Quest. The Drummer's Soul. All the parts. Complete collection

Andrew and Alex have prepared the van on the road. Updated the stock of products, served the car at the station. Tikhon gave the go-ahead for the morning, which meant that at five in the morning it was necessary to leave the city.

"How are things going?" Tikhon asked the boys as he entered the garage of the rented apartment.

– Everything is ready, we can move right now.

"Well done, boys. Keep a premium for efficiency.

Tikhon took two thick bundles of bills from his pocket and handed them to the young men.

Andrey exchanged an intricate glance with his partner.

"Is something wrong?" the drummer asked kindly.

– Yes, no, everything is super, – said Alexey, – the money is in order, but there is no place to spend it. All the same time on the road, on the way.

"Welcome, boys." Canceling the trip. The city in which we are now located is quite large, it has almost all the benefits of civilization. Entertain.

"Are you serious?"

– Absolutely.

"Are you ready to postpone your trip because of us?"

– Why not, I understand your wishes, guys. Rent or buy a place closer to the center, meet cool girls and start living life to the full.

"Are we fired?" with anxiety on her face inquired Andrew.

– Guys, it's all right. There are no complaints about You. The space has cleared my foothold in this city for quite a long period of time. So the plans changed. You can take the car, equipment and tools, too. This is the last time we see each other.

The boys looked at each other.

– Tikhon, are you sure everything is all right? – Alexey anxiously specified, – if there are any problems, we are always ready to help and come to the rescue at any moment.

"I know that. Thank you guys, you served faithfully and received a generous reward for it. But now it's time to break up. The world will no longer hear the sound of the drum from under the sticks in my hands.

The assistants lowered their eyes, they had little idea who their employer really was, they just stuck to him with all their heart, and this moment of parting became for them one of the most difficult moments in life.

Tikhon felt a surge of bitterness and even a bit of anger at himself for not being able to help him in the case to which they were not allowed for obvious reasons of safety and care. He correctly explained:

Don't get angry with others, and don't get angry yourself.

We are guests in this mortal world,

And what is wrong, then you accept it.

Don't think with your head.

After all, everything is natural in the world:

Evil radiated by you,

It will come back to you without fail!

The boys nodded their heads.

– It's late, go to bed, and in the morning take all that you think necessary and in the good way of twirling destinies. I left everything, I have to go.

"How?" Now? Not even a glass of wine? Alexey was upset.

The drummer walked over to the guys, hugged them as a very sensitive and loving person can hug them, then stepped back, nodded, and left.

***

Bartholomew walked from side to side in the great hall in his apartments, thinking. He went to the full-length mirror, looked at himself carefully, and asked the reflection:

"We're going to win, aren't we?" We have always won and we will win now.

After these words, Bartholomew moved away from the mirror and sat down in a nearby chair, but the reflection in the mirror remained, it answered:

– We won, but our opponents were not so strong. Gideon has come for you, and he will not give up.

"He came for us!" Or are you separating yourself from me and our entire brotherhood?

The reflection gave no sign of confusion.

"Gideon was trained in my program, and I know the loopholes in these labyrinths of power that he so brilliantly mastered," Bartholomew said majestically from his chair.

The image from the mirror answered:

"He has been practicing outside these walls for a long time, and his strength today is a serious competition for you.

"So much the better, since I haven't had a serious opponent in a long time." I have something to calm him down.

– I like a cheerful mood… I recognize you as a warrior, "the reflection answered from the mirror ," well, then keep a bonus for excitement. Tikhon didn't go anywhere.

"What?" After meeting with Vahe, he had to leave this city as quickly as possible, so as not to do things and not to Shine once again. Did he give up his mission?

– His mission was adjusted. Now his goal is you. Get ready to fight, but get ready seriously… warrior.

The reflection in the mirror disappeared.

Sweat broke out on Bartholomew's forehead. He wiped it off with a napkin, then ran his hand over the scar on his cheek and whispered softly through his teeth:

– Drummer…

***

Quest. The Drummer's Soul. Part 2

The city is tired of busy Friday. Someone had already left for the weekend in the family nest, someone was sitting at a party, dreaming that this celebration of the next birthday of a not so close friend was over as soon as possible, someone was sitting in front of the TV with a bottle of beer and was happy.

Victoria walked through the Park, enjoying the twittering of birds and murmuring softly to herself the verses of her favorite poet. She didn't even notice that two tough guys were blocking her path at both ends of the narrow path, and only heard:

"In the name of a great cause!"

In the hand of the forward fighter, the blade of a knife flashed, which was already a meter away from its victim. The girl only managed to gasp, but then stopped, looking around. The road was clear, and there was no one on the narrow path.

"It's going to look like this," she said aloud, and then she looked around again, and then she picked up her pace and went home.

***

Seeing the disappearance of the accomplice, the strong man who stood behind Victoria ducked into the bushes, quickly realizing that it was bad. The incident was reported to Tao, who in turn reported to the Teacher:

– Everything went according to plan, but at the fatal moment the performer seemed to disappear into thin air, and quite quickly. We don't know where he is or what really happened.

"You have often brought me bad news, Tao.

– Only events around girls go not on plan, with the second time, its as if someone protects, on the rest of the issues I have full order.

"That's why you're still alive."

"You know, Master, I am loyal to you, and I do everything in my power for the common cause.

"Sit down."

Tao sat down on a carved chair. Bartholomew took a folder from the file Cabinet containing the missing employee's personal file.

"Lost this one?" he asked Tao.

"Yes, that was his assignment.

Bartholomew took a photo of the missing guy from his personal file, ran his hand over his photo, took a blank sheet of paper, put a point on it with a pencil, but then tore the neck off the canvas and looked at Tao in surprise.

"He's dead, isn't he?" the assistant asked warily.

– No.

"Alive?" Where is he?

– No.

"How?" And neither alive nor dead? What does this mean, Teacher?

"Your boyfriend isn't here.".. it is simply not among the living or the dead. I don't know what that means. There is some faint signal, but it is inherent only in the presence…

Bartholomew interrupted himself, glancing at Tao, and explained otherwise:

– In General, when a person was not born yet.

"Could Gideon have done this?" He's probably looking after the girl.

"No, he doesn't need it. This was done by someone else, someone who has access to the much greater power of the layers of space… Go, don't touch the girl anymore, let her live.

"But she knows about us, doesn't she?"

"She won't say anything to anyone.

"She saw Your face, and now she probably knows who You really are." Really…

– Chchch.... the Abbot raised the index finger of his left hand and interrupted the assistant. There are exceptions to each rule, and we will accept one today. Leave the girl alone. The question is closed.

Tao bowed and left.

***

The men were drinking heavily in the kitchen. Working days had receded, and now the wife of the owner of the house, sitting in a far room, only dreamed that the weekend would pass as soon as possible. My husband had an inveterate habit of walking with friends on weekends. The festivities consisted of a hopeless drunkenness, and the weekend began with Friday night. And during this period, it was better not to approach the exuberant male company.

– Well, you Mikhalych, gave, – with a grin on his face, admired Nikifor, – at once crushed a half-liter. Strong!

"Oh! "Yes," said the landlord proudly.

– And most importantly, we drink about the same all, and on Monday only Mikhalych cucumber! "what's the secret, my friend?" Share with friends. And while you're rocking, you're already getting a few reprimands.

– Come on, Mikhailovich, tell me, what's the solution? nikephoros leaned on his arm, intrigued, staggering from side to side.

"Come on, men. I'm just healthy by nature, that's all…

Mikhalych was prevented from finishing by a knock from the basement. The stool under Gavrila, which stood on the hatch cover, began to play.

– Not understand. Who are you holding there? "what's the matter?" the drinking companion asked, getting up from his seat.

"I don't understand it myself." I haven't been there for two months.

"Open up, damn you!" "what's wrong?" came a voice from the underground.

Gavrila stepped aside and the landlord opened the hatch.

"Out of the way!" – threatening with a knife, the fighter shouted, rising from the dusty basement. His eyes darted wildly around.

"Who are they?" Who threw me into this pit? Who, I ask?

The owner of the house, taken aback by what was happening, looked at the visitor with a mute question. The companions crowded behind the solid back of the Teddy bear.

"Cool down, man, and be nice to your father, or you won't see him again."… I wanted to see my Creator-take the parcel… a measured voice came from somewhere in the void, and everyone in the kitchen turned to look at it.

Mikhalych's wife rushed to the noise and, clasping the jamb with her hands, froze in a frenzy when she heard the strange statement of a voice from the void.

"Who said that?" nikephoros asked, peering into the void.

But there was no response…

***

–Here is so as something, – ottryakhivaya their fingertips, has he spoken Tikhon, returning in cleanest from layer past in linear calculus thirty years ago, – canvassed communicate, can mind will gain both.

The drummer watched Victoria's flickering heels, grinned at the quivering bushes at the top of the alley, and whispered:

– Greetings to you, Bartholomew from me, another. Don't get bored, we'll see you soon…

***

Nikifor, Gavrila, Mikhalych, his wife, and the boy sat silently at the table in the smoky kitchen. Spilled on the second.

– What, let me ask, do you have a calendar for 1989? Collecting rarities? – paying attention to the tear-off calendar, which I saw only as a child, the fighter asked, removing the knife from his eyes, assessing the peacemaking position of the environment.

The locals looked at the calendar in surprise, then at the guy.

"What year do you think should be on the calendar?" "what is it?" the landlord asked cautiously.

– It's 2019, don't you know? – what is it? " the intruder asked sarcastically, overturning his glass. But when he met the genuinely startled stares, he removed the grin from his face.

"Gavrila, Nikifor-it's time for you to leave us," Mikhalych's wife said rudely. The husband's drinking companions had not heard this tone from the humble hostess before, but they preferred not to find out the details and quickly left the hut.

– That voice…"who didn't seem to be the only one who told you to be polite to your father.".. I don't quite understand it yet, and I don't really believe it, but tell me your name.

– Can I still show my passport? What kind of interrogation are you doing here, mother? We sat, talked and will. I have to go, " the guy said roughly, getting up from the table.

– Not Ivan? the woman asked pleadingly, looking with tearful eyes into the boy's eyes. These words startled Mikhalych, who had hitherto remained calm.

"So what?" – passing to an exit, the fighter answered through teeth. "She's a clairvoyant, too." Now you can easily find information for each person. Come on, clowns.

The guy left the house. The wife sat down next to her husband, looking at each other meekly.

– Well, what's wrong with that? Where did this ghoul come from in our underground? – partially sobered, gave Mikhalych.

His wife only looked at the calendar in confusion. A few minutes later, the door in the house opened and the same guest from the basement entered the kitchen. He asked in an exemplary tone:

"Where am I?"

"I don't quite understand how this is possible, but I recognized you. Come in, Ivan Maksimovich, sit down, " the woman replied, as if in a state of prostration.

"How do you know my middle name?"

"We'll get to know each other.".. Maksim…"your father's coming," the man said, getting up from the table.

***

"Is it really eighty-nine?" – biting off a slice of Soviet sausage, the guy asked.

– Yes, van, for us this is the usual and natural course of time. Tell us about-how you live? my mother asked.

– What do you do for a living? my father added.

– Yes, I am…– considering how to present your, to put it mildly, not quite legal activity, Ivan drawled. But then I got my bearings and changed the subject:

– What kind of activity and life? If you really are my ancestors and I have somehow been transported back thirty years, then you'd better tell me how it happened that I don't know my parents. Do you know what it's been like without my father and mother all these years? What does a child feel when they watch their families on TV and don't know what parental warmth and support is? Why are you so sad? No answer?

Maxim Mikhailovich looked at the floor.

– I will answer, – my wife Olga said quietly, – when you were born, our life changed, it is a natural process, but we were not ready for these changes. The constant screaming, the sleepless nights, the nerves as a consequence of the discord. Maxim did not get enough sleep, went to work in the morning with a cast-iron head and eventually gave an ultimatum: either I or this little screaming creature.

"You memorized everything word for word…,– surprised detached issued a man.

I was afraid your father more than life feared, and there was something to fear, – said Olga, a Bathrobe covering the bruise on forearm, – so tossed you to the gates of the orphanage of the district centre.

"You didn't love me at all?" Ivan asked in a choked voice.

"I did, and I still do." I only sent the child to an orphanage for one reason – it would be safer for you here than where your father could reach you.

– So that means from whom I have this vein of aggression and rage. Well, dad, consider the boomerang back, now don't forget it…

Ivan's face was calm, his tone quiet and insinuating, but there was lightning in his eyes. In an instant, he hurled the knife from his bosom at his father, who was sitting across from him, but the blade clanged as it struck the tree. Ivan realized with dismay that he was sitting on the ground, in the very Park from which he had disappeared. In front of him stood a huge tree trunk, in which the handle of a knife launched at his father often swayed from side to side.

"I saved you from two careless actions today, and I won't protect you again," came the same voice that had sounded in the parents ' hut.

"You know now that you have to pay the bills, it can happen right away, maybe in thirty years, as in your case with your father, maybe in eighty or ninety, in the next incarnation, or in the next incarnation.

Tikhon went to the tree, easily removing the knife from it, and handed it to Ivan.

He continued:

– It's not karma, not a fee for the offense and not so much a boomerang, however, on the Ground it sounds completely out of place. This is simply the law of causation. You create an action that creates certain consequences. You are a Creator Ivan, not a murderer, think what you are doing, and then in thirty years no one will throw sharpened pieces of iron at you. Get up off the ground, people are watching. While your hands are still clean, but I will not appear at your fork again, you will choose from now on which way to go.

Tikhon gave his hand to the boy, who got up without refusing to help.

And that's another way let's say, in this place, Tikhon made a helpless gesture, – anything, but then if that is not right.

Tikhon smiled.

– I don't know who you are, but thank you for fulfilling your dream. I didn't think I'd ever be able to look my father and mother in the eye, much less find out why.

"That's not the whole truth. Don't blame your father for your fate. These are just cause-and-effect relationships, the result of your incarnation the day before last. We will not go into details, but I will say that this is only your choice.

"I dug deep."

– More than. You're not a fool, I know. Make a choice so that you don't have to, then regret it… then it's much, much later… and everything will be fine. Be.

Tikhon held out a firm hand. Ivan responded with a genuine friendly handshake.

The stranger winked and took a few steps behind Ivan. When he turned around, there was no one behind him, only couples walking in the distance, and a stall selling balloons.

***

After scanning the space again, Gideon sat down in the chair of the new rental apartment.

"Strong, damn it. If you really put an entire country against him, the odds will probably be equal, " he reasoned, studying the drawing of Bartholomew that he had drawn with his own hand.

"Humans are truly magnificent creatures. Planets can move, not that…, and are engaged in various nonsense. Worthy deeds of course, too, but… So… How can I beat you? I'm inferior in strength, I can feel it, "he continued," but I have a lot of helpers, right?

Until a certain point, it was not clear who the question was addressed to, but a few seconds later a Raven flew into the window, and he nodded his head servilely. The potted flowers made similar motions of agreement with a nod.

"That's good. So we need to lure Bartholomew to a territory where we will have the advantage and then I can break a link in this age-old moldy chain that has enveloped the whole world.

The Raven nodded his head and pointed with a characteristic cry to Gideon at the car's spinning dimes. A beautiful black car was whistling smoke from the rear wheels, spinning almost in place of a small paved area a hundred meters from the window with the Raven. Gideon recognized the driver as Vahe.

A moment later, the apartment was empty. The car left the platform and with a terrible squeal shot up on a busy city highway. At various points along this route, Gideon appeared and disappeared in pursuit of the driver. And then the car finally stopped. The driver's door window was ajar.

– Yes? replied in torn up the cell phone Vahe.

It was Tao.

"What are you doing?" "what is it?" he asked.

"Testing a new horse," Vage said, stroking the steering wheel.

– The teacher asks you to come to him, there is a conversation.

"Is something wrong?"

– I don't know, he doesn't speak, but be careful, our Sensei is not in the spirit.

"Thank you, Tao. I'll be there in an hour.

Vahe hung up the phone and suddenly noticed a medium-sized spider escaping from his jacket.

"Where did you come from, scoundrel?" In the box that if blown from the branches of what?

Vahe slapped his jacket several times, but it didn't hit, and the spider ran nimbly along the sleeve and jumped out of the window.

"That's nice," Vahe said, closing the window and pressing the accelerator pedal to the floor.

Gideon picked up the springing spider from the pavement and placed it on his palm.

"Well, my friend, did it work out?" he turned to the arthropod, and after reading something in the spider's facial expressions, he smiled contentedly, then released the bug, carefully lowering it to a branch of a Bush from which he had removed it a minute ago and inserted an earpiece into his ear.

The spider successfully attached the " bug " to Vaga's jacket. This was his favorite jacket, and he wore it " without taking it off." It was not so easy to get into the head of Vaga or Bartholomew, they were some kind of unsurpassed masters of mind tricks, but trivial maneuvers here gave a slack. Who would risk playing with the occult community? After all, finding a wiretap, these guys will easily calculate the mastermind of the operation and will be punished to the fullest extent. This is what the spider lover made a bet on and did not lose.

– Hey, do you like music? a voice came from behind. Gideon turned to see Victoria.

"So we met again," she said, smiling, " and I knew, I believed, that it would happen.

– Vetch…"suddenly," Gideon said, removing the earpiece from his ear.

– Not believe. For you, in my opinion, everything is clear and consciously predetermined!

"Are you in a hurry?"

"Not now, I think I've already made it, and more than that, I've arrived just in time."

The girl's eyes shone.

"Well… Gideon looked around. His eyes caught on the ice cream sign.

"Let's have a Popsicle?" "what?" he suggested.

"With pleasure."

When the boys had settled themselves comfortably on a bench on the Boulevard that led off into the quiet street, Gideon asked, biting off the chocolate frosting:

"How did you get there?"

– Company…,– the girl gave out extremely emotionally, the driver did not take his eyes off me while driving, I was afraid that he would hit someone. Such a sociable got caught. Told about their successes in business and about the boat, which rides every weekend, by the way, was invited along. And he, of course, was not married and everything is just like in a fairy tale.

"That's right, it's like a fairy tale. In fairy tales, everything always ends well, so let your fairy tale also develop, corresponding to the genre.

"You know, I feel like I've been sleeping in a crystal coffin for a long time, like that sleeping Princess of the seven heroes. I finally woke up.

"And the king's son Elisha has already kissed you?"

"Not yet, but I really hope he does," she said, a little embarrassed. – At least, from "deep sleep" he woke me up and for this I am very grateful to him.

– Ice cream melts, eat, – Gideon smiled looking at the enthusiastic passion, which completely forgot about the melting ice cream in his hand.

Victoria unpacked the Popsicle without much interest, took a few bites, then suddenly asked:

"The last time we walked down the road and I silently quoted poetry, you had no trouble reading my thoughts…

The girl paused, not finishing the thought.

"You want me to tell you about happiness?"

Victoria smiled:

"Why do you ask, you already know the answer?"..

– There is a lot of talk around happiness, but in General, happiness is a term that explains itself. Perhaps this is a local folk etymology, but happiness-originates in the word-now. Happiness is when you are completely in the now, and not somewhere else. Physical pain aside, all our suffering is fabricated by the mind from thoughts of the past and the future. And there will always be enough material to make us unhappy, because in the future there will be death, and in the past there will be everything that made it inevitable.

Unhappiness – not now – is a state of mind stating that life failed yesterday and is unlikely to succeed tomorrow. If you forget about it, to be where you are-this is happiness, which is almost always available. I will give you an example that has already taken place many times in your life, it is and will always be.

"Curious!

– Your last significant purchase that brought you a piece of happiness and satisfaction.

– Yes, not so long ago I bought a new smartphone.

"Remember that feeling?" How you dreamed about it, how you wanted to buy it for yourself and now you hold it in your hands, and the seller prepares the documents of your perfect purchase.