Наталья Соколова – LIMBO (страница 11)

At this point, he had to pause. A couple in love passing by was vigorously arguing about where they should watch a movie today – in the cinema with friends or at home alone. Keeping quiet for a while, Jake waited until they moved away, then commented in a low voice:

"And that's orange energy in all its glory. The girl wants to show off her new boyfriend to her friends, and he wants to get her into bed as soon as possible. So they argue. There'll be more to come: fire, passion, quarrels, jealousy. Couples who have little orange orgone live peacefully, but their attraction to each other has already faded. And those who quarrel fiercely, make up fiercely. Well, you know what I mean," the guy giggled modestly. "It's a pity that orange orgone runs out quickly. A year or two – three at most – and…"

He was interrupted again. This time, some compassionate old lady was loudly explaining to a schoolgirl with a red pomeranian in her arms that dogs are not allowed here. The spitz responded to the old woman with no less indignant yapping.

"And between these two – is it also fire and passion?" I smirked.

Brittlegill shot a glance toward the battle scene:

"Nah, this is already yellow orgone. The struggle for one's self and personal boundaries. Yellow energy provides strong defence at all levels, but at the same time – provokes starting a war."

"And if you don't defend yourself, then you won't have to fight? Two sides of the same coin, right?"

"Something like that," Jake drank his orgone to the bottom in one big gulp. "Whew! I'm so worn out!.."

A couple of blue drops fell between us on the bench, sliding down the neck of the empty bottle.

"Well okay," I muttered uncertainly, "what about the blue energy?"

"Blue energy is radiated by healers and the sick."

"The sick?! You mean to say that energetically they're equal to healers?"

"Yep. Both can have auras that extend for tens of yards – it's especially huge around terminally ill people."

"And what will happen if you pinch off some of that sick patient's energy? Or eat all his orgone altogether? Will he recover then?"

"Yes. That's exactly how I heal."

Jake smiled shyly and wiped his lips:

"I just love blue energy so much! It's the most delicious…" his eyes lit up in a special way. As if having taken a sip of alcohol, he burst into a long tirade. "People can't… don't know how to properly direct the power given to them. It accumulates and causes distortions in body and soul. That's where all the suffering and illnesses come from. We're used to thinking that diseases are given as punishment for sins, but in reality, there are no punishments from above. There is no punishing God. Here you go – take this energy, use it. Live. Vibrate. The heavier your burden, the stronger the potential hidden within you!.. Jesus Christ had such a huge blue aura that even numerous healings and resurrections of the dead didn't help him escape his own suffering. He didn't master his great power, and it poured out into equally great bodily torments. And there are thousands of such holy martyrs like him! This is what Mr. Wordsworth meant this morning in the assembly hall when he shot me. He didn't choose me by accident. The old man may be blind, but he sees orgone perfectly…"

The blood on his shirt had already clotted and turned from bright scarlet to brown. One might think the guy had smeared himself with chocolate or jam in the cafeteria, but I still shuddered when I remembered the beginning of today.

"I was very sick, from early childhood. Everyone feared I wouldn't survive," now Jake thoughtfully examined the green emblem of the pharmacy across the road – a wavy serpent entwining a cup with medicine. "In fact, that's how it was. I died at least a thousand times. As soon as one affliction retreated, another immediately pounced. Pneumonia, jaundice, measles, whooping cough, dysentery, sepsis… There was no end to them. Until at the age of seven, they took me to a village healer…"

A familiar story. I sighed. Painfully familiar, actually. And next, I suppose, there were amulets, camel wool, and all that?..

"The old woman told my mother," Gill continued pouring out his soul, "that I was actually a healer myself, and my illnesses were because I was rejecting my gift. Mom twirled her finger at her temple and said she was crazy. But I remembered. At that time, we had a hamster, he was going on four years old and started to wither and limp… I decided to try to heal him, although I didn't really know how, but I believed: since the old healer said so – then it must work!.. Long story short, I sat with him for an hour of two, staring at his cage. At the untouched carrot. At the empty wheel. And then – bam – everything happened by itself. The hamster no longer limps, eats well and is still alive. Have you ever heard of hamsters that live for ten years?.. Ha, me neither! Then I also healed the neighbor's cat that fell out of the window from the tenth floor, my classmate's dog that got into a fight with a pitbull on a walk, pigeons with broken wings and frostbitten feet… Later I switched to people, and with them, it was even easier. In general, five years passed when I suddenly realized that my diseases had long since retreated without a trace. I changed my vector, you see? The energy is still the same – blue, indigo – but the essence is so different. I mean, it differs in our usual world," he added thoughtfully.

"Is that why you don't eat meat? Because you're a healer?"

"Why do I need meat," he snorted. "I eat orgone directly, and meat is just de-energized rubber, there's nothing left there anymore. I love nuts most – they have more energy than a whole plant! But damn, they've become so expensive now…"

"I should buy him some nuts tomorrow," I thought to myself. "To thank him for the brief summary of the prep courses' content."

Having finished my drink, I threw the bottle in the trash:

"So it turns out that red orgone is radiated by both criminals and those who fight against them?"

"Exactly."

"But then how do I tell the good guys from the bad guys?"

"You don't. You'll distinguish the weak from the strong and the more dangerous from the less dangerous."

I suddenly remembered the incident on the highway leading to St. Petersburg and felt uneasy. What if that ghost on the road didn't want to kill an innocent person and didn't intend anything bad at all, but, on the contrary, tried to stop the evil?!

"Did you happen to see what kind of car our teacher has?"

"Which one?"

"Mr. Black"

"I did," Jake shrugged indifferently, "he has a Dodge. An off-roader. Why?"

"Just curious…"

Not knowing how to explain everything that had happened to me and whether it was worth explaining at all, I fell silent.

"By the way, what about you?" Gill suddenly looked at me sideways. "Are you yourself good or bad?"

The evening was sunny and warm, just like in summer. So where did this strong autumn… no, even winter cold suddenly come from?..

"I don't know," I mouthed, shivering as if from the wind.

Chapter 7: Devilishly Gifted

No roommate was assigned to share my room, but solitude no longer brought me joy. I felt uneasy and wanted to discuss what was happening with someone, but with whom? I couldn't talk to myself! And I couldn't write to my parents about this. Did they even know what was really going on at LIMBO, or had the admissions office spun them a tale about "business objectives modeling"?

What if this wasn't an institute at all, but some kind of cult?!

Late in the evening, I went online to LIMBO's official website, searched through it for a long time, and eventually found accreditation documents. Everything looked proper – as befitting one of St. Petersburg's oldest educational institutions. Beautiful shots of St. Isaac's Cathedral from different angles. Current news. Information for applicants. Photos of happy students at various social events. Academic life and students' sports achievements. Additional clubs with online registration: programming, foreign languages, fencing, calligraphy, archaeology and even piano lessons.

Clicking on our schedule, I was delighted to see that Art History was actually an elective! Next week on Thursday, we will have Astronomy as the fifth period, and then we can choose which of the two courses to attend. Can it really be that simple?!

I will sign up for Astronomy tomorrow, and Mr. Black and I will never see each other again. I won't have to tremble before him like a leaf, so I can forget this terrible evening as if it was a bad dream!

Tossing in bed, I fidgeted on the creaky starched sheet and sighed. Something told me I was celebrating too soon. Mr. Black is a mage, like all the teachers at LIMBO. Neither mages, nor phoenixes, nor serpents are allowed to kill people – it will result in life imprisonment. He is free now because I keep quiet, and there are no other witnesses. But I can speak up at any moment – and he knows this very well.

I won't get rid of him so easily. He will find a way to keep me constantly in his sight or, even worse, eliminate me as brutally and quickly as those four. I am trapped.