The Castrator - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (most read books in the world of all time .txt) 📗

ALREADY THE PLACE FELT COMPLETELY DEVOID OF MEANING - LIKE A BEAUTIFUL BACKDROP IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, AND I EVEN WONDERED HOW REAL ITS SOLE PROPRIETOR WAS, WHO HAD DISCREETLY HIDDEN HERSELF AWAY SOMEWHERE, BUT WOULD OBVIOUSLY TURN UP IF WE ACTUALLY NEEDED HER SERVICES.

- HOWEVER, WHY FELISTER NEEDED TWO BODIES - THE REASON WAS VERY SIMPLE - SOONER OR LATER THE DETECTIVE DONOVAN HIMSELF HAD TO DO WHAT HE HAD TO DO, BUT ONLY IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND FELISTER'S END CAME.

- "YOU MEAN THAT FELISTER PROGRAMMED HIS OWN DEATH?,“ THE YAKUBA HEALER, WHO HAD BEEN STANDING ON THE SIDELINES OF THE WHOLE CONVERSATION BUT HADN'T LOST SIGHT OF IT AT ALL, REMARKED SOMEWHAT ODDLY, "OR EVEN MEANT THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HIM, A SERIES OF RELATIVELY 'PLANNED' CONSEQUENCES WOULD ENSUE AS A RESULT OF IT. SORT OF LIKE THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT."

- SOMETHING LIKE THAT - ONLY MISTER EMBANKS WANTED TO DO IT IN A WELL PLANNED WAY, OR AT LEAST IN A WAY THAT HE COULD GET AWAY WITH. THIS DESIGN WAS OF COURSE QUITE SIMILAR TO THE CHAOS CODE ALREADY MENTIONED, AND WAS ABOUT MINIMAL DEVIATIONS THAT OVER TIME GAVE RISE TO CHAOTIC BUT NOT RANDOM NETWORKS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT THAT COULD ESCALATE AND BECOME GLOBAL. BUT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE SENSE OF IMPENDING DEATH GOT IN THE WAY. NOW I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND?

ARLO AND ZONARA BOTH NODDED, BARELY PERCEPTIBLY - THEY FELT THAT SUCH AN EXPLANATION BASICALLY EXHAUSTED THE MECHANISM OF THE MAD BREEDER'S WORKINGS.

- FELISTER HAD PLANNED TO TRANSFER HIS CONSCIOUSNESS TO ONE OF THE OTHER BODIES, BUT FAILED, AND THEN THAT THING HAPPENED WITH THE DEMON THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ALL TOO WELL ABOUT - IT TRANSFERRED INTO THE GAS BENZOUR ITSELF, AND YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT. THE WHOLE SITUATION WAS THAT NO MATTER HOW WELL-HONED HIS BRILLIANT DESIGN WAS, SOMETHING JUST DIDN'T FIT. PERHAPS HE HAD DEVELOPED AN ATTACHMENT TO LIFE, AS HE ALLOWED INTERNALLY THAT THERE WAS STILL UNFINISHED BUSINESS, AND HIS UNTIMELY DEATH WOULD HAVE CUT EVERYTHING SHORT. YOU REMEMBER THAT VERY MEANINGFUL QUOTE FROM SCRIPTURE THAT "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT BE LEFT IN WANT. IN GREEN PASTURES WILL HE COMFORT ME; BESIDE STILL WATERS WILL HE LEAD ME.[6]" THIS PRINCIPLE OF SUPPLY IS VERY IMPORTANT! WHEN FELISTER INTERACTED WITH VARIOUS CRIMINALS, RECIDIVISTS, AND ALSO PROMINENT POLITICIANS, HE RESORTED TO THE SERVICES OF VARIOUS DEMONS WHO HELPED HIM, BUT NOT FOR FREE - HE GAVE THEM LITTLE PIECES OF HIS SOUL. BUT HOW MANY PIECES DOES THE HUMAN SOUL POSSESS - EVEN THAT OF A MAN LIKE FELISTER EMBANKS? SOME SAY THE SOUL IS A UNIFIED WHOLE, OTHERS SAY IT HAS TWO OR THREE PARTS, BUT ONE THING I CAN SAY FOR SURE - WE ARE ALL BORN WITH SEVEN LIVES AND THAT IS THE THING THAT MATTERS, AND THEN OUR SOUL MOVES ON TO ITS NEXT PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT.

MAYBE WE WERE BORN FOR ANOTHER TIME AND ANOTHER PLACE BECAUSE OURS WAS IRRETRIEVABLY GONE AND WE WOULD PROBABLY NEVER REPEAT AND LIVE THAT LIFE AGAIN. THERE WAS ONLY A VAGUE MEMORY OF SOME DÉJÀ VU THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN WHAT WE REALLY NEEDED.

DIEGO TOOK UP HIS STORY AGAIN AFTER STANDING STILL FOR A LONG TIME:

- THE POLITICIANS HE WAS PANDERING TO WERE OF ALL KINDS - HE NEEDED BOTH CONGRESSMEN IN THE MAIN AMERICAN STATES, BUT ALSO ENOUGH SUPPORT FROM POLITICIANS OF INDIAN DESCENT IN A NEW SCOTIA IN CANADA. THUS HE HAD TAKEN THE BULL BY THE HORNS AND COULD DISPOSE OF AS MUCH AND WHEREVER HE WISHED - AND THE FENTANYL SUBSTANCE VARIETIES WERE GOING TO HIS SLUSH FUND IN OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS WITH WHICH HE CARRIED OUT HIS PLANS. FOR EXAMPLE ...

DIEGO WAS JUST FINISHING HIS STORY WHEN I SENSED SOMETHING WASN'T QUITE RIGHT. YES, IT HAD REVEALED TO US MOST OF FELISTER'S LEGACY, BUT FROM HIS BODY LANGUAGE, ON A SUBCONSCIOUS LEVEL, I SENSED THAT SOMETHING WAS AMISS. HE WAS A MOLE! VILE, RUTHLESS AND INDIFFERENT! I UNBUTTONED HIS SHIRT, WHICH WAS STAINED WITH BLOOD FROM THE DEMON HIMSELF. IT WAS A REMINDER OF THE FIERCE FIGHT WE HAD TO GET RID OF HIM. THERE WERE SPECIAL MICROPHONES UNDERNEATH AND THE WHOLE CONVERSATION WAS BEING RECORDED ALL THIS TIME. THE AGENTS HAD USED THOSE STUPID MICROPHONES THAT YOU PUT ON YOUR WRIST, BUT THEY ALLOWED SERIOUS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, AND ON THE OTHER HAND THE FACT THAT THEY COULD EAVESDROP SO COMFORTABLY FROM A DISTANCE WAS WONDERFUL.

OF COURSE, BETRAYAL COULD ALSO BE SEEN AS POWER, AND THAT POINT OF VIEW WAS PERHAPS ALSO PART OF FELISTER'S HERITAGE. THE TRADITIONAL VIEW WAS THAT TRAITORS WERE OUR ENEMIES, AND WHETHER THAT WAS REALLY THE CASE.

THE OLD WOMAN BEHIND THE BAR WAS APPARENTLY JUST ANOTHER INFORMANT FOR THE FEDS.

AT THAT POINT THE FEDS BARGED IN - THEY WERE QUITE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT HAVING SOMETHING - OR AT LEAST FORMALLY.

THIS WAS THE APPARENT CONFESSION OF DIEGO HIMSELF - STRONG EVIDENCE ACCORDING TO THEMSELVES.

AGENT MORALES BRISTLED:

- EVERYONE ON THE GROUND! NOBODY MOVE!

AND SHOVED US DOWN LIKE RIPE WATERMELONS BRUISED ON THE FLOOR. AFTER HIM, THE OTHERS CAME IN! THEIR WEAPONS WERE DRAWN AND READY TO STRIKE THE TARGET - WHATEVER IT WAS!

THE FEDS TURNED THE QUIET ASHGROVE UPSIDE DOWN. THEY ALSO RANSACKED THE HOUSE WHERE WE WERE STAYING. AND GENERALLY FOUND NOTHING, BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING TO FIND EITHER. IT WAS COMMON PRACTICE FOR THE FEDS TO ILLEGALLY COLLECT THOUSANDS OF CALLS, WHICH THEY WOULD THEN USE AS EVIDENCE AND ALSO TO ELICIT TESTIMONY.

MORALES RUBBED HIS HANDS TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT BETRAYED HIS SATISFACTION THAT ONCE AND FOR ALL HE WOULD BE TRULY APPRECIATED-BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW EVERY THREAD OF DETECTIVE DONOVAN'S STORY, SINCE FATHER TOBIAS HAD REMAINED SILENT ANYWAY.

WHEN THE FEDS LISTENED TO THE TAPES, THEY WERE LEFT OPEN-MOUTHED AND UNABLE TO SAY ANYTHING. AGENT MORALES, JUST SCRATCHING BEHIND HIS EAR LIKE SOMEONE WHO HAD FALLEN INTO AN UNHARVESTED VINEYARD AND WONDERING HOW HE WAS GOING TO JUSTIFY THE PURPOSE OF THE OPERATION, WHICH INVOLVED NEARLY TWO DOZEN FEDERAL AGENTS, VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT - AND IT WAS ALL TAXPAYER MONEY - IT SMELLED LIKE FAILURE TO HIM. A BIG ONE AT THAT! IT MIGHT EVEN HAVE BEEN THE END OF HIS CAREER!

THE AGENTS EXPECTED TO HEAR SOME SUBSTANTIVE INFORMATION, BUT INSTEAD THERE WAS ONLY WHITE NOISE, WHICH WASN'T MUCH. IT WAS AS IF OUR WHOLE CONVERSATION HAD NEVER TAKEN PLACE AND THERE WAS NOTHING UNUSUAL IN IT.

TO BE PRECISE, MORALES WAS AN OLD WOLF, AND NO SUPERNATURAL PHANTASMAGORIAS WERE LOST ON HIM, BUT UNLIKE DETECTIVE DONOVAN, HE WAS IN NO HURRY TO DECLARE VICTORY, AS TOO MANY SUBMARINE STONES MIGHT COME UP IN THE COURSE OF UNRAVELING THE STORY.

MORALES HAD HANDLED THE INVESTIGATION IN A VERY SUBTLE AND CAREFUL MANNER - HE HAD INFILTRATED DIEGO AT FELISTER'S, AND FROM THEN ON THERE WAS NO NEED FOR TELLING, AND NOW THIS PART.

BUT IF DIEGO HAD DONE THIS HOW WAS HE ABLE, POSSESSED BY THE DEMON, NOT TO BREAK THE MICROPHONE. THE QUESTION REMAINED OPEN. IT WAS OBVIOUSLY PURE LUCK! OR MAYBE NOT?

THE FIRST DIEGO OR JAKE WAS ALIVE AND WELL - THAT EXPLAINED THE MYSTERY - DAMN! AND DIEGO HIMSELF - RAUL'S BROTHER HAD THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD WHEN HE POISONED HIM FROM THE GRAVE. AND THEN THE FEDS ARRIVED, RECRUITED HIM, AND TOOK JAKE TO THE MORGUE - AFTER ALL, THIS STORY SEEMED PLAUSIBLE. BUT HOW LONG COULD HIS BODY HAVE BEEN UNDERGROUND?

MATHEMATICALLY CALCULATED, ONE COULD SPEND AT LEAST FIVE AND A HALF HOURS UNDERGROUND BEFORE THE AIR IN THE COFFIN RAN OUT. DIEGO HAD FOUGHT FOR EVERY BREATH TO GET OUT! TO BE BORN AGAIN! TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY! AND TO START ANEW!

DIEGO HAD JUST MANAGED TO SAVE JAKE, AS HE HAD BEEN RECRUITED BY THE FEDS SHORTLY AFTER HE HAD STARTED HIS JOB WITH FELISTER.

AS HARD AS IT WAS TO BELIEVE, FELISTER HAD LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND - TWO CHILDREN WHO WERE NOT HIS, BUT WHO STILL BREATHED THE FRESH AIR OF THIS EARTH. TWO CHILDREN WHO HAD HELPED TO END THE BLOODY TERROR OF THE FARMER!

DETECTIVE MORALES WAS OBVIOUSLY UNHAPPY WITH THE WHITE NOISE, BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

THEN THE YAKUBA APPROACHED HIM. THE WISE OLD MAN DECIDED TO TALK TO HIM AND REVEAL WHAT HE KNEW:

- "YOU MUST SEE THE SYMBOLS, AGENT MORALES," HE COUGHED, "THE PRESENCE OF A RAINBOW IS A SIGN THAT THE GUARDIAN ANGEL IS WITH THE DIEGO - AND THAT'S NO SMALL THING. LOOK AT THOSE COLORS - THEY TELL YOU EVERYTHING. AND THE SOULS OF SOME WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST ONLY IN THE SO-CALLED BACKGROUND OF THEIR LIVES, WHERE THE OPTION OF LIFE, AND IN PARTICULAR ACCESS TO THEIR VITAL CORE, WILL BE CUT OFF. THIS IS ALSO CALLED LOSING TOUCH WITH YOUR SOUL. PERHAPS HIS ANTACARANA[7] HAS BEEN DAMAGED, BUT STILL."

AGENT MORALES CRINGED. THAT SOUNDED SIMPLE... HE LOOKED AROUND AT THIS AFRICAN HEALER WITH A GREYING HEAD WHO WAS TRYING TO HELP HIM, REVEALING TO HIM THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING.

- "AFTER ALL, THERE IS A TRAITOR IN ALL OF US - EVEN ON AN ENERGETIC LEVEL," THE OLD MAN CONTINUED, "AND HAVE THESE TRAITORS ACTUALLY BETRAYED YOU, OR ARE THEY SIMPLY YOUR HELPERS TO THE HIGHER ENERGIES AND ARE NOT BETRAYING US INTO THE HANDS OF THE MOST HIGH?"

AGENT MORALES ASSUMED THAT SOME SUPERNATURAL FORCES HAD INTERVENED IN THE WHOLE STORY - BUT UNLIKE DETECTIVE DONOVAN, HE HAD EARS TO HIS HEAD AND COULD HEAR AND LISTEN. AND HAD ENOUGH BRAINS TO JUDGE CLEARLY AND SOBERLY WHAT WAS GOING ON.

BEHIND HIS BACK, THE TWO BLOODLESS BROTHERS WITH A COMMON ADOPTIVE FATHER EMBRACED. THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE THEY WERE INTERCONNECTED IN THEIR PATH.

- EVERY DISAPPOINTMENT, AGENT MORALES, LEADS US TO SUBTLER LEVELS. THEN THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR ANY INVESTIGATION. THE QUESTION REMAINS DO YOU REALLY WANT TO LIFT YOUR SOUL?

THE INVESTIGATION WENT ON FOR MONTHS, AND I WENT BACK TO THE OLD HAUNTS WITH THE AGENTS, EXPLAINING TO THEM THE INTRICACIES OF FELISTER'S LEGACY. FINALLY, THE FBR JUST CALLED IT OFF AS IT SEEMED FRUITLESS, BUT NOT BEFORE CHECKING OUT THE CONNECTIONS TO THE POLITICIANS AND MOBSTERS THEY HAD SOME LEADS ON ANYWAY. AGENT MORALES DECIDED NOT TO MEDDLE IN THE WORK OF THE ALMIGHTY - WAS IT RIGHT OR WRONG? WELL, EVERYONE WAS TO JUDGE FOR THEMSELVES.

AFTER DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE MAD FARMER'S SECRETS, IT TURNED OUT THAT HE DID INDEED HAVE SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF MONEY IN HIS OFFSHORE COMPANY.

SIMPLE STATEMENTS SHOWED THAT IF JAKE HAD OWNED ABOUT TWO MILLION DOLLARS (IT WAS WORTH NOTING THAT HE WAS NOT PROSECUTED FOR HIS TREMENDOUS COOPERATION DURING THE AGENTS' INVESTIGATION, BUT HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH HIS FORTUNE - AT LEAST NOT UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER!), THEN FELISTER WAS SIMPLY UNBEATABLE. WE HAD A DEAL WITH THE FEDS TO HAND OVER THE BREEDER'S SUMS TO THEM, BUT THIS IS WHERE THINGS WEREN'T SO SIMPLE.

IT WAS INTERESTING THAT FELISTER HAD MADE AN INGENIOUS FINANCIAL SYSTEM, AND BESIDES BEING A SKILLED BUSINESSMAN, HE WAS A GOOD ENOUGH FINANCIER.

ONE PART WAS THAT HE OWNED PHANTOM COMPANIES THAT WERE HIDDEN BEHIND A SERIES OF OFFSHORE COMPANIES THAT WERE IN TURN PARTNERS OF INDIANS WHO OWNED FUNERAL AGENCIES THAT BURIED DEAD INDIANS ON RESERVATIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER - AND SINCE A COFFIN COULD HIDE AT LEAST TWENTY POUNDS OF PURE GOODS, THAT MADE FABULOUS SUMS IN THE THIRTY MILLION RANGE. YES, THAT'S RIGHT! IT WAS PURE FENTANYL, AND FELISTER LIKED HIS BEST TO GO TO HIS MOST DEVOTED CUSTOMERS HIS CUSTOMERS. SOMETIMES HE CARRIED TWO COFFINS A YEAR ACROSS THE BORDER, AND THAT THROUGH THIS CHANNEL ALONE.

BUT THE FINANCIAL PART OF ORGANIZED CRIMINAL PROFIT DIVERSION COULD EMBARRASS EVEN HARVARD-EDUCATED YUPPIES.

WITH SOME OF THE MONEY, DONATIONS WERE MADE TO CHURCHES THAT WERE AGAIN CONNECTED WITH HIM IN SOME DEGREE, AND THEY MADE A CAMPAIGN OF DONATIONS, AND THE MONEY CAME BACK TO THE INDIANS AGAIN IN VARIOUS FORMS-WELL, NOT