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We walk in silence, Jenya still refusing to walk side by side with me. She’s abandoned her shy walk and is now openly ogling pretty much everything we pass, with a pep in her step. I stop in front of the Art Institute and point to a poster with the logo. I want to check something.
“Can you read the first word?”
She narrows her eyes. “It is A, then a reverse Ya, then T. Why is the Ya in reverse?”
“That’s an R. So you speak English but can’t read it. Do you want me to teach you?”
“English? You mean the holy language?” She pulls the jacket closer around her tiny shoulders. For someone so tall, she sure is scrawny.
“It’s common here. Everyone knows it.”
“Yes. Teach me. I learn quickly.” She gives me a determined nod, and we’re on our way again.
It’s going to be a long night. I’m exhausted and fully aware I will probably get no sleep tonight. My head is swirling with questions, but if I’ve learned something in all the years I’ve been the cleanup guy, it’s that most questions are better kept inside. Tomorrow, I will take Jenya to Tanya, then report to the Empress, and this problem will be solved.
Chapter 12
“Okay, try to read this,” the unknown man says. No, not unknown. Ben.
My eyes burn as I narrow them and look at the tiny letters in the book. “You… see, one… loves the… sunset… when one is so… sab.”
“Sad. That’s aD. B is the mirrored version.” Ben points to a sheet where he’s written out the whole holy alphabet.
“Okay. I get it now. Can I sleep a bit? I’m so tired.” I rub my face. He’s been teaching me ever since we arrived at his home, only letting me out of his sight when I went to the bathroom. Is he afraid I will do something to him?
Whatever the reason for his vigilance is, I don’t care for it anymore. I’m exhausted and not even the thought of the children or the mysterious woman can keep me awake. The thought of my firm bed and my warm blanket back in the village makes my eyelids heavy and my breath deepen.
“Hey!” Ben snaps his fingers in front of my face.
I glare at him. But then my head tilts to one side and if I wasn’t propped on one elbow, I would have fallen asleep just like that. But my arm slides from under me and I jerk awake.
“Fine. You clearly need sleep.” Ben sighs. “Go to my bedroom. I will wake you up when it’s time to go to Tanya.”
I drag my feet in the direction he’s pointing at and flop on the bed. The blanket is much softer than what I had, and the pillow is fluffy. I toss the jacket I was still wearing to the floor and crawl under the covers. It’s comfortable like a cloud. I’m asleep a minute after I close my eyes.
During the day, the streets of the new world are not as striking. They don’t glitter and the colors are somewhat muted. The sounds and smells are subdued, other than the loud car sounds, which seem to be following us everywhere we go.
After Ben woke me up, he gave me some strange clothes to wear. A T-shirt, a hoodie, and sweatpants. I learned all these new words today. Thank the Light I’m a quick learner because Ben’s teachings go at a frightening speed. His home wasn’t much different than my house in the village, except for a number of shiny black items that are used for entertainment in this world.
I repeat the unfamiliar words in my head: a TV, a gaming console, a remote, a tablet, a laptop, a printer. I only saw the TV in action, but if the other things are just as stimulating, I’ve been missing out.
The light tablet Koschei has is apparently called a phone and it seems everyone has one. Which is fascinating because the sheer amount of people out here keeps surprising me. And all of them are walking around, seemingly without any care about the threat of the darkness.
We arrive at a pathway framed by two tall buildings and stop in front of a smaller building without windows and a single red door.
“Here we are. This is where Tanya works. Do you want to practice reading?” He points to the tubes of light shaped as words at the top of the door.
It seems to be some sort of pretty font because if this is the holy language, I can’t recognize half the letters.
“Lo-v-e,” I whisper, tracing with a finger in the air. “Anb. No—And, Ech? Is this Ch?”
Ben frowns. “Close enough. It’s a cursive R. So it would be ‘Love and Err’.”
I don’t know what that means, but I don’t get a chance to ask. The door swings open and a beautiful but undressed woman comes out. There’s only a circular piece of fabric covering her torso and her hips. She nods at Ben and goes a bit to the side, taking out a cigarette and putting it to her lips.
“That’s not allowed,” I say, remembering the punishment I received after I asked whether I could try one of Koschei’s cigarettes. “It’s dangerous. She will get reprimanded.”
“It’s allowed in our world,” Ben says. It’s not the first time he’s said it.
