The Castrator, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov [free romance novels .TXT] 📗

BENEFACTOR? VERY SIMPLY - BECAUSE BY NATURE HE BELONGED TO NEITHER. BUT THERE WAS ALSO SOMETHING STRANGE-WHY, IF THIS SOMEBODY KNEW OF THE TRAITOR DIEGO'S SORDID AFFAIR, HAD HE NOT INTERROGATED HIM BEFORE US, OR ...

I REMEMBERED THAT JAKE'S FORTUNE WAS NO MORE THAN TWO MILLION AND SOMETHING, BUT IT WAS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT THE REAL AMOUNT OF HIS WEALTH WAS MUCH GREATER. AND THAT WAS MOST LIKELY FELISTER'S TRUE INHERITANCE. AND MAY-MY LOGIC PROVED CORRECT ...

EVEN THE DETECTIVE'S BEHAVIOR AT LA POINTE CEMETERY CONFIRMED IT - IT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT ESCAPED MY ATTENTION. THE DETECTIVE WAS HANGING BETWEEN THE GRAVES, BUT

BUT THERE WERE THE FEDERAL AGENTS AGAIN ... WHETHER THEY WERE REAL OR ...

GENERALLY, THESE AGENTS UNDERWENT SERIOUS TRAINING AND ACQUIRED EXTENSIVE SKILLS - SO IF THEY WEREN'T UP TO THE TASK, IT WAS PROBABLY SIMPLY BECAUSE THEIR REAL ASSIGNMENT WAS TO PROTECT SOMEONE - MAYBE THIS UNKNOWN PRISONER. AT THE TRAINING FACILITY, WHICH WAS LOCATED IN CUONTICO, THE TRAINING DIDN'T STOP. USUALLY, IN A SIMULATED SETTING, EVERYTHING WAS PLAYED OUT CAREFULLY. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THIS TIME THE REAL SCENARIO WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. ONE PART WAS CONNECTED TO SOMETHING - SUPERNATURAL AND TOO SPECIAL. THAT SCENARIO SEEMED THE MOST LOGICAL TO ME, BUT IF IT WAS TRUE, I HONESTLY DIDN'T SEE HOW WE COULD GET THERE.

WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS PLACED IN THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM, WHICH GENERALLY GUARANTEED A NEW LIFE AND A LOT OF POSSIBILITIES FOR EXISTENCE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS UNDER GOVERNMENT PROTECTION AND FUNDING.

THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN US ... TO THE PRISONER HIMSELF, WHO WOULD HAVE TOLD US THE REST...

THE SECRET WITNESS WAS TORTURING HIMSELF. IN THE DARKNESS OF HIS SOUL. PERHAPS HE WAS SEEKING RETRIBUTION! FORGOTTEN BY ALL! THE TRUE FORMLESS DARKNESS, FROM WHICH IT WAS QUITE POSSIBLE FOR ANYTHING TO CRAWL-THE SOURCE OF IMMEASURABLE TERROR. IT WAS AS IF THE SOUL WERE BEING BUFFETED BY THE WIND OF DEATH, AND ALL THIS HOPELESSNESS LED NOWHERE AND IT WAS LEADING TO THE FALSE HAPPINESS OF LIVING IN A FALSE REALITY! IT WAS AS IF HIS WORLD WAS CONNECTED TO A WELL INSULATED SILO... AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD WAS DEAD.

USUALLY THE NAMES OF THOSE PUT ON THE PROGRAMME WERE INDEED DELETED AND CHANGED REPEATEDLY, SO THAT - EVEN IF WE CAME ACROSS IT, THERE WAS A REAL DANGER THAT WE WOULD GET WRONG INFORMATION AS TO ITS TRUE IDENTITY - UNLESS THE WITNESS IN QUESTION REVEALED HIMSELF AND ASKED TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH US.

THERE WAS ALSO SOME DOUBT AS TO WHAT THE FEDS HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR JUST OFF THE RESERVATION, AND NO ARRESTS OR SOME OTHER OSTENTATIOUSNESS LIKE A SHOOTOUT ENSUED - PERHAPS THEIR INVESTIGATION HAD HIT A BUMP IN THE ROAD?

INSIDE FELISTER'S HOUSE, WHERE HE'D BURIED HIS SCARIEST SECRETS, I SENSED A VERY CLEAR NEGATIVE ENERGY. ZONARA AND ARLO COULDN'T TAKE IT TOO WELL, BUT THEY HAD TO PUT UP WITH THIS INCONVENIENCE. STILL, WE HAD GONE TOO FAR, AND PERHAPS ALL WOULD SOON BECOME CLEAR.

AND THEN I HAD A VISION - I HAD SEEN THE SAME INITIALS THERE - FAR AWAY WHERE THOSE WHO HAD REACHED THE END HAD BEEN.

AND WHERE WAS HE?

IT WAS MOSTLY CONNECTED WITH THE SOUL OF FELISTER-IT WAS A STRANGE MIXTURE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. AND WAS THERE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS? AND DID THE LIGHT COME FROM THE GOOD ETHEREAL CREATURES?

WE HAD LONG SINCE LEFT THE CONFINES OF KAMLOOPS, WHICH WAS NOT A PLACE TO WHICH I WOULD RETURN AGAIN IF I HAD THE CHANCE. WHEN WE LEFT, I DIDN'T LOOK BACK. IT WAS MARCH AND THE TEMPERATURES OUTSIDE WERE FREEZING. BRITISH COLUMBIA CHARMED US WITH ITS RAW BEAUTY. WE WERE TRAVELLING ON THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO CROSS THIS VAST COUNTRY EVER. IT WAS SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES LONG AND WE COULD SEE GLACIERS AND ALL KINDS OF BIZARRE SNOWSCAPES - EVEN SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN RIDGES IN THE DISTANCE. KAMLOOPS ALSO LAY ON THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY, BUT LATER IT BRANCHED OFF IN TWO MAIN DIRECTIONS, AND WE HAD TO TAKE THE SOUTHERN OR NORTHERN ROUTE. WE DIVERTED ALONG THE SOUTHERN ONE TO ARRIVE WHERE WE NEEDED TO BE, IN THE ONTARIO TOWN OF MILTON. TRAFFIC WAS HEAVY AND WE COULD SEE ALL SORTS OF VEHICLES WEAVING THROUGH THE MANY LANES - LIKE A CATERPILLAR. IT WAS SO MONOTONOUS THAT ONE COULD EASILY FALL ASLEEP AND MISS SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT. AND DESPITE THE DECEPTIVE BEAUTY, I WAS ALERT.

 

[1] Hoover is the most successful FBI director in the United States.

[2]   Timothy 4:1

ON THE ROAD

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: ON THE ROAD

 

WE HITCHHIKED, BUT IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, WE HAD TO CHANGE OUR TRANSPORTATION TACTICS - OTHERWISE WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN NOWHERE.

AT A CAR DEALERSHIP, WE HAD SAVED A RICKETY CAMPER, AS THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO GET AROUND THE ENDLESS TERRITORIES OF THIS VAST COUNTRY. BOUGHT IT FOR ARLO, WHO REALLY LIKED IT. EVEN IN SUCH A BATTERED MODEL IT HAD THE STANDARD BATHROOM AND TOILET, A SMALL WARDROBE, A SMALL STOVE ON WHICH WE COULD COOK SOME MEALS, AND ALSO A SINGLE BED - WE COULD MANAGE SOMEHOW. WE COULD TAKE TURNS SLEEPING ON IT WHILE THE OTHERS DROVE.

THE SALESMAN'S NAME WAS ROGERS AND HE WAS A PRETTY GRIZZLED DUDE ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE, TWENTY-SIX, TWENTY-SEVEN AT THE MOST. HE WAS SLATHERED LIKE THE WORLD WITH MACHINE GREASE AND HAD GASOLINE STAINS ON HIS COVERALLS. HE LOOKED LIKE A TROUBLED CHILD WHO HAD GOTTEN HIGH ON STRANGE SAUCES WHILE EATING LUNCH ON HIS LUNCH BREAK.

HIS MOUSEY FACE STILL SHOWED SOME INTELLIGENCE, BUT IT WAS DULLED BY HIS GLASSY EYES. HE WAS IN HIS OWN LITTLE WORLD-SEPARATE FROM EVERYONE AND LONGING FOR A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

ROGERS WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE ANNOYING SALESMEN WHO BOTHERED HIS CUSTOMERS WITH SUPERFLUOUS CHATTER AND WASTED THEIR TIME WITH USELESS INFORMATION. HE QUICKLY ARRANGED THE PAPERWORK FOR THE CARAVAN, WHICH NEEDED A BIT OF BOLT TIGHTENING - SOMETHING HE DID DUTIFULLY AND ACTUALLY CAME IN AT THE PRICE OF THE WHOLE SERVICE. WE LOOKED AROUND - IT WASN'T TOO BAD. IT LOOKED, BY THE WAY, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER CAR WASH ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, BUT THERE WAS A CERTAIN SYMBOLISM TO THIS ONE HERE - ROGERS WAS THE SOUL OF THIS PLACE AND GENERALLY EVEN OFFERED US A LITTLE MORE THAN WHAT WE HAD PAID FOR. GAVE US DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO GET TO ONTARIO AND SPECIFICALLY TO MILTON THE FASTEST. THERE WAS THE MAPLEHURST CORRECTIONAL CENTRE WHERE WE WERE LIKELY TO FIND OUR MAN. A LOT OF REPEAT OFFENDERS WERE LOCKED UP THERE, AND THE STORY SURROUNDING THE OPENING OF THE INSTITUTION ITSELF WAS QUITE INTERESTING. HOW HAD I GUESSED? WELL, THE FELISTER CODE WAS PRETTY TELLING IN THAT REGARD, BUT DETECTIVE LOGIC HELPED ME A LOT TOO - IT WAS MORE THAN CLEAR THAT FELISTER HADN'T GONE TO HEAVEN FOR ALL HIS DEEDS, AND WHAT BETTER BOOK WAS THERE THAN JOHN MILTON'S PARADISE LOST, HENCE I DECIDED TO END MY CHAOTIC IDEAS WITH THE ACTUAL CODE FOUND IN FELISTER'S HOUSE IN CAMPLUPS, WHERE BY THE WAY WE FELT THE NEGATIVE ENERGY ALL TOO CLEARLY. CONVERTING IT - THAT IS, CHANGING THE ROMAN NUMERALS TO ARABIC - YIELDED THE NUMBER 5392, WHICH SURELY MEANT SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST "IT'S ALL OVER DIEGO, BROTHER." PERHAPS INTERPRETING THIS ANGELIC NUMBER WOULD ALSO LEAD US TO THE NAME OF THE MYSTERIOUS PRISONER - I MEAN - HIS TRUE IDENTITY, AND WE'D LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS. IT LOOKED LIKE SOME FORM OF SCRABBLE GAME TO ME, BUT I HAD TO SEE IF I COULD GET ANY NAME AT ALL OUT OF THE AVAILABLE LETTERS, OR AT LEAST SOMETHING MEANINGFUL. IN ENGLISH, YOU COULD GET A FEW MEANINGFUL LETTER COMBINATIONS THAT RESEMBLED WORDS OR SOMETHING. ONE OF THEM WAS "BORN T", WHERE BORN MEANT BORN, AND THE LETTER T HAD A MAGICAL MEANING. I DUG AROUND IN MY FAIRLY DECENT KNOWLEDGE OF MAGICAL ALPHABET AND RUNES, AND TAW OR TAV[1] WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORD FOR TRUTH EMET, WHICH WAS IN HEBREW - YOU GET SOMETHING LIKE BORN TRUTH. EVEN IF THE COMBINATION WAS TRUE, IT DEFINITELY DIDN'T SPEAK TOO MUCH TO ME, BUT I FELT LIKE WE WOULD LEARN MORE SOON.

THE ROAD WAS NOT WITHOUT ACCIDENTS. ROGERS HAD HELPED US - AND HELPED US A LOT. OTHERWISE WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOT WHERE WE WERE GOING AT ALL. I NOTICED HIS GRUBBY HANDS. HE MUST HAVE BEEN HUNGRY AND COLD. I FELT LIKE DOING SOMETHING GOOD FOR HIM AND LEFT HIM A SMALL PRESENT - A MODEST TIP. PERHAPS HE WAS GLAD LATER. BUT WE WERE STILL DRIVING A BRAHMA, WHICH, THOUGH TIGHT, MIGHT HAVE SURPRISED US IN THESE HARSH CONDITIONS.

WE ALSO HAD SOME OTHER PLACES TO CROSS BEFORE WE REACHED MILTON.

FOR THE FIRST TIME I WAS ABLE TO APPRECIATE SOMETHING EXTREMELY SPECIAL, AND IT WAS ROOTED IN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE TWO COUNTRIES - THE US WAS THE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND MILITARY CENTER, BUT CANADA HAD A STRONGER MIDDLE CLASS. AND IT WAS VISIBLE IN A RATHER UNOBTRUSIVE WAY.

NEITHER ARLO NOR ZONARA GRUMBLED AT THE NEW CONDITIONS, AND WE TOOK THREE HOURS TO SLEEP, AND THEN WHOEVER HAD SLEPT TOOK THE WHEEL. I WOULDN'T SAY DRIVING WAS OUR STRONG SUIT - ESPECIALLY NIGHT DRIVING. IT WAS GENERALLY MORE DANGEROUS THAN DAYTIME DRIVING, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF WASTING TIME. WE STILL HAD A LOT OF ROAD.

AND WHERE WAS THE ALMIGHTY ON THIS DREADED NIGHT IN WHICH WE WERE HEADED FOR THE NEXT LEVEL OF REALITY REVELATION? IF OUR SOULS, IF WE HAD ANY LEFT, HAD NO PULL TO ANYTHING, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ENDURING IT? BUT WAS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE PAIN MIGHT HAVE REVEALED TO US WIDER LIMITS OF PERCEPTION AND SENSATION OF SO-CALLED SUBTLE REALITY? I KNEW THAT THE EPICUREAN THEORY OF HAPPINESS FOCUSED ON THE ABSENCE OF PAIN AND SUFFERING, BUT IN MY OPINION, ANYONE WHO DIDN'T FEEL IT-OR PRETENDED IT DIDN'T EXIST-EITHER DIDN'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD OR WAS A COMPLETE IDIOT.

NONE OF US WERE SO EXPERIENCED AT DRIVING AS TO BE AWARE OF EXACTLY HOW TO USE THE LOW AND HIGH BEAMS - ESPECIALLY IN EXTREME CONDITIONS LIKE THESE, SO WE TRIED TO BE CAREFUL IN THIS REGARD LEST WE ACCIDENTALLY MISLEAD ONE OF THE OTHER DRIVERS AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. THERE WAS A HAILSTORM THAT WAS MAKING OUR MOVEMENT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT.

IT HAD BEEN TOO LONG SINCE WE'D LEFT WINNIPEG BEHIND AND THE KINDLY ROGERS' FACE HAD ALMOST BEGUN TO FADE IN MY MIND - WE HAD TO MAKE A PLAN FOR LATER. WHEN WE REACHED THUNDER BAY, WE DEFINITELY NEEDED A LITTLE BREAK TO SOBER US UP - AFTER THE INDESCRIBABLE SNOW HELL ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY. THE SPEED LIMIT ON THE HIGHWAY ALSO MADE THINGS RATHER PECULIAR - WE COULDN'T EXCEED A HUNDRED KILOMETERS PER HOUR, BUT WE WERE ALSO GOING MUCH SLOWER A GOOD DEAL OF THE TIME.

IN TOUNDER BAY WE STAYED IN A SMALL MOTEL AND I LAID OUT MY CONCERNS TO ARLO AND ZONER:

- IF HE HAD BEEN PUT IN THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM, HE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN IN JAIL LONG AGO. AND WE MAY NEVER FIND HIM EITHER!

THEY BOTH