Volume III. Chapter 7. Cold village home

Chapter 7. Cold village home
After working the required time without days off and without time to eat, Kenji Crassus takes another day off from work. After having fun for a couple of days with his beloved friend, on one dark night they drive to that place deep in the forest where they had been only once before. Dice sure knows how to drive – this time he didn't even really look at the navigator. Our red‑haired guy stumbled toward that same area where he had led his elf girl with short peach‑colored hair last time – the one he had searched for when he first saw her, the one he missed. Surprisingly, the girl was carried out to him in the arms of two men, probably in long black cloaks. Both had black masks on their faces and hoods on their heads – basically couldn't even see their eyes. They held the girl carefully, wearing black gloves on their hands, or maybe it was just dark. In front of them walked the head of the territory, named Aura. This time she had a wreath on her head, but Kenji didn't pay much attention to the flowers. What he remembered was that her hands were clasped in front of her. After praying and saying whatever else she asked him to say, the girl was handed directly into his arms, wrapped in a black hooded cloak that was fastened with buttons. He took her in his arms and carried her to the car.They drove back, the three of them, calmly. The woman's voice from the navigator kept them company half‑and‑half. The road was pretty hard to see – they were driving on a really terrible road, a bad road, forested and rocky. Dice kept cursing, and since the girl was asleep, it was funny to listen to him whisper about the crappy headlights on his car.Dc-man, these lights don't shine for shit!The navigator said to turn left, but on the left there was only a bush and a swamp.Dc-am I supposed to drive right over this bush!?Dawn was breaking, the first rays of sunlight slowly started to gently embrace the windshield of the damn car, which made him not even want to drive anymore, so in his slightly‑better‑than‑a‑bucket car, Dice just started driving straight through the bushes!In her thoughts, Kasye kept waiting for the loud clang of a metal tray, or at least the sound of bells. But she woke up lying on someone's lap, with someone whispering about her continuing to sleep. Her body was very tired, and the fact that she was allowed to keep sleeping made her really happy. Too bad she couldn't turn over – she had to sleep facing one direction. Nausea wouldn't leave her alone. In that sleepy state, the girl mumbled:Ks-Chris..topher...Kenji, on whose lap she was actually lying, just glanced at her and continued staring into the pitch‑black darkness outside the window.***Cold. It's cold again. The blanket felt heavy. "How long did I sleep?" That was the only question that popped into Kasye Peach's head after waking up. A room. New, unfamiliar – a room again. Her eyes were sticky, but she managed to spot next to the bed made of rusty iron, a nightstand with a clear, old glass of water on it. Pressing all her fingers together into one big scoop, she dipped them into the water and rubbed her eyes with her wet fingers, since she'd just woken up. She did that about three times, but she still couldn't see well.Suddenly – the sound of a toilet flushing. This character never shows up without some shame! Slamming the door, Kenji Crassus walked into the main room. Putting both hands on his hips, he yawned and stretched, then took a couple of steps toward the bed where his friend – the one who had brought them all here – was sitting.Dc-have you washed your hands?Kj-give me back my glasses!The exchange between these two geniuses led to the fact that Dice, during the whole time the redhead was in the bathroom, had been reading a sketchy old newspaper he'd found on the floor under the bed, wearing Kenji's glasses. Turns out he can't see a damn thing through them, but he still managed to take a couple of selfies for his wife. Anyway, he gave the glasses back and repeated that he can't see a damn thing through them! Kenji started staring at that newspaper, which was still in his friend's hands. It had some news in it from almost the last century – the kind of stuff you only read in the bathroom.Dc-your girl's awake.Said the one holding the newspaper, quietly. Kenji looked at her – Kasye was still washing her face, dipping her fingers into the glass.Kj-I spit in it!He yelled, pointing his index finger at the glass – even though he hadn't actually spit in it.Ks-good for you.The girl replied briefly. I mean, who else would spit in a glass of water!The house was pretty old. Everyone was in one room, which entered directly from the front door, and to the right of the front door was the bathroom. The room was rather empty, just a few old closets lined up along one wall. There were only two beds in the room — one against the wall between two closets, and the other by the window with an old nightstand next to it, from which not only the paint but also the wood itself had been gnawed away by someone. The floor was wooden and had been painted over thousands of times, with just a few colorful rugs lying around randomly. The ceiling was really weird. The whitewash was crumbling, and it was caked with paint. It was made of planks, and two of them lay in the opposite direction from the rest, which reinforced the ceiling and made it look very strange in shape — those parallel boards weren't level with the main ones. The bed where the main character had spent the night was facing the window. The window was old, still wooden, and nailed shut in some places with a lot of enthusiasm! Through it, some kind of landscape completely covered in something white. It sparkled in the sun, and through it, some bush branches were growing, but for some reason they had no leaves at all!Kj-what's out there, Kasye Peach?Kenji came over to the bed and asked her slyly what she saw in the window. Lifting her head, Kasye saw that Dice had also gotten up from his bed and walked over to his friend. The two guys, with sly but rather creepy smiles, were looking at the girl lying on the bed in a cotton tank top and shorts, covered with a heavy blanket that lay mostly on her legs. Kenji even crossed his arms over his chest, while Dice just darted his eyes between the floor and his friend. The girl felt uncomfortable looking up from below at the skinny, tall redhead who with his wits, knew exactly where to stick his knife — and at his friend, whose broad shoulders and muscular body were off‑putting. He could easily help the redhead with brute force, tear her ligaments and bones...Kasye Peach wanted to turn her back to them without answering, but she realized that was a bad idea — that way she'd be easier to grab. So she just pulled the blanket up to her forehead and closed her eyes. Her soft peach‑colored hair and the tip of her pointed ear peeked out from under the blanket.Dc-when are you leaving?Kj-soon.It's hot to sleep completely covered by a heavy blanket, so the girl stuck her leg out from under the blanket below the knee, so that spot would be cold while the rest of her body stayed warm — basically, it creates the illusion of cooling off. Don't tell me you've never done that while sleeping..please.Dc-look..she stuck her leg outKj-and?Dice started whispering to his friend, because that leg was less chubby than his wife's leg, lolDc-if a girl shows her leg like that, it means she's not indifferent to you!Kj-it's just hot here!Kasye Peach heard the whole stupid whispered conversation between the two guys, so she pulled that leg back under the blanket and stuck out the other one — the one closer to the wall.Dc-now..she stuck out the other leg..Kenji rolled his eyes at his embarrassed friend and, sitting down on the bed next to his girl, started running his hand along her leg.Kj-even the hairs are soft.On the thin legs of the innocent girl, there were light, fine, soft hairs. They weren't very noticeable; her legs were cool and soft — pleasant to the touch.Dice also decided to touch her leg, and when he touched her a second time, the girl bent her leg. His hand was rougher and seemed larger compared to Kenji's one.Kj-I'm leaving. Don't bother her.Throwing on his jacket, he left this house, which could hardly be called livable. It was cold inside. Dice immediately stepped away from the bed of the only girl in the house and, covering his legs with a blanket, sat down on his bed, leaning his back against the wall. Kasye Peach watched him sitting there on his phone, covering his mouth with his fist. She wanted to sit next to him, but she was afraid of how he'd react, so she decided not to pester him.The redhead's great friend noticed that the girl had been staring at him for a few seconds and then lay back down, continuing to carefully watch him from under her pillow, thinking it was totally unnoticeable. Like a gentleman, but Dice and a gentleman are different things, he decided to ask:Dc-Kasye, what did Kenji tell you about me?He addressed her with a new pronunciation of the main character's name, in a rough, husky voice.Ks-n‑nothing..Dc-does he hurt you?He abruptly asked another question.Ks-well...Kasye kept thinking more and more whether to sit on his bed or not, and changed her mind.Ks-well..a little.Dc-how does he hurt you?Ks-I am not allowed to talk about that..The guy started getting more and more surprised at who he was left with, and what his friend did behind closed doors.Dc-he hits you!?The peach‑haired, long‑eared girl started covering her mouth with it, and her answer was an almost imperceptible nod — she closed and opened her eyes, while with her other hand, right next to her face, she curled it into a tiny fist and tilted it up and down. All these combinations meant "yes." She'd been using that hand gesture for a long time, ever since she couldn't even speak. Curling her fingers and tilting her fist up and down meant "yes"; if she opened and closed her palm with the back facing up, it meant "no." She had other invented gestures too, like "give," "come here," "idiot," "go away," "stop."Dc-do you bite?Just as a joke, the guy who looked like embers decided to ask. Everyone who wears black looks like embers — burned out, smoldering.The answer to that question was a shake of her head left and right, meaning she didn't bite. Kasye still decided to ask something strange, after her head‑shake reply:Ks-can I sit on your bed?Dice opened his mouth a little in surprise, nodded, and said she could. The elf girl sat down next to him, and he covered her legs with the blanket he was under, because it was cold.Ks-what do you and Kenjie usually talk about? ^ - ^Dc-Uh..just about a random crap.Ks-and..what is your favorite flower?Dc-my wife loves peonies. And I love my wife.He opened his gallery on his phone and started showing a few selfies of his wife.Dc-this is my wife. And this is too. And this one too.. You might think they is different people…In the photos, there was a girl with crooked little ears, bright makeup in different colors, and big, fluffy hair — colorful strands sticking out in all directions. Her hair was a different color in each photo, sometimes mostly green with pink, yellow, and blue streaks, sometimes mostly pink with separate streaks of different colors too.Ks-there is the same face..she's cute.Dc-yeah.Ks-how did you two meet?Dc-in a bar.Ks-what did Kenji tell you about me?Dc-well.. not much specifically. He just mentioned that he had a girl staying in his room. I also know..that you're sick — he said you were crazy or something.. I mean, he works at a psychiatric hospital, so he might be rude because of fatigue — he might even say all kinds of things. Nobody really takes him seriously anyway — he's kind of crazy himself, a little bit.Ks-oh..wowDc-it's unfair, though, how he treats you, it's sad. I don't know what to advise..They kept interacting — she asked silly questions, and he gave her pretty detailed answers.Ks-why is it so cold here?..Dc-because it's the north, winter outside.Ks-win‑ter…?Kasye said it syllable by syllable. She'd never heard that word before — it means snow, and north is one of the cardinal directions, right?Dc-are you saying..you've never seen snow?And the girl kept looking at him with an astonished face. Soon she would learn something new…Dc-Kenji will be back soon, and we can go outside.. I just don't know what to give you to wear on top.Kasye Peach pointed at herself, running her hands through the air from top to bottom next to her body, meaning she could go out like that. In response, Dice smiled and said, showing on himself with his hands, that she should put something over her home clothes:Dc-it's cold outside — you need a jacket.After sitting for a few hours, they even cracked a few nuts out of boredom, and then they heard the sound of the door being unlocked. The girl immediately jumped off the bed and ran — well, more like she took a few steps across the floor, then floated a few centimeters above it — toward Kenji, who was in a long coat, taking off his scarf. He looked a little tired and was holding a bag filled with something glassy.Ks-I already missed you. Can you tell me what "snow" is?Kj-snuff is the nasal tobacco.Dice heard the conversation and started chuckling.Kj-did you teach her that!?Dc- just take her outsideKj-damn it! I just took my coat off… Kasye, do you want to go for a walk?The girl nodded, but she was a little excited.Kj-let's go.Kenji threw on his coat, put a puffy winter jacket on the girl – after first putting her in boots with huge fur lining inside, that were already slipping on the linoleum right before the exit – and picked her up in his arms. Kasye closed her eyes and heard him unlock the door, they went outside, and it was very bright and fresh. When she opened her eyes and realized he'd set her down on her feet, Kasye saw all around her a lot of something white and glittery, with bush branches growing through it – without leaves even. Of course, she immediately wanted to touch it, the snow! Bending down and taking it in her hands, it was crumbly and cold, wet – but because it was melting, she mold something out of it. Her hands were freezing, but she wanted to keep touching it, and no one was stopping her – Kenji had walked off into the bushes. There was so much of white snow! Her hands were getting very cold, but you could throw it, and if you picked it up, it packed together. It was basically crumbly, but not like sand – it melted quickly and turned into a little lump...Kj-snowball.Something hit the girl on the head. She immediately shook it off her hair, but it was so cold. Kenji picked her up again and carried her inside, locked the door behind them, hung up the jackets. Kasye looked at her hands – they were red and cold. Then he gave her some tea, and sitting on the bed wrapped in a blanket, the girl looked up and saw that on the ceiling there was a strange old hatch leading into the attic.Kj-what did you find there?Kenji was looking at her at that moment, and following her gaze to the ceiling, he realized she was interested in the old attic door. It was a wooden square hatch, with some dry crumbs falling off the edges from age, it was whitewashed like the rest of the ceiling.Kj-want to open it?In response, Kasye nodded, because she was allowed to do something that had come to her mind.Kenji got up from the bed, while Dice just looked up from his phone and glanced at them. The girl also stood up, walked to the middle of the room, and started staring at the ceiling.Kj-see that gray thing up there? You need to pry it loose and pull it – it'll be easier for you to just hang on it.Kasye Peach found it difficult to do anything during flight, let alone control a still position. In the end, she jumped – her body lifted off the ground, and with one hand she touched the ceiling, which allowed her to feel at least some balance. With her other hand, she slowly pried at the old latch, which was just a simple piece of iron covered in a thick layer of grime. Having finally bent that piece of iron, Kasye was afraid to pull on it – if the hatch opened, she'd fall. But pulling didn't work – it was hard to do from that position: her hand that controlled everything had to keep her body steady, her head was tilted because the ceiling was right there, her legs didn't feel the floor and didn't give her any confidence.Dc-everything will be covered in dust, we'll have to air the place out, it'll get really cold – what are you elf guys doing!?Kenji just rolled his eyes at his friend's protests and said:Kj-get down Kasye, you won't be able to open it anyway.The girl only used her other hand to hold the ceiling, because her mind started getting confused and she was afraid of falling.Kj-jump down!Ks-K‑Kenji..I'm stuck...Kj-good for you.The girl said it in a worried, scared, timid voice, and in return she got a brief "good for you" as mockery - nothing new.Still, she managed to let go of her hands pressed against the ceiling and came down rather comically.Kj-come on, let's wash your hands!And after just a couple of her steps in a air, both elves came to an iron bucket filled with water. They crouched down, and since he hadn't touched her thin palms in so long, because of the ice‑cold water holy spring water, at that – he rubbed her hands, dipping them into the bucket with cold water, warming them up.It made sense that the girl didn't like this at all — neither the fact that he was washing her hands, nor the fact that the water was cold. Later, he asked her to shake her hands dry because there was no towel. She didn't feel like sleeping. There was an old laptop in the friend's car, which he always took on long trips because his wife got bored during stops, and this time Dice had brought it out of habit. Guys managed to charge the laptop, and decided to watch a movie in the evening out of boredom. The only one whose internet worked out in this wilderness where even any cell service didn't reach and from where it was impossible to call an emergency services — was the laptop's owner. Kenji sat in the middle, because he really wanted to sit next to his girl because he's straight, but also next to his friend because his married friend is gay, and at the same time he didn't want to sit in the middle at all. The girl sat on his right side, and he covered her with a blanket — just as heavy as the one on their cot. The guys were talking, but the girl wasn't listening to them at all; she just rested her head on the redhead's arm. They really were talking about uninteresting things — Dice was saying that the car's suspension needed replacing, and the movie they were loading was only funny when a casino ad popped up. Nothing special. The movie was shot in rather gray and creepy tones, at the beginning, only the credits rolled over shots of the movie's locations, and even that made feel girl uneasy, but the guys were talking, so even the eerie music wasn't that audible. Kasye Peach started dozing off little by little, because a strict sleep schedule had already become a habit. Her eyes were getting heavy, but she still managed to remember a couple of frames from the movie. At the beginning, some men were sitting around a table — the house and the table were done in a rustic painted‑house style. They were discussing some very sharp‑tongued things — none of which she remembered. Then the street, and then shots of some city with old high‑rise buildings. The last frame before her eyes never opened again in that house were a couple of shots from across the window of a basement floor of a high‑rise, where a small bird with brown plumage was pecking at the already decomposed dry body of another small bird...