3

When everyone was leaving for the transports on which they arrived, I took off my mask, went out and hid in the bushes.

I thought I'd see him leave Mariusz's residence...

But he never came out...

Damn, well, who is he?

I get on the bus and drive exactly to the place where I lost my motorcycle.

Only now I've brought something with me...

A pistol that I made quite a long time ago and hid under the floor in the shower.

My creation shoots mini-grenades the size of an apple.

A hefty truck drives by and I flinch.

The gun in my hand almost jerks up on its own.

Fear runs through me.

I bent down a little, trying to see what was in the ditch.

No, this is not the place... It doesn't seem that way...

a powerful blow falls exactly in the center of my back and I fall into a ravine.

In flight, I broke my lip on a stone and my mouth is filled with blood.

I spit to the side and look up.

Yes, that's what I thought... This creature, a spider woven from human bodies, is right in front of me.

Only now there is no confusion and no fear either.

I hold the gun out and shoot a couple of times.

To the monstrous spider, the explosion of my mini-grenades tears off one of the crooked paws.

This monster is growling at me again. And... the paw grows back!

But I did not foresee this...

I feel like all my hearts are beating much faster.

After shooting a few more times somewhere near the face of the most terrible monster, I run as fast as I can.

The explosions won't kill him, but at least they'll distract him... Or is it?

I get to the bike faster than I thought, I throw away the rocks in which it is stuck, it seems that even the tires are not pierced now...

Suddenly there was a growl, but from the front...

— Damn it, another one!—I say hoarsely and jump on the bike.

The thought that there are more than one of these creatures makes my throat dry up.

The iron horse doesn't start right away, which adds to the fear, and besides, I see two of them: two monsters running towards me from both sides.

A reckless, but at the same time quite effective thought suddenly comes to my mind.

I smear the inside of the muzzle with my own blood.

Since this kind of spider has no eyes, they probably navigate differently somehow. And what could be wrong with the option that they are guided by the smell?

Before driving deep into the forest belt, I shoot up and a mini-grenade, stained with my blood, flies into the air.

One spider rushes at the other, it is even possible that one of them swallowed a grenade. Although I've always been confident in the power of my explosive devices, there's even me

such an explosion is shocking.

A little later, while I can still see the place, I turn around without stopping the bike.

A smile creeps onto my face.

** I

never seem to get rid of this terrible habit - I always fall asleep with my clothes on when I get home.

Apparently, the smells that accompany me while I sleep are the cause of my nightmares.

... I can see the blue metal of the Sapphire cruiser cracking into pieces.

My brother is lying next to me... A cloud of blood spreads under his head.

I am getting up.

I don't even realize right away that those eyes, wildly bulging in horror and glittering with the tones of the sky during a strong storm, are my eyes.

The medallion with the broken chain lies on the pillow next to it.

— Cornelek... Where are you?—I ask, opening the locket.

I jump out of bed... Damn, I've never run so fast before!

I fly up to the toilet and I feel sick, my condition is so weak, as if I was poisoned.

I jumped away from the mirror in horror when I saw my pale face.

After washing my face to stop burning, I look at the clock, or rather, my gaze somehow falls on it.

"It's best to discuss it in this place..."— I remembered the words of that guy, Enrique.

His marker must have been extremely good. What he wrote on my hand has not been smudged or erased, although I sweat enormously during my nightmares.

The inscription he left on my hand was a combination of numbers. They were without dots or any divisions, but there were empty spaces between them, which naturally hinted at separation.

I turned on my smartphone and typed these numbers into Google maps.

So, it's going to take a long time to walk...

something tinkled in my pocket. I put my hand in there.

Damn it, do I really have to drink this again?

***

I rode the bus without taking my eyes off the navigator.

Everything was spinning in my eyes, but it made me feel bad yesterday...

I get off at the bus stop when I see that I can walk the rest of the way.

Without taking my eyes off the phone screen, I walk along the sidewalk.

— Be careful.— someone told me when I accidentally bump into a man walking towards me.

... Damn, was that my older brother's voice?

I look around in fright, my eyes are probably wild now.

I almost dropped my phone while I was desperately searching the crowd for my hallucinations.

My hands are shaking violently.

No, he's not here, he's definitely not here!

I look at the screen and continue walking along my route.

Suddenly, the inscription on the screen changed.

Apparently, I'm already there... But it's kind of weird... The pointer on the map points down somewhere...

there was a staircase nearby.

In such a state as I have now, it will be very difficult to overcome her ...

Really, it is very difficult - on the one hand she has no railing, and on the other hand a wall, it will be inconvenient to hold on to her.

My leg almost turned up a couple of times.

When the stairs ended and my legs didn't stop shaking, I fell to my knees. My knees met the old, pebbly asphalt, which sobered me up.

And the final path of my drunken journey is right in front of me.

Hmm... Is the end point of my journey a toy store?

I sighed loudly, thinking about the absurdity of such a situation.

Well, the killer is about to enter the Magic Doors store... It's very similar to a joke...

I pushed open the pink door and began to look around. How do I find Enrique in such a colorful place?

The store turned out to be much bigger than it looked when I looked at it from the outside.

I stood near the entrance, then went between the shelves with toys.

If Enrique is here, I'll find him...

I feel a slap on the back behind me.

— Did you sleep a lot today?— I hear the question.

— Enrique... I'm still at great risk of disconnecting...—I said.

Enrique turned me around. His black eyes looked up with alarm.

— Do you feel increased pressure in your eyes?—he asked.

— Yes, I think so... Yes! There's a lot of pressure on my eyes!—I said.

Enrique suddenly grabs my wrist very hard and leads me somewhere.

We enter some kind of room, either his office, or something similar to this.

The device that I see on the table, I recognized immediately - a molecular analyzer.

— Have you ever been to our planet?—I ask quietly. An unpleasant sleepy haze envelops me.

— Yes, I was. You can talk, but don't switch off. I'm going to need something to make the reaction go away. Have you had injections in your neck before?—he asks.

— Yes, many times!—I reply angrily.

— You lied to me just now...—Enrique says, feeling my neck.— Well, then you'll have to be the first!—

A thick needle enters my neck and I would definitely stun everyone in this store if Enrique hadn't clamped his hand over my mouth.

Consciousness cleared up very quickly. I pinched a small area of skin on my neck.

— Do you know that you bite very painfully?—Enrique tossed me some wet wipes.—Wipe your face, you look like a vampire right now. As I see it, you're feeling better. Are you feeling dizzy?—

— Not anymore...—I breathe in the air and feel a tiny spot on the side of my neck hurt.

— So, it will be necessary to change the composition for you...—Enrique wrapped a handkerchief around the wound on his arm.— You bite very painfully!—

— Maybe it's better to talk about how to destroy Mariusz?—I say.

— You don't know much about them, do you? Having destroyed Mariusz, we will only bite off one of the monster's paws. But... You have to start somewhere... Mariusz and those with him will destroy the worlds they can touch. We need to rid the universe of their aggression. Well... At least try to do something...—Enrique took out a huge black box.— There are about a million bombs here. Each of them can destroy a big city.We need to try to bring at least one of them into the residence and blow it up. Only such a bomb can destroy...Enrique looked up, startled. There was a great fright in the Indian's eyes.— To destroy people like me and your brother, and people like Mariusz longs to become...—

— Do you know Cornelius? Is my brother alive? Where is he?—I jumped up from my seat, but Enrique immediately sat me back down.

Still, his hands are unrealistically strong...

— Yes, I know him, but you don't have to react to it so violently. The drug has not yet dissolved in the blood, it can be anything, up to a heart attack!— the Indian's voice is heard in my head. For some reason, I feel the same way I did when Cornelius was angry.

— Are you the same?—I ask.

— How smart you are... Cornelius Kaminski was swallowed up by a purple star and he became something between life and death. The star that swallowed me is golden... And I have a device that finds these stars. I stole it from Mariusz...—

— Can you find these stars? I want to be like that too!—I said.

— To become like me or to become strong like Cornelius means to be eternally afraid of yourself, afraid to be happy, afraid to be afraid... To be afraid of what anyone can do with your emotion...—Gold—colored sparks appeared on his fingertips.

Enrique began to breathe loudly and noisily.

— What happened?—I asked, picking him up as he started to topple over.

— Take your hands off...— the Indian speaks hoarsely.

A bright golden flash fills the room we are in.

Realizing that I was still holding him in my arms and sitting next to him, the Indian crawled away from me with a shocked look.

— Are you here? And you didn't crumble...—He looked me over again to make sure I was really still here.

— You're definitely very strange...— He said softly.— Well, if you like the company of children, you can stay at my store as long as you want...—

— I don't mind, I love toys and treat children well.—I said.— And what time do you finish?—

— At what time I want. I'm my own boss... If I want, I can not go to work at all... But I absolutely adore this place... Since I came to this planet, this is one of the few places where my family and I can be happy. There are few such places...—Enrique looked out the small window, pulling back the curtain.— Look, they turned on Annie themselves without me!—

He laughed. I felt this incredible kindness coming from him.

— It's incredible here... And who is this Annie?—I asked.

— Annie... Annie... This is a robot that helps me with all my worries and entertains the guests. A guy from your planet, Connor, once helped me put it together. I haven't seen him for a long time...—

I also looked out the window, and then went out into the hall with Enrique.