FicWad

CHAPTER I
Welcome to my silly life

The window was slightly open; the warm wind was blowing caressing my blond wavy hair and I felt every single movement of the air. I was smoking a cigarette, standing in front of the window in a partly unbuttoned white shirt. It seemed like my mind was somewhere far away. I even didn’t hear how someone entered the room but was not surprised when the person, who had quietly stepped into, put his hand on my shoulder.
‘When did you come home?” the voice which called my name sounded very deep and soft. He came up to me close enough to kiss me on the head. Simultaneously Raul started stroking my hair. It felt so nice that I closed my eyes. I had absolutely no desire to move or turn round. I must confess that I really liked when Raul touched me, all his movements were full of care and love. Sometimes it seemed to me that he tried to fill all his gestures with love and passion that he couldn`t give me every time I was not around and, suddenly, such moments were not rare. Even though we shared one apartment together most of the time, we had lots of work to do which separated us in some way and prevented us from spending sweet family evenings in front of the TV-set or the fireplace that Raul had purchased a couple of months before. Besides, I was not at all a homebody which was, in fact, a major problem why we were often on the edge of going separate ways. Somehow I always managed to fix everything. Or it was Raul who was too tolerant of my sudden and unpredictable tricks. He was too forgiving to me. That is why I would say that I loved and hated such romantic flashes from Raul at the same time. Of course, I loved him with all my heart but he showed this kind of feelings that I was unable, or at least I thought so, to offer him: unselfish, honest, true love. And in such moments I even started to feel guilty just for the fact that I was the way I was. But, unfortunately, my conscience was a whore which paid me a peace of attention and went away without giving me a call. So, moments of remorse were, as a rule, short and rare.

‘I am a little bit tired. I have been cleaning the mess that creates our too loyal immigration policy. You know World Twenty-Five, they have always been very difficult to deal with; they are prudes, nationalists and religious fanatics. But they have so many natural resources that the members of our Economy Council unanimously agree to strengthen our ties with the community. But everything has its limits. After the recent misconduct I think the Twenty-Fifth World will receive a limited type of immigration opportunities soon, because the Cooperation Agreement will be reviewed for sure, I have attended an extra - meeting of the Immigration Council today and expressed my strong disapproval of indulgence of the 25th World`s irresponsible behaviour and their violation of interworld norms and principles”, finally I spoke up. I cannot say that the case really bothered me then. Nine times out of ten I didn`t care about other people, their thoughts and feelings. Nobody I knew could suppose that I could feel sorry for anyone. And maybe they were right; in fact, they had all reasons to think this way. But as for work, I was a faithful adherent of my post, my duties and responsibilities. It was the reason why I convened an extra-meeting of the Immigration Council and held a short but rather tough speech.
“I have heard about the scandal, but the report has been written by you and handed in to the President. So I don`t know the details” Raul put both his hands on my shoulders. “You can tell me about it if you like”. He caressed my cheek with the back side of his hand. Gosh! He was too tender, and I was too tough.
Speaking about the case I had been involved into, I should mention that I was not intended to pry into anyone’s business that day. I was walking from Starbucks on Liberty Street drinking iced coffee with caramel which was, by the way, oversweetened and I started regretting that I had not taken a can with Jim Beam- Cola instead of coffee. A bottle of whiskey cocktail always lifted my spirit, especially in the middle of the working day. So, I was walking towards my car that was standing several buildings away from the Starbucks shop and suddenly my phone began to vibrate. “Alice” displayed on my phone. That was certainly not a good sign. I could feel the smell of work. Alice was a coordinator.
“Tell me, honey, that you want to ask me out. I would be very pleased”. Starting working conversations without showing even a single sign of seriousness in my voice was my bad habit but everyone was already used to it. Someone who met me for the first time usually refused to take me seriously. How would you imagine a green beret, for example? Strong, rather muscular, shorthaired? Maybe his face is full of scars? Well, any can have his or her own personal opinion. But let`s have a look at me. A rather slender body, muscles could not be seen as they were covered with clothes, shoulder length blond hair, feminine angel face: who would be able to see a professional soldier in such a collection of defective features? When I say defective, I mean that they are inappropriate for my job. People rather would believe that I am a model or an actor and they have told me that millions of times.
“I would gladly do, but you are already in a relationship”. Trying to joke with a serious intonation was not the best idea that had come into Alice`s mind, that sounded really dumb. “Rosiel, we have just got information that two subjects from the 25th World have crossed the border of the city. They live on 69 Liberty Street, on the tenth floor. After you get them back to the city and to the interrogation room, get back to the abovementioned house and perform a search. The are not allowed leaving the border of the city, they must have plotted something”.
“I am almost right next to the 69th building of Liberty Street. Why not sending someone else to catch them? I can search the apartment”. Of course I knew that the answer would be negative, so I was already in my car, but I always had to say something to contradict the order of the President of the World Integration Unity.
“It`s an order, Sir”. Alice tried to stay calm and polite. People feel their importance and significance, when they are members of the WIU. It is a global secret organization, so they act as the chart calls for. I know that maybe it is the right thing to do but as I am concerned I would sooner die of boredom. Why not diluting the daily routine with a drop or two of humaneness or sense of humour? Ah, whatever.
“Roger that. Send the location”. I answered and put down the phone. Right now it is important to underline the fact that immigrants who haven`t received official permission to live in the Fifth World, it is our world by the way according to the WIU standards, are marked with small special sensors implanted into their bodies. The Tracking Department follows every newcomer in order to detect a delinquency. They are not limited in their civil rights and can do everything they want unless it violates the law of the country. One of the most important rules requires total secrecy of the immigrant’s “motherworld”. It means that they must not tell anybody that they are aliens trying to assimilate. The breach on the term can lead to administrative penalty or deportation after two or more warnings. Such tough law exists in a limited amount of worlds. Ours is one of those where the Authority thinks of society as of a not prepared for crucial changes unity. I have read their research papers, maybe they are right. At least it is not the thing I would care about. So, those sensors help us to track down offenders.
I looked at their location Alice had sent to me and drove to a teleportation point which was on a narrow street not far from Thames Street. It is one of hundreds of teleportation points in World Five. Of course they are not luxurious as in some developed parts of the Universe. In the First World, for example, one of teleportation points looks in some way like Incheon International Airport in South Korea. It has sauna, spa, private sleeping rooms, artificial golf fields and many other opportunities to relax. Everything is illuminated and decorated with precious stones. Don`t think that teleportation takes seconds and relaxation opportunities are in vain. The act of vanishing from one place and appearance to the place of your destination is really fast, but I mean that the process of documents and luggage checking always takes time. Bureaucracy, safety and waste of your time and money cannot be neglected by governments and is highly appreciated and widely practiced as everywhere else. Nevertheless not all worlds found such transportation points, many of them quite ordinary ones. The first world is just the richest and the most developed nation, so they try to maintain the prestige and image they have.
As for our teleportation points they are quite modest. They are not furnished, painted or decorated. What am I talking about? They are absolutely not organized. A worker from the Transportation Department stays near a cafe, club, restaurant, hotel or whatever the entertainment place is and waits for arriving or departing guests. Secrecy is our everything that is why it is as simple as that. So I drove into the narrow street and stopped at a small café that had a very silly name - “Stopped Watch”. A Transportation Department’s representative was already there and was smoking a cigarette which I suppose was difficult to numerate as he was standing there pretending to be an ordinary client of the bar. And he had to pretend so all day long. A shity work I should say, but a rather well paid one. I did`t have to show my documents because he had to know the face of every Major Operative agent in our world to make things easier and faster as we often work under pressure and have no time to for bureaucracy.
“Good luck, sir”, was the only phrase he spoke out before he activated the teleportation point. In a blink of an eye I found myself on a suburban area of New-York. It was rather a remote area. Houses were old and mostly abandoned, everything was full of trees, grass and bushes. I got out of the car and went on following the instructions Alice had sent me. I walked down narrow sandy uncomfortable country roads which led me further and further from the main road and which could even scare somebody and make him or her turn back because exactly in such places adventure seekers break into maniacs in law-budget horror movies. And I should say there is a piece of truth in those at first sight far from real life films. People and other creatures are used to searching for a safe place to feel free, do whatever they want to and make up atmosphere that approximately can resemble the one they are used to. Of course it is widely practiced only by those who do not want to try to become a part of a new unity, usually such creatures are from lagged out worlds and regions. A remote suburban area seems to them to be a perfect place to hide. As I was walking down the road I got a desire to have a drink or smoke. I can guess no matter how passionately I had always been trying to prove to everyone that I had no alcohol, smoke or drug addiction and that I could give up on it every minute, which in fact was partly true, deep inside I had not only a psychological but also a physical dependence. So that time I supposed that smoking was a better variant as I didn`t have a bottle of spirits in my pocket as strange as it may seem. I automatically took a cigarette out of the pocket and was ready to light it up but in time understood that it was not a cigarette. I had put an ace in a wrong pack. I usually kept joints in an empty pack of cigarettes to avoid extra questions from Raul, he did not approve of my drug using habit. Thanks God I did not smoke it then. Getting wasted in the middle of the duty was not the best idea. I preferred to smoke and drink spirits after work. But I had irregular working hours and sometimes it could lead me to a tricky situation, I had to take up cases being high once or twice. I know that it doesn`t sound like justification but I just could not predict when I had to work. I thought that I was free and could relax and a minute later it turned out to be another way. Luckily I could control myself well and it was not a problem because my body could resist the influence of substances. I will explain that phenomenon a little bit later when I will be writing a kind of my autobiography as every prominent person sees his or her duty in writing reminiscence. Of course I don`t really mean it, I don`t think of myself as of an outstanding person, even when my self-esteem flies as high as it can touch the sky, say “hi” and fly even higher. So turning back to my small soft spots, when I was fifteen or sixteen I had to concentrate and make up my mind working in such a blown state but a little bit later I managed to do it easily without any effort. Sebastian, the President of the WIU, got angry at first but I had never failed any work so he shut his mouth and accepted the way I was. There were other small reasons for his tolerance, for example the fact that I got laid with him from time to time. To be more precise, almost every time he wanted it. But let`s face the truth anyway. I was an addict, I admit it and I am not going to say that it was good or try to find justifications for myself. I just accept it as a part of my entity and speak about it in a matter-of-fact way. Honestly speaking there was little good about me those days, I still don`t know why so many people had always been around me searching for my friendship, trust, love or sex. The last one was, in fact, the most common desire. Beside my narcissism, egotism, coarse manners, I could not behave myself and hated all possible rules and orders. For exmample I always did my work perfectly, but put a little of myself into each of them in order to do everything as I wanted to. For example, when I was a little bit younger I was ordered to hit a politician. By the way, that is another skeleton in my closet. I had an additional job as a hitman and, one more curious fact, I was one of the best in the business. I loved money and was really capable as a soldier. I thought that it might have been really silly of me to miss such a chance and limit my opportunities only to legal official service. So that time I was really annoyed when the client told me one hundred times that I had to do everything really silently. I was not an idiot and could guess myself that dragging the client`s target to the Statue of Liberty and singing “Oh, say! Can you see by the dawn early light” and other lines of the American National Anthem was not the best idea. But people were always disappointed with my appearance, that is why they didn`t trust me and just refused to believe that the gifted and famous among a limited number of people hitman could look like a porcelain doll. In fact I appreciate my appearance and it is one of those things that make me an egotistical and arrogant prick. So somehow I was fed up with it and decided to make a small prank. First of all I found out that the target was not straight just like me. An unbelievable plan came up to my mind. I wanted to do something extraordinary, something interesting and entertaining. I organized a small pride. For a person that filled the post of the commander of the Special Forces and was the lover of the President of the WIU it was not a big deal. Everything was fantastic: bright colorful costumes, masks, an amazing street party. As far as I am concerned I pretended to be a hustler. Not to have fun but to come to the room at the hotel where my target was spending his hours of rest watching jealously out of the window because his reputation did not let him join the party in the street. A public person that always has to hide his or her real preferences is always on the qui vive and as a result when a forbidden but charming and attractive opportunity is on the horizon, and nobody is supposed to find out the truth, the person loses mind. Safety and secrecy are not important any more, they just want to get what they want. Immediately and fully. That was the rule I used when I was working that day. I told him that I had been paid by his friends for him, a kind of a gift. It was not the firs gift of the kind he had received from them, otherwise my plan wouldn`t have been effective. Nevertheless, at first he was very suspicious and wanted to send me away. But I smiled and told him that it was not a problem but his friends had paid for one of the most expensive whores in the USA and it was up to him to turn down the opportunity which opened its doors only for rich and privileged people of the world. Perfect skills of telling lies, the right time and place, whisky, loud music in the street and as a consequence simulation of safety worked definitely as I had planned. He was really excited when he was taking rapidly my clothes off. He turned out to be prettier than I had thought, and I had some extra time in stock, so I decided to have some fun and let him suck me off. He was rather clumsy at it. I bet he had been trying hard to hide his sexual preferences the whole life. He was about fifty and I think had a wife and children who did not have even the slightest idea about what their loving husband and daddy really preferred to do. After giving me a blowjob he decided to make out.
“What a beautiful body. What a perfect face. I will be gentle with you. I will make you fell good. I will take care of such a wonderful creature”. He breathed heavily, kissed and touched my face and my body with his sweaty hands. His voice wavered and he stumbled over his words. I felt as his dick was trying to get in, but its owner was so excided that he could barely do it. That was so disgusting that I could not take it anymore. I already did not find him even a little bit attractive. I took the gun from my jeans which the man had thrown next on the edge of the bed and pulled the trigger. His naked plump breathless body perfectly went together with the loud music and celebration in the street. I put my clothes on and smiled. I was happy as fuck. No trace, no evidence, no witnesses. The task was completed. But not as quiet as the client wanted. It had gone my way.

So I was going down the path and came up to a small old timber house. I stopped a little before the place and hid in the bushes. I switched on a small a small radio set in my ear.
“Luke, I have found the place”, Luke was one of the major computer specialists of the Special Forces where I belonged, I could even call him genius. At the same time he was my personal assistant and one of my best friends. By the way, he was caught when he was trying to hack the official site of the WIU. That had been supposed to be impossible but he managed to do this. Not surprisingly, it attracted the authorities and they asked him If he wanted to get a job instead of occupying a small and charming room in a young offender institution. A couple of promises and pledges, a lot of hard trainings and Luke was ready for work. In my opinion he was a great and responsible person but as every child he had had storm and stress which often misleads teenagers.
“Good job, pal! What will be your orders?”
‘Let`s scan the house. I need to know where they are standing when I break in”, I put special glasses on, Luke activated the program and now I could see seven blue, one red and two yellow shapes.
“Bad news, pal, the program has identified ten corporal entities, but seven of them are blue. It means…”
“They are dead”, Luke ended the phrase. “Damn it!”
“That`s right. Two of them are of another spectrum, not of a human`s one”.
“Our refugees I guess.” Added Luke and then I heard him switching on another function. “The door is sealed”. Sealing was a technical innovation of the World Five. It reinforced doors, windows or other openings that could be broken down. It had been invented for peaceful purposes, for example to feel safe and sound when you live in bad parts of a town. But every invention can fall into unworthy hands.
“I`ve got it. Let`s break it down and try not to break bones”. I started moving towards the house bending down and making no sound. The remark on “breaking bones” was not in vain. Sealed doors were not easy at all to break down. Human strength is not enough for that purpose. But our department had its own secrets, so sealed openings were not an obstacle for me, even though it was rather difficult to do. First time I was doing so I got a dislocated ankle.
“Just don`t show off like you did the last time when you were trying to prove that breaking sealed doors down with your shoulder was as effective as with your foot”. I could feel that he was smiling.
“I opened the door. And I was drunk” I whispered almost soundless.
I wanted to say something like “fuck off or screw yourself” but radio silence was necessary at the moment as I already was at the front door. I accumulated the strength and knocked the door with full force. I felt sudden and sharp pain in my leg.
“Damn you, Rosiel! Be careful, your health indicator shows damage in your foot. You`ve got a bone fracture”.
“I have already guessed” it slipped out as I was sending bullets into the bodies of the suspects. They were paralyzing bullets; I was not intended to kill them with no trial and no record. The picture opened to me was nasty. Eight tightened to metal chair with ropes young people, seven out of eight were all covered with blood. Dissected abdomens, cut throats. Only one girl of about fifteen was still alive, she was as white as a sheet, her cheeks with drained tears, her eyes were empty, I was not sure if she was able to understand the reality clear at the moment and get that I had come to help.
“Luke, ready to report that it looks like religious sacrifice. Seven are dead, one is alive but her psychological state is critical. No need for memory erasure or replacement. Send the Cleansing and Research Departments. I`ll take the convicts to the interrogation room and the girl to the hospital. Over.” I switched off the radio set and kicked one of the paralyzed bodies. “Hey, lunatics, what the hell is going on here? Do you still practice human sacrifice in your Ancient Greece? I will talk to you as soon as the paralyzing substance stops working.” As I was kicking the body pain in my leg decided to remind me of a fractured bone.
As the following step I came up to the poor girl in the corner of the room and freed her motionless body. Poor child, she had suffered and witnessed so much. I was ready to pick the girl up but suddenly felt that something was wrong. I made two steps back and took off a gun. Just like in low-budget movies I had talked abode, the girl jumped on her feet and threw a knife into me. Then she moved quickly towards a gun which was resting on the floor. I dodged to the opposite wall and shot her in the head. This time with a ball round. I looked at the breathless body then cast a glance at the other two, switched on the radio-ser again and stated: “Eight are dead. Over”.
I was still standing in the room with Raul behind my back. Raul listed to me carefully and waited till I became silent. He was thinking the story I had just told him through.
“Impertinence encroaches when it is tolerated. And we have been tolerating them for too long”. Raul sat on the velvet red chair next to the window. That was my gift; it was me who liked to flaunt. Raul was not used to buying expensive or brand-named products. And I was really obsessed with it just like a dumb twat that doesn`t know the value of money, because her daddies pay for everything. With the only difference that I knew perfectly well how to make money and had achieved and bought everything I had with own blood, sweat and tears.
“By the way”, he went on, “why did you bring it to Sebastian? He usually deals with serious messes. You could have done everything yourself”, Raul hesitated a little, “or there should be hidden something more significant and complicated”, he took a bottle from the small round table, poured out two glasses of rose wine and looked in my eyes. That wasn`t difficult to guess that he was waiting for further details.
“Well, I am still responsible for the case, it is mine. Buy I felt something suspicious as I was interrogating them. That is why I decided to share it with Sebastian” I became silent for a few seconds and noticed how Raule nevously clenched his fist under the table, “You know, there is one religious branch in the Twenty-Fifth World, faharism, a dominating one, according to which you can gather so many sins in your life that it would be enough to decorate the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and still have a chance for salvation. All you should do is haunt a few animals, eat a part of their guts, drink their blood and then commit suicide or “sacrifice your own body”, whatever they call it, and make a will beforehand to put it on fire,. And voi•là, you are a saint. Disgusting, barbarously but every tradition has the right to exist. Unless…” I stopped talking and took a gulp of wine, “unless they touch our people on our territory”.
“But Fahar doesn`t suggest in their secret writing that they should kill people”, Raul looked a bit perplexed. He was moving his finger around the edges of the crystal glass and when it started making sound he stopped and put his hand on the table.
“That `s the point!” I lit a cigarette, took the second glass in the hand and sit back on the window-ledge, “You know that Fahar forbids any type of violence against their own kind. And they respect and truly follow the vow to be peaceful towards each other. A pacifist nation, as somebody can say,” I pulled a stray strand of hair back from my face, emptied my glass of wine and reached out for the bottle to refill it, “but not everyone knows that they are fanatics. Everything that doesn`t meet the requirements of their religion should be doomed to eradication. So, as I have found today, they find our nation inadequate and undesirable. They say that if we kill entities of our own kind, then we are no better than animals. So, there is no difference if to victimize animals or us, people. Do you get the idea? They victimized those guys as animals”
“I get the idea that you are drinking the third glass of wine, the other two you emptied within five minutes. Alcoholism is a little ways down the road”, Raul reproachfully looked at the empty bottle in my hands.
“I am already cuddling and kissing with that charming abuse, honey”, I took the bottle away, jumped off the window-ledge, came up to the bar, bit my lip thinking about what to take and when I opted for a bottle of good cognac I returned to the occupied by me cozy window-ledge.
“If you want to speak about my shortcomings, contact my secretary and make an appointment. And now I am talking about the things you have asked me to tell you about. And it is not my fault that your bottles of wine are so small and an untouched bottle of Hennessy has been hypnotizing me the whole evening. I don`t want to talk about it any longer. So the point of my story is the fact that those ungrateful sluts might be plotting against us. Not me and you of course, I mean the whole world. They said something like “cheer up: the worst is yet to come”.
“So you think that there might be other occasions like that? By the way, how is the cognac?” Raul smiled at me and shook his head in disapproval as I was taking a gulp of the spirits from the bottle, “pour it out into a glass, sweetheart, it costs five hundred bucks and it is unlikely to be beer”.
“Don`t be a prude, who should I demonstrate good manners here, at home? As far as the first question is concerned, the answer is yes. It is only my supposition, but Sebastian thinks that my suppositions rarely can be wrong, that is why we have enhanced the surveillance.” I looked at the opened cognac, hesitated for a moment and then poured it into a glass, “happy?”
“Thank you, my little pretty spide, for trying to enter the civilized world”, Raul moved the bottle closer to himself and poured the liquid into his own glass.
“Oh, fuck you, Raul”, I laughed and twisted a strand of hair around my finger, “Hey, what about ordering something to eat?”
“You drink, then you want to eat. What will be next? You will eager to get laid?” Raul came up to rather close and put his hand around my waist.
“Is it a problem for you?” I was running my fingers through his hair, put the glass on the table and pulled him by the short closer to by body.
“No, unless this desire concerns someone else but me”, I heard some cold notes in his voice and definitely didn`t like it. Why on earth was he talking about it right now?
“I`ve promised, I am staying home tonight. Would you please just relax, forget about all bad things, which had occurred between us” and think of today?” I stepped back, took my glass, which I had left on the table a minute ago, and went to the velvet red sofa which I had given Raul with the chair he had just been sitting on.
“Oh, just don`t act out injured innocence. We both know that such cozy evenings at home, with wine and heart-to-heart conversations are so rare that I can barely believe it. You can feel aggrieved, you can get angry with me and my not at all meaningful speech – that doesn`t change a thing”, Raul sighed deeply and leaned against the wall next to the window.
“You`re right, you`re right, I`m sorry”, I closed my eyes for a moment preparing myself for an apology, which I was as used to telling as breathing the air, “you know, I am trying to get better, I am trying to change. You see? Today is Friday but I don`t give a fuck about those studs at clubs, I am here with you, because they mean nothing to me, they are just one or another good or not very good fuck. I love you”, Raul was still standing next to the wall as I came up to him, put my arms around his neck, tenderly bit his earlobe and then kissed him on the lips. Lustfully looking into his eyes I bent on my knees and started to unbutton his short. My lips could feel his muscular stomach and I could feel that I was getting harder. But suddenly Raul took my head in his hands and smiling asked me to stop.
“What`s wrong?” Honestly, I felt like a child that was deprived of dessert because he hadn`t eaten vegetables.
“You always make it up to me this way. Try something else for a change. For example, we will order food, then will watch a movie and drink wine”, he smiled again, “but you won`t drink life fish, you will drink two or three glasses, not two or three bottles and then a little whisky just in order to while away the time”.
“That sucks. Can I better get down on you?” I pouted in a funny way even though I knew how silly I was looking at the moment.
“No, unless you fulfill the conditions”, Raul kissed me on the cheek and sat back on the chair, “by the way, you have missed one detail in your story. The girl that you had to kill, she wasn’t a human, right? What was she?”
“She was a chameleon. Or he, I didn`t try to find out the details” my desire had softened and I came back to the sofa where I had left the reminder of my alcoholism. Almost empty. Who the hell was drinking my cognac when I didn`t see? How I wished that brownie had come clean and saved me from Raul`s grumbling.
“But you`ve said, that the scanning proved her to be a human”.
“Honey, how did you pass the examination on the universe nations` specification? If I`m not mistaken, you had an A. Chameleons can copy without doing any harm only those of their own kind. As far as other entities are concerned, they should be murdered first and a chameleon must drink their blood or eat a part of the body and only then they can copy them. The eaten or drunk part spread foreign DNA throughout the whole body and supports the adaptation to the new appearance and body constitution. As a result, within some minutes they can be indicated as those entities they have just copied”. I ended up my lecture.
“I might have forgotten about their ability to be identified this way. They are so bloodthirsty. That`s so, using your favourite expression, disgusting”, Raul looked a little confused, he must have felt that he had forgotten an important fact. I decided to help and take away his thoughts.
“That`s not a surprise, they were officially forbidden to use their natural ability long ago. It is a penal action which is followed by deportation and imposition of sentence according to the universal law. Such offence goes directly to the Universal Court without any chance of being judged on a lower level”, one more lecture from Professor Ingrassia. Don`t forget to write it down.
“Yes, I know. I just wonder how you manage to keep everything in you pretty blond head”.
“Come on, dear! If you got the same dose of b-proint as I do, you would as well remember all things”, then I suddenly understood that I hadn`t taken the dose of the medicine. I think it`s high time I explained how I managed to open sealed doors and could do other additional things which were not usual for normal people.
As it has been written before, the First World was the most developed and had definite superiority over other worlds. Sebastian, the President, was a citizen of that World. When he entered his post he decided to take everything into his own hands. Physical and mental abilities of The Special Forces were his major aims. For such purposes he delivered very strong smart and muscular system drugs: brain processes intensifier and muscular processes intensifier, shortly b-proint and m-proint. They were not adjusted to a human body; they had been created for the use of the First World inhabitants. As Sebastian had never been a very sensitive person, he didn`t know about such words as “sympathy” or “other people`s feelings”. He had his own aims and purposes and he achieved them at whatever the cost. Processes intensifiers were so strong that many people could not just take their effect, coma and reanimation were usual during the period of active tests. There were even some death cases. At the end only several people ended up taking the medical drugs on a regular basis: Raul, Richard from the Legal Department, Michel, another soldier from the Special Forces, and I. And I was the only person among them who could accept large doses. That is the ground for my phenomenal memory and extraordinary strength in spite of the absence of a Schwarzenegger –young - like body.
“Damn, I have forgotten to take it”, I gave Raul a compassionate glance, “Could you inject it into me?”
“Why me?” Raul looked at me with obvious surprise.
“I don`t put needles in my arms anymore”, Raul didn`t smile. I know that the phrase was absolutely not funny. To know that only a few weeks ago your partner was on a needle is not the best thing in the world. I came too far, shoot-ups were not usual to me, that`s a real shame. But sometimes I was uncontrollable and got completely carried away.
“Good for you”, replied Raul unemotionally and a little roughly, “Ok, I will do it. But remember, it can hurt as your m-proint has been stepped up”, he walked into the work-room to take all necessary equipment.
“I am a big boy, I can handle this”, I was rolling up my sleeve and unintentionally an image of a back room of a club came into my mind. Dark shades, a feeling of a shot in the arm and blown mind. I shook my head to make the thoughts go away.
Raul returned to the room, and preparing the injection he said: “I know that you are a big boy. I just remember that when you were about twelve…”
“Just stop!” I laughed light-heartedly, “When you speak like that it sounds as if you were my father or uncle, and incest is not the thing I am approved of”.
“I thought, you are approved of all kinds of expression of love”, he pushed the needle into the bend of the elbow.
“Oh no, zoophilia or dendrophilia make me sick”, I started to feel how the drug was transporting through my veins. Sudden pain in the body was burning and acute. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
“You`ll get used to it, like two times before”, he pushed a cotton pad to the place of the injection.
“Raul, what did I just tell you about me not being a child anymore?”, I sniffed. The pain has become weaker and I took my mobile phone, “So, what about ordering something to eat?”
“Sea food would be nice”, I was ready to dial the number of one pretty good sea food restaurant just round the corner, but suddenly my phone vibrated. “Sebastian”. Just not him! Why did he always want to ruin my evenings? The worst thing was that Raul noticed the name on the display. I forgot about the almost vanished pain, all I could do was to curse Sebastian. I picked up the phone:
“What do you want?” I was irritated and didn`t want to hide my mood.
“Hello, Ingrassia,’ a painfully familiar voice appeared on the phone. “I have got something for you, the price is one hundred thousand dollars, the details - in person”.
“Couldn`t you tell it in the morning? It`s 10 p.m.’
“I know you are not sleeping. You never do so early”, the voice was irritatingly calm. I really wanted to hang up, but gathered all my patience and answered:
“I`ll call on you tomorrow morning”.
“What if I change my mind tomorrow and give it to somebody else?” How sticky and annoying he was! I briefly added: “You won’t. Good night”.
I turned my head to look at Raul. He was sitting on the chair and was looking at the wall with the blank expression: “Are you going somewhere now?”
“I am not a puppy to run at his whistle”, I drank cognac right from the bottle. Fuck the manners.
“But you will, tomorrow”.
“Damn you, Raul. I`ve asked you not to rise the topic. Stop being jealous! I am staying home, right here, not going anywhere. So, please, order your fucking mussels, take your goddamn wine and let`s watch a shity movie”, I breathed out and covered my face with the hand.
“I am not being jealous, I am just fed up with your tricks! I don`t want to know that my partner fucks around, spreads himself around and gets laid for money. You are a damn hoe!” Raul raised his voice, “I am not asking for more, I just want to know that my partner is at least a little bit faithful, that even somebody in the city is not familiar with you body, I don`t want to realize that I may be not the first person who fucks you during the day!”
“Maybe I am a hoe, but a very expensive hoe! You don`t want to have a house in Los-Angeles? Fine! But I do. I want sport cars, I want to eat at expensive restaurants, I want a house in Miami”, I felt that my words were out of control. They were just slipping out.
“You know what? Go where you want to. Fuck all hot guys you will see, take drugs, drink beer after absinthe. Who am I to dictate you how to live your life?”
We didn`t quarrel long, we just went to bed in different rooms. I was sitting at my bed thinking about all the things I had said. Why was I saying all that stuff? I was just a piece of shit. Did wealth really matter when you hurt the only person that meant everything to you? Why did I understand everything, but couldn`t change the way I was? How did I suddenly always find myself with somebody unknown in my bed? And why the hell I had never really felt sorry?
At about two o’clock I stood up and tip-toed to the room where Raul was sleeping. Looking at him I understood how much he meant to me. I loved every part of his body and I couldn`t imagine my life without his scent, his touch, voice and love. Carefully I lied near Raul cuddling him from behind. Did I deserve him? I was not sure and didn`t want to know the answer, but still I could feel him right next to me.
Raul opened his eyes and turned his face to me: “You didn`t go away?”
“No, I`ve promised to stay. You know, I always keep my words”, I was whispering it as if I was afraid to wake somebody up. I was caressing his face with the back side of my hand looking into his eyes, “and I still want to sit on the sofa, next to the TV-set, holding your hand, drinking wine and whispering to your ear how much I love you”, I was fingering tenderly his breast. His body was so beautiful that I was ready to touch it forever. It looked much stronger than mine, a real muscular sculptured body that magazine usually printed on their covers.
“You are unbelievable, Rosiel. You are hot, then you are cold; you scream, then you whisper; you hate me, than you love me…”
“I always love you”, my words and kisses on the lips interrupted his speech.
“But I already don`t want to sit back on the sofa, kissing and hugging”, he sat up, took a strand of my hair and started playing with it, “I want you to get down on me, and before I come I will make love to you, tenderly, but hard enough to make you sweat”, he reached out for my dick and started rubbing his hand against it. I felt that blood was rushing into my penis, I couldn`t take it anymore, took off his pants and took his dick into the mouth and started sucking him off. That made him really hard. After taking his dick as deep as possible and moving up and down for some time, I stopped in order not to let him come.
“Now let me feel you inside”, I lay on the bed and let his boner get into. Thanks to the m-proint, my muscles tone was in a perfect state and every time I could feel every single part of the action like for the first time. It always hurt, and it made me feel even higher. I liked when it was really tough, but Raul would have never done tough things to me, that was out of his character. Nevertheless, sex with Raul was quite all right, but maybe the lack of pain and some crazy things in bed were one of the reasons I cheated on him. Who am I trying to fool? I would have done it anyway. After we were done, we were lying on the bed, breathing deeply.
“Well, I think now the night is not senseless”, I kissed Raul and pulled the blanket on us.
“Just shut up, I have no idea why I always forgive you. I am starting to think that your body consists of sedative drugs, because when you are close enough I just can`t get angry with you anymore. So, you`d better fall asleep before I change my mind and tell you to go away”.
“Love you, honey”, I kissed him on the nose and closed my eyes. He loved me really much and I was just a bitch that always used it.

Chapter II
It`s a Small World.


I woke up and turned my head to the left to find out what time it was. The clock was displaying 8 a.m. and it meant that it was early morning of Saturday and I was already on and, moreover, I was absolutely sober. Wouldn`t it become a habit? Friday should be Friday, otherwise it was just another damn Monday. Suddenly I could feel the smell of toasts and fried eggs. Raul was cooking breakfast. He loved fresh toasts with cherry jam. In fact he was just keen on cherry taste. When I was a little boy, I used to come to his kitchen while he was away, going out somewhere with his partner, who is now, unfortunately or luckily, in a better place, and tried to make pancakes. Carefully I put inside each pancake some cherry jam and rolled them up. I suppose they were not tasty because I had never been good at cooking, but at least I tried to make him happy. Yes, there were times when I did that. He was my friend, I loved him like my elder brother. As I grew older something had changed me, he wasn`t my brother anymore, he was my lover whom I appreciated. More often I showed my disrespect than warm feelings, but somehere deep inside I still wanted to see Raul smiling. I should have been at home more often in the morning, because I already started to forget how nice it was to lie in bed, see the sun shining outside the window and feel its warmth. At least it was much better than waking up at 5 o’clock and trying to recall in your memory with whom you had spent the whole night. Then push away that night guest, take a shower, put on clothes, get in the car and pray that Raul was still asleep. Or on the way to his home I was trying to make up one more useless apologize, even though I knew that I could not avoid an extra scandal. So, that was quite nice to realize that at least this time I was absolutely blameless. Looking at the white ceiling and searching for anything interesting on it I was thinking of the day: what plans I had it stock and what I would do in the evening. First I had to pay Sebastian a visit, get laid and get a contract out on someone. After that I had to go to the training campus of the WIU and serve as an examiner for young future members of one of the WIU departments. Now I will give a short and boring inside into the structure of our educational process. If it seems too boring to get acquainted with, just turn to the next paragraph and go on reading blissfully unaware, it is really not necessary to know. For those who have more patience I will say again that the WIU is a very close organization, only a limited amount of people could get access inside. And upon the whole it was a family business to work there: fathers, mothers, children and grandchildren – all of them had no way out and were doomed to the work for the WIU. Maybe it sounds unfair but at least they didn`t have to think the whole life what profession to choose, what aim in life to have. Everything was much easier. Your parents have some relations with WIU? Well, honey, I am sorry but won`t be a plumber or a swimming-pool cleaner, so turn off the TV-set, throw away your dreams and never take your parent’s DVDs anymore. For those poor things a special school had been founded, because nobody was allowed to study at the same schools where ordinary children studied, they could say something that was forbidden to give away. And upon the whole they had too many additional subjects that other children didn`t: worlds` religions, interworld wars, ancient cultures of the First World and so one. During basic school special skills of children, with the help of teachers, were revealed and developed in order to form special classes at secondary school. Classes were divided just like the departments of the organization were: juridical, medical, military and many other types. When I was younger I was told to attend special lessons of several types of classes, which in fact was really tough, so I never really had a childhood, I had no free time, had to work, study and hope that one day I would become an adult and would put an end to the abuse. I was woken up in the middle of the night and was punished if I didn`t hear how someone had entered my room. That wasn`t corporal punishment, that was just a method of bringing up inner intuition and reaction. And it is just one light example of how I and other students were trained. Sleepless nights and days, endless trainings – I hated all the staff. But I had grown up and it is never too late to have a happy childhood, so I did whatever I wanted to, but my interests were not at all childish.
“Good morning, Rosiel”, Raul came into the room and smiled drying his hands with a dish-towel. He really looked like a Stepford wife and it was quite difficult to strangle a laugh.
“Honey, I`ll give you an apron for birthday”.
“First, I have one. Second, if you cannot cook and can only spend money on delivery menu, it doesn`t mean that everyone should share your opinion. By the way, how was the night?”
“Too sober, too boring, but”, I pushed away the blanket, sat on my favourite window ledge and lit a cigarette, “it was the night with you. Just don`t melt of those words, I have no desire to go for a rag”.
“How perfectly well you can spoil every romantic moment. You`d better go for a rag, because I would gladly punch you in the face with a dirty one. After you smoke, go to the kitchen and have breakfast”, he left the room and me who was sitting with a smile on the face. I liked to see him in a good mood even though it was hard to believe in when it was usually me who made him sad.
“So, what`s for breakfast?” I sat at the table and put a peace of a toast into the mouth. “Honey, you`ve got no idea how awfully I want some beer!”
“Good news – we have beer, bad news – it`s morning, it`s Saturday and it is not a day – off”, he put a plate with fried eggs in front of me and placed a plate with cheese and a plate with jam on the table, “So what are the plans for today? A ride on Sebastian?”
“Damn you, Raul! Are you always going to speak about my fucking plans like this?”
“Your fucking plans somehow turn out to be cheats. So, I have all rights to speak about them whenever I want to. Maybe, you will be at least a little bit ashamed. At least I am trying to talk to your sleeping consciousness”.
“Blah, blah, blah. You are just like a broken record. Ok, I will ride the stud, then give some D`s to the students, because I want them to retake the exam and then I will, in the end, drink beer”.
“No, you won`t”, Raul took a pull of orange juice watching me raising the eyebrows, “do you remember Mr. Jeffersen, a business from Washington, I have worked with several times? So, he is coming to New-York, wants to open a new branch of his company, establish some new useful ties and run for the post of the governor. But he is playing dirty, like every influential and reach person does, that is why he needs security”.
“I`m glad. But how can your client become an obstacle to by beerdrinking?”
“Well, he has a son. And he wants you to work on him. In fact, not you exactly, he has just asked for the best candidate. He wants his son to be safe and sound”, Raul was fallowing my reaction while I still didn`t show any interest for the fact. He thought that I was ready to fuck with every guy I saw, but that time I just didn`t know what that son looked like, how old he was and if he, upon the whole, was gay. How could I show even the slightest interest?
“He is twenty-three”, added Raul. Did he really expect me to unzip my jeans and jerk off after those words?
“Please, just stop it. Stop advertising him. What is the damn matchmaking?” I couldn`t help laughing, “You have forgotten to add that he is tall, strong, handsome, rich and absolutely gay”.
“I just want to warn you, that is all I am trying to do”, he looked a little irritated as he was putting his empty plate into the washbasin.
“Have you forgotten that you have a dishwasher? Or is it so relaxing to wash the dishes?” Ostentatiously I opened the door of the machine and replaced his plate there.
“Maybe I really like washing-up”, he looked at two more cups in the sink.
“I know that you don`t”.
“How can you know my inner desires?”
“Well”, I came up to Raul and run my finger on his lips, “I have known you all my life and can quite definitely can say that you are not an idiot. Now let`s not waste our time and let`s get to work. The sooner we begin – the sooner we end. By the way, at what hour should I meet the so highly praised young and handsome stud?”
“At four”, he gave me a decisive and strong clip round the ear, “you know what for”.
“Yes, sir”, I gave a right hand salute.

I was twisting a key- ring around my finger as I was going to the car. Looking at a new and expensive sport-type automobile I could understand that I slept with Sebastian not in vain. For example, at that particular moment my new house in Los-Angeles was being built. Well, living large was one of my worst habits, but I did everything to make it flourish. I turned on the radio and was ready to start the car when I heard music playing in my pocket. I looked at the display – Claire was calling. Claire was my best girlfriend at the University that I visited from time to time. Of course it is not obligatory for a special forces member to get higher education at a university, because we are prepared at the WIU school and don`t need any diploma to prove our degree, but I was on b-proint, my mental abilities were much higher than of an ordinary person, that is why I decided to study surgery at Jefferson Medical University, one of the best places in the States.
“Hey, baby”, a very pleasant but still a little bit childish voice could be heard on the phone.
“Hey, honey. Why aren`t asleep at 9 a. m.? Or you haven`t gone to bed yet?”
“I have been asleep the whole night, I also made an early evening. Rosiel, dear, I really-really need your help. Can you lend me some cash, please?” She was making that high artificially sweet voice that girls do when they talk to their boyfriends.
“Lend you some money? Have your parents ceased giving you pocket money?” I was eager to hear how she was going to explain it.
“Well, they say I spend too much money and they can`t afford all my desires”, she was talking very fast and tried to be really nice. I bet some guys liked her ways. She was really cute with her girlish-childish notes in her voice, her expressive gestures, openheartedness and kindness. Sometimes she could be really sticky, but she did it not on purpose, she just got used to people too fast and was dependent on their presence.
“I should have expected something like this. I knew that one day nobody would like to stay at Melbruke Hotels, everybody would give up on eating at Melbruke Restaurants. And your banks too, they are disgusting, people might have taken back all their deposits. Are you still here, honey?” I could hear by her “offended” breath that she was kind of confused. “Or isn`t it because of the photo in “Glam City Life” where the Melbruke Hotel heiress imitates a sexual act with a club dances?”
“Oh snap! You saw it? I was drunk, I was just having fun. What the fuck are they following me around? Anyway, yes, you`ve got it right”, I could feel sorry for my poor Claire. Like many rich teenagers she was neglected by her parents but at the same time had so much money that could do anything that would make her happy. She liked clubbing and chilling and had me, who could easily get as many fake IDs as possible, as a friend. Besides, we often spent nights together while she liked me and tried to follow my example. As you might have already notices I was not the best candidate for such purposes.
“You are not supposed to be drunk, you are just nineteen. You are not supposed to drink at all”.
“You are such a damn inspiration, do you know that?”
“I do. And ok, I will give you some money, just be a good girl, don’t fuck dancers on tables. Toilet cabins have been invented for such passionate natures like you”.
Claire definitely was happy to hear good news and having understood that she would have cash spoke up again pretending not to having heard my remarks: “Maggie has a birthday today, by the way. And she is giving a party. Are you going?”
“Am I invited?” I didn`t know who that Maggie was and didn`t want to spend time with a bunch of guys who were supposed to be my fellow students.
“Every girl at the Unoversity would die if you were at her party, of course you are invited!”
“I am so popular among girls that sometimes I start to think of changing my sexual preferences”, I took a deep breath and went on, “don`t think that Raul would be fond of the idea, I am a sort of under probation. If I do something wrong, everything will be just fucked up. So, the answer is no, but thanks for asking”.
“That sucks, baby. Is he behaving like an old fart because he is twenty-eight? We should go out somewhere soon. I miss you so-so much”.
“He behaves like this because another behaviour is out of his character. Miss you too, Claire. Check your card in an hour, I`ll transfer you some money. I`ll call you later, my small beggar”.
I put the phone inside the pocket and at last started the car. The WIU headquarter stayed outside the city and it was a real military castle with no access inside and no way out, without permission to be more precise. It was a covered place, consisted of deferent types of wings and buildings which served for different purposes. A campus and school for children; a large library; the main building with the president’s office and even a small transporting point for officials. My aim was the office, so I checked the time on my watch and moved on. Having reached the large black door on the second floor I stopped for a moment, but then without knocking I came in. At a large round office table was sitting a young handsome man of about twenty-five – thirty. He had medium length dark hair and he was running his fingers through his hair as he was reading some papers. He had black trousers and a white shirt on. The suit coat was hanging on the back of the chair. As I came in he took his eyes off the papers and looks at me without any sign of surprise.
“I`m glad to see you too, Ingrassia”, his gentle voice underlined his mannish beauty. I can`t say for sure what I felt towards him, my feeling were really complicated. Sometime I could say that I felt abomination and hatred, but sometimes I even liked him. But no matter what I was thinking at a particular moment, passion and some attraction always followed me.
“What the fuck was yesterday, Sebastian? Why are you always trying to ruin my personal life? Everything was just fine, but you called me and fucked it up!”
“Hold on, Ingrassia, you are inside my office. And the number one rule you mustn’t forget is that your personal relationships mustn’t interfere with your working sphere. So, leave the office and come in again”.
I was ready to burst but instead of that I breathed out and left the place. The rule was really tough when your partner was your working partner and your lover was your boss. I knocked at the door.
“Come in”, he was as calm as always. In fact I had never seen him losing control, somehow he managed to be coldblooded all the time.
“You wanted to see me, Sir?”
“Yes”, he was looking through some other paper, “but first, put away your hysterics, they won`t do us any good. And I am not ruining your family nest. Was it me who made you switch off your phone and fly to Maiami to fuck with the whole cast of the TV show? Or was it me…”
“Stop it, Sebastian; I remember all my mistakes myself. There is no need to remind me. What`s the deal?” I dropped the subject, because I had absolutely no desire to discuss my personal life, especially when I knew how dreadful my actions were.
“The king of Arusia in the Thirtieth World. The price is high and the target is easy”, he stretched me a document, “just sign it and the deal is yours”.
“But he is seventy-five, that`s disgusting”, I took the document and ran through the lines.
“When did you obtain principles?” I was watching how he was pouring scotch into his glass, “Did you think of virtues when you were slaughtering the whole family last month?”
“No, Sir, I didn’t. Just give me the pen”. I signed the paper and threw away all thoughts that could prevent me from doing the job. Anyway, it was all about money, nothing personal. Then I came up to the door and turned the key in the keyhole to lock it. “I am all yours”.
“You are so not romantic!” Sebastian stepped into the adjoining room and sat on a black leather sofa which was standing next to the wall.
“Not romantic? I am sorry, next time I will light candles, bring a bottle of wine and won`t forget about roses, red roses, they symbolize passion”.
A moment later I found myself sitting on his lap kissing him on the lips. He was squeezing my hands so tough it hurt. I felt how I was becoming more and more excited. I felt how his nails were digging deep into the skin on my back. The stronger the pain was, the more I wanted him. I was touching him below, kissing his neck, his hot breast and muscular stomach. I didn’t see anything, my mind was blown by passion, and the only thing I could think of was he, his body, the fragrance of his perfume. Soon I would avoid him, hate him, blame him, but at the moment I was dissolving in him. It was the feeling I had never experienced with anyone else in the world, even Raul. That was pure wild passion that was taking me over. We were ready to get to the point; I was decisive pulling his pants down when suddenly a guy appeared at the door. It was a guy of about twenty with shoulder-length straight black hair and one blond streak in front. He was standing as if nothing had happened; he definitely was not embarrassed or confused.
“Damn it, Rolf! What about knocking?” Sebastian zipped up his trousers. He wasn’t shouting, he just raised his voice a little, but it was obvious that he didn’t care about the tricky situation. Neither did I.
“Hi, Rosiel. Oh, guys, you are so hot, especially together. I am not fond of the view of two guys laid together, but you too are amazing”, Rolf was examining us with a face of a producer who was choosing models for his new x-rated movie.
“You might have noticed that we are busy. So, what the hell do you need?” Sebastian was quietly spinning the glass of scotch watching pieces of ice moving on the bottom.
“Don’t worry, I won`t take much time. Just a few words. Anogo, the king of Jondo wants to tall about the entrance into the WIU. He is here, by the by”.
“No notion about manners and politeness. I am not speaking about the fact that I may be busy or not here at all. Those newly discovered worlds are just like barbarians. Modern music is too unfamiliar to them. I will handle this small problem, tell him to wait a little”, holding the glass in his right hand he was caressing my stomach and the part below. His movements were light and careless as if nobody had been in the room. That was the thing than made us closer to each other. Then he asked:
“What else, Rolf?”
“Princess Hanningway is holding reception. Everyone is supposed to come with a partner. She wants to know who you are coming with”, Rolf was reading the lines with a face of an ancient roman orator.
“No matter who you are, your relatives will always interfere into your life. You will be my partner, Rolf”, he pointed at Rolf, whose complacent smile was changed by astonishment, and Sebastian added: “That’s a punishment. For interrupting me”.
“Yes, my master, damn it”, he coughed, “So, now you can continue. Rosie, you`ve got a great ass. Even though I am not a fairy, you are hot”.
“Tell your ass, that you are not”, Sebastian kissed me on the shoulder.
“Try to disobey when your master orders”, Rolf sniffed and suddenly disappeared.
“Your servant is spoiled a little”, I was lying on the sofa ready for the show that “must go on”.

It was almost four p. m. when I met the family of Jeffersens. We had an appointment at one luxurious restaurant that in fact I had never liked. Such places are full of snobbery and demonstrative pomposity. Waiters shuttle back and forth pretending to be interested in making your stay at the restaurant comfortable and pleasant. But it fact they hate every part of your rich ass, because they will probably never afford dining at such restaurants like the one they are derving at. They would rather see you homeless or dead, and the only thing that stops them from murdering you is law and the idea that you can leave them huge tips. As far as I am concerned I don’t like to eat a salad and understand that somebody at my back wished my death. I come to such places as restaurants to relax and not to continue my ordinary working day. Anyway, there was something good in the meeting that day: Raul looked really smart in his suit, so serious and so impressive. I was trying to imagine how he would be looking without his shirt on as the son of Mr. Jeffersen came into the hall. Just at the moment I saw him I understood that I had already seen him before. In Washington, two years before.
I was seventeen, I was in Washington on business, checked a new district for immigrants, and wanted to chill after I had ended my duties. I was not intended to be a part of an overcrowded place, but somehow I got an invitation for an after-party of one rather popular at that time musical group. Two glasses of wine– and I was ready to leave the club. But a young handsome dark haired guy changed my plans. He came up to the table I was sitting at and asked me if he could join me.
“Sure. I wanted to go, but as you have joined me I think I have to stay a little bit longer. And for that purpose I need one more drink”, I lifted my hand to call for a waiter.
“Let me buy you a drink”, he smiled and after the waiter had reached our table he ordered a cocktail.
“Cherry lady? That`s really nice, but I wanted some whiskey or tequila. I understand that you are flirting, but you could have asked me first”. The guy looked a bit confused, that`s why I smiled and added: “relax, don`t take it serious”.
Step by step our conversation went on. I avoided talking much about myself, but I learnt that his name was Nickolas and he was a son of a prominent entrepreneur. After we had drank much enough he suggested us going to his place. The night was good enough and we not only had sex, but also drank Champaign, ate shrimps and watched a film. I left in the morning and had never seen his again before that day.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jeffersen. I will be following you during next few days”, I didn’t show that I recognized him, behaved as if I had never seen him before. But I could notice obvious anxiety in his eyes. He recognized me, there could be no doubt.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ingrassia”, we shook hands and took our places at the table.
We had a long official discussion about our collaboration which included all possible terms and conditions and, of course, my favourite part – the salary. I had heard everything I needed: I had to be next to Nickolas during the following days and was to get enough money to handle the drudgery. So, I was quite satisfied with the situation, the only thing that was stressing me out was Nickolas. He cast short glances at me every second, I felt like a celebrity that was spotted in a crowded place and whose fan was too shy to come by and ask for a signature. My thoughts were interrupted by the end of the official part of the day and by Raul who came up to me and said that he had to follow Mr. Jeffersen to an important business meeting while I had to get Nick home.
We were already at the door of his temporary apartment when he turned to me and said: “Come in”. That was so unexpected that I didn’t say a word in return and stepped inside.
“Are you going to continue pretending not to know me at all?” His voice was trembling and its owner was really nervous at the moment.
“Excuse me, Sir?” I guess my indifference puzzled him and made him angry.
“We are at my house, there is security system, you don`t have to protect me anymore, not taking into consideration the fact that I don’t need any protection, especially that one like you, but my father has his out ways, so be kind to act like you are not at work.”
“Ok, calm down”, his tone was absolutely unpleasant to me, “what the hack are you talking about, Nick?”
“I am talking about the fact that you act like nothing has happened between us. You are pretending not to know me at all!”
“That is not true. I remember that we got laid about two years ago. But what am I supposed to do? To scream it out around? To boast and tell everyone that Nick and I fucked at a Melbruke Hotel when I was seventeen? Is it what you are waiting for?” I didn’t know what else to say, Nickolas looked so disappointed that I started to feel uncomfortable.
“You were seventeen? What else didn’t you tell me?”
“I am sorry for not letting you read my autobiography first. I am still underage, I am nineteen, but who cares? That underage covers your ass right now and we somehow have to handle this. Let`s forget about it, ok?”
Nick made a deep breath, I saw that he was calling up his strength to tell me something, and some seconds later he finally spoke out, but his voice totally lacked decisiveness.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Was I supposed to?” I was rather surprised to hear a question like this. I searched through my memory trying to remember if we had met more than once, but the answer was “no”, there was the only night that didn’t promise any further contacts.
“You promised to”, he looked very nervous and he started speaking under his breath, “you asked me for my telephone number, kissed me and said that you would call and we would meet again”.
“Oh my, Nick”, I hardly believed my ears, “that`s just a matter of politeness. You get laid with someone and after that you say something like that. What would you prefer to hear instead of that? The night was ok, but not the best I have ever had, so let`s never meet each other again? Come on, Nick, that`s really stupid.”
“I have been waiting for the call for two years, I have been searching for you in bars and clubs. And here you are, live in New-York and hardly remember my name.”
“Damn it, Nick! I shouldn’t have gone with you that night! But how was I supposed to predict that a guy who bought me some drinks and invited me home after that was waiting for a long - lasting romance?”
I saw how devastated he was, he couldn’t say a word and was standing in front of me. As I was watching that scene something inside of me cracked for the very first time. The night that meant nothing to me meant so much for him. I didn’t remember his name and he had been waiting for one fucking call for two years. How many people could be in the same situation right now? How many of them could I have hurt? I refused to believe that people could be so innocent and fall for me such strongly like Nick had done once. As I was trying to comprehend that, I felt really sorry for the guy.
“Hey, Nick, listen, I didn’t want to sound it so tough. And I really was not intended to hurt you. I wonder if I can make it up to you somehow”, Nick lifted up his eyes to mine. His glance was so empty that I unintentionally though of myself being a total jackass.
“How is that?” by his voice I could understand that he wasn’t waiting for a good supposition.
“I don’t know. We can go out, I will buy you some coffee, so we can talk”, I was thinking of a better idea at the moment and somehow I found one. Raul was not supposed to come home that evening, nevertheless the idea was rather risky. I knew that if Raul had found it out, he could have reacted in a negative way. But I felt guilty at the moment, the feeling was unfamiliar to me, so I didn’t know how to act right in such occasions, so I decided to take my time, “Listen, I know what to do. My friend, no, to be more precise, a friend of my friend is giving a party that night. We can go there, have some fun. Maybe I will mend a little what I have done. Maybe you will even forgive me”. I could notice that Nick was coming to life step by step, then he smiled and said “yes”.
It was a typical student party that can be witnessed in many Hollywood movies. Very nosy, overcrowded and deadly drunk. In spite of the fact that the party had just begun, many students were already totally wasted. As I came to the hall, a blonde young and very pretty girl with wavy hair ran towards me, hugged me and kissed on the lips. She was wearing a Dior cocktail dress and hilled black shoes of the same brand. And this poor darling asked me for money.
“Honey, you have come! I am so glad. I haven’t seen you for the whole week. Who is that hot guy you have come with?”
“That`s Nick. Nick, this is my friend Claire.”
“Well, feel at home, bedrooms are upstairs, there are three of them in the house, but now two of them are occupied, so if you need one…”
“Claire, my darling, close your pretty mouth. You have said enough. We have just entered the house and you want us to get upstairs to fuck?” I pat her on the head. She pouted, frowned at me and added: “I am just trying to be helpful, I know your needs, baby. Oh,” she closed her mouth with the hand, “did I say something wrong again?”
I nodded and smiled. Sometimes she was unbelievably stupid.
“I think I`d better bring you something to drink. It can stop my overtalkativeness for a while. Guys, make yourself comfortable. I will be back in a few minutes, I just need to say a few words to Mike, we have just broken up.”
“Your boyfriends change faster than I can remember them”, I sat on the sofa and took a bottle of bear.
“Honey, they are real jerks, they are dumping me, that`s not my fault. By the way, I don`t count your partners which are hardly can be enumerated at all, so don`t count mine!” She emptied her glass of Champaign at once.
“One more word, Miss Melbruke, and I will suffocate you with your own hair strap”. Reminding Nick of the fact that he was just one-night fuck was not the best way to mend the situation.
“I speak too much when I am drunk, I will be back in a few minutes”. I closed my eyes and covered my face with the hand. The night was going to be interesting.



CHAPTER III
ANGEL OF DEATH

I was about twelve when I started to realize my personality, my interests and - as a consequence of the first two ones - my sexual preferences. I think that it is the age when all grown-ups start to try to understand themselves, when they suddenly realize that they don`t want o be treated like children, when boys throw away toy cars away and girl put dolls in the closet, oftener just symbolically because in fact they still want to play, but think that it is beyond their pride. Not surprisingly that this age is usually defined as a difficult one. Children become uncontrollable trying to show that they are already old enough to have their own opinion and make great efforts, gather all their childish strengths to prove them right. At the same time they are still only small children, with childish faces, bodies, voices and thoughts. That is why their word attacks and claims seem so clumsy, funny and sometimes even frustrating and annoying. That is exactly who I was at this ambiguous period of getting older. Besides it was the time when I ceased regarding Raul as my elder brother. Maybe I didn’t understand this feeling from the moment it appeared in my life, but I had quick sense of disgust when Raul and James, his ex-partner, which I had mentioned before and who is not among living people anymore, could be seen together. I couldn’t bear when they sent me to bedroom in the evening, because I was already able to understand that they simply wanted to get rid of an annoying boy hanging around and it really got me down. One day Raul was cooking some Indian curry and had already prepared many other dished, such as salads, sandwiches, pizza and, of course, a variety of spirits. Raul was in a really good mood and patted me on the head smiling as I was passing the stove by. I crinkled in return and sat on a chair not trying to hide my bad spirits beyond a smile and spoke up very bluntly.
‘You are going to send me to the dormitory for this evening and for the whole day of tomorrow, aren’t you? I heard you talking to James this morning. Am I a burden for you?’
‘What are you talking about, honey?’ Raul smiled at me really gently. He stopped cooking for a moment, came up to me and bent on his knees like we all do to have a talk with a child. He took my hands in his and looked in my eyes.
‘Don’t even think of such things, dear. You know how much we love you and how much we dare you, your little blond head and large blue eyes. You are our sweet little angel that flies around and brings us smiles and happiness. How can you say that you are a burden for us? But you know that sometimes adults have their own issues, so right now we will have an evening that is not exactly for such little angels like you’.
‘Sure’, I freed my hand from his, ‘because it will be a party for perverts, an orgy for fags like you’. I saw astonishment in his eyes and it made me feel that I was on the right way, ‘you always send me there when you don’t need me to be here because your queer friends make total mess here, and I am too young and vulnerable to see this. You know what? I know the truth and I am tired of being thrown away each time you want me to go. And stop pretending to be a loving uncle for me. You are nobody to me. And I hope that one day you will feel as mistreated and neglected as I do now. I am not going to live with you anymore, I don’t need your care anymore, take care of each other in your pervert way. I am fed up with your artificial care and love’. It was the last words I told him before I left his apartments for the dormitory. Now I understand that perhaps I intentionally underlined the fact of their sexual preferences, just because I felt I was growing with the same ones and was maybe a little bit afraid to accept it as it had not been as usual those days as it might seem today. So as a result we were getting further and further from one another each day before the momemt when a tragedy happened to James: he was shot dead during a demonstration on the main square of Ramor in the Thirtieth World. From this time on I felt that I had to return to Raul, be around, comfort and protect him because I understood that every person could vanish as unexpectedly as he or she appears. I didn’t want to lose Raul being with him at feud, didn’t want to understand that I had pushed back the person who had brought me up and who was the only person in the world that cared for me and who was far away just because of my teenage offended personality. I definitely decided to become the closest person to him in the whole world, someone who could replace James from his memory, who could be his best friend, a guarding angel and, as I realized sooner, his beloved partner. I managed to fulfill everything: I became the only one person he needed beside him; I became someone who erased James from his soul and heart. But I turned out to be unable to make him the happiest man in the world; instead of it I kept my promise and made him feel even more mistreated that I had been the evening I dared to say those words. I with could take them back and never say even a close word to this. But unfortunately it is beyond my power. I don’t know why this accident was so deeply implanted in my memory, maybe because it was the time when I lost myself forever, when I killed that small boy inside who wanted everyone in the world to be happy, who brought sun and light with him. It was the time when I closed the door to the innocence and dreams of bright future in the past. I simply became myself and I didn’t know if those changes were inevitable or I was doomed to become the way I was.
All those thoughts were rushing through my mind as I was lying in the bed with Nick next to me. He was caressing my arm and I saw infatuation in his eyes which didn’t bring me any feeling: neither pleasure nor irritation. Unlike some hours ago, when I felt sorry for him for a moment, he again was just a bare wall, maybe with rather nice wallpaper on it which was worth looking but nevertheless it was just an empty place that couldn’t arouse any emotions. Nick`s voice interrupted my thoughts.
‘So, you`ve had many boyfriends, haven’t you?’
‘What? No, I have many sex partners, not boyfriends’, I turned my head at Nick and looked into his eyes, ‘Let`s make something clear. You don’t expect me to become your boyfriend, do you?’ listening to silence and not hearing a single word in return I didn’t have to get an answer from him anymore. I sat up on the bad and made a deep breath.
‘Once bitten, twice shy. Doesn’t this expression seem familiar to you? Is it so funny to step on the same rake twice? If you get burnt touching a hot tea kettle, will you touch it again in order to check if the hot surface can burn your skin again? Will you eat boiled worms for the second time if the first time you tried it you vomited? I guess no. Then why do you get laid with me and wait for a a beautiful romance when you know what I did last time? Do you think I have changed?’
Nick nervously and quickly shrugged his shoulders and reached for a glass of some red-blue cocktail to drink a little from it, after that he spoke up.
‘Why are you so against having a boyfriend? Why are you so biased against relationships? Are you afraid of responsibility?’
‘No, I am just already ruining someone’s life and I am not taking yours or somebody else’s’.
‘You mean you have a boyfriend?’ after I nodded he was definitely disappointed. He tried to put his glass back on the bedside table but it fell off his hand, broke down and small pieces of glass were scattered all over the floor, ‘why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Did I have to? And watch your moves, your lady`s drink has covered the carpet with some blue curasao or another blue liquid that they have added into your drink’, I made a deep breath, how pathetic he was with all his hopes and affection. I looked into his deep brown eyes and took his face with my hand slightly kissing him on the lips, ‘Come on, don’t be a drama princess. Cheer up, we will have to work together and inevitably see each other as long as the electoral campaign of your father goes on. Your father is paying rather generously and I am not going to terminate the contract and pay the fee. So, you`d better get used to my face, my nasty manners and don’t take me seriously. After all I am just your security, how many of them have you already had? I bet many of them. Now calm down, breath and maybe we will even become friends’.
‘Friends? Do you think we will be able to?’ I saw a slight sign of hope in his eyes.
‘Why not? Providing you promise not to propose to me’, I ran my fingers through his hair, ‘Get dressed, we are not the ones on the party who want to get laid, so let`s leave the room for someone else’.

Being arrogant and nasty, having a selfish, egotistic and even cruel personality - it is the thing that I have always been trying to fight and accept at the same time. On the one hand it was my gift that I could love nobody, have nobody and be happy with that, but on the other hand it was my curse that I always hurt someone I loved and couldn’t feel guilty or ashamed for my behaviour. It might sound unbelievable, but all my life I have been struggling for the opportunity to have those feelings, to be able to love, care, become at least a bit sensitive, but nothing happens when you passionately and strongly desire it. Only when you let it go, only when you lose all hope, close your eyes and swim with the stream – only then life can smile with satisfaction, tern itself into a charity organization and throw your old dream into your face as a fifty cent coin into the cap of a beggar. The same thing was happening to my charming wish which I shared with Tinman – to have a heart. Especially difficult it was to achieve because my emptiness and cruelty were not a consequence of bad upbringing or the lack of parents` care which as well might have made its definite contribution. But the main point is that all those features are my inherited and innate part, I have got it with my blood. My ancestors lived in the First World, the world that Sebastian comes from.
Long ago three major races lived on its territory: human, demons and angels. Demons and angels didn’t have anything in common with Bible or myth characters, those names were artificially created by inhabitants of the world. So those races never were united enough; from time to time clashes between them arouse and could even escalate into wars. First and foremost they fought for power and superiority over each other. Human beings suffered most of all because they didn’t possess any magical and supernatural capabilities while demons were very strong, fast, could manipulate consciousness of others and were able to protract large claws that resembled dragon claws – it was the reason why they got their name – demons. Angels were also much stronger than people, they could heal, manipulate and control nerve-endings of other living creatures; they often used their ability to ease pain during operations because they simply could block sensibility of nerve-endings. Besides, they possessed extraordinary beauty and it was perhaps the major reason why they were called angels: very light skin, always graceful figure, faces as though they were made of porcelain and extraordinary ability of endless forgiveness and kindness. Those so-called angels helped people to survive and repel against demons for many ages, but one day a part of them changed. Some say that it was a simple evolution; others say it was a result of blood mixture of demons and angels. Nevertheless angels were divided into two branches: angels of life and angels of death. New deadly ‘angels’ possessed the same capabilities as the ones described above but directed them into another channel, were much stronger, aggressive and were war-like creatures. They didn’t support people like their ancestors, they liked to seize, to possess, to rob and kill. They found a new application for the ability to manipulate nerve-endings: they caused a pain shock and saw their victims dying. As a result settlements of earlier supported people were put on fire, citizens were murdered or enslaved while women and girls were raped as endless and unlimited lust was another integral part of their essence. As time went by large-scaled wars broke out between the races. People saw that they had no chance to win, that is why they fled from the world and created a quite well-known to all of us world – the one where we live now. They cut all ties with the interworld community for many centuries in order to be safe and sound, forget about dreadful massacres in their villages and keep children from harm. Even now only a limited part of our people knows about existence of other worlds, the majority of them regard it as a fairy tail. So, refugees assimilated with local people and helped to build many countries and cities. It is the reason why our worlds nowadays are so alike and even often may have the same names of cities and countries. At the same time angels and demons continued their bloodshed and slaughter. Nobody wanted to give up but in the end demons came out on top. Almost all representatives of ‘angels’ were murdered, only some of them managed to escape and settle somewhere in other worlds.
Later the First World evaluated and became the most developed in universe. It doesn’t wage wars anymore and is respected by the rest of universe, because it helps lagged out worlds, gives financial and military assistance to every society that needs help. On the whole it has become a kind of an economic hegemony. It also was the one that invented an idea of creation of such unity as the WIU. Now it is inhabited with demons of different social levels and also includes specially formed towns for immigrants.
After you have got a short excursion into history and know more or less its grounds, let`s set the record straight: here I am, a descendant of angels of death, of one of those rare creatures that managed to flee during final wars. In spite of the fact that many generations my origin didn’t reveal itself and was even forgotten and regarded to have been routed out because of heterogeneous marriages I happened to get the whole collection of ‘pearls’; all mentioned features were accumulated within my body. That is why my innate nature was so difficult to suppress and defeat even though if we compare my ancestors to me it can become clear that I achieved great success in imitation of a normal human life. As you might have already guessed Sebastian is a close relative of those exactly demons that murdered my grand-grandparents. Not to underestimate him in your eyes I won`t forget to say that he is from the royal family, a prince to be more exact, he is also a possible hair of the throne. That is the major reason why I hate him and feel affection at the same time. By blood directs me against the enemy of my race and my human lustful part wants me to be close to a hot handsome man. So this is my rather complicated life which I haven’t asked for but which I was urged to lead from the day I was born and the day my parents were killed. I was a rare precious stone which was found by the WIU, was faceted and owned forever as a perfect death spreading machine.