I’ve brought you God!

Ruta couldn’t see or hear what was happening, but she was clearly enjoying herself. A glowing sign in the form of the Ying rune pulsed around her neck, helping her to whisper correctly.

The preacher was less affected by the whispers than the others. It was as if he didn’t hear the whispers at all. He just stood there and looked confused at the horror that began almost instantly.

After several futile attempts to shout to the congregation, he simply closed his eyes and immersed himself in the Lord’s Prayer

The gunshots sounded more and more frequently. Suicide was the only way to get rid of the wild terror and uncontrollable fear.

Several women and men rushed to the electronic lock panel of the central entrance.

– The deadbolts are in motion,» Eira whispered. – Lights! Max, go! Tamura, get into position. Radios to minimum. Meet the fanatics. Everyone move away from the entrance. They’ve got hydrozite. Bomber with a detonator. Finger on the button. Maximum silence. Goggles to night mode.

Tamura put on her goggles, turned on the night vision function, and silently bared her katana.

The heavy door came into motion, and through the widening gap came screams. The first to run out was a young man, whom Tamura stabbed lightning-fast through the throat with her blade. Then came two women who had been cut open in a similar manner.

– Ruta, shut up! – commanded the commander. – We have contact. Get in here.

The shouting outside the door began to subside. No one else emerged from the ajar door. There was a ray of artificial light coming from inside.

– Max? – asked the young witch who had just arrived.

– «Inside,» whispered Eira, turning off the self-contained lights. The old man is in the far right corner on the detonator. Armed fanatics are gathering around him. And the two just outside the entrance. They’re all carrying rifles. None of them have NVRs.

– What’s the old man waiting for?

– The Coven’s Whip, of course,» Eira smiled. – What a swell death that would be. He’s waiting for us,» she looked toward the door. – Max can’t get any closer. The old man has a very strong stagnum. Max is afraid.

– What are we going to do? – Tamura asked. – I take it that as soon as we go in, we’ll all be blown up?

– We can’t wait either,» whispered the commander. – His nerves won’t hold out…

– Do we have cameras? – Ruta interrupted.

– Two on tripods in automatic mode with online broadcasting.

– Ask Max not to touch them. I’ve thought of something. I’ll take the old man. I’ll give him visions. But I have to have backup. I’ll walk slowly toward him, putting his stagnum to sleep. I just have to make sure I don’t lose sight of him. The team is working on armed targets, you’re both protecting me. And don’t kill the civilians, they need to see everything I’m doing, and the cameras need to capture what’s going on and broadcast it online to the internet.

– Too much risk,» Eira objected. – The old man has a powerful stagnum. Maybe we haven’t dealt with that before. Maybe gas?

– Well, what kind of gas? Eira! Think what you’re saying! – objected the white witch. – Listen to me! I’m older than both of you put together, and certainly older than the old man. I started growing my stagnum long before the war. And if I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have suggested any of this. Besides, once we throw the gas grenades, that’s the start of the takeover. Is there a guarantee he won’t press the button? – Ruta paused to let the others think about the situation. – I’m going in first. It is at this moment that I have the old man’s full attention. It is at this moment that I need protection, as I will be completely helpless. You do your best. How about a floor plan?

The commander pulled a 3D model generator out of her bag, turned it on, placed it on the floor, and stepped back three steps.

– Max? – she called out.

The device came to life and began to draw a glowing holographic picture that showed the central hall of the bomb shelter and everyone there.

– I’m off,“ the young witch said, and added in the whisper she used to scare fanatics, „let’s work.

Chapter 3

Suddenly the whispering stopped. The old man looked up sharply and saw that the front door was ajar. The wrinkles on his face betrayed an extreme degree of despair and hopelessness.

His finger hovered over the detonator button and twitched. His lips trembled, whispering incessantly. He looked around at those present. They had not yet come to their senses, even after the whispering had subsided. Many of them howled, others huddled together in fear. He glanced at the cameras mounted on tripods. They were still recording what was happening.

The chaos and panic had gradually subsided. The rest of the fanatics also turned their attention to the door, behind which there was only darkness. The door was ajar just enough for one person to squeeze through.

Shepherd, like the others, tried to peer into the darkness beyond the door and listen, but there was only a puff of cold air. The draft grew stronger and began to extinguish the electric lights on the ceiling and walls as if it were blowing out candles.

– Witchcraft,» the novices whispered, turning on their phone screens.

Max didn’t touch the cameras, but he dispersed a chilling stream of air from the people who stood in front of the lenses and blocked the angle of view.

– We will stand to the death,» the old man shouted. – To the death! God is with us, not with them! – he tried to put more confidence in his voice. – Shoot any evil that comes through here. They will be many, they will frighten you, but «…fear nothing that you must endure. The devil will cast you from the midst into prison to tempt you, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be faithful to me unto death, and I will give you the crown of Life…,» the old man quoted the Revelation once more. – And when they come in here, I will fulfill the prophecy,» he held up the detonator, showing his finger on the button. – We will fulfill the prophecy! – the old man emphasized the «we» and shook his hand.

But this time people reacted weakly. Their faces expressed fear and incomprehension, and their bodies shook with cold.

– Jesus! – suddenly shouted the old man. – Jesus! – He pointed his finger at the door, from behind which appeared the luminous figure of a man in a white shroud. Long dark hair, untrimmed beard, a humble yet serene smile. And the eyes of the Son of God radiated the light of heaven. The pastor’s hand slipped off the detonator button.

Two women appeared behind him. The dim light of the phones made it impossible to see them. But it was evident that they had come to defend Christ, and Christ was being shot at. The first, a flexible, swift and incredibly strong woman with two bare short swords, instantly rushed forward, shielding the Savior with her body. She screamed with every swing of her sword, and like a tenacious spider she jumped on the crowd of men with weapons, moving around their necks, knocking their heads off, piercing their throats. In doing so, the spider woman tried to stay between the armed men and the Living God. When she was shot at, she did not try to dodge and went under the bullets herself. The killing force immediately threw her several meters away. She cried out in pain, and fiercely roared and attacked again.

Christ was coming to the shepherd. The Savior looked only at the old man, and did not care at all about what was happening. As if a ghost walking through the crowd, he slowly and confidently stepped barefoot on the cold concrete floor, smiling blissfully.

Another woman walked beside him, firing her pistol continuously, hitting the heads of all those who were aiming at Jesus, and shouting something from time to time. Those who were aiming at this woman were ignited and burned alive before they could fire. And in a few moments the room became as bright as day from such fires. Their screams filled the entire space and echoed monstrously off the walls. The smell of smoke from burning flesh hit the nose of everyone present.

Suddenly, God was hit. A bullet entered his right shoulder, sprinkling the shroud with blood. Christ cried out in pain through clenched teeth, stopped, grasped his shoulder with his other hand, and stopped glowing. The old man was frightened. «You can’t kill God, can you?» he whispered, and looked around. His men were dying all around him, and the witches were carrying out the Coven’s judgment. His hand reached for the detonator again.

But a miracle happened. Christ began to speak first. You could see it in the Messiah’s moving lips. And then he began to radiate divine light again. He straightened up and spread His arms in a cross. Holes were clearly visible on his palms, another stigmata appeared on his shoulder at the place of the shot. The shroud was white again, cleansed of blood. Once again God smiled on the preacher. And once again it was good.

When Christ approached the shepherd, the woman protector stood with her back to the Savior’s back and continued shooting. The shooting was subsiding. The soldiers of Jesus were victorious, finishing off wounded enemies on the floor.

The Messiah waited until the shots had ceased completely and held out his hand to the preacher. With a feeling of great bliss expressed on his face, the old man took Christ’s hand and obediently walked with him toward the door. He smiled and shone with God. The kingdom of heaven awaited them ahead.

– Holy shit! – Tamura shouted as they stepped out of the bunker. Fuck! The most retarded plan in all the universes! Ruta, bitch, not only do you look eighteen, but you have the brains of a chicken. Bitch, that hurts so bad! – she fell to the granite floor, stripped off her weapon, her tight exoskeleton suit, and crawled out of her web. – I’m all blue! – Her face twisted in pain. The witch examined herself. – Three of my ribs are in shreds, one rib pierced me from the inside.

A nurse walked over to her and opened the first aid kit. Tamura took a pack of painkillers from her and injected three semi-automatic syringes into her stomach at once.

– I’ll give you a medal. Uh-huh?! – Eira walked up to Tamura and held out her cloak. – For bravery. Don’t yell like a gypsy at the train station. It worked. I really didn’t know what the hell happened.

– Fuck you! – The narcotic component of the anesthetic began to take effect, and the witch injected herself with another dose, rolling her eyes in anticipation of another wave of euphoria. – I’m going to kill you both someday. Somebody give me a cigarette!

The SWAT team made a final sweep of the armed fanatics and led the others out of the hall. Weeping and moaning filled the school building. Not only had the mission failed, but no one realized what had happened.

– You did good, Tamurach,» said Ruta, who had just arrived. – I trusted you with my life, and you did a good job. I did get shot. In the shoulder. And I have a date with a boy tomorrow.

– That’s okay,» Tamura smiled and injected herself with another dose. Eira immediately took the packet of painkillers away from her. – You can put gum on the hole and it’ll be fine,» Tamura laughed through her coughing. – Just don’t pick at it with your finger. You’ll get sand in it. Does he know your age?

– Shepherd was taken in,» the albino reported to Eira, «I gave him a horse dose of sleeping pills, put him on a bus and sent him to Coven with a platoon of fighters,» she finished her report and showed her tongue to Tamura, who was quite intoxicated.

– Good. I’ve called the buses, they’re on their way. Let’s get the kids out and get Boudicca in,» Eira commanded into the radio and turned to Ruta. – Can you tell me what happened in there?

– We got fucked in all our asses, so what’s there to tell? – Tamura stood up, wrapped herself in her cloak, and lit a cigarette.

– I didn’t ask you,» the commander cut her off and turned to the young witch again. – What did the old man see when he shouted «Jesus»?

– Did he see Christ? – Ruta smirked. – The others saw the three witches, whom the old man followed willingly, smiling. I almost lost control when my shoulder got punctured. But that’s okay! Stagnum, skill, skill and willpower allowed to finish the operation. Listen, Kombat, can I not get a medal, but a bonus? I want a red car.

– We’ll decide tomorrow. I’m on television in the morning – she looked at the surprised faces of colleagues, – aha, invited to the shooting. And some professor. Don’t touch the shepherd without me. Though I’ll probably stop by Coven in the morning.

– Why should I touch him? – Ruth smiled. – You should let him go. Let him go. The whole religious and sympathetic world has already seen its version of the apostate shepherd. In three weeks, when things have calmed down, we’ll quietly kick him out so he won’t try to be a missionary again.

– All right. But don’t let him out without me. Maybe she’ll tell me something interesting. – Eira turned to the woman in the light-colored suit who had been standing at the school entrance all this time. – Claire, take the kids out. Out the back, so the reporters don’t suspect us of being humane. And where’s Boudicca?

An armored SUV pulled right up to the entrance. Two women in camouflage suits got out of the car and opened the back door. A bare foot stepped onto the concrete steps of the school’s porch. The women immediately parted. From the SUV emerged a skinny, tall female figure in a dirty, tattered dress stained with dried blood all over the surface. A small cloth purse hung from her waistband. With slightly graying long hair, a glassy look in her tarnished eyes, and slightly shaking hands, Boudicca looked around for someone. Eira walked over to her and quietly guided her towards the entrance.

– Everyone’s in there,» the High Witch whispered in her ear.

– My girls,» Boudicca moaned.

– Everyone is in there,» the commander repeated. – Go. It’s all there.

Boudicca opened her purse and took out a gypsy needle with a long thread. She entered the building.

Several news crews had already pulled up to the school and cordoned off the building on all sides. Reporters were snooping around, trying to get someone to interview them, but all the Coven fighters refused to comment. Only Eira was giving out clichés to several television stations at once. The most curious journalist with a young cameraman ran up to Tamura.

– What’s going on there now? – She asked, holding out the microphone to the dark witch. – Why did only one witch go in there? Why does she needle and thread? What is she capable of?

– A very good and valid question! – Tamura replied, exhaling a puff of smoke. – To be honest, I’m not fully aware of it myself. So, I suggest you see for yourself. It’s not dangerous there now, we’ve killed everyone with weapons. Go, go! Exclusive, after all!

– Vitalik, follow me! – shouted the journalist and disappeared behind the school doors. Vitalik obediently followed her.

– Where? – shouted Eira, taking a break from the interview. – Where did you send them? Are you stupid?

– What’s that got to do with me? – The dark witch waved her hands. – I was trying to keep them away. They wanted an exclusive! And I’m wounded, after all. I’m not going to run after them.

And at that moment, wild screams came from the school again.

– You’re hurt in the head, you idiot! – Eira spat.

– Take my boy to me! – Tamura shouted and added quietly: – Please.

Chapter 4

Tamura opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling, with various utilities running across its surface in a complex, intricate pattern. She wiggled her eyes from side to side for half a minute and licked her dry lips.

– It doesn’t seem to hurt,» she whispered. Then she lifted the edge of the sheet and looked at her body. Carefully she pulled off her hospital panties and tossed them on the windowsill. On the rack by the door hung a white medical gown, which the black witch immediately threw on.

– Mitsu,» she called to the spider, which appeared out of her ear a moment later, «give me a quick kiss. – The spider touched Tamura’s cheek with its jaws. – Make mommy a nice full-body stocking,» she said, and the spider disappeared behind the collar of her robe. And the black witch put on her hospital slippers and left the room.

She took the elevator down to the second floor and went from the hospital to Coven through a transitional glass corridor. Here she waited for the elevator, which was already carrying four Special Forces fighters. The young men stretched out along the mirrored walls of the elevator.

– At ease,» the dark witch wheezed and coughed. – Does anyone have a cigarette? – She raised her head hopefully to look into the faces of the guys two heads taller than her. – I see. Nobody smokes. Weren’t you guys at the assault yesterday? – She looked at the lowest of them, so as not to raise her head too much. He nodded. – Where did they put the old priest? – She asked.

– He’s in the interrogation room now. He’s waiting for the investigator,» came a nasally voice from behind her.

– Seven hundred and fourteen?

– Seven hundred and nineteen! They’ve started renovations in the seven hundred and fourteenth.

– Grand merci,» Tamura gave a shallow curtsy and looked at the floor indicator. It was moving to the number seven. – Please press seven,» she added. The elevator stopped. The witch got out and headed down the corridor.

– Hello, Grandpa! – Tamura opened the glass door of the cell, entered to the detained priest. – How are you? Alive?

The old man sat at the table and mumbled something inaudible under his nose. When he saw her, he jerked toward her, but his hands, chained to the table legs, only rattled his handcuffs, restricting his movement.

– You hells, you can’t change anything,» the old man said. He sat down again, resting his temple on the fist of his elbowed hand.

– Change what? – Tamura asked, taking a seat across from him. – I realize you’ll answer «nothing,» and I’ll be unsatisfied with that play on words and ask you, «what do you mean?» And you’ll turn on the religious sacred fool again and repeat the «nothing» answer. But all this verbiage is clearly not going to satisfy me or you. So let’s skip the guesswork and get straight to the clear readings. So, something is clearly threatening something. Right? Now let’s replace pronouns with nouns together, shall we? – she looked to the side and whispered,» Is that how I still remember that?

The old man looked in horror at Tamura’s knee, which was rather quickly being covered by a black stocking.

– To a witch, a witch’s witch! – shouted the old man.

– How hard is it with you? Well, what kind of witch am I, eh? Do I have snakes for hair? Well, look, just an ordinary nurse. There’s your robe. Where do you see a witch? I don’t burn people alive, I don’t pretend to be young. I certainly don’t have spiders coming out of my mouth! Oh, you mean this? – she caught his eye on her ankles. – It’s self-woven liquid tights. Haven’t you seen the commercials on TV? Well, look, grandpa, I’m totally open with you. You should share it with me. I’m not your enemy. I might be your sister. Open up, huh? – she took his hand and pressed it against her chest. – Let me start, okay? «Something» is the first pronoun we’ll replace with a noun. This is the messiah you mentioned in the basement, right?

– You’ve got a tick crawling all over you. – The old man pointed his finger at the girl’s ankle.

– This place is long overdue for disinfestation. – Tamura looked around the room defiantly. – But extermination costs money, and Coven spends all its money on witches. Seven Hundred and Fourteen’s gone to shit – they’re already renovating it. Don’t get distracted. What about the messiah?

– Messiah…,» the old man gave up after some hesitation. – I just wanted him to know about our sacrifice for the slaughter.

– I understood that. We’d sit on the water for ten days, like the scripture says, praying, draw public attention, and then we’d pass away, right?

– He would know about us. And that would have strengthened his faith in us. Don’t you understand that?

– He, who’s he? – There was a familiar voice from behind the commander. – Who are you talking about? Where can I find him?

– You’re on television, aren’t you? – Tamura was surprised.

– I thought I’d look here first. I had a bad feeling. I thought I wouldn’t find him here alive.

The old man lifted his head and smiled, then began to chuckle, and after a moment he laughed genuinely. Eira pulled her pistol from its holster and pointed it at the old man.

– There’s a through-and-through burst in the striker. You’re going to tell me everything now, or I’ll use your brains to write «Hallowed be thy name» on that wall!

– Why would you do that? – Tamura took Eira’s hand away from her gun. – I’m just getting into religion. Already starting to feel a spark of faith. The leaven was stirring and the grains were separating from the chaff. Opening my heart to Jesus. Hear and obey Father…» She squinted her eyes, as if remembering something, and snapped her fingers toward the priest, then turned to Eira and whispered. – Don’t. Let me talk to him some more. I’ll shoot him myself later, I promise,» she smiled sarcastically. – Don’t take it out on me.

– Righteousness is my name! – shouted the old man. – And I’m the first! There are more coming after me.

At that moment, a young girl in a white robe with a blue folder in her hand knocked on the glass door and gestured for the high witch to leave the room. Eira returned her pistol to its holster and stepped out of the cell.

– Tell me, Father, where do you get all this stuff from? – Tamura asked, peering through the glass at the girl reporting to the High Witch. At that moment, Ruta joined the women, taking the blue folder from the girl, opening it and beginning to study it.

– He’s talking to me! – The old man replied pathosily. – He sent me into the world, marking me with the sign of righteousness.

– Messiah?

– God! God speaks to me!

– Uh, uh… Speaks how?

– In dreams, of course! When we fall asleep, God comes to us in our dreams. That’s how he communicates with us.

– And I had my hopes up.

The cell door opened again, and Eira and Ruta entered. The High Witch approached the old man and stared defiantly into his eyes.

– They’re empty,» she said. – There’s nothing in them. Nothing at all! Not a mind, not what you call a soul. Explain to me how a paranoid schizophrenic could convince sixty mentally healthy people to commit mass suicide? – she turned to Tamura. – Yes, yes! He’s a moron! The test results are back.

– I’ve already figured it out,» Tamura replied. He communicates with the Almighty in his dreams.

– Give him to me,» Ruta squeaked.

– What do you need him for? No! We’ll cure him and let him out. And prove once again that religion is just mass bipolar.

– Give it back, please,» the light witch folded her palms, brought them to her lips and jumped on the spot. – I’ll practice whispering witches on him.

– Why him? We have other detainees.

– He has something no one else has – an alien, powerful stagnum. I’ll break him.

– No, Ruta. The decision has been made. It will be transferred today – What stagnum?

There was a gunshot, and the women turned around. The old man fell back a little from the shot, but the handcuffs kept the chair from falling over.

– I promised,» Tamura shrugged and smiled. The barrel of a Beretta was smoking in her hand.

– You idiot! – Eira gritted her teeth, groping for the empty holster on her belt.

– What’s he got there? – Ruta walked over to the dead old man and undid the top button of his shirt. – It’s a stain,» she undid the rest of the buttons.

The witches saw a white stain on the corpse’s bare chest, about twenty centimeters wide and the same height. It looked like a rider on horseback with a thin spear in his right hand.

– A knight of some sort,» said Tamura.

– Don’t touch it,» said Eira. – It looks like some kind of infection. Bring the spectrometer to cell six,» she added into the radio.

– He did say before he died that he was god-marked, by the way. About a sign of some kind.

– Quarantine the detained children. Sanitize the room,» Eira continued.

A gloved nurse entered the cell. The High Witch nodded toward the stain, and the nurse held the spectrometer to it. It emitted a confirmation beep.