26

Cornelius sat down next to me. He looked at the photo on the notebook.

— You look like your mother... Ryan, did you order these notebooks? I've seen you have one.— He said.

— Yes. If necessary, I'll show you the site later. Do you want to order something too?—Ryan began to dig into his phone, apparently looking for a link.— Here, I have a QR code from this site.—

— I want to order a diary… Well, it can be done later...—Cornelius took the phone from Ryan."Damn, our stuff gets destroyed so often."… It's good that half of the stuff is on the lower floors...—He looked up as Lukasz entered.— How's it going? Can we use electricity? —

— Yes, I'm going to reboot the system now...—Lukasz said.

The switch is cracking loudly.

We can hear the lights buzzing on.

— It's done!—Lukasz shouted from behind the door.— Speaking of which...His voice grew louder as he approached.— I've collected your clothes and they're downstairs in the laundry room. Probably only your weekend costumes are left upstairs... by the way, I put Adrianna's creepy toys in the laundry too...—

I smiled, hugging Cornelius.

Things are safe, toys are safe, we are safe, what else is needed?

Nothing!

***

We moved to the floor where there used to be additional halls, they turned out to be a good replacement for rooms.

It's probably even worth thinking carefully about whether the upper floors need to be rebuilt…

Cornelius was entering something into the computer and with a sweeping throw sent the notebooks flying to the trash can. As he explained to me before, he was transferring accounts to a flash card.

— Cornelius, you've been silent for about an hour.—I say.

— Not the blue one...— Cornelius says, without stopping typing.

— Huh? — I looked at him uncomprehendingly.

— You told me about the dress an hour ago. Not the blue one, you were wearing it the night your car was shot at...—Cornelius said, glancing through the printed text.

I walked over to his office chair.

I know very well that at least you can ride on this chair if you want, this thing is so strong.

I'm really tired of looking at his back, so I go over and put my hands on his shoulders.

Hard as a rock.

It's always like this when a loved one is focused on something.

— Stop being afraid of Mariusz...—I tell him softly.— We're going to kill him anyway...

— That's right, my General...—

I mentally note how rarely Cornelius smiles lately.

— You know, I have options for what to wear in the evening...—I said.

— Let's go watch a movie. I'm tired...—Cornelius smiles.

— Maybe we should go to a cafe?—I kiss his prickly cheek.— A themed cafe based on my favorite game has been opened nearby…—

— I'm often scared of Freddy here too… Well, all right! Anything you want for you! —

***

Dariusz caught up with us when we changed clothes for a trip to the cafe.

— Adrianna! We really need to talk...—he said, beckoning me with his hand.

— Honey, I'm going to step back for a second. We need to discuss something...—I said.

Darek calmly went to his office, not waiting for me to catch up with him.

— I found out one very interesting thing...— He said, twirling his glasses in his fingers.

Huggy Wuggy, with his long arms wrapped around the back of the chair, danced crazily at every turn of his chair.

— Darek, I don't have that much time and patience to wait for you to tell me everything!—I said.

— You're not from here.—Dariusz said, smiling.

— Not from here? Not from Poland? Not from America?— for some reason, this stupid question came out of my mouth, although I'm already sure that Darek will answer me…

— Not from this planet.—Darek's smile widened.—You don't belong to any of the nearby star systems. I can't figure out which galaxy you're from at all.…—

Everything swam before my eyes. I groped blindly for the couch, bumped into Katnap's toy as I was about to sit down, and almost screamed.

—Am I... am I an alien?—I asked quietly.

— Everyone has their flaws. For me personally, all earthlings are aliens, so don't get too upset.… You and Cornelius were going somewhere, weren't you?—Darek took off his glasses and put them on the keyboard.

—Do you think I'm capable of thinking now?—I said irritably. Suddenly, I felt my mood begin to change very quickly.—I'm an alien... that sounds really cool.…—

I got up from the couch.

— Darek, don't you want to come with us? We're going to a very interesting cafe.— I decided to suggest it.

— Will Freddy be there? Well, no, I prefer this madhouse.—Dariusz smiled.— I need to redo my brain for another madhouse.—

Dariusz stayed in his office, and I went out to Cornelius.

— That's it, we can go now.—I said.

—I'm wondering what kind of business you're having with Darek...—Cornelius said thoughtfully.

— Yes, it became interesting, I decided to take some tests... The results are impressive.— I took his hand when we went outside.— I used to think that only those with whom I communicate are so unusual... I'm not from here either...—

— And I knew that before you wanted to check your blood... Or rather, I felt it... Earthlings smell completely different. And you...—Cornelius looked at the cars passing by.

— Do I smell special?—I asked.— I'm glad.—

My mood lifted even more when I saw a sign with Freddy in the distance.

This bear always cheers me up.…

***

When I stopped thinking about the danger, a message with Ryan's secret encoding came to my phone.

There were six sixes.

This is the message he sends when one of us is in danger.

The next message was: "You'd better come back..."

— We need to go home.—I said, picking up my bag from the back of the chair.

Despite the situation, I didn't want to leave the toys that we took out of the claw machine here. They could barely fit into my bag.

Leaving the car in the parking lot near the club, we ran into the club.

Lukasz was lying on the floor with his head in his hands.

When we tried to look for the others, we didn't find anyone.

Cornelius sat down on the floor next to his friend and put his fingers to the wound on the back of his head.

— Why does this always happen to me?—Lukasz growled angrily.

— I don't know... Does luck always follow you?—Cornelius said thoughtfully.— What happened?—

— Mariusz! He took them all! And he badly injured that guy who was here the other day! Prior, Prior was here!—

— Adrian?—I shuddered.—Where is he now?—

— He was upstairs when I still heard him. Then the screams died down. Probably him...—

I didn't listen to the rest and ran up the stairs.

Why was Adrian here? And why is he helping us?

I found it among the fragments of our residential floor.

Adrian was lying on a large piece of wall. There was a lot of blood around.

— Adrian! I hope you're still alive... Wait a bit, I'll call Cornelius now...—I said, stroking Adrian's hair.

Suddenly Prior grabbed me by the sleeve of my hoodie.

— Don't... Don't call him... Just take my hand...—Adrian whispered with his eyes closed.

I took Adrian's hand. It's a strange feeling... It's like I'm giving him a part of me...

His wounds! They... They're dragging on!

I'm tired of wondering, but why are they taking so long?

Adrian smiled at my confusion.

— Thanks for helping...— He said.—I already thought I was going to die like a damn turkey in a slaughterhouse!—

We laughed together.

— Why are you here?—I asked.

— I'll tell you sometime, because the story is strange... It takes a lot of time...—

We went downstairs.

— Cornelius, your brother has been taken away.—Adrian said.

— And how did you end up here?—Cornelius asked, looking at him.— Maybe it's your fault that Mariusz snuck in here? Adrianna and I saw you last night! —

— Old man, turn off the bull and listen to me first!—Adrian said.

Cornelius and I shuddered.

— Damn, it turns out he speaks Polish...—Lukasz said in shock.

— Sorry, I forgot to say: I have Poles in my family. I speak Polish relatively well.—Adrian sat down on the splintered sofa.— I was hunting Mariusz myself...—

— And why are you?— Cornelius found a whole chair.— And when did Mariusz hurt you? The bigger question is, what did he do to you?—

— Brutally mutilated my father, killed my mother, is that so little?—Adrian's eyes were red, but they remained dry.

I can feel the air heating up.

— You have superpower too, don't you?—I asked.

— Yes, a little bit...—Adrian unslung the bag he had taken from the ruins earlier.— I have some toys with me, will you come with me?—

— Since our family has been kidnapped, you will come with us if you want!— Cornelius went to the safe, which is immured in the floor under the bar.— Let's arm ourselves and go! You, Lukasz, stay here as always!—

— Me?!—Lukasz raised his voice indignantly, but Cornelius immediately interrupted his bickering with one weighty phrase:

— Will you come with us?—

Lukasz turned around and silently went to his office.

Cornelius couldn't stand it and smiled. It amused him even in such a situation.

— Lukasz is not a fighter at all. But it's even useful for him. People like Lukasz should not rush into battle ... —