POV Main

I visited Coal in his Druid Manor. He bought one, that was in ruin, but he had money to restore it. For time being he couldn’t live there. Some workers, that lived in module houses, which meant containers modified to be used as living quarters, were working on putting manor into shape. Manor was quite big building with many rooms and high ceilings. It had cellars, ground level, level over it and attic. It needed to be reconstructed a little inside, because main source on warm in winter were tiled stoves in manor. Nowadays people used different ways to warm buildings. Central heating systems were better.

Coal showed me terrain around manor, that would became park. It was nice piece of land. For me, it was normal, I came from east part of Poland, so closure to nature was something I was used to. Coal was almost flying in air, as if he got his wishes fulfilled. He really wanted be close to nature. Then, we went on sandy road to forest he bought too. Another team of workers were building wooden two wooden houses there. He explained, that he thought about everything I told him about living in forest, but he wanted to try it and as he said, main base would be in manor, so he could always fell back. I told him, that during sunny summer it would be good. I knew, that experience was ultimate judge. We had some more time before evening, so we went into forest for a walk. It wasn’t tourism region. Still, forests in Poland, maybe except mountain forests and nature reserves, had cuts in them and many roads. There are rules for carrying for forests. Luckily it was mixed forest with coniferous and deciduous trees. It was lot easier to go through it. If you have only leafy trees, they usually overgrow space inside forest with time. Needle trees grow up very fast and create with time curtain many meters over ground, which suppresses bushes from growing. For human, when there is no bushes or big spreading trees, it’s nicer to walk through. Air is different. Even your heartbeat is different. Just don’t hurry up, it’s natural reaction.

We walked and talked. Coal said, that at some point his sensory radar ability let him feel life in forest. He almost felt as if in trans of some kind. I told him, that when one walked through forest without hurrying or slowing down and lets his eyes wonder around without thoughts where to look or focus, one naturally went into trans like state. He asked, why I didn’t tell it earlier. I said, that one couldn’t use that trans for anything or at least I didn’t know how. It calmed heart and nerves and that was all. We would talk more, but spring storm came.

Usually spring storms are short, wild and violent. We went back to cars. Reason was, that National Alarm Center sent sms, that those storms could be especially violent. That government center is quite nice institution, it sends sms, when there is thread, mainly tied to weather. I scheduled to meet with Coal at another day.

I came there because of different reason simultaneously. Some hour and half farther misfits bought village on hill. Ok, we raised money for them to buy almost whole village. Poland is place where way of leaving changed. In seventies lot of people lived in villages and less in big cities. Half century later it’s opposite. Even more painfully, young people went to cities and old stayed in small villages or moved to bigger villages. In the end there is a lot of places, where really small villages ceased to exist. They had ten to twenty houses in best times, so when old people died they became empty. In east part of country there is trend to buy out those places and make summer residences from them. Also old people from cities, if they are not sick, often choose to live their later life on countryside. It’s healthier that way, but one has more responsibilities around house, so needs to be in some shape. Back to topic, we bought almost whole village from families of farmers, that lived there before. We only cared, if electricity was there. And it was.

Why misfits did agree to leave War-Saw? They half agree. They heard, that magic ability cultivation had bottlenecks. They confirmed, that without exercises magic was seeping away. They wanted to create base with cultivation chambers or caves dedicated to going through bottlenecks. And we couldn’t did that in War-Saw. We bought village At-trail-like (Derezina) colony or something that sound similar. It was located at small hill, at east side of Poland. Most of east side have worse soil, so it’s easier to buy things there. There is also lot of forests. Misfits felt, that they needed place for training. When they went back to their live after camp, they saw, that it wasn’t easy to do that in city during daily living. Also we had additions to misfits, as there were ten of them.

During my drive spring storm went over me. It seemed as storm refreshed world, as colors after seemed more full, more intense. Village seemed to be as many I saw in Underwood during my journeys. It was called colony, so it was branch near closest bigger village, when it was created. There was twelve houses near themselves, all by one road. Each house was surrounded by wooden fence. Even two, that was ruined almost completely. There were gates at road and benches. Those benches could tell stories of families that lived there, if they could talk, as they were social centers in old times before television killed hunger for seeing other people. I know, people from cities wouldn’t understand probably. We bought six houses. Four was property of some people, that could visit them, but didn’t live there permanently. Two were defeated by time and weather. All houses we bought had boilers and took water from wells. For drinking purposes we bought mineral water. Water from wells needs to be examined before use. One house we bought didn’t have proper plumbing for shower purposes. Others were passable, but we needed to take care of sanitary pools. All of houses had farmer sheds near them, cowsheds, chicken coops, piggeries. With lack of animals, maybe except some stray cat or field mice. There was stork nest, but it was empty. At the end of village was big quadruple pole with electric transformer. We could plug in easily. Misfits already did, because I saw lights in few houses. I stopped before one of them. I went for one with most lights on.

Mouse was already there. Most misfits were there too.

POV Diana

I felt, we had too many new cultists. Some came because of sex urges, some were by chance and some were good clay to form cultists. My girls shouldn’t waste time with failures. But how could one see, which one was failure. By spilled blood.

I ordered Revengers to gather. I knew, where people, who sold me to slavers lived. I asked those, who felt, that revenge was worth spilling blood to come with us. Some stayed with us, some left. I forbade let those that left to our properties anymore. I left some guards in camp and we went in bus for hunting.

We were in place in the evening, when sky started to darken. Storms went through, so air was full of electricity. Big building, where those people lived and worked seemed to by busy. When I was there first time, I saw ten people. At the moment there was at least twice as many. We stopped by the entrance.

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-= Catch them, - I said. – those are bad people. If you kill some during apprehension, so be it. It’s more important for you to stay healthy.

-= Yes D. – Horus of voices answered me. They called me D.

-= Go, go, go! – I opened bus door.

Two big guys with battering ram went first. Then others. I waited in the bas, till they would call me and place would be secured.

I saw, when one of cultists used door bell and someone opened door without checking, who came. It was their mistake. My cultists had bats, baseball bats. We experimented with knives and machetes, but it was too easy for cultists to harm themselves. I heard loud noises from building. It seemed, that some tried to defend themselves. I lived through one attack on building already, so I knew, that they had no chances as they were unprepared for violence. I gave my cultists time limit of ten minutes. If they couldn’t conquer building in that time, we would back off. After eight minutes we had building under control except one room, that seemed to be safe room. It was good enough.

I went inside. Some rooms had traces of fight, some blood on walls. In big room my cultists gathered prisoners and three unmoving bodies. Eleven prisoners were kneeling with hands on their heads. Some tried to say something. Each time they said first word, they were punched or swiped in head.

I commanded to gag all except three. Two drivers and woman, that served tea.

-= You will speak only when asked. – I said. – Who is in safe room, Maria? – I asked woman.

-= I will tell you nothing.

-= Stab her in leg. – I said to girl behind her. One I rescued from Germany. She did it with pocket knife.

-= Aaaaaa.

-= Be silent or you will lose tongue.

-= Aaaaa.

I caught her face in my hand, forcefully opened her mouth and wrested part of her tongue with my second hand. I was strong enough for that. Someone recently added to my group vomited. Maria stopped crying, but couldn’t tell me much more.

-= You, rapist. – I pointed one of drivers. – Who is in safe room?

-= We had visitation of higher ups. – He said terrified. Rapist was scum easy to handle as all of his kind. – Three higher ups are there and our director with them.

I called girl, that was raped by him, when she was unconscious. His fate was in her hands at that moment.

-= Do you recognize me? – She asked him.

-= No.

-= Do you even have fun raping me, when I was unconscious? Are you necrophiliac?

He didn’t answer. Looked with his eyes into ground.

-= I didn’t enjoy it one bit, you know. – She continued. – And I don’t think, that I was first.

She pulled his face up, looked him into eyes and undercut his throat. He bubbled some words, that no one could understand as they were filled with fresh blood. He died. Some prisoners pissed themselves.

-= Do you know, how to open door to safe room? – I asked second driver. He was crying already. Did he have unclean consciousness? They all did.

-= No, sir, mam.

-= Why do you crying?

-= I have children, mam.

-= Do they eat people?

-= Sorry mam, I don’t understand.

-= Do they eat people?

-= No, mam.

-= But you were beast to me, to others. Helped sold us for fate worse than death.

-= Yes mam. I’m sorry.

-= So maybe it will be better, if your children won’t have man eating beast for a father. What do you think?

-= Maybe mam. I don’t know. I love them.

-= Do you love them strong enough, to die for them? I promise you, that if you kill yourself, we won’t blame them for what you have done to us.

He nodded. He dot knife. He slit his throat and died crying. Some woman prisoner fainted. I felt fulfilled, but some things should go according to schedule.

-= I see ten new faces among us. – I said. – If anyone things we did too much to our oppressors should leave now and never come back to us.

Nobody left. Still, there was big difference between supporting in words and supporting in deeds.

-= Each of ten should listen then. – I looked on each of their faces. – Take knife and stab her in corpus. – I pointed Maria.

Each of them did. She stopped moving. I crushed her head with my foot.

-= Each of you should take another victim. – I looked at eight gagged people. They tried to move, did something, but were quickly suppressed. – Some of you will share one. Don’t be shy.

They chose their victims.

-= Do it now! – I ordered.

They had lot more personal experience than before. That one guy vomited again, but didn’t stop thrusting knife.

-= Now, you are ones of us! Revengers in words and deeds!

Some of them howled.

-= Now, let us burn this house!

And we burned it. We put lot of gas there, inside of house. Started fire and left. When we were leaving, fire was too big to be put down. And I had ten additional Revengers tied to me by common crimes.

POV Vivaldi

It was evening, when storm came. Really big storm. It cut electricity lines, because I lost electricity and also military lost it too. I felt rush. That was my moment. I quickly went into neighborhood of soldiers and used branch to disrupt electricity line from generators.

I went close to barracks. What I needed was one phone. I was like puma, when I stalked soldiers. In the end I broke in one of living quarters. I found mobile phone. I changed card to mine and sent message. Then I change it back. It took me only few minutes. Then I was dancing in shadows to get back without being noticed. Rain helped somehow. Soldiers got electricity, but I was already at the fence. Then, they lost it again. I went home, took gun and went on. I wanted to move, to create disturbance, when they would regain control. I decided to hunt for something thrilling, perhaps wolf.

All I did was done and I wanted to look like I wasn’t there at all. That was valid strategy for hunters. We were taught, if we killed during hunting something, we shouldn’t, we should change area of our hunting and pretend, that we were all time there. Because it was most often case among hunters to kill some game, that was protected during season. Usually it went like that. We shot to some animal, but didn’t kill it on the spot. While running away it disturbed some other animal, that went in line of fire and got shot by second shot. Hunter’s circles had their ways of acting in that circumstances. Switching areas was one of them.

Two hours later some soldier, with which I talked a lot called me by phone, asking where I was. He said, that they lost localization of my person during storm. When they regained control I was beyond their scope. He said, that they would be in trouble, if I would run away during their shift, so if I didn’t run, could I go back. I could, but I said, that he would own me big one, as I didn’t hunt anything just yet. He agreed. I felt, that fences of my prison were losing themselves a little.

POV general, taller one

I talked with one called Vivaldi. I knew his real name, but he preferred, when he was called Vivaldi. I could feel, that Jack and he was lying to me. I couldn’t put finger, where lie started. But I understood during our talk, that status meant much for them. It was like in military. General title was worth much. For them it was host title.

Once one became host, he was initiated in something. Perhaps Jack didn’t lie, just didn’t know all. But I was sure he omitted something important. I couldn’t get info from him as he was distancing himself from military, but I could work on Vivaldi.

I looked on stormy weather behind a window glass. I felt inspiration. I put figurines on war map, we used for tactical exercises. Some hosts were in War-Saw. We got two into our net, because they did some crimes. Shouldn’t there be more of them? That was brilliant of me. There should be more of them. Question was, how to find them. Didn’t I have answer to that? They searched for bodies, so crimes, where bodies were taken away were suspicious. That needed further cooperation with police forces but could be done for some favors.

What would I do, if I would find another host? Well, probably that host would be criminal already. I needed higher up in police forces that could help me, but it seemed, that I would need to tell him much of what we knew. Then he would want to become shareholder. Maybe private detective would be better for starters. Some retired soldier would be best to hire. I should ask, if some retired soldiers became private detectives.