Ekaterina Zabolotskih
Whisperer in the Dark – the Sequel
"Freedom, how come, you're hardly freer than me, Marcus…" – Wilmarth was annoyed – "Damn! Is there nothing I can do at all! No way out?! At all?!" – tears flowed from the young man's eyes and his hands began to claw at the wall. "I don't want to die, not now!" – he shouted, trying to get up. His leg felt as if it had been stabbed, and Wilmarth collapsed back to the floor.
He lay staring at the ceiling. He had never been in such a desperate situation where everything was at stake. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks and there was a lump in his throat.
Wilmarth lay like this for about two hours before he began to drift off to sleep. "I must be sleeping for the last time in my life… Sounds ridiculous," the young philology professor thought to himself.
In the morning he was to be reborn into a new form of life.
Chapter 5
He woke up when dusk was still outside the window. He tried to get up – surprisingly, his leg did not hurt. On the contrary, the bloody wound from the broken bone had healthy skin and all the joints were in place. Wilmarth tried to stand up – his leg obeyed. He pinched himself, believing he was still asleep, but nothing had changed. There was a slight scent of herbs in the room. "Right! Eckley had once mentioned that one could only transfer consciousness into the Conductor when fully healthy. So someone healed my wound during the night, miracles…". He examined the wound site once more – it was in perfect condition. Forgetting for a moment his fate, the philologist jumped around the room joyfully, like a child. But only for a moment – the smile disappeared from his face as quickly as it had appeared. He sat down in a corner and pondered.I had never wanted to live so much. Wandering around the city again, admiring its busy streets. Watching the ships leave the harbour, walking through the woods. Listen to the birds, bask in the sun, just… To live. A stingy tear rolled down his cheek and fell to the rotten floor.
Suddenly the young man heard something: "No, it can't be." Wilmarth jumped up and pressed his ear to the outside wall: birds were singing. How could it be, since there weren't any animals for miles around, they didn't get along with the Mi-go. Doesn't that mean that…" – Hope flashed in his eyes and Wilmarth headed for the door. After examining it carefully, he tried to open the mechanism with a splinter torn from the floor. It only cracked inside with a crackle. This made him very angry: "What's the matter with me? – He kicked the door with his foot and immediately recoiled. The door swung open, letting in the fresh air.
"Marcus… he forgot to lock it." There was no time to waste – the young man quietly made his way to Ecklie's storerooms, getting some strong ropes (the old man often went to the mountains) and an old rifle. "Not much, but better than nothing. It was just a matter of climbing out the window of one of the rooms and hiding in the same part of the forest as the birds. Without knowing why, Wilmarth was confident that the mee-gohs would not get him there.
He went quietly down to the ground floor and entered the room where he had been held last night. From the ground floor came Noyes' snoring. Marcus was probably asleep at home. Neither Neo nor Gling could be heard. Chalking it up to Mi-go's habit of sleeping in the mountains, the young man cautiously opened the window.Trying not to make a sound, he tied one end of the rope to an old dresser and the other to his belt and started the descent. It was not easy: his feet slipped on the tiles and his sweaty palms prevented him from grasping the rope firmly.
"Oop-la!" – Having reached a safe height, Wilmarth jumped off. Of course, he could have done without the rope, but still he was too gentle for such an act. "After all, I am a literature teacher, not a backyard boy."
The young man raised his head to gather the rope and involuntarily shrieked – Marcus was staring at him dumbfounded out of the window. The man had just woken up and came into the kitchen to make his morning coffee. For a few seconds both remained still, waiting for each other's action. "Don't even think about shouting," Wilmarth muttered, aiming the gun at his adversary. "Don't even think about it," he whispered back and turned away from the window. "You have five minutes, then I'll raise the alarm," the spy said as he continued to stir his drink.
"Why?" – Willmarth was discouraged.
"You only have to listen, and you will hear the call of freedom."
The fugitive nodded his head and raced towards the forest, oriented by the singing of the birds. He knew that salvation awaited him there. He could feel it.
Chapter 6
The chase did not take long: as Marcus had promised, five minutes later there was shouting and cursing outside the house. By this time Willmarth had moved far enough away from the trees to conceal his presence. He climbed a large sequoia tree and watched: Noyes ran out of the house, got into his car and drove off down a road leading somewhere in the mountains.Then Marcus appeared on the porch, lit a cigarette and stared up at the sky. Wilmart looked up, too, and almost fell over – three winged men were flying towards the farmhouse. Their heads glowed red. "Why did Noyes go there if they already knew about it?" The lad made himself comfortable and continued his observation. The Mi-go's went down and quickly entered the house. In a few minutes Wilmart could already see them through the window on the first floor. They looked carefully at the rope and turned towards the forest. The young man froze. The heads of the Mi-gos began to flicker: two of them glowed red and the third glowed blue. Suddenly one of the Mi-go spread its wings, but the other stopped it. They stood for a while longer and then returned to Marcus. He said something to the aliens and they quickly retreated back into the mountains.
Wilmarth climbed down from the tree and headed towards the ridge as well. For some reason Mee-goh had not devastated this part of the forest, and he would be safe here. But for how long? "There is some mystery out there in the mountains. And I must find it out." The young man could not be sure that if he returned to Arkham everything would fall into place.There is no telling what these creatures were up to. Why would they pull out a harmless literature teacher and transfer his consciousness to the Conductor? The answers were somewhere up there, so the boy had only to follow the trail of the aliens, hoping that he would find a way out of the situation.
It was an easy climb – there were many trails in the mountains. Locals hiked with their families and tourists came here to admire nature. Wilmarth spent the rest of the day hiking. At sunset he finally reached the top. The view was indeed breathtaking: the sun was coming down over the horizon, leaving a scarlet trail on the treetops. All the wild animals remained below, in the last living piece of forest. There was silence all around again. At least, better than the buzzing of the Mee-goo. He looked around and found a cave that led deep into the mountain. He needed somewhere to spend the night before looking for clues, so he headed there. Lying on a cold rock, he looked at the setting sun, "I'll know soon, very soon…"