the death of their ill-wishers, and in the morning everything would have happened by itself. They died at the hands of unknown persons, as at the hands of God himself, crushed by his marble messengers.
Blaise saw a strangled Hugh, Neil burned alive, Angelo mutilated, Gerald and Thomas mutilated. She thought how nice it would be to rip open Alistair’s fat belly, and then destroy that parish where he deceived and destroyed people. And yes, Damian was absolutely right, she would be very pleased to know that all the descendants of these villains are also eradicated. All filth must be ripped out at the root, so that it does not give new shoots. A curse on everyone. They wished death to all the relatives of their enemies. She was even going to bring it herself. Only the angels were in no hurry to help her.
They slowly drove her crazy with their appearance, their silence, their emptiness. Inside the space they surrounded, it was as if space existed, but Blaise was not allowed into it. She remained on her own. And they just watched her, embarrassing her by the fact that they are. Instead of helping, they even interfered with something, suppressed her will, her mind.
Damian, whom she thought was insane, showed an unexpectedly sharp mind, telling her to forget about them. However, she continued to visit them as before. Only now her prayers were no longer as passionate as before. She began to realize that they were unlikely to ever respond.
It was worth calling them idols and leaving here. Only that would mean lying to herself, because for her they always meant more than just statues. They really contained something like space inside them, only she could not penetrate there.
She had a lot of questions for them. How could they admit what happened? Why didn’t they protect her parents and her brother? And why is she the only one now alive? Was something special assigned to her? Some kind of mission? Revenge? Or were the higher powers just curious to see how several damned families would destroy each other? They already knew the answer to everything in advance, but Blaise did not know it.
She remembered that her brother came here at night. It was he who told her that the statues were alive. Now one might think that his impressions were just a consequence of some kind of hallucinations or highs. But how then to explain the marks that remained on his body in the morning, as if the statues touched him, leaving bruises and burns. He said something about sex with marble angels. Blaise wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t. Well, they chose him first. Then she had to become the second. Especially now that he’s gone. It was only after his death that there was some amazing calm in the crypt.
Are the statues trying to honor the memory of the dead? As if one living descendant was not left at all. As if there were no survivors of those who should be avenged.
Blaise did not understand their silence. And when she looked up into the marble faces, a lonely tear rolled down her cheek. They were so unshakable. The shadow of the winged figures fell on her, and the glare of the lamp did not seem to reach here. These beautiful motionless figures were supposed to inspire fear. And yet she was not afraid next to them. She was in pain. It hurts that they don’t want to see her problems. And apparently they do not want her herself.
She would never have the courage to admit that they simply do not exist. They did exist. They stood in a marble semicircle in the dark, shone with regularity and did not answer her prayers. Not one of all her prayers. And it seemed to her that they simply did not want to answer.
Self destruction
She came home late. Rather, to the place that is now used to call home. It was actually a refuge. No one except her and Damian had the right to cross his threshold. So why did she think there were intruders inside right now?
Such darkness reigned all around that it was difficult to see anything. And yet she saw them. Three ragged nasty guys. One of them struck a match, trying to light the shattered lamp. They must have thought the house was empty and uninhabited. So it was not so long ago. But not now. Now they settled here: Blaise and her strange comrade. She didn’t even have time to wonder why he had not yet broken all the bones of the intruders.
One of the guys noticed her and shouted something at the other two. For a moment, incredible amazement was reflected on their faces. They hardly knew her, so none of them could consider her rising from the grave. But her appearance clearly made a strong impression on them. But they did not have time to pay attention to her wretched, rather boyish outfit, perhaps because they themselves were poorly dressed. And such a beauty is alone here. There is no one around. Blaise saw in an instant what rushed through their thoughts. Those who killed her entire family looked at her in the same way, only, perhaps, with a little less desire in their eyes. It was not difficult to understand what they want, even without having the ability to read other people’s thoughts.
«Go away!» Blaise ordered coldly. Quite unexpectedly, she felt like the rightful mistress of this place. And also a strange determination awakened in her, which had not been there before. An almost overwhelming self-confidence.
«Otherwise what?» The nastiest of the guys insolently asked, and a folding knife flashed dangerously in his hand. «What will you do?»
He stood a little closer to her than others and, it seems, was a little older than his comrades. Blaise darted towards him with lightning speed, intercepted the hand that was gripping the knife and jerked, not even calculating the pressure. The result came as a surprise even to her. His bone cracked. The knife fell out of the fingers, which could no longer grip it. Looks like she broke his arm. Blaise was not embarrassed for a moment. She wanted this, but how easily she managed it was a pleasant surprise.
The other two guys came to their senses almost instantly. Blaise knocked in the groin with the first one who lunged at her. He bent over for a long time in pain. The third guy was the easiest to deal with. He turned out to be the most lethargic and fearful. Blaise hit him hard, knocked him to his knees, and suddenly succumbed to a strange instinct. The lamp in the broken lampshade was just on fire, and the victim in her hands was weak. At that moment, as if marble angels whispered in her ears what should be done. The same as what the enemies were going to do to her. She squeezed the prisoner hard on the neck, so that the bones and upper vertebrae almost crunched and tilted his head over the fire. Let him be mutilated, as the enemies wanted to mutilate her. Rather, angels demand sacrifices, even if meaningless.
But these guys didn’t come here by accident. The area was full of other abandoned buildings where they could make themselves a den, but fate brought them here. If she was not destined to test her strength on someone, they would not be here.
As if in confirmation of her words, Damian jumped from somewhere above. It turns out that he watched everything from somewhere from the ceiling beams, but prudently did not laugh, so as not to interfere with the natural development of events. He appeared just in time to finish off the guys who had already come to their senses and only slightly crippled by her. Blaise was unpleasant to hear the skulls crunching, but Damian could not do otherwise. He loved blood and death, he only liked a fatal outcome. Otherwise, he disagreed. Moreover, it was dangerous to let the witnesses live. They could tell someone that they saw her.
Blaise unwittingly released the guy she was holding by the scruff of the neck. He sobbed softly, because he could no longer scream. She burned his face, lips and tongue. He had collapsed from his knees to the floor and was now lying on his back. It was she who disfigured him, and yet a minute ago he was a rather handsome blue-eyed blonde. Not anymore.
«Did you bring them here?» she could not hide indignation.
Damian shook his head.
:They came themselves, looking for something
