corner. A dark-
haired man in a light shirt was dragging his right leg
and holding on to the fence. It was hard to see the details in the moonlight and
the dim streetlamp, but it was pretty
creepy.
The man was getting closer and closer, about three meters away,
and then he said her name and some words. At first Reana
didn’t understand, but he repeated it again, and it seemed to her that it
was a request for help. The last words began to echo strangely
in my head, then all over my body. The hands
rose of their own accord and stretched out, and
streams of glowing green smoke flew from the tips of the fingers
,flew to the stranger, wrapped around him, and then disappeared.
Her hands were obedient again. Reana
looked at them in surprise, as if hoping to read an explanation
for what had happened, but there was nothing there. Ordinary palms
with a nearly healed cut from a stationery knife and a smudge
of ink.
24
The man looked up from the fence and patted his right
leg.
He was no longer limping, but walked over to the ground
and looked at Reana:
– I actually thought you’d start with him.»
After a few seconds of stupor, the girl also went to the second one.
She had never seen
so much blood near him in her life.
What should I do? – What is it? «she asked
in an agitated voice.
«I don’t know,» the stranger said, and spread his hands. —
Cure him. And preferably as soon as possible!
Reana crouched down to examine the wounded man and thought that
she should probably run to call an ambulance, but suddenly her hand was
drawn like a magnet to the spot just above where
the black arrow had pierced her chest. Once again, the greenish light
began to sparkle and sparkle around the
unconscious man. His broken arm
took shape, something snapped, the bone snapped
back into place, the blood and scratches disappeared from his face and clothes,
and he breathed more deeply and evenly, but the arrow remained
where it was. Reana snatched her hand away.
– It doesn’t work! – No, «she said. «We need to remove this!» she
gripped the black shaft with both hands.
«Wait!» The stranger shouted at her, but it was
too late.
Reana couldn’t help but scream. She jumped
back and looked at her hands – which were covered with red blisters
,as if she had grabbed a pot of boiling water. But then
green light streamed out of her hands, illuminating the garden, and the
burn marks disappeared as if nothing had happened, except for the strip of old
cut that continued to turn pink on the side.
Reana ran back to the wounded man. As luck would have it, it started
to rain.
25
«We should probably take him inside,»
she said.
«No, we can’t go to the hospital,» the stranger told her,»
at least not until we have a chance
to sort this out.»
He picked up
the man lying on the ground with no effort at all, carried him across the verandah into the house
,and laid him on the sofa.
– At least there’s something left, «he muttered under
his breath as he passed the veranda, and then said to Reana,
«I’ll put the arrow away, don’t touch it.»
He picked up a cloth napkin from the table, wrapped it around his arm
,and snapped off the back of the arrow. Then
he lifted the wounded man off the pillow, yanked the arrow
out of his body, and threw it far into the corner of the room. The wreckage
they hissed and melted away. Blood spurted from the hole in his chest
,and Reana ran to him, putting her hand on his arm.
above the wound and closed her eyes.
A queasy, unpleasant feeling
came over her, as if she had been seasick on a train. It seemed that she herself
was being dragged down by an unknown force, pulled
inside this man, and that there was no air to breathe
,but after a couple of minutes it was all over. She let out an exhausted sigh
and lowered her head. The man on the couch took a deep breath.
He was asleep. Not a trace
of the terrible wound remained on his chest.
– Are you all right?» The dark – haired stranger
nudged Reana’s shoulder.
«Yes, yes, I’m fine,» she said, looking up
. – Or rather, what is in order there! her voice grew louder
. – What’s going on?» Who are you? What am I doing?
This is some kind of nonsense, I don’t understand!
The man took a few steps back
and forth across the room.
26
«You know,» he said pointedly,»I
don’t understand it myself yet. But all that’s clear is that
the three of us» – and he pointed to Reana, the sleeping man, and himself-
«are in some terrible and dangerous scrape, and we
’d better stick together and keep a low profile.
We’ll wait until this one wakes up – " the stranger pointed with some
hostility at the man lying on the sofa. —
Maybe he knows what’s going on…
The guest tore the remnants of his torn tie from his neck and
tossed them on the floor, then continued to pace
thoughtfully.
Reana stared at him, batting her
lashes. «I got into trouble. It’s scary, it’s very scary
.I’m stupid, I can’t get into trouble. It’s not going to end
well.»
The stranger suddenly saw the bottle
through the transparent door of the sideboard.