Midnight Academy. Born at midnight. Edgars Auziņš

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СКАЧАТЬ generalized, of course,” he drawled slightly dissatisfied. – That is, you don’t know anything at all about where you ended up.

      “Actually,” I confirmed dully. – We entered the library from one side and left from the other. I thought I had lost my mind.

      Having carefully examined me from head to toe, the student made an unexpected conclusion:

      – So you are one of the Coming Ones. – But, probably catching the misunderstanding on my face, he added: – From those who came from the world of people. And I’m wondering why your clothes and shoes are so strange. Okay, then let's start with the main thing. Our ancestors were not people.

      “Of course, not people,” I agreed, suspecting that we would now plunge somewhere much deeper than the Stone Age. – Everyone knows that we descended from monkeys.

      Nirel did not deny this fact:

      – Once upon a time – perhaps. But then our ancestors chose a different path. They, Sally, became vampires.

      Chapter 4. Secrets of the Midnighters

      I tried to digest this information. I honestly tried, but even after what I had already learned and seen, I didn’t expect to hear something like that.

      Simply because vampires are not superheroes at all. This is a pale, bony likeness of a person, living in a crypt, sleeping in a coffin and not knowing what toothpaste, solarium and manicure are.

      “My mother is not a vampire,” I objected, having recovered from the first shock.

      Smiling indulgently, Nirel corrected me:

      – Not such a vampire as you used to think. Almost none of us have fangs anymore, because the need to drink blood has simply disappeared over the centuries. They don't grow anymore, see? – He showed me his even white teeth. – Now we take away unnecessary emotions from people in a different way.

      – Do you take away unnecessary emotions? How? For what? – she asked, even more amazed.

      So far everything has only become more confusing. Vampires without fangs and the need to drink blood are some kind of toothless vegetarians.

      – It’s simple: people with an unstable psyche have moments in life when emotions take over them so much that they lose reason. Then they do things that affect the rest of the world. With their emotions they change the lives of other people, and mostly exclusively for the bad. For example, they commit a crime or become the cause of a series of accidents that lead to someone’s death. We – vampires – take away these “extra” emotions from them, thereby maintaining balance in the human world. Moreover, various emotions may turn out to be “superfluous” – even happiness.

      – And before this you had to drink blood? – I clarified, grimacing.

      My imagination quickly painted the entire procedure in the most vivid colors, including the nasty taste of metal in my mouth. I definitely wouldn’t agree to such an abomination, because…

      What if a person is sick with something? Or haven't washed for a week?

      I shuddered with disgust.

      “It happened, but not for the last three generations,” Nirel confirmed. – Now, fortunately, this is not required. We have learned to do without this procedure. Now we take away dangerous emotions with the help of touch. Prolonged touch and slight hypnosis. If such emotions are not drawn out, then a skew will constantly occur, first in one direction, then in the other. Of course, problems happen despite the existing protocol of actions, but it’s better to do at least something than to do nothing, right?

      I nodded, agreeing with the guy. If he was telling the truth, then the matter smacked of a fair amount of pessimism, because something out of the ordinary was happening in the world every day.

      But on the other hand, I briefly imagined what the Earth would look like now if vampires had never existed. Probably, we would all simply die out and everything would go from scratch: bacteria, fish, monkeys, dinosaurs, cavemen. Maybe nature learned from its mistakes and therefore created vampires in the next round?

      Actually, I asked the third-year student exactly this question.

      “Maybe,” he answered slyly. – In any case, we are the protectors and balance of this world. And not only us. All Midnighters.

      – Is there anyone else? Spiders? – I guessed.

      But it turned out to be wrong. I'm not feeling good today. It’s understandable, there are so many new discoveries in less than a day, so much contradictory and at the same time incredible information that it’s time to go to bed as soon as possible with dreams that tomorrow will be different – normal.

      – Not spiders. Transformation is Percy's special gift. Each vampire has his own special gift, but not all of them reveal it right away. For example, it hasn’t shown up for me yet.

      Smiling with slight sadness, the guy quickly returned to our main topic:

      – In addition to vampires, Midnighters also include werewolves, witches and hunters.

      Having caught on to the most important word, I fidgeted on the bench with impatience.

      – Hunters? Everything about the rest is more or less clear. Witches can cast spells, werewolves turn into animals, and hunters? Who is this anyway?

      Nirel sighed heavily.

      – Those for whom our existence does not allow us to live in peace. They consider us monsters and are trying in every possible way to rid the world of our presence. But don't get scared ahead of time. Let's just say that no one has seen them on this side of the border for a long time – since they crossed into the human world, so there is nothing interesting about them. Maybe they degenerated a long time ago.

      Hearing the last phrase, with which the guy probably wanted to cheer me up, I smiled wryly. Because now I knew for sure that one annoying hunter still existed in the human world. Mom herself told me about this today, and I just didn’t know what to do with this information now.

      How dangerous were they? Have they really degenerated or are they still hiding to hunt down vampires one by one? And my mother? Is she a vampire, a witch or a werewolf?

      – Nirel, if I’m still a Midnighter, then who am I? Vampire or witch?

      “Vampire,” he answered without a shadow of doubt.

      – Why did you decide that? – I became stubborn.

      It's not that I want to be a witch. In principle, I would prefer to remain a purebred person, but if I have to choose…

      – Because Madame Pelisay named you Salaman Dragon. Your family is the oldest and largest among all vampire families.

      – So I have many relatives? – I was puzzled.

      Accustomed to the fact that my only family member was my mother, I did not expect such a catch. On the one hand, this news made me immensely happy, because I always wanted to have grandparents, brothers and sisters, and all these noisy, cheerful holidays when large families gather and give many, many gifts. But on the other hand…

      Relatives could end up with foulbrood.

      The СКАЧАТЬ