The Nav

Emil couldn’t sleep. The light of the Sun illuminated his face through the open window. He tossed around in the bed yet somehow his hands were never quite comfortable. He came to a conclusion.

“I am not tired at all!” It wasn’t the insomnia that he had got somewhat used to. He genuinely didn’t feel like he needed to rest or sleep.

“Well maybe I will make it to the lectures after all.” He got up and started scouring the room to find his bag and clothes. He stopped at his mirror.

“Oh, God!” He saw his eldritch eye, completely blind and slashed by an ugly scar. He was deathly pale, but compared to the eye it didn’t seem all that important. “Oof, I can’t go out like this.” He scrambled for the hairbrush and combed his raven hair over the grotesque eye.

“I look like an idiot,” he acknowledged in full honesty. He hunted around for alternatives and ended up in the bathroom. He found a bag of cotton padding and let out a big sigh. He hunted the cupboards for scissors and some elastic string.

“I guess it will be conspicuous one way or the other.” He made a crude eyepatch and put it on. “I hope nobody makes any pirate jokes.”

He gathered the rest of his things and went out. He felt no need to eat anything either. He went out on his way. The Sun was burning hot in the early morning yet he wasn’t sweating at all.

“My evenings keep getting weirder,” he mumbled to himself. He touched the large eyepatch and clicked with his tongue. He spent the journey brooding over the events of the weekend. This time he was sure that everything truly happened. The violin and the masks were hard proof of the festivity and the blind eye and the ruined clothes were a testament to the …

“Wait, what even happened with that woman? Am I … no, I can’t be dead?” The memory of being buried came back to his mind and he felt sick. If he was capable of going paler, he would do so.

He came to the faculty earlier than usual and spent some time wandering the empty hallways. He found his classroom and stood at the door, deep in thought. There were some people already inside.

“Move it Dead boy,” said a voice behind him. He trembled in shock and moved from the door. A slim figure with wavy flaxen hair and bright clothes passed Emil and entered the classroom. He weakly extended his hand and said in a breaking voice “Wait …” By the time he said that Estera was already surrounded by other girls. There was no way to say anything to her. Emil was still in a minor shock from what she had said, but thought that on the other hand he had been called some similar things before on account of his appearance and behaviour.

“How do I find out if she actually knows about me?” He thought and made his way towards his usual seat. Soon after Tobias entered the classroom upon seeing Emil he waved and immediately approached him.

“Hi Emil.”

“Hey Tobi.”

“Say, are you doing fine?”

“Well you were somewhat aloof on Friday and I sent you a bunch of messages that you ignored and now you came here with an actual eyepatch.”

“Oh, yeah I suppose I was feeling a bit ill on Friday and I woke up with an eye infection. I had it checked out by a doctor.”

“Haha, that’s crazy, you really had me worried there. I even had to resist greeting you in a pirate voice. But seriously try to respond to messages. I know that you have your days when you just ignore everything, but when you already act weird it just worries me and Kasia.”

“Sorry about that, I know. I will try my best.”

In a while Kasia joined them as well and immediately chastised Emil for ignoring her.

“Yes I know, I am sorry, Tobi already explained this in great detail.”
“Well then this is to make sure it sticks with you. Also this week we are having a party together so think of the day that suits you best.”

“Oh yes, films, games, drinks and unhealthy food I’m good any time”

“All right then how about Thursday evening?”

“Yes that should work for me as well. It is decided then. I will choose the film this time.”

“Well fine but it better not be The Lord of the Rings again.”

“Hey watch it, those are all great films.”

“Yes I know, we have already seen them twice together and many times before we even met.”

“Fine, it will be something else. We meet at Tobi’s house. Yargh!”

“Yargh matey.”

“Please don’t.”

At that point the professor showed up and started the lecture. The trio each took their place and tried to keep up. Emil fully expected to be consumed by fatigue like he usually was after not getting enough sleep, but for he realised that he didn’t feel tired at all. For once he could follow the lecture with no problems and with full attention. Well, almost full anyway. What Estera said that morning still nagged at him and disturbed his composure.

After the lecture was finally over he took a glance at Estera and saw her promptly leave the classroom. He got up and followed behind her. She went along the turns of the hallway and stopped at the bathroom door. Emil stopped a bit behind her. She turned around and extended her hand in a fist towards him. He responded by outstretching his own arm.

“Tonight, boy, don’t be late.” She placed her fist into Emil’s hand and placed a crumpled piece of paper there.

“Wait I,” Emil started, but she just turned around and entered the bathroom, not saying another word. He stood there stunned for a bit, then as more girls came to use the bathroom, he quickly went over to the men’s side so since he was already conspicuous enough with his eyepatch. He didn’t need to look like a pervert as well. Once inside the bathroom he locked himself in a stall and took a look at the paper. It contained a time and an address.

“Well I hope this meeting will go better than my last date,” he thought to himself and gave a low chuckle. Not using the stall for its intended purpose, he flushed the toilet anyway and washed his hands. He made his way back to class.

“Dude you ran off again.” Tobias and Kasia awaited him with their arms crossed.

“Oh come on, I just went to the bathroom.”

“All well with the eye?”

“Yes, thank you Kasia.”

Once it was time for lunch the three of them went together to their usual sandwich place. Emil felt no hunger but still ordered his usual chicken sandwich. He took a bite and made a disgusted face. It tasted like dirt.

“Whoa what’s wrong?” Tobias asked and gripped Emil’s shoulder.

Emil quickly tried to regain his composure.

“The salad was a bit bitter, it took me by surprise.”

“You should eat your vegetables otherwise you won’t be able to stave of scurvy for long”

Both Tobias and Kasia burst into laughter.

“Ah my eye!” Emil groped his eye in pain. Both Tobias and Kasia gasped and hurried to his side.

“The demon I can no longer contain it. It will come and destroy the entire city.” Emil lurched forward in an exaggerated manner and raised one hand to the sky, still clutching the sandwich.

“You idiot, my heart nearly stopped.” Kasia punched Emil in the shoulder.

“I can’t have the two of you have all the fun now can I?”

Tobias laughed and soon both of the others joined as well. They finished the food together. Emil struggled with every bite and hoped that it didn’t show. When he decided it was safe enough he wrapped the rest of it back in the paper bag and threw it in a rubbish bin.

They returned to the faculty, and went their separate ways to their own lectures. In his lecture Emil was seated across the way from Estera and took a couple of quick glances at her. She never acknowledged his actions at any extent at all. He decided to concentrate on the lecture instead and keep the strange encounter out of his mind. As the lecture ended he looked around, but Estera was nowhere to be seen. He went into the hall, but she was already gone.

“Looking for someone?” Emil gave a start as Kasia spoke up behind him.

“I thought I saw Tobi but it was someone else.”

“Yeah, he left already, said something about going to buy food on discount.”

“I see.”

“Say Emil, you know I totally understand your need for solitude. I mean I am pretty much the same. I usually leave you to your own devices, but seriously. I want you to talk to me, if there is anything troubling you.”

“Thanks Kasia, I know. I will try and talk to you more, but this time I was just feeling to unwell to do anything. I felt sick and tired.”

“That’s good enough for now. Just be sure to keep this up. And be careful if you are ever outside in the evenings. I keep hearing about some creep going around in the dark on the news.”

Emil listened and chuckled at the notion of a person scaring people, but then it came to him.

“Wait, is it me?” Were his silent thoughts. He fought to not let it show on his face and answered her.

“Understood, but I can take care of myself, I hope that you are staying safe yourself.”

“Of course I am. The reason I told you is because you sometimes pay no attention to your surroundings so you would probably just walk right past somebody threatening you with a knife,” she laughed as she said it, but in her eyes she showed genuine concern.

“All right, I’ll pay more attention. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, get better soon.”

“Thanks, bye.”

Emil returned to his apartment and walked around in a circle for a while.

“What does she know? Did she see the cat? Probably not the date. That wouldn’t be any reason to call me over. Was she in the forest? Is there something else I’m missing?”

He looked around and saw the violin that he had brought home. It was old and the wood was full of scratches and was dark with age. The varnish was old, faded and cracked. It had already come off in some spots. The design was unusual. Beside the scratches there was also some intricate carving done on the top plate. The scroll was in the shape of a cat. The details were faded and one of the ears was missing, but it was unmistakably a cat. Emil shook uncomfortably at the memory. With all the strange events that had come all at once he was unable to really process the first event that really shook him. He sat with the curious violin in his hands and thought about the dreams in which the green eyes looked down on him.

“Is it the same one?” He thought.

With nothing else to do he took his bow and tuned the violin. The strings were darkened by use, but still gave an alluring and deep sound. He tried playing a scale and remembered the music that was played at the party. He tried playing some melodies, but was only able to recollect fragments of themes that were occupying his mid for most of the day. They were now fading away as if becoming transparent within his mind. He quickly went and wrote down the fragment of the theme that he had just played. But when he played it back the music sounded forlorn and melancholic. Despite that he was still sure that the notes should be correct at least for the most part.

After he finished playing he looked up the address that he received from Estera online and tried to memorize the way there. He readjusted his eyepatch and left the apartment. His destination was in the part of the city he hadn’t been before so he made sure he kept the way there in his mind all the time. It was a welcome distraction from the thoughts that kept bothering him all the time. He passed an old part of the city and came into a street populated by various houses and apartments. He took a twisting path along side alleys and came to an old apartment building. It was old yet well maintained.

As soon as he was at the door it opened slightly.

“You are late boy.” He wasn’t late, but he decided against arguing.

“Hey so, about …”

“Not now, follow me.” Emil entered the building and followed Estera. He decided that this time he wouldn’t drink anything. They stopped in her living room. She locked the door and drew the curtains over her windows.

“There, now we can talk. First of all get rid of this ridiculous thing.” She reached towards Emil and ripped his eyepatch off. He tried to cover his scarred eye.

“Don’t bother, I expected something like this anyway.”

Emil let his hands drop.

“How do you know about me?”

“Well I saw you of course. You played the violin quite well. But you really shouldn’t show up at that place unmasked. It’s bad luck. In fact I will just say it right away. I brought you here because I don’t want you to make my life harder for me because of your stupidity.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s quite simple really. We two are of the same kind. We are the nav”

“The what?”

“We are the living dead.”

“But why?”

“Oh many reasons. Some are the murdered and others are killers. There are many who suffered tragic and premature deaths. You can just consider yourself lucky that you are not one of the drowned dead. The colour and smell would make sure that you couldn’t just put on an eyepatch and waltz around as if nothing had happened. Anyway sometimes it’s also just old Veles playing his tricks.”

“Wait Veles as in the Slavic god of the underworld?”

“Well underworld, earth, water, livestock, wealth, music, magic, trickery and so on. Though whether he is an actual god is something I can’t really say. He is definitely old and powerful. You already meet him by the way. You were at his party.”

“Was he the wolf man or the serpent?”

“Both, he can choose to appear in many forms, but you should be able to tell when it’s really him.”

“This is a lot to take in,” Emil sighed and leaned back in the sofa. “So I really died.”

“Yes, no doubt about it. But this is exactly my point. I don’t particularly care how you ended up like this. But I need you to act natural. Since entering you drew breath exactly once, which is when you sighed. You don’t have a need to breathe, but you still need to do it regardless. Showing up with an eyepatch was a good idea, since it drew attention from your deathly complexion, but it won’t work for long. Wait here.”

Estera left the room. Emil was alone with his thoughts racing.

“I definitely meet some of the criteria of the nav, but is it all that happened combined or just one?”

“Here we go boy.” Estera returned with a large box and a mirror.

“My name is Emil.”

“Estera, pleasure. We need to do something about this eye.”

She opened the box and it was full of makeup. She started setting down various creams, bottles and powders, all the while closely inspecting Emil’s face. He looked bewildered at the emerging pile of makeup. He had no idea what any of it was.

“Let’s focus on the scar. This will be more work. First apply the primer.” As she listed steps she was already working on Emil’s face. He observed her progress in the hand mirror.

“Now we need to correct the colours. We will just use green and yellow and apply them with a sponge. Now I will apply the cover drops with a brush to hide the colours. And now I’ll set it with translucent powder and setting spray.”

She stopped and looked at the scar, very pleased with her work.

“It takes a while to do, but it is absolutely necessary. Your eye has become quite a bit paler, so you need to get yourself a pair of coloured contact lenses. They sell those at the optician a couple of streets from the faculty. Anyhow, let’s continue with the rest of your face. I will just use the moisturiser, primer, foundation and concealer. But honestly even in your living days you were pale, so you could probably get away with even less work.”

She put the used makeup in a smaller box and handed it to Emil.

“Oh wow, thank you,” he said as he put the box down beside himself on the sofa.

“Whoa, hold on there boy. You aren’t that handsome. Hand me your wallet.”

Emil did so with a sad look on his face. The week hasn’t been great for his financial situation. Estera smirked at the meagre contents and took out most of the banknotes.

“If you ever run out, just buy the same thing. It’s all from the department store from the city centre.” She tossed the wallet back.

“Got it. Say I have some more questions.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“I haven’t really needed sleep since I became like this and also food tastes disgusting.”

“Oh yeah, I knew I forgot something. So no more sleep for you at all. Unless you manage to achieve your eternal sleep that is. You won’t eat normal food any longer. Now you depend on the grace of Veles. Every now and then he will summon you to his glade along with his other victims and hold a festival where he bestows his blessings upon his domain of nav. Next time you are there remember to have a drink from his tree.”

She got up and stretched.

“If there is nothing else, you should be on your way.” She gestured towards the exit.

“Right, well thank you for everything.” He headed towards the door and stopped. “Hey, how long have you been like this?”

“I might tell you one day, but you shouldn’t count on it. Bye now.” She gestured towards the door. Emil left, clutching the small box under his right arm.