A dark, raging fog. It rushed madly towards me. Stiffened, I knelt on the floor. It approached swiftly, eyes widening as it drew near. My heart wanted to burst out. In a split second, I reflexively raised my right hand in a primitive attempt at defense, but in vain. It's gone. A fierce blow struck. I felt it gnawing at me from within. Eyelids closed in agony.
Suddenly, a flash. I heard the echo of my scream. The sound returned, as did time. The action reversed, and nearing the end of the beginning, I heard Victoria's voice, calling out to me:
“Manueeeel!”
I jerked awake and opened my eyes. I saw her wishing me good morning. Morning? Already?
“What time is it?”
“11:04. Wake up sleepyhead, I'm taking you to James's castle,” Vic announced with a smile.
“What castle? Hold on a sec. What happened last night at the birthday party, I don't remember everything very well.”
“Oh, you silly, the guests left soon, Mom and Dad went to sleep, and you and I were in my room, watching a movie.”
“And then what happened?”
“Well, we both really liked the movie, especially the observatory where Alex and Lussiana were stargazing. We even said “Ahh how romantic” at the same time when their hands touched while observing through separate telescopes, when they stopped observing, stood at the center of the platform, and kissed.
At that moment, above their heads was an open glass, arched roof. Sparks flew above them, and a comet wrapped in a luminous membrane streaked by, with a long, glowing tail trailing behind. How can you not remember any of this?
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Very strange. It all sounds interesting to me, however, I have no idea about it. How did the evening continue?”
“Well, you asked me if there's an observatory nearby, and I told you I'm not sure. We remained silent for a while, lost in thought. We were very tired, as evidenced by our constant yawning, so I took you downstairs to the living room. You fell asleep there, and I went back upstairs.”
“Okay...”
“I did some research and found out that the nearest observatory is in James's castle, which is located on the eastern slope of the Fiv Mountains.”
“Hmm, okay, but how far is it approximately, and how do you think we'll get there?”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“About 40 km. Well, I thought we'd take the train, it’s cheap and efficient.”
“When are we leaving,” I said with a big smile on my face, although at the moment, I wasn't sure what I had agreed to exactly.
..//..
We were sitting facing each other. Besides the rattling of the wheels on the tracks, an unusual silence filled the cabin as if she and I were the only passengers. But that wasn't the case. Around us were a few people – two old ladies on the left holding onto their bags, a little girl in a blue checkered dress licking a lollipop, and her sister, I assumed, sitting with her and reading a book.
Still, the train car wasn't very big, although, given its current occupancy, it seemed enormous. Almost throughout the entire journey, I stared out the window, observing the Sheitok plains. They were filled with furrows ready for sowing. For a moment, I glanced at the girl with the book and saw that the book was now replaced by purple headphones in her ears.
I slowly redirected my gaze back to the window. I felt a bit puzzled. Could it be that I imagined the previous book? Were my eyes showing me the wrong picture, or was my mind not allowing me to see the truth?
Now my gaze met mature cornstalks that covered the surface of the rich fields. All the ears were ripe, yellow, with golden-brown silk-like hair. What? I didn't feel tired. How was this possible? My eyebrows furrowed, creating a grim expression on my face as I rubbed my eyes with my left hand.
“Hey, what's wrong, are you okay?”
“Hah, yeah, I'm fine.”
“Aren't you tired from last night?”
“Nah, I feel fantastic,” I smiled somewhat artificially. Hmm, why would I be tired? What happened last night?
“Well, that's good then, haha. We'll be arriving soon.”
“I forgot to ask you, have you ever been there?”
“Nope, this will be my first time too.”
“Great, haha.”
..//..
The train's whistle was heard, announcing the approaching station. We stopped soon.
“I-37 F station, I-37 F station, thank you for being my passengers, I wish you a safe journey,” the train driver announced. The doors opened.
“Let's go,” Victoria said, flushed with excitement.
“Let's go, let's go,” I hastily said as the excitement grew.
I stepped out of the train, took a few steps, and stopped in awe – before me was a beautiful mountain ascent with countless steps in the central part. On the side were rocks that added to the beautiful mountain scenery.
“Well, let's go!” I said excitedly when I came to my senses from the impression.
As we ascended the stairs, the rocks that tightly pressed against the staircase from the side resembled a railing that continued in a sloping line upwards. After a million steps, we approached the top.
The desired goal was getting closer, and the image I had imagined was slowly being replaced by an even more beautiful picture of the mountain elevation and its stony gem. A beautiful castle of dark gray stone, naturally adorned with vines and lichens, bore three clay caps on tall necks. There was no end to admiration, and the pleasure grew the longer my eyes lingered on the fairy-tale view.
Victoria stood behind me. I turned around and asked her what she thought of the view before us.
“It's truly incredible.”
“What are you holding behind your back?”
“Oh, nothing…” she said and lunged at me with unbelievable speed. In a fraction of a second, I saw she was holding a large, curved, bone knife in her hand. It was serrated along its entire length, with its handle wrapped in thin willow vine. I felt its tip in my chest; in a moment, it pressed against the top of my heart and pierced it.