replaced by foreign ones. Vika was dozing to the songs quietly pouring from the speakers, and Nikolai didn¡¯t wake her up, even when he entered the capital. After weaving through familiar streets, he turned onto the highway that led to her neighborhood. The song in Russian was replaced by a ballad in a foreign language, and Nikolai involuntarily listened, because he thought the voice was familiar ¨C clear, powerful, flexible. He did not understand the meaning of the song, only guessed from the individual words that it was performed in Korean.


    ¡°It¡¯s Rina,¡± suddenly came from the passenger seat.


    Nikolai glanced at Vika and noticed that she was sitting looking in front of her, and an expression of unexpected sadness and, at the same time, admiration was frozen on her face.


    ¡°It''s her singing,¡± Vika repeated. ¡°The song is in Korean. Rina said in an interview that this song about a bird trapped in a cage was sung to her as a child by a Korean woman.¡±


    ¡°Nuliya,¡± Nikolai blurted out.


    The song was listened to in complete silence. And when it was over, Nikolai turned off the radio, because he suddenly wanted to preserve the impression of the performance, not to interrupt it with other voices.


    ¡°If you want, you can come back later tomorrow,¡± he said, noticing that Vita looked tired.


    ¡°All right,¡± the assistant agreed complaisantly. ¡°I''ll sleep an hour longer.¡±


    They said goodbye. Already entering the entrance, Vika took out her phone and called someone. Nikolai waited until the light came on in the windows of her apartment on the second floor, and only then drove away.


    He returned to his apartment well after midnight, exhausted not so much by the road as by the long day. But before going to shower and sleep, he took out a notebook from my bag, in which the readings were entered. Watching the video, as well as a detailed study of all the records, Nikolai decided to leave for tomorrow. And now he wanted to test one theory. He went to the closet and pulled out a notebook hidden behind the books in an oilcloth cover, in which he had once made a statement under Lev''s dictation. Nikolai opened his notebook and notebook on the dining table, compared notes and whistled. His suspicions that the data had changed were confirmed.

 Chapter 7

    ¡°Have you ever found yourself in desperate situations?¡±


    ¡°Repeatedly. But I never give up.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview to the portal ¡°World Of Strong Women¡±)


    The ground vibrated under his feet, a dull rumble burst out along with the fire that blazed from the crevice. Rina screamed in horror and barely managed to jump aside, because a terrible roar followed the rumble. A crack ran across the ground in a rapid zigzag and buried itself in the bottom step of the porch. For a split second, Rina thought that her house would collapse into a rift. But everything stopped as suddenly as it started. The flames had gone out, but there was still a slight smell of smoke in the air. At first it was quiet, and then a quiet knock came from under the ground. Someone knocked three times and after a short pause repeated the simple rhythm. Rina, frightened and at the same time intrigued by what was happening, cautiously approached the crevice and held her breath. The crack was wide, but not so wide that a person could fall through it. Rina carefully squatted down to get a better look at the one who was giving out strange call signs. At the same moment, a hand with crooked fingers shot up from the ground. Rina recoiled in horror and woke up.


    The dream turned out to be so vivid and realistic that it took her a while to recover. Her heart was pounding, and her T-shirt stuck uncomfortably to my sweaty back. Rina wiped the sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand, and at that moment she heard the knock again. It turns out that they knocked in reality, not in a dream. She carefully swung her legs off the bed, straightened her wet T-shirt and tiptoed into the hallway.


    ¡°Is there anyone?¡± a clear girlish voice rang out from the street.


    Rina opened the door and saw a freckled teenage girl on the porch. The stranger had already raised her hand to knock again, so when she found herself nose to nose with the hostess of the house, she recoiled in fright. But then she smiled shyly and said loudly:


    ¡°Hello!¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± Rina politely replied, continuing to examine the little girl.


    It was difficult to determine the age of that one because of her too tall, but still unformed figure. The girl''s thinness was rather caused by rapid growth: the waist of the calico dress was higher ¨C on the ribs, and the hem barely reached the middle of the thigh. The girl slouched, embarrassed by the height of the model, and wrapped herself in a wide old woman''s jacket. The stranger had rubber boots on her feet, dew drops still glistened on the blue noses, and she was holding a basket in her hands.


    ¡°My grandma sent me to you,¡± the guest said, slouching even more. Apparently, Rina''s look confused her. ¡°This is for you. For Stas.¡±


    ¡°For whom?¡±


    ¡°For Stas,¡± the little girl repeated more boldly and handed Rina a basket. ¡°You gave him tea. He was afraid of a thunderstorm, and you didn''t drive him away. Grandma gave you a present. The eggs are fresh, from our chickens! Collected in the morning.¡±


    ¡°So why¡­¡± muttered Rina, confused and surprised at the same time.


    Was it possible to kick the old man out in the rain? And is special gratitude required for such an insignificant act?


    ¡°You will only return the basket later,¡± the girl asked. ¡°Grandma said to me like that. Put it on the porch, and I''ll take it.¡±


    Considering that she had fulfilled her mission, the guest turned around, but Rina stopped her:


    ¡°Wait! What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Liza,¡± the girl looked over her shoulder.


    ¡°And I''m Vita,¡± Rina introduced herself with the old name. ¡°Do you want some tea? I have candy and delicious cookies. And I''ll give you the basket. Why put it on the porch?¡±


    Liza hesitated, and then, resolutely pushing her thick linen-colored braid behind her back, nodded. Rina escorted her guest to the kitchen, turned on the kettle and took a towel from the basket. Liza''s grandmother handed over fresh chicken eggs, a bunch of dried mushrooms, a jar of berry jam, fresh herbs, radishes and cucumbers with dew drops on the pimpled sides. And also some kind of paper sheet folded several times.


    ¡°All our own,¡± Liza answered with pride. ¡°We also collected berries and mushrooms.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Rina thanked her from the bottom of her heart and put the kettle on.


    While waiting for tea, Liza sat on a chair, straightening her back tensely, and curiously watched the hostess. The girl was clearly struggling with shyness and the desire to ask questions at the same time. Rina pretended not to notice the curious glances of the guest, although she understood that questions could not be avoided. And Liza was already fidgeting impatiently on the spot, and when a cup of tea appeared in front of her, she couldn''t stand it:


    ¡°Have you come here recently? Is this house yours now?¡±


    ¡°Mine,¡±Rina  replied, pouring tea for herself.


    ¡°No one has lived in it for a long time. The owner wanted to sell it to the cottagers. That''s what he said. But who would come so far from the city here?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Rina smiled, deciding to play along with the guest. ¡°I dreamed of such a house, where you can go for the whole summer.¡±


    ¡°What about work? And¡­¡± Liza broke off, afraid that she had already allowed herself unnecessary questions.


    ¡®I can work from home. And I don''t have a husband and children. Now. And when there are children, I will bring them here. It''s so nice here!¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Liza replied, but frowningly, as if only in unison with the words of the hostess of the house, but contrary to her own thoughts. ¡°And I, on the contrary, want to go to the city. It''s boring here! And there are no prospects! My mom has been working in the city for a long time. She sends money and sometimes comes for holidays. And I live with my grandma. But we have a deal!¡±


    Liza raised her head, and her eyes shone.


    ¡°When I finish the eleventh grade, I will go to the city to enroll! However, we have only two universities. But there is no money for the capital. And in the city, my mother will be nearby, and she will be able to arrange a job for me. Here are the plans!¡±


    ¡°Good plans,¡± Rina approved with a smile and, imperceptibly pushing a bowl of cookies to Liza, turned the conversation to the topic of interest to her: ¡°So this grandfather''s name is Stas?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He''s grandma''s younger brother. A little bit of that, peek-a-boo. Everyone knows that. But he is kind, so no one offends him. Grandma says Stas wasn''t always like that. Once, when he was still young, he went with other guys to the quarry to swim. And there was a wire in the water. Stas was shocked. It could have killed him, but he survived. Just became like this. Grandma has taken care of him all his life. She was already married when it happened, she took Stas to her, but because of this she began to swear a lot with her husband, my granddad. Grandfather left her, went to the city. And grandma stayed with my mom and Stas. She is very kind, only strict and often angry.¡±


    Liza brought a cookie to her mouth, but didn¡¯t take a bite, and froze, thinking about something and looking out the window.


    ¡°And how did Stas tell you that he was with me? He hardly speaks,¡± Rina became interested.


    ¡°He draws!¡± Liza perked up. ¡°He''s got talent! Stas also made a drawing for you. Only he forbade me to watch it.¡±


    Rina looked back at the gifts. So the folded piece of paper is a drawing from a grateful old man.


    ¡°He dreamed of going to the capital and studying to be an artist,¡± Liza continued the story. ¡°But this happened. And Stas draws anyway. Yesterday he went for a walk with Blob, and then a storm. We were very worried, we went to look for him in a thunderstorm, called him, but Stas didn¡¯t respond. Grandmother scolded him a little when he came, because she was worried, and then asked where he was. Stas hears everything, but he can''t tell. And when Grandma asked, he drew a tree and a house. Then we realized that he was hiding from the rain at the summer cottage.¡±


    ¡°At the cottager''s?¡± Rina smiled.


    Hide, don''t hide, and her presence was quickly noticed.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Yeah, at you.¡±


    Liza frowned slightly, thinking about something of her own again, and then said bitterly:


    ¡°The wind broke a lot of trees yesterday. And our young apple tree too. A neighbor''s roof was torn off. And you seem to have been struck by lightning in a tree. It split the earth.¡±


    Rina almost protested that it had happened even earlier, but she bit her tongue in time. Liza finished her tea, nodded to her thoughts and got up from the table with a cup in her hand.


    ¡°Where can I wash a cup?¡±


    ¡°I''ll wash it myself.¡±


    ¡°No. My grandmom taught me to always wash the dishes for myself,¡± Liza said with touching seriousness.


    Rina, hiding a smile, nodded towards the sink.


    ¡°Well, I''ll go! Otherwise grandma will worry. Can I pick up the basket?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course!¡± Rina jumped up. She opened the closet, took out an unopened chocolate bar and a package of salted crackers and put it all in the basket.


    ¡°Oh, but why¡­¡±


    ¡°My grandmother taught me that empty baskets are not returned,¡± Rina said with a sly smile and handed the basket to Liza. ¡°Thanks for the treat! And... come along with Stas and Blob.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± The girl was delighted.


    When Liza left, Rina put the goodies in the refrigerator and unfolded the sheet. But as soon as she looked at the drawing, she immediately threw it away, as if she saw a poisonous spider. Stas portrayed a man in a business suit. The man looked thoughtfully out of the window. He had one hand in his pants pocket, the other was leaning on the windowsill. Rina remembered well that Dimitri froze at the window while thinking about solving some problems. Could someone take a picture of him at such a moment, and then print the picture in a magazine? Rina took a breath to recover, and decided that this version is not so far from the truth. And Stas just copied the photo¡­


    Only that he or someone from his family bought such magazines, Rina doubted. As she doubted the randomness of such a gift - a pencil portrait of her ex-fiance.


    The morning was like diluted blueberry jam: in the impenetrable darkness, the purple spots of the coming dawn finally loomed. Looking ahead at the road illuminated by headlights, Yura thought that if he had decided to write a book, he would have started it with such a romantic phrase about blueberry morning. And then he would generously splash scarlet, nullifying the romance, because he would be working on a chilling detective story.


    Yura yawned and immediately started, afraid that he had lost control for a second. And it''s not even that he hasn''t driven since he sold his car, he just had to borrow this ¡®rattler¡¯ from a friend for the trip. And now Yura was seriously afraid that the ancient Volkswagen would lose its insides on potholes. A friend was transporting a summer harvest on this ¡®dinosaur¡¯ and, holding out the keys, honestly warned that the car risked not being able to withstand a long journey. In the heat of excitement, Yura didn¡¯t attach importance to his friend''s words, but soon realized the seriousness of the situation. The Volkswagen was smoking, wheezing and rattling, and the threat of getting stuck on the highway was becoming more real. Yura would have asked his sister for a car, and Manya, after grumbling and quarreling, would have given him her brand-new ¡®girl¡¯. But his sister was supposed to take Pencil to class today and was going to get detective contacts from a new acquaintance. Or even find out something about Rina.


    Yura left at night to meet for the day. But he planned the trip based on a normal high-speed car and did not take into account the poor condition of the roads. Therefore, he got to the place much later than he was going to.


    He got out of the ¡®rattler¡¯, jumped on the spot, warming up after a tiring road, then hung a camera around his neck, a small backpack behind his back and set off along the asphalt path, through the crevices of which the grass made its way to the gate visible in the distance. With each step Yura''s smile became wider and wider, and his heart accelerated in a rapid rhythm. When the gate with the half-torn sign was a few steps away, he took the first pictures, and then recorded a welcome video on his phone. Yesterday he had thought out a speech and made up a route.


    Yura liked the idea of his own channel with sensational news more and more. With the experience and shrewdness of a journalist, he could easily create an interesting information resource, conduct independent investigations and become a media personality, and not remain Vasilev Y. O. in a small-circulation magazine. The kick from the boss turned into a magic sign, which directed Yura in the right direction. Stop interviewing long-dead celebrities! He is capable of more! There were always enough hot materials. He will find Rina, and he will make excellent material about all sorts of anomalies!


    Yura entered the gate and, shooting a video, headed down the central alley deep into the park.


    Time flew by imperceptibly. It seemed that only now the morning was blooming with a purple dawn, and now the sun had risen to the zenith. Yura filmed a ¡®daisy¡¯ carousel frozen forever, took a selfie against the background of one of the booths, and then covered the camera and sat down on the edge of the wooden platform. Break. A bundle of sandwiches and a thermos of coffee appeared from the backpack. Yura inhaled the aroma rising from the mug-lid and squeezed his eyes shut with pleasure. He hadn''t felt so happy in a long time. And now it seemed strange that he took his dismissal so painfully. But right now new horizons are opening up in front of him!


    Yura ate two sandwiches with cheese and sausage, leaving the third one for later, and drank almost all of the coffee. Then he put the thermos and leftovers in his backpack with a bottle of water and an apple, got to his feet and only then noticed that the weather had changed. The day faded, the sky turned gray. It became cooler. Yura cursed vexedly: the rain threatened to bring down his plans, but he had specially checked the weather forecast! Well, he''ll have to hurry. Yura threw his backpack behind his back and noticed the first oddity: there was not a cloud in the sky, which was gray, as before the rain. The sun was still hanging at the zenith, only for some reason it seemed dark. Yura shivered from the cold, which, as if alive, crawled under his pants and up his back to the back of his head, and saw another unnatural thing: trees, grass, broken rides and ticket booths had lost their original color. The world seemed to have lost its bright colors, leaving only a palette from almost white to gray-black.


    ¡°What is this ¡®fifty shades¡¯?¡± Yura gasped in amazement and uncovered the camera with trembling hands.


    ¡°Do you see it, do you see it?!¡± he shouted, moving the camera to get as many objects as possible into the lens. ¡°Everything has become black and white! Like in an old movie! This is an abnormal zone where strange things happen!¡±


    Belatedly, Yura thought that there would definitely be skeptics who would decide that filters were applied to the video, but consoled himself with the fact that even devastating comments would warm up the discussion.


    The excitement overshadowed the initial fright, and Yura excitedly snapped the camera, not even caring about the choice of angle. This place is really difficult! He doesn''t even have to invent something and look for ¡®urban legends¡¯. He was already figuring out who to write to, which experts to attract to the future blog.


    Yura took countless photos and stopped near Ferris wheel to drink water. Perhaps he already has enough material, and he can leave the park, and spend the remaining time on a trip to a former military camp. Yura put the half-filled bottle of water in his backpack and pulled out his mobile phone to find out the time, and at the same time check if anyone had called him.


    There were no missed calls, as well as unread messages, but most likely because there was no network.


    ¡°An abnormal place. As there is an anomaly!¡± Yura muttered and hastily made a note so as not to forget to mention this in the article.


    With a sense of accomplishment, he strode down the path to the exit, but involuntarily looked back at the creaking sound behind him. The unoiled mechanisms clanked, groaned, waking up from a long sleep, and Yura was amazed to see how the Ferris wheel trembled. From the push, the booths swayed, as if from a strong wind. The wheel stood up abruptly, rattling its insides, and then with a new jerk it began to move.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Yura drawled in amazement and barely restrained himself from a mad impulse to jump into one of the booths. Instead, he grabbed the camera again and chattered excitedly: ¡°The Ferris has self-started! Nobody turned it on!¡±


    Fascinated by the shooting, Yura didn¡¯t immediately pay attention to the fact that it became very cold. The words came out of his mouth along with clouds of steam, and the fingers clutching the camera were numb. But the excitement warmed him. He had never had such gorgeous material before! Yura lowered the camera only when the wheel made a full circle, smiled happily and breathed on his palms, trying to warm them up. He has already mentally compiled a whole ¡®series¡¯ of articles-posts. If something like this can be filmed in a military camp, it will be an undoubted success!


    The Ferris wheel stopped, but the cabins still swayed, and for a moment black and white silhouettes flashed in them. At the same moment Yura felt someone''s presence, looked around sharply, but saw no one. However, the feeling that someone is standing behind you and blowing cold into the back of your head remains. Yura nervously ran his hand through his hair.


    ¡°I have to leave,¡± he said aloud to break the sudden silence in which not even the rustle of leaves could be heard, and hurriedly walked down the alley, barely restraining himself from breaking into a run.


    The feeling that he was being watched grew stronger with every step, so Yura kept looking around nervously. And when the carousel-daisy mechanism creaked nearby, he could not restrain his cry. There was no trace of the old excitement and crazy courage. On the contrary, the idea of venturing alone into an abandoned amusement park no longer seemed reasonable. He saw unseen glances everywhere. The paths seemed to be entwined in a tangle, otherwise how to explain the fact that Yura could not find a way out, and now and then ran past the same attractions? He pulled out his phone and made sure that Network was still not being caught, and cursed when the track brought him back to the destroyed circuit:


    ¡°What the hell?..¡±


    Did it seem to him that one of the shabby cars suddenly flashes its headlights rapaciously? Holding the camera beating on his chest with his hand, Yura broke into a run, but he rushed no longer along the paths that treacherously led to the same places, but across unkempt lawns and flower beds, jumping over broken benches, fittings and other obstacles.


    He still ran out to the central gate, through which he entered a few hours ago. But it turned out to be closed, and no matter how Yura leaned on it, it didn¡¯t give in. It seemed to be firmly rooted in the ground, depriving him of a chance for salvation. The clanking of machinery, someone''s laughter and snatches of music rolled in waves from the depths of the park. The dead park came to life with a terrible ghostly life, taking a hapless researcher hostage.


    Yura darted along the fence, trying to find a loophole. Despite the intense cold, he was sweating, sweat flooded his eyes, and Yura nervously wiped it off with a trembling hand. He''s not alone here. Someone started these dead rides, turned on the music and locked the gates. Terror gave him agility and strength, and Yura jumped up, grabbed the fence bars, pulled himself up and stood on the parapet. A little more, and he will be able to jump over a high fence. Yura tried not to think that jumping from such a height was risky. The main thing is to get out! He pulled himself up again, but at the moment when he was about to throw his leg over the fence, someone grabbed him firmly by the ankle and pulled hard. Having lost his balance, Yura fell back into the park with a fist, firmly hitting his head on the ground.

 Chapter 8

    ¡°What do you value most in life?¡±


    ¡°Love and friendship.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with the program ¡®Lighting the Stars¡¯)


    Nikolai went to bed late, but still woke up early. Yesterday''s discovery didn/t go out of his head, and intuition suggested that the parameters could change in other places. Nikolai dialed Lev, apologized for the early call and told about his research.


    ¡°Send me all the statements,¡± Jaguar replied. ¡°I''ll look at it later. Keep the equipment for now. And I''ll try to find out something about Korean village.¡±


    ¡°You and Yana are on vacation,¡± Nikolai sighed.


    ¡°She is also interested in such cases. I don''t think she''ll mind the tour. Compatible business with pleasure. What should I bring you?¡±


    ¡°Bring me the news,¡± he laughed and wished Lev a happy journey.


    Having put an old notebook and notebook in a bag with equipment, Nikolai decided to go to the office early and study the videos and audio recordings made the day before Vika''s arrival in order to devote the rest of the day to a new trip. But as soon as he got out of the car, he was called by name. Nikolai looked around and saw that Violet Volkova was heading towards him. He waited until she came up, involuntarily noting that this summer dress suits her very well, and smiled affably. However, Violet remained serious.


    ¡°Have you been waiting long?¡± Nikolai asked after the greeting.


    ¡°No. Your assistant has already arrived, but I decided to wait for you downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Is Vika in place?¡± Nikolai was surprised, because he allowed her to come an hour later, and invited Violet: ¡°Let''s go!¡±


    ¡°Let''s talk in my car,¡± she suddenly asked and nervously pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°The topic is too delicate¡­¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Nikolai  agreed easily.


    He was sympathetic to the fact that not all clients dare to tell secrets in the office. He even came to someone''s house.


    It was cool in the cabin, apparently, Violet had recently turned off the air conditioner, and it smelled pleasantly of sea freshness. Nikolai settled comfortably into the seat. Violet involuntarily yanked her seat belt, as if she was going to fasten it, and then smiled sheepishly.


    ¡°If it''s easier for you to talk on the road, then let''s take a ride.¡±


    ¡°No, I... I still have a long way to go home. I took the girls to my mom''s because Volodya and I are leaving for two days after lunch.¡±


    ¡°Nothing serious has happened, I hope?¡± Nikolai asked.


    ¡°No, no. This is a planned trip. We are going abroad to the kennel for puppies. So this is a business trip.¡±


    ¡°Business and troublesome¡­¡±


    ¡°Troublesome and joyful,¡± Violet laughed softly, drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, and then turned to Nikolai.


    ¡°We haven''t told you everything about Rina. Volodya thought that you would not take us seriously if we stunned you with such information.¡±


    ¡°Intrigued! And what is this secret?¡±


    Violet sighed, pulled a strand of hair behind her ear again and, looking at Nikolai with her amazing eyes, asked:


    ¡°Tell me, do you admit the presence of abnormal zones? Do you believe that such places can exist?¡±


    ¡°Like the Bermuda Triangle?¡± he asked with a half-smile, but his heartbeat suddenly quickened from a vague premonition.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Violet fell silent in anticipation, and Nikolai realized that if he had laughed or otherwise shown his disbelief, then the conversation would have ended there. It was not so much his words that mattered to Volkova as his reaction. And, apparently, he passed the test, because Violet smiled and nodded almost imperceptibly - not to him, but to her thoughts.


    ¡°I believe you,¡± Nikolai said, although the words were already superfluous.


    ¡°Good,¡± Violet breathed out and began to tell about a certain island where she, Vsevolod, Rina and other people found themselves five years ago.


    Nikolai listened with interest, thinking that he needed to look for information about this town, Tivastopol, near which everything happened.


    ¡°It was under such circumstances that we met Rina,¡± Violet concluded the story. ¡°We''ve been friends ever since. For Rina, we are like a family that she does not have. But no one knows about what we experienced on the island. And if you do, who will believe it?¡±


    ¡°I believe it,¡± Nikolai replied. ¡°I have come across some events that are difficult to explain.¡±


    ¡°Here!¡± Violet was delighted. ¡°I felt it. That''s why I told Volodya that I could trust you. After the island, we all had a good life. Volodya and I got married, we are raising two daughters, bought a house, equipped a training ground, and are going to open a nursery. Elvira and Valeriy are also together, recently they had a long-awaited baby. Well, you already know about Rina. But she was the only one who discovered such abilities after the island. She is able to open and close portals to other parallels. It''s hard to explain¡­¡±


    ¡°Did she use these abilities with you? Let''s say recently?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. She was afraid of her skills, so she would hardly use them just out of curiosity. Only now sje closed the portal on the island and that''s it.¡±


    ¡°But your husband assumes that Rina could accidentally open such a portal and disappear there?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That''s what we''re afraid of.¡±


    ¡°You bet. If Rina disappeared in another parallel, then I can hardly help here. I don''t have such abilities,¡± Nikolai replied, and Violet, who at first fell for his serious tone, smiled.


    ¡°Yes, I understand, but I think it''s important. Just please keep this conversation between us. I''ll tell Volodya  myself that I met you.¡±


    ¡°Of course! I won''t even dedicate an assistant.¡±


    ¡°Will you take this case?¡± Violet asked hopefully.


    Nikolai hesitated with the answer, and then nodded.


    ¡°Yes. You just need to sign the contract. I will ask Vika to prepare it and send it to you by mail. When you can, bring the original.¡±


    He said goodbye to Violet and went up to the office. The assistant was already at the workplace and was typing something quickly. Nikolai noticed out of the corner of his eye that she was writing a private message to someone on Facebook and hurriedly looked away.


    ¡°Good morning, boss!¡± Vika greeted him cheerfully and looked up at him.


    ¡°I was expecting you later,¡± he replied with a smile. ¡°Couldn''t sleep?¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t sleep,¡± Vika sighed. Nikolai noted that she didn''t close the chat when he appeared, as if she had no personal secrets. ¡°I''ve been thinking about our trip.¡±


    ¡°You don''t look like you''ve had a sleepless night. You look great as always,¡± Nikolai complimented her.


    Vika obviously liked his words, because her cheeks turned a little pink, and a smile touched her lips.


    ¡°I found the Korean band you were talking about. I was just writing to the soloist, Rim Chin hwa, directly. Let''s see what the answer is. It seems that he and Rina really knew each other. I found a cover she made of a Korean song.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he will answer?¡± Nikolai doubted.


    In his view, celebrities of the stage didn¡¯t condescend to communicate with fans in person. However, he was not familiar with any celebrities ¨C neither Russian, nor, moreover, Korean.


    ¡°I hope so! And I also called the orphanage where Rina was brought up and got Nuliya''s phone number!¡± Vika blurted out solemnly.


    ¡°Good,¡± Nikolai replied with restraint and, apparently, offended the assistant by the dryness of the answer, because her smile immediately faded.


    Vika silently handed him a piece of paper with the number, Nikolai mechanically took it and went to his room. The assistant coped with the task perfectly, but his thoughts were occupied with a conversation with Violet. Was it by chance that Gennadiy Sergeevich sent Vsevolod here?


    Nikolai attached a sticker with Nuliya''s phone to the monitor and dialed Gennadiy Sergeevich. The phone was picked up when he was about to drop the call.


    ¡°I''m listening, Nikolai,¡± the caller replied wearily.


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich, does the name of the city of Tivastopol mean something to you?¡±


    There was a long pause in the phone, which said a lot without words.


    ¡°There was an island next to it, where the military unit was located. More than twenty years ago.¡±


    ¡°I can''t know all the military units, Kolya,¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich laughed softly. ¡°What are you interested in? I''ll try to find out if it''s related to our case.


    ¡°I don''t think it''s related to our case,¡± Nikolai replied, emphasizing the word ¡®our¡¯. ¡°But it is connected with the disappearance of the singer whose friends you sent to me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who is missing from them. Someone close, and I thought you might be able to help. Is this a missing girl singer?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The one that is being written about in the press now. Dimitri Lebedev''s ex-fiancee.¡±


    Gennadiy Sergeevich was silent again, and then cheerfully ended the conversation:


    ¡°Good! I''ll try to send you information about the missing island.¡±


    Nikolai said goodbye and, putting down the phone, smiled. Gennadiy Sergeevich, without noticing it, made a mistake, because in a conversation with him Nikolai didn¡¯t mention that the island was gone. Nuliya didn''t answer the call, and Nikolai just entered her number into the phone, and threw the sticker away. Then he spent a whole hour before the pain in his eyes watching the video taken the day before in an attempt to spot at least some shadow, but the cameras did not record anything strange. The audio recordings also turned out to be clean, without extraneous sounds and interference. Disappointed, Nikolai turned off the computer and got up from the table. The day was just getting hotter, and if you hurry up, you can explore the military camp ¨C the place where it all started.


    ¡°Vika, how are you? Will you stay with me or in the office as the head?¡±  he asked for form''s sake, already knowing the answer.


    The assistant flashed her heavenly eyes and smiled broadly.


    ¡°Won''t you be scared?¡± Nikolai teased, recalling her frightened squeal.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Forewarned ¨C armed,¡± Vika reported briefly and got up from the table.


    Today she was wearing blue leggings, a long tunic with a hood and high lace-up boots. Apparently, she was counting on a trip and dressed comfortably. Nikolai also changed his usual business suit for the second day and dressed in jeans and a polo.


    ¡°By the way, Rina''s friend from Korea, Chin Hwa, answered. He didn''t know anything about her disappearance. And he seemed upset. He asked me to tell him the news.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Nikolai said.


    They got there quickly, only once making a short stop to have a snack in a cafe and buy water for the road. Nikolai decided to go straight to the town, and leave the park for the last time.


    They selectively entered houses, took measurements in entrances and unlocked apartments. Vika followed Nikolai like a silent shadow, and the curiosity that was initially read on her face was replaced by a gloomy expression with each house explored. Sometimes she looked around furtively, as if she was afraid of someone''s sudden appearance, and stayed close to Nikolai. He also tried to concentrate on his work - he took measurements, dictated data to Vika, but the situation still made him uncomfortable. Even the fresh entries on the entrance walls, which were left with paint by stalkers, did not calm down, but only added touches to the overall picture of the post-apocalypse.


    Immediately after the incident, posts were set up near the garrison. Investigators and the military worked in the town. Thanks to the efforts of the latter, things were taken out of the deserted houses, but still there were some ¡®little things¡¯ in the form of a forgotten doll, a child''s car, a half-rotted slipper or a book that served as a reminder that people once lived here. The tragedy itself was silenced, the case was classified and sent to the archive. Maybe someone, like Nikolai a few years ago, tried to find out the truth, but hardly succeeded.


    The measurements were finished by the evening. And even though they were both tired, they decided to stop by the amusement park again.


    Nikolai parked the car next to an ancient wreck on wheels and took a bag of equipment. Vika went outside and cast a wistful glance at the gate visible in the distance, but did not complain. Nikolai hesitated a little while tying the shoelace on his sneaker, so Vika disappeared into the park without him.


    ¡°Kolya!¡± she suddenly shouted. ¡°There''s a person lying here!¡±


    He ran up to her and saw a young man under the fence.


    ¡°Drunk?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t look like it. There is no smell. Kolya! He hit his head! Blood¡­ Oh!¡±


    Vika recoiled in fright, because the man groaned loudly and moved.


    ¡°Thank God, he''s alive!¡±


    Nikolai gently pushed her aside and bent over the stranger. He took a long breath and tried to sit up. Nikolai helped him, and when the man leaned back against the concrete parapet and looked up at him, he asked:


    ¡°Are you ill? Should I call an ambulance?¡±


    ¡°N-don''t,¡± the stranger replied and winced when he touched the back of his head with his hand.


    There was blood on his fingers, and Nikolai looked back at the assistant who was nervously trampling next to him:


    ¡°Vik, bring the first aid kit!¡±


    Peering into the guy''s face, she suddenly turned pale, but, catching herself, took the keys handed to her and took off.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Nikolai turned to the stranger, who looked to be the same age. ¡°Did you feel ill? Or did you fall?¡±


    ¡°Fell,¡± the man answered after a pause and cautiously stretched his neck, as if looking at someone over Nikolai''s shoulder. ¡°I tried to climb over the fence and fell off.¡±


    ¡°Why over the fence? The exit is nearby!¡±


    ¡°It''s closed there,¡± the man answered, looked back at the exit and, seeing the gate wide open, quietly exhaled: ¡°I wasn''t imagining it! And everything was colored again, it was black and white.¡±


    He stopped abruptly. And Nikolai, not caring about tact, because when a person feels bad, they have to forget about tact, asked:


    ¡°Do you have some kind of disease?¡±


    Young and seemingly strong men just don''t lose consciousness and don¡¯t mumble something about the appearance or disappearance of color. Maybe the guy has a brain tumor? But the stranger resolutely shook his head and obviously immediately regretted it, because the careless movement caused him pain.


    ¡°You need to go to the hospital,¡± Nikolai said decisively, taking out his phone.


    ¡°No!¡± the stranger objected in a categorical tone and shifted his gaze to Vika who ran up to them.


    He involuntarily lingered his gaze on her slender legs, admiration flashed in his dark eyes, and Nikolai relaxed: if the guy admired Vika''s long legs, like a mannequin, it means that he doesn¡¯t feel so bad.


    Vika, of course, could not help but notice the interested look, because she quickly shoved the first-aid kit to Nikolai and stepped aside. Her face was still pale, and by the way she was impatiently marking time, Nikolai realized that the assistant was nervous for some reason. She didn¡¯t offer help, so he unpacked sterile napkins himself, soaked one of them abundantly with a solution of peroxide and applied it to the wound on the man''s head.


    ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Yura.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should call an ambulance after all?¡± Nikolai suggested changing the napkin.


    ¡°Don''t. I''m feeling better now. Thanks! I''ll take the car, I''ll drive myself.¡±


    Nikolai doubted that he would get there himself. And not only because this Yura, who didn¡¯t really explain what happened to him, swayed when he got up, but also because that ancient clunker that Nikolai saw near the park risked losing all the nuts on the first bump. But Yura, muttering the words of farewell indistinctly, already staggered towards the exit.


    ¡°He''s not going to make it in this condition!¡± Vika whispered loudly, looking at his back. ¡°If we let him go and he gets into an accident¡­¡±


    She hugged herself with her arms, pressed her lips together and watched Yura relentlessly until he disappeared from sight.


    ¡°Vika?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± she shook her head.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she answered after an involuntary pause. ¡°I was scared when¡­ When I saw the blood!¡±


    ¡°Does the sight of blood frighten you?¡± Nikolai doubted, remembering how one winter, while digging in a desk drawer, he accidentally cut himself off on a stationary knife. The cut was then treated by Vika, and it was not noticeable that she could not stand the sight of blood.


    ¡°Yes, it scares me,¡± the assistant answered confusedly, apparently also remembering that case.


    Nikolai held her gaze for a while, but did not pry. Moreover, Vika already smiled and asked in a deliberately cheerful tone:


    ¡°Well, boss? Shall we continue? Otherwise we''ll go home again at night. Keep in mind, then I''ll take advantage of your offer and come to work late tomorrow!¡±


    They dealt with the park quickly. Nikolai took measurements in several places, Vika wrote everything down, and both of them, with obvious relief, headed for the exit.


    ¡°The journey to the past is over,¡± Nikolai muttered, not so much to his assistant as to himself. ¡°Of course, we will not go to other places ¨C to Korea and to the North in Russia. My friend is in Korea now, he will find something to complete the picture. And we will try to get through to the town in the North. Now let''s get down to the present. It will be necessary to go to the place where, according to Gennadiy Sergeevich, everything is just beginning. It''s about a hundred kilometers from here. It''s a long way, but what can I do? You will need to book a hotel. I can''t do it in a day.¡±


    ¡°Will you leave me in the office?¡±


    ¡°If you want to go, we''ll go together,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Then order two rooms.¡±


    ¡°I''ll do it,¡± Vika nodded and after a pause asked: ¡°Kolya, what is the purpose of our research? Prevent a new tragedy?¡±


    ¡°To prevent a tragedy is a noble goal¡­ On it, as on a hook, you can catch any simpleton.¡±


    ¡°But you''re not a simpleton.¡±


    ¡°I just know some people and their appetites well. And, believe me, their goals are not always noble,¡± he replied evasively.


    Gennadiy Sergeevich never revealed all the cards, but Nikolai didn¡¯t expect this, because he understood that his research was hardly needed in order to avoid new tragedies.


    ¡°I see,¡± the assistant nodded. ¡°It is clear that you should not poke your nose into high goals¡­ of people in high positions.¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡°And if our research is used for bad purposes?¡±


    After asking, Vika stopped, forcing Nikolai to slow down too. She boldly looked into his eyes and pressed her lips tightly together while waiting for an answer.


    ¡°They will never tell us about it, Vita. You know¡­ I couldn''t refuse. And because I am obliged to Gennadiy Sergeevich. And because I want to find out what happened to my father and the residents of the town.¡±


    He didn¡¯t add that in case of refusal, there would be a way to put pressure on him, so it''s easier to just do the tasks and not ask unnecessary questions. Nikolai ended the conversation on a cheerful note:


    ¡°But let''s hope that our research has a good purpose.¡±


    ¡°And how fast does everything happen? How much time passes from the beginning and¡­ to the end?¡±


    ¡°Not enough, Vika. That''s why I didn''t want to be distracted by other things.¡±


    ¡°But the search for the singer is an exception, because the task comes, though not directly, but from Gennadiy Sergeevich.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Although I don''t see any connection between these cases.¡±


    When they had already reached the car, they were suddenly called out:


    ¡°Hey! Wait!¡±


    Nikolai looked around and saw Yura, who detached himself from his clunker and, smiling shyly, headed towards them.


    ¡°The car didn''t start. Looks like the battery is dead.¡±


    ¡°No wonder,¡± Nikolai answered evenly.


    ¡°This is not my ¡®dinosaur¡¯, friend. Alas, there was no other car. I see you have metropolitan numbers. Can you give me a lift? I just don''t have the strength to wait for a tow truck and other fuss right now, my head is bursting¡­¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Vika glanced at Nikolai as if she didn''t like his decision to take a passenger. But before he could answer her, she had already taken her seat with a deliberately indifferent look.


    They drove a good part of the way in silence. And although Nikolai didn¡¯t like to talk on the way, the silence hanging in the cabin seemed unbearable to him.


    ¡°And what brought you to the park? ¡° he asked.


    ¡°Apparently, the same as you. I''m a photographer! I take a series of pictures with abandoned objects.


    Vika snorted softly, Nikolai squinted at her, but said nothing. Yura''s answer satisfied him, and he decided not to ask further, in order to avoid counter-questions.


    Vika''s neighborhood was the first on the way. Nikolai drove her and, as usual, waited for the lights to turn on in the apartment. He never asked who Vika lived with, but judging by the fact that every time the apartment met her with dark windows, she lived alone.


    ¡°Is this your girlfriend?¡± Yura asked as they drove away from the house.


    ¡°No. My assistant.¡±


    ¡°I see. Beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nikolai replied.


    ¡°Does she have a boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°Interested?¡± Nikolai chuckled. ¡°Remember, I''m not a matchmaker. And I''m not going to give my assistant''s phone number without her consent.¡±


    ¡°It''s a pity,¡± Yura sighed deliberately loudly. ¡°And I''ve already decided to marry her.¡±


    ¡°So hooked?¡±


    ¡°Mm... I signed a contract that I am obliged to get married before the end of this year. And there is no suitable girl.¡±


    ¡°How is this a contract?¡± Nikolai was interested, and Yura amused him with a story about how he picked up and dragged a street dog to his sister. And sister agreed to keep the dog only after Yura promised to get married.


    ¡°I''d keep the dog for myself in that case,¡± Nikolai laughed.


    ¡°Yes, I realized too late! And now Manya doesn''t give me Pencil, but she hid the contract. So that¡­ Stop here! Thanks, I helped out!¡±


    They shook hands at parting, and  Nikolai went home. But he didn''t go to bed, and for a long time he looked through new and old records. He was looking for something in common between completely different villages at first glance: at first, minor signs like the mandatory presence of nearby reservoirs, forests, then added more specialized ones and set a search for settlements based on the identified markers. But even then, the program gave out too large a list of cities, towns and villages.


    ¡°My native country is wide¡­¡± muttered Nikolai, looking through a selection in which it was possible to get lost, as in the taiga.


    Then he went back to the notes made by Vika under dictation and made sure that the parameters in the military unit, the town and the amusement park practically coincide, but are strikingly different from those they once made with Lev. Nikolai decided to combine the town, the part and the park into one zone, since they were located next to each other. But he needed to know how things were going in other zones and whether new ones with similar parameters had appeared.


    It was three o''clock in the morning, but Nikolai knew that the right person, with whom Jaguar had once introduced him, was not sleeping. The hacker, nicknamed Rubik for a whole collection of cubes of the same name, answered after the third ring.


    ¡®Rubik, I need help,¡± Nikolai said in response to a lazy ¡®hello?¡¯


    ¡°No question,¡± the hacker drawled, recognizing him. ¡°Do you know the tariff?¡±


    ¡°I pay double for the urgency.¡±


    ¡°Okay. If the attack is on the Pentagon, then it''s a triple,¡± either a joke, or a hacker seriously suggested.


    ¡°No,¡± Nikolai laughed. ¡°I need to select from the list of settlements that fit the parameters I need. The maximum match is required.¡±


    ¡°No question,¡± Rubik repeated and told where to send the task.


    Nikolai stretched, got up and went to the kitchen. He didn''t turn on the light, took a can of beer out of the refrigerator and went to the window. The house opposite was dark with extinguished windows, only one was burning in the last entrance on the top floor. Apparently, someone was suffering from insomnia, or maybe he was also working. Sipping an ice-cold beer, Nikolai thought about these changed parameters that were bothering him. Does this mean that something terrible is waking up again in the town of his childhood? But it was these changes that gave a hint how to find other ¡®zones¡¯. Crushing the empty jar in his fist, he thought that he would give a lot for these places with something terrible waking up not to be.


    Nikolai didn¡¯t know how long he stood there, looking at the neighboring house, in which the last window went out. He woke up from a quiet beep of his mobile phone, notifying him of the received message.


    Rubik didn¡¯t exchange greetings. First of all, he threw away the wallet number and the amount he asked for. And already in the second message he sent the names of the settlements, their coordinates and a map with red ¡®flags¡¯. Nikolai quickly tapped out an answer, promising to make a translation right away. Then he rushed into the room and unfolded the map on the monitor.


    There were five settlements ¨C counting two ¡®from the past¡¯ (Nikolai  asked to watch only Russian ones) and three new ones, about one of which Gennadiy Sergeevich had already told him. Looking at the map, he found another pattern: the ¡®new¡¯ settlements were located not far from those in which a tragedy had already happened in the past. One of them is in the North near the ¡®infected¡¯ area. The second one, which Gennadiy Sergeevich mentioned, was located a hundred kilometers from the one in which Nikolai was born. And the third one is in the middle between these two. Nikolai connected the villages with lines and made sure that they were all on the same trajectory.


    ¡°The infection is spreading like oil on water,¡± Nikolai  muttered and turned cold from this thought, because he clearly imagined how the ¡®spots¡¯, spreading, connected into one huge, stretching from the North to the village near Moscow.

 Chapter 9

    ¡°A metropolis or a provincial city?¡±


    ¡°A small village. Don''t be surprised, sometimes I miss the silence and loneliness.¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview to ¡°Zen With Celebrities¡± channel)


    There was a cool breeze from the river, the wind blew through the hoodie, causing the skin to be covered with goosebumps. Hugging herself with her arms, Rina remained standing on the narrow bridge, where village boys had recently been fishing: a piece of scaffolding with a sinker caught on a blackened support, and a broken fishing rod lying on a trampled earthen bank spoke about this. And now there was nothing to fish in the river: the fish had gone, and the one that remained was floating belly up in the muddy water.


    Rina was woken up at dawn by a call from a single number crammed into a simple mobile phone.


    ¡°Have you noticed what''s going on?¡± the interlocutor asked, bypassing the greeting.


    She noticed. And even combined oddities into one picture: a crack in the ground, a half-dried tree and scary entities.


    ¡°It''s not me!¡± Rina exclaimed childishly, half asleep, deciding that she was being blamed for what was happening.


    ¡°Of course not you! It all started before your arrival,¡± the interlocutor replied and gave the following instructions. At first, he said to come to the river and wait¡­ for what exactly, he did not explain. ¡°You''ll understand,¡±the man said vaguely, and then ordered to find an overturned boat with a blue stripe on its side and take the package hidden under it.


    And now Rina has been standing on the bridge for half an hour, waiting for something. She had wanted to leave for a long time, but something held her in place. She stared at the dead fish and the blackened, as if charred, water lilies for so long that at some point everything merged into a solid mass before her eyes. The mass swayed, moved, as if alive, and then began to take the shape of a silhouette and slowly moved towards the bridge. Rina screamed in fright, realizing that this was not really a dead fish, but an unknown something stretching out its hands from the water column. Before reaching the bridge, the monster suddenly disappeared in a sudden whirlpool, in which Rina noticed several more similar creatures. Whether they were being dragged into the abyss or, on the contrary, thrown to the surface, she didn¡¯t consider running away from the river that frightened her.


    It didn''t take long to find the right boat. Rina noticed her from a distance next to a fishing shack. The boat has not been used for a long time: the boards have cracked and a finger easily passed between them, the blue paint on the side has peeled off, turning a solid line into a dotted line. Rina put her hand into a small depression in the ground and felt for a cellophane bag. Carefully brushing it off from the stuck blades of grass, she looked inside and found a thick paper envelope. At the same moment, the mobile phone rang.


    ¡°Did you find it?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°Yes. Just.¡±


    ¡°When you''ve seen everything, call me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I saw a whirlpool on the river, and there were some creatures in it.¡±


    ¡°Has the funnel disappeared?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. I ran away,¡± Rina confessed.


    The silence that hung in the receiver made it clear more eloquently than words that she had screwed up. And when the phone rang, Rina got angry. These calls broke her life, but the caller still didn¡¯t give an explanation! Rina squeezed her eyes shut tightly, holding back tears, and then with a cry released some of the pain and slammed the phone against the edge of the boat.


    ¡°Go to hell! All!¡±


    Tears still sprang from her eyes, but from annoyance when she saw that the phone was not damaged by the blow. These aren¡¯t modern fragile smartphones, but unkillable ¡®classics¡¯! And how nice it would be to crack this damn phone! Then she would really disappear from everyone, absolutely from everyone!


    ¡°Heh!¡± It was so unexpected that Rina jumped up and turned around sharply.


    Behind her, Stas shuffled from one foot to the other in embarrassment and wrinkled his tanned face. Meaningful sympathy suddenly flashed in the old man''s faded eyes, and Rina was ashamed that he had unwittingly witnessed her hysteria.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Stas sighed ruefully and ran his finger along his sagging cheek.


    ¡°I''m not crying anymore, Stas,¡± Rina whispered and hastily wiped away her tears. ¡°So¡­ A speck got into my eyes. Where''s Blob?¡±


    She wasn''t sure that the old man would understand everything from her speech, but Stas smiled a familiar crooked smile and waved somewhere behind her back. Rina turned around and saw a piglet running like a puppy across the meadow.


    From pleasure, Blob loudly grunted and snored, and from a distance it could really be mistaken for a bulldog. Rina smiled and held out her hand to the piglet who ran up. Blob poked her palm with a wet piglet and grunted.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Stas approved and, stretching his lips into a tube, whistled softly.


    The piglet spun on the spot, as if trying to keep up with the tail. And when the owner whistled with different intonations, it fell on its back and lifted up its hooves, as if it had executed the command ¡®die¡¯.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Rina admired.


    Stas laughed contentedly and tapped his cheekbone with his finger.


    ¡°I''m not crying anymore, Stas. I''m telling you, a speck¡­ What are you doing here? Walking? Are you lost?¡±


    Whether the old man understood her or coincidentally, but he nodded aside. Only then did Rina notice a knapsack thrown a little further away on the grass, an unfolded chair and¡­ an easel. An easel!


    ¡°Did you draw? Will you show me?¡± she exclaimed.


    Maybe Stas can somehow explain why he gave her a portrait of a man so similar to Dima?


    ¡°Please!¡± Rina asked and folded her palms in front of her chest, because Stas didn¡¯t budge, continuing to look at her with an unexpectedly wise look, brightened and, at the same time, sad.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Rina felt uneasy at the thought that the old man seemed to look into her soul and ¡®see¡¯ what she wanted to hide from everyone.


    ¡°Heh,¡± finally said Stas and wandered towards the easel.


    Blob trotted after him, and Rina picked up the package from the ground and went after the old man.


    ¡°Fish,¡± Stas said sadly, pointing to the easel. ¡°No. Small fish.¡±


    His face contorted with suffering again. Even before she saw the drawing, Rina guessed what was depicted on it. However, she didn¡¯t expect that the picture would be so realistic.


    Stas depicted a river, a whirlpool funnel and disproportionate whitish silhouettes in it. The old man was definitely a talented artist: he not only faithfully depicted what Rina saw, but also made it clear that the whirlpool did not pull the creatures, but pushed them out.


    Stas also drew Rina. In his painting, a dark-haired girl in wide trousers and a hoodie stood on the bridge and watched the funnel. She held one hand slightly behind her back, and with the open palm of the other pointed to the whirlpool. The old man drew Rina with her shoulders squared and her head held high, as if she was not at all afraid of what was happening in the river - unlike the man on the opposite bank. Instead of his face, there was still a white spot, so it was impossible to understand who the old man was going to draw. The man ran along the shore and pulled his right hand towards Rina, as if wanting to warn about something.


    Most likely, if the old man had had time to finish painting his face, he would have portrayed this man screaming.


    ¡°Stas, why¡­ Why did you draw this?! What did you see? Stas?!¡±


    From the place where the old man put the easel, the river was poorly visible, and the bridge was completely hidden by a willow. Stas could not draw Rina unless he saw her when he passed by. But it is unlikely that he would have managed to almost finish the painting in such a short time. Stas definitely knows something!


    Her loud exclamation frightened the old man, he backed away and often ¡®snorted¡¯. Something gurgled and gurgled in Stas'' throat, and he choked on another ¡®hiccup¡¯, froze in place and covered his face with his hands.


    ¡°Stas, I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to scare you,¡± Rina murmured affectionately, taking a cautious step towards him, and then another one until she got close enough to the old man to lightly touch his hand.


    ¡°Stas, please don''t be afraid. I won''t hurt you! Truth. I''m scared too, and I just want to know what you saw. What do you know, Stas?¡±


    The old man either did not understand her, or didn¡¯t hear her anymore, because, without taking his hands from his face, he shook his head. Rina sighed heavily and looked for the piglet. Blob, with a contented grunt, poked into the roots of the long willow branches bent over the river, apparently found something interesting - a worm or an apple core. That''s really who fully enjoys such simple things as something delicious.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Rina involuntarily copied Stas but suddenly succeeded, because the old man cautiously looked out of his palms, and then completely lowered his hands.


    Only he looked at Rina not with that meaningful and penetrating look, but with a clouded one. It seems that the old man, like his piglet, was again occupied with simple things, and he didn¡¯t understand complex issues.


    ¡°You draw very beautifully,¡± Rina praised, restraining a sigh. ¡°Very beautiful! I''ll buy you pencils and paints. Do you want to?¡±


    The old man smiled with the happy smile of a naive child, but not in response to the promise of a gift, but a funny Blob trotting across the clearing.


    Rina lingered a little longer, deciding whether to take the old man home or leave him alone? Stas resolved her doubts himself: he grunted and trotted to the easel, then resolutely crumpled up the drawing and put it in his pocket, and extracted a folder from his knapsack. Rina watched for another minute as the old man attached a blank sheet to the easel. And when she was convinced that Stas was passionate about work, she went home with a package in her hands.


    The endless night turned into pain, nausea and dizziness. Yura was so bad only once ¨C after one student party, at which he had too much alcohol.


    At times Yura fell into fragmentary dreams, in which he circled on a carousel and could not get off the ground in any way. Strange faces flashed before my eyes, then merged into one ¨C the face of that ¡®malvina¡¯ from the park. The stranger closely watched Yura''s attempts to get off the carousel, but didn¡¯t try to stop the infernal attraction.


    Thoughts of a stranger obsessively haunted him even when Yura emerged from nightmares into reality. And it wasn''t the extravagant appearance of the girl, but the fear that flashed in her eyes. It was as if she recognized Yura and immediately pulled away from what was happening, withdrew into herself, even though she had tried to help before. Suffering without sleep on the bed floating away from under him, Yura tried to figure out where he could have crossed paths with this girl before? Maybe she was a quickly lit up and just as quickly extinguished celebrity, whom he once interviewed? Or did the girl work for celebrities as an administrator? Of course, then she obviously looked different, because Yura would definitely remember such a bright bird. Then he went over his random and non-random girlfriends in his memory, but he didn''t remember anyone like that. At the moment when associations began to appear in his mind, like an iceberg floating out of the fog, an attack of nausea rolled over him. And, despite the treacherously slipping floor from under his feet, Yura rushed to the toilet.


    ¡°I need to call an ambulance,¡± he thought when he got to bed. And he fell asleep.


    In the morning Yura woke up healthy, except for a bump that hurt from touching. He cleaned himself up and called his sister to see if she had any news. Yura kept silent about his adventures. Manya reported that there was no news, because Vsevolod had left for two days, and Gennadiy Sergeevich and his greyhound weren¡¯t at the last lesson.


    Yura brewed coffee and connected the camera to the computer. Only almost all the pictures and videos turned out to be spoiled. He cursed with annoyance, although it was not his ¡®crookedness¡¯, but an abnormal zone in which gadgets were out of order. But he was comforted by the fact that a video with a moving ¡®devil¡¯ ferris wheel was preserved. Yura spent another hour and a half writing the first article, uploading it along with the video to the channel and monitoring the news about Rina. To attract attention to his blog, he uploaded a bunch of his interviews with the singer and threw in a few hooks. He was already turning off the computer when he received a call from an unknown number. An informant called, who did not make himself felt after Yura''s dismissal. He was intrigued by the promise to tell something interesting and unusual about Rina, but he asked so much for information that Yura mentally howled. He had the right amount, but if he paid, then in the future he would have to tighten his belt.


    Yura arrived at the meeting early, found a bench with a view of the fountain, near which he and the informant agreed to meet, and went to his channel via a smartphone. Only three comments were left, but Yura didn¡¯t expect that his newborn blog would immediately gain popularity. The main thing is that his article is being read. One of the commentators immediately accused the author of the video of using filters. Yura grinned, but did not delete the comment, as well as enter into an argument: others will do it for him and thereby develop a controversy


    Much more interest was aroused by an old interview with Rina, someone even wrote in a personal account, asking if he knew where the singer had disappeared. Yura smiled contentedly and opened the next message. This user was interested in the amusement park, and so much so that the message ended with a phone number. Yura clicked on the profile, but it turned out to be empty. Then he dialed the number, but as soon as the beeps started, he dropped the call because he saw an informant near the fountain.


    The news really turned out to be interesting, but Yura didn''t know what to do with it. It was as if he had been given a disassembled puzzle and offered to put it together himself. He went down to the subway, almost confused, thinking, the direction of the trains, and stood all the way looking out the dark window. The longer he thought about what he had heard, the more he saw the connection between the different topics of his channel ¨C Rina and the anomalous zone.


    Approaching the house, Yura checked his blog and suddenly found that it was blocked.


    ¡°What the hell?!¡± he barked when everything remained the same after updating the page. Now, instead of resting, he will have to write to tech support and find out the reason for blocking! Yura inserted the key into the lock and suddenly heard the barking of a dog. Judging by the hysterical subtle notes in his voice, it was not a bass Pencil that greeted the owner of the apartment at all.


    Yura opened the door and was amazed to see greyhound in a vest in the corridor.


    ¡°Well, hello,¡± he muttered confusedly, crossing the threshold.


    Greyhound cut off its hysterical barking with a frightened squeal, stared at its dark eyes and peed itself.

 Chapter 10

    ¡°Tea or coffee?¡±


    ¡°Black tea! And with sweets! I love tea parties in good company!¡±


    (from Rina''s interview for cooking program ¡®Chef¡¯)


    ¡°Questions or news?¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich immediately asked when Nikolai called him at seven in the morning.


    The colonel''s voice sounded cheerful and loud, as if he was not talking on the phone, but giving commands on the parade ground. Nikolai involuntarily smiled and replied:


    ¡°Both.¡±


    The coffee machine made a noise all over the apartment, grinding grains, and then snuggled comfortably, pouring a hot drink into a cup. Nikolai''s morning began not with an alarm clock ringing and not with a cool shower even in winter, but with this rumble and the aroma of coffee filling the kitchen.


    ¡°Something is spinning in several places at once. I checked some things personally, some things were confirmed to me,¡± Nikolai said, approaching the window with a cup. ¡°This ¡®something¡¯ has been in suspended animation for a long time, and now it seems to have woken up.¡±


    Gennadiy Sergeevich listened in silence to the story about the study, and then asked Nikolai to throw off the coordinates of the places where the activity was detected.


    ¡°We''ll split the work,¡± the colonel added. ¡°Today I have a free day. Shusha''s class was canceled, so I bought groceries yesterday. I wanted to ask a beautiful lady out on a date, but I thought what should she, young and beautiful, do with me, an old man.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Gennadiy Sergeevich, ¡®old¡¯!¡± Nikolai laughed. ¡°It''s better to invite your beautiful lady on a date, I''ll go around all the suspicious areas myself.¡±


    ¡°No, Kolya, our business is urgent, so I will go to one of the places,¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich objected. ¡°What else? Any other questions?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of questions, and we are looking for answers to them. What happened that made our ¡®cthulhu¡¯ wake up? Why is everything happening so fast and right now? We need to dig in this direction - to look for the cause of the anomalies.¡±


    ¡°Think, Kolya, think, you''re brainy. And I will be your ¡®legs¡¯ today. Call me when you have news,¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich said and said goodbye.


    Vika dyed her hair and nails again ¨C this time in bright yellow and, accordingly, tights under a short hoodie dress picked up the same shade. Nikolai froze in amazement at the door, even though he should have been used to the changes in the assistant''s image for a long time. But lately Vika has been making frequent changes: she used to wear every color for a couple of weeks.


    ¡°Is it not harmful?¡± Nikolai blurted out instead of greeting.


    ¡°What is ¡®harmful¡¯?¡± the assistant asked, looking up from the monitor.


    ¡°Do you dye your hair so often? Won''t they spoil?¡±


    ¡°If they go bad, I''ll shave them off,¡± Vika replied with the same imperturbable calmness and involuntarily made Nikolai shudder.


    He still wasn''t ready for her bald skull.


    ¡°Hello to you, too, boss,¡± she greeted him with a slight sarcasm in response to his confusion.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Nikolai shook his head and went to the room.


    ¡°Wait, Kolya! I found something interesting here.¡±


    ¡°Maybe coffee first?¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you drink at home?¡± Vika grinned.


    ¡°Pest! Okay, show me what you found,¡± Nikolai gave up with a sigh and barely restrained the reproach that he, unlike some, didn¡¯t do hair and nails at night, but worked.


    ¡°I found yesterday''s photographer,¡± said Vika, nodding at the monitor. ¡°He is actually a blogger who is looking for sensations. I have already managed to upload a video and describe my adventures.¡±


    ¡°Nimble!¡±


    Nikolai scanned the text, watched a video with a working Ferris wheel and reread the article.


    ¡°It''s strange, we were in the park the same day, but we didn''t see anything like this,¡± he muttered, scrolling through the few comments.


    ¡°Maybe just a successful installation?¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­ I would like to talk to this blogger. What''s his name, Yuriy?¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Yes.Yuriy Vasilev. I have already sent him a personal office number with a request to call.¡±


    ¡°You''re working ahead of the curve,¡± Nikolai admired


    ¡°Why waste time?¡±


    ¡°How did you even find him? He lied about being a photographer. And he didn''t mention his last name.¡±


    ¡°I have my own sources,¡± Vika answered vaguely in a suddenly hoarse voice.


    Nikolai looked at her suspiciously, but the assistant was already smiling broadly:


    ¡°Now coffee, boss!¡±


    In the office, Nikolai again looked through the material laid out by Vasilev. He was usually skeptical of all Internet ¡®sensations¡¯, but this time the video did not seem to be edited. Most likely, Yuriy really took off the earned attraction. Nikolai returned to the article, but this time he noted not the content, but the good style of the author. Yuriy wrote fascinatingly, correctly placed accents and skillfully threw baits. Professionally, Nikolai would say, he wrote. He Googled the blogger''s name and immediately received confirmation: Yuriy Vasilev turned out to be a journalist. Clear. Nikolai searched for the materials published by him and came across an interview with Rina, excerpts from which Vasilev posted on his blog.


    Nikolai finished his coffee and put down his empty cup. The interview was typical, but Rina again ¡®reminded¡¯ about herself. He grabbed the phone and dialed a familiar number.


    ¡°I''m on the road, Kolya. I have already left Moscow,¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich replied.


    ¡°Yes, information about Tivastopol. Remember we were talking about an island that disappeared and then reappeared?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± colonel replied after some hesitation. There was noise in the background, words floated through the static. ¡°Now I''ll call one person, he will send.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Good luck to you, Gennadiy Sergeevich! In touch.¡±


    Some time after the conversation, Nikolai received several files in the mail, opened them and plunged into reading.


    According to Violet, an unknown singer appeared on this mysterious island five years ago and returned from it with the ability to open and close portals to other parallels. A sane person, to whom Nikolai counted himself, would have doubted the plausibility of such a statement, but there were documents in front of him, in which what he wanted to know was read between the lines.


    Nikolai again glanced at the monitor with Yuriy Vasilev''s open blog. Rina, without knowing it herself, gave him the answer to the question he had been asking all morning: why did they and Vasilev, being in the park on the same day, see different things there? What if the journalist fell into another parallel and saw the ¡®wrong side¡¯ of the park?


    ¡°Vika?¡± Nikolai called, coming out into the reception area. ¡°Did the journalist call you back?


    ¡°What journalist?¡± she shuddered.


    ¡°Well, blogger! Yuriy Vasilev.¡±


    ¡°No."


    ¡°When he calls back, ask him to come to us.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Kolya, I need to go to the pharmacy. My head hurts,¡± Vika smiled plaintively.


    ¡°No problem!¡±


    Returning to his room, he immersed himself in reading articles about people with unusual abilities, about abnormal places and portals and got so carried away that he forgot about everything in the world. He didn¡¯t hear whether his assistant left, whether her phone rang, whether she herself came to him with some questions. Judging by the fact that cups with coffee appeared on his table, then plates with sandwiches, she came in. Nikolai caught himself only when Vika showed up in front of his desk and began to make some passes with her hands. He involuntarily shuddered, because he had already forgotten that the assistant had dyed her hair from blue to yellow, and asked with displeasure:


    ¡°Are you hypnotizing me?¡±


    ¡°No, on the contrary, I''m trying to bring you out of suspended animation.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been reading too much. It turns out that fairy tales about portals to other dimensions are quite exciting. And not so improbable. Maybe our journalist fell into one of these portals yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Vika suddenly agreed. ¡°By the way, about him. We called, and I invited him to our office at five o''clock in the evening.¡±


    ¡°Very good!¡±


    ¡°He couldn''t do it before. By the way, his channel was blocked. They worked quickly!¡±


    ¡°Which channel?¡± Nikolai didn¡¯t understand, then, realizing, he entered the journalist''s blog and really came across a record about blocking.


    ¡°Maybe he deleted everything himself?¡±


    ¡°No. His blog was blocked, and before that his article about Rina was deleted and fired from the editorial office.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, Vika!¡± Nikolai stopped her and rubbed his temples. ¡°Don''t be fast! I understand that you faithfully completed the task while I was reading everything here, but let''s take it in order. By the way, what time is it?¡±


    ¡°Twenty minutes past three.¡±


    ¡°Damn, I missed lunch.¡±


    ¡°You''ve already had lunch, chief,¡± Vika grinned. ¡°Ate four sandwiches that I brought you, and didn''t even notice. At least you would say ¡®thank you¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Thank you. What were they with?¡±


    ¡°With toads and leeches,¡± the assistant calmly replied, sat down on a chair opposite and recounted a telephone conversation with a journalist.


    It turns out that Nikolai recently wrote about Rina''s parting with Lebedev, but the news was immediately deleted, and he himself was fired from the editorial office.


    ¡°He believes that Rina¡¯s ex had a hand in his dismissal.¡±


    ¡°Lebedev again,¡± Nikolai muttered and involuntarily winced.


    Vika, who was sitting on the edge of a chair with her hands folded humbly on her yellow tights-covered knees, immediately became alarmed:


    ¡°Does your head hurt? Should I give you a pill? I brought it.¡±


    ¡°Don''t. My head hurts in the figurative sense of the word. I don''t want to get into this topic with Rina''s ex. I don''t want to look for her at all, to be honest. But¡­¡±


    Nikolai bit his tongue, realizing that he almost let it slip, even though he promised Violet not to tell even the assistant about Rina''s abilities. However, if he manages to find the singer, perhaps she will be able to tell a lot about the portals. From personal, so to speak, experience.


    Find Rina. Find¡­ Nikolai glanced at the phone, which was flashing a blue light, notifying about unread messages. They were all from Gennadiy Sergeevich: he informed that he had arrived safely at the place, asked if Nikolai had received materials on Tivastopol, and then sent two photos.


    ¡°Here, look at it! You were right,¡± Gennadiy Sergeevich wrote in the last message.


    Nikolai look. He enlarged the photos and looked at them again. And then he asked Vika to come out with a look and dialed the colonel''s number.

 Chapter 11

    ¡°Did you fall in love at first sight?¡±


    ¡°I may be attracted to a beautiful appearance, but I am fascinated by actions.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview for ¡®Triumph¡¯ program)


    In the envelope, which Rina opened at home, there were no instructions, only printouts, and the person with whom she agreed to call didn¡¯t answer.


    Rina rested her cheek on her palm, looked at the sheets spread out on the kitchen table and exhaled noisily. A story that happened a little more than twenty years ago in a military town interested her and partly reminded her of what happened on the island. Rina involuntarily shivered from the memories: since then, she has remained distrustful of people in military uniform. As well as to famous businessmen, but for a different reason¡­


    She turned her gaze to the paragraph circled in red marker, which spoke of a recruit who had escaped from the unit shortly before the tragic events. There was an exclamation mark in the margin next to the paragraph, apparently so that she wouldn''t miss this part of the story for sure. Rina reread this paragraph three times, but did not understand what was wanted from her.


    Among other things, the printouts turned out to be a schematic map of some locality. Rina wasn¡¯t strong in topography, she didn¡¯t like geography, and active games in which she had to search for something by compass didn¡¯t fascinate her. She dialed the number of the person who told her to take the envelope again, counted to the tenth ring and disconnected the call. Nothing is clear!


    The day was slowly twitching with twilight. The sun, having outlined the yoke during the day, went behind the house and plunged into the dark green of the forest. A little more, and the evening will smoothly turn into night. Here the darkness did not descend suddenly, as in the south, but extinguished the daylight gradually, as if in a movie theater, lengthened the shadows, muffled the sounds to rustles. Rina liked this time, and she got into the habit of going out into the yard with a cup of tea and watching the meadow spread out in front of the house turn gray at dusk, how the outlines of a half-dried tree are shaded and how the red-hot sky darkens like a cooling coal.


    At such moments, peace came to her soul, her heart was comforted by vague hope, and a smile appeared on her lips by itself. Rina looked into the distance, as if she was looking into the past - into the happy moments of her life. Without sadness, she remembered the smile of the elderly Nuliya, she thought about Violet, Dog and their restless daughters. She imagined that at this very hour another couple of friends, Elvira and Valery, were bathing their little son before going to bed. And it felt so good in my soul, as if at that very moment Rina wasn¡¯t in memories, but in reality, going around the homes of loved ones.


    She poured herself a cup of tea and went out into the yard, but almost dropped the cup from fright and surprise when she saw a man in the yard. The stranger was sitting right on the ground, with his back against the fence and his head thrown back. Rina put the cup on the porch, cautiously descended the steps and bent over the man.


    ¡°Are you... unwell?¡± she asked softly and lightly touched the stranger''s hand, but immediately recoiled in fright.


    The stranger didn¡¯t move, although his eyes were open, and the sky was beginning to darken in them.


    ¡°Is there something wrong with you? God¡­¡± Rina muttered, pulled the man by the jacket hem, and then lightly patted his cheek.


    The stranger continued to contemplate the sunset with an unseeing gaze. Panic squeezed Rina''s throat with steel fingers, tears welled up in her eyes from the realization that this elderly man, who had come to her for some reason, was dead. Hopelessly dead! Shake him, don''t shake him, don''t shout, but he won''t move, won''t get up, won''t leave, and will just sit with his legs stretched out in trousers and expensive shoes and slightly toppled sideways.


    Maybe he had a heart attack and was walking to her house for help? Maybe he called, but Rina, keen on solving ¡®puzzles¡¯, didn¡¯t hear. Or before he could say anything, he sank to the ground and died. And now this one has been added to her problems - the corpse of an unknown man in the yard. Much worse! Now she will have to call either an ambulance or the police, give evidence and ¡®shine¡¯ in full.


    Rina was so confused that when the phone that had fallen out of the man''s pocket rang, she automatically picked it up and answered.


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich?¡± a man''s voice sounded on the phone. ¡°Are you still there?¡±


    ¡°He¡­¡± Rina managed, belatedly realizing that she was making a monstrous mistake. She shouldn''t have picked up the phone!


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the man was surprised. ¡°I''m calling Gennadiy Sergeevich¡­ Apparently, I got the wrong number.¡±


    ¡°You weren''t mistaken,¡± Rina objected for some reason, although she could have used an excuse to turn off the phone. It''s too late.


    ¡°Then please pass the phone to Gennadiy Sergeevich,¡± the man asked, losing patience.


    ¡°I can''t,¡± Rina sighed. ¡°He''s dead.¡±


    ¡°What?! Who are you? Where are you?!¡±


    ¡°I''m at home. And your¡­ Gennadiy Sergeevich? He''s sitting in my yard, dead.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Wait a minute! How... dead? What is he doing at your place? What happened at all?!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Rina answered all the questions at once.


    Her strength drained away like air from a punctured balloon, and she suddenly didn''t care what would happen to her now


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich reset the geolocation and sent me a photo of the tree. I am nearby, five minutes away from this place. I can already see the tree.¡±


    The man''s words - ¡®geolocation¡¯, ¡®tree¡¯ and ¡®I''m nearby¡¯ - made it even scarier. Who is this deceased, why did he come to her and, most importantly, to whom and why did he send the coordinates of her house?!


    ¡°I''ll be right there!¡± said the man. And before Rina could object, the phone in her hand was discharged.


    For several long seconds she stood in a daze, looking at the body, and then caught herself and rushed into the house. Someone''s coming now. On the one hand, this someone is likely to take the trouble, since the deceased is his acquaintance. With another¡­ On the other hand, he will question Rina, ask uncomfortable questions and... peer into her face, listen to her voice and, perhaps, guess where and under what circumstances he saw her. Or maybe he won''t guess, because he''ll know right away.


    Rina rushed around the house, not knowing what to do. She called the person she was in touch with, but he was unavailable. She threw the phone away and opened the closet with the idea of grabbing some things and running, but she saw a car crossing the meadow through the window. To escape in front of this unknown person is to attract suspicion. Besides, they''ll catch up with her anyway. Therefore, Rina dismissed the idea of escape, hastily pulled open the hangers and looked around the shelves in search of a suitable disguise.


    Going to the market or to the store, she would braid her hair, tie a scarf or put on a hood, and hide half of her face behind sunglasses. In this form, even fans would not recognize her as a popular singer. But walking around the house with glasses and a hood only inflames curiosity and suspicion. Rina took another look out the window and saw that the unknown was already parking in front of her yard. Inspired by the idea, she rushed into the bathroom, hurriedly changed her hiking pants for pajama bottoms, tied a bath towel over her head and, grabbing a jar with a black mask from the shelf, generously ¡®screwed up¡¯ her face.


    An unknown man, whom she was furtively watching through the window, was expected to linger: first he crouched over the body, examined it, and then took out his phone and called someone. Rina took a deep breath, realizing that she was caught like a butterfly in a net. Now people will come here - the police, doctors or whoever the stranger called there. And from her barely begun new life, only fragments will remain again. Rina took another deep breath to calm down, and went to open the door in response to a demanding knock.


    If the man was surprised by her ¡®image¡¯, he didn¡¯t show it. He nodded briefly in greeting and entered the house without asking.


    ¡°I called the police,¡± he said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at Rina. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich can''t be helped with anything else.¡±


    The stranger turned away, revealing a clear profile and a beautifully outlined, like an actor''s, square jaw. Rina nodded ¨C to the profile and at the same time to the man''s words. And then, catching herself, she squeezed out:


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°What happened here?¡± the ¡®guest¡¯ asked, turning back to her and boring her with a not at all friendly look, as if he was already sure of Rina''s involvement in the death of his acquaintance.


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± she answered honestly. ¡°I went outside with a cup of tea and saw this man. I ran up to help, and then you called.¡±


    The man nodded and turned away again, thinking about something else. Rina stood awkwardly in front of him, realizing that he, in fact, now doesn¡¯t care who is in front of him ¨C the Queen of England, Madonna or an unknown girl with a towel on her head and a black cosmetic mask on her face. He is confused, upset and doesn''t care about her ¡®masquerade¡¯. It would be possible to relax if... if not for the corpse in the yard, which was still staring unseeingly at the sky.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Rina invited, taking pity on the ¡®guest¡¯.


    It was a little weird to keep hovering in front of him, looking into his face and holding the towel turban. The man was tall, while Rina, on the contrary, did not reach his shoulder, and because of such a difference in height, she felt out of place. As if she was the uninvited guest in his house, and not him.


    The man followed her into the kitchen, sat down on the offered chair and thoughtfully drummed his fingers on the countertop. But as soon as Rina, slightly relaxed, was about to offer him tea, he cut off all her kind impulses with a sharp look and asked directly:


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°What did Gennadiy Sergeevich do in your yard?¡±


    The question sounded with such intonations, as if Rina was already an accused, and the man was an investigator.


    ¡°How do I know?¡± she shrugged her shoulders, trying to remain unperturbed, and still put the kettle on - not for the ¡®guest¡¯, for herself.


    Habitual actions calmed down a little and made it possible not to lose control of the situation.


    ¡°Why did Gennadiy Sergeevich direct me to your house?¡±


    ¡°Do I know? It''s me who needs to ask why you both came here!¡±


    Rina snorted loudly - an old habit, which she seemed to have already managed to get rid of, and jerked her shoulder.


    ¡°Now the police will come, they will ask you questions¡­¡±


    ¡°So let the police ask.¡±


    Rina slammed two cups on the table and, without asking, poured tea leaves into them. Then she came to her senses that this was not a friendly Stas, or even his pig, and went to the window.


    ¡°I just want to understand¡­¡± the man slowed down.


    ¡°I''ve already said everything,¡± Rina snapped. ¡°I haven''t heard anything and I don''t know what happened to your friend. I was in the bathroom.¡±


    She touched the towel with a hint, but the guest scanned her with his eyes, and she felt uncomfortable again. He didn''t seem to believe her. Rina didn''t trust him either, even though she let him into the house.


    ¡°Will you have tea?¡± she asked after a long pause, during which it seemed that she could hear a spider spinning a web in the corner.


    ¡°You have already poured the tea leaves. I will.¡±


    Rina poured boiling water into cups, took out a pack of cookies and pushed them to the man. He shook his head, refusing the treat, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.


    ¡°Yes, Vika,¡± he said wearily.


    Furtively watching him, Rina was surprised by the sudden change that happened in just a couple of moments. Here the man was still scanning her with a sharp gaze, tightly pursing his lips and squinting his green-brown eyes, and here he was talking on the phone, suddenly stooped and, having lost his bearing, exposed fatigue and therefore seemed vulnerable.


    ¡®The wolf. Only wounded,¡¯ Rina thought and hurriedly turned away, as if she had spied something personal.


    ¡°Yes, something happened. I''ll tell you later. I''m not coming back today. And I won''t be here tomorrow. I''ll call you. How are you? Well done! Till tomorrow.¡±


    The ¡®guest¡¯ put the phone in his pocket, pulled a cup of tea towards him and dropped it in the same tone from which fatigue disappeared.


    ¡°Can you wash off this wax? The police will be here soon.


    ¡°And what?¡± Rina bristled.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± the man shrugged. ¡°There is a lifeless body in your yard, and you yourself are like a Moor. It''s better not to risk it. What if there are Shakespeare lovers among the police?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it!¡± Rina snorted, but got up and stalked into the bathroom.


    There she splashed water on her face for a long time, washing off the dried mask. And then, wiping her face with a towel, she adjusted the ¡®turban¡¯ and took another tube from the shelf. This mask was blue in color, which darkened to blue when dried. With a white towel on her head and a blue face, Rina already looked like a Smurf.


    ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡± the ¡®guest¡¯ exclaimed when Rina sat down opposite with an imperturbable look. ¡°What kind of ¡®mask show¡¯ are you doing?¡±


    ¡°After cleansing, the skin needs hydration,¡± Rina said in a bored tone.


    ¡°You''re still kidding me,¡± the man muttered without a questioning intonation, drilling her with his gaze.


    ¡°And yours¡­ Isn''t Vika taking care of herself?¡± Rina asked sarcastically.


    The ¡®guest¡¯ made a sound as if he choked and coughed. So, coughing and wiping tears from his eyes, he went to open the door of the police who arrived.


    The night in which Rina was going to rest turned out to be sleepless, fussy and tense. A fat policeman, suffering from shortness of breath, settled down in the kitchen and asked questions to Rina, then to her ¡®acquaintance¡¯, who introduced himself as Nikolai, and scrupulously wrote something down in a greasy notebook. Rina was also asked for documents, and she brought a fake passport with a false name. The policeman compared the passport photo with Rina in a mask and towel, chuckled, but did not ask her to wash - to Nikolai''s obvious disappointment. However, he no longer cared about the hostess of the house. After answering the questions, he went out into the yard to the partner of the fat policeman and stayed there until the body was taken away.


    It all ended when the night turned into the darkest and calmest phase before dawn. All the uninvited guests left, and Rina was finally left alone. Feeling incredibly tired, coupled with emptiness, she stumbled to the bathroom, pulled off her mask-stained T-shirt, quickly rinsed under the shower and changed into pajamas. She wanted to cry from fatigue and the stress she had experienced, but she didn''t even have the strength to cry. She would like to reach the bed, touch the pillow with her cheek and fall asleep. But the hopes for a healthy sleep were again broken by a demanding knock on the door. Rina shuddered, quieted down, hoping that the night ¡®guest¡¯ would leave. But the knock was repeated, and she, with a resigned sigh, went to open it.


    To her great relief and surprise at the same time, Stas stood on the threshold with the invariable Blob.


    ¡°Heh!¡± the old man greeted, pitifully wrinkled his nose and squeezed out: ¡°Poof! No!¡±


    Judging by the fact that he waved his hand in the direction of the fence, near which the body was found, Stas had in mind exactly what had happened. Rina was no longer surprised by the old man''s ability to know something.


    ¡°Yes, Stas, a man died here. We didn''t know each other, but for some reason he came to me and died,¡± she sighed and stood aside, letting the old man with the piglet into the house.


    The hope of sleeping through the night finally crumbled. But don''t drive Stas out into the dark! Why he came to her and what he was doing at such an hour on the street, it was useless to ask - the old man with his limited set of words is unlikely to answer. But when she once again put the kettle on overnight, it suddenly dawned on her. Rina found a pencil in one of the kitchen drawers, pulled out a couple of sheets with maps printed on them from the envelope and pushed them to the old man.


    ¡°Stas, I''m going to pour you some tea. Delicious! And I''ll give you cookies¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh!¡± the old man approved and smiled a crooked smile.


    ¡°But you drink tea and listen to me carefully. Listen and draw. Do you understand me? Please Stas, get it!¡±


    Rina tapped her finger on the blank side of the sheet with a pencil and looked into the old man''s eyes again. The fact that his gaze seemed meaningful to her was reassuring. Maybe they will have a dialogue!


    Rina poured tea for the old man, took out cookies, as promised, and froze at the windowsill, trying to cope with her excitement. She doesn''t have much time. Then Stas will withdraw into himself again.


    ¡°Stas, what did the man who died want from me?¡± she asked.


    The old man jerked his head slightly, but did not stop chewing cookies. Rina waited patiently, but Stas leisurely drank tea and ate his cookies, Blob got under his feet and broke the viscous night silence of the house with a loud grunt.


    ¡°Okay, the question is complicated,¡± Rina realized, but the old man suddenly put down his cup, took a pencil and scribbled something hurriedly.


    Rina looked into the drawing and saw the phone. An old phone with a handset and a disk, not a modern smartphone.


    ¡°Did he want to call?¡± she suggested. ¡°His phone was running low and he was walking to my house to make a call?¡±


    ¡°Heh!¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Rina ran her fingers through her disheveled hair and thought. ¡°How did he die? What happened?¡±


    This time Stas didn¡¯t hesitate for a long time, but quickly drew a pharmacy bottle and depicted the heart with anatomical accuracy.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Rina admired. ¡°Did he have a seizure? And did he forget the medicine, or did it run out?¡±


    The old man''s ¡®answer¡¯ fit into her version of what had happened. Rina perked up, but the next question was interrupted by a knock on the door.


    ¡°Stas, it looks like it''s for you.¡±


    She hurriedly ran out into the hallway, opened the door, confident that Stas'' relatives had come. But, to her horror, she saw Nikolai again.


    He raised an eyebrow and smiled a little - with a slight sneer, as if saying ¡®well, finally washed up¡¯. And then he asked permission to enter.


    ¡°You''ve already come in,¡± Rina said and muttered softly to his back, ¡°And why can''t you sleep?¡±


    Nikolai, if he heard, didn¡¯t react in any way, but immediately went into the light - into the kitchen. But when he saw an old man drawing on a piece of paper and Blob walking around the kitchen, he was taken aback.


    ¡°Don''t ask,¡± Rina forestalled his questions and sighed. ¡°I just wanted to rest at night.¡±


    ¡°I won''t be long,¡± Nikolai said quickly and squinted at the piglet, who was already poking his snout into his sneakers with a quiet grunt.


    Stas was so keen on drawing that he didn¡¯t pay attention to the guest at all.


    ¡°Is your "for a while" so urgent that it couldn''t wait until morning?¡± Rina replied grumpily.


    ¡°What if in the morning¡­¡± Nikolai began, but he was interrupted by another knock on the door.


    A loud female voice came from the street:


    ¡°Vita? It''s Galina! Stas'' sister!¡±


    ¡°Vita?¡± Nikolai was surprised, and Rina mentally cursed, remembering that she introduced herself to the police as Lena, as in a fake passport.


    She has names now - like a fool of candy wrappers.


    She didn''t answer anything, went out into the hallway and opened the door. An elderly woman stood on the porch, shivering wrapped in a long knitted sweater, and Liza loomed nearby, slouching.


    ¡°Vitochka, I''m sorry for the trouble. Don''t you have Stas? We''re worried about him! He jumped up, cursed, suddenly out of bed and ran away. They went around the whole neighborhood, they called, they called, and he seemed to have fallen through the ground!¡±


    ¡°I have!¡± Rina smiled.


    ¡°What a habit!¡± Galina got angry at Stas. ¡°You forgive him, he''s harmless. But if it bothers you, then tell me. I''ll scold him.¡±


    ¡°Don''t scold!¡± stood up for the old man Rina. ¡°I didn''t sleep anyway. I''ll call him now¡­¡±


    But she didn''t have to call Stas, he himself came out of the kitchen, dragging Blob on a leash and hooting guiltily.


    ¡°You''d be ashamed of yourself, you fool!¡± Galina pounced on him. ¡°And what carried you into the night? And you alarmed Liza and me, and you don''t let Vita sleep!¡±


    The old man hooted quite often, hung his head and was the first to leave the house. Galina apologized again, and Rina once again assured her that Stas didn¡¯t bother her, thanked her for the goodies and invited her to visit in the afternoon. The question of what to do with the old man was solved. But there was one more ¡®guest¡¯. Rina smoothed her disheveled hair, for some reason nervous, and with the intention of escorting Nikolai out of the house, returned to the kitchen.


    He was standing by the table and carefully studying one of the sheets pulled out of the envelope. But it wasn''t Stas¡¯ drawing that interested him, but what was printed on the back. Rina froze in the doorway. She would have been worried that Nikolai got into her personal affairs, but unexpectedly for herself she admired him - a statuesque brunette. If it weren''t for such strange circumstances and if there was still a place for sympathies in her life, Rina would have decided that her nocturnal ¡®guest¡¯ wasn¡¯t just attractive, but dangerously handsome. But she is no longer Rina who got carried away, fell in love and generously shared her love with listeners through songs. She became the plowman bird from a Korean ballad again, who, once in a cage, felt free only when she sang. Only now she was also deprived of the opportunity to sing.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Nikolai muttered and reached for another sheet. But when he heard that  Rina entered the kitchen, he looked up at her and sharply asked: ¡°Where did you get this, Lena?¡±


    She wanted to reply just as sharply that it was none of his business. That he had entered someone else''s house and poked his nose into other people''s affairs, but for some reason, under his gaze, in which a sly sparkle suddenly flashed, she remained silent.


    ¡°Or should I address you by another name, Vita?¡±


    ¡°My name is Lena,¡± she said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Nikolai grinned, put the sheets on the table and, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his black jeans, turned to her. ¡°Really, Rina?¡±

 Chapter 12

    ¡°What was the most memorable performance for you?¡±


    ¡°Concert in Tivastopol.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with ¡®Kaleidoscope¡¯ magazine)


    The day turned out to be strange and at the same time intense. Yura didn¡¯t have time to move away from the shock caused by the blocking of the channel, as he received a surprise in the form of a greyhound suffering from enuresis. The ¡®surprise¡¯ for him, of course, was arranged by his beloved sister. Yura swore profusely. At the same moment, Manya looked out of the kitchen and grumbled that if he screamed like that, he would bring the dog to a heart attack. Then she picked up the shaking greyhound in her arms, carried her into the room and went to get a bucket and a mop. Calmly wiping the puddle, the sister said that her new acquaintance, Gennadiy Sergeevich, needed to leave urgently and he asked to shelter the dog for a while.


    ¡°What do I have to do with it?¡± Yura was surprised and checked whether the nervous dog was already spoiling the computer keyboard.


    ¡°And besides, dear brother, the debt payment is dangerous. I have to go away on business, and I can''t leave Shusha with Pencil! Therefore, Shusha will stay with you for a while, and I''ll be back for him by four,¡± Manya promised, kissed her brother on the cheek and flew away.


    Canned meat and a bag of dry food were found in the kitchen, there were bowls near the radiator, and there was a soft litter near the refrigerator and a plush mouse on it. Looking at the dog''s ¡®dowry¡¯, Yura thought with longing that Manya seemed to have brought him a greyhound not for a while, but for good. Hearing the shrill barking, he rushed into the room and found Shusha on the verge of a breakdown. The dog squatted on its hind legs, shook its skinny body and bared its sharp teeth. Greyhound was brought into such nervous excitement by a pencil glass in the form of a grinning demonic muzzle. Yura hastily picked up Shusha in his arms and at the same moment felt a moist warmth on his palms.


    ¡°Oh, damn you!¡± he cursed and hurriedly carried the dog to the bathroom. ¡°The trouble is with you! Shit¡­¡±


    Contrary to fears, the day flowed on calmly. Shusha ate a lot of pate, lay down on the mat, clutched a battered plush toy in his front paws and finally calmed down. Yura brought his laptop to the kitchen, intending to fight to the death with the technical support of the blocked channel, poured himself tea, but he was distracted by a phone call. An unknown girl said that her boss was interested in an article about an amusement park and asked Yura to come to the office for a conversation.


    ¡°Are you from the editorial office?¡± Yura asked.


    ¡°No,¡± she answered after some hesitation.


    ¡°Is it by any chance from Dimitri Lebedev''s office?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. What makes you think that?¡± the girl was surprised.


    ¡°Well, I was fired from my job because of an article about him. And the channel was blocked.


    ¡°Wow!¡± there was an answer with poorly concealed respect.


    Yura agreed to come by five in the evening, deciding that by that time Manya would definitely pick up Shusha. Putting down his phone and pulling his laptop towards him, he began to unravel the ¡®rebus¡¯, for which he paid a large sum.


    Yura hoped that the informant would share with him versions of Rina''s disappearance or details of her breakup with Dimitri Lebedev, but he heard a story about the missing businessman. Some time ago, Vladimir Serov and two of his partners mysteriously disappeared right from the restaurant where they celebrated a successfully concluded deal. The owner of the restaurant was one of Serov''s friends, a well-known restaurateur and investor Mikhail Svetakov.


    That evening, the company was entertained by Rina''s performance. The singer usually didn¡¯t take such orders: she had enough crowded concert halls, but that evening for some reason she agreed to sing in front of three businessmen in private. Rina performed three songs, politely refused dinner and left the restaurant. And after some time, the waiter who brought the dessert found the hall empty. There were businessmen''s cars in the yard, security guards were at the door, and three men seemed to have fallen into the ground. No one saw them go outside, no one entered the hall after the singer''s performance, not even the waiters. The restaurant, of course, was searched, but no trace of the businessmen was found. Different versions of their disappearance were worked out, the search didn¡¯t stop, but time passed, and the case didn¡¯t move from a dead point. Only recently - coincidence or not - Dimitri Lebedev extorted at a bargain price from Serov''s wife those lands, the purchase of which was noted by businessmen.


    ¡°Serov and Lebedev¡­¡± Yura muttered, looking for news on the topic.


    The scandal associated with the purchase of these lands went out without flaring up, but Yura was able to make a general picture. The land was sold by the oligarch Popov. Both Lebedev and Serov applied for the deal. However, Popov and Lebedev didn¡¯t get along, so the lands were sold to Serov. At a very reasonable price.


    ¡°Well, well, well,¡± Yura fidgeted in his chair, having read that the construction of an expensive residential complex had already begun on the disputed site.


    Lebedev, having bought land from Serov''s wife, didn¡¯t postpone the matter for a long time. Yura''s intuition told him that Dimitri clearly had a hand in the disappearance of competitors, and he also tried to bring the search to a dead end. But what does Rina have to do with it? The informant didn¡¯t give an explanation, only added the mysterious word ¡®Tivastopol¡¯.


    ¡°And what should I do about it?¡± Yura exclaimed, almost waking up Shusha.


    The Internet helped him find out that there was a place near the provincial Tivastopol that was considered abnormal, something like the local Bermuda Triangle. About a year and a half ago, an island suddenly appeared near the city on the river. At about the same time, Rina came to Tivastopol with a concert. Yura scratched his curly head and picked up the phone that rang.


    ¡°I''ll be there soon!¡± Manya reported. ¡°Is Shusha alive?¡±


    ¡°Would you rather ask if I''m alive?¡± Yura sneered.


    ¡°Why ask if I can hear it in your voice? I''m on my way, I''ll release you soon. So how is Shusha?¡±


    ¡°He''s full and sleeping. And before that, he sprinkled golden dew on my palms.¡±


    Manya laughed out loud:


    ¡°Be glad that Shusha is not the size of Pencil!¡±


    ¡°Speaking of dogs and our business, Manya. The next time you go to Volkovs, drop the word ¡®Tivastopol¡¯ casually in front of them. They say that you visited your aunt in that city and at the same time attended Rina''s concert. Check out the concert videos for authenticity.¡±


    ¡°Well, how do you imagine it? Vsevolod gives commands to the dog, and I''m like this to him about the concert in Tivastopol?¡±


    ¡°Manya, come up with something!¡± Yura pleaded.


    However, she cut off:


    ¡°That''s it, brother, hang up! Before you come up with something else.¡±


    The sister not only arrived at the promised hour, but also gave Yura a lift. It was then that the main shock of the day happened to him: the same ¡®malvina¡¯ from the park met him in the office, only now her hair was bright yellow. Yura already grunted in surprise and indecently stared at the girl''s long legs covered with yellow tights. It seems that he even whistled softly from such stunning beauty. But the girl pretended that she was not at all excited by Yura''s admiring look, introduced herself without a smile and went to her computer.


    Vika kept quite cool with him, offered coffee by rote and explained distantly that the boss urgently needed to leave, so she would conduct the interview. Vika said so - an interview, and set a time frame of half an hour. Level eighty performance! Yura grunted, sprawled on the chair opposite and folded his hands on his stomach. He will still see who ¡®interviews¡¯ whom!


    But Vika was still cold, she didn''t miss a single spy question, with which Yura hoped to break through her monolithic detachment. She asked questions and ignored his irrelevant remarks. Not a girl, but an executive robot!


    But it is unlikely that she is such by nature! Would a real buka dress so stylishly and dye her hair in ultra bright colors? And the longer he looked at her lemon-colored bristling hair, long eyelashes and smooth forehead, the more he became convinced that he and Vika had already met somewhere. Her name evoked vague associations that still eluded him.


    ¡°How do I know you?¡± Yura hacked instead of answering the question and still confused the girl.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Hands with long lemon-colored nails froze over the keyboard, but Vika quickly recovered and hurriedly repeated the question:


    ¡°So how did you feel when everything turned black and white?¡±


    ¡°Where did we meet?¡± Yura repeated stubbornly


    ¡°Nowhere!¡± Vika snapped and looked up at him with eyes of a rich heavenly hue, but immediately looked away, pretending to read the message.


    ¡°Time''s up,¡± she said, putting the phone aside. ¡°I need to make an important call. Right now!


    ¡°You still haven''t said what you do.¡±


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    ¡°I have. This is a detective agency.¡±


    ¡°What do you really do?¡± Yura asked, looking at her point-blank. ¡°Why is there such an interest in a non¡­ detective topic?¡±


    ¡°It''s not my business anymore. I''m only running errands for the boss,¡± Vika answered smoothly, like a robot, and got up from her seat to open the door.


    Yura reluctantly got up after him. Okay. One zero is not in his favor, the battle is lost, but the fight is for him. Yura took a business card from the table and defiantly put it in his pocket: he would call Vika''s boss himself. The guy seemed to him quite pleasant and talkative.


    ¡°Well, it was nice¡­ to meet you!¡± Yura said cheerfully and went out onto the landing.


    Vika closed the door behind him, as it seemed to him, with relief.


    He went down to the street and looked back at the entrance, feeling even more puzzled than before. On the phone, Vika didn''t seem so tight to him. However, analyzing the conversation now, Yura remembered that she was almost silent even then. It was he, delighted with the interest in his blog, who even blurted out to her about the dismissal from the editorial office.


    Yura chose a secluded place, from which the entrance to the office building was clearly visible, and pretended to be carried away by reading messages. Soon, Vika''s working day will end, she will not linger in the absence of her boss! And he, Yura, has nowhere to hurry today.


    Vika really left the office on time and, not noticing Yura, headed for the subway. He hastily put the phone in his pocket and rushed after, keeping at a distance. He wasn''t afraid to lose sight of Vika: she was tall, moreover, from afar she ¡®semaphores¡¯ with the bright color of her hair and tights.


    Vika walked past the entrance to the subway and went along the highway, hurriedly skirting passers-by, then turned into an alley. There she stopped near a two-story building with a fenced area, called and, taking something out of a bulky bag on the move, crossed the yard. Yura waited until Vika disappeared into the building, read the sign and whistled in surprise. A lot of things became clear to him.


    ¡°Really, Rina?¡± Nikolai chuckled.


    Wow, what a turn! Despite all the tragedy, the situation seemed to him somewhat comical, especially if you recall the singer''s attempts to hide the ¡®replicated¡¯ face behind cosmetic masks. But Rina suddenly turned pale, and against the background of alabaster pallor, her dark eyes seemed to be black holes. Her lips twitched, and her face was distorted with fear. And instead of the expected haughty celebrity that would have pointed him to the door, Nikolai suddenly saw a girl scared to the point of fainting.


    ¡°Hey?¡± He was alarmed, instantly erasing his grin. ¡°Just don''t faint!¡±


    From confusion, Nikolai switched to a more soft tone, but even this didn¡¯t bring Rina to her senses. He took a step towards her so that he could catch her if she decided to faint. But Rina recoiled, hugged herself and shook her head.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Nikolai swore softly, threw out the unfinished tea from one of the cups and, hastily rinsing it, filled it with water. ¡°Here, have a drink.¡±


    Rina took a sip, but choked and coughed.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Nikolai swore again, but not softly, but in a voice.


    He snatched the cup from her hands, tapped her lightly on the back, and then, taking her hand, sat her down at the table.


    ¡°Hey...I didn''t think you''d react like that.¡±


    He didn¡¯t think, he didn¡¯t think at all, that in this house on the outskirts, the coordinates of which Gennadiy Sergeevich sent in the last message, the missing celebrity was hiding!


    Rina said nothing, only lowered her head in resignation and curtained her long hair from Nikolai. What happened to her? And should he get into her problems when he has enough to do?


    ¡°Rina? I''m not the one you''re afraid of.¡±


    He blurted out at random, but Rina reacted: she pushed back her hair and looked at him.


    ¡°Who are you anyway?¡± she asked dully, also discarding all ceremonies.


    Only her familiarity was not friendly, on the contrary, Rina seemed to increase the distance.


    ¡°I''m from Vsevolod and Violet Volkovs. Do you know them?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Rina replied after a pause, in which the fleeting relief in her eyes was replaced by fright again. ¡°These are my friends. Did something happen to them?!¡±


    ¡°Only that they are very scared of your disappearance and have instructed me to find you. Privately.¡±


    ¡°So you¡­¡± Rina stretched out thoughtfully and, without finishing, clasped her fingers in the lock and lowered her head again


    Nikolai sat down on a chair so that he no longer towered over her, and said:


    ¡°They just want to know that you''re alive and well.¡±


    ¡°I disappeared for everyone! Even for friends.¡±


    ¡°You hid badly, since you can be found with a strong desire.


    ¡°How did you find me?¡±


    ¡°Work secrets,¡± Nikolai answered evasively.


    He couldn''t admit to her that he hadn''t actually started looking for her yet!


    ¡°I wanted to warn Vsevolod and Violet about my disappearance, but I couldn''t.¡±


    This time, Rina''s voice sounded plaintive and thin, like a girl who has been naughty and scared of the impending punishment. How different her voice was now from the one Nikolai had recently heard on the radio! In that voice of hers - flexible, strong and deep - there was no trembling, there were no tears and despair, even though Rina was singing then about a trapped bird. At some point, Nikolai assumed that her voice would probably be polished during recording, but he remembered a video where Rina performed an a cappella song.


    ¡°I can call Volkovs myself. You don''t have to talk to them. I''ll let them know that you''re alive and well, and whatever you want to tell them.¡±


    ¡°How are they?¡± Rina asked after a pause. ¡°I''m really sorry about what happened. But¡­ it''s better for everyone if I stay here. Here or elsewhere. It doesn''t matter. I can''t go to them, or¡­¡±


    What has she done to punish herself like that? But he executes the same! And who intimidated her like that? But Nikolai didn''t ask, just pulled out his phone from his pocket and found the number of Violet Volkova.


    ¡°It''s night now,¡± Rina reminded him. ¡°Better in the morning. And don''t tell me anything from me, just that I''m alive and well.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say,¡± he replied and got up to leave, because Rina made it clear in her tone that time was up.


    But his gaze fell on one of the sheets scattered on the table, and this time Nikolai''s attention was attracted by a drawing.


    ¡°Stas drew it,¡± Rina explained reluctantly.


    She became nervous again: she jerked forward, as if wanting to get ahead of the ¡®guest¡¯ and not let him take the paper, but at the last moment she stopped and hugged herself again.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Nikolai muttered, examining the brilliantly executed drawing.


    The old man depicted an abandoned amusement park, recognizable by the details - a torn-down sign, a racetrack with bushes breaking through the coating, and a ticket booth. In the foreground was a Ferris wheel, in front of which a guy and a girl were standing with their heads up. To his amazement, Nikolai recognized the girl as Vika. And the guy next to her turned out to have a thick ¡®cap¡¯ of curls, like the journalist Yuriy Vasilev met the day before.


    Nikolai didn''t even notice how she came up and stood so close that their shoulders almost touched. He could feel the warmth emanating from her body, and the subtle smell of either shampoo or cream. But more than her warmth and fragrance, he was suddenly excited by the fact that Rina actually turned out to be short and thin. For some reason he thought she was as tall as Vika. Maybe the deceptive impression was formed because of magazine photos in which Rina next to Dimitri didn¡¯t seem small? So, this Lebedev is really short. Nikolai chuckled to himself and marveled that such a small ¡®bird¡¯ Rina had such a powerful voice.


    He wanted to ask her a lot of questions: to ask where she got these printouts, did Gennadiy Sergeevich give them to her, or did Rina accidentally pick up the envelope? But at the last moment, Nikolai held back: for her, he is just a detective who was hired by her friends. And it''s noticeable how tired Rina is: without hiding, she yawned and glanced at the exit with a hint. It is unlikely that she will agree to continue the conversation.


    ¡°I''m already leaving.¡±


    Rina nodded, but when he touched the door handle, she suddenly called his name:


    ¡°Nikolai! Do you... do you have a place to spend the night?¡±


    ¡°I''ll go to the city, look for a hotel.¡±


    ¡°It''s unlikely you''ll be checked in at night,¡± she muttered and shivered as if from the cold.


    ¡°So I''ll sleep in the car,¡± Nikolai shrugged.


    He''s not picky. It happened to sleep on the bare ground.


    ¡°I have a spare room,¡± said Rina after a pause, in which, apparently, she made a difficult decision. ¡°If you want, sleep there. It''s been... a hard day.¡±


    He tried not to betray his surprise and the fact that he was glad of her invitation. With deliberate indifference, he turned to Rina and put his hands in his pockets.


    ¡°Well, if I don''t embarrass you.¡±


    She hastily, betraying nervousness, removed a black strand that had fallen on him from her face and shook her head. Nikolai realized that it wasn''t about Rina''s hospitality, but that she was afraid that he would betray her. And so it turned out. Rina resolutely raised her dark eyes to him and, in a tone from which the notes of doubt disappeared, demanded:


    ¡°Leave me your phone for tonight.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to call anyone, Rina. But if it makes you feel better¡­¡± with these words, Nikolai handed her the phone. ¡°Only if my wife calls, don''t answer, but wake me up. To avoid family scandals.¡±


    She didn¡¯t notice the sly laughter in his eyes and did not hear the joking intonations, understood everything literally and nodded with the most serious look. He wanted to ask Rina not to run away in response, but said nothing, took a stack of clean underwear from her and went to lie on the sofa in the room assigned to him.


    Nikolai didn¡¯t manage to fall asleep right away: the day turned out to be too difficult for his thoughts to dissolve in the silence of the night. After Gennadiy Sergeevich sent him photos of a tree, a crack and a river in which a dead fish was swimming, Nikolai couldn¡¯t sit still, left the office on Vika and rushed to this place. And now, trying to fall asleep in the house of the missing singer, he tried to understand what kind of new rebus Gennadiy Sergeevich had made for him.


    Maybe if he hadn''t dropped Gennadiy Sergeevich the coordinates of the places where something terrible started to wake up in the morning, the colonel would have remained alive. At first glance, his death seemed natural: Gennadiy Sergeevich was no longer in good health and could well have died of a heart attack. Only now he died near the house of the missing singer, who, moreover, had these strange printouts!


    Fatigue still won: thoughts began to get confused, and before falling into a viscous nightmare, Nikolai had time to think that Rina''s attempts to keep incognito were really funny.


    He dreamed of something disturbing and creepy: a river with funnels of whirlpools, from which terrible figures emerged to the surface, dead birds raining black hail from the darkened sky. Nikolai woke up suddenly and, not really coming to himself, jumped out into the corridor.


    The door to the next room was open, but Rina wasn¡¯t in the bedroom. Nikolai saw the disassembled bed, the bedspread that had fallen to the floor and, worst of all, an open and half-empty closet. Rina seemed to be packing in a hurry. Already realizing that she wasn¡¯t in the house, Nikolai quickly looked into the bathroom and into the kitchen. He saw his phone on the kitchen table, but when he pressed the button, the screen barely flared up and went out: during the night the phone was completely discharged. Cursing, Nikolai jumped out into the yard and calmed down a little when he saw his car where he left it.


    He was about to return to the house to get the phone left in the kitchen when he noticed that the sky had darkened, as before a thunderstorm. A black cloud covered the forest, which then floated with unprecedented speed, changing shape every now and then, as if giant bees were swarming inside. Nikolai involuntarily stepped back to the open door. Suddenly, the cloud seemed to be torn in half, and black lumps fell out of it. For a few moments he watched in a daze, as already in reality, and not in a nightmare, dead birds were falling to the ground. Not only the details of the dream flashed through my memory, but also the misinterpreted little things: the bedspread thrown by Rina on the floor, the clothes left in the closet and, most importantly, a spot on the window pane with a pen glued to it.


    ¡°What have you gotten yourself into, songbird?¡± Nikolai muttered, running down the porch to the car to rush to the place over which a terrible cloud hung.

 Chapter 13

    ¡°What inspires you?¡±


    ¡°Life itself inspires me! Performances in front of the public are charged with special energy. After successful concerts, new songs are often born.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview to Art portal)


    She was awakened by the birds, which screamed so loudly and hysterically, as if alarmed by a sudden disaster. And then a rook crashed against the window pane. Rina jumped out of bed, almost fell, tangled in the bedspread, and jumped out into the yard.


    The sky darkened because of a black cloud that turned out to be a flock of birds. The birds were rushing chaotically, huddled together, flew apart again, collided and fell to the ground. At some point, the ¡®cloud¡¯ stretched out, turned into a funnel and rushed on, sweeping away everything in its path.


    ¡°Oh my God!¡± Rina exclaimed in fright and rushed back into the house to put on her shoes and put on her jacket.


    Fortunately, Nikolai was still asleep, so she managed to escape without any questions. Already heading to the place over which the ¡®tornado¡¯ appeared, Rina thought that Nikolai would interpret her disappearance as an escape. And that''s even better.


    She wasn¡¯t at all surprised to find that the tornado was hovering over the river - over the very place where the whirlpool had appeared the day before. What has already begun has received the expected continuation. And although the informant was still silent, Rina already understood what was required of her. A portal began to open here, through which monstrous creatures could break through. It seems that whoever sent her here knew about it, but for some reason wished Rina to see everything for herself. She saw - at this point the line between the parallels thinned so much that the creatures inhabiting another world became visible for periods.


    Rina ran up to the bridge and stopped. The river swelled up not with one, but with several whirlpools, bubbled. Rina recoiled in fright, but, gathering her will into a fist, looked into the water. The bottom, which until recently had been crawling with algae similar to giant braids, was now split by a wide crack, from which oily and black, like fuel oil, bubbles escaped. The algae had dried up to rusty tangles scattered on the silt.


    Rina involuntarily shivered and, hearing an alarmed bird cry, looked up at the sky. A tornado of birds hovered over the place where a water bubble was maturing like a giant abscess. The tornado and the bubble were reaching out to each other like two hands, just a little more, and they would lock in a strong ¡®squeeze¡¯. Rina turned her gaze to the crack and saw that it was spreading further, striving to reach the point where the tornado and the bubble were about to connect. And when that happens, the portal will open. She immediately imagined whitish creatures with long arms and sharp knife-claws breaking out, staggering to the nearest village. And they kill Liza, Stas and Galina. Rina even groaned at how nightmarish the vision turned out to be, shook her head and tried to focus on what was happening.


    A year and a half ago, she closed a large and complex portal near Tivastopol. Then Rina specifically asked to include that small town in her concert tour. The organizers, of course, were surprised by her decision, but Rina had her own ¡®bills¡¯ and obligations. She arrived in Tivastopol full of determination, strength and energy, which she learned from enthusiastic spectators in other cities. Therefore, she was able to do what she did ¨C close all the ¡®doors¡¯ open there between the parallels. But she didn''t feel so strong right now. It will be happiness if at least for a while she ¡®patches up¡¯ the gap.


    Recent sad events have devastated her, and her performances usually filled her with strength and energy. Recently, Rina has not sung even for herself, so her voice, weakened by silence, now sounded uncertain and muffled. And yet she continued to sing, imagining how she stitched the crack with large stitches. But with each false note, the ¡®stitches¡¯ were torn like rotten threads, and the crack ran further - to the water bubble, in which the flickering creatures were already clearly visible.


    The monsters bared their sharp teeth and tried to tear the walls of the bubble with their knife-claws. Then Rina cut herself off in mid-sentence and imagined how the bubble was enveloped by a sphere of thin, but dense silvery material capable of containing the creatures. And when it seemed to her, she smiled: the first, though not an easy victory! But after that, Rina saw that the tornado managed to touch the bubble. For a moment, despair overwhelmed her, but it also gave her determination and strength. She began to sing again, softly at first, trying each note as carefully as a foot on a swamp hummock. But gradually her voice regained its former power. A gust of wind tousled the braid and threw the strands wet from the river dampness into her face. Rina smiled at the wind like a conspirator, and it picked up her song and carried it on - to the tornado and the water bubble, to the meadow and to the weeping willow stretching its flexible branches to the river. Rina sang for them, admired the purity and power of her own voice, not constrained by the walls of the concert hall, and mentally applauded the ¡®backing vocalist¡¯ wind. Having finally caught the right wave, she felt the returning power.


    And then Rina imagined how she was shooting down a tornado: collecting the energy bubbling in her and ¡®hitting¡¯ the dark funnel. When the tornado was blown away, it ¡®hit¡¯ the bubble. It shrank and clouded, and the creature in it scratched the wall with a claw and grinned angrily. Rina took a deep breath before a new ¡®blow¡¯ and at the same moment noticed and recognized a man on the opposite shore. She smiled involuntarily, thinking that Stas¡¯ drawing turned out to be visionary again. And although Nikolai would hardly have noticed her smile, she smiled at him and sang again - as in those days when she still lived with love warming from the inside, when she believed and dreamed. Like those times that won''t come back.


    ¡°Rina!¡± Nikolai shouted, trying to point something out to her.


    However, she did not stop: if she gets lost, then all efforts are for nothing. And so, because of a second''s delay, the tornado hovered over the bubble again. Nikolai shouted something again, but Rina didn¡¯t hear. Now she has enough strength to patch up the hole and avoid misfortune.


    She sang and imagined how the bubble shrank to a negligible point, how the tornado crumbled into the river like dead birds, how the crack at the bottom tightened like a wound. But, concentrating on the bubble and the tornado, Rina didn''t notice that another whirlpool was spinning under the bridge.


    ¡°Careful!¡± Nikolai''s cry broke through to her ears, trying to point out the danger to her.


    Concentrating on something else, Rina didn¡¯t even notice how much the whirlpool was bubbling under her. And at the moment when a tornado broke from the final note of her song, and the bubble, deflated, went under the water, Rina triumphantly took a step forward, but the rotten boards cracked under her, and she flew into the water - straight into the funnel.


    Wet clothes clung to the body, seaweed wrapped around the ankles and pulled to the bottom. Through the murky water column, Rina saw a figure approaching her, and for a second the saving thought flashed that it was Nikolai. But a terrible whitish creature surfaced nearby, stretched the toad''s mouth in a sharp-toothed grin and smeared near the face with a clawed paw. Rina tried to scream, but only choked on water. The world suddenly turned upside down, and where the sky was still bright, there was a muddy bottom. The vile creature ducked under her, grabbed her hair and dragged her along. Rina struggled, resisting and already realizing that attempts to free herself were like agony. The creature will drag her into its lair and tear her to pieces there.


    But instead of a dark bottom, a lightened sky suddenly flashed. Rina felt that she was being dragged not down, but up - to the air and life. Another moment, and she was on the surface, took a breath and coughed. But the savior didn¡¯t let her come to her senses, but quickly grabbed her armpits and dragged her away from the whirlpool. A vile creature managed to emerge from the closing funnel, and a toothy mouth flashed next to Nikolai. Suddenly, he gasped softly and, without releasing Rina, jerked to the side, trying to dodge the knife-claws this time.


    How they covered the remaining distance, she did not remember. Nikolai dragged her to the shore and pushed her, weak and terrified, onto dry land. Rina sprawled on the ground and coughed. But Nikolai didn¡¯t let her recover here either, picked her up in his arms and rushed with her to the car parked behind the willow.


    ¡°Later, later,¡± he muttered as he ran.


    What - later, Rina didn¡¯t understand. Nikolai put her in the passenger seat, hastily strapped her in and took his seat. Rina closed her eyes and took a slow breath, wanting to even out her breathing. She didn¡¯t open her eyes until she got home, feeling not so much scared as exhausted, and feeling grateful to Nikolai not only for his rescue, but also for his silence.


    He parked right in front of the porch, Rina got out of the car first and hugged herself. She was shivering - not so much from the cold as from the experience. Nikolai would probably ask a lot of questions after what he saw, but right now she didn''t even care about that.


    Rina felt something was wrong when she was already on the porch. Her rescuer hesitated for some reason. She looked back and saw that he was standing bent over and holding on to the railing with one hand, and bloody water was dripping from his clothes on the steps.


    ¡°Nikolai?!¡± Rina exclaimed in fright, instantly forgetting about the shock and the cold.


    She went down to him and already ducked under his arm, hugged him and gently led him into the house. A toothy mouth and a clawed paw that emerged from the water flashed before her eyes again. So, the creature has touched Nikolai after all.


    ¡°Where is it taking you?¡± Rina asked, seating him on a chair.


    She asked, but Rina didn''t have to ask, because his wet T-shirt on the right side was much darker. Nikolai clamped his side with his hand, and Rina saw two long and deep cuts on it.


    ¡°Okay, now,¡± she muttered, trying not to panic, because she didn''t even have bandages.


    After thinking about it, Rina pulled out an armful of clean towels from the kitchen drawer and carefully slipped one of them under Nikolai''s arm.


    ¡°That''s it. Press down¡­¡±


    ¡°There''s a first aid kit in the car. There''s something you need.¡±


    ¡°You need to go to the hospital!¡±


    ¡°Can you drive?¡±


    Nikolai shook his head and for the first time in her life, she regretted very much that she hadn¡¯t passed for a license.


    ¡°Well, that''s it. And I won''t get there myself,¡± Nikolai smiled weakly.


    ¡°I''ll call an ambulance!¡±


    ¡°One more arrival of the ambulance here - and you''ll be in all the news, singer,¡± he teased her without malice. ¡°The first aid kit is in the car. Get. We''ll manage on our own.¡±


    Rina ran out into the street, opened the car door left open and dived into the salon. The first-aid kit was really found, but Rina doubted that they would cope on their own. With a first aid kit in her hands, she rushed back, but when she was already running into the house, she heard a ringing voice behind her:


    ¡°Vi-i-i-ta!"


    Rina looked back and saw Liza approaching the house on a bicycle. The little girl rolled up to the porch, cast a curious glance at the car and asked admiringly:


    ¡°Is this your car? Cool!¡±


    ¡°Not mine. I have... a guest.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Liza sighed. ¡°And I thought we''d sit and talk. Grandma gave you some goodies again! For Stas.¡±


    ¡°Liza,¡± Rina interrupted her, realizing who she could ask for help. Galina! Surely Liza''s grandmother will have bandages and disinfectants. ¡°I need help urgently! I have a wounded man in my house. I can''t take him to the hospital. And I can''t call the doctors here either¡­¡±


    ¡°Why doctors?¡± Liza was surprised. ¡°The whole village goes to our neighbor Aunt Sveta! She worked as a paramedic, and is now retired. But she still continues to treat everyone. It''s a long way to the hospital!¡±


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    ¡°Can you bring her?¡± Rina was delighted and almost burst into tears with relief.


    ¡°I can!¡± Liza nodded, getting back on her bike. ¡°I''ll be quick!¡±


    Rina returned to the house and saw that Nikolai had already pulled off his T-shirt and was pinching his side with it.


    ¡°God, I gave you towels,¡± she muttered and rushed to him. She wrapped his wounded arm with a towel, and pressed the other to the wound on his side, mentally praying that the paramedic was at home, and Nikolai didn¡¯t lose consciousness before help arrived.


    The sound of a car approaching rang out much earlier than one might have expected. Rina ran out onto the porch and saw Liza jump out of the old ¡®Field¡¯ first, then Galina slowly got out. And the driver follows them into the yard. Svetlana turned out to be a woman in her sixties with a short ¡®hedgehog¡¯ of gray hair and with large glasses covering half of her tanned face. The paramedic immediately went up to the porch, pushed Rina aside and went into the house.


    ¡°He needs to be put down,¡± she said sternly, instantly assessing the situation.


    Rina rushed into the bedroom, pulled the sheet off the bed and quickly made the mattress clean.


    While Svetlana, talking quietly with Galina, examined the wounded man, Rina just stood in the doorway. Liza froze behind her, looking curiously over her shoulder.


    ¡°And you girls, why are you standing here?¡± Svetlana suddenly barked at them. ¡°Liza, go to the kitchen! Make this ¡®mermaid¡¯ tea with honey. And you - in the bathroom, under a hot shower! I didn''t have enough to mess with your pneumonia later!¡±


    Rina only then realized that she was still wearing wet pajamas and sneakers squelching from the water. She hurriedly pulled out a clean T-shirt and jeans from the closet and went, as she was told, to the bathroom.


    Under the hot jets of water, Rina burst into tears - from fatigue, fear, understanding that she almost drowned, and feelings of guilt in front of this unfamiliar man who saved her, but he himself suffered. So, crying, she washed herself. But when she heard a knock on the door and Liza''s thin voice reminding her of tea, she pulled herself together, dried herself dry and dressed. After a shower and tears, it became easier. And although Rina didn¡¯t want tea at all, especially the sugary-sweet from the honey generously poured into it, she drank a whole mug. And when she was finally called, she jumped up so quickly that she almost knocked over her chair.


    Svetlana was already putting some packages and scissors back into her suitcase, Galina was collecting bloody napkins and empty ampoules in a cellophane bag.


    ¡°What happened?¡± the paramedic asked expectantly.


    ¡°I... I fell into the water. I stepped on a rotten plank of the bridge,¡± Rina answered half-truthfully, carefully not meeting Nikolai''s gaze. ¡°I can''t swim. He saved me, and he hurt himself on something.


    ¡°Hurt himself on something!¡± Svetlana mimicked her and suddenly grinned. ¡°It almost cut off half of his side, and cut his arm to the bone. Crocodiles don''t seem to be found in our river ¨C the climate is not the same.¡±


    A smile flashed on Nikolai''s lips, but Rina didn¡¯t smile back, on the contrary, bit her lip and lowered her gaze.


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Svetlana didn¡¯t ask further and got up. ¡°In a good way, he should be in the hospital. You never know.¡±


    ¡°I can''t go to the hospital!¡± Nikolai hastily intervened.


    Svetlana looked at him in surprise:


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± he drawled vaguely.


    ¡°Hiding from someone?¡±


    ¡°No, but¡­ just¡­ do without hospitals.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Svetlana shrugged her shoulders and went out into the corridor, where Galina and Liza were already waiting for her.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Rina thanked her from the bottom of her heart.


    The paramedic just nodded and left the house.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Rina caught herself when Svetlana had already come down from the porch, jumped up to her and handed her two bills - a large one and a smaller one. ¡°This is for your work!¡±


    The paramedic looked at her over the top of her glasses and quietly, so that only Rina could hear, said:


    ¡°Oh, the girl¡­ You don''t pay me for my work, but for my silence. Don''t be afraid of that,¡± with these words, Svetlana took one smaller bill from her hand, and already said loudly. ¡°I''ll buy everything I need - bandages, ointment and antibiotics. I''ll stop by in the evening, check on him, and do a dressing. Make sure that he doesn¡¯t have a fever and if anything, call. I left you my number there. And make sure that this hero doesn¡¯t get up. My head will spin, it will come up - and all my work will be for nothing. I injected him with painkillers, just enough for the evening. And if he falls asleep, then let him sleep. That''s even better.¡±


    Rina assured the woman that she would fulfill all the punishments, thanked her again and said goodbye until the evening. And when she returned to the room, she saw that Nikolai had really fallen asleep. Rina adjusted the bedspread on him and lingered, again involuntarily admiring his profile. She admired and was afraid of her own interest, so she hurriedly looked away, feeling as if she had appropriated someone else''s.


    The smartphone was still on the kitchen table. Rina connected it to the charger so that Nikolai could call his loved ones after waking up. Or to be able to reach him.


    She was scared, really scared-to the point of weakness in her legs, because she knew how dangerous the wounds inflicted by such creatures could be. And although she tried to console herself with the fact that they were not on the island - without doctors and medicines, but not far from the city where there is a hospital, and that the paramedic provided the necessary help in time, she couldn¡¯t calm down.


    Rina looked into the bedroom again, made sure that Nikolai was still sleeping peacefully, washed both her and his clothes and hung them in the yard. She also put out wet shoes there. The day has flared up with a bright sun, so everything should dry out quickly. When she returned, she soaked her blood-stained T-shirt and at that moment she heard a call on Nikolai''s phone. Rina wiped her hands and went into the kitchen. Is it ethical to answer someone else''s call? Seeing a woman''s name flashed on the screen, Rina hesitantly froze. But then she discarded her doubts: the situation is freelance, first of all it is necessary to inform Nikolai''s wife about what happened. And then they will somehow¡­ explain themselves.


    ¡°Kolya, finally!¡± a woman''s voice rang out with dissatisfied intonations. ¡°I''ve already called you! Kolya¡­¡±


    ¡°I''m not... him,¡± Rina interrupted and coughed in embarrassment.


    There was silence on the phone. And then the interlocutor asked warily:


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Rina was confused.


    Who is she? She is a popular singer. She is the runaway bride of a famous businessman. She is a monster because she committed a monstrous act. She is the culprit of the fact that the husband of this young woman lies wounded in her house. Of course, Rina didn''t say any of this.


    ¡°Don''t be alarmed, but¡­¡±


    The conversation, to Rina''s relief, turned out to be short. The interlocutor quickly clarified the necessary details and said that she would come as soon as possible.


    Everything seems to have been resolved: his wife will take care of Nikolai, and she will decide whether to take him to the hospital or home. This is no longer Rina¡¯s problem. But for some reason she felt sad, as if something good had suddenly ended without starting.


    Rina checked on Nikolai again. She made sure that he was still sound asleep, and returned to the kitchen to make soup.


    After reading the sign and recognizing the building, Yura remembered a story that happened seven years ago. No wonder Vika was so nervous when they met in the park. On that topic everyone hyped unless they were lazy, and Yura himself showed indecent persistence in order to get photos that were then stolen over the Internet.


    When he returned home, he reread his own and other people''s articles until late at night, Googled old news. And the more he delved into that forgotten topic, the more sick he became - from the fact that justice had not triumphed, from the tactlessness of the journalistic fraternity and, first of all, his own greed for scandals. It seems that they performed a seemingly useful task then - they ¡®rocked¡¯ the public! But in fact, they inflated the scandal for the sake of hype, and they didn''t care about the sisters'' feelings.


    At night Yura slept badly, thinking about a girl with a funny bright ¡®hedgehog¡¯, so he woke up late. The time was approaching noon. He quickly cleaned himself up and went to the office he had visited the day before.


    Vika turned out to be at her workplace, but judging by how fussily she was putting stationery in a drawer, she was going to leave. She cast a brief glance at Yura, in which there was unexpectedly no hostility, and turned off the computer.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Yura greeted.


    ¡°The office is closed,¡± Vika snapped, instantly putting on a mask of coldness.


    ¡°For lunch? May I¡­¡±


    ¡°Completely closed!¡±


    Vika clattered to the closet and pulled out her purse. She didn''t even look at Yura. He went into the reception room, even though Vika made it clear that she was going to leave, and again tried to win her favor:


    ¡°I would like to invite you to lunch. There is one good month nearby¡­¡±


    ¡°No. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Vika, listen, I would like to talk to you too¡­¡±


    ¡°I don''t have time to talk,¡± said Vika, leaving the office and inserting the key into the keyhole. ¡°Not with you, not with anyone. I need to leave urgently. I''m telling you, the office is closed, and it will be closed for a while.¡±


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Yura was alarmed, because in Vika''s intonations, instead of hostile coldness, anxiety clearly slipped through.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she didn¡¯t deny. ¡°With my boss. Said it was an accident.¡±


    ¡°A car accident?¡± Yura suggested the first thing that came to mind.


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Vika replied, going down the stairs. ¡°Maybe a car accident. I only know that he is injured, but for some reason he isn¡¯t in the hospital, but in someone''s house.¡±


    ¡°Are you driving?¡±


    ¡°No. I don''t drive. And you?¡± Vika asked, stopping.


    ¡°I''ll get a taxi,¡± Yura decided.


    ¡°Don''t. It''s far away. I myself.¡±


    ¡°Vika, wait!¡± Yura called out to her as she hurriedly headed towards the metro with a curt nod of farewell.


    Vika looked around, and Yura caught up with her again.


    ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±


    ¡°Two hundred kilometers from the capital. As you can see, you can''t get there by taxi.¡±


    ¡°And why are you going?¡± Yura blurted out.


    ¡°Why me?¡± Vika was confused, but immediately found herself. ¡°The accident was reported to me because I called Nikolai. I don''t have his personal contacts, so I don''t know who to call! And with him we are¡­ good friends. He often gives me a lift after work. And at all¡­ How can I leave him?¡±


    ¡°I''ll take you,¡± Yura blurted out.


    ¡°For what?¡± Vika was genuinely surprised and with unexpected fatigue in her voice repeated the question ¡°Yura, why do you need to take me so far? As much as two hundred kilometers away.¡±


    ¡°That''s why,¡± he replied. ¡°The distance is impressive. Yes, and a favor for a favor. You helped me out, or you could have left me where you found me. Just think, some guy is lying under the fence! Big deal, his car broke down.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t this the car you''re going to take me all this way?¡± Vika couldn''t help but smile.


    ¡°No. I''ll take the car from my sister.¡±


    And before Vika could object, Yura pulled out his phone and called Manya.


    Sister answered immediately, but her voice sounded upset. Judging by the fact that Manya didn¡¯t ask questions or argue, but immediately agreed to give him a car, something really upset her.


    Yura realized exactly what it was as soon as he rang his sister''s doorbell. Hysterical barking was heard from the apartment, and when Manya opened the door, a frantic Shusha ran out into the corridor.


    ¡°Do you still have him?!¡±


    ¡°His owner doesn''t answer the phone,¡± his sister answered with a loud sigh. ¡°His phone is disconnected, and Shusha and I are worried. Surely the owner couldn''t have thrown his dog so meanly?!¡±


    Yura almost said that many owners abandon their pets without a twinge of conscience, and Pencil is an example of that, but he bit his tongue in time. Moreover, Manya was already looking curiously at Vika, who was standing on the landing.


    ¡°Manya, we are in a hurry. Give me the keys, please. I''ll explain everything to you later.¡±


    ¡°Are you going far and for a long time?¡± the sister asked nevertheless, suspiciously squinting behind his back at the guest.


    Vika sat down and, smiling at Shusha, held out her palm to him. The dog cautiously approached and sniffed her hand, and then wagged his tail and barked loudly, as if in greeting.


    ¡°Amazing!¡± Manya and Yura exclaimed in unison.


    ¡°He is very suspicious of dogs, afraid even of his own shadow,¡± said Manya, and Yura added:


    ¡°A little something - pisses out of fear. He was scared of a cup with pencils - incontinence happened again.¡±


    Vika laughed and gently stroked Shusha:


    ¡°Come on, such a brave kid! What''s your name, beauty?¡±


    ¡°Shusha. His name is Shusha. And I also have Pencil! But I keep him in another room, because Pencil is the size of a mini-dinosaur, and Shusha has a nervous breakdown on this ground.¡±


    ¡°Manya, we''re in a hurry,¡± Yura remembered, fearing that his sister would launch into long stories about dogs, and Vika would listen to her out of politeness.


    Manya handed him the keys, imperceptibly pointed her eyes at Vika and raised her eyebrows questioningly.


    ¡°I''m fulfilling the terms of your contract, devil!¡± Yura couldn''t help himself, and when he saw how Manya looked at Vika''s yellow tights and her ultra-short haircut, he almost laughed. ¡°Thank you, Manya! I promise not to drive fast, take care of your ¡®girl¡¯ and call back.¡±


    ¡°Will you at least come back today?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it. We''re on business, we don''t know how fast we''ll manage,¡± Yura answered evasively and saluted goodbye with the keys.


    His hopes that the ice between him and Vika had melted, however, were not justified. Vika strapped herself in and said unexpectedly coldly:


    ¡°Don''t even try to ask me anything! I won''t answer anything anyway. I prefer to be silent on the road. Or sleep.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Yura was taken aback. ¡°I wasn''t going to bother you. As well as molesting, if you''re afraid of that, too. You can be calm. I''m taking you out of the kindness of my heart.¡±


    Vika looked at him for a long time, but said nothing, just nodded and turned away to the window.


    ¡°At least tell me where to go,¡± Yura sighed. ¡°I can''t read minds.¡±

 Chapter 14

    ¡°Would you betray yourself and your interests for the sake of the convenience of a loved one?¡±


    ¡°A difficult question¡­ Fortunately, I wasn¡¯t  faced with such a choice. But for the sake of the well-being of my beloved, I am ready for a lot.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview with ¡®Megapolis¡¯ magazine)


    When Nikolai woke up, at first he didn''t understand where and why he was, or what day or hour he was at. He looked for his phone to find out the time, and when he couldn''t find it, he remembered that he had left it in the kitchen. Others followed this memory and lined up in a clear, albeit surreal picture. For some reason, not everything that happened to Nikolai during the day seemed to be the tip of unreality, but the fact that he was lying almost naked in the bed of a famous singer. If journalists had suddenly flooded in here, they would have drawn the appropriate conclusions.


    It''s a good thing that before the trip he dropped by home and took a change of underwear with him in case he didn''t come back by night. And while the little-known paramedic, who carefully hid kindness and responsiveness behind a stern look and an angry tone, treated and bandaged his wounds, another woman and her granddaughter were running small errands. It seems that the little girl brought his bag from the car so that he changed into dry underwear.


    Nikolai carefully sat up and sat down. The ¡®patched¡¯ wounds responded with pain, fortunately, thanks to the muted analgesic. He swung his legs off the bed and sat for a while, listening to himself. The weakness was felt, and Nikolai didn¡¯t dare to bend down for the bag pushed under the bed to take a clean T-shirt. So he just wrapped himself in a blanket and went in search of Rina.


    He found her not in the kitchen, which was filled with appetising aromas, but in the bathroom. Rina was rinsing something in the washbasin and, busy with business, didn¡¯t notice his presence. And for some reason Nikolai didn¡¯t immediately call out to her.


    She picked up her black hair and pinned it in a careless knot at the back of her head, but one strand escaped from her hairstyle and fell on her neck. And Nikolai, who was watching Rina, suddenly wanted to remove a curl - just to fleetingly touch the matte-white skin. This desire turned out to be so strong that he hurriedly took his eyes away from her neck, glanced lower and realized that he admired the weightless fragility of Rina: a narrow back, sharp shoulder blades and a waist so thin that it seemed it could be wrapped in two palms. A wide blue T-shirt didn¡¯t hide the elegance of the girl, but on the contrary, emphasized. And tight tight jeans, on the contrary, outlined all the exciting curves so clearly that Nikolai involuntarily sighed noisily. Rina heard him and looked around. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, confused in awkward silence, like in a spider''s web, and then Rina asked:


    ¡°Why did you wake up?¡±


    She moved away a little, opening the washbasin, and Nikolai was surprised to find that Rina was washing his T-shirt.


    ¡°Couldn''t miss... such a sight,¡± he grinned, nodding at the sink. ¡°It''s not every day that a famous singer washes your clothes.¡±


    Rina sighed and looked back at the T-shirt.


    ¡°Stains don¡¯t wash off.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. I have a spare one.¡±


    ¡°Thank God,¡± she said, and wiped her forehead with a wet hand with a soapy wrist. ¡°Your jeans and sneakers are in the yard. When they dry, I''ll bring them,¡± Rina muttered deliberately grumpily, carefully averting her gaze, and then, catching herself, rinsed and wiped her hands.


    ¡°Are you hungry? I''ve made soup,¡± she offered with the same nonchalance.


    The situation was really awkward, and not even because they were unfamiliar, but because Rina was clearly afraid of questions.


    ¡°I didn''t know that celebrities are so caring and skillful,¡± Nikolai said without irony, with sincere surprise.


    This little ¡®bird¡¯ smashed all his ideas about celebrities to smithereens.


    ¡°What do you think, I was born and raised on the stage?¡± Rina sighed and, following him out of the bathroom, quietly added: ¡°I''m from an orphanage. But don''t ask me how I got there.¡±


    ¡°I won''t,¡± he promised, although he wanted to ask her a lot. About too much.


    ¡°Let''s go to the kitchen, since you got up, even though you were strictly ordered to lie in bed. Svetlana will be coming soon, so eat - and go back to bed again, or¡­¡±


    ¡°Or?¡± Nikolai asked slyly.


    ¡°And then it will be! I will scold! Both of us,¡± Rina answered in the same tone as him and finally smiled.


    However, she immediately hid her smile, fussing about the household. She cut large slices of porous rustic bread, made a salad of fresh vegetables and, taking out two deep bowls, filled them with breathtakingly delicious-smelling soup.


    ¡°Chicken with noodles,¡± she explained in a tone as if it was self-evident what the soup should be. ¡°I bought chicken at the market yesterday. Noodles, sorry, not homemade, but store-bought.¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously better than instant noodles, which I sometimes have dinner with,¡± Nikolai grinned.


    Rina looked up at him in surprise, her lips twitched, as if she wanted to ask something, but at the last moment restrained herself.


    While she was putting plates on the table, he noticed his phone. Rina also took care to charge it. And while Nikolai was checking the messages, trying to hold the sliding blanket with his good hand, Rina had already pushed him a plate of salad and a bowl of soup.


    ¡°Where''s your T-shirt?¡± she asked when Nikolai once again dropped the bedspread and hurriedly tried to pull it on himself.


    No, he was not ashamed of his figure, on the contrary, but sitting in his underpants at the table in front of an unfamiliar girl also seemed not the best option. However, if you remember in what form she met him the day before and in which she went to the morning ¡®bathing¡¯, they are even.


    ¡°In the bag under the bed.¡±


    Rina went into the room, but looked back at the door:


    ¡°By the way, your wife called.¡±


    ¡°Whose wife?¡± Nikolai was amazed and belatedly remembered his own joke.


    ¡°Yours, not mine?¡± Rina calmly replied when she returned. ¡°She''s on her way.¡±


    Nikolai almost dropped his bag in surprise. But Rina interpreted his reaction in her own way and muttered guiltily:


    ¡°You asked me not to answer her, but I''m... sorry. The situation is too freelance, I needed to inform your loved ones about what happened. And so¡­ I talked to her. I don''t think she''ll make a scandal. I tried to explain everything as truthfully as possible.¡±


    ¡°Did you just admit that you are a famous singer?¡± Nikolai asked, barely suppressing a smile.


    ¡°No,¡± Rina replied and turned to the window, pretending to look at the apple tree. ¡°She said that there was an accident, it''s a long way to the hospital, and we have our own paramedic in the village. And that you were put temporarily in my house. Something like that. I don''t think I scared her too much.¡­¡±


    ¡°How can I tell you! Not much,¡± he mimicked and laughed. ¡°Is the wife''s name Vika by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Vika.¡±


    ¡°This is my assistant. Secretary, administrator - whatever you want, call it that. And I''m afraid to imagine what you said to her, since she dropped everything and rushed here.¡±


    Rina exclaimed, put her palms to her mouth and stared at him with such fright, as if she had made an irreparable mistake.


    ¡°And then your wife¡­¡±


    ¡°I don''t have a wife. I was joking! I''ll call Vika now and calm her down.¡±


    Nikolai dialed the assistant''s number and when he heard her alarmed and at the same time delighted exclamation, he hurriedly said:


    ¡°Vik, I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°But she told me¡­¡± she was confused. There was a noise in the background, as if Vika was on the road, and the words also floated through the interference. ¡°Kolya, what was that? Where have you gone and who is this girl who told me that you are almost dying?¡±


    He laughed softly and squinted at the completely confused Rina, who had heard the conversation.


    ¡°Not everything is so fatal. I hurt my arm and side a little. It''s not scary, I''ll live. I''ll be back soon, so don''t be scared.¡±


    ¡°It''s too late, chief! I''m already on the road, I''ll be there in two hours.¡±


    The connection was cut off, as if Vika was in a tunnel, and Nikolai, having disconnected the call, looked guiltily at Rina.


    ¡°She''s on her way. Failed to deploy back.¡±


    ¡°It was me... who called her. It was awkward somehow. But I was really scared!¡±


    ¡°It''s okay. Vika won''t give you away. She knows how to keep her mouth shut, otherwise she wouldn''t have worked for me.¡±


    Rina visibly relaxed, even smiled again, but then caught herself:


    ¡°The soup is getting cold!¡±


    She cooked very tasty food. Not a celebrity, but a storehouse of pleasant surprises! Watching videos of her performances, Nikolai could not even think that Rina was so earthly. No, she communicated with the audience, smiled, thanked from the stage and answered some lines between songs, but Nikolai believed that all this ¡®closeness with the people¡¯ was nothing but part of the image. Like, for example, long dresses in folk style, flowers in loose black hair and bracelets on thin wrists. Her audience is too huge, Rina is too fond of fame. Even as a fiance, she chose not a simple guy, but a well-known oligarch.


    Nikolai stole a glance at the girl sitting across from him, who, looking down at her plate, was slowly bringing a spoon to her mouth. How different this girl was from the queen who performed on stage! And even more so - from that dangerous and powerful goddess, as he saw her in the morning on the river. A picture appeared in his memory again, which, apparently, will remain with him forever: with her face thrown back to the sky, with her hair fluttering in the wind, Rina sings a strange song. Not singing, but as if conjuring the elements. However, it was. He saw it himself. And how the tornado crashed, and how the huge water bubble blew away. And how the sky, which had been dark before, suddenly brightened, as if Rina had summoned the sun with her powerful voice and song-spell. She was at that moment the element, the sky, the wind, the sun, the river, turned back. And maybe if he hadn''t admired her, if he hadn''t stood rooted to the spot with admiration and, at the same time, animal fear of such power and absolute beauty, he wouldn''t have missed the moment of danger, and would have jumped into the river a little earlier.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked suddenly, throwing him off his train of thought.


    Only then did Nikolai realize that he had been sitting for a long time with a spoon raised to his mouth and staring at Rina.


    ¡°What kind of concert was that on the shore?¡± he beat off the pitch.


    But she blinked and immediately returned the ¡®ball¡¯ to him:


    ¡°I was singing! I go to the river every morning to sing scales.¡±


    ¡°Birds fell and fish died from your scales,¡± Nikolai retorted, barely restraining a smile.


    Rina squinted at him and innocently asked:


    ¡°So I made a mistake with a B-flat note?¡±


    He could have supported this game of ¡®ping-pong¡¯, and it would have been fun to watch to what level Rina was able to reach in her wit (and something told him that she would have become a worthy rival), but Nikolai cut off the ¡®game¡¯ so abruptly, as if he caught a sonorous jumping on I''ll put a ball in the palm of my hand on the table.


    ¡°Did you close the portal, as you did in Tivastopol?¡±


    She jerked as if from a slap in the face and almost dropped the spoon on the floor. Panic splashed in her dark eyes, and Rina involuntarily looked back at the door, as if trying to figure out how to put the ¡®guest¡¯ outside or escape herself.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± she asked dully, suddenly losing her enthusiasm.


    ¡°About the disappeared island where you met your friends.¡±


    ¡°Who are you? Who are you, Nikolai, really?¡± Rina whispered, scared pale.


    ¡°Detective, I already told you. Violet told me about the island: she came to the office on purpose the next day. She and Vsevolod are crazy about your disappearance, but they didn''t mention Tivastopol on their first visit to me. It is understandable - not everyone will believe in such a thing. But Violet and Vsevolod are seriously afraid that you accidentally opened the portal and disappeared into it.¡±


    ¡°And you believed all this?¡± Rina made a vague gesture with her hand, but his words seemed to calm her down a little.


    ¡°I believed you, Rina. I believed it. And not only because your friend''s story was confirmed, but also because I myself am closely connected with similar... shit.¡±


    All the time he was telling Rina about the garrison, from which the inhabitants had disappeared, and the strange task, she listened to him without interrupting, but also without raising her eyes.


    Nikolai kept silent only about the fact that he himself is from the military dynasty and was born in that town. Well, about the fact that he was almost imprisoned. She has enough impressions without that.


    ¡°That''s my assignment, Rina,¡± he finished. ¡°But my boss, Gennadiy Sergeevich, suddenly died in the yard of your house. And before that, it seems, I managed to give you an envelope with printouts.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°He didn''t tell me anything,¡± Rina objected. ¡°I wasn''t lying when I said that I found your acquaintance already dead.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you get the envelope? From whom?¡±


    Instead of answering, she got up, collected the dirty dishes from the table and put them in the sink.


    ¡°You''d better get back to bed. Svetlana will arrive soon and is unlikely to be happy that you, contrary to her instructions, are sitting here."


    ¡°I feel quite fine,¡± Nikolai lied, because the bandaged hand had been burning and throbbing with pain for a long time.


    The effect of the analgesic is over, and what will happen next is a big question.


    ¡°Better lie down,¡± Rina asked, turning on the faucet to wash the dishes.


    Feeling defeated because his move failed, Nikolai sighed and got up from the table.


    ¡°Thanks for lunch! You''re an amazing cook.¡±


    She nodded without turning around and drowned out his words with the clink of plates. Nikolai took the bedspread and the bag and went back to the bedroom. Well, at least he tried! Rina isn¡¯t obliged to tell him her secrets or help him.


    She entered the bedroom when he finally ¡®settled down¡¯, finding a position to less disturb the aching side. Rina put two mugs of fragrant tea on the bedside table, pulled a chair to the bed and, sitting down, took one of the cups. Nikolai squinted at the second one: he preferred coffee, besides, he didn''t want to change the position, but he couldn''t refuse. Rina didn''t seem to notice his attempts to get settled again. Looking down at the cup, she said without any transition:


    ¡°I fell in love, even though I thought before that my love was music and the stage. But he did his best to win me over. I was so fascinated by him that if he had told me to leave the stage, I would have done so. But, fortunately, he did not demand this, on the contrary, he liked to meet with a famous singer, and the fact that the media wrote about our couple.¡±


    Rina paused, smiling sadly at the memories. She didn''t give a name, but Nikolai already understood that it was about Dimitri Lebedev.


    ¡°He came to my dressing room after one of the concerts,¡± Rina continued. ¡°He brought such a huge bouquet that he himself could not be seen because of it. I am allergic to many flowers, so I ask that they not be given to me. But that bouquet was made especially for me and did not cause a headache. This impressed me even more than the size of the bouquet. I also liked the fact that Dimitri came only to express his admiration for my performance. He really liked the way I sing! Then it turned out that, despite his connections and acquaintances, he did not immediately decide to get to know me. And such shyness from a person for whom there are no obstacles seemed especially touching. But then I didn''t even know who was in front of me. I just saw a nice young man in love with my talent. That evening he just gave me a bouquet, expressed his admiration and promised to come to my next concert. I laughed because the performance was scheduled in Surgut in a day. Would he really have flown there after me?¡±


    ¡°And he flew¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes. By private jet. And again he came backstage and offered to take a walk. I agreed because I was intrigued. By that time, I was so immersed in recordings, interviews and concerts that I completely forgot that I was not only a popular singer, but also a young woman. My friends got married, had children, and I was ¡®married¡¯ on stage. Songs became my ¡®children¡¯, and the audience became my love. But returning to the hotel rooms, I fell asleep in bed alone. And it''s good if in bed, and not on a plane, in a trailer or on a couch in the studio! And he courted me like a princess. When I couldn''t attend a concert, I would call and wish good luck, and then I would send a gift to the dressing room. The media trumpeted about our ¡®romance¡¯ even before we officially became a couple. We went out a lot, and he liked to appear with me on the covers of magazines. I, on the contrary, dreamed of solitude, thought to leave the stage to marry Dima and have a child. Typical dreams of a woman in love! Dima charmed even my friends, he seemed simple to them, ¡®without show-offs¡¯, as Volodya put it.¡±


    ¡°The perfect story of perfect love,¡± Nikolai muttered, for some reason feeling incomprehensible anger. Not at Rina, but at Lebedev.


    ¡°And so it was. Until some point. I just didn''t know the other side of Dimitri. He was attentive, caring and gentle with me. But with others¡­ It was only later that I realized that he was quick to punish for the slightest mistakes. He could easily expel the secretary for the wrong kind of coffee or fire the waiter for wine of the wrong temperature. Punish the courier, and at the same time bankrupt the flower shop for bringing me roses of a different shade.¡±


    ¡°In general, he tyrannized everyone around, and you didn''t notice it. But then you saw the light and therefore ran away?¡±


    ¡°Not really¡­¡±


    Rina turned the empty cup in her hands and looked up at Nikolai with eyes full of despair.


    ¡°One day I told him about the island and my abilities. Dimitri found the story... funny. I decided he didn''t believe me. But after a while he came to me very upset and scared.¡±


    ¡°Dimitri Lebedev - and scared?¡± Nikolai doubted.


    ¡°It seemed so to me! He was very nervous, and canceled a trip to the restaurant to which we were invited. I just sent a gift and an apology. Of course, Dima''s mood was transmitted to me. He didn''t want to say anything, but eventually gave up. It turns out that he was blackmailed by the massacre of me. It was about some very expensive lands that Dima bought at a low price. He was pressured not only to stop construction, but also to cede land. Dimitri tried to settle the matter peacefully, but they threatened to kidnap me... telling all this, he began to cry. He cried, you know?¡±


    Nikolai just grunted and carefully changed his position. His side and arm hurt more and more, but he was afraid to give himself away, because then Rina would hardly continue the story.


    ¡°He said he was afraid for me, and burst into tears. It was scary to see him broken. I wasn¡¯t afraid for myself, but for him. I still loved him blindly back then¡­¡±


    Rina smiled sadly and after a short pause continued:


    ¡°He calmed down quickly and said that he had decided to give up the land, even if it would bring him huge financial losses and cost his reputation. But he''ll manage somehow. The main thing is that everything is fine with me. But when he left the room, he said in his heart that he would give a lot for these bastards to sink through the ground. And then¡­¡±


    Rina took a deep breath and, taking air into her lungs, blurted out on exhalation:


    ¡°And then I also made a decision. I found out the name of the one who threatened my fiance, I found out about the planned dinner at the restaurant. And the fact that one of the businessmen turned out to be a fan of mine only played into my hands. I arranged through the administrator for a private concert and during the performance¡­ opened the portal. Three businessmen really ¡®failed¡¯, as Lebedev wished, in another parallel. They haven''t been found yet. And they won''t find it anymore.¡±


    Rina wiped her tears and smiled defiantly - not at Nikolai, but at her thoughts.


    ¡°And then I found out that it was the other way around. It was Dimitri who wanted to get the land that his competitors legally acquired. No one blackmailed Lebedev, no one threatened him. After the businessmen disappeared, Dimitri got what he wanted. That evening, when the deal took place, he came to me with a gift - the keys to an apartment in a fashionable residential complex. He said it was his gratitude for my help. And then I was horrified and desperate to realize what I had done. Dimitri, of course, knew what I was thinking. Therefore, I took out another ¡®gift¡¯ - an envelope with photos. In those pictures were the daughters of Violet and Volodya, and another friend of mine during a walk with her little son. Dimitri¡¯s message was clear: if I continue to ¡®help¡¯ him, then there will be gifts and other benefits for me. And if not¡­ He smiled terribly and slowly tore the photos in half.¡±


    ¡°Scum!¡± Nikolai blurted out, and he forgot about the pain and leaned towards Rina.


    ¡°And a day later I got a call,¡± she continued, as if she hadn''t noticed his outburst. ¡°The man did not introduce himself, but called himself my savior. This ¡®savior¡¯ methodically told about Tivastopol, the island and added that he guessed where the three businessmen had disappeared. Then he said that Dimitri would turn my life into hell, and I would do whatever he wanted, because he was quick to kill. This man even knew that Dimitri was blackmailing me!¡±


    ¡°I knew or guessed,¡± Nikolai muttered. ¡°But in any case, I imagined what Lebedev really was like.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. So, this man offered to help me.¡±


    ¡°In exchange for?..¡±


    ¡°In exchange for a response, of course. I was afraid that I would be required to open the portal again and send someone unwanted there. But this man first decided to arrange an escape for me. He was going to tell the rest later, only promising that his task would not harm others. I accepted the help and agreed to his terms. This person warned that I could be tracked through calls to friends, so for everyone I have to disappear. He also helped to purchase this house using false documents, and bought a simple phone issued in someone else''s name. Before escaping, I transferred my personal money to an account from which the managers had to pay all penalties. And here I am. That''s the story, Nikolai. I''m a monster.¡±


    ¡°The monster is the one who manipulated you,¡± he objected, but Rina only smiled wryly and took the cups to take them to the kitchen. ¡°And this man never gave his name?¡± Nikolai stopped her with a question.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°When was the last time you talked to him?¡±


    ¡°Shortly before your arrival. Since then, his phone has been disconnected.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ show me his number,¡± Nikolai asked, feeling a bad feeling.


    When Rina brought him a simple mobile phone, he found the right number in his smartphone and showed her both phones.


    ¡°Do you know this person?!¡±


    ¡°This is Gennadiy Sergeevich, the one who died in your yard,¡± Nikolai replied calmly. ¡°The colonel who gave me the assignment.¡±


    ¡°What the hell,¡± moaned Rina. ¡°This is just not enough! I''m scared shitless of the military after the island.¡±


    ¡°What''s so... scary about them?¡± Nikolai asked, discouraged.


    ¡°And that''s it!¡± Rina typed, took the cups and went to the kitchen.


    He watched her go with a confused look, but said nothing.


    Rina was gone for a long time, but she returned with an envelope and handed it to Nikolai.


    ¡°This is all that Gennadiy Sergeevich managed to convey to me. It looks like your friend was hanging around here, and he lied to you that he didn''t know anything: neither where I was hiding, nor that some kind of devilry was going on here.¡±


    Nikolai grunted, then pulled out and skimmed through the printouts.


    ¡°It''s about some other place,¡± Rina explained.


    ¡°Yeah. About the military camp, which I have already told you about. Perhaps Gennadiy Sergeevich was coming to you to give you a new task. But he didn''t have time.¡±


    ¡°Did he want me to close the portal there too?!¡±


    ¡°Can you?¡± Nikolai answered the question with a question and couldn¡¯t restrain a grin.


    If every time he has to fight with the creatures while Rina is ¡®singing¡¯, then he risks being devoured alive. Gennadiy Sergeevich befriended him!


    ¡°Pfr-r!¡± Rina snorted ridiculously. ¡°I don''t think I have enough strength for another portal! I hardly closed this one securely either. Without concerts, music, and the energy that the audience charged me with, I am nothing. A perforated ball. What did your acquaintance expect?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Nikolai muttered, flipping through the printouts again. ¡°He didn''t explain anything to me either. He handed over dusty folders and saluted goodbye. I suspect that he has pulled off a multi-pass, over which he has yet to break his head. Gennadiy Sergeevich definitely knew about your abilities and where and how you got them. He got secret materials for me and gave me the coordinates of another town with an anomaly. I did some research, compared the data and found out that something similar ¡®wakes up¡¯ in several places at once. But while I was puzzling over this task, Gennadiy Sergeevich, through your friends, gave me another one - the search for you. A funny thing is looming, Rina. Gennadiy Sergeevich helps you escape and sends you here. I am instructed to find places with a similar anomaly. At the same time, he gets a dog that needs help and turns to your friends for help. Of all the dog handlers he chose Volkov! Vsevolod himself has already told me this. At one of the classes, Gennadiy Sergeevich hands my phone to friends who are concerned about your disappearance and recommends me as a private detective. I learned about your ability to open portals from Violet. After that, I got information about the disappeared island, which, by the way, was sent to me by Gennadiy Sergeevich''s people. He himself, shortly before his death, sent me the coordinates of the place where you are hiding¡­¡±


    ¡°Don''t tell me he faked his own death, too!¡±


    ¡°I don''t. That would be too much. Most likely, he planned to gather us here and give instructions to both at once. But, unfortunately, he died. So his rebus remained unsolved.¡±


    Rina sighed noisily, then reached for one of the printouts and muttered:


    ¡°I wonder why he circled this paragraph in red?¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± Nikolai asked listlessly. The wounds ached unbearably, and it became more and more difficult to ponder over the riddles.


    It seems that it did not hurt him so much even when the shock after the ¡®bathing¡¯ passed, and the paramedic with her magic suitcase had not yet arrived.


    ¡°This is the paragraph about the recruit who escaped into the forest!¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Nikolai responded without enthusiasm, surrendering to the pain.


    Rina looked up at him with a worried look.


    ¡°Is it really bad?¡±


    ¡°Yes, somehow¡­¡± he confessed and immediately regretted it, because she began to cry funny, fussed and rushed to look for a piece of paper with a phone that Svetlana had left them.


    ¡°Rina, stop flitting around. Sit down and calm down. I won''t die.¡±


    ¡°You don''t understand! You don''t understand how dangerous the wounds left by these creatures are! There, on the island¡­¡±


    ¡°We''re not on an island, Rina,¡± Nikolai interrupted. ¡°And I am a strong man, on whom everything heals like a dog.¡±


    ¡°Volodya also said that!¡±


    ¡°And what?¡± Nikolai chuckled. ¡°Vsevolod now has a beautiful wife and two wonderful daughters. And also a dog school and a kennel. I don''t know what happened to Vsevolod on the island, but he returned from there alive.¡±


    Fortunately, Rina didn¡¯t have to calm down further, because Svetlana arrived very conveniently. Rina brought her in and turned around to go out into the corridor.


    ¡°Don''t run away!¡± The paramedic stopped her. ¡°I don''t come to you every day. Tomorrow you will do his bandages yourself, so stand by and remember. And don''t try to faint!¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Rina squeaked softly and stared so scared that Nikolai laughed soundlessly.


    The surrealism of the situation exceeded all acceptable norms.


    ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll leave tomorrow,¡± he whispered when Svetlana went to wash her hands.


    ¡°Where are you going to go?¡± Rina hissed.


    ¡°Home."


    ¡°Only if your assistant can drive a car!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she can.¡±


    ¡°You see!¡± Rina exclaimed with unexpected triumph and looked back at Svetlana who entered the room.


    The paramedic completed the dressing and left them a bundle with everything they needed. Rina came out to see her off, and Nikolai closed his eyes. The pain was blissfully subsiding, the body was filled with long-awaited peace. The well-being was affected not only by blood loss, but also by the fact that Nikolai worked for a long time without rest. It seems that he recently dreamed of going to the lake for a day to reboot? So he went! And bathed, and some creatures ¡®fished¡¯, and slept off. As a nice bonus to the rest - a private ¡®concert¡¯ of the famous singer and homemade soup. As unpleasant - ¡®darned¡¯ side and arm. An ambiguous program!


    ¡°What are you smiling at? What did she inject you with?¡± Rina asked.


    Nikolai opened his eyes and saw that she was again holding cups in her hands, and she had a flat box under her arm.


    ¡°So¡­ Your soup remembered.¡±


    ¡°Wow, how tired you are of custard noodles¡­¡± Rina seriously sympathized and put the cups on the bedside table.


    ¡°We''ve already had tea!¡± Nikolai was surprised.


    ¡°But without sweets,¡± she calmly retorted and opened the box. ¡°You need sweets!¡±


    ¡°Is that what Svetlana said?¡±


    ¡°That''s what I said,¡± Rina snapped. ¡°Chocolate raises the mood, pain goes away and wounds heal!¡±


    ¡°It also causes acne, caries and excess weight,¡± Nikolai finished in tone with her and grinned.


    ¡°If you suffer from all this, then I''ll bring you a carrot.¡±


    He laughed softly. He liked Rina more and more: funny and not at all like a cold and capricious ¡®star¡¯ girl. A beautiful girl, he must say. Too much¡­


    ¡°That''s how you get captured by a famous singer, and she decides to ¡®recycle¡¯ all the sweets received from fans,¡± he joked.


    ¡°What did you think? I alone don¡¯t need so many pimples, caries and excess weight!¡± Rina retorted and handed him the box.


    And again he drank tea, ate sweets and wondered at the strangeness of the situation. Rina also undertook to entertain him with stories: either she really went wild in seclusion and missed communication, or out of gratitude for salvation. Who will understand them, the celebrities.


    And she told it in an interesting and simple way, as if she was sharing the most ordinary stories at a friendly party. She admitted that initially her repertoire was planned to be different. Rina even sang some song with a meaningless set of words, causing Nikolai to smile


    ¡°Volodya criticized me for this song too! And so hard that I beat him!¡±


    ¡°You?!¡± Nikolai exclaimed incredulously, remembering that Volkov was about the same height as himself.


    Rina will pass quietly under Vsevolod''s arm! How could she beat such a tall and strong man?


    ¡°Well, yes. I was very angry then. But Volodya was right.¡±


    Rina also told how she once sang a new hit of a Korean band: she made a lyrical ballad out of a rhythmic song, recorded a home video and posted it on her blog. Someone marked the soloist, and he wrote to Rina, ridiculously alternating Korean phrases with Russian. That''s how Rina met Rim Chin Hwa.


    ¡°Last year I went to South Korea, and we met in person.Chin invited me home and introduced me to his family. Can you imagine, his wife is Russian! And his son is already ten years old. Such a handsome kid¡­ And so serious for his age! He dreams of becoming not a singer, like his father, but a paleontologist. The boy has a whole encyclopedia in his head!¡± Rina suddenly sighed sadly and quietly continued: ¡°Chin and I planned to record a song as a duet. Even the lyrics were composed, and Eva, his wife, translated the song into English - with a swing to the international market. It would be a hit, definitely! But... alas.¡±


    ¡°Maybe all is not lost?¡± Nikolai cautiously remarked. ¡°Your hit will thunder all over the world, it will break all the charts!¡±


    But Rina gave him such an unhappy look that he stopped. He wanted to ask if he should notify her friend in Korea that she was alive and well, but was distracted by the noise of a car approaching.


    ¡°Your assistant has arrived,¡± Rina said, getting up.


    Nikolai, following a fleeting impulse, grabbed her hand.


    ¡°Don''t be afraid,¡± he said softly. ¡°I won''t give away your personal secrets. But some questions are general, we can discuss with Vika. She''s aware of my assignment. And we''re in the same boat.¡±


    Rina looked at him for a long time. And after she nodded, he unclenched his fingers, reluctantly releasing her wrist.

 Chapter 15

    ¡°What is your dream that hasn''t come true yet?¡±


    ¡°Gatherings until morning with close friends at my house.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview for ¡®Home Fairy¡¯ website)


    A tall girl with short bright yellow hair stood on the threshold, and next to her, to Rina''s displeasure, was a curly-haired, handsome guy. Unlike the girl, who nervously shifted her long legs and fidgeted with the edge of a black blouse, the guy held himself confidently.


    ¡°Vika?¡± Rina asked sternly, and when the girl nodded, she motioned for her to pass.


    ¡°Wow!¡± the guy suddenly exclaimed, peering into Rina''s face, and then smiled broadly. ¡°It can''t be! The missing singer herself! Like really?¡±


    Vika quickly looked around, and the surprise in her eyes was replaced by joy.


    ¡°Is that true? Are you Rina? Has Nikolai found you?¡± she asked.


    Rina didn¡¯t answer, closed the door and, leaning her back against it, answered dryly:


    ¡°Nikolai is in that room. You can go through.¡±


    Vika smiled awkwardly, apologizing for her lack of restraint, and went into the bedroom. The guy stayed in the hallway.


    ¡°It''s awesome, what a turn!¡± he admired, and Rina mentally groaned.


    Her incognito went to hell! It remains to grab things and run again¡­ but where to?


    ¡°One more scream, and you will have a turn - to the door and to the street,¡± she snapped and went into the kitchen.


    The guy stomped after me, I keep talking on the move:


    ¡°And you and I have already met! I interviewed you!¡±


    The cup that Rina was about to wash slipped out of her hands and fell back into the sink. Fortunately, it didn''t shatter into small pieces, but the handle broke off. Rina in her heart, masking her fright with anger, threw the cup into the bucket and abruptly turned to the unexpected guest.


    ¡°Wow! Don''t glare at me!¡± He muttered hurriedly and raised his hands. ¡°Yes, I''m a journalist, but I just bought Vika.¡±


    ¡°Is Vika your girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°No, but¡­¡± he was suddenly embarrassed and, catching his thoughts, introduced himself: ¡°My name is Yura. Yuriy Vasilev. And I''ve actually interviewed you and been to many of your concerts.


    Rina asked coldly. ¡°And what?¡±


    ¡°Well... I thought it would be nice for you to know.¡±


    ¡°Is it nice to know that a journalist has broken into my house?¡±


    ¡°Listen! Did I say I came for an interview? I''m telling you, I gave Vika a ride! She was very scared, she was going to the devil knows where. Should I have left her? How did I know that the missing celebrity had settled in this shack?¡±


    ¡°This is not a shack, but a house! My house!¡± Rina was so angry that Yura backed away.


    ¡°Okay, okay! I''m sorry, really, I''m sorry! I''m too stunned to meet you. I didn''t expect¡­¡±


    ¡°And now listen to you! If you talk about me somewhere, you will regret it greatly! This is my private life. And since I came here, it means I''m sick of people like you! Overly curious and chatty!¡±


    With these words, Rina left the kitchen, went down to the yard and pulled the dried clothes off the rope. But Yura didn¡¯t let her rest here either.


    ¡°Listen, let''s make peace, huh? I didn''t come here as a journalist. Although, I admit, I really wanted to find out where you disappeared. First of all, because I''m your fan. Secondly, to rub the nose of his boss, who fired me. I was the first to write about your breakup with your fiance, but the news was immediately deleted. And me - to the street. I suspect that it was not without Dimitri himself!¡±


    Rina shuddered slightly, but after a short pause, she went back into the house. If her hands had not been busy with clothes, she would have slammed the door in front of Yura, who stuck his head in after her.


    ¡°So ¡®Dimitri himself¡¯?¡± Rina mimicked. ¡°Are you such an important bird that he personally monitors whether the journalist Vasilev has written something about him?¡±


    ¡°Well, not that important¡­ But I was fired right after I told the world about your breakup!¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s because you write lousy?¡± Rina didn¡¯t start to be amused.


    Yura swallowed this too, bent down to pick up the sock that had fallen from her hands and handed it to her.


    ¡°Why are you telling me this? Are you thinking of taking pity on me and making friends?¡± Rina asked, already feeling tired instead of anger.


    ¡°I would like to,¡± Yura answered innocently and smiled charmingly.


    But Rina measured him with her eyes and said nothing.


    When she entered the bedroom, she heard Nikolai angrily scolding the assistant for bringing someone unknown with her.


    ¡°Kolya, I didn''t know that you found Rina!¡± Vika exclaimed. ¡°And she didn''t warn me that I had to come alone.¡±


    Hearing the sound of footsteps, Vika looked around and guiltily looked away.


    ¡°Nikolai, she really didn''t know,¡± Rina sighed, folding his clothes on the nightstand. ¡°And this guy, a journalist, gave her a ride.¡±


    ¡°A journalist!¡± Nikolai exclaimed and laughed at something. ¡°This is already more like some kind of surrealism.¡±


    ¡°This is the same journalist and blogger we met in the park,¡± Vika began to explain hurriedly. ¡°He came to talk to you in your absence and returned the next day¡­¡±


    ¡°We''ll figure it out,¡± Nikolai grumbled and glanced at his jeans with a hint.


    Rina wanted to remind him about bed rest, but decided that she no longer had the right to interfere, so she silently went out into the corridor. Vika followed her.


    They found the journalist in the kitchen. Yura, running his fingers into the cap of curls, looked around curiously, but when Rina was about to say something caustic to him, he turned to her and exclaimed with sincere admiration:


    ¡°It''s very cozy and beautiful here! Sorry about the shack. You have a great house!¡±


    ¡°I tried,¡± Rina answered with restraint, went to the window and, turning to the guests, leaned her back on the windowsill.


    During a long pause, a fly could be heard buzzing behind the glass, but no one, not even the chatty Yura, tried to break the silence. Vika shamefacedly trampled and squinted to the side, embarrassed to sit down. Yura looked around the walls and closed lockers, but not out of curiosity, but as if trying to come up with the next remark. All his attempts to start a friendly conversation with Rina were shattered by her coldness. Rina herself was painfully thinking what to do. The darkness outside the window hid the outlines of the apple tree, and on the small piece of sky that could be seen, the first star shone like a coin. Rina didn¡¯t dare to put all the ¡®guests¡¯ out the door, especially since she herself called Vika. And she was afraid that the journalist, once on the street, would talk about the ¡®sensation¡¯.


    Nikolai saved them from prolonged awkwardness. He entered the kitchen, already dressed in a red T-shirt and black jeans, and Rina involuntarily held her gaze on him a little longer than was necessary. The T-shirt hugged his broad shoulders, and the red color suited him, the brunette, very well. Nikolai exuded calmness and confidence, and Rina involuntarily calmed down herself. He looked around the audience and greeted Yura with a nod.


    ¡°Here we meet again!¡± the journalist smiled broadly, but, glancing at Nikolai''s bandaged arm, which he supported with a healthy one, sympathetically stretched out: ¡°Yeah¡­ How did this happen?¡±


    ¡°I had a bad swim. There was¡­ something sharp under the water.¡±


    ¡°Do you know each other?¡± Rina asked, no longer surprised by anything.


    ¡°Kind of.¡±


    Nikolai looked from Yura to Vika and back again and said sternly:


    ¡°I hope everyone understands that we are unexpected ¡®guests¡¯ in Rina''s house. And that we can''t tell anyone that we found her and where. And then¡­"


    ¡°What''s that?¡± Yura squinted.


    ¡°And the fact that my left punch is also strong,¡± Nikolai calmly retorted.


    ¡°Kolya,¡± Vika quietly put him down.


    But Yura was already boiling:


    ¡°Why are you treating me like a leper?! What is one, what is the other, what is the third! And all because I''m a journalist! Fired, by the way! So you can see how I call the editorial offices and call everyone. Damn you! I just decided to give her a ride,¡± with these words Yura nodded at the embarrassment to blush Vika. ¡°That''s it. Is a good deed punishable? Should I write you a receipt in blood that I''m not going to leak information about Rina?¡±


    ¡°Be quiet,¡± Nikolai stared at him and blocked the exit when Yura tried to leave the kitchen.


    ¡°Let me pass! You¡¯re acting like a fucking bodyguard! I want to leave.¡±


    ¡°Wait, don''t get excited. Sorry, I overreacted,¡± Nikolai slowed down, but cleared the way.


    Yura, however, lingered.


    ¡°We need to decide what to do.¡±


    ¡°And what is there to decide?¡± Rina sighed and moved away from the window. ¡°It''s night outside. Two of you after a long journey. The third is generally prescribed bed rest. We''ll settle in somehow. In the large room there is a sofa and a folding chair. In the small one there is only a bed. And she''s already busy with the one who needs her most right now.¡±


    ¡°I can easily sleep even in the hallway on a rug!¡± Yura responded eagerly. ¡°Or in the car.¡±


    ¡°It''s better in the house,¡± Rina replied with a polite smile. ¡°I''ll find blankets, I hope it will be comfortable.¡±


    ¡°Just hand over the mobile phones to everyone!¡± Nikolai suddenly ordered. ¡°Rina will hide them under a pillow at night.¡±


    Vika gave him a puzzled look. Yura bristled at first, but when he saw that Nikolai and Rina exchanged glances with understanding smiles, he regarded everything as a joke.


    They figured out who would sleep where pretty quickly. Rina gave up the sofa to the guest, Yura helped to spread out the chair, and he decided to settle down on the floor in the bedroom. Directing the fuss as a hostess, taking out pillows, blankets and sheets, Rina was already experiencing joy instead of irritation. Once upon a time, dreaming of her own house, she imagined how she would arrange parties for friends. At first she wanted noisy parties, then quiet bachelorette parties with tea, sweets and intimate conversations until morning. And now her dream has partially come true. Rina quickly earned her own housing, and she also made friends. Only now there was no time for house parties, her apartment was mostly empty, and life was spent in tours, hotels and studios.


    ¡°Shall I give you some pajamas?¡± Rina suggested to the guest.


    Vika was tall, but also thin. The guest was suddenly embarrassed, but after a long pause, in which she seemed to be making a painful decision, she asked:


    ¡°Do you have long socks? My feet are constantly freezing.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Rina was delighted.


    After the organizational issues with the overnight stay and the queue for the bathroom settled down, everyone gathered in the kitchen. And again, Rina had the feeling that her old dream had come true. Even if unfamiliar people gathered in her house that evening, and the reason for their arrival was not festive, this did not detract from the joy. The guests also relaxed, the tension went away, and the atmosphere became kind and cozy - thanks, oddly enough, to Yura.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He unexpectedly volunteered to command in the kitchen, with Rina''s permission, examined the refrigerator, the shelf with canned food and grunted with satisfaction. Then he announced that he cooks well, ¡®ladies don¡¯t complain¡¯, and with his statement caused Vika an ironic smile. But soon, watching how deftly he was chopping vegetables, managing to prepare ingredients for some sauce in parallel and frying pieces of beef in a frying pan, Vika stopped grinning, now she cast intrigued glances at the guy, and then she joined in cooking altogether. Yura gave Rina a task, and she, slicing Bulgarian pepper into small cubes, tried to remember why this journalist seemed familiar to her. It wasn''t about meeting him during the interview. Rina was sure that she had seen him quite recently: his hairstyle was too memorable. And Yura, taking her looks for sympathy, smiled more and more and poured out stories. The narrator from him also turned out to be excellent: even Nikolai, who at first followed him with a frown, laughed at some joke. Sliced vegetables were already being fried on the stove in a frying pan, beef was languishing on a slow fire in a cauldron. And Rina kept trying to remember where she and Yura could see each other.


    ¡°And who will wash the dishes?¡± Nikolai asked, watching a mountain of pots, bowls and plates grow in the sink, which the chef soiled with unprecedented generosity.


    ¡°Obviously not you,¡± Yura grinned, added vegetables to the beef and poured everything with fragrant sauce. ¡°Considering your ¡®bathing¡¯ saved you from working as a dishwasher.¡±


    With these words, he put another saucepan in the sink. Vika, who was wiping the cutting table, came over to put down the sponge. Seeing them together, Rina finally understood why Yura seemed so familiar to her. Wiping her hands with a towel, she opened the locker, took out an envelope and found Stas¡¯ drawing.


    ¡°Come here!¡± she called Vika and Yura.


    Nikolai remained standing near the window, watching everyone from the side.


    ¡°Awesome! Is it me and Vika?¡± Yura was surprised.


    ¡°Can I?¡± Vika asked already and stretched out her hand to the drawing. ¡°Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°An old man drew it. His name is Stas, he hardly speaks after an accident in his youth, but he draws with talent. And that''s how he communicates and even predicts.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Yura breathed out. ¡°And what, I wonder, did he want to say with this drawing?¡±


    ¡°Did you depict what already happened? Even if not quite in this form,¡± suggested Vika and cast a questioning glance at Nikolai.


    ¡°I told Rina about our assignment. We just met Yura at an amusement park. He was there collecting photographic material for an article, and when Vika and I arrived, he was already resting under the fence.¡±


    Vika snorted loudly, as if trying to hold back her laughter. Yura glanced at her resentfully and hurriedly added:


    ¡°I will clarify! And then Rina will still decide that I''m a drunkard. I really came to the park to take photos. After leaving the magazine, I decided to start a blog and write about abnormal places. An unemployed journalist needs to do something! So why not become a blogger!¡±


    ¡°Only your blog didn''t last half a day,¡± Vika teased him and pulled down the leg of her pajama trousers that had slightly lifted up. ¡°It was immediately blocked. But Nikolai and I managed to see the videos that Yura uploaded, so we invited him to the office.¡±


    ¡°Was the blog deleted too?¡± Rina raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°Yeah. Such bad luck. I haven''t had time to restore it yet. I wanted to talk about this anomalous zone again. I came to the office today, hoping that Vika''s boss is in place. But I found only an alarmed Vika, who was going somewhere, and offered to give her a ride. So can you explain what it''s about? What kind of task? What''s going on anyway?¡±


    ¡°Have you turned on the recorder yet?¡± Nikolai forged his and smiled good-naturedly.


    ¡°To hell with the recorder! I''m burning with curiosity.¡±


    ¡°The meat is burning!¡± Rina caught herself and rushed to check on the stew.


    ¡°To hell with the meat! To hell with you! You''re winding my guts up on your fist, tormentors! Not for a blog I want to know, I swear by my signature sauce! If necessary, I will sign a receipt for silence in blood!¡±


    ¡°And that''s how to trust you after that?¡± Vika teased him. ¡°¡®Blood¡¯! Tomato paste, I suppose? Kolya, you decide whether to tell him. You''re the chief here.¡±


    With that, she turned on the water and began to wash the dishes.


    ¡°In fact, let Rina decide,¡± Nikolai replied, and with a look as if he reminded her that he would not betray her personal secrets.


    ¡°I think we''re all in the same boat,¡± Rina repeated his words, stirring the stew with a spatula.


    ¡°Okay. With Rina''s permission, I''ll tell you, but only to warn you what you''re trying to get into. You say your blog was immediately blocked? Perhaps this is because publications on this topic are being tracked.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Yura asked quickly.


    ¡°I can''t say who exactly. I don''t know. Those who, for some reason, are very concerned about this topic, but they do not want to draw attention to it. The second option is to track your publications and delete them out of revenge for an objectionable article, interview, and so on. In this case, the channel will be blocked for you, even if you write a recipe for your signature sauce.¡±


    ¡°And this is a thought!¡± Yura scratched his head. ¡°You can check! Write about the sauce¡­¡±


    ¡°You will not write anything anywhere from this house! Forgot?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I remember, I remember! But who can be interested in this park?¡±


    ¡°Not only him, but also similar anomalous zones. Repeat for Rina and me what happened to you there - in exchange for a story about our ¡®adventures¡¯.¡±


    Yura''s narration was interesting and mystical, but Rina was not surprised by anything in it. She stirred the meat and, listening, thought about the fact that there was a piece of paper with the coordinates of the park in the envelope. Did Gennadiy Sergeevich seriously expect that Rina would close all the portals? Did he know that she couldn¡¯t do it in the current conditions?


    ¡°We think that you have ¡®fallen¡¯ into another parallel,¡± Nikolai said when Yura fell silent.


    Rina put the spatula on the plate next to the stove and turned to the men. Vika had already wiped the dishes and was now setting the table. And there was a special sharpness in this inconsistency - talking about mystical parallels for ordinary household chores.


    ¡°I have no doubt that I have ¡®failed¡¯ somewhere! Before the trip, I read all the information about abnormal places. But I didn''t expect such an amazing effect! And when I saw everything with my own eyes, at first I was not afraid, but delighted!¡±


    ¡°A journalist,¡± Vika snorted softly and put the plate on the table with such a careless crash that everyone looked at her. ¡°I''m sorry,¡± she said, embarrassed. ¡°I mean that for some journalists, curiosity dominates the instinct of self-preservation.¡±


    ¡°And didn''t you follow me to the town and the park because of the notorious curiosity?¡± Nikolai asked.


    Vika chuckled, but when she turned away to take the bread dish, she smiled.


    ¡°And I got a task - to calculate the places where a similar anomaly occurred,¡± Nikolai already began.


    ¡°How? And why?¡± Yura asked.


    ¡°Why is not a question for me. I''m just fulfilling an order. But what the client will do next, for example, with photos proving the infidelity of the spouse, that''s not my business.¡±


    ¡°Consider yourself partially dissuaded,¡± Yura grinned. ¡°And how did you calculate the anomalous zones?¡±


    ¡°Made with Vika measurements of temperature, electromagnetic field, humidity and so on. In general, nothing extraordinary. Partly physics, partly analytics. As a result, I got a list of several places whose parameters completely coincided. I sent this list to the customer. He went to one of the places himself and later confirmed everything with photos.¡±


    ¡°What was in those photos?¡± Yura asked, not paying attention to the fact that the table was already set and an appetizing aroma was rising over the plates of stew.


    Nikolai opened a gallery on his smartphone and showed several pictures.


    ¡°So we are here now!¡± Yura exclaimed.


    Nikolai grinned and put the phone on the table next to his plate.


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich, my customer, sent the exact coordinates along with the pictures. I immediately left, but, unfortunately, Gennadiy Sergeevich had a heart attack, and by my arrival he had died.¡±


    ¡°How?!¡± Vika exclaimed and raised her hands to her face in horror. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich died?!¡±


    ¡°Rina found him. She also took the phone when I, not yet knowing what had happened, called Gennadiy Sergeevich.¡±


    Rina withstood Yura and Vika''s glances directed at her and said something completely different from what was expected of her:


    ¡°The food is getting cold. Let''s have dinner.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait¡­¡± Yura muttered, running his palms into his curls and pulling his hair back. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich¡­ Gennadiy Sergeevich? Does he happen to have a funny dog? A nervous lefty who gets hysterical even at the sight of her own shadow?¡±


    ¡°There is. He took it quite recently and¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh my God, that''s why Manya can''t get through to him in any way! Oh gosh!¡±


    ¡°Which Manya?¡± Nikolai didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°My sister,¡± Yura rubbed his shoulders as if he suddenly felt cold, picked up his fork and put it back on the table.


    ¡°And what are we going to do with this greyhound now?¡± he muttered softly, as if to himself. ¡°Manya, when she finds out, will devour me! At first she will be upset, because Gennadiy Sergeevich seemed to be going to ask her out on a date. And then it will devour. It''s not enough for her to have Pencil, so now it''s still Shusha!¡±


    And since everyone expected explanations from him, he told how he ¡®introduced¡¯ ¡®spies¡¯ into the house of Rina''s friends in the form of a stray dog Pencil and his sister Manya. This story did not annoy Rina, but made her laugh. Now the nosy journalist will have to sort out the situation with the orphaned Shusha! Therefore, when Yura shifted his gaze from Nikolai, who was looking at him with a stony expression on his face, to Vika, who was indignantly frowning and asked plaintively if anyone needed a dog, Rina laughed:


    ¡°It looks like you''ve already figured out who Shusha will stay with now. So much for the Law of Karma.¡±


    ¡°It''s pissing me all over the apartment!¡± Yura exclaimed in resignation.


    Rina just snorted:


    ¡°Pfr-r! You already know which dog handler to take Shusha to. By the way, get yourself a cooking blog. You cook delicious! I would¡¯ve subscribed to you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Yura beamed. ¡°For the sake of such a subscriber, I will definitely start! Oh, can I ask you for an autograph?¡±


    ¡°Take another interview with her and take a selfie together,¡± Nikolai teased him.


    ¡°Okay, okay, I remember, Tyrannosaurus, what you said there about a left punch¡­¡± Yura nodded diligently and returned the conversation to the topic of interest to him: ¡°We stopped at the fact that Rina found the body of Gennadiy Sergeevich¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she didn''t shirk. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich, unfortunately, died in my yard. Nikolai has already told me how he ended up with me. Well, it also suddenly turned out that it was Gennadiy Sergeevich who helped me in my escape... for personal reasons, so to speak. Here¡­¡±


    ¡°And why did you decide to hide?¡± Yura immediately screwed in and even stopped chewing.


    ¡°I told you - for personal reasons!¡± Nikolai intervened.


    ¡°Got it! Blast the thunder of this Lebedev, if it''s all his fault!¡±


    ¡°Yura!¡± Vika has already snapped at him.


    ¡°I''m silent, I''m silent!¡±


    Rina sighed and, realizing that there were not enough connecting links in her story, told a ¡®lite¡¯ version of events: how she disappeared into the village and discovered that strange things were happening here. She mentioned Stas with his talent for predicting drawings. And she concluded everything with a story about what happened on the river. She kept silent only about the fact that she tried to close the portal.


    ¡°That''s how it was?!¡± Yura exclaimed and turned his admiring gaze on Nikolai. ¡°Here''s a tornado of dead birds, a whirlpool and a clawed creature in the river?¡±


    ¡°I wonder what causes you more doubts - a tornado or a clawed creature?¡± Vika quipped. ¡°Maybe you fell off the fence yourself in the park, and someone pulled you out of there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I believe, I believe¡­ But the situation is kind of crappy. Firstly, this strange customer. Not the customer, but the spider who wove the web. Nikolai was given an order. Rina was sent here for some reason. Get yourself a greyhound¡­ And I no longer believe that he is so kind and took the dog from a relative! He insinuated himself into Volkov''s confidence, knowing that he was a friend of the missing Rina, and incidentally slipped him the detective''s phone. At the same time, he charmed my sister, fused her Shusha, came here and... died. Cool plan!¡±


    ¡°It is unlikely that Gennadiy Sergeevich deliberately insinuated himself into the confidence of your sister,¡± Nikolai shook his head. ¡°He couldn''t have known that you were planning to find Rina. I think he really liked Man¡­ Mariana.¡±


    ¡°But all the same, he spun a lot of intrigues, don''t you agree? The question is - what should we do now?¡±


    Yura famously included himself in the investigation with the pronoun ¡®we¡¯. But this time no one made fun of him, on the contrary, everyone became serious. Vika was the first to break the suspended pause, addressing her boss:


    ¡°Really, Kolya? The customer died. You kind of completed his task - you found all the anomalous zones. And then what?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± he admitted and winced painfully: either because he didn''t like the question, or because his wounds were bothering him again.


    Rina glanced at her watch and saw that it was already past midnight.


    ¡°Let''s leave the conversations for tomorrow,¡± she came to Nikolai''s rescue. ¡°It was a difficult day for everyone. And he is generally prescribed bed rest.¡±


    They quickly and together cleared the table, and soon the usual silence for Rina hung in the house.


    In the same sleepy and soothing silence, Rina woke up. Outside the window, the early morning was timidly golden, and the edge of the perfectly blue sky was visible in the window. There was no darkness, clouds and a feeling of anxiety, as on the previous day. Rina reached for the phone and saw that it wasn''t even seven yet. Every day she woke up earlier and was more cheerful than ever.


    Trying not to wake Vika sleeping on the sofa, Rina went to the bathroom, but passing by the bedroom, she lingered a little near the closed door. There was no sound coming from there, so the men were also still asleep. Rina washed her face, braided her hair into two careless braids and went out on the porch to meet a new day, which, judging by the clear sky, promised a clear day.


    To her surprise, she found Nikolai in the courtyard: with his back to the porch, he was talking on the phone and did not see Rina. Succumbing to an obscure temptation, she sat down on the steps, deciding to wait until he noticed her.


    A ray of sunlight gilded his dark nape, slid along his tanned neck, when Nikolai, listening to what he was being told, slightly tilted his head. Rina rested her cheek on her palm and smiled faintly - not at the ray, but at her ephemeral dreams, like a morning haze.


    ¡°I don''t know when I''ll be back. Maybe today,¡± Nikolai said to someone and looked at the sky.


    That was still clean, but a cloud seemed to have crept over Rina¡¯s mood, returning her from innocent fantasies to everyday reality. Unwilling to part with dreams, as with a predawn dream, Rina glanced at Nikolai¡¯s shoulders covered with a red T-shirt. The fact that she was looking at him furtively, risking being caught at any moment, was more exciting than adrenaline slides. And even though he was wearing a T-shirt now, it wasn''t difficult for her to remember him half-naked.


    ¡°Yes, I''ll come and call,¡± Nikolai promised, ending the conversation.


    Rina still had a couple of moments to get up and leave unnoticed, but she remained sitting in place, hurriedly ¡®stealing¡¯ the last ¡®touches¡¯ with her eyes.


    ¡°I love you too¡­¡± he replied, and with this final phrase, all of Rina''s bold fantasies shattered into many pieces.


    Nikolai turned around and finally noticed her.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± he greeted after a short pause.


    Instead of answering, Rina nodded and got to her feet, feeling her heart pounding - either because of the adrenaline ¡®game¡¯ in her mind, or from his phrase, which at once extinguished not even the mood, but the whole upcoming day.


    ¡°So, you really are an early bird,¡± Nikolai smiled, but in contrast to the smile he touched his right side.


    ¡°Does it hurt?¡± Rina immediately guessed the reason for his early rise.


    ¡°It will pass.


    ¡°Svetlana left the analgesics.¡±


    ¡°Later,¡± he excused himself, glanced casually at her bare legs and, raising his eyes to Rina, asked: ¡°Are the others asleep?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    For some reason, they both hesitated, as if they didn¡¯t know whether to return to the house or stay in the yard. Rina blocked his passage, and Nikolai didn¡¯t try to get around her. The conversation, never having started, hung in the air with an ellipsis, which could be interpreted as you like. Rina was the first to catch herself and said she would put the kettle on.


    ¡°More tea with sweets?¡±


    ¡°No, with sandwiches!¡± she snapped, and before she turned away, she managed to catch his slight smile - as if he had learned another secret about her.


    Opening the door, Rina heard Nikolai''s phone ring again.

 Chapter 16

    "What are you most afraid of?"


    "Lose my voice. Because the voice is my strength."


    (from Rina''s interview for ''Rock & Roll'' portal)


    Nikolai watched Rina go, thinking that he had to leave today. Otherwise, this barefoot ''bird'' with disheveled braids will turn out for him what Jaguar warned against - vulnerable spot, a sore point.


    Rina closed the door, and Nikolai put the ringing phone to his ear.


    "Yes, Lev?"


    "Did I wake you up?"


    "No. I''ve been up for a long time."


    "That''s what I thought. I''m here about your request. Yana and I went to those places, took a walk..."


    Jaguar was brief and didn''t tell anything new: twenty years ago the village was deserted because the inhabitants were resettled for some reason. Lev walked along the deserted street that divided the town into two parts, looked into one of the open houses, looked from the bridge at the dried-up river and didn''t notice anything strange.


    "But here''s what''s interesting!" led Jaguar to what he called for. "I found out this already through my own channels. Shortly before the residents were settled, a Russian, a certain Eugenie Sitsov, came to the village. It turns out he served in the same unit as your father. Check everything, Kolya."


    "I''ll check."


    He wanted to ask Lev a lot of questions, but it''s hardly convenient right now. He would like to meet in person! Jaguar''s help would be more useful than ever - with his experience and acquaintances.


    "What have you got there?" as if Lev guessed his thoughts.


    "I have the corpse of the customer, shit and... tea!"


    Nkolai again squinted at the half-closed door, behind which Rina disappeared.


    "Tea?" Jaguar was surprised. "You''re supposed to be having coffee, aren''t you?"


    "That''s the point!"


    "I don''t understand anything," Lev gave up. "I''m flying in two days. Will you make it out?"


    "I will!"


    At parting, Nikolai asked to say hello to Yana and say that she bakes unrealistically delicious pies.


    He lingered in the courtyard for a while longer, deciding what to do next. In a good way, it was worth returning to the capital right now, finding out everything about Sitsov and helping with the organization of Gennadiy Sergeevich''s funeral. The police contacted the colonel''s adult daughter. But Gennadiy Sergeevich meant a lot to Nikolai, so helping his family is a matter of honor. Only, looking at his car, Nikolai hesitated for some reason. And it wasn''t a question of whether he could stand the road now, but that he wanted to stay here for at least another day.


    Squinting, he looked at the clear sky and smiled, thinking that the silence and tranquility of today is the merit of the vociferous ''element caster''. And then, realizing that he stayed for a long time, he returned to the house.


    "I think we should learn absolutely everything about these anomalous zones!" Yura ranted, pacing around the kitchen and ruffling his already standing on end curls. "If necessary, then go around them."


    "Why?" Vika asked evenly. Despite the early hour and not spending the night at home, she looked as flawless as in the office. Vika changed out of her pajamas into her own clothes, but she didn''t put on her shoes, so she moved around the kitchen noiselessly, like a cat.


    "How - why?" Yura was surprised, pausing in front of the refrigerator. "First of all, it''s interesting! Secondly, if it is confirmed that something like this is being wrapped up in these places, then it will be necessary to warn residents about the danger. If only one creature managed to slash your boss like that, then imagine what a whole army of such monsters will do to people?"


    Nikolai involuntarily shuddered at the word ''army'', but not because this word reminded him of the military past, but because he imagined the scale of disasters. His arm, already aching, ached even more, and he wrapped his good arm around it and stroked it over the bandages. Rina noticed this and frowned. But she kept silent and returned to her occupation - toasting slices of bread in a frying pan.


    "Kolya, what do you think?" Vika turned to him.


    "I think we should have breakfast. And then to thank the hostess for her hospitality and..."


    "Wait, wait!" Yura was indignant and turned sharply to him. "How to ''thank''? That is, it is necessary to thank Rina, of course, but that''s not what I''m talking about. Do you think we should leave after breakfast?"


    "And you decided to register with Rina? Don''t forget that we came to her without warning. She not only endured us anyway, but also fed us and arranged for us to spend the night."


    "It was a joy to me. Stay as long as you need," Rina hastily responded, and something like a plea flashed in her dark eyes. "Especially since you are not quite well yet. Not healthy at all, that is."


    "I feel fine..."


    "It''s very noticeable from your distorted face! I can see that your arm hurts," she cut him off and turned away, as if angry.


    "Kolya," Vika called softly to him. "Rina is right. I''ve never seen you so pale and exhausted. We won''t let you drive like this. Unless you decide to return to Moscow with Yura, and leave your car here..."


    With these words, Vika calmly put her finger in her mouth and licked the stuck bread crumbs from it. Yura said that, of course, he would give everyone a lift to the capital, but he would prefer to stay here a little longer. And, intercepting Rina''s encouraging smile, he opened the refrigerator and busily announced that the toast for breakfast could be with an omelette, could be with fresh tomatoes and herbs, or just with butter and cheese. Nikolai could only marvel at how they all got used to it.


    At breakfast Yura again started talking about the study of anomalous zones. He couldn''t sit still, he wanted to go somewhere and look for sensations.


    "Are you going North?" Nikolai sneered. "I''ll give you the coordinates."


    Yura replied that for the sake of the cause he was ready to rush not only to the North, but also to the South Pole. But then Nikolai will have to temporarily shelter Shusha at home.


    "Your Shusha has a tarnished reputation. Who''s going to take him in now? Well, to hell with you! The nearest zone from here is fifty kilometers away."


    "Oh! Fifty is about nothing! I''ll go after breakfast! And you wait here. Rina can''t shine a face, you look like a dead man, zombies will take you for their own and drag you away. And I''ll quickly go back and forth, take pictures, and talk to the people. I can even talk to a mute!"


    "Vik, will you go with him?" Nikolai turned to his assistant.


    He didn''t trust this journalist, even though he tried to show friendliness in every possible way: he cooked and made a damn good joke. But Nikolai felt that Yura was just talking to everyone''s teeth.


    "Yeah," Vila replied, but by the way her hand trembled holding the toast with cheese and tomatoes, Nikolai realized that the assistant did not like the task. "But I need to change into something comfortable," Vika added. "Is there any clothing store or market here?"


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "The market," Rina answered and explained in detail how to get there.


    "So we''ll go there first," Yura concluded cheerfully. "At the same time we will buy village products! I''ll look for a good tenderloin to make a barbecue! Juicy, fragrant, mmm! Rina, do you have skewers?"


    "From where?" she asked with a smile.


    "So I''ll buy it too! I''ll make you such a kebab that you''ll eat it together with the skewers!


    "Aren''t you too settled in here? Shish kebab..." Nikolai grumbled.


    "And what? You said to yourself that you need to thank Rina for her hospitality! And how else to do it? And after the study of abnormal zones, such an appetite will play out!"


    "If, on the contrary, it doesn''t disappear," Vika objected and nodded with a hint at Nikolai''s hand, which he, no longer knowing how to attach, stretched out on the table.


    Rina silently got up, left and returned with a package of analgesics.


    "By the way, do you know such a city - Tivastopol? Do you have something to do with it?" Yura asked her as she poured water into a glass.


    Nikolai froze and, almost hating the nosy journalist for the question, turned his gaze to Rina. But outwardly she was unperturbed. She put a glass of water in front of him, laid out the pills and calmly answered Yura:


    "I had a concert there. The audience met very well."


    Yura began, but Vika cut him off.:


    "Ready? Let''s go! Let''s not waste time."


    Yura hastily finished his tea and jumped up after him, pulling the keys out of his pocket as he went.


    Nikolai followed the departing car through the window and only after that asked:


    "How does he know about Tivastopol and the island?"


    "Yura didn''t mention the island," Rina shrugged. "And I mentioned the concert in Tivastopol in an interview."


    But even though she tried to show calm, Nikolai realized that Rina was nervous: she dropped the spoon when she was picking up the dishes from the table, and put the plates in the sink with a sloppy clatter. And she opened the faucet so abruptly that she was doused with water.


    "Yes, you''re right, he didn''t say anything about the island. But I missed what you were talking about before I came."


    "Not a word about Tivastopol and my ability to open and close portals. I told them about Stas. And also about the fact that I saw creatures not only in the river."


    "When did you see them?" Nikolai asked, picking up the remaining cups from the table. "And where?"


    "Even before you arrived. There was a strong thunderstorm here, and then fog. And in that fog, terrible creatures ''swam'', looked into my windows," Rina replied, starting to wash dishes.


    Nikolai silently took a towel and began to grind clean plates.


    "Very scary creatures!" Rina continued. "It''s like they''re trying to break into our parallel, but something is holding them back. According to Gennadiy Sergeevich, it all started before my arrival. There is also talk among the locals about dying animals."


    "I have no doubt that all this started before your arrival. The reason is not you. Gennadiy Sergeevich obviously knew something... only now you can''t ask him."


    Nikolai put the last washed cup on the shelf, and Rina took out an envelope and spread out the sheets on a clean table.


    "That night when you found Stas at my place, I tried to ''talk'' to him. This is what he drew in response to my question about how Gennadiy Sergeevich died."


    "Hmm... a bottle?"


    "As I understand it, your customer didn''t have heart medicine."


    Nikolai silently put the first drawing on the table and took the sheet with the phone depicted on it.


    "And this drawing made me think that Gennadiy Sergeevich felt bad and was walking to the house to ask to call him an ambulance."


    "Or Stas tried to ''say'' that Gennadiy Sergeevich is your informant!"


    "Oh! Exactly... Did he draw Yura and Vika in the park because you met there?"


    "Maybe. Or was he trying to warn you about their arrival?"


    "Well, whoa, oracle!" Rina admired.


    "I am not the oracle here, not but your artist is."


    "There was another drawing - with a scene on the river. Stas depicted everything as it happened later: me on the bridge, a whirlpool with creatures, a man running along the opposite shore... The old man seemed to be trying to warn us about some events!"


    "I''d like to talk to him."


    "Okay, but how?" Rina sighed. "I tried, but what''s the use..."


    "So, we need to send our journalist to him, since Yura boasts that he will talk to a mute!"


    Rina laughed loudly, but when she caught Nikolai''s eye, she fell silent and returned to the sheets spread out on the table.


    "I am haunted by this paragraph circled in red. Gennadiy Sergeevich didn''t mention the story about the deserter recruit to you?"


    "Casually," Nikolai lied, because in fact this case has remained in memory since childhood. "The recruit was found and returned to the unit."


    "And what happened to him next, do you know?"


    "No."


    "I see," sighed Rina, stacked the sheets on the table and went to the window.


    Turning away, as if an apple tree had attracted her attention, she hugged herself and thought about something.


    "What are you going to do?" Nikolai asked, overcoming a sudden impulse to go up to Rina and hug her - she looked so defenseless right now.


    "After you return to Moscow?" she caught the understatement and turned around. "I don''t know. Maybe I''ll leave. Maybe I''ll stay and try... I don''t know what I''ll try. But I like it here, I like the people I met. And if I can help them in any way, then I will. Your customer overestimated my strength if he expected me to drive through the anomalous zones and close all the portals. But at this point I can try to do something."


    "There are still many details missing in this story," Nikolai said after a long pause, during which he tried to restrain his indignation at Gennadiy Sergeevich, who, under the guise of helping Rina, dragged her into a dangerous case.


    "It''s not my war anymore, Nikolai," she replied wearily.


    "Yes. This is not your war."


    "How are you feeling?" Rina changed the subject.


    "Better. After painkillers - much better."


    "Svetlana said that you need to lie down. And not to participate... in other people''s wars," Rina nevertheless smiled, moved away from the window and stopped in front of him - deceptively weak, but in fact unbending.


    And this combination of crystal fragility and steel hardening in her ''pierced'' the pain points that he sought to avoid.


    "You''d better do as the paramedic told you and get some rest," she repeated. And she took a step back a moment before Nikolai, yielding to an impulse, would have pulled her to him to look into her eyes, touch her cherry lips with his lips and whisper that that''s what the military exists for, even former ones, to protect fragile girls from wars. But Rina retreated, and he didn''t say anything. And he followed her into the yard, realizing that she needed a pause. Instead, he pulled the sheets towards him and picked up the phone.


    Taking pictures of drawings and text, Nikolai mentally summed up the overall result. And a bad picture was emerging. In several places at once, the line between the parallels thinned so much that the creatures inhabiting them became visible. These monsters have tried to break through here, but so far without success. Although sometimes they almost succeeded. And the fact that these creatures have no peaceful intentions at all was proved by the wounds they inflicted.


    Nikolai also thought that Rina couldn''t only open passages between parallels, but also close them. However, she does not have enough strength for a large-scale ''battle'' right now. Rina didn''t say this, but Nikolai guessed that her abilities depend on emotional uplift or, conversely, anger and fear. Confirmation of this is the island and a successful concert tour. Then Rina had enough energy and strength to close a huge portal and return an entire island to our parallel. Her strength is in singing. But, frightened or angry, she can also do the opposite - open a portal and send enemies to another parallel. Now Rina, deprived of her former life, burned out by betrayal and intimidated, is almost devoid of strength. Maybe that''s why she doubts whether she temporarily or permanently closed the ''gap'' on the river.


    Folding the papers into a neat pile, he thought that he needed to work out the clue that Lev had given. In part, Nikolai already understood what had happened to his father and the residents of the garrison. People disappeared in open portals. And, most likely, one of them returned, no longer being human, and killed the remaining ones. It was hard to realize that the father probably knew something, since he decided to urgently move the family to another place. And no matter how much Nikolai hates the idea of new digs in the past, he will have to do it. Because without understanding the causes of that tragedy, it is difficult to prevent new troubles.


    He was distracted by the noise of an approaching car. Nikolai still managed to be surprised that Vika and Yura managed quickly. But then the sound of the engine of another car was heard, and then a desperate female scream was heard. Nikolai took off, flew out into the yard and saw two buggers shoving the kicking Rina into the car. It turned out to be nowhere easier for such jocks to cope with a short, thin girl, and Nikolai didn''t even have time to cross part of the yard, as a huge SUV already took off, taking Rina away.


    "What a quick one!" a mocking voice sounded nearby.


    Nikolai looked around and managed to notice the cute face of Lebedev standing next to the sports car, but was immediately knocked out by a guard''s blow to the solar plexus. Nikolai collapsed on the grass, and already Lebedev kicked him in the side with a sharp toe of his shoe, and then commanded the bodyguard:


    "Let''s go!"


    How long he lay on the grass, recovering and trying to get up, Nikolai didn''t know. Maybe forever, maybe just a minute. But by the time another car drove into the yard, he was already able to get up.


    "Are we fast?" Yura shouted happily, climbing out. "This is not a market, but a treasury! I found such meat for a barbecue, which you will find in the capital of figs! It will melt in my mouth, I swear! Now I ''ll quickly pickle and..."


    "I''m going to pickle you myself," Nikolai spat out angrily, approaching the corrupt journalist with a quick step.


    And, before he could blink an eye, Nikolai forcefully hit him in the face.


    Vika screamed, but for some reason she rushed not to him, but to Yura, who had fallen to the ground.


    "Leaked! You leaked it quickly! The creature!"


    Nikolai barely restrained himself so as not to slap the journalist a couple more slaps, but he didn''t want to be like Lebedev and beat those lying down.


    "Come on," he commanded the straightened Vika.


    But she, staring at him in fright, shook her head and retreated. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, her lips twitched, but she didn''t say anything. Nikolai nodded curtly - not to Vika, but to the shadow that flashed across her face - and got into his car. Taking off abruptly, he managed to see in the side mirrors how Yura was getting up, holding on to his bruised cheekbone, and how Vika, hanging her arms along her body and slouching, was looking after the departing car.

 Chapter 17

    ¡°Does the attention of journalists annoy you? What topics don''t you like to talk about?¡±


    ¡°I like their attention to my work, but excessive interest in private life hinders. I reserve the right not to answer questions about personal relationships and childhood.¡±


    (from Rina''s interview for the magazine ¡®Start¡¯)


    Nikolai''s left kick actually turned out to be strong - Yura appreciated it. How he appreciated, despite the deafening blow, and the situation: Rina was taken away, Nikolai rushed after her, and for some reason Vika remained.


    Yura sat down, touched the broken cheekbone and gently moved his jaw. It doesn''t seem to be broken. But the eye has already begun to swim.


    ¡°Here, attach it!¡± Vika said, sitting down in front of him and handing him a cold package wrapped in a towel. It turns out that she had already managed to run into the house and find something in the freezer. Yura silently applied a compress to his cheekbone and squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was alone in the yard. Somehow getting up, he headed into the house and almost collided on the porch with Vika, one who flew out to meet him.


    ¡°Hey, be quiet! You''ll tear me down!¡±


    She stopped abruptly and looked at him unhappy.


    ¡°Are you going far?¡±


    ¡°Home!¡±


    ¡°On foot?¡±


    Vika looked away and bit her lip, confirming Yura''s suspicion that she was acting on impulse rather than deliberately.


    ¡°I brought you here, and I''ll take you back,¡± he said, blocking her passage. Vika adjusted the strap of her handbag on her shoulder with a trembling hand, and then returned to the house.


    ¡°What?¡± she exclaimed nervously when Yura, coming in after her, stopped in the kitchen doorway.


    ¡°Your boss punched me in the face. As promised.¡±


    Vika, contrary to expectations, didn¡¯t explode, didn¡¯t shout something like ¡®what do I have to do with it?¡¯, but just silently turned away. Yura sighed heavily and sat down on a chair.


    ¡°Well, why did you do it?¡±


    ¡°What did I do?¡±


    ¡°What I got for.¡±


    She looked up at him with tears boiling in her eyes.


    ¡°You shouldn''t have left with him,¡± Yura scolded. ¡°Stirlitz has never been so close to failure. Your boss would continue to believe that he cleaned me up for the cause.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you say anything?!¡± all the same, Vika jumped up. ¡°The jaw didn''t work? So you could point a finger!¡±


    ¡°I''m not a sneak. You don''t think well of me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think about you at all!¡±


    ¡°It''s a pity,¡± Yura signed sincerely and applied a compress to his cheekbone again. ¡°But even so, settling scores with a rival is a sneaky plan.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about it?!¡± Vika shouted, but stopped herself and, wiping her tears, grinned: ¡°A rival¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn''t it?¡± Yura was surprised. The glances that Nikolai cast at Rina, only a blind person would not notice.


    ¡°What do you know about it,¡± Vika repeated more quietly.


    ¡°Then tell me!¡±


    ¡°Why all of a sudden?! You''ll make an article out of any misfortune! For the sake of a hype, you can even get into the mouth of a crocodile! You don''t care about ethics and other people''s feelings! Should I remind you where we met? It''s a pity that I didn''t hit you then! And how I wanted to!"


    ¡°You can punch me now,¡± Yura suggested. ¡°For symmetry. Wishes must be fulfilled.¡±


    Vika clenched her fists, as if fighting temptation, and then unclenched them and sank helplessly into an empty chair. Yura looked around the ¡®orphaned¡¯ kitchen without a hostess, where tension rang like a taut string, and sighed with regret. A couple of hours ago, it was noisy and fun here, everyone was fervently discussing the investigation plan. Rina, while preparing breakfast, moved around the kitchen with a soft smile - so cute, homely and her own in the board, not at all like the unattainable ¡®star¡¯ that Yura imagined her to be. He was so proud that he broke through all the barriers and took a record height - an interview with Rina! He would have known earlier that one day he would be visiting her¡­


    Yura looked at the still silent Vika, and then got up and filled the kettle with water. Vika didn¡¯t move even when a cup of tea was in front of her. Yura sighed again and went out into the yard.


    Their purchases were still in the car. Most of all, they were sorry for the meat - juicy, fresh and tender - in the capital it is still necessary to look for such. Yura opened the trunk, but when he came to his senses, he grinned: a blow to the cheekbone, apparently, knocked the settings in his head, since he was worried about the fate of meat, and not Rina, who was taken away to unknown places. And Nikolai  sped off in such an effect that he didn''t crash on the way! He''s a normal guy, even though at times he was a ¡®martinet¡¯. Maybe Yura himself would have behaved the same way, worrying about the safety of the girl he liked!


    The call from Manya rang out at the moment when he was pulling purchases out of the trunk.


    ¡°Are you going to return the car?¡± sister pounced without greeting. Yura calmly replied that he would return it, but later.


    ¡°When later?! I''m going to miss Pencil¡¯s lesson! How can I take a dog without a car?!¡±


    ¡°Manya, I''m far away,¡± Yura answered honestly, not wanting to get into arguments. ¡°I''ll explain everything later. By the way, do you need meat? Tender, fresh, market. I''ll bring it.¡±


    ¡°What kind of meat?! Where the hell did they take you?¡±


    ¡°There, devil, where you sent me with your contract.¡±


    A shrill barking was heard in the receiver: surely Shusha, frightened by Manya''s exclamation, had again tarnished his reputation. Yura hurriedly said goodbye to his sister and turned off the sound on the phone.


    The bruised side of his face hurt more and more, and he, gently touching the swollen cheekbone, for some reason thought not about Rina, but about Vika.


    Seven years ago Yura graduated from journalism university and immediately got a job in a not particularly popular magazine. He considered his job temporary, because he dreamed of grand investigations, revelations and fame. And of course, he couldn''t miss the scandal that stirred up the entire Internet. The wave, which was then picked up by journalists, was raised by one of the bloggers - perhaps for the sake of popularity, but the resonance was great.


    One September evening, a head-on collision occurred on the capital''s avenue: a car speeding along the oncoming lane crashed into a car driven by a girl. One of the passengers of the second car was killed, and the driver and her minor sister were seriously injured. The culprit of the accident turned out to be the son of a major official, but they tried to hang responsibility for what happened on the injured party. Yura remembered the photos that had spread across the Web, in which someone was dragging the wreckage of broken cars to another lane. But thanks to bloggers and journalists, a serious scandal broke out. It was only in the greedy thirst to get details that many forgot about simple ethics. And Yura, too. It was he who made his way to the medical center where the eldest of the sisters was lying, took pictures and published them. The popularity of the publication jumped sharply, the photos were stolen on the Internet, and Yura felt like a hero for a while. Then the public''s interest in the scandal began to fall, other ¡®hot¡¯ topics arose, and the parties sort of came to an agreement. Yura tracked the topic for some time, but then he lost interest in it.


    Thinking about that case now, he understood that it was unlikely that the parties had come to an agreement: one of the girls at that time was a minor, the other remained severely disabled, and their mother died. The culprit, it seems, was never punished - the case was hushed up. Very few people remembered about that case and Yura forgot. And Vika, it turns out, not only remembers that journalist, but also found out: every publication of Yura in that minor magazine was accompanied by his photo.


    Returning to the house, Yura found Vika still in the same position. She never touched her tea. Yura squinted at her, opened the refrigerator and began to lay out the purchases, perfectly aware of the absurdity of his actions. Who needs these products now? It is unknown whether Rina will return. Nikolai has nothing else to do here either. Vika needs to be taken to the capital, although Yura himself wanted to go to the town whose coordinates Nikolai gave him. But you won''t leave Vika sitting like this until she finally petrifies?


    ¡°Do you want me to call Nikolai and confirm that I leaked Rina?¡± he asked decisively.


    ¡°Why?¡± Vika finally reacted.


    ¡°Well, I already got it anyway. So that¡­ What''s the difference? And Stirlitz, maybe it will save you from failure. Suddenly there is hope?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°About the fact that your boss is a blockhead, since he has not yet reciprocated such a beautiful girl like you¡­¡±


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Vika suddenly laughed and held out:


    ¡°God, you''re a fool if you think I''m in love with him. What stupidity!¡±


    ¡°Why stupidity? Nikolai is a prominent guy.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with it?¡± Vika grimaced in annoyance, pushed her chair noisily and stopped in front of Yura. He glanced at her long legs, which only walk on the world catwalks, but, catching Vika''s grin, raised his eyebrows questioningly.


    ¡°What, do you like my legs?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yura answered honestly. ¡°Why should I not l¡­¡±


    ¡°And that''s why!¡± Vika answered sharply and suddenly lifted her blouse, exposing her stomach. Yura involuntarily recoiled, but not because he saw an ugly deep seam crossing a flat, unburned stomach, but from Vika''s impulse. But she, of course, understood his reaction in her own way and smiled maliciously.


    ¡°Is it beautiful? You haven''t seen my legs yet! There is such a ¡¯beauty¡¯ that you will run away, stuttering and swearing, to the devil!¡±


    She straightened her clothes and sat down on the chair again. She didn''t sit down, but collapsed, as if she instantly lost her strength. Yura gently pushed back his chair and sat down opposite Vika.


    ¡°What the hell kind of love is there? Any normal guy will run away if he sees this,¡± she said dully. ¡°That''s why I don''t¡­ fall in love either.¡±


    ¡°And that''s you for nothing! The crazy one will run away,¡± Yura objected. ¡°And it serves you right. Why do you need crazy people?¡±


    ¡°It''s easy to reason,¡± Vika chuckled, paused, rocking in her chair, and then looked up at Yura with blue eyes: ¡°I didn''t leak Rina. On purpose - don¡¯t leak.¡±


    ¡°Then how¡­¡± Yura began, but Vika interrupted him:


    ¡°But I turned in my boss. So I''m still a traitor.¡±


    ¡°Vika?¡±


    But she stopped him with a gesture


    ¡°Do you remember the accident? Must remember! You also posted pictures of my sister from the medical center!¡±


    ¡°Vika, I admit, I''m... a bastard. There is no excuse for me.¡±


    ¡°So don''t make excuses! We both¡­ leak. My sister spent all these years in that center. It is expensive, but there she receives the necessary care, which neither I nor the nurse will provide, let alone an ordinary hospital! Where did I get the money for such an expensive center? That scumbag''s dad paid off. He paid for both my treatment and Zhenya''s maintenance for several years. But then, of course, the ¡®tap¡¯ was blocked. Only I was already on my feet at that moment, I began to work and earn good money. So I could pay for my sister''s treatment myself. But about three weeks ago I was warned that the fee would double! And for me, this is unaffordable money! Nikolai paid me well, plus I worked as a translator, but even then there was very little left for life. My needs are small¡­¡±


    ¡°And you look like you take care of yourself in expensive salons and dress in boutiques,¡± Yura involuntarily burst out.


    ¡°My ¡®boutiques¡¯¡¯ are markets,¡± Vika grinned. ¡°I''m just getting a haircut at the barber shop! And I learned to do a manicure and dye my hair myself. This is my¡­ outlet - to pick up clothes to look stylish in it.¡±


    ¡°So what''s next with the medical center?¡± Yura asked, realizing that Vika, although she had taken the conversation aside, had not finished yet.


    ¡°What about it?¡± she sighed. ¡°The fee was increased, and I was desperate. I didn''t see a way out. But that same evening, an unknown man called me and said he knew about my problem and would help me solve it. He promised to negotiate with the center so that my fee would not be raised. But in exchange, he asked for a favor: to report on what cases Nikolai has taken on, where he goes, who he meets with and how his investigations are progressing. In fact, I was offered industrial espionage.¡±


    ¡°And if you talked to Nikolai? He seems like a normal guy! Could help somehow¡­¡±


    ¡°How? It is unlikely that he would have doubled my salary! And they threatened me that if I told him about the conversation, something bad would happen to Zhenya. Yes, my sister will never return to normal life - she doesn¡¯t get up and understands little, but she remains my only family person!¡±


    ¡°That''s why you agreed.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I agreed. At first it was easy in terms of the task itself, but it was hard mentally. And then - on the contrary. Nikolai was assigned this strange task, but by that time I was already used to reporting on his trips, calls, and so on. Now I understand that the person I have never seen was waiting for this case. Because when he found out about our trip to the amusement park, he perked up and said that I needed to be active and help the chief with the investigation.¡±


    ¡°Did you also say that Nikolai was assigned to search for Rina?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And how did your customer react?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Vika replied. ¡°He expressed neither joy nor surprise.¡±


    ¡°It seems to me that the increase in payment at the center was actually a means to put pressure on you.¡±


    ¡°Now I think so too,¡± Vika admitted.


    ¡°Are you saying that you never found out who you were leaking the boss to? Isn''t it this ubiquitous ¡®spider¡¯ Gennadiy Sergeevich.¡±


    ¡°I am familiar with Gennadiy Sergeevich. The voice of the person who was talking to me was of a different timbre.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Did you tell me about my blog too?¡± Yura asked with a sly smile, but Vika shook her head:


    ¡°I have nothing to do with your dismissal. As well as the fact that your page was blocked.¡±


    ¡°So it''s Lebedev after all. Maybe your boss is right, and someone on his orders is really tracking me? Then¡­ damn!¡± Yura touched his swollen cheekbone and smiled nervously.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps Nikolai is right, and I ¡®leaked¡¯ Rina. Without knowing it, of course. If I''m being tracked¡­ Smartphones are not only assistants, but also traitors!¡±


    Yura jumped up and walked around the kitchen, ruffling his thick hair. But he was already thinking that an interesting case was emerging in which new defendants had emerged. Someone gave Vika a task to follow Nikolai. And this unknown person was interested not so much in where Rina had disappeared, as in what the detective would get to. However, Rina also clearly had something to do with the main case of Nikolai. Yura''s informant mentioned Tivastopol, near which an island that disappeared many years ago suddenly appeared. Coincidence or not, but Rina was giving a concert there at about the same time: Yura checked. Usually, the performances of a singer of such a level as Rina took place in large cities. Why did the choice fall on a provincial town, in which there is no concert hall? The guess seemed so strange that Yura was afraid to voice it out loud.


    ¡°Let''s go!¡± he commanded Vika, who was silently watching him.


    ¡°Where to? To Moscow?¡±


    ¡°No. To a town fifty kilometers away. Let''s see how things are there.¡±


    Vika got up, took the bag with her purchases and said she would be ready in five minutes. This was enough time for Yura to look through the printouts left on the table.


    Vika returned in wide black jeans and a black T-shirt with a bright yellow, matching the color of her hair, applique. And on her feet were no longer shoes, but moccasins bought at the market. Yura was speechless for a split second: this girl really has a talent to look in market clothes, like in couture clothes.


    ¡°What?¡± Vika was suddenly confused.


    ¡°Good... looking,¡± And before she could say anything, he added in a deliberately stern tone: ¡°Don''t take your mobile with you. I''ll leave mine here too.¡±


    ¡°Then immediately hide it in the fridge!¡± Vika teased him, but without a grin.


    They got to the place quickly. Yura decided to park the car at a poultry farm on the outskirts and continue walking.


    It was a weekday, there were so many cars on the gravel patch that replaced the parking lot that it was barely possible to find a free place. Yura opened the door, and the characteristic stench of droppings and meat waste immediately poured into the salon.


    ¡°Fragrant, not an abnormal zone,¡± Vika jokes, getting out.


    On the territory of the factory there was life or, as Yura said, movement: behind the mesh fence, women in dressing gowns and headscarves were scurrying back and forth, at a distance, waving a plump hand, a pot-bellied man was temperamentally proving something to a thin and bald man. A dirty dog, obviously lured by employees, was combing fleas in the shade. No one paid attention to Yura and Vika, while they noticed any details: a cloud had crept into the sky - was it a ¡®harbinger¡¯ of an abnormal phenomenon? Is the tweet audible? Are there dead birds lying on the dusty road? Did the foliage freeze because the wind suddenly stopped? And is reality saturated with colors?


    But everything remained normal: sparrows jumped on the side of the road, a crow cawed, a dog, seeing a factory worker with a bowl in her hands, jumped up and happily wagged his tail, a stout man continued to scold the puny one. The sun shone like summer in the sky, and the wind carried the factory stench around the neighborhood. Yura and Vika silently reached the village, but even there life was in full swing. Dogs were barking in the courtyards, housewives were hanging laundry, and a bunch of kids raced by on bicycles. Even in the store where Yura offered to go, nothing aroused suspicion: the saleswoman unhurriedly released the goods and lazily discussed some Petrova with the customer. Yura bought some water, and he and Vika went outside.


    ¡°Nothing, Yura. It looks like we came here for nothing.¡±


    ¡°But this village is on your boss''s list! And Gennadiy Sergeevich also pointed to him. So there really is something here, but we haven''t seen it yet. I think we should talk to the locals.¡±


    ¡°Let''s walk to the river first.¡±


    ¡°I hope you, unlike Rina, can swim,¡± Yura smiles.


    ¡°What, you don''t want to repeat the feat of my boss?¡± Vika faked it.


    ¡°For the sake of your salvation ¨C easily!¡±


    ¡°For the sake of my salvation or for the sake of sensation?¡± She narrowed her eyes.


    ¡°For the sake of sensation - it''s in the mouth of a crocodile. And for the sake of saving a beautiful young lady - into the river to the monsters. Your boss has demonstrated a win-win way to interest a girl. God level pickup truck!¡±


    ¡°This method has too many side effects!¡± Vika snorted and became sad. Apparently, she remembered that the relationship with the boss was destroyed and, most likely, now she is unemployed.


    ¡°Don''t worry,¡± Yura whispered. ¡°We''ll figure something out.¡±


    Vika shook her head, disagreeing with him, and pointed with her hand to a strip that was visible in the distance, glistening in the sun:


    ¡°I think we''re here.¡±


    On the river, too, everything turned out to be calm and normal: the wind rustled in the reeds, the day remained clear and bright, water skimmers were accelerating on thin legs on the water surface, a bass croaking could be heard from the backwater ¨C peace and grace! No tornadoes, funnels and black-and-white scales for them.


    ¡°Empty!¡± Vika commented when they walked along the shore for quite a long way. ¡°Let''s go back.¡±


    ¡°Maybe today is not the day. Or the wrong hour,¡± Yura began to reason. ¡°You were in the park too, but you didn''t see what I saw.¡±


    ¡°Listen!¡± Vika exclaimed. ¡°Anomalies are similar, but, at the same time, different. The rides were moving in the park, and everything turned black and white. And on the river Nikolai and Rina saw a tornado, falling birds, a funnel and some creatures.¡±


    ¡°There are some creatures in the park too. Someone pulled me off the fence! Anomalies are different because locations dictate different ¡®scenarios¡¯. At the village river - one thing, at the amusement park - another.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Perhaps.¡±


    They walked in silence for a while, until Vika looked back and asked:


    ¡°What time is it? I think we''ve been walking too long.¡±


    ¡°Half past one,¡± Yura replied, glancing at his wristwatch. ¡°We couldn''t get lost because we didn''t turn anywhere. There will be a road soon!¡±


    ¡°And now?¡± Vika asked after a while.


    ¡°Half past one,¡± Yura repeated and stopped. ¡°You asked about five minutes ago¡­¡±


    ¡°And that''s what I mean!¡±


    ¡°Has the clock stopped?¡± He raised his wrist to his ear. ¡°No, they''re ticking. Broke or?..¡±


    ¡°Or!¡± Vika replied weightily. ¡°We didn''t go so far from the road and should have been back a long time ago. And we are passing by that bush for the third time! I remember it because there''s a shoe lying under it.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute¡­¡±


    ¡°We''re going in circles, Yura. We are not going along the river, as it seems to us, but in a circle!¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, we got into an abnormal zone,¡± Vika grinned. ¡°But how to get out of it now? And preferably today, not ten years later.¡±

 Chapter 18

    "Does your past interfere with the present?"


    "No. I don''t let what has already passed negatively affect my life."


    (from Rina''s interview for the magazine ''Stargazer'')


    Nikolai rushed to the capital quickly, in adrenaline anger, not noticing either weakness or the fact that the T-shirt on the right side was soaked through. And only when he was in the apartment, he suddenly felt fatigue, pain, and despair. Accidentally looking at himself in the mirror, Nikolai understood why the pharmacist at the pharmacy anxiously asked if he should call a doctor. He really looked sick and frightened. It''s a good thing he drove home first, and didn''t rush straight to Volkovs. He would have made a great commotion if he had come to them in this form!


    Nikolai decided not to tell anything on the phone, but to meet Rina''s friends in person. Vsevolod also didn''t ask premature questions, just reset the address and wrote that he was waiting for him in two hours - the time needed for packing and traveling.


    There was half an hour left before the exit. Nikolai pulled off his T-shirt and immediately sent it to the trash. Then he undressed and got into the shower to wash off the blood, and at the same time anger and despair. The side burned like hell even under cool water, reminding of Lebedev''s sneering grin. But the soul hurt much more - for Rina, who fell into the clutches of a monster. Nikolai gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut and imagined smashing his fist into Lebedev''s face. And even better - how the creatures from the river devour him. Not much, but it felt better.


    There was no time to shave: almost all the time was spent on dressing. Someone else was looking at Nikolai from the mirror, because he had never had such an angry and at the same time desperate look before. Coupled with the dark stubble on his cheeks, a black T-shirt and an arm bandaged up to the elbow, he looked like he was just walking around the guests. But if a storm is raging in the soul, and the eyes are obscured by darkness, he can''t stick a sweet smile on his face. Already going down the stairs, Nikolai thought that he had never felt so lost in his life, even when he almost lost his freedom.


    Already starting the engine, he appealed to common sense and tried to remind himself that this fragile girl with dark eyes and an incredible voice was, in fact, nobody to him. So did he to her. So, an uninvited guest who ate her candy, a random traveling companion who listened to a story told out of boredom, a ''savior'' who threw up problems. The car took off, and common sense remained at the entrance to wave a pen. Nikolai drove onto the highway, accelerated and turned on the radio in the hope of hearing Rina''s voice. But there was some rubbish coming from all the channels. And when the famous song of his favorite rock band caused irritation instead of joy, Nikolai realized that his soul was now one huge sore point.


    The road still calmed down the storm pushing for rash actions a little. Therefore, Nikolai was able to tell Volkovs everything calmly. He was never interrupted. Only Violet kept casting frightened glances at him and her husband. And Vsevolod''s eyes, instead of a warm honey shade, took on a cold green: anger was also bubbling in the soul of Rina''s friend.


    "And warn your friends. Be careful. Lebedev is quick to punish," Nikolai finished the story. Violet looked at him again, but this time there was determination in her gaze. She was about to say something, but she was distracted by the sound of the door opening slightly. A moment later, two wolf-like puppies ran into the room. And after them, two red-haired girls in pajamas burst into the room screaming.


    "Marfa! Marta!" Vsevolod called out to his daughters. "Shouldn''t you be in bed by now?"


    "We''re in bed! But they don''t. They don''t listen!" one of the girls responded and pointed to the puppies running around the table. "Dad, what naughty children! Marta and I aren''t like that!"


    A smile appeared on Vsevolod''s lips, Violet snorted with laughter and got up. First, she kicked out the puppies, and then escorted her daughters to the next room. Vsevolod thoughtfully followed his wife''s gaze and squeezed his knees covered with camouflage pants with his fingers. Nikolai understood his doubts: to throw himself into the pool with his head for the sake of saving his girlfriend or to protect his own family?


    "I''ll call Dad," Violet said, returning to the room. And she explained to Nikolai: "My dad is an influential businessman. He is Italian, but the companies he owns are known not only in Italy, but also in Russia."


    Violet named several foreign companies with worldwide fame. And then she sighed.


    "And even though Dad loves me very much and is ready to pay for any whim, Vsevolod and I decided that we would run our own business ourselves, without the help of my Italian family. I grew up in two countries and two families: dad often took me to his place, I spent almost all my holidays in Italy. Elizabeth, Dad''s wife, raised me as a daughter, practically making no distinction between me and her sons. I owe a lot to my dad and Eliza, so when I grew up, I stopped accepting financial help from them. But now is not the time to show pride. With Dad''s help, through his Russian partners, we will try to get to Lebedev."


    "It would be nice for you to go to Italy with your daughters at this time," said Vsevolod. "You were just saying that Elizabeth is calling us to her again."


    "I''m not going alone."


    "Not alone, but with Marta and Marfa."


    "Will you be left alone? With a kennel, puppies, classes and all this?" Violet objected and shook her head. "I can take my daughters to Eliza if you insist, but I''ll come back."


    The argument didn''t flare up only because Nikolai was about to leave and got up.


    "It''s getting late. Where are you going? To Moscow?" Violet caught herself. "It''s almost two hours of travel! Stay, we have a room."


    Vsevolod supported his wife, arguing that Nikolai was unwell and also tired.


    "I''ll spend the night with my mom," Nikolai refused, thanking her for her hospitality. "She lives in the Moscow region, not far from you."


    "Mom is sacred," Vsevolod sighed, said goodbye and left, because the girls were arguing loudly in the next room.


    Violet accompanied Nikolai to the exit and, opening the gate, asked:


    "You should be careful too. And consult a doctor, don''t delay. The wounds left by these creatures are dangerous."


    "It bothered Rina too," Nikolai replied with a smile. "But the problem is not to see a doctor, but how to explain to him the origin of the wounds. Crocodiles, as the paramedic said, are not found in our rivers."


    Violet smiled knowingly. And when Nikolai went out of the gate, she said to him already in the back:


    "Rina is a good girl. Neither fame nor money spoiled her at all. Still kind and sympathetic, though sometimes naive. She trusted Dimitri seeing him as a defender, but, unfortunately, she was mistaken. Do you understand?"


    Nikolai looked back at Violet and nodded.


    After driving a little away from Volkovs'' house, he parked on the side of the road and dialed Lev, which a friend who is still abroad would answer.


    Jaguar picked up the phone after the second ring and without greeting asked what happened.


    "Shit," Nikolai answered honestly. "Shit happened. Everything has become more complicated because it has moved to a level that I cannot reach. Do you know anyone who could put pressure on Lebedev?"


    "As far as I know, it will be difficult to nail him. He is familiar with such people, with whom it is an honor for us just to be in the same room. Plus, he conducts his business cleanly, you won''t dig in. He also positions himself as a responsible taxpayer, an honest businessman, and so on! Although his position is not linked to transactions, in which there was clearly not enough turbidity. But Lebedev comes out of any swamp in a tailcoat and a snow-white shirt, do you understand? He aims at big politics, so he behaves crystal clear."


    "This ''quiet guy'' with a crystal-clear reputation forcibly holds one girl, blackmails her with violence against the children of close friends and forces her to commit dangerous acts. But I have no proof. So you can''t pull my knowledge out of your sleeve like a trump card."


    "I see. I''ll see what I can do. Don''t make any sudden moves yet. I''ll be back soon. Give me time."


    "If only I had it," Nikolai muttered and, saying goodbye, set off on his way.


    Mom, of course, didn''t believe the story about the glass door, which he allegedly didn''t notice and therefore cut himself. But, fortunately, she did not ask for details: she was used to the fact that Nikolai couldn''t tell everything, like his father at the time. Only later, putting homemade cutlets and mashed potatoes on a plate, she sighed heavily.


    "What are you getting into, Kolya? What have you gotten yourself into again?


    He withstood her questioning look, but said nothing and began to eat with appetite. Mom sighed again and sat down opposite. She had eaten little before, and now, alarmed by the late unexpected arrival of her son and his appearance, she almost didn''t touch her portion.


    "It''s delicious, ma. Don''t eat in vain!" Nikolai scolded her, noticing that she picked at the cutlet and put down her fork.


    "The main thing is, you eat! I don''t even know what you eat... probably custard noodles."


    "You have a bad opinion of me and my appetite," Nikolai joked and got up from the table to take the plate to the sink.


    "I''ll wash it myself! What would you do with such a hand... get married and then eat everything homemade," mom said without any transition, which caused Nikolai to grin, with which he usually responded to such statements.


    "Who should I marry?"


    "On a good girl. Are there not enough of them? Well, even to your assistant, whom you told me about!"


    Mom unwittingly hit another sore point. Nikolai winced and frowned.


    "What? Did I say something wrong?"


    "Vika doesn''t work for me anymore. So the circumstances have developed."


    He still, despite his mother''s protests, washed the dishes after himself. Previously, Nikolai always reduced such conversations to jokes. He understood that his mother, like anyone else, wanted to see her son as a family man, with children. And preferably with a normal, not ''secret'' job. In part, mom was right, considering his work dangerous. And it was this point that excluded the first two - a wife and children.


    But today Nikolai didn''t want to laugh it off, or even talk about this topic. So he just said that he was very tired.


    Everything in his room remained unchanged. Mom only kept things clean, but didn''t touch any of the things. There were even some clothes in the closet that Nikolai had worn back in the days when he came home for the holidays. Wide sweatpants turned out to fit, and T-shirts were small, because he entered the academy as a rather skinny boy, and over the years of study and service, he swelled in the shoulders and became much stronger.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Mom had already managed to put a stack of bed linen on the sofa. But despite being tired, he didn''t want to sleep. Nikolai looked at the collection of soldiers that his grandfather, also a military man, had collected. And, yielding to a strange impulse, he shoved the figure of the commander calling for an attack into the pocket of the jeans hanging on the back of the chair.


    In a stack of photo albums, he found the one that his dad had started during his studies, sat down on the sofa and opened the first page.


    Nikolai looked at black-and-white photographs and saw himself in the young cadet father: the same skinhead, hugging fellow students by the shoulders and cheekily grinning at the camera, because a minute before the picture was taken, he and his comrades committed another trick and had not yet been caught. Once upon a time, his father, being a cadet, entertained himself and friends with practical jokes, went awol and to the guardhouse. And for sure, too, like his restless son later, he peeled a ton of potatoes as punishment.


    Flipping through the album, Nikolai thought that he should call someone from his comrades at the academy to have a beer together and remember the past. But that''s later, when everything is sorted out.


    The photographs taken at the garrison where my father served were in color. Nikolai had already flipped to the last page when he suddenly noticed a picture that he had not paid attention to before. The father and three men, one of whom Nikolai recognized as Gennadiy Sergeevich, were in civilian clothes. But Nikolai was interested in the black-mustached man next to his dad. Suddenly he remembered that his mother had once called this man''s last name - Sitsov. Eugenie Sitsov, who was mentioned by Jaguar.


    "Ma?" Nikolai called, going out into the corridor with an album. Mom peeked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel as she went. "And who is this with Dad? His co-workers?"


    "Gennadiy Koshelev and Eugenie Sitsov are colleagues. But this one, with a literary surname, I forgot which one, no. He came from Moscow, and by his arrival, Olya and I, with whom I was friends at the time, set the table. We did a great job, because your father asked us about it very much."


    "Yeah, so this guest was an important ''big shot'', since the ''clearing'' was covered for him?"


    "Most likely. He came shortly before you and I left. And what?"


    "Nothing," Nikolai muttered, examining the man''s pockmarked face and slicked-back hair. He was older than his father in age, and in rank, most likely, too.


    "Kolya, have you decided to get into the old business again?" Mom was wary and hung a towel over her shoulder. "Wasn''t it enough for you last time? Gennadiy then almost lost his shoulder straps, helping you out. He raised half of Moscow to its feet, just to get you out! Who just didn''t call!"


    "This Gennadiy Sergeevich pushed me into the same swamp now," Nikolai thought, but he smiled at his mother and kissed her on the top of her head.


    "Don''t worry, ma."


    Returning to his room, he disassembled the sofa, covered it with a sheet and lay down. But sleep didn''t come, his head was buzzing with thoughts like a beehive, and rage was rising in his soul again in a suffocating wave. In this small room, where everything reminded of childhood, Nikolai suddenly felt like he was in a cage. He was corroded by impotence and inaction, but Jaguar made it clear that today silence was on his side, not loud and sharp actions. Crumpling, twisting, the sheet, but having achieved only that the wounds ached again, Nikolai sat down, reached for the phone and checked for messages. After making sure that no one had written to him, he opened the music application and scored Rina''s name in the search engine.


    However, her voice didn''t calm down, but, on the contrary, hit the pain points with force. Throwing the phone on the sofa, Nikolai resolutely went out into the narrow corridor, where a horizontal bar fixed on two walls remained since cadet times.


    He couldn''t pull himself up a couple of times before. Then he could ''squeeze'' at least a hundred. And tonight he was going to pull himself up to complete exhaustion: until the rage bubbling inside comes out with sweat. Nikolai had long lost count when he heard his mother''s worried voice:


    "Kolya, is that you?" Mom turned on the light and, seeing him on the horizontal bar, exclaimed in fright: "Kolya, what are you doing?!Insane, or what?.."


    She expectedly began to scold him like a boy. And he stood silently in front of her, feeling not so much rage as the buzzing in his warmed muscles, sweat rolling down his bare back, and pain, but physical, not mental.


    "What''s gotten into you?" mom''s voice broke through, as if through a veil, to him. Nikolai shook his head and, noticing the blood on the bandages, hid his right hand behind his back.


    "What''s going on with you?"


    A difficult and precise question! Straight to the pain points. What''s going on with him? He would like to answer himself.


    "I couldn''t sleep."


    "Are you going to sleep now?" Mom was indignant. Nikolai smiled, realizing that she was not seriously angry.


    "I''ll try," he replied and went to his room.


    "The hunchback''s grave will fix it," mom sighed after him, apparently recalling his childhood pranks, and youthful antics, and the case that cost him a military career.


    She entered the room when Nikolai lay down again. She stood, as if doubting, in the doorway, and then sat down on the edge of the sofa.


    "Some kind of experiment was conducted there. Or they experienced something," mom said without any preface, but Nikolai realized that she meant what happened many years ago in their garrison.


    "I don''t know the details, of course. I heard something, I thought of something myself. That pockmarked ''bump'' from the capital - came for this reason. We had lunch, and then left for headquarters. Olya told me later that the four of them were locked in the office: your father, Gennadiy Koshelev, Eugenie Sitsov and this one from Moscow, with a literary surname. They argued about something, agreed on something. About what - now there is no way to find out. Don''t even try. No one will pull you out a second time."


    "And what happened to Sitsov, do you know?" Nikolai asked, not mentioning that Gennadiy Sergeevich had died.


    "With him?" Mom chuckled. "Who knows! I think he left, just like Gennadiy, before everything happened. Your father is back. And these two... Gennadiy helped you at least later, thank him for that. And I don''t know where Sitsov has gone."


    "Do you know anything about the experiment? Maybe Dad let it slip?"


    "Well, he ''let it slip''," Mom grinned. "Shouted so that the walls were shaking! Actually, that''s when I realized that something loud was being done in our quiet part. That is important, but secret. Not in the part itself, but in the forest. Something was built there. But if there was anything, then it quickly disappeared. I think your father came back to give the order to clean up everything. And he was angry to the point of screaming when a recruit disappeared: he wandered into the forest, and something happened to him there. I think he wandered into a secret facility. That''s why your father scolded the sergeant and the ensigns. I don''t know anything else, son. Don''t get in there, I''m asking you nicely!"


    And knowing that Nikolai couldn''t promise anything, Mom left the room. But after a couple of minutes she came back again: she brought him a glass of water. Nikolai paused the song that he had been listening to before, turning down the sound, and thanked him.


    "I thought you liked other music," Mom said. "Good song! I''ve heard it somewhere before. What kind of singer?"


    "This is Rina," Nikolai said, as if that should explain everything. Mom looked at him for a while, but didn''t ask anything else.


    He was woken up early in the morning by an alert. Nikolai sleepily reached for the phone and saw a message sent from an unfamiliar foreign number: ''Clean up urgently. We''re going to visit you. Jaguar''. Nikolai jumped up and gathered himself in a few minutes. Mom was a light sleeper, and when he came out of the bathroom, she was already waiting for him in the hallway.


    "Where are you going so early, son?"


    "To work. The road is long. And I have a client at nine."


    "And you decided to meet a client like this?" mom doubted.


    "I''ll pop home, change and shave. That''s it, ma! I''m late."


    He hastily kissed the top of her head and opened the door.


    "I love you," Mom said instead of the usual request to take care of herself.


    "I love you too," Nikolai answered automatically, running down the stairs.


    If only there were no traffic jams. Just to be on time.


    He didn''t have time, even though the highway turned out to be free. Lev warned about uninvited visitors and that it was necessary to destroy the information. But Nikolai didn''t spend the night at home, so they beat him to it. The door to the office was ajar, and there was a light in the doorway. Nikolai slowed down, took a deep breath and pushed the door with deliberate calmness.


    Two plainclothes men were already in full charge of the reception area: one was studying the contents of Vika''s computer, the other was looking through folders, not really bothering to return them to the closet, and threw them right on the floor.


    Nikolai leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. One of the ''guests'' looked at him and continued to pull out folders. The second, who was sitting at the computer, silently pulled out a letter and poked it into Nikolai''s nose.


    "And the search warrant?" Nikolai asked, even though he understood that no regulations were needed.


    Instead of answering, they pointed a finger at the door of the office. Nikolai, with deliberate slowness, detached himself from the wall and went to his room. An older man was sitting in the chair behind his computer. And even though in the photo this man with a ''literary surname'' was twenty years younger, and now he no longer wore his hair slicked on the side, because he was completely bald, Nikolai still recognized him.


    "Oh, hello, hello!" the ''guest'' smiled. "Do you always come to work this early?"


    "This is my chair," Nikolai replied in an even tone instead of greeting.


    "Nothing, wait. Still young. And I''m your superior in rank."


    Nikolai shrugged indifferently:


    "I''m discharged from the army."


    "And very bad. You could have been promoted to general if you wanted to. If you didn''t stick your nose where you didn''t need to. Would you like some coffee? To make our conversation, so to speak, more pleasant."


    "The secretary quit. There is no one to cook."


    "And you''re toothy," the visitor grinned. "Just make sure you don''t lose your teeth. If you bite, they will deprive you. What''s wrong with the hand? Have you had a fight yet?"


    Nikolai said nothing, glaring at the man. He held his gaze and laughed.


    "Well, well, he''s bulging! I came here to talk. And the fact that my boys are in your folders, so it''s for form''s sake. Merinov is my last name," the visitor introduced himself, and Nikolai couldn''t help grinning. Mom! Given with a ''literary'' surname! Apparently, she drew an analogy with Chekhov''s story.


    "What are you grinning at?" Merinov frowned, and Nikolai almost blurted out about the ''literary'' surname, but caught himself in time and wiped the smile from his face. "Yes. I''m Merinov Victor Dimitrievich. I knew your father, Melnik Sergei Ryslanovich, well. He was a good man. Disciplined and executive. Not that..."


    Merinov eloquently didn''t say enough.


    "Sit down! Don''t worry! Let''s talk like two people who understand each other."


    Nikolai pulled up a chair. Merinov paused, drumming his thick fingers on the table, and then without any transition said:


    "Gennadiy Sergeevich Koshelev has entrusted you with some business. And among other things - to find one girl."


    "I''m assigned to find a lot of girls."


    "Stand down!" Merinov barked and threw a green cardboard folder on the table. "I see, it''s impossible to be nice with you. Do you know what it is? This, Melnik, is your direct way to jail! Where you''d still be stuck! Mind you, the late Gennadiy Sergeevich is unlikely to help you again.


    Merinov emphasized the word ''deceased'', and Nikolai didn''t like it. As Victor Dimitrievich''s inappropriate grin aroused suspicion.


    "This is an old case. And we will sew a new one to the old one," Merinov continued. "And I''ll tell you in confidence that if they hadn''t wanted to let you go then, nothing would have saved you. No worries of Gennadiy Sergeevich! You are capable, clever, curious, could be useful. And it came in handy! That''s the only reason you''re sitting here now, and not there," Merinov tapped the folder with a hint with his fingernail. "Do you get it?"


    Nikolai gets, even as gets. Collecting information, not always knowing why and for whom he was doing it, he was useful and convenient. How much dirt did he dig up on unfaithful ''husbands''? Who then used this information and for what? Hardly the ''wives'' themselves. How many times did he have to track the movements of mistresses, wives and girlfriends, ostensibly for suspicious and jealous life companions? Nikolai honestly performed tasks, received payment and, realizing that it wasn''t worth climbing further, didn''t climb. He was convenient and useful right up to the moment when he moved from a simple ''collector of information'' to the category of ''analysts'' and asked too many questions. And Merinov has now made it clear to Nikolai that analytics is not his business. That''s his red line - this green folder. The ''envelope with photos'' that turned against him. Nikolai knew that sooner or later this or any other folder would be born, which is why he remained a simple ''collector of information'' for so long.


    "We need this girl, the singer."


    "Why?" Nikolai asked before he could bite his tongue.


    "To talk. Ask her a couple of questions," Merinov smiled with thin lips. "That''s all."


    No, not only that. Otherwise, this folder wouldn''t have appeared now, waiting for a serious reason. If he tells Merinov where Rina is, he and his men will snatch her from the clutches of the jackal Lebedev. Only then will the ''bird'' fall straight into the paws of the lion. And the ''lion'' here was not Merinov, but the one who stood over him.


    "I don''t know where she is," Nikolai said firmly.


    Merinov held his gaze on him, trying to figure out whether they were lying to him or not. Nikolai had nothing to be afraid of: he really didn''t know where Lebedev had taken Rina.


    "She''s nobody to you. And you''re nobody to her," Merinov said softly and clearly. "It is not worth risking freedom for the sake of a stranger."


    "Victor Dimitrievich, we''re done," one of those who searched the reception room looked into the office in time. "Nothing interesting. The secretary''s computer has only folders with recipes, cosmetic masks and knitting schemes. In the diary - entries to the manicurist and hairdresser. Twice a week is stable!"


    "What a secretary you have... predictable. And where do they get such fools?" Merinov grinned, getting up from the table. "Nails, masks... It is clear why it was so easy to intimidate her. Did she even know how to make coffee? Or did she just repaint her nails?"


    "And hair," Nikolai answered with an honest look. "She painted a new color every week. But I kept her because of the coffee. She cooked it perfectly!"


    "She gave you excellent coffee, and she handed you over with all guts," Merinov gloated. And, taking the folder from the table, he typed:


    "We need this Rina. I''ll call you in two hours and find out how the search is progressing. Otherwise..."


    Merinov shook the folder and left. Hearing the footsteps and voices in the waiting room subsided, Nikolai closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. It''s a good thing that he didn''t really start looking for Rina, and therefore didn''t leave any traces. How good that the clever Vika, despite the betrayal, deleted all the worked-out information and filled the folders with... recipes. Nikolai didn''t teach her that. He just once mentioned that he doesn''t use a computer as a repository of information.


    But he will have to search for Rina. Merinov will call in two hours...

 Chapter 19

    "Are your songs autobiographical?"


    "Partly yes. I can''t sing about what I haven''t lived or don''t feel. Even someone else''s story I need to first pass through myself."


    (from Rina''s interview for the Paparazzi program)


    "Did you understand what I said?!" Lebedev shrieked.


    How had she never noticed the hysterical intonation in his voice before when he was angry! However, fascinated by Dimitri''s courtship, Rina didn''t notice a lot of things. For example, she didn''t see that in moments of anger, not only his voice becomes ugly, but also his face. She didn''t notice how his eyes were turning white with rage. And that he himself, who seemed strong to her, is in fact a nonentity, since he is able to beat the weak, defenseless and defeated.


    Rina squeezed her eyes shut when Lebedev swung at her, but there was no blow. She opened her eyes fearfully and saw that he, trembling with rage, still lowered his hand. But, without physically hitting her, Lebedev whipped her with insults and threats, making a lot of fun and reminding her that she was nobody, a nobody from the alley. And as she made her way into show business, she will slide back into the ditch. Rina proudly raised her chin, and this again exasperated Lebedev.


    "You... you!" he hissed in her face. "Whore!"


    A runaway bride is not a waiter who made a mistake with the temperature of the wine, and not a secretary who served the wrong kind of coffee. This is not even a businessman who stole a lucrative contract from under his nose, because Dimitri is used to solving such problems. But this is how publicly and scandalously he was thrown for the first time, and he will not forgive such a shame.


    While Lebedev was yelling, Rina was wondering with some detachment about the fate prepared for her. Dimitri acted simply with the guilty staff - he threw them out into the street. He also dealt with competitors quickly and, worst of all, with Rina''s hands. And what will he do to her? Cripple? Will he make it look like the scandalized singer herself fell into the river from the bridge? Rina silently looked into the eyes of her ex-fiance, in which there was nothing but cold rage, and with a feeling that hurt like a healing scratch, she thought that she had once seen love in those eyes.


    Is it love? Maybe just a temporary admiration? Complacency? For a while, Dimitri was really passionate about her. And she took his interest for true love. Growing up in an orphanage and used to fighting for a place in the sun, she really missed someone''s care. Yes, Nuliya took care of her. But the elderly Korean had her own grandchildren. In addition, immediately after graduation, Rina left to conquer the capital, which shone like a Christmas tree toy.


    At first, after each failure, Rina sent her benefactress postcards in which she cheerfully talked about fictional successes: she created the illusion of well-being not so much for Nuliya as for herself. And then she made friends. But they, though they loved Rina, lived their own lives. And in those rare moments when they all managed to meet, Rina dreamed of the same strong relationship as Vsevolod and Violet or Valery and Elvira. How she wished she had someone as real and reliable as her friends'' husbands! Therefore, when Dimitri offered her everything that in her understanding was a manifestation of care, Rina easily fell in love with him. It''s a pity, but she realized too late that it is necessary to judge a person not by the size of bouquets, but by the way he treats other people: before whom he fawns, and whom he wipes into dust. Dimitri reached out to the strong, but with pleasure beat the weak.


    "And don''t think that you will be able to escape!"


    It wouldn''t work - Rina understood that perfectly well. There were not even windows in her cell with a toilet behind a curtain, the door was propped up by guards similar to cabinets, and hungry angry dogs roamed the yard.


    "And don''t hope that someone will save you!"


    Lebedev suddenly laughed, and Rina looked at him with bewilderment, because such a sharp change of mood, from anger to fun, looked very strange.


    "You got into show business, but never learned to understand people! Do you even know who you''ve chosen as your new friends? A journalist who is ready to dig in the trash for the sake of sensation! This brainless idiot in pursuit of the news didn''t even notice the surveillance. He brought me to you! And you also favored with your friendship the traitor of a military man who was expelled from the army for a crime. These days you were surrounded by a journalist, a traitor and a criminal soldier. That''s it, Rina!"


    This time Dimitri managed to hurt her. Rina shuddered and looked at him with an expression that he took for fright. But she immediately looked away, bitterly thinking that no one can be trusted, even the one who saved her life. Especially him. And the trouble is not that Nikolai has not told her anything about himself, but that she has already managed to make him a ''knight''. And he is a military man and a criminal...


    "I love you too," he said to someone on the phone this morning.


    "I will destroy you," Lebedev said now and, grinning, added that first the puppies that Rina''s friends brought to their kennel the other day will die, then ''something will happen'' to two twin girls. And then he promised that Rina''s other friend, Elvira, would be ''accidentally'' knocked down with a stroller at a pedestrian crossing.


    "And all this will be your fault! This will be your punishment - to live with a sense of guilt," Lebedev finished triumphantly and stepped back a step. "It''s all in your hands, bitch! If you obey, maybe I''ll forgive you part of the debt. Now I will become your ''impresario''! You will sing wherever I say, even in the sauna. Understand? I liked that trick you pulled with Serov! You''ll send a few more of these ''Serovs'' to hell, then maybe you''ll save the baby in the stroller. And tonight you will give a personal concert for me! Just wash up first. I''m not turned on by such a dirty thing!"


    Lebedev retreated, and his guards, on the contrary, moved closer to Rina.


    "Remember... The trick you pulled with Serov and his friends won''t work with me! I''m hedging my bets, okay? If I suddenly disappear, my people will immediately do what I have listed. And so you still have a chance to save your friends from misfortune. It all depends on how obedient you are. Whether I will be satisfied tonight."


    The door slammed behind Lebedev, and Rina sank to the floor without strength. There were no tears, they were baked into a sharp-angled stone in the heart. Life goes on somewhere. And in that life, Vsevolod and Violet embrace their beautiful daughters and don''t know what threat hangs over their happy family. Elvira, having escorted Valery to work, gathers her little son for a walk. The long-awaited son, who was born when she and her husband no longer looked forward to. In that life, Nikolai probably met the one to whom he confessed his love on the phone. Vika received payment for her betrayal. And Yura wrote sensational material.


    Rina closed her dry eyes and exhaled softly. Gennadiy Sergeevich was right: all her troubles are because she fell in love with the wrong person. But Nikolai was wrong when he accused the one who manipulated her. She is to blame because she allowed herself to be manipulated.


    Rina opened her eyes and stood up. Lebedev, as it seemed to him, had calculated everything: he had posted guards everywhere, he was looking forward to a night of love... His face, distorted with rage, appeared before her eyes again. Rina smiled and tried to recall in detail all the insults and threats that he had said to her. And feeling rage arise in her soul instead of fear, she clenched her fists triumphantly.


    With special relish, Rina recalled all the humiliations, failures and troubles that she had experienced in her life. She even mentally returned to the day when she, a thirteen-year-old girl, was driven into the attic by local scumbags. Meticulously remembered the vile pimples on the hated face of the main villain Slavka, the touch of his sticky palm to her bare stomach, and shuddered with disgust. A hurricane of anger was already raging in her soul. Rina closed her eyes and by force of will directed him to the flimsy curtain. She realized that everything had worked out for her right away, feeling a sudden relief, as if she had been relieved of the greatest pain at once. Rina jerked back the swaying curtain and saw a wide hole instead of a shower and a tiled wall.


    From the passage there was a cold, damp smell and a putrid stench. Her resolve cracked for a split second. It''s one thing to close portals, and another to open them using negative, destructive energy. And not just open them, but try to escape through them. Rina didn''t know what might be waiting for her in the opened portal. Hardly paradise gardens with butterflies fluttering over the flowers. Dangerous creatures - yes, maybe. What is fraught with meeting with such creatures, she understood. It was enough to remember how badly one of them hurt Nikolai. And that these creatures are not only biting, but also poisonous, Rina knew. And yet she stepped into the portal and closed the passage behind her.


    "I can''t anymore!" Vika said in such a tone that Yura had no doubts: she is not capricious and doesn''t fall into despair, but really can''t take another step.


    She sat down on a fallen tree and took off her shoes. Comfortable-looking new moccasins, it turns out, were rubbed. Vika grimaced pitifully and stretched out her legs, while one pant leg was pulled up, exposing a rough scar on a thin ankle. Yura sighed softly, looking at Vika''s bare feet - beautiful, elegant, but erased in blood. She understood his sympathetic look in her own way, so she hurriedly pulled down her jeans and tucked her legs under her.


    "You can''t scare me with scars and you won''t push me away," Yura said, squatting down and taking her foot in his palms to better examine the blisters. How can he help Vila?


    "Don''t tell me you like me," she laughed nervously, but she didn''t pull her foot away.


    "I like," Yura answered simply and searched his pockets for a clean handkerchief.


    "Well..." Vika drawled softly after a long pause.


    "There is no handkerchief," Yura sighed regretfully.


    "I''m going barefoot."


    "What else! It is unknown what kind of creatures are found here," Yura objected and, getting up, ran his fingers through his thick hair. The situation was a stalemate. The clock still showed half past twelve, and the roads were being driven in a circle.


    He and Vika tried all possible options: they walked along the river, changed direction and went through the meadow, entered the forest. But it was all to no avail. Sooner or later, any path led them back to the river, wound past a bush with a shoe lying under it and led to a fallen tree. An enchanted circle. Yura has already regretted his spontaneous and thoughtless decision to explore the anomalous zone a hundred times. Well, they investigated, and then what? How to get out? Thank God, Vika didn''t reproach him, didn''t argue, didn''t whine, and most of the time just kept silent. But it would be better if she did. She would say, for example, that shoes rub her feet!


    Apparently, his thoughts were reflected on his face, because Vika raised her eyebrows questioningly, and a guilty expression appeared on her beautiful face. Yura hastily smiled:


    "Sooner or later we will get out of here! Let''s do this: you stay here, and I''ll swim across the river and get to the other side. Perhaps there..."


    "Stupid decision!" Vika interrupted, pulled on her socks and, wincing, put on her shoes. "First of all, we''d better not split up! We may get lost. Secondly, it is unknown who lives here. Just because we haven''t caught any critters yet doesn''t mean they''re not here. Therefore, jumping into the river is a so-so idea. Nikolai at least dived for Rina, and not of his own free will. And you know how it turned out for him."


    "Then what do you suggest?"


    "Go on," Vika shrugged her shoulders and got up. "Let''s go slower and... let''s think. Think about how to get out of the trap. For we will definitely not find a way out by blunt circling."


    They again, without agreement, chose the path along the river - to the place where the road should be. Vika walked slowly, limping, and Yura gave her an elbow.


    "No, I''d rather take off my shoes!" She exclaimed, kicked off her moccasins and walked down the road in her socks.


    "Will you put on my sneakers?" Yura suggested.


    "In our conditions, it sounds almost like a marriage proposal!" Vika grinned, and refused sneakers, saying that in size forty-five shoes she would only get worse. But she took him by the elbow.


    "I think that Rina is a portal girl," Yura shared his thoughts after a short pause. It''s better to talk than to wind useless circles in silence.


    "Who?"


    "Portal girl. The one that closes or opens portals. In the light of our adventures, such an assumption doesn''t look fantastic, does it?" he grinned. And since Vika was waiting for an explanation, he continued: "I suspect that neither Nikolai nor Rina told us the whole truth. But journalists have their own informants. And I can analyze information and put together puzzles."


    Yura told Vika everything he had learned about Tivastopol and the island that appeared on the river near it.


    "I think Rina included this provincial town in the tour for a reason. There was once a military garrison on that island! Perhaps some secret experiments or developments were carried out there. Rina either received a task, figuratively speaking, to ''raise'' that island. Or she did it for some personal reasons, and she was spotted. Hence the interest in Rina from the military. After all, this Gennadiy Sergeevich was a colonel?"


    "Yes. And Nikolai, too... ex-military," Vika said softly, looking down at her feet - either she was looking for where she stepped, or any reminders of the offense she committed caused her remorse.


    "Here! It was not for nothing that he was instructed to find a singer as well."


    "But Nikolai was looking for Rina at the request of her friends!" Vika stood up for the chief.


    "And who directed them?"


    "Gennadiy Sergeevich."


    "This!"


    "Hm."


    "That''s not all, Vika. I accidentally overheard a phone conversation... Rina''s friend was worried that Rina could open something like that and disappear ''there''. And now I come back to what else I learned from the informant. Three businessmen who stole a lucrative contract from under Lebedev''s nose have recently disappeared. They disappeared right out of the restaurant where they were washing the deal. And Rina entertained them at dinner!''


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "And?" Vika hurried, because Yura made a spectacular pause.


    "I think Rina ''helped'' the fiance''s competitors disappear! That''s why Lebedev was looking for her!"


    "But this is..." Vika even stopped. "Rina is such a nice girl. Do you think she''s capable of that?!"


    "Whatever she does for the sake of a loved one," Yura blurted out thoughtlessly and, seeing how Vika had become gloomy again, gently encouraged: "Hey, hey, don''t hang your nose! Sorry, it snapped, um..."


    "So you''re assuming Nikolai knows the truth about her."


    "I don''t suppose! Almost sure. Surely he had questions for her. He spent enough time in Rina''s house to gain her confidence, calm her down and get some answers. If I were him, I would definitely ask her a million questions!"


    "All right," Vika nodded. "Why does Lebedev need Rina - it is clear. He doesn''t want their ''secret'' to become known to everyone. And, perhaps, he is counting on new help. But why does the military need portals?.."


    "And who knows! I don''t know their plans," Yura replied. "Maybe through the portals you can go unnoticed to any point. It''s so cool: to lead an entire army by secret paths! Or maybe some special and powerful energy accumulates in the portals, which can be used in any way. Your boss was taking some measurements! Or maybe there''s a magnetic field there that will ''magnetize'' even a fighter to the ground! Figuratively speaking, of course. So I think that Rina is a portal girl, and not only her ex is hunting for her - a fact! And who actually helped Gennadiy Sergeevich: Rina, your boss or someone else - is not known."


    "Then..." Vika began, but suddenly stopped. "Yura! Look! Someone''s coming!"


    But he had already noticed a man walking towards them. At first Yura mistook him for an old man because of his hunched shoulders and gray hair. But when the man approached, Yura was amazed to see that the traveler''s hair had turned gray only on the left half of his head, and on the right remained blue-black.


    "This is the first time I''ve seen him," Yura muttered. Vika either from excitement, or from tightened her grip on his elbow.


    "Perhaps he lives in this parallel. And we don''t know his intentions," she murmured softly. But there was nowhere to hide. The stranger noticed them and beckoned them over. Up close, it became clear that there were almost no wrinkles on his face, and his look was young and lively. He looked to be in his early forties.


    "Hey! What are you doing here? Are you lost?"


    "Lost!"


    "Well, let''s go, I''ll take you out," he said and invited me to follow him.


    The river swerved to the side, and suddenly there was a field ahead, which Yura and Vika had not seen before. A fenced-in house could be seen in the distance. The man stopped and waved his hand somewhere to the side:


    "You''re going there, now you definitely won''t get lost. The path will lead to the road, and that will lead to the city."


    "Thank you!" Yura sincerely thanked him, and before the stranger left, he quickly asked: "Tell me, what time is it? We''ve been wandering for too long."


    The man glanced at his wrist.


    "Half past twelve."


    "And the day? What day is it today?" Yura continued to insist. For some reason, he was so tired that he suddenly wanted to get down on the ground and sleep for a good day. His head was spinning as if from hunger, and an unpleasant chill ran down his back. Judging by the fact that Vika swayed a little and shivered, she experienced similar sensations.


    "May twenty-seventh," the man replied, not taking his eyes off them.


    "The twenty-seventh?" Yura asked, catching Vika''s frightened look. "And we got lost on the twenty-sixth. So we''ve been wandering around here for a whole day. Twenty-four hours without sleep or food."


    "Let''s go," the man suddenly decided.


    He led them through a field where a tractor operated by a young tractor driver was working, cracking and growling, and then invited them to a fenced area. In a clean yard, another man was putting firewood in a woodpile. Yura greeted him, but the employee didn''t seem to notice him.


    The owner led them into the kitchen, silently pointed to two chairs, put the kettle on and sliced bread and sausage.


    A few minutes later, the guests were already turning sandwiches with an appetite and washing them down with very sweet tea. The man didn''t ask how much sugar to put, he poured a few spoons into each mug. Apparently, he thought that after the adventures, travelers urgently need to recover their strength. Vika ate in silence, and Yura fidgeted impatiently in his chair, wanting to ask the strange owner a hundred questions. But he pretended that the guests were no longer interested in him: he went out into the yard, but soon returned with a bucket covered with a lid.


    While the owner, putting the bucket on the cutting table and blocking it with himself, was doing something, Yura managed to see another man in the garden. He smeared the trunks of fruit trees with diluted lime.


    Having finished his task, the owner again covered the bucket with a lid, turned to the guests and folded his arms expectantly on his chest. But Yura, under his heavy gaze, calmly reached for another sandwich.


    "Do people get lost here often?"


    "It happens," the owner said gloomily.


    "And just like us, they wander around for days, unable to find their way? It''s strange, don''t you think - getting lost in an open space?"


    "Finished? I still have a lot of work to do," the man didn''t succumb to the tricks.


    Vika got up, but Yura got in again:


    "She rubbed her feet badly. Do you have a band-aid?"


    The owner went out and returned with a small first aid kit. And while Vika was sealing the blisters and putting on her shoes, he watched her with the same sullen silence.


    There was nothing else to do but thank the man for the food and help and go home. In the yard they met a tractor driver.


    "Wait!" Yura called out to Vika, following him with his eyes. "I can''t do that..."


    "What?"


    "Leave without figuring out what''s going on!"


    And without waiting for her answer, he turned back into the house.


    They found the owner in the same kitchen: he was pouring water into a large mug for the tractor driver. The man didn''t seem surprised at the return of the guests, although he looked at them with displeasure. Yura waited until the tractor driver quenched his thirst and came out. And when he came out, he said angrily:


    "Gennadiy Sergeevich and there," he significantly raised his finger up, "are very unhappy that civilians are disappearing in portals."


    The owner''s mouth twitched, but Yura didn''t let him insert a word, continuing to bluff confidently:


    "We wandered for a day, cursing the porters! And if we hadn''t made ourselves known, we would have been rushing here... you know who. You''re screwing up! We were specially sent with control. And at the very first point we fell through the portal!"


    Yura was getting more and more excited, ignoring Vika''s astonished look and rejoicing at the confused expression that appeared on the man''s face.


    "Where is this good! Thanks for the sandwiches, of course, but you''re not coping well with the task. The portal operator of you..."


    "I''m not a portal operator," the man suddenly interrupted. "I''m a border guard."


    "Yeah, a border guard," Yura nodded as if he understood what was being said. "What''s your name?"


    "Vitaly."


    "So, Vitaly, a border guard, will have to write a report..."


    "Report?"


    "Well, submit a report!" Yura corrected himself, not at all embarrassed. "The first point and such a failure! And are they out there - also lost?


    He waved his hand towards the window, behind which the ''gardener'' with a bucket in his hand went to the other end of the garden.


    "Lost," Vitaly sighed. "I brought them out, but they no longer remembered their names or their former lives. Two are generally silent. Not a word can be achieved. The third still says something in monosyllables. Apparently, they wandered for so long that they managed to lose themselves. Where do they go like that? Here, while they live with me, they help in the household. I''m a fruit grower, like a farmer. Well, for the locals - a farmer."


    "Yeah," Yura agreed again with meaning and, catching Vika''s admiring look this time, he straightened up. "This will have to be reported. Screwed up! If not you, then others."


    "I don''t know where and when they got into the portal," Vitaly was confused. "My business is small - to bring out those who failed. And make sure that no one wanders into the square."


    "It''s bad, so watch out," Yura continued. "I wouldn''t like to file a report, you are a good person. But, you know, they will find out about these comrades anyway. Their loved ones are probably looking for them! Therefore, it is better to report to the authorities before the hype rises. But I''ll make it look like you had nothing to do with it."


    "Yes, I have nothing to do with it! I''m..."


    "I believe it, I believe it," Yura nodded. "But you''d better tell me everything in order. And I''ll figure out how to report."


    After some time, he and Vika left Vitaly''s house, taking with them more information than they expected to receive. Yura could rightfully be proud of himself: today he was on a roll like never before.


    Vitaly couldn''t add anything more about the three unnamed workers than he had told. He actually discovered them a little over a week ago by the river. There were no physical injuries to the men, but they were all very scared. They didn''t remember anything about themselves. But when Vitaly brought them to his house, one of them, seeing a brand-new tractor, perked up. Vitaly decided that in his usual life he was connected with mechanisms and let the man use the levers. And then there was a case for two other guests...


    Word by word, led by Yura''s skillful questioning, Vitaly also told about himself. His task is to control the ''square'' and get the lost out of it. Vitaly emphasized that apart from the three unnamed men and Yura and Vika, no one else had to be taken out of the anomalous zone. And when asked how he became a border guard, Vitaly told a whole story.


    More than twenty years ago, he served in the regional garrison. It was easy to serve: no hazing and absurd orders from the ensigns. Order and discipline reigned in the unit. Vitaly remembered several surnames not only of his colleagues, but also of his superiors. Hearing one of them, Vika started up and looked at Yura as if she wanted to say something, but when she came to her senses, she looked down at her hands folded in her lap. And Vitaly got up and put the kettle back on. Sausage, bread, some pickles, homemade cheese and boiled pork appeared on the table. Laying out the treats, Vitaly explained that he had bought a lot at the market, but the early vegetables were his own. And even though the guests were already full, they had lunch with an appetite. Vitaly looked out into the yard, checked that his employees were busy, and continued the story.


    It was not allowed to leave the unit during the dismissal, but sometimes the command turned a blind eye to the movements of conscripts. They went to the city one by one or in pairs. It was necessary to return to the unit no later than two hours after leaving, while not catching the eye of the higher authorities and be sure to bring cigarettes for the commander. Taking advantage of the opportunity, other soldiers also made orders to the ''breadwinner''. On that day, Vitaly was appointed the ''breadwinner''. He was already returning to the unit with simple purchases, but lost his way and wandered into the forest.


    The recruits knew that important officials from the capital came to their inconspicuous part every now and then. On such days, the soldiers were fed with special generosity. There were various rumors about what these visits were connected with, but they were based mainly on speculation. Vitaly didn''t take these conversations seriously at all. Well, they go from the capital and go. The main thing is to be fed tasty and satisfying!


    That evening, trying to get on the path leading to the secret hole in the fence, Vitaly walked a long way. Worried about the impending punishment, he didn''t even realize how he ended up in a completely unfamiliar place. The forest ended, and the fence enclosing the part didn''t appear. Instead, an empty gray field suddenly appeared. Then suddenly there was a chill. Dressed in a thin tunic, Vitaly instantly froze. Time in that strange place also seemed to freeze. Vitaly walked for quite a long time, but did not come anywhere. The cold numbed not only the hands and feet in the shoes, but also, it seemed, the insides. He tried to shout, but only a thin squeak escaped from his throat. And then Vitaly realized with terrifying clarity that he wouldn''t come anywhere, he would die of cold and icy wind.


    What happened next, he remembered vaguely. It seems that some person found him and took him somewhere. And then there was the hospital where Vitaly got frostbite and pneumonia. Ilya was visited not only by the leadership of the unit, but one day a ''metropolitan'' man with an ugly pock-marked face and hair combed in one part also arrived. An important guest was interested in the health of the recruit and his ''adventures''.


    Hospital imprisonment saved Vitaly''s life. Later he learned about the tragedy that had played out in the garrison. Vitaly himself, in addition to pneumonia, ''got off'' with gray hair, and also received a strange ability that he took for a long time for a mental disorder...


    Vitaly visibly hesitated, deciding whether to tell the guests everything he had learned. But Yura managed not to let the interesting conversation fade away even here. And the man continued.


    After those adventures, Vitaly began to have visions: it was as if a picture in black and white was superimposed on reality. And at such moments, instead of passers-by on the street, he saw strange creatures scattering to the sides. At first, these visions were rare, but over time the cases became more frequent. Frightened by what was happening, Vitaly turned to a doctor. He was treated for a long time, but the pills only temporarily extinguished the visions. Because of this mental disorder, his life didn''t turn out the way Vitaly wanted: he didn''t marry, didn''t have children, didn''t study anywhere. He helped his mother to run a simple household and worked in the field.


    But one day, returning for lunch, Vitaly found a strange man at home who was twenty years older than him. The guest introduced himself as Koshelev Gennadiy Sergeevich, who served in the same unit where Vitaly once served. Koshelev asked about Vitaly''s well-being and added that he was tracking his fate. He also uttered the phrase that Vitaly considered saving: the visions were not associated with a mental disorder, but with an acquired ability after contact with another world. Vitaly could partially see other parallels and their inhabitants.


    Koshelev immediately warned that everything he would tell was secret. But even if Vitaly tries to talk with his tongue, his ''tales'' will be mistaken for an exacerbation of mental illness. And Vitaly agreed with him.


    Gennadiy Sergeevich said that secret tests were carried out behind the part at the landfill hidden in the forest. The purpose of those tests is to make military equipment ''invisible''. As an example, he cited a well-known experiment called Philadelphia...


    "Is this the one that was held in the USA in the forties of the last century?" Yura perked up, because he had read about this experiment. Then the destroyer ''Eldridge'' allegedly disappeared and moved in space, which they wanted to make ''invisible'' for torpedoes.


    Vitaly nodded, poured him some tea and continued his story.


    The tests in the unit where Vitaly served, according to Gennadiy Sergeevich, were also based on a change in the magnetic field. And, as with the American experiment, something went wrong. No, the whole ship didn''t disappear, because the ship wasn''t there. But as a result of scientific experiments, completely unscientific phenomena began to occur: first objects began to disappear in the test zone, and then people.


    Vitaly became the first missing person, but they were able to return him. But it was no longer possible to eliminate the consequences of the experiment that got out of control. The anomalous zone was spreading like an oil slick on water. This led to a tragedy. The case, of course, was classified, but the research continued. It turns out that during the tests, the force of the impact on the magnetic field was either violated or incorrectly calculated, so the boundary between the parallels was ''punched''. That''s all that Gennadiy Sergeevich told, but Vitaly assumed that most of what he knew, Koshelev still hid.


    Gennadiy Sergeevich came then to offer Vitaly a job. He had to settle here and conduct the usual gardening. But at the same time, Vitaly had to report on his visions, make sure that creatures from other worlds didn''t break into ours and that people didn''t wander into a certain square. Later, Vitaly discovered that he could find himself in another parallel for a short time. And even though he left very close to the border line, it helped him bring three men, Yura and Vika into our world. Otherwise, everything was calm: Vitaly kept the house, sold part of the harvest at the market, and gave the other part to the nearest military unit. But recently, some strange things have begun to happen, such as birds suddenly falling silent, darkness covering the ''square'' in the middle of a sunny day, and bubbling in the river. This is where Vitaly concluded his story. Yura didn''t ask him any more questions, considering that he had already learned so much.


    "These are the businessmen who disappeared through the efforts of Rina," he confidently told Vika on the way through the field. "I recognized one of them, Serov. I Googled his picture!"


    "Come on!" Vika was amazed and slowed down her pace, even though she was walking unhurriedly. "Then you need to advertise online, and report to the police. Surely their relatives are looking for them!"


    "Wait. The hype will be terrible. And we don''t need it yet. We don''t know yet how... dangerous this is. And for us, and for your boss, and for Rina herself. If she''s at Lebedev''s, she''s definitely not going to be well! And if these businessmen also ''pop up'', then it''s a real disaster for her. We''ll make a fuss, of course, but later. So far, these guys are quite happy: they drive a tractor and rejoice. Tractor is clearly more interesting than deals."


    "Nikolai''s last name is Melnik. Like one of the bosses that Vitaly remembered," Vika added. "Nikolai''s father died in that part."


    "Wow! So he participated in the trials?"


    "Maybe. Nikolai took up this case to get to the truth. But the truth is already almost clear: people from the town disappeared in a portal that was accidentally opened during the tests. Only they could not return them, like Vitaly. And the rest were killed by the creatures that broke out."


    "Nevertheless, after some time everything calmed down, and now it has resumed," Yura reminded. "And I suspect it''s Rina, since she''s a portal girl."


    "Or the experimenters have started testing again," Vika finished.


    "There are still not enough details. Nikolai knows something, Rina knows something. We learned something. It''s just a pity that we''re all apart now. We''d make a good team. Even despite the fact that some people solve questions by the method of ''right in the face''."


    Yura grinned and touched his swollen cheekbone.


    "But the more I think, the more inclined I am to think that I ''brought'' Lebedev after all. Unwittingly. And someone else called you. Someone who was more interested in what your boss would get to."


    "We''re both good," Vika sighed. And, wanting to change the subject, she exclaimed admiringly: "And you are well done! Cleverly split Vitaly!"


    They decided to pick up their things and go to Moscow. Moreover, Manya is probably going insane from the fact that her brother doesn''t call her and doesn''t answer calls.


    The house was met with silence. Yura went up to the porch first and pushed open the unlocked door.


    "Wait! What is this?" Vika exclaimed and picked up a piece of paper pushed under the door. "It''s from Stas!"


    She showed Yura a drawing that again depicted an amusement park, but this time inhabited by scary creatures. Monsters were advancing from all sides on a petite girl with her hair braided in two braids.


    "Rina!" Yura and Vika exclaimed at the same time and, without a word, rushed to the car.

 Chapter 20

    ¡°What do you dislike most of all?¡±


    ¡°When they try to corner me.¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview for magazine ¡®Citizen¡¯)


    Nikolai received a call from Merinov at home exactly two hours later, when after a shower and breakfast he was lying on the couch with a laptop. In a businesslike tone, he reported that he had started looking for Rina and there was already some progress. In particular, it became known that the singer was seen on the morning of the disappearance at the bus stop. Nikolai described in detail the girl''s clothes: wide brown trousers and a green blouse with large peas - adding that he had already left in that direction, and promised to report in half an hour. Victor Dimitrievich chuckled contentedly and reset his email address. Nikolai grinned when he saw that the mail was not personal: it means that not only Merinov will read the message.


    Exactly half an hour later, Nikolai sent the first report from the same sofa: a photo of a plump young woman dressed in brown pants and a green blouse with large peas. In the photo, a stranger was weeding weeds in the garden, and chickens were walking around her. Nikolai briefly unsubscribed: the trail is false, because the dimensions of this woman clearly exceed the parameters of the desired object. And as proof, he sent two more pictures. One was Rina, photographed from the back. And on the other - a stranger bent over and exposed a voluminous fifth point covered with trousers. Nikolai attributed that he was forced to return and that he had already received other news about Rina. Merinov replied: ¡®I''m waiting¡¯.


    An hour later, Nikolai sent the following report: scans from the singer''s communities with versions of her fans. He selected the most unrealistic assumptions: for example, the trip of the celebrity to India to the yogis in order to purify the chakras, secret childbirth and going to a monastery. Nikolai finished the message with the phrase that he verifies the information. Merinov turned out to be more verbose this time and demonstrated the rudiments of irony: he asked if the detective was going to personally look for the singer from the yogis? Nikolai reassured Victor Dimitrievich by saying that he had acquaintances in India and that he had already sent them a request. He promised to get in touch in another hour and a half.


    Promising to get in touch in an hour and a half, Nikolai went to the grocery store and to the pharmacy for bandages. When he returned home, he sent a message to Lev: ¡®the horse pinched the eggs¡¯, hoping that the Jaguar would draw an analogy with the horse and the surname Merinov. And if not, then at least the second part of the message will be understood. Jaguar was not slow to respond: ¡®ours?¡¯ Nikolai sent a friend a smiley face full of pain to make it clear whose. After answering: ¡®I''m already calling the veterinarian,¡¯ Nikolai realized that sometimes he needed to clarify with words. But, following the ¡®animal¡¯ theme, he sent another message: ¡®Pulling the cat by the tail¡¯. He meant that he was dragging out time as best he could, but in fact the situation was critical. The fact that the cryptographer is so-so, Nikolai was convinced when he received from Jaguar a question full of perplexities: ¡®and what do cats have to do with it?¡¯ And, imagining how Lev read the word ¡®tail¡¯, cursed and decided not to play with encryption.


    At the appointed hour, Nikolai sent Merinov another report, attaching medical statements and photos dug up on the Internet for credibility. In the message, he wrote that the singer was not noticed in secret childbirth. She is not among the yogis either, because, as it turned out, she was fond of Pilates. And there is no news from the assistant who went to the convent to check the latest version. Merinov said nothing. It was already noon. Apparently, Victor Dimitrievich was having a meal, so Nikolai went to the kitchen with a clear conscience.


    During lunch, he found a photo of Rina from everyday life on the Internet, started a new account on social networks and from it posted a concocted advertisement about the singer''s search in several profile communities. At the appointed hour, Nikolai sent scans to Merinov, attributing that volunteers had joined the search for Rina.


    Victor Dimitrievich didn¡¯t answer.


    Lev was also silent, and ignorance, coupled with inaction, drove him crazy. Jaguar asked not to make any sudden movements and wait for his return from Korea, but the situation became more complicated. Everything was aggravated by the fact that Nikolai didn¡¯t know whether his phone was tapped or not, so he was afraid of ruining everything with one careless call. It remained to be hoped that Lev still understood his encryption and didn¡¯t joke about the call to the ¡®veterinarian¡¯.


    Trying to let off steam, Nikolai continued to come off on Merinov and an hour after the last ¡®report¡¯ sent a new one: full of delight that an incredible number of people reposted the announcement of the singer''s disappearance! He finished the letter with the phrase that the assistant, sent to the monastery, prays together with the nuns for the health of Rina and her speedy return. And since not only volunteers joined the search, but also the heavenly chancellery, the chances of finding Rina have increased significantly!


    Victor Dimitrievich remained silent, and Nikolai began to worry. Perhaps it would have been worth stopping there, but he again remembered Merinov''s smug grin when he shook the green folder. So he went back to his computer, made a Photoshop banner with a photo of a bug-eyed dog with teeth sticking out like a fan, and wrote in large letters: ¡®Rina! Come back! Shusha is waiting for you!¡¯ Realizing that after this trick Merinov would pinch him not only in the balls, Nikolai still sent a banner to the Rina¡¯s community, which caused a furor there. After that, he printed out the ad that had been slapped before, went down to the street and pasted it on a pole under the announcement of the disappearance of someone''s old one-eyed cat. Then he took a picture of his ¡®work¡¯ and, closer to night, sent it to Merinov with a note that he had pasted these leaflets all over the district.


    This time Victor Dimitrievich responded: he called and barked into the phone in a voice ringing with rage:


    ¡°Melnik, are you a complete idiot?!¡±


    Nikolai smiled: trolling was a success, but the ¡®bill¡¯ will now be rolled into him unaffordable. Then he put the phone with the screaming Merinov on the table and went to cook dinner.


    By nightfall, the seclusion became completely unbearable, and Nikolai decided to walk in the gathering dusk. It had been two days since Rina had been taken away, and he could no longer stand inaction.


    On the street, despite the late hour, life was still in full swing: teenagers occupied swings and benches on the playground and buried each in their smartphone. A little further away, in a specially equipped place, dog walkers were walking their pets. Muffled music was coming from the night bar. Somewhere a car roared away with its engine. Someone was in a hurry to his entrance, someone, on the contrary, from home - to the convenience store. The neighborhood was new, well-maintained, although it was far from the center. Nikolai liked it here. Usually this place seemed to be quite a safe and secure oasis, but not today, when he was choking with anxiety. If not for the wounded side, which responded with pain even when walking slowly, Nikolai would have released some of the adrenaline while jogging.


    He passed the ¡®fortress wall¡¯, as the residents dubbed the multi-entrance high-rise building, and walked along the sidewalk along the parked cars. Suddenly one of them, the color of which merged with the darkness, flashed its headlights and quietly moved after. The car was not picking up speed, it was going level with him. And when the glass from the passenger seat went down, Nikolai jerked to the side. That''s the end of the game! Either Merinov himself rushed over, or he sent someone.


    ¡°Melnik! Kolya? Why are you so scared?¡± a familiar voice sounded through the slightly open window.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Nikolai laughed when he saw Jaguar in the cabin. ¡°That''s right, jumped out like the devil out of a snuffbox! You can bring anyone to a heart attack! And even an unfamiliar car!¡±


    ¡°This is Yana¡¯s, mine is sick. Are you going to stand there? Get in, let''s talk!¡±


    Nikolai squeezed into the cabin of a small car and clapped Lev on the shoulder as a greeting. Perhaps he had never been so glad to see a friend.


    ¡°You should still be in Korea!¡±


    ¡°We arrived earlier, changed tickets. Once, you say, they took you for¡­ and what''s wrong with your hand? Broke?¡±


    ¡°Hurt.¡±


    ¡°Where are you so?¡±


    ¡°Should I tell you the ¡°official¡¯ version or the truth?¡± Nikolai grinned.


    ¡°The truth,¡± Lev frowned. ¡°Of course, the truth.¡±


    They first walked through the streets of the microdistrict, then drove out onto a suburban highway.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Nikolai asked.


    ¡°To one quiet place where you can talk and eat delicious food.¡±


    ¡°I''ve already had dinner.¡±


    ¡°I''m not. Yana was very tired from the road, and of course I didn''t bother her with cooking. At home, she likes to order all sorts of sushi and, oh, seaweed! And I want a great chop with a side dish, salad and something else! And Yana will have her own sushi holiday today, since she wants it so much. Fair enough? Fair enough! So you and I will have a quiet dinner and talk at Mikhail Svetakov¡¯s Hunting Lodge.¡±


    ¡°Mikhail Svetakov?¡± Nikolai wrinkled his forehead, remembering where he had recently heard this name. Didn''t three businessmen disappear from his restaurant after Rina¡¯s speech?


    ¡°Svetakov has several restaurants, from chain to elite,¡± Lev explained. ¡°And the ¡®Hunting Lodge¡¯ is a place of its own. It is located outside the city on the territory of an old manor. Mikhail, by the way, restored the estate at his own expense. He invests money not only in the restaurant business, but also in cultural monuments like manors, and even in abandoned or sparsely populated villages, saving them from final death. A good thing, I think!¡±


    ¡°Wait, Svetakov by any chance is familiar with Lebedev? Since he is engaged in investing in addition to the restaurant business, it means that he and Lebedev are in the same circles!


    ¡°Perhaps!¡± Lev smiled. ¡°That''s why we''re going to him, and not just for a delicious dinner. So why did Lebedev annoy you so much?¡±


    The road was enough to tell the whole story from the very beginning. At some point, Nikolai doubted whether to tell about Rina¡¯s abilities, because he promised not to give away her secret. But the situation turned out so that Rina¡¯s abilities turned out to be the key moment in it. Nikolai trusted Lev unconditionally, although this thought immediately caused unpleasant memories associated with Vika¡¯s act. But Jaguar definitely knew how to keep secrets.


    After the story about trolling Merinov, the Jaguar initially laughed for a long time, and then just as long berated a friend for an outburst. Nikolai patiently endured a dressing down from an older comrade, but with a smile he made it clear that he didn¡¯t regret what he had done.


    ¡°He''s also grinning!¡± Lev was indignant, but eventually relented and smiled. ¡°I would like to see the face of this Merinov!¡±


    ¡°I can''t agree with you. I definitely don''t want to see him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don''t think he''ll forgive you for this circus with horses.¡±


    ¡°Come what may,¡± Nikolai replied with humility, turning away to the window, behind which the night, lined with the light of lanterns, hid the surroundings. ¡°If Merinov decided to put me in jail, he will do it, even if I fulfill all his whims. He doesn''t need me anymore. I''m in the way. I learned too much. Perhaps he is afraid that I will not stop there and climb further.¡±


    ¡°So you will dig up everything about the trials in the past?¡±


    ¡°That''s not the worst thing. I already roughly understand what happened there. People disappeared in another parallel because the portal could not be closed for a long time. And those who did not disappear were killed by the creatures that broke out. There were photos in the secret archives. And, believe me, I wish I hadn''t seen them! And the worst thing, Jaguar, is that what is happening now is very similar to what happened in the past. Or rather, that''s what it''s all about. I have suspicions that those experiments have been resumed.¡±


    Lev frowned and said:


    ¡°So this is it: I''m almost sure that your phone is not tapped yet. But this does not mean that traps have not been prepared for you in other places. Don''t try to get into the archive again. Naturally, they had to curtail the research due to the failure, but they were clearly going to thoroughly study the result and resume attempts. You were needed while you were collecting and giving the necessary information. Other people analyzed this data, and the reports went to Merinov and others like him. As you understand, Merinov is also an intermediate link. The most important decisions do not come from him. Now one of the links - you - suddenly ¡®hooked¡¯ on the other and threatens to break the whole chain. Be on your guard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand everything,¡± Nikolai nodded. ¡°Not born yesterday. I not only got into an unpleasant business, but also dared to think about everything and dig deeper¡­ But I can''t blame Gennadiy Sergeevich for dragging me into all this either. If I really wanted to leave everything unchanged, I would just refuse the assignment.¡±


    ¡°But you didn''t refuse.¡±


    ¡°No. And because I still want to find out what happened to my father. And because it''s easy to collect information¡­ it''s not enough for me anymore.¡±


    ¡°This was your mistake: when you wondered for whom and why you were ¡®digging¡¯ information, you became uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°Listen, Jaguar, you''re much more ¡®uncomfortable¡¯ than me! How do you manage to get out of it?¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°I know a lot more people than you do, Kolya. Plus experience, plus I''m older, so the blood has cooled down and is not bubbling like yours. I have learned composure in places from which not everyone returns alive and unharmed.¡±


    ¡°I understand, I understand, you deftly beat my trump ¡®six¡¯ with an ace!¡± Nikolai laughed.


    ¡°Well, so much for the ¡®six¡¯! You''ve never been in the ¡®sixes¡¯. Consider yourself a ¡®jack¡¯. And I''m not an ace. And I don''t go there, unlike Lebedev. This ambitious fellow is aiming at big politics, but he has not swung at his height.¡±


    They drove into the estate, and Lev stopped the car in the parking lot.


    Nikolai went outside and looked around curiously. A wide alley led from the carved gate to the pompous, palace-like main building. Behind it, as Lev explained, there was a huge park with a pond, swans and fountains. And the restaurant itself was located nearby: in a building that had once been a hunting lodge.


    Nikolai liked the restaurant right away. In a small room with log walls and a wooden ceiling, the entourage of a hunting lodge was recreated: a fireplace, armchairs, sofas and wooden tables. The floor was covered with colorful carpets and imitation skins. Kitchen utensils, lamps and moose horns hung on the walls.


    ¡°It''s good that it''s not guns, as in the classics,¡± Nikolai quietly commented. ¡°Otherwise, sooner or later, the ¡®Hunting Lodge¡¯ would have to be renamed ¡®Drama on the Hunt¡¯.¡±


    Lev nodded understandingly and smiled at the man in a cashmere pullover and dark jeans who came out to meet them.


    ¡°Hello, Mikhail!¡±


    After exchanging greetings, Svetakov personally escorted them to a table located in a small nook.


    ¡°No one will bother you here,¡± the owner nodded in response to Lev¡¯s gratitude. ¡°First - dinner, then - business.¡±


    Mikhail left, and the waiter came to the table. Lev made an order, almost without looking at the menu, choosing, as he wanted, a chop, a side dish of baked potatoes and assorted pickled vegetables. Nikolai followed his example, but asked to replace vegetables with salted pears, and kvass with dark beer.


    ¡°So, Rina,¡± Lev returned to the conversation he had started in the car. ¡°A talented girl with an unusual gift. By the way, I haven''t heard her sing. Or just didn''t pay attention. Yana may be listening to her, but I love the good old rock.¡±


    ¡°Like me,¡± Nikolai grinned, watching Jaguar search for concert videos.


    ¡°Powerful!¡± Jaguar approved.


    ¡°Live is more powerful. She closes portals with her voice. I don''t know how she does it. But once you see it, you won''t forget it anymore.¡±


    ¡°It looks like she left you scars not only on the skin,¡± Lev laughed. ¡°Otherwise, it is unlikely that you would have dug the ground because of her. Bit the bit and popped against everyone: Merinov, oligarchs and worse. Okay, lyrics aside. We''ll decide how to get her out. The fact that Dimitri has it, and not Merinov, makes the task easier, though not by much.¡±


    ¡°Lebedev needs it to send competitors to monsters. But for what purpose is Merinov looking for her¡­ Surely she attracted attention after she closed the portal near Tivastopol. Just estimate the scale of her power: to ¡®pull out¡¯ from another parallel an entire island with a base, a hospital, and so on! Imagine what else she is capable of with such potential. Only those who hunt her did not take into account that she is now trampled and weak: she was betrayed by a loved one, she punishes herself for businessmen and worries about friends. And, in the end, she lost her favorite thing - she left the stage. Her ¡®positive¡¯ strength is at zero, Lev. But if you make her angry, she can open new portals. Do you understand? Open it! It is unique and¡­¡±


    ¡°Kolya, Kolya!¡± Jaguar interrupted and fell silent when he saw the waiter heading towards them. And only when they were alone with Nikolai again, he continued: ¡°You are fixated on Rina, believing that she is the main one in this story. No. She''s not even a tool.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nikolai was surprised. ¡°And then why does Merinov and his leadership need it?¡±


    ¡°Is it necessary?¡± Lev asked and made an eloquent pause. ¡°No. Not needed. Not-needed. Do you understand? Kolya, do you really think that no one can do anything without Rina? That such a talented girl has appeared, and if she only points out points on the map with her finger, she immediately opens a bunch of portals through which tanks will go and missiles will fly? Kolya, yes, everything is on the ointment there without it! You''re right: they came to her through the island near Tivastopol, took note of her, and watched how she would act next. Rina was ¡®silent¡¯ for a long time and did not use her opportunities in any way. And then suddenly she sent three people to hell. So, maybe so! What else can she do? And when? In what mood? What else would she think of? Nikolai, it can only create interference for them: disposable, but unnecessary. Rina is for them like a mobile phone turned on when landing: it can lead to a disaster, or maybe not. Probably not, but it''s better to turn it off anyway. Kolya, tests with portals were carried out twenty years ago. Yes, there was an overlay in the form of a ¡®hole¡¯ in another parallel and residents who fell into it. The ¡®hole¡¯ and everything connected with it have been well studied during this time, the screws have been tightened, the graphs have been redrawn, the power has been reduced or, conversely, added. And voila! New secret technologies. They don''t need monsters, but energy that can be taken from those parallels and where to direct it. Electronics, for example, on enemy equipment to extinguish! And you can also try to ¡®conduct¡¯ tanks or troops anywhere through these portals imperceptibly and quickly. I recently caught sight of one piece of news. They removed it quickly. At first glance, it was a fake, but in light of what you told me, I began to doubt it. In short, our submarine suddenly surfaced near the American military base the other day. This caused a terrible commotion, because she could not pass unnoticed in any way. The boat appeared, but immediately disappeared and almost at the same time turned up at one of our northern bases,¡± Lev was interrupted again: the waiter brought the rest of the dishes and a compliment from the chef. And while he was arranging the plates, Nikolai thought about Lev¡¯s words. Many things became clear, but it was not pleasing, but on the contrary frightening. If everything is really as Lev thinks, then Rina will definitely not be left alone. And the tests can lead to unpredictable results again.


    ¡°New technologies, you say¡­¡± Nikolai broke the silence that hung at their table in an angry whisper. ¡°These trials have a bad side effect! They break through the boundaries between parallels, these ¡®holes¡¯ spread like oil slicks on water. And from there, along with energy emissions, toothy and bloodthirsty creatures climb. I am already silent about the fact that animals die in such places and ordinary people are in danger. But who cares about birds, fish and villagers? Perish and perish. Just think: the ecology is bad!¡±


    ¡°You can''t stop it,¡± Lev answered just as quietly, looking at him from under his brows. ¡°Neither you nor that girl. They''ll get ahead of you and twist you into a steep horn, you know?¡±


    ¡°Rina still needs to be found,¡± Nikolai muttered darkly. ¡°And I''m already starting to think that Lebedev is not the greatest evil for her. It would have been worse if he had been beaten by Merinov, who, I think, was just a little late. He was following me through Vika and sooner or later would have come out to Rina. And also, Lev, I suspect that Gennadiy Sergeevich had a heart attack for a reason. He knew something! And not just knew, but tried to prevent it. He was friends with my father. He pulled me out of my ass then, so it''s unlikely that he would have entrusted this case without a good reason. I think he knew about the consequences of such tests, and saw them as a great threat¡­ Perhaps he really wanted me to calculate all the points, and with the help of Rina he was going to close the portals. Although it is too risky and presumptuous to rely only on her. What can she, a small bird, do against powerful machines?¡±


    ¡°You yourself recently said that Rina has a huge potential,¡± Lev reminded.


    ¡°And you compared its potential with a ¡®mobile phone¡¯ during the landing of the plane.¡±


    ¡°Which can also lead to a crash¡­¡±


    ¡°We''re going around in circles,¡± Nikolai gave up. ¡°I don¡¯t know the real plans of Gennadiy Sergeevich, and now you can''t ask him. I don''t know what strings to pull, Jaguar.¡±


    ¡°Or not to pull,¡± Lev calmly retorted. ¡°Sometimes you need to retreat, and not throw your chest at the embrasure.¡±


    Mikhail Svetakov came up to their table and asked if everything was in order. Lev and Nikolai assured him in a voice that the food was divine, thanked him for the compliment from the chef and promised to return more than once. Svetakov smiled discreetly, pushed back his chair and sat down. A waiter immediately appeared at the table, and Mikhail ordered the guests and himself an mug of unfiltered beer.


    ¡°I''m driving,¡± Lev refused.


    ¡°You''d better admit that our kvass tastes better than foreign beer,¡± Mikhail winked slyly.


    ¡°I''m going so far for your kvass!


    ¡°How is Yana? Has she already sended the new book?¡±


    ¡°Sended,¡± Jaguar breathed out with relief, and he and Svetakov laughed understandingly.


    ¡°Mikhail¡¯s wife is a former journalist, and now she is the owner of a popular magazine,¡± Lev explained to Nikolai. ¡°And when she rents a room, it''s even worse than when my wife hands over a book to a publisher. It''s a nightmare for Mikhail and me: one man''s wife falls into a portal called ¡®editorial office¡¯, the other - into the portal ¡®my characters!¡¯ It just needs to be experienced¡­ over and over again. By the way, Mikhail, told Natasha from Yana¡®thanks¡¯ for the interview.¡±


    ¡°Instead of ¡®thanks¡¯, let her send a manuscript to Natasha!¡± Mikhail laughed. ¡°My wife is all worn out, because yours is still that schemer! I cut off the first part at the most interesting place. At least Natasha will calm down, and then she will publish a review of the book in a magazine.¡±


    The waiter brought beer and kvass, and Nikolai finally relaxed. He liked the company. Mikhail turned out to be pleasant, charismatic and his own on the board. But as soon as the waiter left the table, Svetakov asked in a different tone:


    ¡°So what''s your business with me?¡±


    ¡°Are you with a Lebedev sign?¡± Lev asked bluntly. ¡°Do you have any business in common?¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, there are no common cases,¡± Mikhail frowned. ¡°But we crossed paths with him. A slippery fellow, I don''t believe in his honesty. Intuition, you know! That''s why I don''t want to deal with him. And¡­ one story happened recently. I don''t know if you''ve heard that three businessmen disappeared during dinner at my restaurant? I don''t seem to have anything to do with it, but everything happened on my territory. And I knew Serov well.¡±


    ¡°I heard,¡± Lev answered briefly. ¡°That''s why I''m wondering if you know Lebedev. There are guesses that he is involved in the disappearance of businessmen. And now he''s kidnapped a girl. She didn''t immediately realize what kind of scumbag she was messing with, and when she realized, she ran away. But Lebedev found her. It''s scary to imagine what he can do to her.


    ¡°When did he kidnap her?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday morning,¡± Nikolai said gloomily and clutched the mug with such force that his knuckles turned white.


    ¡°Is this the fiancee that the press was buzzing about? A singer?¡±


    ¡°She is.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank God, at least she''s alive,¡± Mikhail breathed. ¡°Natasha¡¯s magazine has published interviews with her several times. Nice girl.¡±


    ¡°This good girl is now in the clutches of Lebedev.¡±


    Svetakov looked from Lev to Nikolai again and nodded:


    ¡°Got it. I''ll call you when I find out something.¡±


    ¡°Can you call me right away?¡± Nikolai blurted out. ¡°I promise not to whip up a fever. I just need to know what''s wrong with her.¡±


    ¡°Give me the phone,¡± said Mikhail, writing down the dictated number and getting up. ¡°Well, I won''t bother you. Have dinner. Our dessert is still delicious, Jean has created a real masterpiece. I recommend it!¡±


    ¡°Another time, Mikhail,¡± Lev replied. ¡°We''ll go. Yana is probably worried, we just arrived today.


    ¡°I see. As soon as I find out something, I''ll call you right away.¡±


    ¡°At any hour,¡± Nikolai asked.


    They went out on the porch, and Lev pulled out a pack of cigarettes.


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know, it''s time to quit,¡± he grinned, catching Nikolai¡¯s questioning look. ¡°But I rarely smoke now.¡±


    ¡°And when Yana doesn''t see,¡± Nikolai laughed knowingly.


    The hour was late, but the night was not black with impenetrable darkness, but silvered with stars. Animal-like clouds glided across the sky like silent shadows, driven like a shepherd by the rising wind. There was a smell of herbal freshness, wood smoke with a bitterness of cigarette smoke, and for some reason these aromas brought back memories of the village in which Rina was hiding. It smelled similar there in the early morning, although Rina didn¡¯t light the fireplace with firewood and didn¡¯t smoke. But the wind brought the smell of smoke from somewhere, mixed it, like a perfumer, with the freshness of the river, added floral notes and generously splashed the fragrance around the neighborhood. And in the smells of this night there was a sharp lack of apple blossom fragrance, from this the train seemed incomplete and bitter.


    ¡°Sitsov,¡± Lev broke the silence and turned to Nikolai. ¡°Did you find out who it is?¡±


    ¡°One of my father''s colleagues. I found a photo of them all together: father, Merinov, Sitsov and Gennadiy Segreevich. But I didn''t learn anything else. There wasn''t enough time.


    ¡°But it was enough for the ¡®circus¡¯ that you arranged for Merinov,¡± Lev teased him good-naturedly.


    ¡°I thought I had my phone tapped¡­ I couldn''t openly search!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, don''t make excuses. Dig in this direction, but be careful not to fall into traps.


    ¡°How do you know about them?¡±


    ¡°Real feel. As for mines and ambushes,¡± Lev grinned and threw the extinguished cigarette butt into the trash.


    ¡°Got it. Can I connect Rubik? I''m not a computer genius like him.¡±


    ¡°You can, if you''re careful,¡± Lev allowed. ¡°Let''s go, I''ll take you to a doctor I know. Have him examine your battle wounds. He will not ask if you entered the glass door or scratched yourself on a snag.¡±


    ¡°Will he not tolerate a visit until morning?¡±


    ¡°He won''t stand for it,¡± Jaguar snapped, coming down from the porch. ¡°If it gets inflamed, you won''t be happy. And judging by what you''ve told me, your wounds are not scratches left by a seal. You will turn to the same doctor when the stitches need to be removed.¡±


    When they were already approaching the parked car, Nikolai received a call from Violet Volkova.


    She apologized for the late call and asked if there was any news about Rina.


    ¡°Call me at any hour, as soon as you find out something,¡± Violet asked, as a quarter of an hour ago Nikolai - Mikhial Svetakov. She spoke too quickly because of her worries. Violet said that she had sent Nikolai a payment for his services and, without listening to objections, added that she would pay all the costs of finding Rina.


    ¡°My dad has already arrived,¡± she said after a short pause. ¡°He, my older brother and Elizabeth. Dad will stay in Russia and try to get to Lebedev through friends. Elizabeth and my brother will take my daughters to Italy for a while. Vsevolod and I decided that it would be better for their safety. Dad was furious when he found out that some worm was threatening to deal with his granddaughters¡­ Lebedev won''t get off easy, even if he threatens in words! We also warned Elvira and Valery. Thank you, Nikolai.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± Violet said instead of saying goodbye.


    ¡°The Italian ¡®mafia¡¯ has tightened up,¡± Nikolai jokingly explained to Lev, who was looking at him questioningly. ¡°¡®Don Corleone¡¯, who was infuriated by Lebedev¡¯s threats, his eldest son and his wife. Calling her father, Violet chose the right strategy: not kidnapping her friend, but threatening the twins.


    ¡°Lebedev will not live,¡± Jaguar said with theatrical gloom. ¡°I''m telling you, he''s not an ace, but just a ¡®six¡¯ who barely made it to the ¡®sevens.¡±


    Nikolai got home long after midnight. There were only a few hours left before dawn, and there was no sleep in either eye, although the doctor who took it at night warned that drowsiness could appear from a mixture of injected medications and analgesics.


    First of all,Nikolai wrote to Rubik and gave him a new task. Then he opened his notes, turned on the computer and downloaded the maps. But at that moment he was distracted by the phone ringing.


    ¡°Yes?!¡±Nikolai barked when he saw that Mikhail was calling him.


    ¡°Woke you up?¡±


    ¡°Where there!¡±


    ¡°In general, I found out. Rina really was at Lebedev¡¯s, but disappeared in the afternoon. That bastard kept her under guard. But Rina somehow managed to escape from a locked room without windows, bypassing both ¡®closets¡¯, and dogs, and Lebedev himself. It''s like it''s leaked into a drain. Lebedev, as intelligence reported, is furious and comes off on his ¡®cabinets¡¯. But the fact remains that the girl has disappeared. So sorry, I couldn''t help much.¡±


    ¡°You helped a lot,¡± Nikolai replied and thanked Mikhail for everything.


    He paused for a moment, weighing not so much the phone in the palm of his hand as a difficult decision. But then he called Volkova and told her everything he had heard from Mikhail.


    ¡°She opened the portal,¡± Violet voiced Nikolai¡¯s thoughts. ¡°But where to?¡±


    ¡°Where to,¡± he echoed, and involuntarily shuddered, remembering the toothy creature in the whirlpool.


    After the conversation with Violet, Lev called him next.


    ¡°You know already? Did Mikhail call back?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Rina must have opened a portal and escaped.¡±


    ¡°Desperate girl!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know where to look for her now¡­¡± Nikolai said bitterly, approaching the window, behind which the night entered the darkest hour before dawn. Rina ran away from Dimitri, but no one knew what would happen next. Will she be able to get out? Would the creatures tear her apart? Won''t she get lost there forever?


    ¡°Nikolai?¡± Lev called softly, but did not finish the sentence, realizing that the consolations would sound fake. Instead, he said with poorly concealed sarcasm: ¡°But now you can tell Merinov with a clear conscience that Lebedev took Rina away. Let them unleash their rage on each other. And you will buy at least a little time.¡±


    ¡°I''ll do that. Right now!¡± Nikolai grinned, imagining with pleasure how he would wake up Victor Dimitirevich with a call. And there is nothing to sleep for when others suffer from insomnia!


    ¡°Just let''s not have a circus this time,¡± Lev replied, and Nikolai could hear a smile in his voice.


    Victor Dimitrievich at the first moment barked into the phone so that Nikolai''s ears were blocked. But when he found out what news they called him with, he suspiciously asked if it was a hoax again. And only then he thanked him dryly and, without saying goodbye, dropped the call.


    It seemed that nothing could surprise Nikolai tonight, even the doorbell that rang a few minutes after the last conversation. And yet Nikolai was surprised to see Vika on the threshold.

 Chapter 21

    "Your weaknesses and strengths?"


    "My weak side is that I attribute positive characteristics to people that they don''t have. And the strong one is that after every disappointment I don''t lose faith in human kindness. And if I fall, I find the strength to get up and go forward again."


    (from Rina''s interview for the magazine ''Citizen'')


    Rina had never run so fast before. Even when she was running away from the scoundrels who drove her into the attic or from the evil spirits that almost killed her. She ran without noticing the damp cold, the musty stench, or the invisible hands clinging to her clothes. She raced through the dark tunnel, driven not so much by fear as by anger and despair, which fueled her rage. From this rage, the darkness lightened, and a maze of narrow corridors separated by translucent ''walls'' of murky haze began to appear.


    Other ''galleries'' had their own non-life - unknown and therefore terrible: dark shadows floated in a milky ''jelly'', stretched into shapeless blots or took the form of disproportionate silhouettes. Rina didn''t look back, but she knew that the tunnel was closing behind her again. Energy was also spent on closing it, but this way she couldn''t be afraid of an attack from the back.


    The strength ran out along with the rage extinguished from the unearthly cold. Rina, breathing heavily, slowed to a walk. Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest after the sprint. Tears welled up in her eyes, because she ran away, but she didn''t know how to get to the surface. Despair made it difficult to concentrate. The moans, sighs, slurping, squelching coming from other ''galleries'' also added to the fear. Shaky ''partitions'' swayed under the onslaught of unknown creatures. And in this strange and dangerous world, Rina was absolutely alone.


    The tunnel suddenly narrowed. To the previous sounds were added a growl, laughter and indistinguishable muttering. The walls of the ''corridors'' thinned, and tentacles and claws broke out of the haze every now and then, which Rina managed to avoid only by a miracle. Despair reached a peak, and at the same moment she clearly heard a loud squeak, as if someone had pressed an alarm button. It was this signal, either imaginary or real, that brought her to her senses.


    Don''t go limp. She will have time to die - not here and not now. Rina stopped to catch her breath, calm down and concentrate. Anger leads her down the wrong path. To get out, she doesn''t need to ''lay'' a tunnel, but create a door between this and the familiar world. And this requires a different mood.


    There weren''t many truly happy moments in her life. Even thoughts of successful concerts were bitter now: she has no new performances, and will not. The memories of his former life caused a dangerous melancholy. Rina lost her vigilance and barely managed to dodge the tentacles with the suction cups dripping with cloudy liquid. What an abomination! We must not delay, we must not get discouraged!


    She took a quick step again and at the same time pulled a ghostly thread of one of the fresh memories: the kitchen of her village house is filled with the aromas of cooking food and the noise of voices. Vika sets the table, Yura stirs the sauce and says something, Nikolai listens to him with an ironic smile...


    Rina wanted to remember the atmosphere of the evening when her house was crowded and fun, but for some reason she thought only about Nikolai. Carefully bypassing the painful memory of how he confessed his love to someone, she stopped at other moments: how funny she tried to keep incognito, hiding her face behind cosmetic masks, as Nikolai carried her in his arms from the river to the car. How he looked at her, thinking she was distracted. How his green-brown eyes darkened with indignation as he listened to her story. And how a smile made his handsome face even more attractive.


    Thoughts about Nikolai relieved fear, gave confidence and filled with strength - bright and hot. Finally calming down, Rina focused on getting out of this place. And at that moment, when something plopped heavily and wetly behind her, she saw a door made of cracked and dark wood from time to time, through the slightly open gap of which light was making its way. Rina rushed to this door and pulled on herself, and when she was on the other side, she lowered the heavy bolt, locking the exit.


    She only had the strength to walk to the nearest shop. Rina sat down, gripped the rough splintery crossbar of the seat with her fingers and closed her eyes. The surrounding silence did not frighten, but on the contrary, seemed blessed, as did the wind blowing over his face. Rina was shivering, but the night cold of the street seemed softer than the ''gallery'' of the grave. And yet she was cold. Rina opened her eyes with difficulty. She didn''t run away from Lebedev and come out alive from the otherworldly tunnels to freeze on the street!


    Rina got up on her weak legs, leaned her hand on the back of the bench so as not to lose her balance, and looked around. The surroundings, like cotton wool, were shrouded in misty twilight. The moon loomed dimly in the low sky. The square was illuminated by the windows of houses. There wasn''t a soul here at this hour. But silhouettes moved in the milky-yellow, as if creamy, windows behind translucent curtains. Rina smiled faintly, only now beginning to realize that the danger had passed.


    Having gathered her strength for the last push: to go out to people and ask for help, she headed across the spruce square to a squat building in the distance with a bright sign ''Supermarket''.


    When she reached the road, a company of soldiers blocked her way. The recruits greeted Rina''s appearance with loud cheers. Someone stretched out his skinny neck to get a better look at the stranger, someone whistled and made a greasy joke. Rina kept silent, so as not to provoke even more young guys, who in the twilight seemed the same, like figures cut out of cardboard: almost the same height, wearing hats on shaved heads and identical overcoats. The presence of soldiers in the city didn''t bother Rina: apparently, the tunnels led her to some kind of garrison. It''ll get out! The main thing is that she is in her own country.


    The company marched past. But the guy who was closing the formation looked around and suddenly grinned like an animal: he lifted his upper lip and bared pointed fangs. Rina recoiled in fright, and then quickly crossed the road and ran into the store.


    It was as cold in the supermarket as it was outside, although the store was small, with only two departments. Rina went to the bakery, where a saleswoman was standing behind the counter. But as soon as she came up, all the customers turned to her.


    Embarrassed by such attention, Rina decided to wait for a skinny and long-as-a-pole saleswoman to serve the queue. Pretending to be interested in the assortment of gingerbread and rolls, she stopped a little further away. But the queue continued to follow her, at once forgetting about their business and conversations. Something was wrong here. Rina glanced briefly at the first customer in line in a red beret and a maroon coat with shiny buttons. The woman froze with a loaf of bread raised over the open bag, and the saleswoman with an outstretched palm on which coins were lying. And both were looking at Rina. Horrified by a sudden guess, she looked around the queue and made sure that everyone except her was wearing warm clothes: winter jackets, fur coats and coats.


    How much time has passed in the tunnels?!


    "Wh... what day is it today? A date? A month?" Rina asked in a voice hoarse from the horror that had come over her.


    The queue was warily silent, only the man in the blue jacket suddenly lifted up his lip, exposing sharp teeth, and moved his nose as if sniffing.


    "Alive," he said.


    And the queue, suddenly dying off, rustled happily:


    "Alive, alive, alive..."


    "I''m sorry," Rina muttered in fright, backing away to the exit. Once on the street, she, unable to remember herself from fear, ran down a straight street: past the same type of five-story buildings - into the inky darkness. Now the silhouettes flashing in the lighted windows, as if in giant aquariums, did not calm, but frightened. Where is she? Where did it get to?! This is not a real city! Even though it disguises itself as such!


    Rina ran again at the end of her strength, driven by predatory darkness and sounds: the creaking of a swing on an empty playground, the shuffling tramp of soldiers'' boots, the howling of dogs. The street ended without warning: behind another typical five-story building there was a vacant lot, at the end of which was a white concrete fence. In the dim light of a single lantern, Rina saw a piece of barbed wire snaking over the fence and a five-pointed star painted on the gate. There was no need for other explanations: there was a military unit behind the wasteland. Rina clenched her fists and allowed despair to escape with a low cry. The place she found herself in was more frightening than the corridors. Apparently, thinking about Nikolai, she tuned in to his ''wave'', and went to the wrong side of the military town where he used to live and about which he told her.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Rina screamed again, this time out of annoyance. There were no forces to open a new portal. How could this happen? There was nothing to do but turn around and go at random in the other direction.


    The road of broken asphalt brought Rina to a stop. She didn''t meet anyone else on the way, and that calmed her down a little. Maybe at dawn the town will emerge from the twilight and reveal its real side - albeit ugly because of the desolation, deserted, but real! Just to wait for morning. Freeze, quiet down, become invisible. Rina climbed onto the bench with her legs, buried her chin in her knees and hugged them with her arms.


    It seems that despite the cold, she dozed off. She was awakened by a muffled rumble and light cutting through the darkness. Growling, snorting and flashing yellow eyes-headlights, an old bus rolled up to the stop and opened the front door with a groan. Warmth breathed from the inside, which beckoned Rina, who was frozen to the bone. She approached, took hold of the handrail and put her foot on the step. The driver turned his head to her and waited in silence.


    "Get up!" Someone croaked impatiently in a hoarse, cold voice. Rina turned around sharply and saw that a conductor in a bulky jacket and a crumpled beret was briskly making his way to her through an absolutely empty cabin.


    "Let''s go for a ride," he wheezed and, grinning, flashed his eyes. The door slammed shut behind him, cutting off all possibilities for escape. And the bus, despite Rina''s protesting cry, started moving.


    "Kolya, can I come in?" Vika asked, because he kept holding her on the threshold.


    Nikolai looked at her for a moment, as if doubting, and then nodded curtly and stood aside.


    "You didn''t sleep," she stated the fact, glancing at his jeans and T-shirt.


    "What do you want?" Nikolai asked impolitely. Vika, usually businesslike and brisk, was now embarrassed, hesitated and looked into his eyes with a pleading expression.


    "To talk."


    "You chose the wrong time, Vika. I was already going to bed and...''


    "Here, look," she interrupted him and handed him a piece of paper.


    Nikolai automatically glanced at the drawing and asked in a changed tone:


    "Did Stas draw this? When?!"


    "I don''t know for sure, because we''ve been a long time... It doesn''t matter! Stas slipped this drawing under the door of Rina''s house while we were away. Kolya, we''ll tell you everything! Yura is downstairs, parking."


    But Nikolai didn''t answer, because he was already hastily lacing up his sneakers. Then he pulled his jacket off the hanger and grabbed the keys from the nightstand.


    "It''s not his fault, it''s... me," continued Vika, jumping out after him on the playground. "That is, not all of me, but... we''ll tell you!"


    "You''ll tell me on the way," Nikolai snapped, running down the stairs. Vika didn''t lag behind, continuing to chatter something on the move. Nikolai pushed the door and almost collided with the journalist.


    "Be quiet!" Yura exclaimed, barely managing to jump away. "Almost gave me a second black eye!"


    "Sorry," Nikolai muttered, pushed Yura aside with his shoulder and rushed to his car parked nearby.


    "Where are you going?!"


    "Kolya, are you going to an amusement park? Now?!" Vika was horrified.


    "And when?! Rina has disappeared again! And now I know where she is."


    "Wait!" Yura stopped him. "We''re with you!"


    Nikolai hesitated for a moment. If they all go in his car, it''s good for him. It''s a long way. He had already spent a lot of time driving, had not slept for a long time, was injured, besides, he drank two mugs of beer, and the doctor injected him with an analgesic. Yura has also come a long way and is tired. But if they go together, they can change at the wheel.


    "We''ll each go in our own car," Yura said ahead of him. "Because if I understood everything correctly about Rina, I will need mine. Vika will go with you and tell you everything on the way! I''m behind you."


    Yura spoke so confidently, as if he already had a plan. Therefore, Nikolai didn''t waste time and agreed. Vika shyly took a seat next to him. And before she even had time to fasten her seat belt, he had already started from the spot.


    Nikolai was silent all the way, and Vika, on the contrary, said: she confessed that she was spying on him and why. Then she assured him that she had not betrayed Rina. But, perhaps, the singer''s location was tracked by the geolocation of Vika or Yura''s smartphones. That''s why they left their phones in the house.


    Nikolai didn''t say anything in response. He didn''t care about the assistant and her confessions at all right now. He already knew that she was ''leaking'' him to Merinov. And to whom Lebedev ''sat on the tail'' is no longer important, because now the main thing is to help out Rina..


    Vika sighed and, not waiting for Nikolai''s reaction, continued. This time she told about her and Yura''s ''adventures'' and a meeting with the border guard Vitaly. And again Nikolai listened in silence. The road seemed to have absorbed all his attention. But, changing lanes from one row to another in order to overtake the leisurely drivers, and checking whether Yura was not lagging behind, he mentally summarized everything. The story of the former assistant about the experiment confirmed guesses of Nikolai, composed of separate puzzles. And the story of the escaped recruit complemented the overall picture.


    The fate of the last person involved, Eugenie Sitsov, remained unknown. Why did Lev focus on him? Did the famous Jaguar''s ''real feel'' work? Sitsov was still a dark horse: who is he, why did he go to South Korea in the past, where did he disappear to? Did Gennadiy Sergeevich survive in the end, or did he die like Nikolai''s father?


    "Kolya, don''t be silent!" Vika pleaded, unable to stand the tense silence that hung in the car. "Shout, tell me that I''m a traitor or something, but don''t be silent! Don''t finish me off, please..."


    He glanced at her briefly, noticed that Vika was almost crying, and relented.


    "Vika... Let''s not cry. I''m not silent because I''m mad at you, but because I''m thinking. And in general, of course, it was necessary to talk to me first of all. You''re a smart girl, Vika, and here you''ve been terribly stupid."


    "Fearing for a dear person is not so stupid," she muttered. And Nikolai unexpectedly agreed with her, although a few days ago he thought that he had practically no ''pain points''. Only the mother.


    "Rina ran away from Lebedev so that no one noticed it, but she was seriously guarded. I suspect she opened a portal. But no one knows where she will end up."


    "Do you think Stas told you where to look for her?"


    "I hope so."


    Nikolai hoped for it so much. Picking up Rina from an abandoned park and taking her to a safe place didn''t seem like a difficult task. It will be difficult if Rina is not there. This will mean that she has not been able to get out of the wrong world. And he didn''t know how to get there.


    Lost in thought, he did not immediately notice that the headlights were flashing behind him. Only when the car overtook him and honked loudly, Nikolai started up and parked on the side of the road, deciding that Yura was asking for a rest. But the journalist jumped out of the car and ran up to him:


    "Did Vika tell you everything? About portals, border guards and trials? About the fact that Rina is a portal girl, I already know."


    "Yes, I did. Rina ran away from Lebedev so that no one understood how she did it."


    "She escaped through the portal," Yura said with confidence. "I''ll bet. But we won''t get her out without a border guard! We need Vitaly. There''s an intersection over there. If I follow Vitaly from here, I will significantly shorten the way. Which means we''ll gain time. Vika and I spent almost a day in another parallel and were just very tired. But the businessmen walked there full insane, you know? I''ll regroup with you later!"


    Nikolai didn''t object, but asked Yura to take Vita with him, because at night in an abandoned park it is unknown who and what they might encounter. And with Yura, she will be safe.


    "And be careful. Don''t drive so fast!"


    "Who would say," Yura grinned, hinting that before that they were racing at an exorbitant speed.


    "And this... Sorry for the blow!" Nikolai shouted at his back. "I was wrong."


    Yura didn''t answer, just, without turning around, threw up his fist and opened the door of his car to Vika.


    They parted at the intersection. Yura ''saluted'' with his headlights and sped off. Nikolai also increased his speed. The navigator indicated that there was less than a quarter of an hour to go to the right place. And there is no plan.


    Nikolai parked as close to the gate as possible, pulled a flashlight out of the trunk and headed deep into the dark park.


    "Rina?" he called, guiding the beam and hoping to make out a familiar figure in the swaying shadows. But the park was silent, like a predator lurking in ambush. Only dry branches crackled under the soles of sneakers, and gravel rustled.


    Nikolai reached the center, walked around the frozen rides, but met no one. The park was silent, and in the light of the flashlight, the rides resembled creepy skeletons.


    Nikolai took out his smartphone and saw that he had been here for less than half an hour. Yura is unlikely to have already reached the right place. Besides, he will need time to persuade Vitaly to come here. Nikolai''s attention was attracted by the icon of a new message.


    Rubik sent the dates and locations of the tests. It looks like he hacked a top-secret and super isolated military network. The guy is brilliant and... desperate. Nikolai remembered Lev''s warning about traps and sent along with gratitude the phrase: ''Don''t get caught''. However, Rubik is certainly cautious even without his warnings.


    Nikolai sat down on a bench and looked through the short list, looking for the coordinates of the place closest to the park. The date and time of the last test roughly coincided with Yura''s visit to the park. That''s why the journalist was on the other ''side''. And Yura and Vika arrived later. Perhaps by that time the ''hole'' had already been patched up.


    He decided to study the list in detail at home. The hacker never answered, so Nikolai called him.


    "Hello," came a lazy greeting in response.


    "Thank you!"


    "Yeah," Rubik replied, continuing to drawl the words. "What else?"


    "One person is interested. I want to know what happened to him."


    "I''m not a search service for you," Rubik chuckled into the phone, but then added: "Give me full name and in general, who is this."


    "Sitsov Eugenie," Nikolai replied and told everything he knew.


    "Okie-ee," Rubik drawled and, without saying goodbye, disconnected.


    Nikolai walked around the park again. The darkness gradually dissolved into the coming dawn, and the outlines of the rides became clearer. However, he didn''t extinguish the flashlight in the hope that Rina, if she was here, would see the light. For the same reason, he kept calling her, but there was no answer.


    Nikolai went to the racetrack and sat down on the edge of the car to rest a little. Lost in thought, he glanced at the dark bulk of the Ferris wheel and was startled to see a silhouette in one of the booths. Nikolai immediately took off. But when he ran up to the attraction, there was no one in that booth. In this place, where the boundary between the parallels is broken, he can expect anything. Therefore, Nikolai stayed to watch the Ferris wheel.

 Chapter 22

    ¡°Do you like risk?¡±


    ¡°Only justified and within reasonable limits. I will not put my own or someone else''s life in danger for the sake of thrills. But for the sake of my own or someone else''s salvation, I''m ready to jump off the bridge at least.¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview for the Constellation portal)


    With a loud snort, the bus moved off, and Rina clutched the cold handrail in horror.


    ¡°Come on, sit down,¡± the conductor giggled nastily, exposing sharp fangs and sniffing. ¡°Sweet, lively girl¡­¡±


    Rina pressed her shoulder blades against the door, but the creature, although it did not take its carnivorous gaze off her and grinned predatorily, kept at a distance.


    Cutting through the twilight with the dim light of the headlights, the bus drove forward, taking Rina from one terrible place to another. Her mouth was dry from fear. It seemed that all the words stuck to the larynx. However, don''t shout, who will help her here? Here is such an inglorious ending to her short life ¨C as a reckoning for what she has done.


    The conductor did not take his eyes off Rina all the way, but he was no longer grinning, but for some reason worried: he moved his nose and fiddled with his long yellow fingers with a pot-bellied bag made of cracked dermatin.


    ¡°Sweet girl. Sweet. The grapes are green,¡± he muttered rapidly, fidgeting in the seat, then trying to get up, then leaning back in the seat again. Rina didn¡¯t understand what was happening, it seemed that some force was not letting the conductor to her. He began to get angry and no longer just glared at her, but also growled like an animal.


    ¡°Amusement park!¡± the driver announced in a squeaky voice, like unoiled hinges. The bus braked with a loud groan. Rina barely had time to recoil from the doors as they swung open with a bang.


    ¡°Have fun, girl. Take a ride,¡± the conductor growled goodbye when she had already jumped to the ground. The doors slammed shut, the terrible bus started moving, and Rina exhaled noisily.


    However, the hope of salvation was not justified. As soon as she stepped into the park, the gates slammed shut by themselves. And no matter how Rina pulled them, they never gave in. She had no choice but to go to the place where the rides worked, laughter and music sounded.


    Rina walked along the dimly lit paths and couldn¡¯t get rid of the feeling that someone was sneaking behind her. But looking around, she didn''t see anyone. It was as cold here as in the town. The darkness hiding the lawns seemed alive. Rina, shivering not so much from the cold as from fear, walked forward along the path, afraid to get off it and be dragged by invisible monsters. Out of the fire and into the flames! Besides, the wrong world, like a vampire, pulled the remnants of her strength out of her.


    The path led to the center of the park, and Rina seemed to be on a brightly lit stage. At her appearance, the crowd of idlers suddenly parted, laughter and voices stopped at once. The eyes of adults and children were directed at Rina. Hunger was clearly visible in their sparkling eyes. But no one dared to approach her, on the contrary, when she walked through the parted crowd, they recoiled from her. And even though these creatures were muttering, sniffing and grinning, Rina realized that they wouldn¡¯t touch her. She got the feeling they thought she was dangerous.


    She reached the Ferris wheel, which, at her appearance, suddenly trembled and began to move. Rina went behind the fence and climbed into one of the booths. The creatures remained below, no one followed her, and Rina, closing her eyes, exhaled with relief. It seems she got a little break and time to try to open a new portal. She had almost no strength left, so she had to act for sure. The booth was slowly rising, and Rina, looking down at the park from a height, imagined it to be different: deserted, silent, with signs destroyed by bad weather and attractions frozen forever. The way he was in reality. If she gets out into that deceptively terrifying abandoned park from this-scary-festive, inhabited by the undead, she will be saved. The wheel made almost a full turn when Rina finally gathered the courage for the last jerk and imagined how she took off the safety chain and stepped out of the cabin onto the cracked asphalt, through the cracks of which tree sprouts were making their way. She imagined that there was no one behind the rusted fence, the wind nearby was fluttering a half-torn signboard, and a sparrow was jumping on a broken bench. Rina visualized the park so clearly in its unsightly real form that she really saw it that way ¨C through the gap that appeared between the parallels. But at the same second, the wheel suddenly shuddered and froze, as if it had been abruptly stopped. Rina looked down in fright and saw that it was several meters to the ground - there was no way to jump off. The crowd of undead below became excited. Realizing that she had lost her only chance of salvation, Rina moaned in despair.


    Upset, she didn¡¯t immediately notice that she was no longer alone in the booth. Therefore, when she heard a muffled voice, she screamed in fright and stared in horror at the man sitting opposite.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked abruptly.


    ¡°Friend,¡± the stranger said and grinned, revealing sharp teeth.


    ¡°Rina?¡± Nikolai called, not taking his eyes off the Ferris wheel. The booth hanging a few meters from the ground was empty, but he recognized Rina, even though he had only seen her for a moment. Stas gave the right hint. How Rina got here is a secondary question, it remains to figure out how to get her out from the wrong side, where there is no way for Nikolai.


    He measured the distance with his eyes: it was high, but it was possible, as if on a rope, to climb up the curved ¡®pipe¡¯ to which the ¡®cradles¡¯ were attached.


    Nikolai calculated the distance once again and mentally imagined each of his actions. The plus was that he was in good physical shape. In the negative - wounds and strong wind. Won''t he stumble, won''t the bandages on his arm interfere? It''s very easy to fall off. One wrong move and he won''t collect the bones later. But Nikolai didn¡¯t doubt for long. Rina obviously tried to open the portal, but couldn¡¯t. Either she didn''t have enough strength, or something happened. It was this unknown ¡®something¡¯ that pushed Nikolai to a desperate act. Maybe if he somehow makes it clear that she is not alone here, it will help her find a way out?


    ¡°One in the field is not a warrior. And together we are a force,¡± Nikolai muttered, pulled off his jacket and grabbed the handrail of the booth closest to the ground.


    He climbed onto the roof without difficulty. He quickly grabbed the metal pipe and carefully straightened up, trying to keep his balance. The main thing is not to look down.


    He needs to imagine that he is just pulling up on a home horizontal bar or climbing a rope. And everything will work out! He once climbed a tall tree with a smooth trunk, so that later he could crawl along a branch bending under his weight to the high fence of the academy. The fact that one day this branch still broke off, Nikolai decided not to remember: the wrong moment and the wrong situation.


    He got to the second booth quickly, climbed over the railing and rested for a while. A strong wind was beating in his chest and face, but Nikolai again clung to the handrail and stood on the fence to climb to the roof.


    He made a mistake at the moment when he almost reached the goal. From the erroneous movement, the booth went to the side, and Nikolai almost fell off. At the last moment, he grabbed the pipe and hung on, realizing with horror that the ¡®cradle¡¯ returning to its place would throw him to the ground. Instantly imagining the consequences of the fall, Nikolai


    jerked his legs up and threw them over the railing, immediately released his hands and sprawled on the floor of the booth. Saved! He leaned his left hand on the seat, carefully straightened up and only then felt the pain. Doctor-who-doesn''t-ask-about-anything prescribed him rest. And it is unlikely that the rest meant acrobatic sketches on the ¡®devil''s¡¯ wheel.


    Nikolai sat down heavily on the seat next to the place where he saw Rina. From the pain, consciousness was confused, everything blurred before my eyes, blood appeared on the bandage again. He got there, and then what? Portals, like Rina, he doesn¡¯t know how to open. How to let her know that she is not alone? Don''t shout, don''t call, don''t call - Rina won''t hear. How to save her if the danger is not visible this time? And yet Nikolai quietly called:


    ¡°Rina? I know you''re here. You''re not alone, do you hear? I''ll take you out of there because¡­¡±


    He took a breath, but he could not admit that she had become his vulnerable point, a sore point. Instead, he said what he had to:


    ¡°You need to come back because they are waiting for you. Because your place is not there, in the dark, but under the spotlights, on stage.¡±


    Nikolai fell silent again, not knowing how to say that Rina is the sun in itself, which is not afraid of any darkness. That without her, without her voice, it would be dark for too many people. And, especially, one person¡­


    ¡°...Who ate your candy,¡± Nikolai finished aloud a strange monologue, part of which he uttered in his mind.


    Others followed the memories of sweets: how Rina fed him soup, how she charged his phone, washed his clothes and entertained him with stories. And now he himself began to poison out loud funny cases from cadet times.


    Whether she heard him or not, Nikolai didn''t know. But at some point, putting his hand on the ¡®steering wheel¡¯ in the center of the cabin, instead of the cold metal, he suddenly felt warm, as if he had touched someone''s hand. The feeling was so real that Nikolai froze, afraid to believe that he had managed to ¡®break through¡¯ to Rina. But the next second the delusion was dispelled by a loud bell. Nikolai cursed softly and fished his phone out of his jeans pocket.


    ¡°Yes, Rubik?¡± he replied with annoyance.


    ¡°I found out about that guy,¡± the hacker said unexpectedly quickly, and without stretching the words. ¡°He''s not alive. He died. Or rather, he went missing while performing some kind of task. But almost no one survived there, so he has been considered dead for twenty years.¡±


    Nikolai silently listened to Rubik¡¯s report about Eugenie Sitsov and thanked him. And the hacker suddenly added:


    ¡°Listen, there are so many interesting things there! I''ll do some more digging.¡±


    ¡°Just don''t get caught,¡± Nikolai asked, even though he knew it was useless: Rubik has been walking on the edge for a long time and one day he will fall off. And by hacking the military network, he found a new form of entertainment.


    ¡°Even if I get caught, you''re still the customer,¡± Rubik chuckled and disconnected.


    Nikolai put the phone in his pocket and again thought irritably that the hacker had destroyed the delicate contact with an inappropriate call, which he barely managed to find. Touching the steering wheel again, he naturally felt only cold. What a pity that Rubik, this brilliant fellow, can''t hack another parallel!


    ¡°I''m your friend,¡± the stranger sitting opposite repeated and bared his sharp teeth in a creepy grin. He was so thin that his khaki shirt hung on him like a raincoat, and his trousers were gathered like an accordion on his skinny hips.


    ¡°Friends don''t grin like that,¡± Rina blurted out. She barely managed to keep herself in control: the undead were already scaring her to the point of fainting, and the military uniform unwittingly brought her back to the nightmare she had experienced on the island.


    ¡°I smile as much as I can,¡± the stranger said, leaning back impressively in his seat. ¡°Everyone here is like that, see?¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    The booth suddenly swayed violently, as if someone had pushed it. Rina screamed in fright and clung to the fence. The stranger jerked his head and lifted his lip, sniffing anxiously, but then turned back to Rina.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± she became emboldened, realizing that the undead were not going to attack.


    ¡°To talk. We have something in common: we are both marked by the world of the dead. That''s why I can get close to you. But they don''t.¡±


    With these words, the undead nodded at the crowd gathered under the attraction, which buzzed, growled and scratched the air with clawed fingers. Rina shuddered and hurriedly turned away. A truly difficult choice of two evils: a crowd of monsters below or one monster, but within walking distance.


    ¡°They feel that you are alive, but they can''t attack. If it wasn''t for your peculiarity, you would have been torn to pieces long ago. Everything alive is a delicacy for them.¡±


    ¡°So I''m a poisonous delicacy,¡± Rina sneered.


    ¡°You can say that,¡± the stranger grinned in a grin.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± she repeated the question, because she never got an answer.


    ¡°Help.¡±


    Rina involuntarily smiled: nothing strange. Now the undead will surely start crying, how they, the unfortunate inhabitants of the shadow world, want to return to the world of the living!


    ¡°I need help keeping them here. Something''s going on. The boundary between the worlds has thinned. I''m patching it up, but it''s still spreading. I can''t do it alone anymore.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Rina interrupted, touching the steering wheel with her hand. ¡°I thought you were dreaming of returning to the world you once lived in!¡±


    ¡°They dream! Even as they dream! Because they''re hungry. They haven''t been human for a long time. This world changes everyone. But what happens if they break out into your world? Look at them! Take a good look! They will stop at nothing. There was nothing human left in them. Hunger has replaced all feelings!¡±


    ¡°Why aren''t you like that? Why are you patching up the holes?¡±


    ¡°I have a duty. It doesn''t let you turn into a monster. It''s my duty to patch up the holes. You can do it too, right? Must be able to!¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± Rina didn¡¯t hide, realizing how to act. To put pressure on the sense of duty! ¡°Recently I also ¡®patched¡¯ one of the holes. But I''m not sure that forever. It can¡­ spread out again. Something''s going on, you''re right.¡±


    ¡°Here! It''s nice to deal with an understanding person.¡±


    Rina smiled modestly and continued:


    ¡°I''m also¡­ pleased that we understood each other. I need to get back as soon as possible to keep an eye on new holes.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the undead suddenly snapped.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said no! They are just waiting for the passage to open. You stay here and help me keep them here.¡±


    ¡°Damn you!¡± Rina was angry. And for a moment, her anger caused a small gap between the parallels, and Rina suddenly saw Nikolai. She saw him and couldn''t believe her own eyes. Maybe it''s a mirage? But at the same moment Nikolai covered her hand with his palm, and Rina clearly felt the warmth.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Who''s here?¡± the creature jerked its nose, cast a tenacious glance to the side, and the gap was instantly covered with darkness. ¡°You''re not getting out of here. You won''t get out! Drop your tricks. I won''t let you open the portal!¡±


    ¡°I don''t have the strength to do it,¡± Rina lied, feeling the strength awakening along with the hope that had been born.


    ¡°If you open the portal, they will break out! Is this what you want? Do you want to get into your world at such a price? At the cost of the death of innocent people? Children? The undead hissed, leaning towards her.¡±


    Rina recoiled and shook her head in fright.


    Time passed, but nothing happened. It didn''t happen here, in his reality, although there, in another parallel, something clearly happened. Nikolai felt this and therefore could not find a place for himself from anxiety. Rina was near and, at the same time, far away. For some reason, she couldn''t open the portal and exit. And Nikolai could no longer ¡®reach out¡¯ to her.


    The stock of stories had run out, and now he was silent, intensely thinking what to do. Time passed, the morning blossomed with a timid light. It seemed like an eternity had already passed. Where is Yura? Why has he been gone so long?


    Nikolai got to his feet, and the sudden movement caused the booth to sway again.


    ¡°Sit and calm down,¡± he ordered himself and pulled out the phone that rang again.


    ¡°Hello,¡± came Rubik¡¯s lazy voice on the phone. ¡°I found this here.¡±


    Nikolai barely restrained himself from letting all the dogs loose on him. He''s not up to hacker discoveries right now! But when Rubik spoke, he listened to him with increasing attention.


    ¡°Don''t push yourself,¡± Nikolai warned. ¡°And it''s better not to touch anything else!¡±


    ¡°Calm. I''m not a fool.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to need your help again. And we will return to this case soon. Do you hear?¡±


    Instead of answering, there were short beeps on the phone. Nikolai put the phone in his pocket and only then noticed that the booth was flooded with morning light, but a narrow strip of shadow remained nearby, as from a door ajar into a dark closet. Without wasting a second, he stepped into this shadow and seemed to plunge into the damp coolness of a stone basement.


    Nikolai saw Rina first. She was sitting in the same place where he had noticed her earlier, shivering from the cold, but at the same time concentrating on looking at her feet. Hearing a rustle, Rina raised her head, and her eyes flashed with joy.


    ¡°And who is this?¡± a skinny creature in a frayed military uniform asked dully. Nikolai sat down on an empty seat and, copying the intonation of James Bond, introduced himself with an ironic smile:


    ¡°Melnik. Nikolai Melnik.¡±


    Imperceptibly, he extended his left hand to Rina, and she firmly grasped his palm, betraying her fear.


    ¡°Melnik? Is it Sergey¡¯s son?¡± the creature asked and wrinkled his gray-skinned forehead.


    ¡°That''s the one.¡±


    The undead stretched his mouth in a creepy grin, apparently expressing joy, and held his palm a meter from the floor:


    ¡°And I remember you like this! You were small, big-eyed and nimble! And what a handsome and heroic man he has grown into! The spitting image of Sergey!¡±


    ¡°I hope we won''t look at photo albums?¡± Nikolai inquired and lightly squeezed Rina¡¯s fingers, supporting her. She is a brave girl, since she bravely withstood the company of this monster. Looking at the creature was not just unpleasant, but scary. It''s one thing to see such idiots in films, another is right in front of her.


    ¡®Half-mummy¡¯ appreciated the irony, laughed hoarsely and held out a bony hand to shake.


    ¡°I can''t, alas!¡± Nikolai refused and showed a bandaged hand. ¡°Don''t take it as an insult, but the doctor recommended rest.¡±


    The creature was not offended, because it laughed hollowly and shook its head:


    ¡°Bold and audacious! Just like Sergey. Eh, Sergey¡­ I''m Sitsov Eugenie. Don''t you remember me, kid?¡±


    ¡°I can''t say that I found out. Time, alas, has not done you any good.¡±


    Sitsov. So that''s how it is. That''s what happened to him. For a second, Nikolai had a blasphemous thought: maybe it''s for the best that his father died, and did not turn into this¡­


    ¡°You could have lied or kept silent,¡± Sitsov grinned. ¡°As straightforward as Sergey. So what are you doing here? Did she let you in here?¡±


    Sitsov shifted his gaze to Rina and shook his head ruefully.


    ¡°You lied, then? She has no strength¡­ I warned you! You shouldn''t have dragged him in here. He won''t survive! They won''t touch you, you''re special: marked by this and that world. But they will tear him apart for his sweet soul. Is that what you want?¡±


    Rina drooped, and Nikolai stroked her palm with his thumb, trying to calm her down.


    ¡°So you came for her? I see that you are holding hands. Only in vain did you, Kolya, get in here! I won''t let her go. So you''re staying here, too. Fortunately or unfortunately, not for long. Look down. Haven''t you noticed yet? See what they are: angry, hungry, they can''t wait to break into your world.¡±


    Nikolai looked down and involuntarily shuddered when he saw a crowd of scary creatures below - thin, with burning eyes and sharp teeth.


    ¡°If they smell you, and they do, they''ll get in here,¡± Sitsov finished.


    ¡°So let us go. We will pass so that they will not have time to slip behind us.¡±


    ¡°You don''t understand. I need her! To restrain them. I can''t do it alone anymore! I patch up these ¡®holes¡¯, and they all spread out! New ones appear! I can''t do it alone! Imagine what will happen if they come to you! Introduced? That''s the same thing! I managed to keep everything under control for a long time, I got used to it and became like a general or even a president for them. But I will not keep them here by any orders if they find ¡®gaps¡¯! And those gaps are getting bigger. I mend one, the other appears.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Nikolai replied calmly. ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich gave me this task - to find and¡­¡±


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich? Gennadiy Koshelev? Alive?¡±


    ¡°No. He died the other day.¡±


    ¡°Well, it serves him right, a coward and a traitor! He tucked his tail between his legs and ran away,¡± Sitsov suddenly got angry. ¡°Your father died on duty. I''m here¡­ doing my duty. And Gennadiy, then, lived a quiet and carefree life.¡±


    ¡°What happened there?¡± Nikolai asked quietly. ¡°I know there were trials, but something went wrong. A recruit who was returned has disappeared¡­¡±


    ¡°Vitaly. I returned him,¡± Sitsov said and cast a worried glance down. ¡°They smelled it. You shouldn''t have gotten in here¡­ Now try to calm them down! See what these experiments have led to¡­ there is, of course, my fault. But then I tried to warn you, only who started listening to me!¡±


    Sitsov leaned over the railing again and loudly chuckled at the crowd, and then turned back to Nikolai.


    ¡°It was an order ¡®from above¡¯. We were assigned to test a new development. Part of us was quiet, inconspicuous ¨C there is no better place for secret assignments¡­¡±


    Sitsov said that a special training ground was equipped in the forest behind the garrison. Everything was hidden and disguised. Coils, antennas, and radiators were installed. But something went wrong, and the tests failed. While studying the result and looking for who screwed up - engineers or those who conducted the tests, Sitsov got a call from an old friend - a scientist. He went to Asia for some kind of program and lived in Korea for many years. This scientist told Sitsov that he had been engaged in an important project for a long time. Eugenie found the story interesting and¡­ in the subject! He shared his thoughts with Merinov, the curator of the experiment. Two engineers and Sitsov were sent to South Korea. The conversation between the specialists turned out to be interesting. But in a private conversation, a friend told Eugenie that there was more harm from new technologies than good, so they were eventually abandoned. In confirmation of his words, the scientist took Sitsov to the village where the new antennas were installed, and demonstrated empty streets. Radiation disabled equipment, affected the health of residents, destroyed animals and birds¡­


    ¡°Your father and I tried to get the cancellation of these tests or at least their transfer to another place, away from populated areas,¡± continued Sitsov. ¡°And we partially achieved our goal, because the first test was not held with us, but at one of the northern bases. It was successful: our fears were not justified. Therefore, after some time, it was decided to repeat the tests with us. Merinov then came to us more often, and visited almost daily. At least I wasn''t personally present on day x. It seemed that everything went well. We didn''t get the desired result, but nothing bad happened that day. Sergey and I decided that we had worried in vain and calmly exhaled. Later we found out that important information was hidden from us: after some time after the tests, people began to disappear from the northern base. Some of them were found torn apart, as if by a beast. And then something similar started in our garrison. With these experiments with the electromagnetic field, we have broken through the boundary between the parallels. The first recruit Vitaly disappeared. This idiot wandered into the epicenter. While your father was covering the blunder ¡®from the outside¡¯, I went after the soldier the same way he disappeared. That''s when we realized that we had ¡®punched¡¯ a tunnel or, if you want, a portal to the northern base. We have returned the recruit. And no one knew how to ¡®patch up¡¯ the spreading ¡®holes¡¯ in which people disappeared. It remained only to try to find every missing person. But things got out of control. People disappeared en masse. I saw what they were starting to turn into. Yes, and I myself, spending a lot of time in another parallel and trying to get someone back, began to lose my usual appearance. But suddenly acquired another feature: ¡®patch¡¯ holes from the inside. By that time, too many people had already disappeared. Someone like your father managed to take the family away. Someone, like Gennadiy Koshelev, under the same pretext, and he himself fled. I don''t know how he managed to turn the situation around and stay in the capital. And Sergey and I were left to take our breath away. He''s on the other side, I''m on this side. That''s the story, Kolya. You already know how it ended. Your father is dead. And I, so to speak, live here. For a long time everything was fine. But now the holes have started to appear again. I recently patched up one of them. A guy your age fell into it. Photographed everything here.¡±


    ¡°Yura.¡±


    Now it became finally clear why the journalist saw the park from the ¡®wrong side¡¯, and Nikolai and Vika, who arrived later, didn¡¯t. Sitsov managed to ¡®close up¡¯ the gap.


    ¡°Maybe Yura. Is he your friend or something? In general, the holes reappear, merge and stretch into a new tunnel. I can''t handle that.¡±


    ¡°You can''t do it,¡± Nikolai agreed. ¡°Because there will be many such tunnels soon. Technologies are improving, goals are becoming more complicated. The current goal is a network of portals. What is planned now is nothing compared to what happened in the past. It''s like trying to compare the test of a radio-controlled car with the launch of a new generation rocket. You patched the hole here, Rina - at another point, Vitaly - at the third. But these were just trial tests, ¡®warming up¡¯ before a large-scale action. And soon your efforts will become useless. Even if Rina stays here, there''s nothing you can do.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Sitsov was alarmed.


    ¡°Gennadiy Sergeevich suggested something, I guessed something myself, a friend found something. No matter. Another thing is important: ¡®manually¡¯ you will not be able to cope. No way. And no matter how much you scold Gennadiy Sergeevich, it is he who is now worried about the consequences of¡­ launching an entire network of portals. Unfortunately, he died. I suspect that it was removed. But we understood what he wanted to tell us.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Me, Rina and someone else. If we become aware of the coordinates of the place from which the launch will be made, we will try to prevent a catastrophe. But for this we need to be there, not here.¡±


    Sitsov silently drilled him with bleary eyes for a while, making a difficult decision. But Nikolai didn''t look away.


    ¡°You won''t cheat?¡±


    ¡°Would my father have cheated in that case?¡±


    ¡°Melnik¡¯s son,¡± Sitsov grinned approvingly. ¡°A nice son has grown up with Sergey!¡±


    The wheel creaked into motion, and the cabin slowly crawled to the ground. Rina, who had not intervened in the negotiations before, could not restrain a victorious smile.


    But the fact that they were in a new, more terrible trap, Nikolai realized only when he stepped on the ground.


    The crowd waiting below perked up when they saw them with Rina. And someone even bared his sharp teeth and growled deep in his throat. Rina recoiled and tightened her grip on Nikolai¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Jesus,¡± he muttered. ¡°I feel like a ¡®star¡¯ who came out to the fans without protection. And what to do, sign autographs?¡±


    ¡°Run!¡± Rina yelled and, pulling him after her, crashed into the crowd. At first, Nikolai decided that she did it out of shock, but the undead suddenly parted in front of her. And already rushing through the predatory sniffing crowd, he remembered Sitsov¡¯s words that Rina wouldn¡¯t be touched. The inhabitants of the wrong world sense a special power in it that does not allow them to approach it.


    When the undead were left behind, Rina slowed down slightly, but not because, as Nikolai mistakenly decided, she was exhausted, but to cover the rear. The creatures followed them, but did not approach while Rina was running from behind.


    ¡°Run! Don''t slow down! Even if it hurts!¡± She screamed, thinking he had slowed down because of his wounds. But Nikolai grabbed Rina by the hand to cut part of the way through the lawns. The abrupt change of trajectory gave them a head start: the undead ran forward by inertia, and then, bumping into each other, began to awkwardly turn around. But Nikolai and Rina were already rushing to the gate. There, in the living world, the day was already in full swing, and here a dull twilight was clouding. Nikolai only now noticed that there were no other colors except gray shades. In this way, the park looked more dead than in ordinary life. The underworld was inhabited by emaciated creatures with eyes burning with hungry fire and sharp teeth. What a terrible fate befell those who, through someone else''s fault, became an inhabitant of this parallel! And how cruelly Sitsov was punished for his noble deed. A high goal for the good turned into trouble - an inverted world, wrong values¡­


    They reached the gate. Nikolai pushed them with force, but the doors did not open even an inch, as if they were tightly soldered.


    ¡°Closed?! Damn! Fuck! Oh, my God! Heavenly angels!¡± Rina wailed, pushing the gate. From the gate, she darted to the fence, wondering if it was possible to climb over it. The undead immediately split into two streams.


    ¡°Rina, we are not splitting up!¡± Nikolai shouted, having figured out the plan of the creatures. But part of the crowd had already wedged between him and Rina. The undead trapped him, surrounded him, forcing him to press his back into the gate. Rina unsuccessfully tried to break through to him, because the creatures, though they parted, immediately closed the formation. Frightened, Rina was rapidly losing strength and, therefore, invulnerability.


    ¡°Damn it! Let me go!¡± she screamed, swearing, and panic prevented her from concentrating.


    The creatures came close to Nikolai, someone smeared claws very close to his face. The fact that he did not have long to fight, Nikolai realized more clearly than clear: behind him - locked gates, in front of him - hungry undead. And Rina, terrified to death, is rushing around very close, screaming. It seems that Sitsov, despite his loud words about duty, has already become completely evil: he allegedly let them go, but in fact sent Nikolia to certain death, knowing that Rina wouldn¡¯t be touched.


    The icy metal of the gate chilled his back, his sense of smell caught the stench from the creatures that came close. Someone growled in Nikolai¡¯s ear, his cheek was covered with stinking breath, something pricked his neck, as if a claw had been poked into his skin. That''s all. Rina desperately shouted his name. Late. Nikolai involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut, preparing to meet death, but suddenly the gate behind him gave way. Having lost his footing, he began to fall, but someone supported him.


    ¡°My God, we barely had time,¡± Vika¡¯s frightened voice rang out.


    ¡°On time!¡± Yura responded, who didn¡¯t let Nikolai fall.


    ¡°Where is Rina?¡± Nikolai asked quickly, but he already saw her being carried out of the park by an unfamiliar man with a half-ray head. As soon as Rina got to her feet, she immediately rushed to Nikolai, ran into him from a running start, hugged him tightly and pressed her face into his chest.


    ¡°It''s okay. We got out,¡± he whispered and touched the top of her head with a light kiss.


    A warm blanket appeared from somewhere, which fell on her shoulders and covered Rina with her head. Vika was already hurriedly unscrewing the lid of the thermos, letting out a strong coffee spirit, which suddenly made her head spin. Only now did Nikolai realize how tired and weak he was.


    ¡°Kolya, sit down,¡± the assistant was alarmed, noticing that he swayed. Rina fumbled under the blanket, leaned out, but didn¡¯t release her hands. She was shaking either from chills, or from the experience, so Nikolai took off his plaid, swaddled Rina in it, and then hugged her and led her to his car. Rina didn¡¯t resist, silently climbed into the back seat, moved to make room for Nikolai, and picked up a plastic cup.


    From the sweet strong coffee, strength gradually returned, and my head cleared up. Nikolai even hoped that he would be able to get to the capital. Vika, stopping in front of the open door of his car, hurriedly broke a chocolate bar into uneven pieces. A man with a half-gray head, who introduced himself as Vitaly, was silently smoking his second cigarette on the sidelines. And Yura, excitedly waving his arms, talked about the trip.


    Vitaly immediately agreed to help and took a blanket, chocolate and a thermos of coffee with him. He also forced Yura and Vika to drink coffee and eat a sandwich before the trip. Vitaly drove the car to the park to give Yura a rest.


    They arrived at the place when dawn began timidly to pull the veil of twilight from the surroundings. Nikolai¡¯s car was parked near the gate, and Yura and Vika ran into the park. A little apart, Vitaly followed them. Sometimes he stopped to look around and listen to something.


    They ran around the whole park more than once until they found a jacket abandoned near the Ferris wheel. Yura and Vika stopped in front of the attraction, looking at the empty booths, and Vitaly left with another detour. But he soon returned and announced that he saw the exit near the gate, so he should wait there.


    ¡°We stood and waited, probably, for an eternity, but nothing happened,¡± Yura said. ¡°And then Vitaly suddenly pushed me away and pulled the door. You fell out of the gate backwards. While I was catching you, Vitaly took out Rina. What happened there?¡¯


    Nikolai¡¯s story was brief. He kept silent about the meeting with Sitsov and what he learned from Rubik. Rina also didn¡¯t add anything, silently drank coffee and wrapped herself in a blanket. Fortunately, Yura decided not to ask further: he saw how tired they were, and he himself could barely stand on his feet.


    ¡°We''ll take Ilya back again,¡± Yura broke the silence that hung. ¡°How are you? Maybe you''ll look for a hotel to relax in?


    ¡°What kind of hotels are there?¡± Nikolai was surprised. ¡°We''ll get there. Thanks for the coffee and chocolate. In reality, this is the elixir of life.¡±


    There was another long pause. Nikolai got out of the car to say goodbye. In the light of day, the bruise blooming on Yura¡¯s swollen cheekbone looked particularly frightening.


    ¡°I''m sorry. I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°Never mind. Besides, most likely, it was I who ¡®brought¡¯ the tail.¡±


    ¡°Never mind,¡± Nikolai said in Yura¡¯s words and smiled. ¡°Thanks for everything.¡±


    They hugged briefly, realizing that they were saying goodbye for good. Vika stared at Nikolai, but didn¡¯t dare to speak first. He himself stepped up to her and hugged her tightly.


    ¡°Thank you very much. And take care of yourself. It''s a pity that this is how it all¡­ ends.¡±


    ¡°Kolya?¡± Vika began and stopped. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn''t wipe them away.


    ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± Nikolai repeated, already addressing both Yura and Vika. ¡°And you''d better go somewhere.¡±


    Right now, without wasting time while there is an opportunity.


    ¡°I can''t,¡± Vika shook her head. ¡°I have a sister here.¡±


    ¡°Well, then I''ll stay too,¡± Yura said suddenly. ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°And we¡­ I still have some unfinished business. Duty, so to speak. Please don''t dig any further. All. This is the end of the story, do you understand, journalist? And don''t look for Rina anymore. No need.¡±


    ¡°Understood, boss,¡± Yura grinned sadly. ¡°It''s a pity we didn''t eat shish kebab. Well¡­ another time.¡±


    ¡°Another time,¡± Nikolai replied, knowing that there would be no other time.


    Vitaly silently watched their farewell from the side. Nikolai thanked him, too. And he kept silent about what Sitsov saw. It''s better that Vitaly doesn''t know that his savior has become one of those predatory creatures. Albeit with its own code of honor.


    Rina returned the blanket to Vitaly, wrapped herself in the jacket Nikolai offered and climbed into the front seat. Nikolai started the engine and blinked his headlights, saying goodbye to Vika, Yura and Vitaly standing near the second car.


    The road rolled out flat under the wheels, the day promised to be clear, but their future with Rina remained hazy.

 Chapter 23

    What can upset you to tears?¡±


    ¡°Goodbyes.¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview for the program ¡®Everyone is Dancing¡¯)


    Where they had barely gotten out of, twilight reigned, which, in contrast to the bright day, seemed infernally dark. Will he be able to forget what he saw? Unlikely. Nikolai still remembered the fetid breath of the creature approaching him and the wave of icy cold down his back at the moment when he realized his finale.


    He involuntarily shuddered and glanced sideways at Rina, who was quiet in the next seat. She didn''t say a word the whole way, didn''t even ask where they were going. Either she trusted him unconditionally, or she was so weak after the experience that she didn''t care anymore. Rina wrapped herself in his jacket, but could not get warm in any way. Nikolai sighed and turned up the temperature, even though he himself felt unbearably hot from the stove turned on. This time he drove the car very carefully. The only reason he didn''t feel sleepy was because his hand was very sore. Moreover, the strong coffee brought by Vitaly cheered me up.


    Traffic jams were expected at the entrance to Moscow. Nikolai took advantage of the moment and sent Lev a message. Rina emerged from her slumber, turned around and looked at Nikolai with eyes glistening from the temperature


    ¡°You have blood all over your hand,¡± she remarked.


    ¡°And your temperature is rising,¡± he retorted. ¡°Therefore, now we are going to a doctor who doesn¡¯t ask unnecessary questions.¡±


    Rina said nothing, but continued to look at him, and under her gaze Nikolai felt uncomfortable. Now he was afraid of questions to which he had no answers. They were going to the doctor now, and he didn''t know where to go after that. Nikolai couldn''t promise Rina that everything would be fine - as usual and calmly, either. Because it won''t be familiar anymore, it''s unlikely to be calm. But Rina, fortunately, didn¡¯t ask anything and remained silent the rest of the way.


    Lev was already waiting for them at the clinic. Rina was sent to the doctor first. She just walked into the office, wrapped in a man¡¯s jacket and plunging her nose into the collar.


    ¡°It''s like you''ve come back from the war,¡± Jaguar grumbled when the door closed behind Rina.


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Nikolai replied without a smile.


    Lev leaned his lower back against the windowsill, crossed his arms on his chest and raised his eyebrows, making it clear that he was listening.


    He listened to the story of his adventures in the amusement park in the same pose, never interrupting. Only when Nikolai fell silent, he sighed loudly.


    ¡°You will not have a normal life now. And it''s not Lebedev you need to be afraid of.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Nikolai replied calmly, although everything inside was boiling with rage at Lebedev: what had he managed to do with Rina? She was silent, and Nikolai did not question her. However, he secretly asked the doctor to examine whether there were traces of bullying on her body.


    ¡°Lebedev will be drowned,¡± Lev confidently declared, as if in response to his thoughts. ¡°Violet¡¯s family will not forgive threats against his granddaughters. Svetakov¡¯s wife, Natasha, is preparing material about illegal transactions, the disappearance of three businessmen and the abduction of Rina. But, most importantly, those who are at the top, it is not profitable for such a young and greyhound to get into politics, so all the dogs will hang on him. Lebedev will be destroyed. But you and Rina are also on the ¡®fly¡¯.¡±


    Nikolai nodded. Lev didn''t need to explain anything, everything was so clear. Only inside everything was bubbling because of injustice: Rina was dragged into all this against her will. They ruined the girl¡¯s life, staged a ¡®witch hunt¡¯. She got out of the fire and into the flames!


    ¡°You need to leave. Right now,¡± Lev said. ¡°Until Merinov and his men blocked all your entrances and exits.¡±


    ¡°How? Rina has no documents with her.¡±


    ¡°Documents are not a problem,¡± Lev drawled thoughtfully. ¡°We will make new ones. The main thing is to have time. Kolya, I''m serious! Gennadiy Sergeevich met with one person before his death. They drank tea, talked about something, and then Koshelev died¡­ the man he met was from Merinov. Gennadiy Sergeevich had a heart attack, and let''s say they''ll arrange an accident for you.¡±


    ¡°Take Rina somewhere,¡± Nikolai asked. ¡°It''s easier to arrange an escape for one person than for two. Besides, I still have some things to do here.¡±


    ¡°I''m talking about not sticking your head out, and you''re talking about business!¡± Lev got angry.


    Nikolai was about to tell his friend what he had learned from Rubik, but at that moment the doctor came out of the office.


    ¡°Your girlfriend has earned bronchitis for herself,¡± the doctor announced, looking over his glasses.


    ¡°Bronchitis. Ah?¡± Nikolai began and cut himself off in mid-sentence. Doctor correctly guessed his omission and smiled.


    ¡°Just beginning bronchitis. If she follows my recommendations, unlike you, young man, then everything will pass without complications. Bed rest and prescribed medications - that''s all I ask. Now let''s get on with you. Again.¡±


    Rina came out of the office and looked questioningly at Nikolai. He winked at her without a smile.


    ¡°I''ll be back soon. Don''t go anywhere, please.¡±


    She smiled a little, wrapped herself in his jacket and sat down in a dermatin chair. Lev followed Nikolai, and for some reason the doctor didn¡¯t object.


    ¡°Where are you, young man, so circus performing that the stitches parted,¡± the doctor could not restrain himself, examining the wounds. He scowled angrily, Nikolai winced in pain, and Lev grinned and ¡®supported¡¯ his friend in his own way:


    ¡°You''d better sew a zipper on him right away, Doc.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Jaguar,¡± Nikolai managed.


    ¡°Or you can stitch it on a typewriter,¡± Lev persisted.


    ¡°Shut his mouth, Doctor!¡±


    ¡°This is not a sewing studio for you, young people,¡± the doctor retorted, hiding a grin in his beard. Nikolai hissed in pain, and Lev immediately cheerfully ¡®encouraged¡¯ him:


    ¡°Be patient, goat, otherwise you will be a mother!¡±


    ¡°I''ll gore you, Jaguar! Doctor, stop being sadistic already¡­¡±


    ¡°Already, already. It remains to be bandaged. And I hope not to see you both here for a long time. At least for a few days.¡±


    ¡°I''ll personally make sure he doesn''t do any more circus performances,¡± Lev promised. And all the time that the nurse was bandaging Nikolai¡¯s hand, he was already silent.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Lev spoke when they were already heading for the exit together with Rina:


    ¡°I''ll take you to a quiet place. Kolya, we''ll stop by your place on the way. You''ll take everything you need. While you''re getting ready, I''ll run for groceries and to the pharmacy. Let Rina write a list of what she needs. Yana will buy everything for her, and then I''ll bring it back. Alas, I don''t understand women''s stuff, I always buy the wrong thing that they ask me. The first wife threw real tantrums. Yana just laughs. Melnik, give me the keys, I''ll take you in your car, and then I''ll come back for mine.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Lev,¡± Nikolai thanked from the bottom of his heart, trying awkwardly with his left hand to get the keys from the right pocket of his jeans. ¡°If it wasn''t for you¡­¡±


    ¡°That''s what friendship is for. You, most importantly, don''t go anywhere else and stop ¡®circus¡¯, as the doctor put it. Take care of yourself, otherwise¡­¡±


    That ¡®otherwise¡¯, Lev did not finish, opened the car and took the driver''s seat. Nikolai waited for Rina to take a seat in the back and sat down next to her. And then he put his arm around her and drew her to him. And when she clung to him trustingly, he couldn''t help smiling.


    Vitaly didn¡¯t let Yura and Vika go without rest and lunch. The food put on the table turned out to be simple, but very tasty, rustic: new potatoes with herbs and fragrant sunflower oil, crunchy radishes, which are so delicious to dip in coarse salt, pimply cucumbers, salted pears and dark bread with sourness. It was only during lunch that Yura realized how hungry he was. Vitaly just grinned and added potatoes and pears to the guests'' plates. Vika also ate with an appetite, and Yura liked it. He generally liked to look at her: how she dips radishes in salt, how she brings a fork to her mouth, how she pulls a thin hand with white skin to a bowl for a cucumber. Sometimes she looks up at him, Yura, and then, as if embarrassed, looks away.


    Three men, sheltered by Vitaly, dined with them. And when everyone had more or less satisfied their acute hunger, Vika, not Yura, began to ask questions. She started from afar, asking for their names, then carefully asked about what they liked - from music to food, then moved on to questions about families. But none of the men could give a clear answer. Two were still silent, the third said that he had lived here all his life, drove a tractor. Vika sighed ruefully and fell behind with questions. Dinner was finished in complete silence. But when the men thanked him with restrained nods and left to continue the interrupted work, Vika turned to Vitaly:


    ¡°We know who they are. They are considered missing, but they are looking for them. If, once in their usual life, they don¡¯t remember anything, specialists will be able to help them.¡±


    ¡°Do I mind if they come home!¡± Vitaly exclaimed. ¡°I am not a gentleman, and they are not serfs. But where should they go? I photographed them and took the pictures to the local police station. But there is no news yet. Yes, it is understandable: requests and responses take time. They live with me because they have nowhere to go. And they work because they want to. If you help with the search for their relatives, I will be glad.¡±


    Yura and Vika assured that they would definitely find the relatives of these men and connect them with Vitaly. That''s how they said goodbye to him.


    We arrived in the capital in the evening. Yura first of all stopped by his sister to return the car. He took Vika with him as a support, hoping that in her company his sister would not give vent to anger. And so it turned out. Manya only put her hands on her hips to give her brother a thrashing, but saw the girl looming behind him, relented, invited him into the house and set the table for dinner. But a lively conversation did not work out, because Manya was upset by the news of Gennadiy Sergeevich¡¯s death. Yura said that he would take the orphaned Shusha to himself, and Manya didn¡¯t object, moreover, she gave her brother the car until the morning to take the dog and Vika


    Greyhound sat in Vika¡¯s arms all the way and felt so calm, as if she had found a loving mistress. Vika cooed something to the dog, Shusha in response bared his white teeth as if in a smile. Yura cast glances at the couple and thought longingly that Vika needed to be taken home. But first he will bring Shusha to him.


    What a day! Nikolai said goodbye as if he knew something bad about his future. Rina murmured her thanks, but she was clearly sad. Nikolai¡¯s request not to look for Rina anymore added dark colors to the farewell scene. Yura was not a fool and realized that it was unlikely that fans would now wait for the performances of their favorite singer. Therefore, there, at the park, he hugged Rina tightly, trying to express his support.


    Vika was sad all the way to Yura¡¯s house, too, looking down, stroking the greyhound and being silent. With Shusha in her arms, clearly not wanting to part with him, Vika went up to Yura¡¯s apartment.


    ¡°Do you want to stay¡­¡± Yura began, realizing that it was better not to separate these two.


    ¡°I want to,¡± Vika didn¡¯t let him finish and for some reason was embarrassed to blush on her cheeks. ¡°Can I?¡±


    She asked and fell silent, staring at him with heavenly eyes, as if afraid of her courage and Yura¡¯s refusal. And only then did he realize that she wasn''t referring to a dog at all. Yura closed the door, took the Shusha from Vika¡¯s hands and put it on the floor. And then he gently pulled Vika to him, touched the back of her head with his palm, looked into her eyes and instead of answering, timidly, afraid to scare her off, touched her lips with his own.


    Vika didn''t say anything to him, but Yura realized that for the first time she decided to stay the night with a man. And he, who brought so many girls to his house, got excited as if everything was going to happen for the first time. But this time he will not look for excuses in the morning to get the night guest out of the apartment as soon as possible, on the contrary, he will persuade her to stay.


    ¡®Turn off the light,¡± Vika asked. ¡°I don''t want you to see¡­¡±


    ¡°You''re incredibly beautiful,¡± Yura objected, admiring her. He did not notice the scars that Vika was so embarrassed about, but saw long, perfectly shaped legs that any model would envy. Admired the snow-white skin, chiseled waist, sharp collarbones. He was drowning in huge, alien-like eyes, touched his lips to high cheekbones and kissed sensual lips. He admired her and between kisses whispered about how beautiful she was. It was so important to him that Vika believed him, that she saw herself through his eyes, admired her body and stopped locking her heart from feelings just because she considered her scars ugly.


    At night, after everything, hugging the sleeping Vika and afraid to move so as not to disturb her sleep, Yura swore to himself that he would do everything possible to make her happy. So that they could be happy together: she, he and the nervous Shusha. But he woke up in the morning all alone.


    At first Yura decided that Vika had gone to the shower, but there was no sound of water coming from the bathroom. Then he thought that she, like his former passions, was cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Wrapped up to the waist in a blanket, Yura entered the kitchen with a smile, but found no one there. The cold kettle was pining on its stand, the bread was stale in the breadbox. No one made a fuss, didn¡¯t wake him up with the aroma of fried eggs or, conversely, the stench of burnt toast. Vika wasn''t there. Like Shusha. They both disappeared from his apartment, which means from his life. For the first time in a very long time, Yura felt so lost. He ran his hands through his hair and tangled it even more. Not knowing how to fill the void that had suddenly formed in his soul, Yura grabbed the kettle to fill it with water, but lowered it back onto the stand. He didn''t want tea. He didn''t want anything. Just so that Vika doesn''t disappear so suddenly and offensively from his life.


    She doesn''t even have a phone. And so does he, because they left their smartphones in Rina¡¯s house. Yura sat down on the windowsill in despair and at that moment noticed that something was happening on the street.


    People were crowding on the road, someone was waving his arms, telling someone something. Someone stretched out his neck and stood on tiptoe to look at what was on the road behind the crowd. Someone called somewhere. Frozen with horror, Yura clung to the glass, and then, coming to his senses, rushed into the room for clothes and rushed to the door in the blind hope that maybe he would still have time. He¡¯ll have time! Out of place or out of place, Nikolai¡¯s request to leave immediately came to mind, and Yura instantly connected what had happened on the street with Vika. She was murdered! Shot or hit by a car for getting into a dangerous business.


    The doorbell sounded like a death knell in the light of his terrible guesses. Yura recoiled in horror: so they came to inform him about the misfortune. With an unruly hand, he opened the door and was stunned to see a smiling Vika on the threshold.


    ¡°Shusha asked to go to the toilet! Who said that Shusha¡¯s reputation is tarnished?¡± she announced, taking the greyhound off her hands. ¡°Nothing like that! Shusha - well done, he did everything he needed to do on the street! I endured until morning.¡±


    Yura looked dumbfounded at Vika and couldn¡¯t say anything in response. Even praise the dog for rehabilitating his reputation.


    ¡°And on the street, can you imagine, the van didn¡¯t fit into the turn,¡± Vika continued, taking off her shoes. ¡°I was taking fruit to a vegetable shop. There are several boxes spilled out on the road. Strawberries crumbled and choked, so sorry!¡±


    Strawberries¡­ Crushed strawberries! How stupid he is! God knows what he imagined!


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Vika broke off, not waiting for a word from Yura. ¡°Are you okay? Or¡­ Aren''t you glad to see me? I''d better go, right?¡±


    Her lips twitched, a shadow flashed across her pretty face. Vika smiled awkwardly and backed towards the door. Only then Yura froze and exhaled:


    ¡°Don''t do that again.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she was scared.


    ¡°Don''t disappear. Okay?¡±


    ¡°I''m just kidding¡­¡±


    ¡°Don''t disappear,¡± Yura repeated. ¡°In general. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Where am I going to disappear¡­ from Shusha,¡± Vika sighed, looked up at Yura and smiled.

 Chapter 24

    ¡°...When the time comes to leave the stage, my last performance will be remembered by everyone as a bright show¡­¡±


    (from Rina¡¯s interview with the Gramophone edition)


    Rina didn¡¯t know how many days she had spent in someone else¡¯s house, the furnishings of which she had not had time to see. Stricken by a high fever, she lay exhausted in bed, having lost touch with reality and floating in an unhealthy doze. Rina had never been so ill before, even though any minor cold turned into a fever for her.


    Nikolai didn¡¯t leave her side all these sticky days: he sat next to her, putting a cool palm on her hot forehead, and whispered something in consolation. He gave her medicines by the hour and forced her to drink broth and water. Again, Nikolai saved her and encouraged her, completely forgetting about himself. Only once, to Rina¡¯s alarmed question, he replied that his hand was healing and almost no longer bothered him.


    A doctor she knew came twice: he listened to Rina¡¯s lungs, injected medications and gave some instructions, which Nikolai listened to with the most serious look.


    Sometimes Nikolai would sit with a laptop in a chair near the window and work. And then Rina, pretending to be dozing, secretly admired him. Often Nikolai, thinking that she was asleep, looked at her, and in his gaze at such moments there was not anxiety, but tenderness. But as soon as Rina moved, Nikolai immediately pretended that he was passionate about his work.


    She didn¡¯t ask what he was doing. But when he went out into the corridor to call someone, anxiety crept into Rina¡¯s soul: what is happening, what awaits them in the future? But more than the vague prospects, she was afraid of parting with Nikolai. She was afraid to think about it, but she felt that their roads, as from a fork, would go in different directions.


    Gradually, Rina began to recover. One evening the temperature finally subsided, but the heat was replaced by a strong chill, from which two thick blankets did not save. Seriously alarmed, Nikolai grabbed the phone. Rina wanted to calm him down, but instead of words, she just clacked her teeth. She thought it was funny, but Nikolai didn¡¯t even smile. But he put the phone down, lay down next to Rina and hugged her.


    She immediately felt hot, but not from the warmth of Nikolai¡¯s skin, but from the proximity of his body and the scent of aftershave. Stunned by the sensations that surged over her, Rina froze, afraid even to break this burning happiness with a breath. But Nikolai, touching her hair with a weightless kiss, immediately ruined everything by blurting out an utter stupidity:


    ¡°Don''t be afraid, I won¡¯t touch you. I¡¯ll just warm you up.¡±


    Rina squirmed in his arms to look him in the eye and tell him what a fool he was if he denied the obvious. Doesn¡¯t he himself notice that there is a spark between them so that every accidental touch seems to shock him? What is between them is the very ¡®chemistry¡¯ that, if they don¡¯t let it spill out, will burn them out from the inside. And that Rina is afraid not that Nikolai will ¡®touch¡¯ her, but that he is too carried away by noble deeds and lofty goals.


    Or maybe it¡¯s not about lofty goals, but about the presence of someone to whom he confessed his love? The thought made Rina shiver again. And instead of telling Nikolai everything about ¡®chemistry¡¯, attraction and ¡®electricity¡¯, she asked directly:


    ¡°Do you have a girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± he didn¡¯t understand and moved away a little.


    ¡°There, in the village, you told someone that you love too¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Nikolai laughed. ¡°It was my mother who called me.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Rina answered in the same tone, feeling terribly dumb.


    Nikolai hugged her tighter, but when she moved again, he whispered:


    ¡°Not today. Get well, little bird¡­ Gain strength.¡±


    She didn¡¯t see, but she discerned a smile in his voice, and, burying her face in his chest, she fell asleep - this time calmed, peaceful and happy.


    When she woke up, it was already the next day. Nikolai wasn¡¯t around. Rina got up and went in search of him. The unfamiliar house was met with silence, and the corridor led to the kitchen. There Rina saw a note attached to the fridge with a magnet:


    ¡®I need to leave. Don''t worry, I''ll be back soon.¡¯


    Rina smiled, because the phrase ¡®don''t worry¡¯ breathed care, put the note in the pocket of her pajama pants and went to the bathroom. On the way she came across Nikolai¡¯s room, and Rina couldn¡¯t resist the temptation to look inside. She knew practically nothing about him: he still didn''t tell her anything about himself.


    However, the room¡¯s furnishings also characterized him as a closed person: the narrow bed was neatly made, there were no clothes hanging on the chair, there was not even a phone charger on the bedside table. If Rina had not known that Nikolai had not left anywhere until today and spent the night in this bedroom, she would have decided that no one lived here, everything seemed so untouched.


    The bathroom turned out to be much more ¡®talkative¡¯, but even here Rina¡¯s things were much more than Nikolai¡¯s things. The mirror shelf was occupied by unopened jars and tubes with care cosmetics, which Lev¡¯s wife bought for Rina. There were bottles of half-used aftershave and foam next to it, and there was a small dressing case closed with a zipper. There were two bath towels hanging on the dryer. Rina touched the one Nikolai used with her palm. And then, unable to resist, unscrewed the cap of the lotion bottle and sniffed. Memories of how Nikolai had warmed her in his arms immediately came flooding back to her. And even though there was nothing between them, this night seemed to Rina the most sensual of all that she had.


    She returned the bottle to its place, then stared at herself in the mirror, noting with joy that after the illness she didn¡¯t look as terrible as she imagined. While the bath was being filled, Rina sorted through all the tubes and jars of cosmetics and was surprised at how Yana guessed her tastes. Maybe it''s because they use the same creams?


    After the bath, Rina changed into a new knitted suit, which turned out to be sewn on her, and dried her hair.


    In this form, with her hair loose and falling to her waist, she went into the kitchen and stood in the doorway, admiring Nikolai.


    ¡°Hi!¡± She greeted him with a smile when he looked back. Instead of greeting her, Nikolai winked at her and continued to pull out some bundles, cans and trays of food from a voluminous rag bag. Rina approached and was surprised to find soup in cans, homemade cutlets, vegetable stew and fish with sauce in glass containers. There were pies in the packages. Did Yana really try again? Rina was about to make a joke, but, looking up at Nikolai, she stopped. He was obviously upset about something, didn¡¯t look at her and was making a fuss obviously in order to avoid questions. Without asking if Rina wanted to eat, he put the cutlets in a frying pan, on another stew, lit the stove and put a plate of pies in the microwave. He did all this in silence, frowning and pursing his lips. Rina unwittingly caught his mood, carefully, as if afraid to break the silence, set the table and silently sat down on a chair.


    They ate in the same silence. Rina praised the dishes only once. Nikolai looked at her for a while, nodded, and went back to eating. And only when Rina was putting the kettle on for them, and he was putting the plates in the dishwasher, he said:


    ¡°I need to talk to you. Seriously.¡±


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Rina asked, feeling a chill of anxiety creep into her soul.


    ¡°It happened,¡± Nikolai didn¡¯t deny. Turning on the dishwasher, he returned his gaze to Rina and leaned his lower back against the countertop.


    ¡°What could have happened has happened. I was up to my ears in a sh¡­ one bad thing. And it¡¯s dangerous for you to be around me.¡±


    ¡°But we¡­¡± Rina began, but Nikolai stopped her with a gesture.


    ¡°Lev will arrive today or tomorrow. I already know what he¡¯s going to say. But it''s not about me. You need to find another safe place. And away from me.¡±


    ¡°But why?!¡± Rina shouted and stopped under his frowning gaze of darkened eyes. ¡°Can you explain? We''re in the same boat!¡±


    ¡°The boat is sinking rapidly, Rina, but you can still save yourself.¡±


    ¡°What have you done?¡± she asked in a whisper.


    ¡°Just trying to prevent trouble,¡± he spread his hands. ¡°But I made a mistake, and I was spotted. That¡¯s why we¡¯d better part. Lev will find you another shelter, and then he will come up with something. And I¡­ will try to get out somehow, which I doubt.¡±


    Rina was going to scream that she was not going anywhere, because they both ¡®got into trouble¡¯. That she doesn''t want to part with him, because it''s too painful. But she asked something else:


    ¡°You don''t like me at all?¡±


    It turned out to be a pity, because her voice trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. Nikolai¡¯s face changed, and then he stepped up to Rina and hugged her.


    ¡°I like you. Even too much. That''s why I''m afraid for you. Listen to me, please¡­¡±


    She wriggled out of his arms, realizing that she was going to burst into tears, and hiding her gaze, said abruptly:


    ¡°I need to get some air.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Rina jumped out of the house and, without stopping, ran off the porch.


    A plowed field stretched beyond the fence, and the forest was dark in the distance. The house turned out to be the only one here and its solitude reminded Rina of her house. To the heart-rending grief, memories of Stas with Blob, Liza and Elena were added, and tears rolled down in a hail. Rina headed across the field at first at a brisk pace, and then switched to running. The wind gently stroked her face, but couldn¡¯t dry her endless tears. Rina ran to the forest and was already there, resting her hands on her knees and taking a breath, letting out some of the pain with a cry.


    She was already returning at a leisurely pace, not so much reassured as devastated. There was another one in the yard next to Nikolai¡¯s car, and Rina realized that Lev had arrived. And this meant that parting with Nikolai was close and inevitable.


    She entered the house and heard voices coming from the kitchen.


    ¡°I asked you to be unnoticeable! What the fuck, Melnik?!¡± Lev rumbled.


    Nikolai¡¯s voice, unlike the guest¡¯s, sounded surprisingly calm:


    ¡°Such, Jaguar. This story didn¡¯t touch you personally, you weren''t there, you didn¡¯t see them. If these entities break out, and they will, if all this is not stopped, then the consequences will be terrible.¡±


    ¡°But at least you would have consulted me!¡± Lev didn¡¯t calm down. ¡°We would have come up with a reasonable solution together!¡±


    Rina sat down on a mirrored bedside table in the hallway and hid. She wasn¡¯t in the habit of eavesdropping, but the conversation could concern her as well. Nikolai didn¡¯t say much, and she wanted to get a complete picture of what was happening.


    ¡°A reasonable and eco-friendly solution, Lev, is to hack the system, erase information or run a virus into the program. Rubik is a talented guy, everything should have worked out for him.¡±


    ¡°But it didn''t work out! For this ¡®talented fellow¡¯ managed to leave traces even earlier! And now this ¡®reasonable¡¯ Rubik is unecologically gone, and you have to sort everything out! Do you think Merinov didn¡¯t understand who tried to bring them down?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand everything, Lev! Well, to sort it out is to sort it out. Merinov would have gotten to me anyway, whether I would have gotten into the system or not.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I insisted that you leave before it was too late!¡± Lev rumbled.


    ¡°Rina is seriously ill!¡± Nikolai also objected in raised tones, but immediately lowered his tone and asked:


    ¡°Take her somewhere, Lev. Hide her securely so that no one can reach her. Let her start a new life and forget this story like a terrible dream. Will you do it?¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± Lev typed, and Rina, hearing her ¡®verdict¡¯, squeezed her eyes tightly to hold back tears. From an awkward movement, she touched the statuette standing on the shoe cabinet, but managed to catch it in time.


    ¡°And now let''s talk about what you''re still up to,¡± said Lev. Rina heard the lighter click, and soon cigarette smoke was coming from the kitchen.


    ¡°I mistakenly thought that the problem is only in those places that we have calculated. In fact, these points are trial ones, and a whole network of portals is being prepared for launch. Do you have a pen? Let me draw it. Rubik threw me a card, but the meaning is clear without it. Here, let¡¯s say, is the center, from where the signal will go¡­ They built it near the capital on a landfill and disguised it as a vegetable base.¡±


    ¡°Are there any settlements nearby?¡± Lev clarified.


    ¡°Not within a twenty-kilometers radius.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°The signal will come from the center. Then it will be distributed by transmitting antennas. The towers have long been built and disguised as conventional antennas. They are everywhere: in the north and south, west and east. The places where the towers are located are ¡®points¡¯. When you see the map, you will make sure that the ¡®¡¯dotted line¡¯, that is, these dots, outlines the whole network. The amplifiers will increase the impact, and each ¡®point¡¯ will turn into a vast zone. The zones will merge, and here¡¯s a whole network of invisible portals for you. And then do with them what you want. At least use their energy for different purposes, at least use it as high-speed trails bypassing all radars.¡±


    ¡°And what has already happened was the result of a trial launch.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I have combined these places into two zones. The first one includes a military town, a park, a village where Rina was hiding, and a small town a little further away. The second zone is the north. The impact has been weak so far, but this was enough to cause trouble. Imagine what will happen when everything is launched in full force.¡±


    ¡°I get it. Kolya, but there are also no fools sitting there! Surely they thought about the consequences and took measures!¡±


    ¡°I doubt it, Jaguar. Otherwise, Gennadiy Sergeevich would not have sounded the alarm. I think he was involved in this project. Sitsov wondered how Koshelev managed to catch on in the capital and avoid punishment for the failed tests. Yes, it¡¯s just that Gennadiy Sergeevich convinced the management that he would help in the study of errors and would participate in new developments. That¡¯s why he managed to cover my ass then: he made the right acquaintances. I convinced everyone that I was good for something. Maybe he vouched for me, promised to ¡®keep an eye on¡¯ me.¡±


    ¡°I was watching and pulled in again¡­¡± Lev grumbled.


    ¡°That''s why, Jaguar, I doubt that all the risks have been calculated and measures have been taken. Gennadiy Sergeevich saw it, but could not openly protest. Firstly, it is useless. In the past, my father and Sitsov tried to stop the project, but they failed. Secondly, he understood that he could be¡­ removed. That¡¯s why I came up with a ¡®multi-pass¡¯. Handed the case over to me. He knew that I would ¡®bite¡¯. Koshelev knew about the trial run and hoped that while Sitsov, Rina and Vitaly controlled the zone, I would solve his ¡®puzzle¡¯. The real task, Lev, was not to calculate these points, because Gennadiy Sergeevich already knew about them, but to find an opportunity to stop the launch of the network. I solved the puzzle, but I failed the ¡®mission¡¯, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°This is because it is necessary to consult, Kolya, with older and more experienced friends,¡± Lev grumbled. ¡°Life doesn''t teach you anything! I started playing Spider-Man. It''s one thing to climb the ¡®devil¡¯ wheel for the sake of saving a beautiful lady. Another thing is to fly with a pitchfork against a tank. Do you understand the difference?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand,¡± Nikolai replied with annoyance.


    ¡°Well, consider that the tank tracks are already over your head.¡±


    The lighter clicked again, apparently Lev had already lit a second cigarette. Rina hugged herself with her arms, because a wave of cold swept down her back from what she heard. But she didn¡¯t budge.


    ¡°By the way, this is a hot topic for Mikhail Svetakov¡¯s wife Natasha. Antennas, the death of birds, fish,¡± Lev continued. ¡°We need to give her a lift. The publication will already cause some kind of resonance.¡±


    ¡°I have a friend of a journalist who writes well, boldly, and has already collected material on this topic,¡± Nikolai became animated. In addition, he was left without a job due to Lebedev¡¯s faults.


    ¡°What¡¯s his name? You see, we''ll arrange for Natasha and provide protection.¡±


    ¡°Yuriy Vasilev. Then I''ll look for his contacts. Lev, I would like to provide protection for my assistant. She certainly screwed up. But it is unlikely to happen again. The girl is very intelligent and executive.¡±


    ¡°And also in the subject,¡± Lev laughed knowingly. ¡°Good! I just need such an assistant in the office. My recently got married and is already going on maternity leave.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    ¡°When is the launch of the network planned?¡±


    ¡°In two days.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Forty-eight hours for everything.¡±


    ¡°Just take Rina away first¡­¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to take me anywhere,¡± she protested, entering the kitchen.


    Catching Nikolai¡¯s wary gaze, Rina smiled at him defiantly and turned to the guest:


    ¡°Hello, Lev! I''m sorry, I accidentally overheard¡­ um¡­ specifically overheard your conversation. Nikolai said that we are in the same boat. And Gennadiy Sergeevich, God rest his soul, really connected us and gave a bold hint of a solution that Nikolai didn¡¯t see. You can hack the center''s computers. And if this plan fails, then you can send the center itself... to another parallel. Irrevocably. While a new one is being built, another obstacle may happen. For example, the release of resonant material that will stir up the public.¡±


    ¡°Is it possible?¡± Lev asked seriously, without a smile. Nikolai tried to intervene, but the guest stopped him with a gesture.


    ¡°I can,¡± Rina replied, looking into the eyes of Nikolai, not the guest. ¡°Let it be¡­ my farewell concert, though not for the public. I''ll find the strength for him. Those who are in the topic will definitely appreciate the ¡®performance¡¯! When Rina is very angry, an earthquake can happen.¡±


    Neither Lev nor Nikolai smiled in response to her smile. On the contrary, both remained serious. Nikolai¡¯s face showed doubt, and he was the first to object:


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you believe in my abilities?¡±


    ¡°I believe. But it¡¯s dangerous.¡¯


    ¡°More dangerous than your attempts to hack the program?


    ¡°Rina, you do understand that even if everything succeeds, you will not see your former life?¡± Lev intervened.


    ¡°And I already don''t have it. Even if Lebedev doesn¡¯t come near me anymore, your, um,


    friends¡¯ won''t let me live as usual.¡±


    ¡°We can try,¡± Lev cautiously remarked after a long pause. Nikolai stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and said firmly:


    ¡°I don''t agree.¡±


    ¡°It will be just... a concert!¡± Rina grinned and, copying him, also crossed her arms. ¡°What are we losing? Above your head, as Lev said, the tank tracks are already hovering. I also have so-so prospects - to sit out in another village, feed chickens and piglets until they eventually find me. So why not say goodbye, so to speak, with a grandiose ¡®show¡¯? I promise, I will dedicate all the songs to you!¡±


    Nikolai finally grinned, and sly laughter flashed in his eyes. Rina also smiled. And by the way Lev raised an eyebrow and grinned, she realized that the matter was solved.


    That night, Rina could not sleep for a long time, but not because she was worried about what was coming, but because, on the contrary, she thought everything over carefully. She needed a new song, one that she would perform only once - woven from feelings and emotions. This time she did not need to draw strength from her performance, but on the contrary, to give all the necessary energy with the song.


    Rina got out of bed and walked around the room. The moon shone brightly through the window, spilling light on the floorboards. Rina involuntarily stopped in a silvery ¡®puddle¡¯ and froze, looking at the sleeping garden. She remembered the days in the village, the morning fragrance of freshness, the afternoon - floral, and spicy, with a bitterness of smoke, evening. Can there be flavors in the song? Rina smiled at the moon that ¡®winked¡¯ at her and agreed: they can!


    Let this part of the song, deceptively pastoral, into which she will weave the feelings for Nikolail that are emerging in the village, and become preparatory. In contrast to the introduction, the other part, woven from fear and betrayal, will be destructive. In this ¡®verse¡¯, Rina will weave the horror experienced in Lebedev¡¯s captivity and the desperate loneliness experienced on the wrong side of the city. This part of the song will cause the desired effect. Unlike the case with the three businessmen, when she created a fake door leading not from the restaurant, but into the portal, this time Rina wanted to cause an earthquake to scare off the few employees of the base and give them the opportunity to escape. Then, with a powerful crescendo in the chorus, Rina was going to open the portal and bring down the center there. There was still the final part of the song to seal the portal tightly. And therein lay the difficulty. Rina couldn¡¯t find the final chord. Something was missing, the melody went into the wrong key, Rina was angry, nervous and began to wander from corner to corner again. Suddenly she stopped, and then walked resolutely out of the room. What is she doing on this possibly last night? Composing a song! Angry, picks up notes and gets angry again! She doesn¡¯t need to be angry, but to wake up Nikolai and finally tell him everything about the ¡®chemistry¡¯ that they feel for each other, but for some reason they are trying to drown out other important things. What things could be more important on last night? And it¡¯s better not to say anything, because when everyone doesn¡¯t even touch, but looks, hits with discharges, words are not needed.


    Rina opened the door with the intention of entering the next room, and ran into Nikolai nose to nose.


    ¡°You... why aren''t you sleeping?¡± she asked absurdly, immediately forgetting that she was going to tell him everything. She forgot, because Nikolai was wearing only sweatpants.


    ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°And I¡­ because to you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m coming to you,¡± he laughed, pulled her to him and kissed her. Not kiss, but bit into her lips, scooped her into a bear hug, forgetting about all tenderness, and except that he didn''t growl.


    He was gentle with her later - in bed. In whose room they ended up, Rina didn¡¯t understand. Night turned into morning, and then into day. They fell asleep for a while, woke up, forgot themselves in each other¡¯s arms again, took short breaks for food and returned to bed again. If there was such an opportunity, Rina would have spent eternity like this. But when the sky outside the window turned pink from the setting sun, Nikolai said with regret:


    ¡°It''s time. Lev will be waiting for us on the spot in two hours.¡±

 Chapter 25

    "What is death for you?"


    "Silence."


    (from Rina''s interview for the program ''Through the Looking Glass'')


    And again there was a strange house, echoing with echoing steps in a half-empty room, loneliness and maddening suspense. Rina wasn''t so much worried about her future as worried about the lack of news about Nikolai: where is he, is everything okay with him, will they see each other? But as the days went by, she still didn''t know anything about him.


    Their plan succeeded. Everything went as well as possible. Love filled Rina with such power, which she did not receive even from concerts.


    Nikolai chose a place from which they could see everything, and they themselves would remain unnoticed. And Rina carried out her plans, acting according to the planned plan. The earthquake scared off the few employees who were in the building of the center at that night hour. A crack zigzagged across the ground from a powerful push. People were shouting something and hurriedly leaving the base. After waiting a little so that everyone could run away to a safe distance from the buildings, Rina imagined how the foundation crumbles under the main building and the building flies into a bottomless abyss, and at the same time ''hit''. At the moment when the crescendo of her song reached its peak, a bright blue flame burst out of the crevice. And with a high note, Rina brought down the building into the portal. The rest of her strength was spent on patching up the ''hole''. Her legs gave way, her head was buzzing, but Nikolai managed to catch Rina. She remembered how he ran somewhere with her in his arms, then sat her in his car, which Lev was driving. But for some reason he didn''t sit next to her. He quickly kissed Rina goodbye, waved his hand and ran to another car, in which there were some people.


    Since then, Rina didn''t know anything about Nikolai. And Lev''s words that he would prepare her departure from the country did not calm her down, but only added to the anxiety. Lev didn''t appear, didn''t explain anything, so Rina only had to guess about her future. Where will they take her? To which country? With Nikolai or alone?


    She managed to extinguish her anxiety by reading for a while: along with the necessary things, Lev brought her a weighty stack of books that his wife had collected. Yana gave Rina her own books and, being carried away by the plots, she briefly forgot about her own twists and turns.


    She was taken far away, she did not even know the name of the village in which this large and uninhabited house was located. In what area? Is it far from the capital? Behind a high stone fence, two jeeps with silent, sturdy men were on duty, and two bodyguards constantly patrolled the inner territory. They also delivered products to Rina and passed her requests to the boss - Lev. But all of Rina''s requests turned into one: to find out what was wrong with Nikolai. Lev was silent in this case.


    Just once she decided to go for a walk. She was released for the territory, but the executive ''two from the casket'' followed. Rina walked around the endless field, went out onto a country road and headed towards the rumble of a freight train coming from afar. The guards, keeping at a distance, repeated the route, but when Rina turned to the settlement, they caught up with her and politely asked her to return to the house. She never left her ''prison'' again.


    That late evening, when despair, from which books were no longer saved, reached its peak, Rina heard the noise of a car approaching and voices. She immediately jumped out of bed and ran out onto the porch as she was: in pajamas and barefoot. But instead of Nikolai, she saw Vsevolod and Violet walking towards the house, accompanied by them. Rina screamed and rushed to them. At first, she impulsively hugged Vsevolod, and then burst into tears on Violet''s shoulder and did not even notice at what moment Lev tactfully left, leaving Rina alone with friends.


    They talked late into the night, realizing that their meeting would be the last. Rina calmed down, but Violet burst into tears. And while Rina was already comforting her friend, Vsevolod was pacing the small kitchen with restless steps. Friends left her in the early morning. And, despite the strained smiles and assurances that everything would be fine, the farewell turned out to be difficult. Rina promised to send a postcard as a conditional sign that she got to a new place well. But when her friends left, she burst into tears. She beat the pillow, cried into it and screamed everything that was torn from her heart until, exhausted, she fell asleep. Rina woke up, calmed down, took a shower and got ready. The arrival of friends made it clear to her that this day in her ''prison'' was the last. If only she could wait for the night, survive these hours that stretched to eternity!


    It was not Lev who came for her, as Rina expected, but Nikolai. But there was no time for joy, questions and hugs. Nikolai quickly carried her bag to his car and, before starting the engine, said:


    "Don''t be afraid of anything. Trust me."


    Jeeps with guards followed them, keeping at a distance, but not letting anyone get behind Nikolai''s car. The night road, illuminated only by the headlights, didn''t seem to roll out in a smooth canvas, but ran away to the black sky. And from such an effect, enhanced by the feeling that they were alone on this suburban highway, it became creepy.


    Nikolai was silent, and this also added to the anxiety. It seemed that he was only interested in the road. And Rina, exhausted by anxiety, began to boil. Until recently, she thought that when she met Nikolai, she would die of joy. But here he is, nearby and, at the same time, somewhere far away. And Rina, instead of being happy, was angry.


    "Are you going to keep quiet?" she couldn''t stand the silence. "Can you tell me where we''re going? And where have you been all this time? Why didn''t you report yourself? I was freaking out with worry, damn you! You and your Lev!"


    "I''m sorry," Nikolai said, glancing at her briefly. "We had to prepare everything..."


    "What to prepare?!"


    "Our departure. Documents, tickets, visas. And to do everything without attracting attention, and it''s not easy. They''re looking for us. And if they find us..."


    He didn''t finish, but she already understood that in this case they would not live.


    "We''re going to the airport," Nikolai continued. "From there we will fly to Germany, then we will cross to Switzerland."


    Germany, Switzerland... Tears welled up in her eyes, because it was only now that Rina fully realized that her life would never be the same again. There will be no concerts, meetings with friends. From now on, strangers will surround her. Diving into an alien environment and an unfamiliar language is like jumping from a tower into icy water.


    "It''s the only way out. Just trust me. And don''t be afraid."


    "How not to be afraid?!" Rina exclaimed, to whom Nikolai''s confidence seemed infantile this time. "How will we live there and where? For what?! What language should I speak?!"


    "Rina, the main thing is that we will live. I''ll take care of everything. That''s why I needed time to prepare. Lev has friends even in these countries, so we are going there. At first they will help us, and then we will get up on our own."


    "How simple everything is with you!" she screamed and stopped. She herself signed up for such a life when she volunteered to destroy the center. Nikolai is right: the main thing is that they will live. And together.


    "I''m sorry," Rina muttered. "Yes, we can handle it, since we managed to get out of the otherworld. It''s just a pity that this is not Italy, where Violet comes every year. And not South Korea, which is familiar to me. I have friends there... But it is so, my whims! The main thing is that we will live. It doesn''t matter where! Really?"


    Rina didn''t have time to get an answer, because one of the jeeps suddenly overtook them. Nikolai frowned, and his anxiety was instantly transmitted to her.


    "Is something wrong?"


    "Perhaps they received some kind of order. Or decided to check..."


    He didn''t finish because he was interrupted by a deafening crash. A bright flash of flame lit up the black sky, and Nikolai hit the brakes while Rina screamed.


    "Hold on!"


    He abruptly turned the car across two lanes and sped in the opposite direction. The Jeep following them did the same.


    "Kolya?! What''s going on?!"


    He didn''t answer her, just tightened his jaw and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.


    "Get down!" Nikolai shouted to Rina when they were overtaken by two cars rushing at cosmic speed. He barely had time to slow down, because the cars turned around and blocked their way.


    "Creatures!"


    Rina, on the other hand, could not even scream from the horror that gripped her. Security guards jumped out of the jeep that stopped behind them and rushed to their car.


    "Run!" Nikolai yelled, unbuckling Rina''s seat belt, followed by his own.


    Not thinking anything out of fear, but obeying the order, Rina jumped out onto the road and immediately fell under the cover of one of the bodyguards. Carried away by him, she looked around in fright:


    "Kolya?!"


    Unfamiliar men jumped out of the cars blocking the way and, throwing up their weapons on the move, rushed to intercept them. Rina screamed when the shot rang out, and squeezed her eyes shut, realizing that in the next second her life would end. Another shot rang out. Rina felt that no one was covering for her anymore. But the next second someone grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the forest landing.


    "Hurry up!" Nikolai hurried, and then suddenly pulled her arm down, so that Rina stumbled and almost fell.


    "Get down!" he shouted, but he was cut off by a short burst. Following this, there was a deafening crash. The sky lit up with bright flashes again. And then darkness descended on Rina.


    A few days later


    "I can''t believe it," Vika whispered through her tears, mechanically stroking Shusha, who was perched next to her. The dog sensed his mood: he put his muzzle on Vika''s lap, squinted with his brown eye and whined softly.


    "How so?!"


    Yura silently put a cup on the table next to the chair, sat down next to it on the armrest and drew Vika to him. She clung to him trustingly, and Yura handed her tea. But as soon as Vika took a sip, she started crying again.


    The terrible news that thundered through all channels shocked even those who were not fans of Rina. Natasha Svetakova, the owner of a famous magazine, was the first to write about the death of a popular singer in a blog. The shocking news was immediately picked up by other journalists, TV reporters rushed to the scene of the tragedy, and in the morning the whole country was talking about what had happened. The car in which Rina was driving was shot by unknown people on a deserted road. The singer and her companion managed to get out of the car before the gas tank exploded, but they couldn''t escape from the killers.


    "Do you believe that this is Lebedev''s revenge, as they write about it everywhere?" Vika asked, and Yura shook his head.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The media blamed Rina''s ex-fiance for the incident. Dimitri''s name has recently been associated only with illegal transactions, the disappearance of his competitors and other scandalous offenses. Therefore, few people doubted that the brutal massacre of Rina was staged on his orders. The public, which had previously admired a successful, young and charismatic businessman, now claimed that it was quite in the spirit of Lebedev to ambush on a deserted road and shoot and blow up a car.


    "I don''t believe it," Yura replied to Vika. "I don''t believe that Lebedev arranged it all. And you know why. Rina is a portal girl. Shortly before her death, a vegetable base fell into the ground in a strange way. Which wasn''t really a base. Rina and Nikolai were removed out of revenge by those to whom they spoiled all the plans. They didn''t let them escape. And they hung everything on Lebedev, because the version with jealousy and revenge is logical and true."


    Vika nodded dejectedly. She recently successfully passed an interview and was already supposed to take up the duties of a secretary instead of her predecessor, who was going on maternity leave, but in connection with the incident, the future boss gave her a few days of rest. Yura was hard at work in the editorial office of Natasha Svetakova. The boss just instructed him to write a scandalous article about strange anomalies and mysterious tests. Yura didn''t fail to share with her his version of the death of Rina and Nikolai, but for some reason Natasha insisted on the version with Lebedev''s involvement. Yura didn''t argue, especially since he had his own scores with the businessman.


    "Vika, let''s go away for a few days?"


    Maybe the trip will distract Vika a little, who even dyed her hair black as a sign of mourning?


    "I can take a couple of days to work remotely," Yura continued. "Together with the weekend, it will be four days. If your visa is in order, we will go abroad at least. Wherever you wish!"


    "And where is Shusha going?" Vika asked sullenly, but wiped her tears away.


    "We will ask Manya to shelter Shusha for these days. I don''t think she''ll say no... to you."


    A girl dressed all in dark with short black hair took off her sunglasses and looked questioningly at her companion. He nodded silently and went to the free counter, where the airport employee was just getting ready to start work. The man said something quietly to the employee, and she accepted the documents handed to her.


    The same man brought his companion to the line and already there said goodbye to her with a restrained nod.


    It was as if an invisible Angel had led her through all the controls: no one had caused obstacles, found fault with the visa in the new passport and asked unnecessary questions. The girl smiled goodbye to the stern border guard, although her heart was beating somewhere in her throat, and went to the right hall. There was a lot of time left before boarding, duty-free shops beckoned with an assortment, but she sat down in a chair and buried her face in a book.


    She was the last to board, waiting for the queue to clear. The stewardess glanced at her with a duty glance, smiled affably and returned the boarding pass.


    Turning away to the porthole and greedily absorbing the outlines of the capital''s airport with her eyes, she finally said goodbye to her former life. The popular singer Rina Sokolovsky died, another girl was born instead of her - unknown to anyone, with someone else''s name, to which she still had to get used, with an unclear future, but with hopes arising in her heart.


    Enough time has passed since the shooting on the highway, and the media were still trying to develop a controversy around her ''death'' and find out what kind of man accompanied Rina on that tragic night. But no matter how the journalists dug, they only found out about Nikolai that he was a private detective. Therefore, speculation on whether Rina had gone to him quickly stopped. The detective was hired by close friends of the singer, and only business relations connected her with Melnik.


    Rina quickly stopped viewing publications about herself: it''s creepy to read how the whole country mourns you. And she opened them only because she wanted to know what they would write about Nikolai.


    How she missed him! It was unbearably painful, to the point of a heart-rending scream and the unshed tears that poisoned her. She missed him every second of those unbearably endless days... And only now, when the plane took off to the clouds, her soul was freed from pain.


    The plane went to land, and Rina clung to the porthole, looking from a height at the peaks of the mountains covered with cotton clouds, the turquoise sea and the coastline cut by coves. The plane made a circle over the sea and flew low over the colorful squares of fields. Her heart began to beat faster: her new life had begun!


    Rina hardly stayed at passport control: Lev, through his contacts, got her not just a passport with a visa, but a card of a resident of South Korea. She didn''t have a suitcase with her, so she didn''t waste time waiting for him.


    Fainting with excitement, she went out to the arrival hall and immediately saw a tall, handsome man in the crowd who greeted her with a white-toothed smile. And then he opened his arms and took Rina in his arms.


    "annong!" Chin Hwa greeted with Korean spontaneity and added in Russian:


    "Hello, beautiful! How are you?"


    And he laughed when Rina forgot all the words in her excitement and could only nod, wiping her tears and smiling happily.


    They took the elevator down to the desired parking floor, approached the car, and only when they had already driven away from the terminal, Chin Hwa asked in Korean:


    "gwaenchanha?"


    "Okay."


    "Good is very good" he answered in Russian with an accent and smiled.


    So, shuffling both languages like cards, they started talking. Rina briefly talked about the flight, about her last days in Russia. Chin already knew what had happened. It was not she who contacted him, but someone from Lev and ''arranged everything''. From somewhere, Jaguar also became aware of Rina''s friendship with the Korean musician.


    "Shall we stop by our place? Iki is waiting for us for lunch," Chin Hwa suggested as they raced along the expressway. Rina clung to the window, curiously examining the scattering of houses on the slopes of low mountains.


    "Mmm," she hesitated. She wanted to meet Chin''s family again, but not now.


    "I see. You''re not up to it right now," Chin Hwa nodded. "Next time!"


    "Yes. Iki won''t be offended?"


    "No. She''ll understand. And I understand that you''re in a hurry."


    "Yes," said Rina and squeezed her knees covered with trousers with excitement. "How long do we have to go?"


    "Two hours."


    Rina sighed heavily, and Chin, wanting to entertain her, began to talk about his family: about Iki, about his son Su On, who recently turned seven years old. That Chin''s restless sister was now traveling somewhere with her husband and daughter in Latin America. And when the stories ran out, Chin Hwa turned on the music, and Rina, to her amazement, heard her own song.


    "This is my favorite," he replied with a sly smile.


    They listened to the song in complete silence. Rina didn''t speak even when another one from the same disc sounded. Wanting to hide her sudden sadness, she turned to the window, pretending to look at the scenery. They were no longer traveling on the expressway, but on the national road, which cut through small villages.


    "I wanted to talk to you about something," Chin Hwa said seriously. Rina nodded without turning around.


    "I have been planning a project for a long time. I would like to act as a producer. I have already gained experience over all these years, there are enough acquaintances, our group has also entered the international market, so I can open the doors... for someone else. I have some songs that will suit you. Iki will translate them into English. To be honest, I wrote them thinking about you - under your voice, under your manner of performance. But we could change something, add a new sound and..."


    "And how do you imagine it?" Rina smiled sadly. "I''m kind of dead. To sing is also to shine a face. Concerts, video clips. And you''re also talking about the international market..."


    "Wait, let me finish! We would have changed your style and ''classified'' your face. Let''s say they would draw cartoon musicians. Do you know the band ''Gorillaz''?"


    "I know," Rina smiled. "We also had one singer perform like that. I know what you mean. But I''m not sure, Chin..."


    "Don''t say anything now. Just think. You have time. And I have the resources and capabilities."


    "Thank you," she was touched. They drove in silence for a while, then Rina spoke up.


    "I need to send a postcard. I promised my friend. How can this be done?"


    "How? Very simple! Buy a postcard and send it!" he laughed and, seeing a yellow sign on one of the buildings, pulled over to the side of the road.


    "Here, by the way, is the mail. Come on, it won''t be long."


    Sending a postcard to Violet and Vsevolod really didn''t take much time. Rina chose one with views of Seoul - typical, giving a hint and without words. But when she told Chin Hwa that she wasn''t going to write anything, he took the card from her with a sly smile and signed it.


    "Let your friend get an autograph. How to write in Russian ''I wish you happiness''?"


    They left the post office, got into the car and set off again. The road brought them to the coast, and Rina clung to the window, admiring the sea sparkling in the sun. Is she really going to live in a seaside town? Chin guessed her thoughts again:


    "The town is not a tourist town, quiet and sparsely populated. But it''s not far from a big city and the sea. I hope you like it. It''s very beautiful and peaceful there, you''ll see! By the way, we''re almost there."


    The seaside village was left behind. The rest of the way, Chin Hwa and Rina didn''t talk anymore: she was silent from the excitement that surged over her, he - understanding her condition.


    The separation was too long, too many worries overcame Rina all this time. Sometimes silence, even if forced, turns out to be scarier than death.


    The village was surrounded by greenery and sunlight. He seemed friendly and promised a happy quiet life. The courtyards looked elegant because of the flowers, and Rina, looking at other people''s houses, wondered what her own would be like? However, she would be glad even to have a small apartment ¨C if only in this place. If only with the one whose longing burned out her whole heart.


    "We''ve arrived," Chin said, parking the car near a chain-link fence hung with branches of an unknown shrub with purple and crimson flowers, like garlands.


    Rina opened the door, stepped onto the cobblestone sidewalk and pulled down the edge of her traveling jacket in excitement. It was quiet and blissful here. The white track from the flying plane, like a ''lightning'', tore apart the blue sky. The wind rustled faintly in the leaves. A lemon tree stretched branches over the fence, dotted with juicy yellow fruits.


    "Hello," Rina heard behind her. She turned around abruptly and immediately found herself in Nikolai''s arms.


    He hugged Rina tightly to him, buried his face in her cropped hair and exhaled happily. How unbearably endless was the separation! Silence is scarier than death. And so now, hugging his ''bird'' tightly - in reality, and not in dreams, which, with the dawn melting, left a bitter taste of deception, Nikolai felt as if he had come out of the dark realm of the dead.


    There, on the highway, the Jaguar people staged a spectacular ''shooting'' for them. Nikolai and Rina were taken away by two guards, and the rest remained to continue to play a ''show'' - with explosions, fire, pyrotechnics and blank shots, imitating the ''handwriting'' not so much of Merinov''s people and hedgehogs with him, as the scope of Lebedev.


    When they were taken away from this highway, Rina was stunned silent for half the way, and then sobbed half the way. Nikolai comforted her in silence, saving all the words for the Jaguar. And so when Lev personally met them in someone else''s half-empty house, he yelled at his friend right from the doorstep:


    "I should have warned you!"


    Lev let him vent his rage, helped calm Rina, and then explained in detail that at the last moment he had to replay his plans, because Nikolai and Rina were already waiting at the airport. They would not have been allowed to fly away, because they were being guarded.


    "They will stop looking for you only in one case - if you die. There was no time and opportunity to warn, Kolya. But I also prepared for such a scenario."


    "To involve so many people, to make such a noise, to pick up two suitable... bodies! Are you serious, Jaguar?! It''s too complicated!"


    "My guys are also not able to do this," Lev answered with pride. "And I have friends in morgues. The unclaimed bodies were picked up as needed and quickly."


    "Jaguar, sometimes I''m afraid of you," Nikolai said warily. "I don''t know anything about you, it turns out."


    "I don''t know everything about myself either, Kolya," Lev laughed. But he immediately stopped laughing and continued in a businesslike tone:


    "Vsevolod will go for the identification from Rina. His nerves must be strong. To your mother, Kolya, I will go myself and right now. And then I''ll rush to Nuilya. Give me her phone number. Natasha Svetakova is already preparing the news - ''lightning'' in the right key. Everything is on the ointment! You just have to sit out and then leave."


    Nikolai only discharged himself with curses in response. Okay, he himself, but Rina could have been warned?!


    "So what should I tell my mother personally from you?" Lev asked calmly. And Nikolai, having given up, asked to say that he had taken one soldier from the collection.


    They left with Rina separately. Nikolai left almost immediately after the ''death'' - to prepare everything. Rina was hidden for a long time, documents were prepared for her, they waited until the hype associated with her ''death'' would go down. And all this time they couldn''t even get in touch. Lev commanded the parade, and they had to obey him.


    Rina clung to his back so tightly that Nikolai could feel her nails even through the fabric of the polo. But he was in no hurry to get out of her arms, even though Chin Hwa was hovering next to the car, smiling shyly, and a three-month-old puppy rolled out of the open gate in a shaggy ball. Rina herself unclenched her hands, raised her tear-stained face, on which a happy smile now shone, and exhaled:


    "Hello!"


    Nikolai invited Rina''s friend to the house, but Chin Hwa tactfully refused, saying that his wife was already waiting for him. Before leaving, he made Rina and Nikolai promise to come to visit. He saluted goodbye with two short beeps and sped off.


    "Welcome... to our home. I hope you like it," Nikolai said with barely concealed excitement. Will she like it? By the arrival of Rina, he tried to arrange everything, but suddenly he didn''t guess her tastes? What if she says that...


    "It''s beautiful here! These flowers! Lemon tree! The sun! And... and who is this?"


    She finally noticed the puppy that was playing at their feet.


    "And this is a troublemaker, a destroyer of the sofa and everything you can reach. Should grow into a large and harsh-looking beast, but kind at heart. In general, this is... a friend who brightened up my loneliness a little and did not let me get bored. Meet Yoshka."


    "Yoshka?" Rina asked.


    "Yoshi is like a character in a computer game," Nikolai explained, and Rina laughed:


    "It''s clear how you spent your time here!"


    "Yeah! Playing games! In addition to repairs, garden improvement and my attempts to get water, light and gas from utilities in lousy Korean," Nikolai laughed in response. He picked up the bag, hugged Rina and led her home. The puppy ran after them, getting under their feet and biting their sneakers for joy.


    "I''m back home," Rina said when she entered the hallway. "I''ve been looking for it everywhere for a long time. And it''s here. With you."