would be no one else there besides us: it had already been taken care of. So that no one would accidentally wander into the area of the factory as the guys had put so-called magic locks, which gave a feeling of unbearable fear to anyone who would be trying to approach the forbidden place without an invitation. We went inside and found ourselves in the lobby of once one of the largest, but gone into the past of the country’s enterprises, which ceased to exist along with it.
Glass and frames were missing throughout the building. It became clear that the factory was pulled apart piece by piece. In some places, you could even notice holes in the walls, which indicated that the building began to be dismantled into bricks. In general, the place was depressing and it did not fit in on the map of the rapidly developing Kaunas. But soon the gloomy thoughts about the factory receded into the background, and I began to reflect on the meeting that lay ahead. Who did I expect to see? What was in store for me there? Above all, what was the surprise? I didn’t like being talked to in riddles. After passing through the hallway, we went out into the corridor, at the end of which a faint unearthly light was shimmering. The closer we got to the end, the brighter it became and the clearer I began to understand that this light was not of natural origin. I felt its magic with every cell of my body. From the corridor through a wide passage we got into the former dining room. In the middle of an empty room, a group of people stood in a circle, and a certain sphere hovered in the air above them, from which a soothing and enchanting light radiated. As if hypnotized, people were standing and staring at the ball burning like the Sun, only with many different colors of paint. None of those present noticed our appearance.
“This is their common powers. When several Bernauses gather, they can combine energy into a single whole and get to the height of pleasure. If you look for a suitable comparison, then it’s like nirvana for Buddhists. Only those need to spend their whole lives on meditation, for us it is enough to unite some of our magic”.
We got even closer, and I could easily make out the faces of the wizards. I understood why Ema warned me that I would be surprised. Those mysterious magicians turned out to be the people I knew. They were all of my best friends: Lucas, Matas, Gabrielius, Emilia, Liepa and Leia. By and large, no strangers to me at all. I had met each of them at different periods of my life: in school or college years or after graduation. Ema had introduced some of them to me. Even before I got the power, I already knew how to choose people for friendship. “Everything is predetermined” some unknown voice sounded in my head. That thought was definitely not mine. The ball gradually went out and, finally, attention was paid to us. Not believing their own eyes that I turned out to be the new Bernaus (I must give a credit to Ema: she skillfully kept it a secret from them), the guys rushed to meet me and began to hug tightly.
When at last everybody calmed down, being a little embarrassed I said:
“I understand that I am the last among us who has gained the magical powers. Weren’t you ashamed of yourselves not to wait for me?”
Laughing is the best therapy for any stress, and I still had a lot to worry about.
“So it is. We were waiting for you, although we were not sure that it would be you specifically. We just felt the birth of a new energy. The Bernauses, you know, are closely related to one another,” replied Lucas, the quietest and shiest friend from our noisy and cheerful company.
Despite the fact that Lucas was 24, he looked like 17 years old. They even refused to sell alcohol to him in stores without an ID. His unruly brown hair was always up on his head and his ears were like an elf’s. With his big blue eyes, Lucas would have easily become a prototype for Japanese anime. In addition, he was incredibly thin and hardly weighed more than 110 pounds. Girls always found something in him, although he was not so handsome as other men. Like Ema, Lucas had the powers of suggestion, but unlike her, he could hypnotize any living being and control it to fulfill his goals. He also knew how to create an illusion of reality, that is, a false idea of an event that happened, which in fact did not exist at all. Our friend demonstrated this clearly by the example of an uttered word: “sea”. The surrounding reality immediately changed before our eyes. We found ourselves on the coast of an imaginary sea. The waves broke peacefully on the shore, seagulls screamed and with a warm breeze we felt the aromas and taste of salt water. Peace took control of us, the bodies relaxed, surrendering to the warmth of the setting sun. Another moment and the illusion disappeared, as if it did not exist at all, and everything we saw seemed like a long gone dream. The sea was not around us, but the gloomy walls of the abandoned factory stood instead. We applauded our friend passionately as a sign of admiration.
Liepa was standing next to Lucas. A 28-year-old fragile and graceful girl with golden hair like the sun and a shapely waist. She was distinguished by a very cheerful and never depressing disposition, as well as full of energy and life. Liepa was able to get along with any person. She was always active, had a lot of actions, ideas and plans in stock. Deservedly, we called her an “Angel”. Besides, she was the only one from the company who had already managed to become a parent. Our “Angel” had a son, whose father remained a secret for everyone, carefully guarded. Even her closest friend Leia didn’t know him. The powers granted to Liepa were opposed to her outward appearance. She could move huge objects over long distances. In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath us trembled, and we realized that the building was slowly rising. Plaster fell from the ceiling and walls. It seemed that everything was going to collapse and crush us to death with its weight, but a few minutes later we safely got down on the ground in one piece.
The next went 28-year-old Matas who had the gift of mind reading. He could also predict the thoughts and ideas of people, even if they hadn’t thought of them yet. He probably knew more about us than we did ourselves, but he never used that information as a weapon and politely concealed it. By appearance the guy looked like a giant: tall and large, but gentle and kind inside as a kid. Although he was not particularly lucky with girls in life, but he did not despair and believed that his day yet to come and he would meet his soul mate sooner or later. Matas showed his powers by reading the thoughts of each of us, which caused more discontent than joy, but no one got really offended.
Emilia, a 27-year-old black-haired and brown-eyed beauty, was standing next to Matas. Maybe because the girl used to work as a police investigator, she looked stern, strict and unapproachable. She did not like the weaknesses in men. Her temper was considered quite complicated. Going through her was not an easy task. She could not stand criticism and all sorts of coddling. She always spoke to the point and appealed only with facts. Nevertheless, the girl managed to harmoniously blend into our company and make everyone fall in love with her own nature, although she was perceived unanimously obnoxious and unbearable due to her temperament. Emilia, or, as we called her among ourselves, Milie could heal any wounds and injuries on the body: both external and internal. She also possessed the powers to resurrect from the dead, although it is more accurate to say from the “half-dead”. If the victim’s brain had not died and his activity, even in the form of weak impulses, remained active, then healing would not have been difficult for her. Using the example of cuts on the arm of Gabrielius, who volunteered, she showed her powers clearly. Today Milie was in a particularly good mood: she was planning an affair with an unknown Bernaus, so we were all looking forward to meeting a fan of such a difficult tempered friend.
Everyone knew that this affair haunted the 25-year-old Gabrielius, because our friend liked Milie very much, and he never tried to hide his feelings. That’s just the girl did not pay attention to him and was not serious about his pick-ups, putting off with fun, which brought me very close to the guy because of a similar situation I was in. Gabrielius was Chinese by mother and Lithuanian by father. Because of that the nature gifted him with a beautiful and unusual appearance, which attracted the eyes of many girls. He had a rare power, even more frightening than exciting: Gabrielus could communicate
