Notes of a madman

#3. Beyond comprehension...

I didn't expect to laugh so loudly myself. I even was louder than my own noisy engine. 

Even Peter flinched. 

 — An exorcist? Do you believe in this ancient s**t?! They are just charlatans! Even if some guy in a cassock came to Mindless, what could he do to a demon? Throw some water in his face?—my degree of sarcasm was growing.

 — Believe me, I don't believe in the bearded i***t in heaven, either, because he never helped me. But what Senor Perez did... The scar on Baal's face... He wounded him.—Mary rummaged in her big bag.—Pete, I think I lost his address!!— 

— Nothing, I keep his address in my head.—Brady said. 

 I stared at the reflection of the wheels in the partly polished stones. 

— I don't feel well...—I stood up, swaying. 

— Tobias! Toby...—I didn't hear Mary's cry now.

 The moment has probably come when you will call me crazy. I heard a voice that shouldn't be here...

 "Tobias! Toby... Follow my voice, my firefly... You need to Baal..." 

When I awake, I found myself sitting on the hot sand. This whisper I was stunned. 

 I put my head in my hands and whispered, "Go away, go away, go away..." 

 Something hot and sticky was running down my cheeks, and something was pressing on the top of my head.

 It's Mary's hand! She was whispering a prayer in Latin, her hands on my head.  

— You should see your face now! You would have said right away that you are so receptive! We barely caught up with you... Can you go?—she asked, looking worried. 

 — I wasn't here... I feel like I was somewhere else. Fog is everywhere... And there were no people. There were only voices...—I don't understand why they're staring at me like that. 

Mary found her mirror and turned it toward me. I screamed in horror. Hamilton managed to hold me down before I got up. I don't know why. 

I could see how shocked they were. 

I couldn't say anything myself. My eyes... No more my and no more eyes. My green eyes turned whiter than white, and what was running down my cheeks was blood, my blood!

 I let out a mad scream. 

I hear the wooden doors creak behind me. It smelled like something nasty... incense? 

— ... In the name of God!!!—All I could make out was a very rapid and seemingly endless mixture of prayers in different languages. 

The skin was covered with sores from the drops of holy water. Sobbing, I fell on my face in the sand. I've sat there and felt this heat before. But how bad I feel now, I can't describe ... 

 — Senor Perez, don't touch him! It's me, Mary!—I hear a scream just before I pass out... 

***  

...That's disgusting! 

My whole body aches. 

Something burns my skin. 

I'm lying on an old bench. 

It smells like aspen. And everything around me smelled of age-old dust. 

I saw a priest in a burnt cassock. I suddenly remembered that I had seen him as a child... I saw it in Mindless. It can't be him... Or maybe not.? I can't be sure of anything! 

Maybe he doesn't have eyes. They were tightly bound with some kind of cloth. Stubble covered his cheeks, and there were traces of dried blood on them. Brown old scars showed through the rips in his robe. 

From  him   came the smell of cinders.

 — I was like you... Have you ever been to Mindless?—I decided to ask after all, when the silence just got boring. 

— I'm everywhere...—the man said softly.—And you're just a stupid kid. By your efforts, you simply gave Baal the soul of your own father. One man needs to say a special "thank you" for destroying my perfect prison for Baal!— 

— I would try to do something with it myself, if I don't like that toys are broken...—Mary said angrily. 

 — You want to say something, say it out loud!—Perez said loudly. 

— And if Christina's soul could get out of his clutches, wouldn't you give anything to be with her for a day? Baal has a lot of diaries, and I've read most of them. He didn't think I'd run away... and I don't know how it happened. Look at this!—Mary held out her hand. 

 I used to see she had a strange type of tattoo on her arm. 

It's like someone spilled ink from a bubble or from a leaking pen. 

 The tattoo wasn't there now. 

— How can he look?—I ask Peter, for which I get a good slap on the head. 

The priest suddenly took from his pocket, which was carelessly sewn from another material of a different color, two small shiny balls. Oh, hell, those are his eyes! 

— Aren't you afraid of being hooked by a pale demon a second time? What is it?—the priest asks, looking at the pinkish marks left where the tattoo should have been. 

— I'm like an eel, I'll come out of everything!—the girl joked.—What about our friend? Does he have the same thing you once had? Or are they completely different things?— 

The eyes in the priest's hand stared at me. Everything inside shuddered. 

— A demon!—the ghastly creature growled in an inhuman, sepulchral voice.—I won't help you. There's nothing I can do for you while he's here...— 

*** 

 I woke up to the sound of raindrops on the roof of the old church. 

Apparently, my madness is gaining momentum-where does the rain come from in the desert? It's strange that it's so dark here... 

 When I noticed the source of the light, I started crawling towards it. I could feel old wood, earth, and rocks in my palm. It was a little scary that the light was almost red... 

— Did you see it, the crack in hell? Try it, put your hand in there, if you think it's just a mirage.—there's another light source, but not as bright.—This is where all the damned will go...— 

Father Perez was sitting not far from me. The red light framed his plump silhouette in the darkness. 

— I only have two hands, and I don't want to risk them!—I crawled away from the crack, though the faint blood-colored light beckoned.—Do you hate people like me? Do you hate somnambulists?— 

— I was like you. I've even had a family for quite some time... And I did it to myself! For them...—he asked, pointing to his headband.—I had three sons and two daughters. He made my eldest daughter a demon...—

— I understand now. You're a coward. There aren't many people in the world like my father. Charlie Bauer was one of those people who could really help. And why would Mary want to go to you? You once wounded Baal, which is certainly an achievement, but it was probably just an accident...— 

Before I knew it, we were grappling and I was on the edge of that glowing crack. 

Suddenly, the ground gave out from under my feet. 

The protruding kani gave me a shaky chance to hold on, and they were shaking a little. 

Something warm was flowing over them in a copious stream, which made it difficult for me to hold on. Something that was just caused an unnatural thirst.

 I pressed my lips to the uneven wall of this huge crack and began to greedily suck this life-giving warm moisture. As if that was all my strength. 

Lightning strikes the roof of the church, and a smell like a bonfire spreads everywhere. But there is no fire. 

I pulled myself up and jumped out of the crack. 

— He's on the street... I can feel someone...—I said calmly to Perez. 

— Not him. They. There are a lot of them... You shouldn't have stayed there hanging... It's dangerous. I'll go out to them now. You've hit my sore spot after all, sucker...—he smiled before closing the door. Or maybe it was just a facial cramp... Who knows?—Help Peter and Mary... I beg you ...— 

* * *

 It was very quiet. 

It wasn't until an hour or more later that we felt the impact roll across the ground. 

It woke Mary and Peter up. 

— Apparently, hiding was a very stupid idea...—I said calmly. 

— I felt it... Maybe you're right...—Mary went to the opposite side of the huge and dilapidated church hall.—I wonder if he has any weapons here? Old Perez is very nice, he can't be left alone with these bitches!— 

— You talk about them as if they are creeping reptiles! Well... Although, they are very similar...—Peter chuckles. 

— They only have one advantage: you can never grow old with them ... Oh, this is sledgehammer! Just what we need! It wasn't that long ago that she was in the ring...—Hamilton checked the handle for its center of gravity. 

— Mary! He said not to go out of here!—I caught her by the shoulder. 

— Well, don't come out.—she said calmly, waving me off.