“TALES OF GHOSTS”
about Love and Death from the Land of Mists
a collection of short stories
in the “Playing Another Reality” series
"DARK TOWER"
6. DARK TOWER
«there is no remedy for death in the world…»
B2
The plot was repeated: Time changes only the scenery, the Dark Tower is still the same. Everyone has their own Dark Tower, but only those who destroy the great power of its attraction can become truly happy.
*****CHAPTER 1. Edgar*****
«not the one I know,
not of those who are with me,
where there’s a game going on:
one and two, one and other, that’s all…
there must be someone else here…»
B2
Karina stepped out of the medieval chapel, headed towards the forest in a hurry, recklessly removing the scarf from her fiery red hair, as she immediately heard a voice behind her, «Long live the Holy Inquisition!!!»
Karina shuddered. The Inquisition had pursued her, starting from one of her past lives, in which existed that particular medieval chapel, where Karina wanted to return periodically for some reason. Nostalgia?
The last time the inquisitors came for her already in the astral castle on the outskirts of the City of the Sun, and found flasks with poison in quantities, which exceeded their standards, but Allan, alchemist and owner of the tiny laboratory, resolved the issue peacefully by the purchase of indulgences.
In the heart of the dense forest of the World of Illusions — that’s how the world of the souls incarnated on Earth was called in the Astral World — standing in the center between three pine trees, Karina looked around — no one, perfect! She visualized her old broom, covered herself in a witch-like cloak with a long hood-cap and disappeared into the portal. Of course, the broom had long been only a symbol. Flying on brooms in the 21st century looked like wearing vintage suits and shoes. True wizards used portals not only when moving between worlds and through time, but also within a single space within the same time frame, since flying somewhere on a broom was much more dangerous and longer.
Karina worked for Allan in his astral gothic castle, hidden from prying eyes in the no less astral forest of the Land of Light. The day before, in the Land of Dreams, she had run into one of the castle’s new employees, Edgar. There were rumors that he had been a famous mage from a frontier star city. They said, after his collision with the Inquisition, Edgar imitated his disappearance and moved to Allan’s castle in a fake form, visualizing himself as someone else, not the one he was in reality. They also talked that Edgar owned one of the oldest magic wands that had survived during the millennia-long war between Good and Evil.
Having arrived in the castle, Karina decided to see Edgar first and found him in a gloomy room on the second floor, in the farthest wing of the library, reading an ancient book related to the Mendeleev’s table of chemical elements.
«What an honor?!» exclaimed Edgar, looking at Karina in surprise.
«Hello, Ed!» she said, putting her hand on his back where birds and angels usually got their wings attached. Karina used to do so in order to feel the energy and correct it, if necessary.
Edgar was even more surprised and got up from his chair.
«Please, sit down!»
She sat down and lowered her hands in impotence. He stood by and waited with interest to see what would happen next.
«I need your advice, Ed.»
«About the Inquisition?»
«Oh, you can read minds! Should we keep talking out loud?»
«Nostalgia for the body forces us to visualize matter at least in its subtlest form, recreate Gothic castles and grow forests, use brooms even entering the portal and swing in cozy chairs by the fireplaces, while reading no less ghostly books. For the same reason, we still think we’re talking out loud.»
Suddenly, Karina felt a flow of powerful energy surge into her tired soul. Another time, she would immediately disappear to stop the unknown influence, but that moment she didn’t want to resist at all, and she relaxed.
There, in the farthest wing of the library, Karina felt relatively safe. If the inquisitors suddenly turned up, they would first enter her laboratory, which one could escape only by dissolving in the air or passing through the wall. As a rule, that wasn’t a problem for Karina, however, when wizards worry, they cease to be wizards.
Edgar imperceptibly wiggled the fingers of his right hand, and a cup of coffee, hovering in the ether, appeared right in front of Karina, and the space got filled with a pleasant aroma.
Karina looked at Edgar in surprise and reached for the cup.
«Wait!» he stopped Karina, and the cup smoothly moved away from her outstretched hand.
«Poisoned???»
«No, it’s just hot. Kidding. Well… What did you want to ask me?» Edgar continued, slowly drifting across the room to the opposite corner to the rack of ancient books, while the cup gently landed on the table. What a pity, the cup was just an illusion as well.
«During the Inquisition time on Earth, people never discussed magic even at home, not to mention gothic castles, which walls had ears. Wizards tried to hide their abilities even from their closest relatives. Aren’t you afraid of…?» Karina asked cautiously and, pretending to take her first sip from the cup, exclaimed, «Hmm! Not poisoned, it’s even very decent!»
«I’m not a magician, I’m just learning. Besides, I’m a dozen levels away from you.»
«Do you consider me a witch?» Karina asked and laughed.
«Everyone in our castle knows that. It’s not even about the color of your hair, and not about the amount of poison in your closet. It’s just written on your forehead, „I am a witch“, that creates certain problems. For you and those around you.»
«Right on the forehead? Come to me closer to midnight,» said Karina and instantly disappeared.
***
«Hi, Karina! How are you?» Allan asked. «Were you able to get the antidote for RX-2318? Today, the Dark Ones unearthed another ancient burial place with that infection and handed over the samples to 40 biochemical labs at once. Of course, they’ll invent a mutation, but…»
«Yes, it was ready yesterday… Listen, I’m scared. I feel it.»
«What?» wondered Allan, who was good at chemistry, but couldn’t feel anything at all.
«The Inquisition. They will destroy our castle.»
«No one can destroy our castle! You’re exaggerating. Besides, we’ll rebuild it in no time! And remember, if the Dark Ones open crypts in cemeteries and breed deadly diseases without punishment, no one has the right to forbid us to invent antidotes! We’re employees of the Forces of Light, and the Inquisition is just a controlling organization under… you know who!»
«Have you ever thought that employees of the Forces of Darkness could appear among the inquisitors? Or agents?»
«Come on! We are almost in the City of the Sun here!»
«What if the Guards at the Border of the Worlds missed someone? Or the border has been breached? Or the portals have stopped blocking the Dark Ones when they get to our level?»
«No, Karina, it’s impossible! The inquisitors are afraid that we will give antidote formulas to people without getting the permission, but we don’t break the law by inventing virtual medicines. And if one day we tell something to people, we’ll do it exclusively within the Land of Dreams’ neutral territory, won’t we?»
«I see them winning,» Karina continued, closing her eyes. «I see bonfires… And I’m no longer… here…»
«Karina, what the hell bonfires are there in the Astral World!»
******CHAPTER 2. Silver******
«Half a kingdom for a ticket…
paid more than in full…»
B2
«Why is there so much pain in your poems?» Edgar asked, swinging in his rocking chair by the fireplace in Karina’s lab room.
«All magicians, especially strong ones, had to suffer their abilities. Besides, these are my old poems, when I was still nostalgic.»
«I always thought that you were doing well, that you were happy.»
«Ed… What do you feel about the future?»
«No, don’t ask,» Edgar shook his head.
«Have you been deprived of access to the Tablets?» Karina got surprised, but Edgar stared into the fireplace silently. «You know something scary, that’s why you don’t want to tell me about it, do you?»
«Where and when did you live on Earth?» he asked suddenly.
«The last time it was the Silver Age. I remember horse-drawn carriages, stone-paved roads, lanterns…»
«You must have studied at Mendeleev’s! The Silver Age is romantic. And where do you live now? Right in Allan’s castle?»
«Yes, it’s easier. I have a two-story cottage with a garden near the City of the Sun. On weekends I’m there, otherwise, I’m here.»
«I see,» Edgar sighed. «It’s too late. It’s time to fall asleep.»
«And where do you live?» Karina wondered.
«Left, straight ahead, right, left, left again, then right. There’s a lonely and very Dark Tower in the fields.»
***
The long-awaited weekend arrived. Karina was talking to the flowers in her cottage, when a strong wind suddenly came up, and the sky got covered with dark clouds. She rushed to the attic, where an old telephone without wires was kept.
«Edgar,» she picked up the receiver and shouted, «what’s going on?!»
«I’m not deaf, there is absolutely no need to shout like that. There is a problem in the castle. There was a heavy downpour, we got a bit flooded. Then there was a short circuit, the light went out.»
«In the Astral? A short circuit? The light went out?» Karina laughed. «Is that a problem? You are a mage!!! However, if there is no light, of course, there is nothing to do in the castle, and we may have a rest!»
Karina stopped laughing abruptly, of course, she shouldn’t have said that.
«Easily!» Edgar calmly replied, and the connection was interrupted.
«He hasn’t said what he is doing in the lab on his day off… Reading books in the library?» Karina wondered and immediately moved to the castle library, but Edgar appeared there almost simultaneously with her.
«So where are we going to?» Karina asked.
«The Silver Age, perhaps,» Edgar replied calmly, not even surprised by her appearance. «When are we leaving?»
«Mmm… what about… right now?»
«Give me your hand,» Edgar whispered and came up to her.
Karina obediently held out her hand, and two small oblong sheets of paper fell from the ether into her palm.
«What’s this?!» Karina exclaimed in surprise.
«Already forgotten? Tickets. For the train.»
«The train? Wow! What a luxury!»
«Trains are not luxury, Karina, they are means of transport. For ordinary people.»
«What about the broom?»
«We don’t need it today! Anyway, we must hurry, the train is about to leave!»
…That weekend in the Silver Age was like true magic! Karina forgot about the Inquisition and the gothic castle. She was able to enjoy not only the steam train trip, but also riding in carriages, prancing on horseback, waltzing with Edgar at a ball and even spending the night in the Palace, then they found themselves in a tavern.
«I’m scared,» Karina said, watching people absorb alcohol in huge quantities.
«Will they be possessed by demons?!»
«No, I’m scared of what will happen to us after. After we get back.»
«Life is an interesting thing, isn’t it? While you live on Earth, you want to drop everything and run away to Heaven. When you are in Heaven, you get nostalgic for Earth.»
«I don’t want to go back to Earth, Edgar.»
«Have you been that unhappy?»
«It’s my own karma. I fall in love with bad boys all the time. They betray me, rob me, set me up, so, in general, they kill me one way or another, or rather, they drive me to death. I have to live alone and trust no one.»
«Come on, don’t think about it! Have you ever been married?»
«Certainly!»
«And who was your last husband?»
«A doctor, he got hooked on morphine and died of an overdose. I died of typhus. Almost a million souls left the Earth in that epidemic.»
«Is that why you live alone in the Astral now, developing formulas for drugs against infections and viruses?»
«I’m curious about that, yes.»
«Where is your husband’s soul now?»
«Somewhere on Earth. According to distribution.»
«In the ranks of Satan? Opening graves? Do you miss him?»
«No… Where and when did you live? Who were you?»
«I don’t remember anything,» Edgar smiled.
«You just don’t want to remember, do you?»
Edgar shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the clock on the wall by the counter.
«It’s time to go back.»
******CHAPTER 3. Intelligent Vampire******
«to hold on to the air and sharp stars,
to touch the huge sky with hand…»
B2
Karina was dissecting another plant when she heard Allan’s voice, «Inquisition!», and two messengers burst into the laboratory. One of them pulled out a manuscript from his cloak.
«You are charged with violating the Law of Witchcraft and Alchemy!» the messenger said gloatingly. «Sign the Tablets about the receipt of the notice. The Inquisition requires an explanation and 333 papers in your defense before the Full Moon. Otherwise, as well as for providing falsified papers, you will be prosecuted under the following articles: „Illegal activities on the territory of the castle“, „Concealing Alchemy of an extraordinary large scale“, „Forgery of indulgence“, „Illegal border crossing“ and „Disclosure of Mirror’s Secrets“! From now until the decision of the Inquisitors’ High Council, you are forbidden to carry out any alchemical work, and the castle is taken under special surveillance since midnight.»
Karina glanced at the dissected plant, then at the train tickets from the Silver Age, and they obediently disappeared, after that she silently studied the manuscript.
«Shall I sign?» Karina asked Allan, who was invisibly present in the ether.
«Well, sign it. What else can you do?»
Karina signed the paper in the Tablets, and the messengers disappeared. Allan, blackened with anger, flew into the room.
«We’ll arrange an investigation of your flights later! How did you manage to end up on Earth?! How to prove now that you haven’t voiced a single formula to any of the mortals? Did you lay out the cards?»
«No, the stars.»
«The Medici Solitaire would be much better for the case! If you can’t form a chain of events, you’ll have to… you know what!.. Who could imagine that even here, in Higher Sphere, the Inquisition would pursue the Forces of Light, obviously playing into the hands of Darkness! They don’t allow us to work deliberately! At the same time, they know, they know that we are not violating anything! They are beyond any control, damn them! Just like on Earth!»
Karina took a Tarot deck out of her left sleeve, each card corresponding to a particular event, and began to compose a chain leading to the desired result. Once, the night before the execution, Queen Mary Stuart had also tried the Medici Solitaire in order to escape the fate prescribed by Heaven, but she had not enough time until the morning and got beheaded.
Edgar entered the lab through the wall and saw Allan. Edgar bowed, whispered «Sorry», went back through the wall, knocked on the door, waited for the permission and entered the room again.
«You’re just in time, Ed,» Allan said. «I suggest that Karina be temporarily relocated to your Tower. She’ll continue to work somehow there. Let’s try to prepare papers in her defense. Anyway, until the Full Moon, turn off visibility even in the Tower, as if no one lives there.»
Edgar obediently bowed in agreement.
«And… just in case,» Allan said thoughtfully, «it’s worth meditating on where Karina should end up, if our agreement with the Inquisition fails.»
Karina almost howled, «Not that again!»
Allan disappeared.
«What the devil pulled me to fly to the Silver Age!» Karina thought. With an unblinking gaze, she pulled one of the flasks out of the closet, threw it at the wall with all her might, and the flask pretended to be broken.
«Imagine what a valuable specialist you are if you disturb the Forces of Darkness so much!» Edgar chuckled. «You know too much. Even Allan himself is afraid of you.»
«If the case is filed, they will sentence me to reincarnation,» Karina said devastated. «How to work there?! On Earth everything is different! You don’t remember anything! Until you learn to speak, write and get to the black holes in the Mendeleev’s table, you’ll be old! They’ll block my access to the Library, to the Tablets, deprive me of herbs! It’s only here that everything you need appears instantly! And if now, in the Land of Dreams, I consciously communicate with the ghost of the Great Alchemist, stuck in Prague, then there, on Earth, how can I consult him?!»
Edgar stroked Karina’s hair and decided to shift the focus.
«And what fate did he get stuck in Prague?»
«First of all, Prague is one of the most gothic and densely populated cities in the World of Illusions. Many witches and sorcerers dream of settling in Prague, both during their lifetime and after it. Secondly, as you know, all spirits, like people, have a residence permit, a place of residence by distribution. The Great Alchemist was lucky, the Judges offered him several cities in different countries to choose from. He and his wife, of course, chose Prague and settled in a tower at Charles Bridge. The ghost of the beheaded executioner, Patrick, asked them to guard the tower in his absence and set off to travel the world. He hasn’t returned yet. Anyhow, it was his childhood dream, to go around the world, it’s a pity that he could realize it only in the Darkness, stuck between the Worlds.»
«Beheaded executioner?!» Edgar chuckled.
«Yes, Patrick was an executioner, but, ironically, he himself ended his life on the chopping block of the scaffold. Although the severed head didn’t atone for his sins, the Judges allowed him to travel.»
«I don’t understand, Karina, if the Prague Alchemist had been a Light soul, why was he assigned to the Dark Ones? Or did he follow his Dark wife?»
«A sad story, Ed… They both suffered from the Inquisition on the evil slander of the Dark Ones. The Alchemist was a kind man and an amazing doctor. Once he saved their neighbor’s son, resurrected the boy after his drowning, thus, in fact signing the death warrant for himself and his wife Eleanor. The mother of the boy, a widow, opened a hunt for the Alchemist, dreaming of marrying him, and informed the Inquisition that Eleanor was a witch. God played a cruel joke with the huntress. The inquisitors came for Eleanor, and, after examining all the rooms in the house, they took the Alchemist as well.»
«Did he create the Philosopher’s Stone?»
«No, he tried to create an elixir of immortality in order to expel death from the Earth once and forever, because he let the pain of his patients pass through him.»
«Why did he end up Downstairs?»
«Even in the Hall of Posthumous Judgment, the Alchemist vehemently accused God of injustice and cruelty. He never acknowledged the fact that the death of mankind was really inevitable and the Apocalypse would take place anyway, because the fairy tale about the elixir of immortality had been invented by the Devil. If death exists, God needs it for some reason.»
«The road to Hell is paved with good intentions indeed! In the pure-hearted dream of the Universal Good, as it turns out, the root of Evil is hidden. So was Eleanor given a choice to ascend to the Higher Light or to descend with her husband into the realm of Darkness?»
«Yes, and she followed him to Prague. She made the decision humbly and doesn’t torment herself or her husband, although she believes that he serves the Devil, arguing with God.»
«They were both burned at the stake, weren’t they?»
«Eleanor only. She complained to me in the Land of Dreams about her own nightmare — the annual April 30th, when witches are burned at Charles Bridge in Prague to people’s dancing and singing. It’s fun for people, they don’t think that each of them could have been in the place of the burned effigy! Weight less than a sheep? Eyes of different color? One hand is cold, the other is hot? Or just because someone crossed the road to his neighbor, for example. However, no one is able to feel someone else’s pain fully and completely… Every April 30th, Eleanor with her husband and several other ghosts, including the former priest, commemorate the victims of the Inquisition in the cemetery. Anyway, the Alchemist himself was beheaded. Eleanor says that sometimes he wakes up without his head and starts nervously pacing around the room, and sometimes, just like that, he sits down in an armchair by the fireplace and… smokes a pipe! Imagine, Edgar! The sight is not for the faint of heart! I still can’t get used to headless smokers! The Alchemist loses his head every time he has his personal nightmare, death on the scaffold.»
«Do they have children?»
«Neither during their lifetime on Earth, nor now. A cat lives with them. Clearly black. No kids. Down there, in general, there are few kids, since almost all the souls who haven’t yet had time to commit something criminal are taken Upstairs, to the angels. Eleanor, of course, is sad about kids and even suffers from insomnia, but at night she takes out a spindle and a tow, she spins yarn and knits witch-like hats, scarves, shawls and even mantles.»
«Witch-like hats,» Edgar chuckled. «Although, it’s common for ghosts to dress old-fashioned, as customary in those days when they lived, and to love antiques. There’s only one word behind all this — nostalgia.»
«I agree, most of the witches from the Middle Ages wear elongated hats-caps. Eleanor opened a women’s fashion showroom on the ground floor in their tower. She loves to invent new fabrics and all kinds of patterns, combine colors and textures in unusual way, add piquant details and exclusive — almost hand-made — accessories. Eleanor is a designer of mental images that replaced her children, because everything that exists in the Afterlife reality is illusory and is created solely by the power of thought. By the way, it was Eleanor who gave me the invisibility cloak. She goes out into the world every time in a new dress, and her husband is always grumbling that it’s indecent, and wraps himself in the same dark blue robe with a long hood all the time.»
«And what does the Alchemist do now?»
«The same as in life, he dreams of creating the elixir of immortality before the Apocalypse, in order to pass the recipe to people through the Land of Dreams and save mankind from inevitable death. He uses the opportunity of meeting in the Land of Dreams for working purposes, asks his acquaintances, including me, to get the information he needs from books and manuscripts stored in the Library of the Universe, since he, like everyone Down there, has no access. Sometimes he turns for help to those still living on Earth.»
«What a stubborn one! What if he doesn’t make it before the Apocalypse?»
«Eleanor says they will join the Forces of Light to get a second chance.»
«And how did you meet him?»
«Thanks to Allan. I even went to their tower for Eleanor’s birthday party.»
«Do they sleep in coffins?»
«Each ghost visualizes his lifetime dreams. They didn’t dream of sleeping in coffins. They have a very cozy tower with astral candles always burning to let other ghosts know that the place is inhabited. On the top floor there is a lovely bedroom with a fireplace, a wide wooden bed with feather pillows, a warm blanket and a woolen plaid. On the floor below, there is a living room for wanderers, with sofas, fireplace and library. They have lots of books. Not the Library of the Universe, of course, but Eleanor calls herself and her husband intelligent vampires, they go to the local library, all kinds of museums, exhibitions… However, when it comes to literature, the Alchemist is focused on a narrow profile, in his specialty, and Eleanor collects fairy tales. Just like me! I loved fairy tales during my lifetime on Earth too — Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, Hoffmann and Dickens. And you? What writers do you like?»
«Guess! My namesake, Edgar Allan Poe, of course! Do they have a dungeon in the tower?»
«Every tower has a dungeon, and their one is no exception, but it turned out that Eleanor, like me, is afraid of spiders, so their dungeon is occupied by the Alchemist. He almost succeeded in recreating his lab. I took a look, it’s really cool! And behind his place, there is a closet with old dusty brooms, inherited from Patrick, and with a mysterious chest! Eleanor says that our memories are hidden in it, although not all of them are pleasant ones. When you open the chest, you never know which one will pop out first! And, imagine, I looked in and recoiled! My last death was hiding there!»
«Let’s change the subject and get back to reality. It’s too early to think about death! Allan must have acquaintances in the City of the Sun.»
«Yes, but not the ones that decide something here. Besides, you can’t stop time on Earth. The Dark Ones are constantly ahead of us, creating more and more new viruses, increasing the percentage of lethality rate. Of course, our lab is not the only one, but developing formulas of drugs that neutralize the Dark Ones’ infection is much more complicated than inventing a new disease for the mankind!»
«Do you think, the Forces of Darkness, by means of the Inquisition attacks, try to buy time anyhow?»
«Yes, and my next reincarnation for them is a solid period, not to mention the closure of our lab.»
«Unfortunately, there are not many specialists in the Mental Sphere, but Earth has its charms! I would like to live in a physical body in order to forget for a while the endless games of Darkness and Light. However, the walls here have ears, and even if they are awakened by the Inquisition only at midnight, it’s safer to get out of here immediately and relax then.»
«There is something to be removed here first, Edgar, and the rest to be hidden somewhere… at your place, for example.»
«Black papers and herbs? Or your thought-forms?» he chuckled.
«I don’t do black magic! But there are some long formulas dictated to me in the Land of Dreams by the same Prague Alchemist.»
«Are they absent in the Tablets?» Edgar was surprised. «Well, don’t worry! At midnight, only fakes will be left in your lab, and you can entrust the formulas of antidotes to me at any time.»
******CHAPTER 4. Helga******
“everything, dressed in the past, I can’t and won’t…
if you remember somewhere nearby,
take me out of here…”
B2
The Medici Solitaire didn’t lay out.
Life in the gothic castle changed dramatically. Everything was bugged and watched by the Inquisition. The maintenance staff was sent on vacation, and two of Karina’s assistants, under her supervision, from morning until late at night, were preparing acquittal papers for the Inquisition, which had made an additional request to provide a report on the work carried out in the castle since the laboratory had been registered in the Astral Tablets.
Karina drifted slowly along the corridors, whispering spells, and white sheets appeared in the air, and as soon as the text appeared on them, they were folded in a certain sequence and packed into boxes by themselves.
At lunchtime, Karina contacted a witchcraft lawyer.
«I’m sorry, but if the case is filed, you will definitely be sentenced. It seems that in some dark way the Forces of Darkness reached our Light Kingdom. Demonstrative fires and stakes today more than ever are needed by the authorities to justify the maintenance of the Inquisition, and they don’t care who exactly gets burned. In this case, the Inquisition is required to depower Allan as another alchemist, and you are just a way to do it. I’m sorry, Karina, but there’s nothing to help you.»
Allan showed up soon.
«How are you, Karina?»
«I’m afraid I won’t be able to produce all the documentation they requested for the Full Moon. It’s unreal.»
Allan sighed. Karina knew that he was making alchemy, trying to save her, but that time all efforts were in vain.
«Have they prepared your travel docs?» Allan asked, referring to the selection of possible options for reincarnation in case of a sentence.
«Yes, the best is exile to Siberia, to a lost village, as a hermit-herbalist.»
Karina could barely hold herself from weeping. She even kept silent about the fact that she’d had to use the hypnosis on a nasty rat at the Travel & Passport Department, clearly recruited by the Dark Ones, since that creature insisted on Antarctica and chatted something about the benefits of fish oil!
«Well, serve as an herbalist on Earth for a while, and when you get back, we’ll go on. By that time, everything will change for the better here, you’ll see!»
***
«to see the broken wind outside the window
driving her crazy from dawn to dark …
to see the one on the verge of longing
dancing in the sand, caught in the net…»
B2
Every evening, on the way from the castle to the Dark Tower, Karina and Edgar flew over the neighboring city, dancing dashingly to the music they caught on the ether. In that space, Karina felt completely free from everyone, with the exception of occasional wanderers, encountered on their way, twisting fingers at their temples, like saying, that Karina and Edgar were breaking the rules of moving in ether, thus sooner or later they would definitely collide with someone and fall from Heaven to Earth.
Frightened! Ha-ha… A voucher to Siberia was already five minutes to her pocket, and the Solitaire didn’t lay out. The Inquisition, receiving another box of documentation every day, put forward more and more new demands.
At night, arriving at the Dark Tower, where the lights were never lit for conspiracy, Karina worked on another formula, sometimes being so deeply immersed in thoughts that she walked through the walls or wandered upside down along the ceiling, and Edgar carefully gave her tea, and when she returned to the floor, they slowly drifted to the Land of Dreams, discussing scenarios of life on Earth.
That night, closer to morning, Karina and Edgar, walking around the Land of Dreams, encountered the Prague’s Alchemist, although a ranked member of the Dark Forces for accusing God of cruelty, but in fact, a secret agent of the Forces of Light. Karina told him her latest news and introduced him to Edgar.
«Have a good sleep!» said the Alchemist, casting a scanning glance at Edgar. «I think I’ve recently seen you!»
«Really? It’s interesting, but where? I’m wandering exclusively Upstairs!»
«Are you sure? The other day, Eleanor and I were invited to the 300 anniversary of Helga. She is a Scandinavian witch, telling to lonely ghosts about love by runes in exchange for a lead to fresh blood. By the way, Helga still hides what fate she ended up in the Dark Light, however, she obviously didn’t die of her own, and now she lives in a crypt at Prague’s old cemetery. Rumor has it that, telling fortune to people, Helga predicted something, that caused them to leave Earth. All Prague, and not only, gathered for Helga’s anniversary! I mean, dark spirits of Prague and from other places. My wife and I couldn’t help but come, intelligent vampires prefer to follow certain rules, we don’t need extra sidelong glances and insults. Well, Edgar, it seems to me that I saw you there!»
«No, no, it couldn’t have been me Downstairs, especially at the anniversary, where the Dark Ones were gathered!»
«Oh, tell me, please, tell me, the way the anniversaries are held by the Dark Ones! Apparently, I won’t have a chance to attend them in the nearest future,» asked Karina, keeping in her mind the looming reincarnation in Siberia.
«Nothing interesting! All the cemetery paths that night turned into endless rows of coffins. Helga covered them with black tablecloths, laid out cutlery (as you understand, not silver) and put candles in skulls, while the local imps, serving as waiters, were pouring blood from bottles.»
«Were you and Eleanor drinking blood?» Karina shuddered.
«Of course, like all the Dark Ones living within the Earth, we are, in essence, vampires. However, naturally, we don’t drink anyone’s blood! Face it, vampires don’t have fearsome fangs! With the exception of those entities that decorate themselves with such illusions, they indulge, as children, apparently, they loved horror movies during their physical lifetime. The same is with the blood in the glasses at Helga’s anniversary, all that decoration is for fun! It’s a game playing by certain rules. In the cemetery, you can recharge yourself exclusively at fresh (!) graves, with the energy of the just deceased. The more sudden is the death and the younger is the body, the more energy is released at the moment of transition. Poor old people! They are of no interest to either people or ghosts!»
«Do you and your wife have dinner at fresh graves?» Karina was embarrassed, imagining a flock of vampires hovering over her future grave.
«Intelligent vampires neither live nor dine in cemeteries, forgive me Helga! They don’t pounce on people, draining them to death! Eleanor and I don’t even use Charles Bridge, the most crowded space to trace those marked with the seal of death. I mean, to get information and then to appear at the right time in the right place in order to absorb the energy released when the soul leaves the body. It’s possible to be fed not by people! In a butcher’s shop, for example, on cattle farms, in the woods. The fresh blood of a slaughtered animal contains enough energy to sustain a vampire’s life, although in some vicious minds it generates the idea of becoming a werewolf. Such penetration into the Physical World is prohibited by law. Eleanor and I are law-abiding. Even through the ancient mirror, the only item in our Tower that exists in both dimensions, we never watch the alive ones! However, the Forces of Darkness, interested in collecting as much Impurities as possible for the Final Battle, indulge the desires of vicious entities in every possible way, for example, by setting them into alive physical bodies, so the entity receives much more energy, prolonging its stay in the Darkness.»
«Why all stuck ghosts are vampires?» Karina wondered.
«The ghost’s body is mortal, it consists of small astral particles connected into a tissue, invisible to the human eye. The fabric will quickly be torn and decay if it’s not fed with energy, and the ghost itself will disappear along with the fabric, since the ghosts stuck between the Worlds are not pure souls that are immediately taken Upstairs. Everyone not admitted to the Higher Spheres by the decision of the Court, being classified as Unclean, or Impure, or Dark, like Eleanor and I, is doomed to Death. It’s just a matter of time, whether we’ll live to see the Apocalypse or not…»
«I’ve heard that relatively light souls and even Saints can linger on Earth!»
«It’s a completely different story, an exception to the rule. The Judges allowed them to linger or descend to Earth for a good purpose, in order to fulfill some task of the Forces of Light. Any ghost of this category has an immortal Spirit, which feeds exclusively on the Divine Light, that is Love. Those who are not allowed Upstairs, in fact, are representatives of the Darkness, the Dark Forces. They — or, it’s bitter to admit it, we — are deprived of the Divine Spirit, and, therefore, of nutrition and immortality! Anyhow, I have to go to Eleanor now. She’s suffering from insomnia again!» the Alchemist cast another scanning glance at Edgar and added, turning to Karina, «However, it’s quite possible that the Dark Ones today have a loophole for getting into the Upstairs as well. You say yourself that not entirely Light things are going on in your Kingdom. Be careful, since something great is waiting for you and me, exclusively for the benefit of mankind!»
******CHAPTER 5. The Dark Tower******
«Down through the fate with a glance,
no one around, no one nearby…
Nothing else will happen, nothing more
will be dreamt about, nothing…»
B2
The next evening Karina warned Edgar that she would fly to visit her cottage and spend the night there. Already falling asleep in the old attic, she mentally wished Edgar good night, but he said nothing back. He was nowhere to be found in the Land of Dreams, where they had lately rested together.
Karina bumped into Edgar in the morning in the corridor of the gothic castle. He looked like a black shadow.
«What’s happened?!» she asked him in surprise.
«She found me,» Edgar sighed heavily.
«Who?!»
«Wife… My ex… During her lifetime, she suffered from obsession. It’s not much fun to remember. Demons tormented both her and me. Me, of course, only psychologically.»
«Demons never settle into the Light ones! How did she get to our High level?»
«I don’t know. Perhaps, due to a glitch at the edge of the Worlds. You see what’s going on here lately. Anyhow, she won’t stay in my Tower for long. We’ve had nothing in common with her for ages.»
Karina sank to the floor and convulsively thought about what to do. Not only her astral things, herbs and flasks remained in the Dark Tower of Edgar, but also…
«Ed! The Alchemist’s antidote formulas, which I’ve upgraded for dozens of potential threats! You’ve got them in your Tower!»
«Yes, I remember. Tonight is the Full Moon. You yourself decided to leave them to me just in case. If the Inquisition doesn’t send you to reincarnate…»
«And if your ex-wife is an agent of the Dark Forces, she can destroy the formulas, or modify them, or…»
«Come on! However, if you’re so worried, I’ll find and return them to you. At midnight.»
***
«Dawn is coming soon,
there’s no way out,
turn the key and let’s fly…»
Spleen
Allan called at midnight, when Karina, forced herself not to think about Edgar, for the umpteenth time was laying out the Medici Solitaire, having completely forgotten that…
«Today is the Full Moon,» Allan said sadly. «I’ve tried all ways, but there’s something wrong, you know. It’s obviously some sort of a hoax. What the hell made you come down to Earth that night?!»
«Edgar,» flashed in her consciousness, but Karina kept the thought to herself.
«So… am I about to get a reincarnation sentence and go to Siberia?» she asked.
«Highly likely. Anyhow, time will pass, and they will put things in order here. I’ll catch you in the Land of Dreams, help you remember everything you have already learned, then I’ll meet you here, Upstairs. We can’t work in the mode of constant raids and unsubstantiated accusations of the Inquisition. Today I’ve learned that the order to destroy our castle has already been signed. The only thing you need to do now is to transfer urgently all the formulas created from scratch or modified by you to the Prague’s Alchemist for safekeeping. Perhaps it’s the most reliable place for them. It’s closer to Earth. Besides, the Alchemist is considered to be a Dark guy. You haven’t told anyone about him, have you?»
«Edgar!» flashed again.
«Okay, Allan,» Karina sighed, «it’s time for me to go to the Land of Dreams.»
«Good luck and see you soon, Karina! Remember that we really need you here!»
«I love you too, Allan. See you soon!»
They said goodbye. Karina burst into tears and then…
«Edgar! Answer me! I know you hear me!» she shouted, but an ominous silence was her answer.
The waiting turned into a nightmare. Karina tried to visualize Edgar’s phantom and read his thoughts, as she used to do in extreme cases, but she found no thoughts or memories in the phantom, as if someone had erased everything.
Karina looked into the Astral Tablets, but the file that stored information about Edgar was blocked!
«The tricks of his ex-wife?! Perhaps she blocked also Edgard himself. And what if… she is the very same Helga, at whose anniversary the Alchemist supposedly saw Edgar?!»
Deeply stressed, Karina wasn’t even able to instantly move to the Dark Tower, she had to use the broom. Almost unable to distinguish the road due to her foggy thoughts, Karina periodically collided with flying ships and wanderers traveling in the ether, rolled over and fell rapidly, but forced herself to regain the altitude.
And what else could she do if it was possible to transfer the mental formulas to the Prague’s Alchemist only until the morning, while the gates to the Land of Dreams were opened, and Karina was not exiled to Siberia?
***
«There is no way back,
if you can’t wake up…»
B2
There was still no light in the Dark Tower. Karina entered it and began to climb the stairs, when suddenly the steps started to collapse under her feet. She felt herself losing her former mental strength catastrophically quickly.
«Edgar!» she screamed.
The doors, that used to be on each floor, disappeared, and the room under the roof, where Karina had spent the night, no longer existed! There was not a single door left in the Dark Tower, not even the roof — instead of it, there was only a piece of the black-magic sky with a billion of twinkling stars.
Karina tried to fly out of the Tower into the ajar Heaven, but an invisible barrier blocked her! Karina went downstairs, trying to find the door she had entered the Tower, but that one disappeared as well.
«There must be a way out somewhere!»
It was damp and dark, not a single ray of Light! Looking for a window, or for a crack at least, Karina for the umpteenth time groped around the high wall made of large ancient stones.
«Where? Where is the exit? It can’t help existing!»
Suddenly, the Tower seemed to come alive! The walls started pulsating and, slowly narrowing the inner space, crawled towards Karina. She tried to gather herself, to concentrate, to walk through them, as she had done hundreds of times before, but for some reason it didn’t work.
The Tower was obviously bewitched!
In despair, the girl slumped to the floor.
«Is it all in vain?» clasping her knees, she thought. «So much effort, so much work for nothing?»
Karina remembered the most powerful prayers that all the employees of the Forces of Light must know, and the walls froze for a moment, but soon stirred again.
«This Tower will kill me!»
«When you’re scared to death, wake up!» the Prague’s Alchemist advised her once.
However, to wake up, one needs, at least, to fall asleep first!
Karina remembered the seminar on controlled dreaming and moving between Spheres and Worlds. At any point in space, one could imagine a door to the Land of Dreams, escape through it and return to another place. The girl visualized the door, and… it turned out to be tightly closed!
Karina raised her head. The bottomless black sky, strewn with billions of stars, every second was significantly decreasing in size.
Suddenly, the Tower shuddered as if in an earthquake and collapsed on Karina with unprecedented force, rending her unconscious.
Waking up from a flash of the brightest light and taking a deep breath, Karina heard a voice,
«Girl!»
And she screamed in the hands of an obstetrician.
March-September 2007