Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Fuck!” he yelled into the stormy void as soon as he rose, making squelching noises while he unsucked his limbs from the thick slime, but he wouldn’t give up.
He’d leave Dybukowo if it killed him.
Jinx ran back to the asphalt, and when lightning brightened up the gloomy night, his eyes flashed like two beacons, spooking Emil, even though the two of them had been friends for years.
“Come on, Jinx. It’s fine. Let’s go.”
Though it wasn’t fine. Something in his ankle had cracked and while he ignored the pain, he was sure he might have to visit an emergency room sometime in the future. Tonight, he’d focus on finding shelter and resting, but he was still far too close to Dybukowo for his liking. Maybe he should ride all the way to the nearest hospital and sleep there? That did sound like a decent enough idea.
Thunder rolled over his head, and when three lightning bolts spread their branches over the landscape, the rain gained in ferocity, as if the electrical power somehow cut the sky open, releasing more water.
Emil spat out more of the dirt he’d bitten into and opened his mouth wide, gathering some of the droplets to cleanse his mouth from the clay-like flavor. He no longer cared about his clothes getting wet, because they’d soaked all the way through and felt like the embrace of an ice monster who had come to inform Emil of the approaching winter.
Jinx huffed, watching Emil from just a couple of paces away, but Emil gave himself a moment to look back toward the hills he could no longer see in the foggy darkness. Maybe this was for the better. His hopes had been trampled over, but at least he didn’t have to experience the disappointment of Adam rejecting him later on, once Emil allowed his dreams of a lasting relationship and a new beginning to flourish. In a way, maybe he should be grateful to that pig Koterski for cutting his suffering short.
“Jinx. Don’t make this harder. It’s just you and me now.”
Emil approached the black beast, but Jinx backed away at the same pace, as if they were playing a game. The thought that his horse could be possessed too was an unwelcome one and sent shivers down his spine. He still remembered granddad’s stories about Forefathers’ Eve, about ghosts of ancestors being close on that night. They used to always close all their shutters and stay indoors. Back then, Emil had considered it their little tradition. They’d sit in candlelight and play cards while reminiscing about Grandma or his parents.
Being out on a night like this, on his own, gave Emil the chills even so many years on, but while he could have dismissed them as irrational before, his newfound knowledge of the paranormal cast a new light on the sense of being watched from somewhere in the fog-covered woods.
Especially tonight.
Emil’s mount took one step back for every single one Emil took toward him, and the sense of eeriness it created prompted Emil to dash toward his horse.
White light descended between them in a flash, evaporating the rain and hitting a small tree on the edge of the woods. Emil stopped breathing when its slim trunk broke in two, creating a Y-shaped symbol engulfed by flames.
He stumbled back, shocked by the proximity of the lightning bolt. He could swear some of his hair stood up from the closeness of death, but Jinx stilled, his black eyes watching Emil from between the burning arms of the broken tree.
The rumble of an engine approaching made Emil leap toward the horse, and he managed to grab the reins at last. “Come over here, you idiot!” He pulled Jinx to the side by force, barely making room for the approaching car. What the hell was this kind of traffic on a country road, the day before All Saints’?
But instead of passing and dashing for the mouth of the valley, the car stopped, and Emil frowned when he recognized Nowak behind the wheel. For a while, they just stared at one other. Emil soaked, muddy and a heap of misery, Nowak tucked inside his warm, dry Range Rover.
After a few seconds, the window on Nowak’s side rolled down, and his round face emerged from the shadow. “Bad night? I couldn’t believe it when I heard you took the horse out for a ride in weather like this.”
“Why do you care?” Emil growled, shaking his head.
“I know we were never friends, but I do feel sorry for you. Come on, let’s take Jinx home, or he’ll get ill.”
Emil clenched his fists. “I no longer have a home in Dybukowo.”
The village head exhaled. “Come on, Emil. You can sleep in my guest room tonight.”
“No, thanks. I’m leaving. You don’t have to worry about me.” Only pride allowed him to mount Jinx gracefully, because his ankle hurt more with every passing minute.