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Turn me. Part 1
Altar Coal
He is the product of the secret laboratory, werewolf-super-agent and professional killer. He has no memory of his past, but when he discovers that, he starts fighting with the system for his freedome. What will be the end of this strugle…
Turn me
Part 1
Altar Coal
© Altar Coal, 2024
ISBN 978-5-0064-2809-6 (т. 1)
ISBN 978-5-0064-2808-9
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Prologue
The branches lashed him mercilessly across the face, if one could call his hairy, toothy muzzle a face. Yet now he didn’t care what he looked like. Most importantly, and he tried his best to keep this thought in his furry head, he had to reach the place where the long-awaited reincarnation could happen. «The main thing, the task is completed. To get rid of this heavy burden as soon as possible,» – that’s what he thought, as far as it was possible to think in this state. And so he again and again strained all the muscles of his body, trying to speed up his already fast run.
Although it was easy to run. Though he hated this body, it was as if specially made for running. His lungs pumped air like bellows, and he could literally feel the oxygenated blood coursing freely through his mutated veins. Strange, but in his other state, he always wanted to be like he is now, and he experienced some strange longing for the Spell, that’s what he called for himself the feeling of reincarnation that enveloped him. It was like a dark cloud surrounded him immediately after the spell was uttered. However, he still hated it with all his heart, especially when he experienced the terrible pain of the transformation. Yet, probably, the main reason for his hatred was not the pain, but the understanding that he was not acting in his own will, but doing the oppressive and humiliating will of the Spell. Kanny did not remember when all this happened to him, and in the whirlwind of life he did not have enough time, and did not particularly want to stop and seriously think about it, especially now, when his human thoughts were mixed with bestial instincts. Precisely at such moments, for some reason, he felt a special desire to regain his human appearance and the ability to think clearly and calmly.
He saw a dim light ahead.
«Getting close!» a human thought flashed somewhere in the depths of his dual consciousness. He still had them, these human thoughts. A few moments later Kanny ran out into the clearing. The thick thicket was gone. Further it will be even easier to run. Soon he will reach another clearing at the end of which is his destination. Suddenly, his sharp wolf senses alerted him to people.
Chapter 1
Peter was a strong, though not tall, fair-haired and gray-eyed young man, who worked as a head of a special department whose functions were to investigate some paranormal phenomena and cases. He was reading a new report that was placed on his table by his secretary this morning. «There were several people in the area of the Maslovka village who saw UFOs and after that some strange creatures which were, according to the descriptions, similar to either a ghost, or either to a gray alien with traditionally huge eyes. Some photos and videos, made on some kind of smartphone, were added.
As usual, someone lost something, someone disappeared somewhere, and someone was kidnapped somewhere and after that began to tell all sorts of incredible stories about his kidnapping.
Peter winced and rubbed his forehead. Unpleasant pain in the temples disturbed him for several days. The superior chief from the very morning began «to take out his brains.» The wife sent him a message five minutes ago that their little Xenia was ill and had a fever.
«Work…!? How… in the world?»
It was stuffy in the room which made him feel sick. He got up and went to the window. The sky was so blue and clear today. He opened the window and waited until the morning coolness touched his face, and inhaled it filling his entire chest.
«Eh!» he thought. «If people could fly, I would now spread my wings, or something with which I flew in my dreams as a child, and fly somewhere to the top of the mountain away from all this vain mortal existence.»
* * *
«Look which one I’ve found!» A graceful girl in the age of about fourteen triumphantly picked up a huge porcini mushroom, showing it to a guy of average height and strong athletic build, who looked like he was twenty. An attentive observer would immediately understand that these two are brother and sister. Both have gray eyes and straight features. Both have light brown thick hair, which in guy’s case were a little curly. Both are of average height.
«Yes, the good one,» he replied without much enthusiasm and looked around anxiously.
«What’s happened?» She asked, noticing his concern.
Without answering, he looked up, trying to see where there’s a sun, but because of the clouds, the direction of the sun’s rays could not be determined.
«Andrey?»
She knew her brother too well. He never worried without a reason.
«I don’t like it,» he replied.
«What exactly?»
Both had special plastic containers already full of mushrooms.
«Do you happen to remember where you and I turned into this clearing?»
She thought for a moment.
«No, I do not remember. When I’m with you, I don’t follow the terrain at all.»
He shook his head.
«It’s not good, Lerochka, not so good. It would be very helpful. When did we put the last mark?»
She thought again and sadly answered.
«A long time ago.»
Without saying anything, he went, as it seemed to him, to where they had come from. His sister silently followed him.
After a while he stopped near a large tree.
«Look here.»
«Oh, a mark!» she exclaimed joyfully, seeing the peeled bark on the tree trunk.
«It’s not,» he sighed. «This is not our mark. You see?»
Now she saw. These were obviously traces of claws of some kind of a beast.
«Bear?!» she exclaimed with fear.
«Yes, it looks like. But this is not scary actually. In that season they are satisfied, and it’s unlikely that they would desire to meet a human. But the fact that this is not our label is bad. It looks like we got too far away.»
«What are we going to do?»
«Trying to find a way home, what else can we do?» he replied with a shrug. At that moment just before the sunset the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and Andrey, following the direction of the rays, turned east.
«It looks like we have to go there.»
Valeria sighed heavily and silently followed him.
* * *
«People! Why are there people here?»
The question sounded so deep, as if his consciousness spoke somewhere from the bottom of the ocean. However, even from there his brain somehow managed to match distances with mathematical precision and calculate the location of people in relation to the destination.
Kanny stopped and turned his nose toward the wind. The hair on his thick black scruff and wide gray back stood on end, his mouth slightly opened in an evil grin, showing a row of sharp white teeth, his ears stood straight up and instinctively turned towards the scanned object.
«They are two. Very young. He and she. Relatives. They gather mushrooms. Very close to the place…» signals came one after another from the Mariana Trench of his animal-human brain, as if somewhere there was an unknown translator of his subconsciousness, stubbornly reminding of himself. In this state, his brain worked like some kind of super-computer, giving out the data he needed in a split second… and so… not everything was so hated in this bestial nature. Its dominating essence was very unpleasant, but some of its things he really liked. For example, strength, speed, flexibility, reaction, or that special ability to literally «see» with his nose. Even with his eyes closed, he continued to fully perceive the world around him. In this body his sight was much worse and he ceased to distinguish most of the colors, but at the same time his consciousness was overwhelmed with the richest information coming to him through hearing and especially through the scent, which gave him incomparably more information than other senses. And although he did not distinguish every color and shade of the grass, or of the bark of trees, but at the same time each plant, each facet of the tree fungus, each crack in the bark exuded its own special smell, telling both what kind of plant it was and what kind of the creature lives in it or on that; here are ants, here is a bark beetle, there are ticks… In addition, his wolf’s sense of smell, one of the sharpest on earth, could tell him with amazing accuracy even what was happening at a distance of more than ten miles. And… by the way! What an amazing intuition he had! He missed it so much, turning back to the human again. Somehow, being a beast, he immediately felt the danger, understood the nature of people, knew where he needed or needed not to go…
Now, for example, he felt that there was something special in these people, but it was still unclear what exactly. On one hand, he really wanted to find out what it is, since he intuitively understood that it was this «something» that for some reason would not allow him to harm them, but on the other hand, they were close enough to the base, and according to the instructions, it would be necessary to destroy them in order to preserve the secret.
«It’s strange, they still won’t be able to get inside the protection field, aren’t they? Why does Alex insist on killing people if I meet them in this area? After all, when I’m not there, there are sometimes hunters here, and he doesn’t touch them. None of them have ever been able to penetrate the protective barrier.»
However, the order of the authorities is an order. Sighing, Kanny again «scanned» the area with his scent. One bear-male, completely fed and uninterested in anything. He certainly knows about the humans because they have invaded his territory, but that obviously didn’t bother him right now. A small pack of wolves, recently from hunting, after a young roe deer, they tried to stay away from people. One lynx, following the trail of a deer, two wild boars, getting ready for bed, the rest of the predators in the nearby radius do not pose a danger to these two. The werewolf understood that a couple of miles for him, and for them, is not the same thing. By their smell he read that these people are simply lost, and therefore do not know where they are. This meant that they might never find a secret place, and they did not pose a danger, at least not yet. However, the bestial dominating essence of the Spell did not obey human logic and continued to lead him in their direction with one and only goal – people had to be terminated.
* * *
It got dark quickly. After a couple of hours, pretty tired, the guys realized that they were completely lost.
«What do we do?» she asked, seeing that her brother does not know where to go.
«I think we need to think about where to spend the night,» he replied.
«And… where can we spend it?» Lera asked with fear.
«The best is on a tree. We… of course… will be mercilessly eaten by mosquitoes, but wild animals will not touch us.»
«Are you sure?»
«Yes, more or less. The wolf can’t. A bear will not climb a tree. They climb trees only when they are small. The adults wouldn’t. In general, only a hungry beast is dangerous, and now is the time when there is plenty of food. Lynx… attack a human only in winter time so…»
«What if we fall down?»
«Let’s get attached. You have a belt, I have a belt. Oh! I see the tree which is just right.»
Andrey confidently walked forward, and his sister followed him with a sigh, trying to keep up with her older brother, who seemed so strong and confident in this unfriendly forest darkening with every minute.
Approaching the tree the brother knocked it for some reason, and then, contrived, jumped up and grabbed the lower branch. Deftly pulling himself up, he climbed up and stretching his hand out said to his sister:
«Come on.»
«I’m afraid.»
He chuckled.
«Fine. I’ll climb up alone, and you can spend the night under a tree. I think you’ll like it.»
«What did you say?! I will not stay here alone, without you,» she exclaimed with fear.
«What’s the matter? Give me your hand.»
She timidly extended her tender girlish hand to him, and he, unexpectedly firmly grasping her, pulled her up with a fast movement. She only had time to scream in surprise, as she was already next to him.
Further it was easier. Deftly climbing from branch to branch, Andrey moved up, and Lera followed him as fast as she could.
At the height of just a little bit over three meters the brother stopped and said:
«These two branches are just right. High enough, and at the same time not so scary. They are large and you can get attached normally.»
He pulled the belt out of the loops of his jeans and buckled it to the trunk. His sister tried to do the same with her belt. Andrey looked and nodded approvingly:
«All right, Lerka. You won’t fall.»
«Not very comfortable,» she replied with a sigh.
«Of course!» he laughed. «This is not a resort, but a temporary vital necessity. So, let’s endure, somehow, this kind of inconvenience.»
He looked around. Twilight was rapidly gathering.
«We’re on time. Just got here before it got too dark.»
«Yes, indeed,» she shuddered.
At this moment a huge shadow flashed behind the trees about fifty meters from them. If it were not for the evening darkness and the changeable forms of shrubs and trees, the guys would probably have noticed her, in fact Lera only caught a strange rustle and immediately turned toward it.
«Have you heard of it?
«What?»
«Some noise. Like steps. And a dull grunt, like an angry dog.»
«Hmm… no. I haven’t heard anything. Don’t worry. That’s why we climbed here, in order to not to be afraid of anything.»
«I’m still afraid. There is definitely someone there.»
«Hey, stupid little girl. Even if there is, so what? I told you, don’t be afraid. Maximum that it can do is to come to the foot of the tree and smell it.»
«But what if?!»
«What if, what if! Well, it will eat us, what’s the problem?»
«What are you talking about?» She indignantly poked him with her small fist.
«About nonsense. Nothing to be afraid of.»
«But I want to talk. All night is ahead.»
«Oh, ok, talk. You can start with some horror stories.»
