“...instead my words are actively creating this world, they are changing it, affecting how things really are. That would be witchery.”
“That would be God.” Allan said.
“God or witchcraft, same difference. As we already know, the country folk has little belief in God.”
“I would like to direct our conversation to another topic. Before I invite each guest to my show, I do a little background check about them. One never knows, maybe there are some interesting past events about them we could talk about. Thus I have done such checking about you too. With regards to that, I have a question I simply cannot put aside.”
“Well then ask. This is one of the reasons I am here, is it not?” Mariann said.
“You are the daughter of Teet Metsla, are you not?”
“Yes, I am. It is not something I try to keep a secret but it is also not the first thing I open up with when introducing myself to somebody.”
“What the fuck.” Johannes asked.
“That must be an earlier recording, right?” Siim asked.
“Allan repeats his recordings during daytime. At nights, all shows are live.” Kadri replied.
“But how can Mariann be there if she was just here?”
“Do you know this girl?”
*
“Do you know this girl?”
As soon as Mariann had risen and left for some table, a tall man and a significantly shorter woman appeared. Both seemed to be in their 40s.
“That is a very complicated question to answer.” Siim said. “It is quite certain that we cannot say that we know her, but Mariann often comes to us to tell us things.”
“In a strange way, we have a similar opinion on Mariann.” The man said. “I am Olavi, this is Laura. We are new here and we’re trying to understand what it going on in the town.”
“For local news, radio is the best. And have you already looked at the hotels in the Nameless Town or Tontla or Valgepalõ?” Tiina asked. “You can learn about the towns from them as well.”
“Been there, done that.” Olavi said. “And we are not interested in news or landmarks, but rather in what’s going on.”
“All these landmarks, the old hotel lady in down in the Town...”
“Ah, Village Hag no. 9.” Johannes remarked.
“The old hotel lady.” Laura emphasized. “All these landmarks are boring. These are the landmarks of a small and faraway township. The grave of a man who shook the hand of Johannes Käbin… that is not a point of interest. And so many buildings partially collapsed, fully collapsed, locked buildings one cannot enter and nobody knows when was the last time anybody could.”
“To be fair, these are the points of interest. Just that they are the safe ones.”
“We are no strangers to danger.” Olavi said. “We came here with Mariann. Without her we might not have made it here.”
“Well, then things are somewhat different.” Johannes replied. “How much time do you have? Find a chair and we can give you a wonderful overview what there is to see across the whole county and the three towns. Of course, whether you manage to get back to tell anybody about what you saw is a whole other matter.”
Olavi got up, leaving Mariann’s chair for Laura and went to look for a new one for himself. Luckily, although all tables were filled, there remained plenty of chairs along the walls further away in several rows. He only had to make it there and back through the pub hall tightly packed with tables, chairs and people.
“So you came here with Mariann?” Tiina asked. “Where are you staying at?”
“We dropped our things at the hotel.” Laura said. “The old lady would let us stay there as long as we wished, but the money we have will not be going far. We must think of a solution.”
“Yes, you must.” Siim agreed. “Most of us have done that. There isn’t any real economy going on in here. It is mostly about bartering. Exchanging sausage for fish, so to say.”
“With regards to which, the hotel is not the best place to live at.” Tiina continued.
“Where would be then?” Laura asked.
“Where ever you want, to be honest.” Johannes replied.
At that moment, Olavi made it back with the other chair.
“The area is full of abandoned houses. And the locals are not too keen on stealing from the dead and the escapees. Which means that in many cases people have left behind all their furniture, dishware and other items.” Johannes continued.
“Just go and live in somebody else’s home?” Olavi asked. “Doesn’t that seem a bit weird?”
“If the house is locked then of course. However if it is not then there is a good chance that nobody lives there.” Tiina said. “We also did that when when first arriving here. We went to the cottage district, found an old house that fit us best and had a little bit of wiring left and the first thing we did was sending somebody into town for a new door lock. And now we are slowly working on fixing it up. When we find the time and come across any construction materials.”
“We came here through the Cottage District.” Laura said. “Of course, we did not think anybody even lived there days.”
“Oh they do just fine.” Johannes mused. “Of course there are some that are frightened about the prospect. The Death Fields incident doomed the old Officer’s village. And the Cottage District is half old farm hearts, half cottage plots handed over to the workers of the Valgepalõ fish factory and the Example Sovkhoz, now grown together with the remains of the new Officer’s Village. The latter two are only separated from each other by an old chain-link fence topped with barbed wire and a large gate with sentry boxes. But these few and fearful seem to forget that after the Death Fields incident, the old officer’s village was torn down to the foundations and buried along with the contaminated soil. And the new Officer’s Village was built near what became the Cottage District.”
“I think we would like to hear more about this history and those places...” Laura said.
“I think we need more beer.” Olavi said. “For the stories to go down better.”
*
In the middle of the Fire Tail bar, there was a certain table which stood not far from the semi-circular fireplace. And tonight this was the only table which had the sign reserved standing on it. It was not exactly a common occurrence for somebody to reserve a table here. But today the mayor of the neighboring town and some other bigwigs had come here to discuss something and obviously the barkeep here had nothing against them being here.
Where else would they go? In Valgepalõ it was always dank and cool, even inside buildings, even when sitting right by the fire. And the Nameless Town… if old Leopold had been just a tad more open then Fire Tail would not have been doing half as good as it currently was.
“You’re late.” The Mayor said in displeasure as he looked at Mariann who was the last to sit by the circular table.
“You could have started without me.” She replied. “I had activities I could not postpone.”
“Them over there?” the Mayor asked, looking at the table with the youths behind him.
“Sulev, you’re a bit unfair.” Mariann smiled. “If you look around a bit, you will see half the Nameless Town here. Invocating the witch is not a small matter. Even if people are not directly related to it, they still want to be first in line to learn what’s going on, and not hear or read some conclusion a few days later on the radio or in the newspaper. The youths are here, yes. But so is Rops, George, the Village Hags and even Leopold. Eduard and Virve as well.”
The mayor now looked at every direction Mariann pointed at and indeed. There was a bar counter nearby and stools were full of people, as well as the smaller tables near the counter. And it was true, Leopold who usually never took a step outside his bar was now sitting at the counter next to the Mustached Man, while keeping a stoop between him and Rops unoccupied.
“And if you take a really careful look...” Mariann continued. “In that back corner, straight across Jaan. They are not too easy to notice but if you freeze for a moment and stop breathing...”
The mayor focused on the back corner of the bar which did indeed seem dim and without any lights. At first it looked like yet another corner one could source chairs from. But when he stopped moving and even breathing then he noticed three men in impeccable black suits and bowler hats sitting around a table. All men looked the same almost like triplets. All of them with green eyes and clean-shaven faces without a single hair, not even eyebrows.
Suddenly they too froze and then they started turning their heads towards the Mayor. At that moment somebody hit him across the back of the head.
“What the fucking…?”
He stared at Mariann who was still sitting on her seats and smiling mysteriously. His gaze then moved to his side to notice the nurse in a short white slightly transparent lab coat who constantly shadowed doctor Sare. She had risen from her seat and stepped behind him.
“You...” the Mayor could only utter.
“I asked her to do it.” Mariann said. “Thanks, Anna.”
“I asked you to notice and not stare.” The girl in black said. “Believe me, you do not want to have a staring contest with these guys.”
“Amazing!” Doctor Sare said. “Anna Toomikum has thus far never ever reacted to the speech or requests of other people!”
“Anna knows.” Mariann said. “That’s why she fulfilled my request. Also, she doesn’t like these guys either.”
As soon as Mariann had said those words, the unearthly good looking nurse directed her gaze at Mariann, and the smile on nurse’s face disappeared for a moment.
“What are they doing here anyway?” The Mayor asked, as he leaned across the table and asked in a low voice.
“Aren’t they here every day?” Jaan asked. “I think I have seen them here before.”
“Very interesting.” Mariann said, staring at Jaan. “You have worked with them before, haven’t you? They have released you tools you have used and then they have asked them back?”
“Yes, that has happened.” Jaan agreed. “Sometimes I write research papers on history for them.”
“Very interesting.” Mariann repeated. “That explains why you are wrong. You are remembering wrong. They have never been here before. But they feel the same disharmony as the townsfolk, there is a strange impulse in the local noosphere fields, unusual activities are taking place and they too want to be first in line to know what’s going on and what what will happen next.”
“Okay...” the Mayor slowly dragged out, still hesitating.
“You don’t have to pay any attention to them. It would actually be better if you didn’t. They seek no attentions, they only want to observe.” Mariann continued.
“Can we get back to the matters at hand?” Doctor Sare asked. “Although honestly I have no idea why I or Anna need to be here.”
The mayor looked at the people sitting around the table. Everybody he had wanted here were present. There was also one Mariann had requested to involve. He himself, Mariann, Jaan, Sare, Sare’s assistant whose presence Sare demanded, Toomas, and the young man Mariann had brought along.
“Okay, Mariann. It is time for you to tell us who is that next you.”
“Oh he?” Mariann looked at the young man next to him. “He’s Sleepyhead.”
“My name is Mike.” the man said in a low voice.
“And why is he here?” The Mayor asked.
“Because Sleepyhead has seen dreams. Of which I am pretty sure they are not simply dreams but something much more. And to understand what that is, he needs to know how to get to the witch.”
“But then how does one get to the witch?” Toomas asked.
“Just like the stories go. To go on a Thursday night, when the Moon is full, onto crossroads and to bring along a black goose. Or a duck.” Mariann said.
“Why a goose or a duck?” Toomas asked.
“I don’t know.” Mariann replied. “Maybe something about webbed feet or swim fins.”
“It is often interpreted that one should bring along a black cat.” Mariann explained. “In any case one should exsanguinate the cat, goose or duck they brought along on a crossroad. A goose or a duck would be a positive sacrifice, a cat would be a negative one. Because the devil would be coming to ask why you killed a cat, because cats are cool.”
“So we need a black goose or duck.” The Mayor sighed. “And fast, as today is Thursday and the Moon is full.”
“Sulev, did you not listen to Mariann’s story at all?” Sare asked.
“Right now I am the Mayor and not Sulev, do you get it?” With his big bushy beard and massive belly the mayor looked really comical when angry. “What did I not hear?”
“When you bleed out a black cat, goose or duck, the devil will come to ask what’s going on. Not the witch.”
“Are those two not the same thing?” The Mayor asked.
Stunned silence fell around the table.
“What?” the Mayor asked, looking at the people around their table. “Aren’t they the same thing?”
“Sulev, I told you before that this is a bad idea!” An old voice suddenly sounded out. “She has also told you.” She pointed at Mariann while leaning on her cane. “You do not call out the witch for such small matters. Especially if you have no idea who you are about to call out.”
“Village Hag no. 6.” The Mayor said. “You know then how to call out the witch?”
“Wanna sit?” Mariann asked.
“No, I’d better stand I won’t be staying long.” The old lady with silver hair falling to her neck replied.
She then turned her attention back to the Mayor.
“I don’t know exactly but I remember the last time the witch was summoned. I remember it was when some villager ran over some children with his tractor when they were napping in a tall grass. At least that was the story they finally agreed to. And then they had to let the blood of the person summoning the witch and some had to be set aside for the witch as well.”
“Wait-wait. Wait.” The Mayor understood. “The blood of him who summons the witch? Meaning that I have to let my blood tonight at the crossroads?”
“That’s the thing I wanted to get to.” The girl in black said.
“How much?” The mayor asked.
“Well, enough.” The village hag said. “I remember my dearly departed father said that the man who summoned the witched, had to be carried away from the summoning ritual and two weeks later, when meeting the witch he was still very weak.”
“They usually take about half a liter from donors.” Doctor Sare said to nobody in particular. “That’s about 10 to 12 per cent of the of the total blood volume of the average person. Neurological deficits and weakness appear at 20% loss, so about a liter. Deadly blood loss is about 33%, so about 1.3 to 2 liters, depending on person.”
“A doctor’s presence would be quite necessary in this regard.” Jaan said.
“My presence in itself is not going to ensure anything...” Sare said quietly.
“What would happen if the doctor was not present?” Toomas asked. “What happens if the one to summon the witch dies while carrying out the blood sacrifice?”
“Blood is a sacrifice to the witch. When the one to give the sacrifice dies, the witch also gets his soul. If the witch does not have to give anything in return, thin it is simply a gift. And since nobody else has made a sacrifice, there is no reason to come and meet anybody else.”
“What if there are several people?” Jaan asked. “Does each of them need to give enough to reach the limit of dying or will three people supplying half a liter each suffice?”
“That could work. But magical forces vary from person to person so three people witch each giving half a liter may be worth less than one person giving one liter.”
“But then I, the Mayor, Mike and Sare would make up 2 liters. Sare is a doctor. We can gather it in donor bags and pour it out onsite when still warm. That should work, right?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Village Hag no. 6, sensing she was not needed anymore, went to look for something strong and sweet.
“No! No! No!” Sare said loudly. “I cannot participate, I have little blood going around in me as it is! If I give another half a liter, I might as well give the rest, the end result would be the same.”
“You’re a doctor. Surely you can depart with half a liter...” Jaan said.
“No I can’t. I have given plenty in the past couple of days and right now I am almost at my limit.”
“Where is going anyway?” Toomas asked.
Doctor did not reply to it, he didn’t even look at Toomas.
“Anna knows!” Mariann smiled.
“But luckily Anna won’t tell.” Sare replied. “I can be the on-site doctor and along with Anna do everything in my power to make sure nobody dies but I cannot participate. And neither can Anna, before you ask.”
“The other issue is that since Sleepyhead cannot accompany you to the witch, there is no point in him participating.”
“But I have to...” Mike started to argue.
“I know you have to.” Mariann replied. “And you will, but by other means, not with them. I need to talk to you separately later.”
“Okay then. Me, the Mayor, Toomas, and you Mariann.”
“Nope, not me.” The girl said.
“Not you?” Jaan asked.
“I have nothing to ask of the witch. The witch has nothing to tell me. I have no interest in going to see the witch. And secondly, I foresaw this situation. That first, nobody knows how to invoke the witch and then you cannot get together enough of a sacrifice.”
“So we cannot summon the witch today?” The Mayor asked dejectedly.
“So, Sulev, are you sure you want to summon the witch? Are you sure you need to do it?” Mariann asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“And you are filling to be indebted to me?” Mariann continued. “if I help you out?”
“What do you want in return?” The Mayor asked.
“I don’t know yet. Most certainly something big and important. But there will be a time for that. Possibly a critical moment. But until that you are to be indebted to me.”
The mayor fell into thought. For a few minutes he weight all options in his mind, all the while using the nail on his index finger to pick at a piece of skin on his thumb.
“Very well, I am willing to be indebted to you.”
At the same time he agreed, he was relieved of the annoying piece of skin and his thumb stated to bleed.
“Okay then.” Mariann carelessly threw a bag of donor blood on the table. “I said I will not participate, but I did not say I would not help you out.”
“This is your blood?” Jaan asked.
Both the Doctor and Anna grew significantly more alive at that perspective, now focusing on the half a liter of donor blood sitting before them in the middle of the table.
“I can also give you half a liter, Sare.” Mariann said, noticing the man’s gaze. “The condition is the same as with Sulev. You are indebted to me a big and important favor. So, are you willing to be indebted to me?”
Doctor Sare touched his bald head and then exchanged some silent gazes with his assistant Anna. For a few moments they stared at each other. The curious smile usually almost permanently transfixed on her face also disappeared for that time.
“No.” The doctor finally shook his head. “I am not ready to be indebted to you.”
“What I don’t understand is, why are you willing to give us your blood but not together with us?” Jaan asked.
“You are really asking that?” Mariann questioned. “I thought that had been made clear a long time ago.” She looked at the people sitting around the table.
“You are all aware of the stories I tell, correct? You know how people talk about me, how they depict me? This does not come out of nothing. In this ritual, should one part of the sacrifice be stronger than the others, the others will even out the quality of the mix. And, although it is rude of me to say so but you insisted: compared to my blood, yours is shitwater. My blood is the strongest magical material you will have access tonight.”
“This is from today?” the Mayor asked.
“That is why I was late.” Mariann said.
“So now we only need a crossroad...” The mayor said, stretching out his hand and laying it on top of the blood bag. “...where to pour it out. There is a quiet street nearby...”
“Not so fast.” Mariann laid her hand on top of his. “A crossroad, not a street crossing. It has to be located outside of a settlement. Secondly, this is only a hostess gift. One must our down blood from a wound. The operating word being ‘wound’. So letting blood from a vein or an artery with syringe does not count as a wound.”
“Okay...” Jaan said slowly.
Mariann retracted her hand and in thought put her thumb in her mouth. The mayor also pulled his hand back, leaving the bag on the table.
“Thirdly. Magic is not something that a man can directly perceive. Whether the ritual succeeded or not cannot be seen after the ritual like a signal lamp lighting up. It will be revealed in time. It is possible that certain signs will start appearing, which can be interpreted as a success of a ritual, but also as a lack thereof. In the end it will be up to you how and what you interpret and consider meaningful. Who do you trust.”
“Okay.” The Mayor said.
“Fourthly. The witch. When she is ready to meet, she will ask you all to meet her. And this meeting can only take place in the Forbidden Forest. On the night the meeting is supposed to take place you will feel an urge to take a walk in the Forbidden Forest. Do not fight it. Go along with that urge. The feeling will direct you to the right place. This will either be the witch’s cabin or a fire by which she will be waiting for you.”
“That’s a bit weird.” The mayor said.
“Let it be weird.” Mariann said. “Do you want to meet with the witch or do you not? You can also fight the urge and not go. You will probably never manage to summon the witch a second time during your lifetime. And the witch will also not be too happy about being summoned with no purpose.”
“Okay. I have a question I should have probably asked before but.” Toomas started. “Why am I here?”
“Sulev, why is Toomas here?” Mariann asked.
“I don’ t know. I asked everybody who know anything about the matters going on to come together to figure out what and how we do next. But you, Mariann, already have a plan for that.”
“And I also have an idea what Toomas is good for.” The girl in black said. “Your part in this, Toomas, is to remember everything you see and write it down. So that in the future we would not have to count on the Village Hags remembering everything.”
“I can do that.” Toomas said. “That’s why I am here anyway. I mean in the Nameless Town.”
“You said that a street corner is not the place where to make a sacrifice, that we need a crossroad.” Jaan continued. “Do you already know which crossroad?”
“Believe it or not, this is the hardest component. Everything else beside it is almost ridiculously easy and straightforward. But with the choice of the right location, we will need some help with that...”
Without saying anything else, Mariann got up from the table and walked to the table not far where that group of young people were sitting. The last words that the Mayor could make out before the girl sat down were “...with the rhythms...”
*
Silence fell around the table. After Mariann left, nobody had anything to say. As if everybody was contemplating what had been said thus far. But the plastic bag full of blood was still sitting in the middle of the table.
“Somebody should take possession of the blood bag to safe guard it from harm.” Jaan said. “Sare, you have a doctor’s bag with you, you do it.”
“Oh, no.” The doctor immediately refused. “No way in hell do I wish to be indebted to Mariann. I’m not even gonna touch that thing!”
“Okay. I really don’t get you, Sare, but okay. Nobody else brought a hard attaché case along? I really wouldn’t want to leave this on the desk like this. I have one but I have to go and get it from the car.” Jaan said.
“You go, I’ll watch it.” Sare said. “Or rather Anna will watch it.”
With a hesitating gaze, Jaan eyed the his old friend the doctor, his unearthly good-looking assistant, and the blood bag on the table. He then sighed, took the donor bag and headed towards outside. To put it into his attaché case in his car.
“Much better a question would be where did that girl hide it when she sat down.” The doctor now said.
“But still, why are you here, Mike.” The Mayor could not leave it be. “Why did Marianne call you here?”
“Because I see dreams.” Mike replied.
“What kind of dreams?” Toomas now asked.
“I am not allowed to say.”
“Marianne does not allow?” The Mayor asked in a demanding tone.
“The dreams do not allow.” Mike said. “Mariann does not care. The dreams only allow me to tell to Mariann about them. Maybe a few more rare individuals. But these are not normal dreams. These become true.”
“So you are dreaming of things that have not yet happened?” Toomas asked.
“In very general terms, yes.”
Mike fell silent again. Others also stayed quiet, as if indicating for him to continue. Thus he used the opportunity.
“I can no longer remember when it began. I think no earlier than a few years ago. I had very bright and vivid dreams. I often remembered them several days after seeing them. And then small details in them started to become true. Not all, just small things. A weather forecast on the radio, a leg breaking on my chair. I break a tire on my car and then find I have no tools to change the tire.
“As time passed, the things becoming true got more significant. Injuries and deaths of friends, colleagues or neighbors. Accidents in general. I started to foresee events leading to certain consequences days ahead. Sometimes I even managed to save somebody. But recently… Recently things have gotten out of hand. And when I could no longer manage it on my own, I turned to Mariann. Which I also foresaw.”
“What happened then?” Toomas asked. “What are you seeing?”
“Ends of the world.”
“Ends of the world?” Toomas asked incredulously. “You said that in plural, correct? Of this very world? And several different kinds?”
“Yes.” Mike nodded. “The witch knows how to avoid these ends. I have also dreamt of that.”
“That’s some hard stuff.” Toomas said. “Do you not wish for those dreams to come to an end?”
Mike shook his head. “Somebody has to see these things. Better me than somebody else.”
Before anybody could say anything, the two empty chairs between Mike and doctor Sare became occupied by two young men whose demeanor seemed to be the complete opposite of each other.
“Please! Sit down! You uninvited guests and crashers!” Doctor Sare said with an annoyed sarcasm.
“Crashers you say!” Rops asked. “You yourself bought be a glass of vodka at Leopold’s when that village brawler burnt up in the forest. You even called me a friend!”
“Impossible!” Sare argued back. “I don’t buy drinks to strangers! Let alone impolite strangers like you are! I don’t remember ever having met you before, not at Leopold’s, not anywhere else.”
“Now listen...” Rops tried to defend himself but the doctor tuned away his gaze and rose his hand as to stop the young man from saying anything else. For a few moments he looked at the bottomless eyes of his beautiful assistant and then lowered his hand.
“What did I say!” The professor said victoriously. “I don’t remember and neither does Anna! And Anna accompanies me everywhere I go.”
“But at that time, the woman was not with you...” Rops continued.
“Better tell us what do you want, Rops.” the Mayor asked.
“To the witch.” the young man said at once.
Doctor’s eyebrows rose in interest.
“I heard that you intend to summon the witch and then go to her to so she would explain what’s going on. I want in.”
“To come with…?” Toomas asked.
“To get an explanation.” Rops said. “I am tired of those damn anaks! Every time! Every god forsaken time I go to get some vodka! Doesn’t matter if it is a bottle or a crate! It doesn’t even matter that it is not vodka, beer is just fine for them! Every god damn time they stop me and steal everything! I want to ask that witch what I have done wrong. What error have I committed to have earned such punishment and torture!”
“And in your opinion the witch should know something about those anaks of yours? Let’s be straight, of the ufos? You say that the witch must know of the ufos and she must tell you why you are constantly running into them?!” The Mayor asked. “Do you not hear how utterly insane you sound?!”
“Not any more insane than all of you who are about to go to the witch only to find out why the Village Brawler suddenly went up in flames in the forest. Why some pond in the forest suddenly disappeared, why some small trail of water is suddenly flowing uphill through the town. I think compared to all of you there is nothing wrong with my mind.”
“Oh yes there is.” Doctor Sare retorted. “My preliminary diagnosis is a psychosis caused by an untreated alcoholic delirium. You cannot stop drinking cold turkey! That is life-threatening! You most do it slowly. Allow me to buy you a hundred grams...”
“Leaving medicine beside,” the Mayor continued. “Regardless of what the village hags say about the olden times, ufos, witches and the mysteries of the Forbidden Forest are two very different dimensions...”
“Not necessarily!” Toomas now enlivened. “There are theoreticians and researchers who think that ufos, witches and the mysteries of the rest of the world may well be connected to one another. Mariann also says that our field of view is limited by our fabric of the world, meaning our dimension. But this does not exclude the existence of other dimensions both parallel but also higher ones. That there could not be portals between different dimensions. Portals which we may not necessarily be able to sense, but which can be sensed by some other kind of creatures who can also move between them. Meaning it is possible that there exist creatures who live on several fabrics of the world simultaneously, who can sense what’s going on on several world fabrics at once and are also able to manage it.”
“This is a very nice flash fiction, but I’m not seeing how it could be connected to the witch and the ufos.” The Mayor said.
He looked towards Jaan who was now back and had also conjured a chair for himself to take a seat between Rops and the doctor.
“Well, for example there are theories that explain how these portals between dimensions are used by snowmen, shadow creatures, demons. People have seen flying saucers piloted by snowmen. People have seen portals which are invisible to the human eye, but emit ultraviolet light or infrared radiation and from which emerge both snowmen as well as flying saucers.”
“Help me out Jaan, please.” The Mayor asked. “It’s pure horseshit he’s spewing, right?”
“It may not necessarily be horseshit.” Jaan said. “Even if you leave aside everything Mariann says, there are still many cultures in the world which talk about star folk, gods connected to certain heavenly bodies. Native Americans for example, Egyptians. Gods who once long a go visited this place, walked among people like equals and then left, but with whom one can still make contact via special rites.”
“But that is something completely different.” The Mayor said. “That is not a witch conjuring a flying saucer...”
“So can I?” Rops asked again.
“Can you what?” Jaan asked.
“To come along to the witch? So the witch would explain to me what those anaks want of me and what could I do so they would leave me alone.”
“Anaks?” Jaan asked.
“The anomalous alkashi. Ufo alchoholics. They fly around their flying saucers while blind dead drunk.”
“As it is in this world, so shall it be in the heavens.” Sare grinned.
“Did Leopold not have a similar case recently?” Toomas asked. “That some guys drank away five buckets of beer and then disappeared into thin air without leaving a trace.”
“You see!” Rops shouted. “And one of the Village Hags, Fishy George and even Mustache were there as well!”
“I have nothing more to say on this topic.” The mayor said, and sighed in defeat.
“I think you should ask Mariann whether you can come along or what you should do. It is possible that we can summon the witch only thanks to her.”
“From… Mariann…?” Rops asked with visible trepidation. Evidently the idea of talking of Mariann was did not agree with him. “Do I have to? Really?”
He took a deep sigh.
“And what are you here about?” the Mayor asked the other young man.
“What am I here about...” the other young man asked, not understanding.
“Hey, you seem familiar to me.” Sare said, eyeing the young man sitting straight across from him. “Are you sure we have not met before?”
“No, no we haven’t.” The young man said, trying to avoid his gaze and making himself as small as possible. “Maybe you have seen me in town, I have been here for years.”
“No. No I don’t believe so.” The doctor said, still trying to make eye contact with the boy. “I could swear you have been a patient of mine.”
“R-r-really...?” The young man nervously asked.
“But that would be impossible!” The doctor slapped the table with his hand. “As long as I have been here, I have only worked at Luiga. And nobody has ever escaped Luiga. Or at least escaped successfully.”
“Really?” Jaan asked.
“Really.” Sare nodded. “There may not be many of us there but but we are on par with out assignments and we have capture all the loose ones before they have managed to leave the territory.”
“I think I’ve heard that some patients who have been brought to you have eventually gone missing.” Toomas remarked.
“You mustn’t believe everything you hear behind the liquor store.” Sare smiled, he then nodded to wards the young man. “But please continue.”
“I also need to get to the witch. Rheya from the Nurga farm, she is missing. The witch could help.”
“How?” Toomas asked.
“Last year, during the blue moon. A strange segment of sound drew us into the Forbidden Forest to the Forest Lake. I saw the maidens bathing in moonlight. I saw her join them and become moonlight.”
“Really?!” Toomas asked. “Now that could have been a portal.”
“And has been missing since?”
“No. Several months ago, I think. I heard that piece of sound again. The moonlight returned her. I brought her home. She was at home for a week without gaining consciousness. And then one day she was gone. But after that I have had a couple of very weird dreams. Maybe. And time has gotten strange. In those dreams I see her, she says she is here, but I cannot see her. And she says the witch could help.”
“Now that is interesting!” Toomas said. “We should look into that! That really is something we should take to the witch. That is a much more reasonable thing to do than what we were originally planning on doing.”
“You said that a piece of sound drew you into the forest?” Jaan asked. “What kind of piece?”
“I can get you the recording, if necessary.” The young man said. “But it sounds like I remained, I mean, it means, I regarded and went there early-early-early-early...”
The air around the table changed as soon as the man finished uttering those words. Toomas was the only one who did not get what was going on.
“Are you sure?” the Mayor asked. “That this is the piece of segment that lured you into the forest? You have to be sure.”
“Yes, I am sure.” the young man nodded.
“What does it mean?” Toomas asked.
“It means that the Nameless Town has secrets which still remain secret only due to people refusing to speak of them.” the Village Hag said. “And this is one such secret.”
“And is it a valid reason to go to the witch?” Toomas asked.
“The secret itself probably would be, if anybody would be interested in solving it. But what happened to the Nurga maiden is definitely a better reason that what Sulev originally had in mind.” Village Hag no. 4 said. “In the end, all those things are connected to each other by their corner seams. But let that girl in black decide.”
“You village hags are of a pretty good opinion with regards to Mariann.” The Mayor said. “Of a much better one than the rest of the locals.”
“Well, she is a fine young woman.” Village Hag no. 4 said. “Why should we have anything against her? She also gets worldly things the right way. Both those happening right now, as well as those which are the original causes of the events that are happening now.”
“Do you...” The Mayor tried to start, but then stayed silent.
“What is it?” The doctor asked.
“Shh! Listen!”
The other concentrated on their sense of hearing as well and picked up Mariann’s voice. But the girl was not standing anywhere nearby or even further away, while holding a speech, instead her voice came through the big Estonia brand speakers under the ceiling.
“...instead my words are actively creating this world, they are changing it, affecting how things really are. That would be witchery.”
“That would be God.” Allan said.
“God or witchcraft, same difference. As we already know, the country folk has little belief in God.”
“I would like to direct our conversation to another topic. Before I invite each guest to my show, I do a little background check about them. One never knows, maybe there are some interesting past events about them we could talk about. Thus I have done such checking about you too. With regards to that, I have a question I simply cannot put aside.”
“Well then ask. This is one of the reasons I am here, is it not?” Mariann said.
“You are the daughter of Teet Metsla, are you not?”
“Yes, I am. It is not something I try to keep a secret but it is also not the first thing I open up with when introducing myself to somebody.”
“The daughter of Teet Metsla?” Toomas asked. “Did you know this?”
“I did.” Jaan said.
“So did I.” Sare agreed. “Knowing about it is a bit inevitable, considering that Teet Metsla has been surrendered to my treatment.”
“I have a much better thing for you to contemplate.” The Village Hag said. “In the evenings, Allan Helde only holds live shows. This means it should be a live show, right? But how can it be a live show in the studio in the Nameless Town if Mariann is sitting at the bar counter between Mustache and Leopold?”
All of them turned to look at the brightly lit bar counter. Indeed Mariann was sitting there with the other locals drinking beer from a tall glass.
“That is interesting. How can she be here, if she is also there?”
“Because she is also here.” Mariann said, standing behind professor Jaan. “And this means it is time.”
All people sitting around the table suddenly flinched. Toomas who was still staring at the bar counter could suddenly no longer understand how he had thought that the person sitting at the counter was Mariann.
“Time for what?” The Mayor asked.
“The ritual.” Mariann replied.
The girl’s gaze fell on the party crashers sitting between Jaan and Mike.
“Let me guess. The both of you want to come to the witch?”
Both young men nodded. Rops more eagerly, the other one with much less energy.
“Unfortunately the witch cannot help you, Rops. The witch has nothing to tell you that could help you. But your case is interesting...” her gaze fell on the people sitting around the table.
“Toomas, you’re looking for strange events to investigate. The case of anaks that Rops has is just the thing to be of interest to you. I am pretty sure there is much more to be discovered that what Rops tells people in bars.”
“Why me?” Toomas asked.
“Just find a time and go along with him, it’ll be worth it.” Mariann gave a smile.
“But you...” She turned to the other young man, staring at her for a few moments. “With you the story is much more interesting. You can try to go and see the witch. But the topic you want to ask about may even exceed the witch’s capability. It definitely exceeds your capability of understanding the witch.”
“Still, how can the fact that we mix you up with some other local be a sign that the time is right?” Sare asked.
“Have you ever heard of the Schrödinger cat?” Mariann asked. “It is used to illustrate the common rules of quantum mechanics, which are not in correspondence with our macroscopic world. But there is an idea connected to this theory that in a multiverse, at any give time, countless realities are created and destroyed. Each N-ary choice we make also creates at least one other world, where we chose differently.”
“There is something similar in Indian mythology.” Jaan noted.
“There is.” Mariann agreed. “However what there may not be in Indian mythology is that the human mind has a capacity to to experience the pre-choice worlds simultaneously. And the reality which does not come to pass, suddenly seems like a strange dream.”
“And how is that relevant to the matter?” The Mayor asked.
“Some events affect the world fabric differently. Rituals have a greater effect. The ritual of making contact with supernatural is like a stone thrown into water. What we cannot sense are the waves. There waves take place in both space and time. In time, both forward and backward. However if the waves more backwards in time then we see the result before the cause. To be more precise in my words, we see the result before we have caused the cause.
But by causing the cause we do not create two new realities which stem from the cause as a source, but we cause two realities which both have their own past, just that the past before the cause is identical. On one world line, the cause is like a dip, and on the other one like a bump. Although it is not really the right way to think of it, like an event and a non-event. Together they form a knot tying both fabrics together. However if the occurrence of the event causes waves that travel both into the past as well as the future, then on one world fabric we see the wave from the event taking place, and on the other world fabric, we see the non-wave caused by the event not taking place. However if the event ties those world fabrics together then these waves are connected to each other and fit together. Now the catch is, that there is no means of saying with certainty, on which world line we currently are and when do we slide from one onto the other.
It is possible that before we have caused or non-caused the cause, we travel simultaneously on both world lines. And as we are so familiar with out counterpart on the other world line, both us and them slip between the world lines without even being aware of it ourselves.
Slipping from the world of the wave into the world of the non-wave is expressed in strange artifacts or errors in the world where you suddenly sense two or more of me, or you hear a live radio show I have not yet recorded or which I have recorded slightly differently than the way it is heard. I would bet anything that if we could call into the show right now, we would find out that Allan is making his show with a third person altogether, or there is no love show today or at this time.”
“But… what will happen if you do not cause the cause?” Toomas asked. “Or if you cause it before or after you should have caused it?”
“Time has no meaning. The event has.” Mariann replied. “In the sense that if I know I have to cause an event X at moment T, then causing it at a moment of S or U, would it still be the same event? That would be the strict interpretation. A softer interpretation would be that there not a single moment of T, when I would have to cause the event, but a timespan of T. If I have to perform the ritual tonight, then it is of no use, if I performed it last night or tomorrow night. It is also of no use if I perform it in 4 weeks at night. It would no longer be the same event. But at the same time, whether it is half past midnight or half past 2 in the morning is irrelevant. And an interpretation that’s even more softer would point out that the timespan of T depends on the limits set by the sensory world. And not any kind of other limitations outside of the world or time perceivable to our 5 senses. Meaning that tomorrow night is not tonight and the length of night differs between June and December.”
“But what if you do not cause the event?”
“Then we find ourselves on a collection of world fabrics in which I never caused the event. However that does not mean that our memory would change. Just that we would be remembering a world we ourselves are no longer present in. It is also possible that if there are waves in one world and non-waves in the other, then we who should have caused the event, remember the waves while others remember the non-waves.”
“Honestly, I don not want to agree with this, but I cannot figure out why.” Toomas said.
“If you finally do, please tell me as well.” Mariann said, she turned to Jaan. “You took the blood to your car?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, let’s go with your car. It has six seats, we have six people coming.”
“Six?”
“We’re coming with my car.” Sare said.
“Me, you, Sulev, Sleepyhead, Toomas and the young man from the Corner farmstead.” Mariann counted on her fingers.
“And me?” Rops asked.
“I told you that you have no business to see the witch with.” Mariann said. “But I cannot stop you from coming along. But you have to come with your own car. Or maybe the Doctor and Anna can offer you a ride?”
“Come with us, son.” Sare floated an evil smile. “At Luiga we are very novel in treating both alcoholism as well as mental disorders. Especially disorders which keep people from being productive and valuable members of society.”
But Rops did not look at the doctor. Instead, his gaze was on doctor’s assistant, her bottomless eyes and a secretive smile. Rops and Anna stared each other silently for half a minute at least. All this time, the young man sat frozen. He did not blink nor breathe. In the end, Sare’s assistant turned her eyes away and Rops fell onto the floor coughing and grasping for breath.
“I’m… coming… my own car.” He barely managed to utter.
“I guess we can go then.” Mariann said. “I have already found the proper crossroad.”