Page 204 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

Suddenly, right behind the wall, we heard a loud and terrible laugh the wildness
of which made our hearts freeze. The children squealed and threw themselves down on
the floor. Stella feverishly tried to close the cave with her protective shield, but failed,
apparently being in the grip of deep emotions. Maria stood motionless, white like death
and it was obvious that the recently experienced shock seized her again.

– It’s him. – The girl whispered in horror. – It’s he who killed Dean. And he’ll kill
all of us.
– Well, we’ll see. – Svetilo pronounced deliberately and very confidently. – I’ve
seen worse!
Hold on, girl Maria!

The loud laughter continued. Suddenly I understood very clearly that a human
being could not laugh like that! Not even lowest of "low astral" ones. There was
something very wrong in all this, something "grated upon my ear". It looked more like
a farce or a false performance with a very frightful, mortal end. Finally it dawned on
me – he was not the man he appeared to be!!! It was just a human mask, but the interior
was frightful and alien. In for a penny, in for a pound – I decided to try to fight him.
But if I had known the outcome, I probably would have never tried.
The children and Maria hid in the deep niche which the sunlight did not reach.
Stella and I stood inside trying to maintain the protective shield which for some reason
broke all the time. Svetilo, trying to preseve his iron calmness, was at the entrance of
the cave to be the first to meet the unknown monster and, as far as I understood, was
not going to let him inside. Suddenly my heart began to ache badly, as if having a
presentiment of huge misfortune.
The bright blue flame blazed. We gasped. That which was Svetilo just a second
ago instantly turned into "nothing", having no chance even to start resisting. He turned
into a transparent blue puff of smoke and went into distant eternity without leaving any
trace in this world...

Before we had time to be frightened, the terrible man appeared in the entrance. He
was very tall and to my surprise... very handsome. But the loathsome expression of
cruelty and death on his refined face spoiled his appeal, and also there was a terrible
"degeneration" in him, if I may define it like this... Suddenly I remembered Maria’s
words about her "monster" Dean. She was absolutely right – beauty can be surprisingly
monstrous; on the contrary, one is able to love dearly something "monstrous" which
is good and kind...
The terrible man boisterously laughed again.

His loud laughter repeated in my brain like a sickly echo, sticking in it with
thousands of the thinnest needles, and my body, growing numb, gradually weakened
becoming almost "wooden" as if being influenced by some very strong alien force. The
sound of the mad loud laughter scattered into a firework of millions of unknown shades
which came back into my brain, piercing it with sharp splinters. At last I understood
that it was something like the strongest "hypnosis" which steadily increased fear using
the unusual sound as an instument, thus forcing us to dread the man.
– So, what? Are you going to laugh for long?! Or are you afraid to talk? We’re
tired of listening you! It’s ridiculous! – I rudely shouted, unexpectedly for me.

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