Maniacs in The Fourth Dimension (20 page)

''Everybody
remembers Prometheus and what he did for Man, but nobody remembers
Pan. Bet ya didn't know ya yank that little pecker of yours,
because Pan shared his favorite pass time activity with your
ancestors?''

''I don't do that.''

I slipped the
knife fwom the table in my pocket. Blade is not shawp, not shawp
enough to slit his thwoat. I will have to go fow a stwong stab at
his chest. I have to hit his heawt. I have to hit that space
between the wibs, or othewwise, it will not wowk.

''Me neither.
These forests are full of beautiful nymphs, and I can't stand their
singing without me between their thighs.''

''Why awe you saying things like
that?!''

''Like what?''

''Vulgaw things. Please stop, it
makes me uncomfowtable.''

''Well,
sorry, I was just being honest. But, those nymphs are really sweet
things, they bring all this food for me, they dance around me, they
tease me, I can never resist their sexy hooves.''

''Nymphs don't have
hooves!''

''
'Nymphs don't have hooves!' You don't know
nymphs, boy. What part of the female body you relish the
most?''

''You awe vulgaw again.''

''I'm asking you, one guy to
another, nothing to be ashamed of. Ass, tits, what?''

''Hew face. I
always look at hew face.''

''Every woman has a face, and
tits and ass and the rest, but only nymphos have hooves, sweet
bushy-''

''I have to use the
toilet!''

I can't listen to him anymowe. I
have to end this now.

''There's a
latrine, just before the forest.''

''I can't see
it, can you take me thewe?''

''It's right there, just go
around the house.''

''Can you show me, please?''

He got up,
pulled a Santa cap out of his pocket, and put it on his
head.

''Ho ho ho, follow me.''

He smiled. He made me feel
sowwy. But, the path led me hewe fow a weason. I'm sowwy old man,
but I need youw life fowce, I need it to go on. I don't think
anyone will miss you, not Pan, ow youw 'nymphos', they exist only
in youw head.

He walked,
and I walked behind him, I gwipped the knife fiwmly in my hand, the
moment we weach the commode, and he tuwns awound, I will stab it in
his chest, just bellow his left nipple, I have to hit that space
between the wibs, and hit his heawt.

I have to be calm, exhale,
inhale, the stab has to be stwong when the moment comes.

Hewe we awe.

Now.

Exhale. Inhale.

He's opening the doows of the
commode.

Now.

He's tuwning
awound.

Now.

Now.

''Now, do I
need to hold your dick while you piss too?''

NOW.

Oh, shit.

''Well, well. You sting, little
catholic.''

The handle is sticking out of
his chest!

''You came to
my house, you ate the food from my table, and then you tried to
kill me. Only parasites kill their hosts. And you thought you can
kill a god with cutlery?''

Dobermans!

''You have thirty seconds to get
the fuck out of here, before I let my dogs at you.''

Oh, God!

''Run, boy, RUN!''

Chapter
fifty
seven

''Kristen!
Wait!''

She's not slowing down.

''Please
Kristen, I can't walk that fast!''

She's not talking to me since
this accident that occurred. Not just that she's not talking to me,
but she's ignoring my whole existence. And she's walking so fast
that I can't follow her. She wants me gone.

''Why are you so stubborn? I
apologized, I'm sorry!''

We stole a
motor boat, and headed for the gate of Al-Miraj. But, a horrible
storm caught us, all with rain, thunders, and huge waves. Marky the
moron fell out, and he pulled me with him, and I, repeating his
course of action, grabbed Kristen's shirt as I was falling, and
pulled her with us. It was an accident. We screamed for others, but
they didn't return for us. Kristen and I made it to the shore, we
didn't see that fucking retard anymore. She punched me. She didn't
say anything, but the look on her face said it all. I'm following
her ever since.

She's not slowing down. She
doesn't care about anything I say, she doesn't give a fuck about
me. And I tried so hard.

''Will you
just fuckin' listen to me! The only reason I came to this fuckin'
journey was you, I followed you like a little dog, and I'm still
following you! I did horrible, evil things along with the others,
just to be close to you, and you don't want to give me a promille
of your attention!''

She stopped.

''You are a disease,
Alden.''

She turned around.

''You are a
tick that digs itself in the lifes of others, because you don't
have a life of your own, and you don't know how to go away. I keep
telling you I don't want you around me, but you just don't
understand, you're staring at me like a stupid little animal. No
more. I'm taking you out, Alden. We're done.''

''You little slut! Don't turn
your back on me!''

I pulled her ba-

''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! AAAH! AAAH! WHAT THE
FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?! YOU BROKE MY ARM! CHRIST
GOD! AND MY LEG!''

''It's called
Krav Maga. Only your leg is broken. Your arm's
dislocated.''

''SHIT! SHIT!
WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! I CAN'T MOVE KRISTEN, YOU CAN'T JUST
LEAVE ME HERE! KRISTEN! YOU FUCKIN' BITCH, AT LEAST COME BACK AND
FINISH ME YOURSELF! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU SELFISH LITTLE SLUT! LOOK
AT ME! LOOK AT ME! TURN AROUND! ''

I'll show
you... I'll show you... I'll break both of your... tiny little
legs... you're not going anywhere...

''DIE!''

Oh, shit. Oh, shit, what did I
do?!

''Kristen? Kristen?!''

She's not moving. Oh, god, I
killed her.

''Please, Kristen say
something!''

Oh, god. I
killed her.

''HELP! HELP!
CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! I NEED HELP! HELP! HEEEEEEEEELP!
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!''

Chapter fifty eight

''Engelherz,
where are we going now?!''

''You will see.''

Three days.
Three days on the road, driving from one weird place to another,
shiting and pissing in the bushes, eating things that are not
edible, and sleeping in the car. Engelherz said he'll help us find
a way home, but somehow I doubt he has that on his mind. His
behaviour is erratic, this presentation of him as a free spirit of
nature that impressed Edwin so much, is not holding up anymore.
He's a man on the edge of his nerves. Neither once did his green
eyes look at mine when he spoke, and when I speak to him, he's
barely showing any signs that he's listening. This is the man we
depend on.

Yesterday, he
dragged us to some enclave populated with black African people.
There, he extorted cash from some unfortunate guy, using threats.
He said he collected a debt. From there he took us to some military
warehouse, where he bought some electronic display with wires
sticking out of it, from a black guy in a military uniform. He
spoke some English. He asked us are we his biographers. And I can't
shake the impression that it wasn't some three figured dimension we
visited, but that it was simply Africa.

Engelherz has
some maps that I can't read, but I think I know what they're for. I
think he uses them to predict the locations of appearances of
dimensional cracks. Who knows how many times did Engelherz drove us
through these portals without us even noticing. Maps are drawn by
hand on a plastic transparent sheet. He probably drew them himself.
He uses them by putting several sheets over each other. One sheet
is, that much I understand, geography of the area. Second one is a
time map, minute, hour, day, month, year. Third one could be
thermal map. For the rest, I don't have any idea what they could
be. It's possible that when all necessary parameters are combined,
time and place of the opening of the crack can be
predicted.

God, if that
yesterday really was Africa, we were so close to home.

He stopped
the car in the middle of an empty dirt road, and turned off the
engine.

''Did you see
it?!''

''Saw what?''

He got out of
the jeep, and went off the road. Edwin and I went after
him.

Sweet Jesus...

''Do you see it now?''

Gnawed human skeleton. Covered
in flies.

''Bbbwwwwww... Bbbwwwrrrrgggkkkhaaa...''

Edwin puked.

''Don't look at it, Ed.''

I got him water from the
car.

''Wash out.''

''It's that guy from the
convention...'', he mumbled: ''Look at his shirt...''

Shit...
Covered in blood and ripped to pieces... Patriots shirt. It's the
guy that punched me.

''What could have done something
like this?!''

''I don't
know'', said Engelherz: ''Piranhas? Siafu ants, maybe.
North-African cannibal pixies...''

Did he say
'cannibal pixies'?! A vision flashed before my eyes, of flock of
Tinkerbells attacking the patriot and eating him to the bare bones.
Morbid. I'm going mental.

''This place is freakin' me out.
Throw something over him, and let's get the fuck out of here.''

Chapter fifty nine

A
distorted picture, much like a mirage, appeared directly in front
of us, and Marco drove through. That was a crack between worlds.
Our surroundings changed to a gravel road that led through the
fields, and forked many times, before it took us through the
forest, and ended in front of a cave in the
mountainside.

See the image below, of the spectacular cave's
entrance:

''I must counsel Sibylla, her words may foretell the
outcome of our journey'', spoke Marco, and my veins ran with
excitement, for I realized we are about to enter the dwelling of
the Sibyl, oracle of the ancient world. Marco paid what is due, and
her servants led us through the bowels of the mountain. Lit by
flaming torches along the way, we entered the chamber of the
Sibyl.

And what a site did we encounter! A green flame rose from
the floor of the chamber, all the way to its ceiling, creating a
wall of fire, behind which a black silhouette of a naked female
floated in the air. ''Wizard of Oz'', muttered Hubert to his
chin.

Marco climbed the stairs of the platform, from which he
spoke to her, kneeling down. ''Oh, great Sibylla, I seek your
advice! I feel in my heart, that my moment has come! You know what
I lust for, give me a good omen!'' A gentle female voice, almost
the voice of a child, came from all sides of the
chamber.

Immortal is the fame of
colossus

Behind the walls of great
tzar

But not every heros is destined
for greatness

Nor every brightness a star

The oracle replied him in a wonderful quatrain, which I
immediately wrote down, so I wouldn't leave it only to fragility of
our memories. ''No! No! No!'', Marco was desperate for different
words: ''Do not send me away like this!'', but the the Sibyl has
spoken.

All of a sudden, Hubert approached the wall of fire.
''Okay, my turn. How many fingers am I holding behind my back?''
''Do not insult the oracle!'', Marco yelled at him. ''I'll give you
two tries'', continued Hubert. Unexpectedly, she replied. ''Even
your will can be broken, even your intellect can be fooled.''
''What, no quatrains for me?''

And then they kicked us
out.

''At least
you got my dialogues right'', said Hubert.

He said that
because I decorated Marco's sentences a bit. Makes it more
dramatic.

''Read to me Sibylla's prophecy
once more'', said Marco: ''Slowly.''

He's trying to analize words of
the quatrain, looking for hidden meaning. But, I'm afraid, it's
meaning is clear. Not every hero is destined for greatness.