Chapitre 24: Chapter 24
Two days after that conversation with Beatrice, when they explained to me what was going on, the day of Hel approached. In honor of which many houses were decorated in a special way.
"What is this sign?"
The sign represented something close to the ancient Greek symbol omega, but only in the form of bull horns.
"As I remember, it is a sign of Hel," Beatrice answered me. "As long as I can remember, this sign has always been at home."
"Hmm, I see. As I understand it, we will all go to the village?"
"Yes," Beatrice replied with a smile.
Towards the evening before the holiday, when I was busy cleaning the dishes... I suddenly felt eyes on me. Looking around, you won't see anything... Stop! I saw someone outside the window with my peripheral vision.
As soon as I turned my attention to the street, I saw nothing there.
"That's weird..."
But before going to bed, I closed the window just in case.
"I can see that you want to ask why the Netherlands?" Grindelwald asked his right-hand woman, Vinda Rosier.
After receiving a response in the form of a nod, Gellert smiled and continued:
"What do you know about demons?"
"Hmm, these are dark magical creatures that include a huge number of creatures... And in this category of creatures, there are those who can create huge problems."
"Huh, you're basically right. The term Demon in its original meaning was created in the time of Solomon. Among all the magicians, he was the one who was able to imprison and use the powers of the strongest demons for himself. After Solomon's death, the demons he imprisoned disappeared somewhere. And over time, the term began to be used as a designation for a whole swarm of various creatures, in the likeness of kelpies, etc."
Vinda, who was listening attentively to Gellert, asked:
"Is there a demon in that village?"
"Exactly, and this very demon will change the Crimson one..." Grindelwald smiled in anticipation.
The woman who saw this smile realized that something very, very terrible was coming to Crimson.
The next morning I woke up with a very strange feeling... It felt like someone had been watching me all night. Unfortunately, I could not verify the truthfulness of my feelings.
"Couldn't sleep?" Beatrice asked when we were having breakfast.
"Heh, is it that noticeable?"
"Yeah, you have bags under your eyes like you've been working all night."
"Haa, it felt like I was being watched all night."
I expected to see laughter in Beatrice's eyes, but to see fear...
"Beatrice, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing," the girl spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
"Your current condition does not fit the description of anything."
"I said it was nothing!" the girl couldn't hold back her scream.
This reaction of hers spoke better than a thousand words, and it could be said that the same thing happened to her... Or at least she knows what happened to me.
"Good, good," I decided not to put pressure on her. I still don't really want to ruin my relationship with her out of the blue.
I'll have to sleep more lightly this night... It is a pity that I did not learn how to use Humanum Revelo - charms that allow me to detect the presence of another person in the room.
"What time will the main holiday be held today?"
"Towards evening," Beatrice replied, who was happy that I had changed the subject.
"Will you go?"
"Of course," Beatrice replied with a slight smile.
The Hel festival was a small performance including a theatrical performance by children from school, a small banquet, and all kinds of dances and songs, and the whole thing ended with the burning of a straw doll.
Theatrically, the performance showed the events that happened to Hel. It was quite funny to watch it. At a small banquet, I was able to taste the cuisine of this settlement. Did I like the cutlets at the bottom most of all?
"Why are you sitting here and eating alone?" Beatrice suddenly asked me.
By the way, she looked great, her blue eyes shone with mischief, a smile full of sincerity, cheeks full of life, and golden curls that looked literally divine against the background of the moon.
"You look great."
Beatrice was silent for a couple of seconds at my words, and I could see her ears redden for a moment.
"Thanks, you look good too," she breathed out in one breath. "But you still haven't answered my question."
"I wanted to try your national cuisine."
The girl looked at something behind me and nodded decisively and said:
"Since you've already finished, let's go dancing."
"Eh?" I didn't understand the first time, but when I saw something flaring up in the girl's gaze. "I just wanted to invite you."
After that, Beatrice and I had fun until the very end. In general, the holiday seemed to me to go well.
"Adam, don't forget to turn off the light, okay?" Beatrice's mother asked me, as I volunteered to help them.
And again, when I was washing the dishes, I felt the eyes on me again, but this time, just in case, I expanded my vision all over my body. Thanks to my improved eyesight, I was able to see in all details through the reflection what was happening on the street, all this without changing the position of my body.
I saw it in the reflection... Beatrice's mother?! After looking closely, I confirmed that it was really Elska, only she was dressed only in a white nightgown. What the hell? Surely she couldn't have disappeared so quickly last time? For another check, I started listening... Filtering out all extraneous noises, I focused on what was happening outside. And it turned out that way... Elska had no sounds of inhaling or exhaling...
Any living person makes small sounds of inhaling or exhaling, and the fact that I did not hear these signs... It only meant that there was a corpse there because I had no doubt about my abilities.
At the same moment, I heard the sounds of approaching footsteps, which is why I kept SE on edge just in case.
"Adam, is something wrong?" A voice sounded... Beatrice's mother.
At the same time, I still saw the same woman outside the house.
"I was just thinking... Mrs. Raske. I've almost finished washing the dishes."
As soon as I spoke to her, the woman in the reflection literally disappeared.
"Thanks," Elska smiled. "Let me finish the rest, and you go to bed."
"Okay, and thanks."
"You're welcome."
After that, I went to the room where I lay down on the bed, but sleep did not come to me. So I was busy all night listening to the whole house and looking around the surrounding areas through the window in the room. But unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened that night.
"Adam, are you all right?" Mrs. Smith asked when we were outside.
Apparently, the redness of my eyes did not go unnoticed, due to the fact that I did not sleep all night... I had to remember my university years when I could sit through a game all night or sit down to study for exams the night before the exams...
Those were fun times. At that time, my daily schedule was ruined to the very core. It was a matter of three or four days to restore the daily routine.
"Hahaha, what could be wrong with me?"
Still seeing the doubts in the matron's gaze, I had to prove for a long time and tediously that everything was fine with me. It took a while, but I managed to convince Mrs. Smith that I was fine.
"Adam, are you sure you're okay?" Beatrice already asked me when we were eating.
The girl herself, by the way, also looked a little unwell, not as bad as me, but here's the fact that she had a very difficult night. This was indicated by small details in the form of small redness near the pupil and bags under the eyes.
"That's right, that's right. How was your night?"
Beatrice shuddered for a moment and only said:
"OK."
At the end, she smiled so unnaturally and forced that I couldn't really believe her words.
"That's great," I just answered, putting a mental checkmark.
After breakfast, we headed back to the village in order to attend the more traditional part of the Hel Festival.
According to Beatrice, a cow was to be sacrificed that day.
"And why a cow?"
"My grandmother said that Moloch was cajoled in this way, so it has remained a kind of superstition since then."
"She knew quite a lot."
As soon as I said that, Beatrice's face changed instantly:
"Yes..."
"Did I say something wrong?" when I saw the changes, I already asked.
Beatrice was silent for a few minutes and, having decided something, said:
"Adam, do you remember when I said that everything was fine with me?"
"Yes..."
"I lied. I've been seeing things every night lately... Something bad happened that day when you said that someone was watching you... I felt sick because that day I saw my grandmother outside the window."
"Stop, what? Didn't your grandmother die?"
Beatrice couldn't help but cry at this point and said:
"Yes, to be more precise, she was killed..."
At such moments, it was important to show support, and the best support is hugs. As soon as I hugged Beatrice, she clung to me with a death grip. After standing there for ten minutes, Beatrice continued:
"She was killed at our house... That day I was in the dressing room, I remember how today my grandmother's blood flowed down the walls... But I couldn't do anything and just sat there without making a sound. Her killer was never found, and my mother has changed completely since then."
Beatrice said all this in tears.
"Everything will be fine," I said as confidently as I could.
The girl in my arms apparently got into my words and calmed down a little.
"I lied yesterday too... While washing the dishes, I felt the eyes on me again. And for a moment, but I was able to capture on the other side of the standing."
Beatrice was listening to me attentively now.
"It was..."
"Beatrice!" Before I could finish, Elske's voice sounded.
The girl looked at me apologetically:
"I have to go."
"In general, I have nothing to do here."
My friend understood what I meant pretty quickly and just smiled. As soon as we approached Elske, something strange flashed fleetingly in the eyes of Beatrice's mother.
"Yes, Mom?"
"Do you remember yesterday I said that I would need help with household chores?"
Beatrice looked at her watch and exclaimed:
"Damn, it completely slipped my mind. I'll go now."
"Adam?"
"Let me help you."
Elske, having decided something, only nodded with the words:
"Thanks."
My intuition told me that it smelled like kerosene, and it would be better if I knew what the hell was going on at Beatrice's house.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone