Prologue
PROLOGUE
Sixty-five years ago….
Poor Jean couldn't sleep on her first night without her parents. Hugging the purring cat under the covers, she mourned her life with endless wistful silent tears.
"How are you?" through the cloudy window, the girl gazed at the lonely moon, searching for some kind of solace. “Just like you, I have become all alone in this universe. And now, you and I, we have each other." Jean reached out to the window as if she was trying to reach for the moon.
"I am not alone." A voice echoed in the girl's head. "I have the Earth and the Sun, I have the stars and comets flying by, I have the whole cosmos and the universe, and of course, I have you... Ah, how interesting it is to watch all of you...", the voice said enthusiastically.
"Interesting?" Jean whispered with surprise...
"Of course, very..." Moon answered after a short pause. "There is only one step from life to death, one outstretched hand from death to rebirth, one right decision from groaning to happiness, one affectionate word from crying to a smile, only one chance from melancholy of loneliness to the joy of unity, but the right meeting..."
"The right meeting?" The girl asked again.
"Everything right can turn out to be a silly mistake in an instant, and the gravest transgression can turn out to be the surest decision... you are your loneliness, pain, and discouragement, you are your love, serenity, and freedom, you are your own choice...it's very simple." The moon's voice echoed affectionately. "Jean, you're not alone, you're not alone, you're not alone..."
"My choice, my own choice is vengeance..."
The girl cheered up and wiped her wet cheeks with the palm of her hand.
"Everything in this world is right...”
With her last words, the moon hid behind the dark clouds.
Rising from the bed and sitting on its edge, Jean looked around. The room, lit by two candles, with its gray walls, seemed like a frozen dungeon for a moment. Only the colored carpet on the floor and the rainbow curtains on the windows, diluting the gloomy colors of the room, could barely dispel her oppressive impression. Except for the faint snoring from the next bedroom and the whistle of a snowstorm outside the window, the house was quiet and peaceful.
"Now, my little friend..." Jean put the cat on her shoulder, "let's make the first and most important decision of our lives — heal your legs and I'll play with you in the morning, okay?"
The animal did not resist, being unable to do so.
Sneaking into Clara and Aldean's bedroom, subjected to her fear, Jean froze for a while in the middle of the room.
"Everyone gets what they deserve and what they've done wrong, and if I'm wrong about something, the universe is bound to have an argument with me about it, and I will lose in it in the end. Won't I?" Jean squinted her eyes at the moon behind the dark cloud. "You agree with me, don't you?"
But without waiting for an answer, the girl pulled a gold bracelet from the woven bundle.
She walked over to the big oak bed and lifted the edge of the blanket. Choosing the roughest of the two pairs of feet sticking out, full of calluses, the girl laid the animal beside them.
"Let it be as I said.
Take all the cat's pain away
And punish the villain with hellish pain,
Punish the one who is full of sin."
Jean slid the bracelet over the cat's motionless legs, and the moment the stone flashed a fiery scarlet color, the girl touched the legs of her archenemy without a hint of remorse. The pink glow that emanated from it penetrated Oldin's feet, slowly, shining off every vein, heading upward, and then faded in seconds.
"That's it... now you'll never hurt anyone again!" Jean looked at the sleeping Oldin as if he were her rightful prey.
"That's right, that was the right decision..." The moonlight, hitting the window sharply, made the girl squint.
Triumphant in her victory, Jean put the bracelet back in place and was about to take the cat in her arms. But the cat, who now didn’t need her help, jumped up and ran wildly over Clara and Oldin's sleeping bodies.
"Jean? What are you doing here?" The woman woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Did something happen?"….
