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basket that aske dthe now-v anished citizenryofManhattantoKEEPOURCITY
CLEAN.Thena secondb olt,th athadg razedhisshoulder.Hehadrun,andthe yha
dfollowed,andwhathadhappened,had happened,andnow hewasback. Peachless. Helayd
ownon thechaise-lounge, andfellasleep atonce.
Theincubusspoketothenixie.
Have we opened him upenoughyet?No,notnearlyenough.Wecountedtoomuchonthefirst
blast.But what sleft?
EnoughisleftthatIstillhavedifficultyemerging.We llhavetowait.They lld o itto
him,andf
orus.There sallthetimeineternity.Stoprushing.I mconcerned.Ihavemyprincipalsas
wellasyou, and they have equally as unpleasant away o fmaking their wishes and
sorrows knownas yours.They ll haveto wait,likemine.Theywon twait. Well,
they llhaveto. Thisisacarefulo peration.They ve waited two millioneternities
already.Youturnpoetry,butthatisn tthefigure.A long time, at any rate. Then afe
w
morecyclesw on t twitthemthatmuch.I lltellthemwhatyousaid. Youdo that.I
can tguarantee anything.Whend idyouever?I do mybest. That s ane xplanation,n
otan excuse.I mleavingnow.Y ou refading; it sobviousyou releaving.You ll stay
with Smith?No, I llleave him,and gotake a rest at theblack poolspa...of course
I llstay withhim!Getoutof here.Arrogance!Imbecile!
Smithslept,andd idnotdream.Buttherewerevoices.Whenheawoke,hewasmore weary
than whenhehadlaind own.Thegrimoirestills toodopen, proppedagainsttheskull on
thekitchen tablehehadsetagains tthewall.Thechartswerestillthe
re,thecandlewasstillhalf-down.
Somethingferoc iouswasgnawingatthebackofhismind.Hetriedtofocusonit,butitwent
chitteringawayintothedarkness.Helookedaroundthecistern.Itwaschillandempty.Thef
irehadgone
out.Heswunghislegsoffthecotandstoodup.Bonescracked.Therewaspaininhisshoulderwh
e rethecrossbow bolthadgrazedhim. He wenttothe
rackandtookoutacorkeddecanter,pu lledthecorkwith
histeethandletthedarkgraysmoke-flu idwithindribbleontotheraw,angrywound.
He wastryingt o remember.S omething. What?Oh...
yes.Nowheremembered.Thegirl.Theone who wasspreadin gthe word abou thim.Blue
Serge suit,sh e wastellingthem, crowdsofthem, rat-packsinthest reets,blue
serge suit, alittle weaselman, with alimp.He s the one who did it. He s the
one who killed the world.
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Ifhe dbeenabletogetoutofthecity,h emighthavebeenablet osu
rvivewithouthavingtokill
anyoneelse.Butthey dclosedoffthebridgesandtunnels...they weren owactively
lookingforh im, scouringthecit y.Andbeyondthecity...now...itwasn tsafe.
Note venforhim,forSm ithwhoh addoneit.S oheh adtofindthegirl.Ifhecouldstopher
mouth,endhercrusadetof indhim,hemightbeabletoescapethem,
gototheBronx,orevenStatenIsland
(no,n ot StatenIsland:itwasn t safe there).
He knew hem ust findherquickly.He hadhaddreams,there
inthecistern.HehadgonetoNicephorustogleantheir
meanings,andeventhoughhereadGreekimperfectly,hefoundthathisdreamofburningc
oalsmeanta threatof someharmatthehandsofhisenemies,hisdreamofwalkingonbroken
shellsmeanthewouldescapefromhisenemies snares, hisdreamofb urning
incenseforetolddanger,andhisd reamofholdingke
ysmeanttherewasanobstacleinthepathofhisplans.Thegirl.
Heprepared t ogo out t ofin dher.H etook a p iece ofv
irginparchmentfromthesealedcontainer
onwhichhadbeeninscribedtheperfectsquareinLatin:
S A T O R A R E P O T E N E T O P E R A R O T A S
andwith thedriedbeakofablack chicken hewroteinpurpleink(hehadmadefromg
rapesandshoepolish),thenamesofth
ethreeKings,Gaspar,MelchiorandBalthazar.Heputtheparchmentinhisleft shoe,an
dasheleftthecisternhemadethefirststepwithhisleftfoot,pronouncingthen
amessoftly.
Thusheknewhewouldtravelw ithoutencounteringanydi fficulties. Andheworeablacka
gate,ve inedwithwhite.Toprotecthimfromalldangerandtog ivehimvictoryoverh
isenemies.
Whyhadtheysomehowfailedhimatothertimes?
Itwasnight.Thecity glowedwithaneerieoff-orangecolor,asthough ithad lain
beneath greatwate rsforages,thenthewaterhadbeendrainedawayandthecityleftt
orust.
Heconjuredupaba tandtiedtoitsclawedfoot akindofkite-tailmadef rom
thecarefullyt winedandknottedha irofmenhehadfoundlyingdead
inthestreets.Thenheswungthebata roundandaround hishead,speakingwordsthathad
novowelsin them,and loosed thebatintotherustynight.Itflewupand
circledandsquealedlikeaninfantbeingskewered,an dwhen itc ameb ackd owntolight
onh is shoulder, itto ldhimwhereshewas.
Heturnedthebatfree.Itswoopedtwicetoblesshim,thenwentoffintothesky.
Itw asalongwalkuptown.He tookB roadway,after a while avoiding the
checkerworkof pits
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withoutevenseeingthem.Thebu
ildingshadbeenturnedtoglass.Manyofthemhadshatteredfromsoundsinthestreetcaverns
.
Therewasacolonyofthingswithouthandslivinginrubble-strewnsho pson
Broadwayand72ndStreet.H egotthroughthemusingtheblackagate.Itb
lindedthemwithdarknessandtheyfe llbackcry ingformercy.
Finallyhecametotheplacethebathadtoldhimtofind if hewante dto locateth
egirl.Itw as,of
course,wherehehadlivedwhenhehadmadethemistake.Hewentinsidetheoldbuildingandfou
ndthe roo mthathadbeenhis.
Here ithadallbegun,or had itbegunwhenhe went toworkatthe
BlackArtsBookstore?orwhen incollegehehadsunkhimselfsodeeplyinthearcanaback in
thelibrarystacksthathehadflunkedout? or
perhapswhenasayouthhehadfirstthrilledtotheadsinye llowedcopiesofWeird Tales:
UNLOCK
YOUR SECRET POWER. Ancient mysteriesof the Pyramidsrevealed,orevenea
rlier,whenonAllHal lows Eve heand some
othershaddrawnapentagraminyellowchalk?Howoldhadhebeenthen?Eight?Nine?
Therehadbeenthecandlesandthegeometricshapedrawnonthefloor,andhehadbe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]