Chapter N.XV
Vitaly Ivolginsky
Always Visible (Another Prayer for the Dying Horror Genre)
Zero Act — Que Difícil é Ser Escravo de Deus!
Chapter N.XV
“Of all the Ducal Chateau’s indwellers only one person survived – as it is easy to guess, it was youthful Sagamore, who, taking advantage of the general commotion, got out of his cell a moment before the walls of the dungeon collapsed. After wandering around the wreckage for a while, he got out into the regal garden, where at this time among the crowns of fruit trees and neatly trimmed bushes just taking a break from the day’s worries already familiar to us Сlever Crow. Noticing the survivor, bird immediately flew up from the tree and, slowly circling over his head, told youthful Sagamore about what happened with Zelandyne, and then ordered him to wait until nightfall to climb the crystalline staircase to heaven. Having finished his narrative, Clever Crow flapped his wings and soared into the air, leaving youthful Sagamore alone in the regal garden”.
After reading this, Japhet looked up from the book and exchanged significant glances with his young listener, whose face, in the soft incandescent light, seemed unusually serious for an eight-year-old child. Delia bit her lip in confusion and ran her finger along the upholstery of the chair in which she sat.
“Ajussi Japh, what happened next?”, after a minute of silence she asked.
“Our fairy tale has reached its end”, apartment’s owner said as he moved to slam the book shut.
“Listen, no, hold on, hold on!”, the girl begged, getting up from her seat.
Without further ado, Japhet obediently handed the book into the hands of Delia, who approached him, which the next second opened it on a bookmarked page and, wrinkling her brow, began to carefully examine its contents. The last line was exactly what ajussi Japh had read out loud to her, followed by a completely different story called “Mollie and the Pretty Parents” authored by a certain Machiel Nymou. Realizing that the fairy tale really ended at this point, Delia slammed the book shut with a sigh and looked up at Japhet with her large eyes, in which silent sadness froze. The man had no choice but to silently nod his head, as if confirming the correctness of her conclusions.
“So, did you enjoy this fairy tale?”, Jordan asked the girl, rising from the leather sofa.
Delia continued to stand thoughtfully with a book in her hands – from the outside it seemed that she was not entirely sure how much she liked the story that apartment’s owner read to her. Listening to her own feelings, she she looked around the room several times, trying not to linger on her interlocutors. Finally, Delia made up her mind and nodded her head affirmatively.
“Yeah, that delighted me”, baby girl said with some embarrassment. “I expected it to end in a corny way, but…”
“What do you mean by “corny way”?”, Japhet, who had previously continued to sit on his chair with a detached face, suddenly perked up.
“Well…”, Delia was confused, starting to blush. “If the youthful Sagamore found the marchioness and kissed her, and they were happy, then it would be quite flatly, although romantic…”
She stopped mid-sentence – it seemed that she was having a hard time finding words that could adequately convey her impression of the fairy tale. Jordan, who was already stretching his legs, numb from sitting on the sofa for a long time, quietly cleared his throat and raised his hand up – perhaps in order to distract the girl from a topic that was too difficult for a child. Delia noticed his gesture and immediately calmed down.
“Japh”, ajussi Jo turned to his close friend, “It’s already difficult for Delia to describe her feelings, and you’re pestering her with your questions. That won’t do, mate”.
Japhet moved towards the exit of the cabinet, and, having caught up with Jordan, patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Delia noticed a grimace of slight annoyance on his face and thought that ajussi Jo’s words clearly struck a nerve with ajussi Japh, but he tried his best to make a favourable impression on his young guest and therefore tried not to show his displeasure.
“Let’s go and eat something, there’s still time”, voice of apartment’s owner came from the corridor.
Jo & Delia left the cabinet and followed him. Pausing for a second near the door leading to the kitchen, baby girl inhaled the pleasant smell of baked beans that Japhet had just heated in the microwave oven. Walking to kitchen in after ajussi Jo, she immediately took the place at the table, which she had chosen since her arrival here – right opposite the exit, so that at any moment she can quickly sneak back, if any unforeseen circumstances arise (which Delia, however, was not at all sure about).
“Enjoy your meal”, said Japhet as he placed two plates on the table, one for ajussi Jo and one for Delia.
The owner of the apartment himself began to making tea – placing an electric kettle under the tap, he filled it with tap water and then connected it to the electrical network, after which he sat down at the table and, pulling out a small notebook from the pocket of his wide pants, he opened it and, casting a thoughtful glance at the girl, began to quickly write something down. Delia, busy eating, didn’t pay attention to it for a while, but when Japhet put the rollerball pen on the edge of the table to unplug the kettle, baby girl looked up at him and put her fork down.
“What are you writing there, ajussi Japh?”, she asked, continuing to chew the beans.
Japhet turned around and looked at her carefully, holding a kettle in his hands, from which came a thick white stream of hot steam. He was silent for some time, and then, pouring boiling water into a small earthenware teapot standing on the table, he put the electric kettle back in place.
“So, memos for my hobby”, ajussi Japh answered the girl with dignity, taking his place at the table.
Delia immediately reached for the stationery lying in front of the man to verify the veracity of his words. Ajussi Japh did not interfere with her, and after a few seconds the girl was already holding in her hands a small notebook in a simple leather binding, the pages of which were covered with small, but quite legible handwriting. Delia quickly ran her eyes over the first page she came across, but not understanding where the most recent entry was, she raised her eyes to ajussi Japh, who, meeting her concentrated gaze, nodded to her, as if approving her curiosity.
“Open it up to page ninety one and read”, said helpfully apartment’s owner, clearly not intending to hide anything from his young guest.
Baby girl followed his advice and began nervously flipping through the thin pages until she finally found the last entry, which made her raise her eyebrows in amazement – on the practically empty page there was only one line written in a sweeping manner, which read: “The waves of truth tends to extinguish fire of the falsehood”.
“Hey, this is my own words!”, little girl whispered in shock. “I said them when you were reading me a fairy tale!”
She stared at Japhet in bewilderment, but he simply took the notebook from her and, putting it in his pocket, shrugged.
“This is for my research regarding American citizens having Greek names”, he answered with a smile.
Delia shook her head in disbelief – such an explanation for ajussi Japh’s inexplicable deed was too implausible for her to believe him. Meanwhile, Jordan finished the beans and, leaving the empty plate aside, poured some black tea into his cup.
“It’s a pity, of course, that you don’t have sweets at home”, he said, raising the cup to his lips, “but since we are not here to praise your culinary talents, let’s come to the point”.
With these words, he put the cup on the table and fixed a concentrated gaze on Delia, which spoke of how important a subject he was going to discuss with her. Baby girl could not suppress her astonishment – she had never seen him so serious before, but the next second she came to her senses and even smiled.
“Listen to me, Delia”, began ajussi Jo, looking carefully into her eyes. “When you and I go home, don’t even think about talking to anyone about what happened. Do you understand?”
“Unfortunately not”, the girl admitted honestly, batting her eyes. “What are you on about?”, she asked her interlocutor.
“Fairy tale, about fairy tale”, he answered in a conspiratorial tone. “Don’t tell your parents that you listened to it while visiting”.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that”, Delia still didn’t understand what ajussi Jo was getting at.
“You don’t have to do this”, evasively but firmly said Jordan. “I don’t want them to think that you heard a some baloney from ajussi Japh”.
“Well, ajussi Jo”, baby girl said capriciously. “You told me the same thing when you read me that book in German…”, she paused, remembering its name.
“Yes-yes, about Lord God in the flesh”, Jordan nodded, smiling at his interlocutor. “There was a reason there too, but it’s not relevant. Now you have to remember – act as if nothing happened, is that clear?”
“Okay”, Delia answered obediently, looking hopefully at apartment’s owner, who was silently listening to their conversation.
“Do you promise to hold your tongue?”, continued ajussi Jo.
“I make a promise I won’t tell anyone”, she answered with emphasized seriousness and nodded.
“You’re a very intelligent girl”, Jordan immediately relaxed, taking a sip from his cup.
Delia, without touching her tea, got up from the table and, stretching out to her full short height, went to the entrance door. Ajussi Jo, giving the apartment’s owner a significant nod, followed her example. Jordan helped the baby girl out of the apartment and, lingering on the landing, wanted to close the door behind him, but Japhet was already standing at the threshold.
“Best of luck out there!”, he shouted after his guests and slammed the door behind them.
Jo & Delia went out into the street, where dusk was already gathering, and without hesitating for a minute, they walked quickly towards their homes – after all, Delia’s parents were waiting at home, whom she completely forgot to warn about her unplanned visit to her neighbour’s close friend. On the way, the girl thought about why ajussi Jo strictly forbade her to tell mom and dad about the fairy tale she listened to at a party.
Is all this really due to the fact that, she thought, that instead of the traditional for fairy tale’s plot prince and princess in “Zelandyne in Seventhaven” there was a young sagamore who was the enemy of the mother of his beloved marchioness? Or is it because Leonard Austener, tale’s author, described as many as three deaths – at first the guillotining of auld Jaeger, then falling of Chief Executor of Royal Wishes from heavenly island and at the very end – destruction of Ducal Chateau? This is unlikely, little girl decided, quickly walking along the sidewalk after her adult companion, who seemed to have completely forgotten about her existence. In any case, Jordan hardly looked back at Delia, only sometimes slowing down, when they occasionally met mothers, carrying strollers with their very tiny kids.
