Chapter 13 – Death is not always the end

Darkness surrounds everything. Only the liquid floor reflects a dull black shine. The gaze moves through the empty space, then lowers to the hands. The palms. Slowly the hands turn, and the gaze studies them from above. The hands come together. Warmth between the palms. They rub slowly, then rise to the face and wipe it, as if trying to wake up.

The gaze lowers again. The right foot lifts and slowly moves forward. As soon as the sole touches the surface, waves spread outward like on water. Everything moves slowly, as if the liquid that forms the floor is very dense. The gaze follows the first wave as it travels away. Then something strange happens. The first wave collides with another wave coming from far away.

At the moment of collision a sound appears – first a scraping, then a crash. The sound grows louder. The waves become larger and more frequent, as if something is moving toward the figure. Far away a silhouette begins to appear. It is unclear what it is – a tree or a human figure. As the sound grows and the waves rise, the silhouette becomes larger.

Fear appears. The figure turns and tries to run, but the body suddenly freezes. It begins with the legs, then the body, the arms, and finally the neck. Black roots bind it. When the roots reach the throat, breathing stops.

Gobby suddenly wakes from the nightmare and opens his eyes, but the feeling of suffocation does not pass. His mouth is painfully dry. Turning his head to the right, he sees a glass of water, reaches out and takes it. The glass trembles in his hands. Gobby lifts his head and greedily drains it, sets the glass back and lets his head fall onto the pillow.

He looks at the ceiling and feels the water spreading through his body. His mind begins to work. Flashes appear – German, the fight, Drogo, glass, the heart. Gobby throws off the blanket, pulls open the hospital gown with one hand and with the other tries to feel the hole. Where the hole had been, it is gone. In its place there is now a scar and a deep hollow the size of the wound. Rubbing the place with his hand, he tries to understand what sealed it. The surface is dark red, a crust made of fused skin and crushed bone. Gobby presses his hand against it and feels the heart beating.

The heartbeat means he is alive and that calms him, but at the same time anxiety appears and only one question turns in his head. Maybe this is only a dream?

Without receiving an answer, Gobby slowly raises himself, swings his legs off the bed, stands and walks with slow steps, dragging his feet across the floor toward the bathroom in the same room. As soon as he slightly opens the door, the light turns on. He steps inside, turns toward the mirror, becomes frightened, then realizes it is him.

Gobby has become emaciated – not a drop of fat, only bones and skin. His eyes protrude, the skin is dry and cracks with every movement, and where the hole once was there is a dark red scar. He begins to touch his body, as if still not fully understanding that this is not a dream, and when the realization finally comes, a tear rolls from one eye down his face.

The door suddenly opens slightly and Ulrich enters the room. He sees that the bed is empty, rushes into the bathroom and sees Gobby. Their eyes meet and Gobby becomes frightened. In any other moment the defensive mechanism would have activated, but now compensation occurs. Adrenaline increases the speed of blood flow and, from the sudden acceleration, the brain begins to shut down. Gobby starts losing consciousness.

Ulrich catches him under the arm and says, You must not stand or move, it’s dangerous. Back to bed, quickly. He drags him to the bed while Gobby cannot say anything. As soon as Gobby sits down, he slowly raises his eyes to Ulrich and asks, Who are you? What happened to me? Where am I?

Ulrich pauses before answering. Kid, I understand you have many questions and I probably cannot answer all of them now. The most important thing you need to know is that you and your friend are alive and both of you are safe. When you recover, we will sort everything out and talk. I will bring you some broth, and you should rest for now.

Hearing about food, Gobby’s brain switches instinctively like an animal and saliva fills his mouth. Ulrich leaves the room. The house turns out to be a wooden hunting cabin. Walking down the corridor, Ulrich looks into one of the neighboring rooms and says, He woke up. Don’t go to him yet, let him eat first.

The room is covered in notes, marks, and algorithms. Among all of this sits German. When he hears that Gobby has woken up, he almost throws everything aside to run to him, but after the warning he stays where he is and continues writing in his notebook.

Ulrich brings broth for Gobby and asks him not to rush, but Gobby drinks it greedily and says, More.

Ulrich replies, When someone comes out of starvation, for three days they must eat little by little and only soups, otherwise the stomach can fail. Saliva still runs from Gobby’s mouth. Adrenaline begins to surge in his body and his skin turns red. I said more.

Ulrich notices the change and smirks. Yes, that applies to people, not to you. I’ll bring more. Ulrich brings a small pot and Gobby eats everything in it. Gobby asks for something more filling, but Ulrich refuses firmly and tells him to wait until evening.

Ulrich watches him. Gobby’s body changes before his eyes. With every spoonful it seems that Gobby becomes different – the skin gains a more yellow tone, fills with blood and stops looking dry. Before he looked like a zombie, but now he looks like a boy simply suffering from severe starvation.

After refusing him more food, Ulrich says, Come in. German rushes into the room. He wants to jump on Gobby and hug him, but Ulrich stops him with a movement of his hand. No, you could make it worse.

Because of his weakness, Gobby does not hear Ulrich mention that German is safe, but now he is unbelievably happy to see him, even though because of his own condition he had completely forgotten about him. German is upset that he cannot hug Gobby. He sits beside the bed in a chair and bursts into tears of happiness, crying so hard that even mucus runs to his lips.

Ulrich does not want to take part in this at all. I see you have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave you.

As soon as Ulrich leaves the room, German breaks down and begins telling everything that happened afterward. The memories appear in short flashes – how Drogo ate the heart, how the soldiers began shooting and then ran after him, how the police and the doctors arrived, how one medical team took the grandmother while another took German and Gobby, how Ulrich brought them here, how Gobby was lowered into the basement inside a body bag, and how when the bag was opened the wound had already begun to close, after which Gobby was washed and brought upstairs.

One of the longer flashbacks follows. On the way to Ulrich’s house in the ambulance German lost consciousness and woke up already lying on a couch in the living room. He opened his eyes and felt completely calm, then sat up. At that moment two men in the clothes of a medical team were carrying a gray bag with a body past him. In that instant the memories returned – his grandmother and the moment when Drogo tore Gobby’s heart out. German began screaming hysterically, clutching his head. Ulrich ran into the house, ordered the two men to remove the bag immediately, and then embraced German and held him tightly until he calmed down and lost consciousness again.

An hour passed and Ulrich did not leave German even for a minute. German began waking again. Before he fully regained awareness and before the memories returned, Ulrich held out a pill and water. Drink. It will help, and then we will talk. German, without asking any questions, swallowed the pill and drank the water. While he was still drinking, one of the men in medical clothes ran in and, unable to restrain his emotions, said, Boss, you need to see this.

Ulrich replied, I cannot leave him.
The man answered, He is breathing.
Ulrich asked, Who?
The second boy.
Ulrich jumped up. What are you talking about? Is this some kind of stupid joke?

The two of them left for about five minutes. German began looking around. After examining the house he concluded that they were not in a hospital but in some kind of house, which meant these men were not doctors. And if they were not doctors, then they might be Drogo’s friends or something even worse. I need to get out. He stood up and slowly walked toward the front door, turned the handle, and opened it. As he stepped forward with one foot, he heard somewhere behind him, Kid, stop. Where are you going?

German turned his head toward the voice and in his peripheral vision noticed Gobby in the arms of the same man who had run in earlier and said that someone was breathing. German turned fully and wanted to run to Gobby, but he saw the gray color of the skin and an inner voice said, It seems he is dead. German slowly and cautiously stepped toward the man holding Gobby, his arm extended, and asked quietly, Is he dead?

Ulrich was approaching them from the side. It seems not. Hearing that Gobby was alive, German froze.

Ulrich said, He is alive, but he needs care. Sit on the couch while we put him in a bed. German no longer wanted to leave the house. He obediently waited on the couch for someone to come and confirm Gobby’s condition. The first person passing toward the exit was one of the men.

German asked, Is he alright?
The man answered, It seems so.
German asked again, Why did you bring us here? What will happen to us?
The man replied, I cannot answer those questions. Wait for the boss. He will answer.

Ulrich returned only five or ten minutes after the man had left. German asked the same questions again, but Ulrich went to the kitchen, brewed tea, and invited German to sit at the table.

Ulrich said, My name is Ulrich. I am the owner of this house. We saved you. Do not think that we are kidnappers, maniacs, or pedophiles. Consider us simply people who could not pass by and leave you in trouble. What is your name?

German. But what will happen next?

We will finish the tea and then we will talk.

They spent about four days talking, until the moment when Gobby woke up. During those four days Ulrich taught German the most basic skills of analysis – to write everything down and to listen to the inner voice. Gradually algorithms began forming in German’s mind.

Gobby listened with interest, then lost the thread of the story and his gaze lowered. German noticed it and, without stopping the conversation, returned to the previous part of the story. Gobby followed again, then once more lost the thread, and German again returned to the previous part. After German finished, Gobby, because of those returns, fully understood the whole story.

A question comes.

Who is Ulrich and where are we?

I didn’t ask him directly, German said. But based on my analysis, he is directly connected to the soldiers and the Heart Reaver. I don’t yet know how, but I know he is definitely not one of the good ones, because his knowledge of the criminal world is very detailed. I also saw how he cuts meat – extremely precise and sharp movements. As for where we are, we are in the forest. There is no internet here. Judging by the wind flows and the temperature, we are in the northern part of the country. And based on the food we eat, some of it was bought in an expensive supermarket and some from farmers. I identified two cities where this supermarket exists, and also places nearby with dense pine forest and a village. From that I concluded that we are near one of those cities.

When German finished his explanation, he raised his eyes to Gobby. Gobby was sitting with his mouth open.

Where is my German? Who are you?

German smirked.

Glad you asked. It turns out I also have a superpower, just like you.

He pointed at Gobby.

You are the muscles.

Then he pointed to his own head.

And I am the mind. My superpower is called Logic. I can conduct analysis based on all the information coming from the senses. Ulrich said that if I continue training this ability, I will be able to predict the near future and be as useful to you as possible.

German… wow, that’s cool. The ability – Logic – sounds cool.

German blushed with embarrassment. Gobby felt tired from all the information and asked German to leave him alone so he could sleep a little more. German agreed, stood up, and when he was already at the door he heard another question.

German, what about grandmother?

Thanks to you, she is fine. She’s in the hospital.

German left the room.

Three hours later German returned for Gobby, brought him clean clothes, helped him change, and invited him to dinner. Leaning on German, Gobby left the room and they walked along the corridor into the living room. The living room, like in many hunting houses, was covered with animal heads, skins, and weapons. In the center stood a leather sofa, opposite it a large plasma television, and behind the sofa were the table and the kitchen. The most expensive object in the room was clearly the redwood table.

Ulrich stood with his back to them, finishing something on the stove. When he saw them enter, he greeted them and invited them to sit at the table. The table already had a side dish – boiled potatoes sprinkled with dill, a salad of fresh vegetables, and freshly baked bread. Ulrich then placed the main dish on the table – meat in a brown sauce.

Gobby could not take his eyes off the food and again fixated on it. Ulrich noticed Gobby’s gaze.

Alright, let’s begin, and then we will talk.

Gobby ate quickly and a lot. German ate slowly, while Ulrich read a newspaper as he ate. When the meal ended and the boys helped Ulrich clear the dishes, Ulrich placed a kettle of green tea on the table, poured each of them a cup, and set down a plate of round cottage-cheese pastries.

Ulrich took a cup of hot tea, blew the steam away, took a sip and said, Let’s begin. He raised his eyes to the boys. They looked at him. German prepared to listen carefully, while Gobby continued chewing, biting into a pastry.

My monologue will be long, Ulrich said, so make yourselves comfortable. If something is unclear or you want to clarify something, raise your hand.

Gobby had already raised his hand.

Ulrich exhaled. Yes?

No, nothing. I was just checking. Can I eat while you talk?

Yes.

Then first, Ulrich said, I am a contract killer. I have been doing this job for about forty years. Second, my partner and I were assigned to Drogo. You call him the Heart Reaver or the Panama Hat Maniac. We completed the contract, but just like Gobby he somehow survived. Everything was done precisely. My mistake was that we did not verify it and sent the information that the job was completed.

Ulrich took another sip of tea.

Because of that mistake my partner and I became targets. He died. He was killed by the same soldiers German saw. The soldiers are the private army of the man appointed as the head of this city. His name is Mark, but everyone calls him the Lord. Any questions?

German stopped writing. Who appointed him?

I do not fully understand it myself, Ulrich said, but I will tell you what I know. There is a shadow government. It consists of the Higher Ones – seven people who control all processes on a certain territory. Before there were six, and each of them controlled a continent. Now a seventh appeared who controls the processes on the water between the continents. These seven control everything that is connected with people – from fashion trends and gadgets to all wars happening on Earth.

And the presidents? German asked.

Presidents are personally appointed by the Higher Ones, or they become presidents with their permission. The structure looks like this – there are Lords over important cities, then Lords over countries, and then Lords over continents. Usually ordinary people do not know these Lords. Instead they are shown substitutes – people without freedom of choice who simply smile and do what they are told. Usually they are called politicians. Sometimes the president of a country is also the Lord of that country, but only if a Higher One decides so.

Ulrich glanced at German.

Everything is complicated, but you, German, will figure it out. Gobby, any questions?

No. German will figure it out.

Good. Ulrich put the cup down. All social processes are simply a game in the hands of the Higher Ones. They play chess for greater power, and people are just pawns. My partner and I worked for one of those Lords. That is enough about the structure for now. Let’s return to our problem.

Ulrich leaned back slightly.

I took you because I planned to use you to reach the Lord who ordered the death of me and Vann – my partner. At first I wanted to use you to reach Drogo, and then use Drogo to reach the Lord. My opinion changed. As you can see, I am old. Vann was an excellent partner. He compensated for my weak sides and we worked well together. Now he is gone and I need help.

Ulrich looked at them directly.

I want to ask for that help and invite you to become my partners.

Gobby looked at him with surprise. How can we help you? We are just children.

Ulrich shook his head slightly.

No. You are not just children. Each of you has unique abilities. I am sure you will manage, but we will talk about that later. Now I want to offer a deal. You help me reach the Lord, and I help you get rid of the Heart Reaver. He will not stop chasing Gobby, because I believe he did not get what he wanted.

German jumped to his feet.

I agree, if you help kill him.

Gobby looked at Ulrich, raised and lowered his shoulders.

If German agrees, then I agree too. But what about school and our parents?

Do not worry, Ulrich said. We will figure something out. Tomorrow I will explain your abilities. For now – rest.