Бесплатный фрагмент - The Illuninati Game

From the author

Greetings, my dear reader! It’s been a long time since the terrible events I have experienced. On these pages, you will find an absolutely real, not fictional, story about my fate. Despite being accused of having a mental disorder, I remember every breath, every step, and every word, which, of course, does not describe a mentally ill person. No one has ever seen me in a state of psychosis, yet I was diagnosed with it. For any mentally healthy person, being put into the dungeons of a mental hospital is equivalent to death. At least, I chose death while I was playing the Big Game with the Digital Beast.

By nature, I was a very religious person, and it turned out to be very easy to manipulate me with the help of esotericism, direct clairvoyance, and prophetic dreams. If you believe in God, you already believe in the supernatural. The Shadow Game was performed successfully, resulting in my selection from many other slave applicants for the role of Victim. I admit I am still trying to solve this Game: mysterious coincidences, allusions, and stories — all of this intrigues me and my loved ones.

The main game between life and death is still ahead, unless the Rulers of the world, for whom this Game is merely a Demonstration of Strength, intervene, change their minds, and remove me. For whom? For any of you. Why? To show that they’re everywhere, in every single house.

Shadow Game

(2015–2019)

“And even as the rafts down rivers go, As caravans of barges through the dark To me for judgement shall the ages flow”.

B. Pasternak

She was 21 years old. The final exams were left behind which foreshadowed freedom from studying and a way to her future profession. As she imagined, her life was bright and successful, and nothing would interfere with it. Masha was funny, witty and, as many thought, beautiful. Everything went well in her life according to her prayers to God. It was only recently that she had a bunch of things to do about her studies, and instead of being expelled from the university she got all the excellent marks in a week, and passed the remaining two exams with the help of her graduate supervisor, whom she successfully chose for herself.

She lived in a dorm and was a rather famous girl there: she didn’t miss a single drink, a single chat in the smoking room — nothing could happen without her! All the janitors said: there’s always a party when Masha comes! And they were right. Masha loved people in her own way. She was constantly flirting and having fun with everyone. But it was time for a new life, it was necessary to move out of the dorm, which was located on Obraztsov Street.

Anton Kolesnichenko, Nikita Levashov, Misha Nahum, Pasha Nahum gathered in the smoking room:

Nikita.

                       And where are you planning to move?

Masha.

                       I don’t know, so far I’ll be staying with my aunt in Tula, my family decided so, and then I will definitely return to Moscow, I can’t imagine my life without Moscow. This is my home.

Anton.

                       Wow, you’ve already reached Tula.

Masha.

                        Yes… it’s a bit far but now there’s no other way, I had to work while I was studying so that I wouldn’t have any problems with employment now and where are you going?

Nikita.

                        We’re still deciding on work and whether to stay at the same place or move… We’ll see what’s up.

Masha.

                         I see, you guys are lowkey settled.

Misha.

                         Yes, we’ve also messed up, we should have thought about accmodation earlier, now we will run around Moscow like crazy looking for a place to live.

Masha.

                C’mon, you can do it! Anton, where are you going?

Anton.

                   I’m going to Kalyazin to my parents, then to St. Petersburg. Dunno what’s next, I still have no idea where I’ll live.

Masha.

                   Okay, I’m done smoking, I’m going to my room. Zhenya will take me to my grandmother soon, I need to pack all my stuff first. See ya guys.

Nikita.

                    See ya.

Masha went into her block and looked at the things she packed, she opened the window and decided to mess around here for the last time — so she lit a cigarette. She could see the view of the Ostankino Tower. Masha was imagining her new life and everything that would come. However, she was still careless, calling herself “Miss Fortune”, it seemed to her that everything would be alright somehow. And there will be a job, a place to live, and a beloved husband.

While she had little time left, she indulged in her new hobby — she sat down to meditate and evaluate the outcome. In deep concentration and vivid visualization, Maria imagined a golden sphere around her. Her palms began to warm up from the meditation, and she brought

her hands together. Between her hands she felt a dense energy ball, 10 centimeters in diameter. The unusual sensation of tangible energy surprised her. And she began to roll the energy ball over her entire body with interest.

Suddenly, a blazing ball of fire, reminiscent of a burning comet, burst into her protective golden energy sphere which she had visualized. Then another one, and another one.

The meditation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Having forgotten her meditation, the girl jumped to the door.

Masha.

                 Ooooh, hello there, I’ve been waiting for you.

Zhenya came in and immediately bent down to kiss her.

Zhenya.

                 Hi. Do you have all your things packed? Then I’ll start taking it out.

Masha.

                  Yes, sure, I’m done.

Zhenya began to put things out and carry them to the elevator. Masha stopped to take pictures of the rooms for the last time and began to help the guy bring her things to the elevator.

Finally they got most of her belongings into the car. There was not enough space for the rest of the junk that had piled up over 5 years. They’d have to pick it up one more time. They were sitting in the car, Masha put on music and, already sitting, started dancing and singing. Zhenya was pleased with the good road mood. This was enough for him to be in good mood as well. They had to go to Konakovo to Masha’s grandmother.

Zhenya.

             What are you going to do next?

Masha.

            I don’t know, we’ll see. The older relatives are in charge now of what’s happening next.

Zhenya.

             I’m lucky, I have to decide everything myself.

Masha.

            Decide what? You got a job, they give you a room in the 10th dorm, what else do you need until you get on your feet?

Zhenya.

             You’re lucky to have so many relatives who care about you,

everyone is trying to help.

Masha.

            That’s right: me, mom, aunt and grandma are one for all! Even though we have our disagreements and you can’t imagine the scale of them!!

It didn’t take long to reach her grandmother’s house, 120 kilometers flew by in one minute. It was a very large neglected house, which had long experienced all the charms of Konakovsky severe weather. Grandmother Nona lived in Zeleny Bor, an elite settlement in Konakovsky town.

About 150 cottages were surrounded by forest. The windows of the Konakovsky house faced the Volga. And there was a huge forest on the horizon. The nature of this place was amazing.

They parked the car and entered the house.

Masha.

           Grandma!

Grandma Nonna.

           Oh! Look who came to us!

Masha.

            It’s me Grandma! Meet Zhenya.…

Zhenya.

            Hello, such a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.

Grandma Nona.

             Same, well, come on in, kids, come right to the table.

Masha and Zhenya exchanged glances, smiling at each other. They were expected here. The table was set so everyone immediately started eating. After that Masha went into the room with her Grandmother.

Masha.

           How do you like Zhenya?

Grandma Nonna.

            A very good boy, I like him, and what about you?

Masha.

            Grandma, it’s nothing serious, I don’t know.

Grandma Nonna.

             That’s not good, you will start appreciating him later.

After visiting their grandmother and unloading all their belongings, the guys said goodbye to the elders and drove back.

Soon it was time to leave the dorm. Masha and Zhenya were standing trying to say goodbye. She was leaving for Tula with the rest of her belongings. Zhenya tried to kiss Masha. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience for her. It had been eight months since their friendly communication began and she was still couldn’t figure out her own feelings for him. However, she was sure that Zhenya’s heart and feeling would fade away through the distance due to departure. She really hoped so.

The trip to Tula turned out to be quite short, she got out of the minibus and inhaled the fresh local air. It seemed to her that this city, where she used to visit her aunt, was her home. It wasn’t far to go home so she decided to stroll walk along the summer streets.

Aunt.

        Dear Lord, look who came to us!

Masha.

         Here I am!

After kissing everyone and paying all her attention to them, she sat down at the table with her family. They laughed, uncle Alexei told amazing stories about his friend, priest Nikolai, about working in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, about working in the city administration. It was time for Masha to make a toast.

Masha.

           Aunt Lyuda, Uncle Lyosha, Vovochka, I am very glad to finally see you all. An important stage in my life has come to an end — I’ve graduated from university. And thank you very much for sheltering me for a while until I find a place!

Aunt Lyuda.

             Well, it’s not like we don’t know you, tomorrow you’ll definitely think otherwise.

Uncle Alexey.

              Well, Lyuda, not at the table please!

Aunt Lyuda.

                All right! To the new life of our Masha!

Then she was sitting at the balcony and thinking. She’s here for a long time. How long? Who knows. One thing was encouraging though: it was summer ahead and there was no hurry. Loved ones are nearby, and the family and everything seem to be doing fine. Except for him. Masha kept him in her thoughts all the time when she was studying in Moscow. That guy was Anton Morgunov. She had a crush on him for all 5 years of studying at the university. Feelings were stubbornly not forgotten. She prayed that he would get married as soon as possible and everything would be fine with him. That’s probably how she was going to end it. There was nothing else she could do. She hoped that all her feeling would fade out as soon as he got married.

One day, yet again sitting at the balcony, she looked at the sky full of stars and asked God two wishes at once: to love working as a lawyer and for Anton Morgunov to get married. These were her personal innermost desires. The sky heard her at that moment. She felt a special unity with space. The feeling that the heavenly powers reached out to her. But what kind of Power gave her such a feeling? She would be looking for an answer to this question for an incredibly long time in the future.

The summer passed by slowly. Masha and her family went to the countryside house, took care of the garden, they had dinner in the open air, and everything was fine. She seemed to get along with her aunt, with whom they had often quarreled before.

Zhenya also often called and wrote from Moscow, begging for attention, but Masha didn’t have time for him. Instead of paying attention to her him, Masha practiced martial arts, read the military history of Russia, often showed interest in cultural studies, studied ancient historical monuments and went to some old school rock concerts. She couldn’t find time Zhenya, and besides, she did not have feelings for him. Soon she got an intern place as an assistant to the head of the Ministry of Economic Development in the Tula administration, hoping to get a permanent place here later.

Masha was very responsible and eager to learn everything about her future job. However, something began to bother her. Walking down the street, she saw a passing minibus with number 22, she saw a tabloid with number 22, checks with number 22 was given to her at McDonald’s, an old ticket with number 22 was lying under her feet on the street, in the theater she was given number 22, the time 18:22, 19:22, 23:22 often appeared on her phone, she often woke up at 3:22, 4:22, 5:22, as if someone had set up her internal alarm clock to match this number. At first, Masha didn’t pay much attention to it but then, two weeks later, some fear just like a tsunami appeared a month before her birthday. She was supposed to turn 22 on November 22nd. However, every day the repeating numbers began to frighten Masha. And it all ended up with her sitting under the covers and crying, with her aunt sitting next to her and trying to comfort her.

Masha.

             It can’t be good. I see the numbers!

Aunt Lyuda.

             Masha, calm down, you take it too close to your heart, if you switched your attention to something else and did not focus on this number 22 then everything would be fine.

Masha.

             Hell no! I see this 22 on the dial all the time! It scares me! I’m scared! I feel like I’m going to be killed. I’m sure this is a sign of it. Yes, I know it’s weird but my guts are telling me so. Or someone else!

Aunt Lyuda.

              Calm down, you’ll see everything will be fine.

The numbers nonsense continued three weeks already. Masha saw 22 everywhere. Autumn was already here. Would she really spend all her time in Tula? This thought bothered her, she really wanted to go back to Moscow. One day, at the dinner table with her family, she decided to speak out.

Masha.

           I would love to run in the park, getting fit, but I don’t have the right shoes for this, I got only some classic high-heeled boots…

Aunt Lyuda

           If there’s a will, there’s a way, put on your boots and go!

Masha.

            But it’s high-heels, how am I going to run on frozen puddles in the park?

Aunt Lyuda.

             And I repeat to you once again: If only there’s a will.

Masha suddenly got up and left the table. She shouted something from her room, deeply offended. The next day, Aunt Lyuda was fumbling in the hallway and Masha decided to make up for her behavior yesterday and came out of her room to chat.

Masha.

           Ehm, Aunt Lyuda, are you going somewhere?

Aunt Lyuda.

           Yes, I’m going to run, Masha.

Masha.

             Aaaaaaah, I see, just don’t wear my high-heeled boots.

With these sarcastic words, Masha went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. From afar, she heard Aunt Lyuda running to her. She jumped out and slapped Masha pretty hard, then grabbed the doorpost leaning against the door and began to beat her. Everything was followed by wild screams, her 95 kilograms against Masha’s 52. Masha had no chance to fight back. After that, the aunt left the house and finally said, “Pack your things. You’re leaving.”

Masha ran out to the balcony and began calling all her Moscow friends: Katya Bishkekova, Masha Malevich, Dasha Kapranova and others, telling them briefly what had happened.

Her friends called her to Moscow and said they would shelter her. Masha, crying, gathered all her things, kissed her younger brother Vova and slipped out of the house until her aunt came back. Sitting on her suitcases behind the mall, she called Kristina Bytkovskaya.

Masha.

          Hi, how are you?

Kris.

          I’m okay and you?

Masha.

           Yeah I’m doing fine, can you send me some money to leave Tula?

My aunt beat me up…

Kris.

           Yeah, sure, how did it happen?

Masha was waiting for Kristina’s money and skipped several buses to Moscow. It was the weekend and the bank was not working, the money sent by Kristina stubbornly couldn’t get transferred to the card. Then Masha went into a pawnshop and pawned a chain there. With this money, she left for Moscow in the evening. She arrived in the capital at about 23.00 in Anino and got to Dasha Kapranova 2 hours later. They went into the bathroom together and examined Masha’s body — it was all bruised. Dasha was furious.

The next day, Masha came to Dasha Kapranova’s mother, Aunt Olya, a Jew, and she quickly arranged all the things for Masha. An apartment was found for her immediately but a job… It was impossible to talk about working in the Ministry of Economic Development anymore but still Masha, as a young specialist, considered being involved into the public service.

Aunt Olya.

               Why don’t you go work in court? Look, my friend Jeanne has been working in court for so many years. Just try it!

Masha.

                Eeeew, working in court. I didn’t study for 5 years for this.

Aunt Olya.

                So what? Try it, all the girls working in court have a great easy life.

Masha.

                 I don’t know, Aunt Olya, I’ll think about it.

Aunt Olya.

If you want, I’ll call Jeanne, ask her where the staff is needed.

Masha.

No need, Aunt Olya, I’ll do it myself somehow, thanks, I’ll think

about it.

The apartment was in Altufevo, a minute’s away from the metro station. Masha liked the apartment very much. However, it was on sale. But the price was very cheap due to some acquaintances.

As soon as Masha moved in there, she thought of Zhenya whom she didn’t talk to for a long time and tried to break off their relationship in every possible way but his feelings did not allow them to break up.

Masha.

          Hello, come see me, I now live in an apartment on Altushka, we passed this house many times when we went to Decathlon.

Zhenya.

          Oh, so you’re already here, I’m so glad. Okay, what should I bring?

Masha.

          Get me a beer or wine and grab something to eat.

Zhenya.

Gotcha, I’ll be there soon.

Masha had already turned 22 years old, shortly before Katya Bishkekova’s wedding. Masha couldn’t get rid of the feeling of threat and fear after she saw the numbers 22 absolutely everywhere. It seemed to her that these numbers were exactly for her birthday. Masha was constantly having different thoughts: what if the subway explodes, what if someone kidnaps her, what if something happens to her relatives… There was a lot of negative thinking. Only after a while she got a kind of a relief and the numbers stopped appearing around.

But let’s get back to Zhenya. They spent the whole night together. It was the night where she lost her virginity. 22 years old — it’s about time! She called her friends and Masha and Kristina arrived with champagne.

Masha Okulova.

                   Well, tell me how it was!

Masha.

                  I didn’t even have time to understand how it all happened!

Christina.

                  Just like me and Misha, I couldn’t even feel anything — that’s how

incompatible we were.

Masha.

          No, we didn’t have problems with that though I would increase

the size a bit.

Masha Okulova and Kristina.

           Hahaha, hold your horses, you’re just starting to learn the basics of sex life!

Soon Masha got a job at the Butyrsky district court as a secretary of the court session, where she met the same applicant for the job, Nurtach Aliyeva. Instead of competing, the girls became friends and decided to quit their position in the district court together and move to the Arbitration Court of Moscow. Masha got to Maria Kristalskaya, a very strict judge, the one who changes secretaries every 2 months. Her harsh temper did not allow the unit to work as it should. She was a quarrelsome woman, constantly raising her voice and rushing court cases. The salary was just 15 thousand, which was definitely not enough.

Nurtach.

            Can you find another job maybe? What else is there to do.

Masha.

               You’re right, I need another job but I can’t do anything.

Nurtach.

               It’s okay, you can work as a janitor. I can take you to work in the evenings.

Masha.

               Hell no, I’m not gonna be a janitor.… And it will ridiculous to see a new Mercedes bringing a regular janitor to work. My salary will be barely enough to pay for the gas.

Nurtach.

             Don’t laugh, I’m being serious! Then maybe you can go and work as a hookah person or an office worker.

Masha.

             Look for the job openings and send them to me. You are a pro at the hot spots of Moscow.

Nurtach.

            Okay, I’ll take a look, I’ll send you everything, just don’t forget

to turn on the phone.

Masha.

           OK.

Later in the evening, after work, the girls had a talk on the phone.

Nurtach.

            Look, there is a job in Fresco, in Clouds and in Buddha Bar. Try it.

Just for the weekend. They say girls should earn quite well there.

Masha.

            I guess I’ll have to go there.

But first she called the bar.

Masha.

           Hello, is this Buddha Bar? I’m calling you on a position of a hookah person.

Buddha bar.

            Okay, do you have any relevant experience?

Masha.

            Yes (lying), I’ve got some.

Buddha bar.

            All right, come and we’ll have a look at you.

It was very difficult to work in court, for Masha the Arbitration Procedure Code was something totally new that had not been studied at all, she was confusing the ruling of acceptance of a claim, postponement, appointment of court sessions, she was messing up the dates, constantly making typos in the rulings. After all, working with documents was in general new to her! Oh, how difficult it was! She didn’t have such difficulties anywhere before but Masha held on and stayed at work until 23.00 to give all the ruling on time. On one of these difficult days, on Friday, she went to Buddha Bar for an interview, having put a lot of makeup in the advisory room of the court.

Masha.

          Hello, I am very glad to meet you! I’m Masha.

Maget.

          Hi, do you have any experience making hookahs?

Masha.

Well, I made a couple of hookahs for myself. But I haven’t worked anywhere before…

Maget, judging Maria’s appearance, added.

Maget.

          Well, let’s try it, change in the locker room, then on the second floor turn right. Here is the uniform.

Masha.

           Thank you, I will do my best!

The first day was hard. Her whole body ached. She wasn’t used to carrying those heavy hookas. The whole task was to bring them to the tables and light them up for the guests of the establishment. By the end of the shift, Maget called Masha in.

Maget.

          See you tomorrow at six.

Masha earned several thousand for the shift and was so happy! Finally, she had some money and she did not go home empty-handed. After two months of working in court, Masha realized that she would soon be kicked out of the department. This happened due to a conflict with the assistant to the Deputy Chairman of the court, who was friends with Judge Kristalskaya. They put the dismissal sheet on the table for her. She went to the human resources department. From there, she was transferred to the cluttered 138 department to crazy judge Shustova.

Judge Shustova.

               Masha, do you have any relatives at the FBI by any chance? Because the secret services like to keep an eye on me…

Masha.

               No, Svetlana Andreevna, my relatives don’t work there.

Judge Shustova.

               Why are you smiling? I’ve encountered them more than once.

They know everything about me – they’re watching me.

Masha.

           I’m sorry.

Judge Shustova.

           Do your parents work as entrepreneurs or in business?

Masha.

           Yes but my father works as an entrepreneur in a remote Kuban village, so…

Judge Shustova.

           Okay, you’re accepted but watch out!

Masha.

            Okay, I’ll be very careful.

The department was total chaos, the parties to the lawsuits were calling every second, it was impossible to pick up the phone so as not to hear a request to send a writ of execution, a ruling, a decision. The definitions came in bundles and were put on the table unassembled. Huge stacks of files, not archived, piled up under tables, above tables, hung from drawers, from the walls of cabinets… And she was sent to this cluttered department. Masha did not know yet that her great and eternal Love for the court would begin here. Masha actually was trying her best. It was hard to have two jobs and work seven days a week at the same time. She began to pray: “God help me!” It was all she could ask.

Despite the fact that Masha got along with the new judge, she was a peculiar woman who did not know how to use a computer at all. Because of this and many other reasons, she was “asked” to leave her job… Knowing how important the judge was at the department, that this was the key to the success of the work, Masha began to pray even more to an unknown Force that she felt next to her: “Lord, send me a good judge for the department, I’m begging you! It was so hard for me to work with Kristalskaya!” At this time, Shustova left and on June 22, Judge Ivanenko was appointed to the 1328 department. When Masha saw her, she immediately realized that her prayers had been answered. The judge was very young — only 30 years old, very modest, polite, courteous and careful with the apparatus.

Life was going on as usual. Besides having to work two jobs, she was fine with everything. One day she went for a walk with a new girlfriend around the city. They went into a shop called “The Way to yourself”. There Masha bought a nut with the answer to the question, spending her last money on it. After the purchase, she forgot about it for three months. However, she still needed it at an important stage in her life.

One day, everything in Masha’s life turned upside down. In the elevator, the assistant of the neighboring department asked if someone

would like to move as an assistant judge to a closed department. Masha did not have enough experience to develop in her current position but she was excited about this idea. She couldn’t sleep all night thinking about the promotion. Then she suddenly remembered the fortune-telling nut and at 3 a.m. rushed to look for it. After finding it and splitting it, Masha saw the note “Use the chance you get. Another one may not come. The Archangel.” Despite the strong positive feelings that connected her with the young judge, she decided to “let herself go.” The next morning, in the spirit of opportunism, she went to the HR and expressed her desire, saying that the chairman of the staff was ready to take her in as an assistant. And she told the chairman of the staff that the HR agreed to transfer her to the role of an assistant to her department. Thus, everything was agreed upon. Everyone agreed on her candidacy.

How did her judge react to her departure? She was very upset and locked herself in her office. Masha had no idea how much her judge needed her. Sure thing! After all, she worked from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. every day, sometimes spending the night in court. It wasn’t enough for her! In her dreams, there was a bed next to the table, just for Masha to sleep, wake up and continue the work — that’s how much Masha loved her work in court. Her prayers to God for her beloved job as a lawyer were answered.

But fate had its own plans. The next morning, the assistant of their department, Galya, announced her desire to quit. This made two souls happy at once, Masha and the judge! So she returned to her judge. Their former specialist became the secretary of the court session in the 1328 department and Masha became their assistant. Everybody was insanely happy! She was given the job on the 22nd. All important events started happening only on this date.

One day she was standing at an intersection at the traffic light, suddenly she realized that she needed Tarot cards. She quickly turned around and walked towards the street newspaper shop where she bought them. Masha began to get the feeling that something bad was happening in her life. It’s like someone’s messing with her life. She pulled out a card, there was a picture of the Devil. It scared her, stirring up bad thoughts inside

She began to work with half her strength, her energy was slowly fading. It became hard to pull through. And then a terrible thought appeared in her head — as if someone could replace her at her workplace! Another “star” like her would come and replace her at work. And that person would not be coming from the light forces.

Masha, having a very developed religious mindset, began to fully believe it. “Lord, help me to overcome the Devil.” But nothing changed.… She felt the approach of something very bad in her life. Then she gathered all her strength and decided to perform the ritual after reading some experts of esotericism in the Internet. With the last money she bought the most expensive vodka and meat, took it all to

the nearest intersection asking “not to interfere the demons with her life,” as they taught her in the Internet. The meat had to be given to the dogs on the way back but she did not see a single dog, no matter how long she searched. Someone would say that the girl just wanted to play magic but Masha felt the dark forces coming to the department with her guts. In this way, she tried to escape from the fact that the ground was breaking out under her feet.

That evening became the starting point. Since then, her life had changed for the worse. As for the “star” in her department, she came very quickly. Lolla Kalima, the niece of one of the governors of Russia. Lolla had long hair like Masha, the same slender body and, in addition, a lot of money and fancy swagger. However, Lolla did not learn how to work. While Masha worked tirelessly in the department, Lolla sat and painted her nails, rearranging her expensive perfume right at the workplace. Accordingly, there was a complete collapse at work with rulings, writs of execution and other duties of the secretary. The relationship between Lolla and Masha was good but everything was spoiled by the issue of the unfinished writs of execution.

Masha.

            Lolla, when are you going to do the writs of execution?

Lolla.

            I’ll get to them soon.

Masha.

            Well, watch out, the deadlines have already passed.

Lolla.

            I always do my job!

Masha.

            Who knows…

With these words, Lolla threw the stapler on the table and mocked Masha.

Lolla.

         Who knows!

Masha.

          Lolla, lower your voice…

Lolla.

          I will talk to whomever I want and however I want! She turned and left.

With these words, Lolla threw the stapler on the table and mocked Masha.

Lolla.

         Who knows!

On saying that, she grabbed her bag and left. And at that moment the relationship between them broke.

Meanwhile, Masha began to get very tired physically. She could barely carry her body. The work was unreal. Moreover, she had to do the writ of execution instead of Lolla.

Judge.

          Masha, I promise you that I’ll deal with her!

But it was all a vicious circle where only Masha had to work.

Then winter came… She decided to paint a large picture on canvas for the dear judge. Masha had such an image in her head: a traveler going to the temple. Masha went to church on January 7, on Christmas Day, took part in the service to ask for the blessing to create that painting. There she also wished for her future husband. She returned home with candles, lit them and began to draw. While doing that, she clearly imagined their wedding and what her future husband looked like.

Since nothing changed, Lolla continued to be busy with herself at the workplace, eventually Masha put the resignation letter on the judge’s desk. This was a difficult decision. All night she was turning sides in the bed, as if she was on a frying pan. As a result, she decided to leave the court. Meanwhile, the offended judge agreed on Lolla taking Masha’s place.

As a result, Masha presented a huge painting with a traveler to the court. Her painting was hung where she asked — in the most accessible place, next to the dining room so that everyone could admire it. It became a symbol of hope for all those who had tried to work honestly and exhaustingly for the benefit of economic justice.

Once Masha was standing on the balcony of the court and dreaming of being the most honest and incorruptible judge, dreaming that she would crush into the chairman’s office and not agree to any concessions. She was dreaming that during her future service as a judge she would “talk to the Almighty”, that is, turn to her own conscience asking how to act in difficult matters, in the interests of justice, what decision to make so that it was as fair as possible. And so, standing on the balcony of the court late at night, when everyone had long gone home to sleep, looking at the Moon, she uttered a verse by Pasternak, addressed to some Power: “But the whole plot has been already written And journey’s end irrevocably marked. Thousands of theater glasses focus on me, Turning on me the darkness of the night. If it be in Thy power, Abba Father, Pray let this cup of torment pass me by.” But nothing happened during the moment she quitted. And she quietly left.

On her first day off, she opened her eyes in the morning and the first thing she thought about was, “Why did I wake up?” She couldn’t imagine her existence without the court. Masha had lost the meaning of life.

She worked for three years in her beloved Arbitration Court. For three years she worked two jobs without a single day off… Trying to make sure that the government did not find out about her part-time job. Difficulties hardened her. After all, she had a great goal in life to become a decent lawyer!

And for the first time in a long time, she was left alone with her thoughts and cherished memories of her stoicism at the most difficult time: sleepless daily shifts on weekends in bars, blood on uncomfortable shoes due to the lack of others, broken heavy hookahs and hundred volumes of court cases getting ready for appeals. At first, she could do nothing… Everything fell out of her hands and there was a total mess in her head. In both jobs she was criticized and bullied. But as time passed, she matured and became the best employee everywhere: in the night bar and in court. That’s how the purpose and meaning of life makes people out of people! And now Masha could not understand how this could happen to her and why she should live now and memories were spinning in her head: once Lolla brought five absolutely identical signed packages for each of the branches but why were the packages signed if they were the same? Masha, as a true believer, immediately tried to put together a puzzle that all this was not just a coincidence and for sure the packages were kind of special… Obviously they conteined a jinx for Masha! At least she thought so, having read a lot about esotericism while being bored.

Oh, how angry Masha was! She hadn’t had such rage in a long time! She was deprived of her beloved arbitration court by some kind of magic!

Anya Beridze came to her for the weekend and they began to discuss everything, as a result, they came to the conclusion that there really was some jinx for Masha in those packages…

In the evening, after long conversations and building various theories, Anya and Masha went to bed together… The girl could not fall alseep, imagining Lolla replacing her! “God damn it!” Masha screamed to herself and began to imagine how the chair on which Masha had sat earlier was burning down. And she imagined a burning chair for a very long time so only ashes remained on the floor. In the morning, Anya woke up and told Masha about her dream.

Anya.

          Imagine, I’m lying with Lolla in your room on the bed, suddenly the bed gets on fire exactly on Lolla’s side… And it flares up to a huge fire, Lolla tries to get out of the fire and jumps out of your apartment screaming for help. She screams for her mom, dad and all the relatives she remembers.

Masha.

         Well… What a dream… You just somehow read my thoughts about my department, Anya...It was so hard to fall asleep for me yesterday and some bad fantasies came into my head.

Ania.

          Honey, calm down, everyone will get what they deserve.

Masha.

           Yes but how long should we wait for this retribution…

A week later Masha found out that Lolla had a fire in her apartment. Huge clouds of smoke poured out of her windows. She forgot to turn off the stove and went to work in court!

Masha and Anya were awfully scared. Masha, imagining her burning chair in the department, did not want Lolla suffer from the fire and get hurt… Masha and Anya decided that Lolla performed some magic ritual on her with the help of some practitioner from the esoteric community, otherwise this would not have happened to her.

Masha.

            Anya, think about it, I don’t know how this is even possible but when you had a dream of Lolla being on fire, and then she had a real fire, I imagined my chair burning, the chair she is taking now! I don’t know how this is possible.

Anya.

           Whaaaaat, really? I’m speechless. Masha, what the hell is going on!

Masha.

           Yes, some kind of devilry, I don’t know what it is but I have absolutely no energy as if someone is sucking it out of me. But neverthe

less, I can’t believe that I set fire to someone else’s apartment with my own thought power!

Anya.

          Masha, I guarantee you it was your power of thoughts… But what if it really was Lolla’s magical practitioner who worked so hard that such a powerful kickback hit them?

Masha.

          I don’t know nothing but one thing — something is not right here.

Masha began to constantly refer to God in her prayers: “Lord, help me, bless and keep me, save me from evil people and their deeds!” But nothing helped, Masha stayed at home, there was no work, everything was terrible.

From the very first day in court Masha dreamed of working for the Deputy Chairman of the Arbitration Court. She set herself a clear goal and prayed every day to an Unknown Force that was listening to her so that her goal would be heard.… But since she had already left the court, she could only cry about it.… And then she had a dream in which demons laughing at her came to her and held out a huge pearl the size of a human fist. In that dream Masha decided to take that pearl. Five days later she got a call from the 10th Arbitration Court of Appeal of Moscow and was invited to an interview with the Deputy Chairman of the court! Masha was delighted because this position in the AC system can be received only by paying for it but she was just invited! She made a good impression on the deputy and was accepted to complete an internship. After a successful two weeks of practice, they agreed on her employment.

Khomyachkov.

                Are you ready to get to work? You’re doing great!

Masha.

                Oh, yes, of course, this is my dream.

Khomyachkov.

                 Then I suggest we celebrate it by going to a restaurant.

Masha.

                 Ehm… Okay then.

As a result, the deputy somehow got drunk in the restaurant and began to make moves timidly at first, and then he was just trying to molest her.

Masha.

              Even if you were the Chairman himself, I wouldn’t be with you!

Okay, I should probably go, goodbye, I’ll call you.

Despite the persistent calls from the Deputy Chairman, Masha didn’t pick up the phone anymore.

Masha.

          The demons handed me the pearl that I wanted so much but this

job could be received only by sharing a bed!

Anya.

          Holy shit!!

Masha.

          A-ha… It’s always like that with demons — they are the ones giving you some dishonest things. And I refuse to accept anything from demons, I sincerely believe in God. All in all, I don’t need such a dream of my whole life… For such a low price.

But the dark force in the form of demons continued to haunt her… From time to time just in case Masha began to “clean” the house from “negative energies.”

Anya.

          Masha, I’m scared to go into the entrance, it’s so dark in here!

Masha.

          Don’t worry, I’ll come get you right now.…

While Masha was removing another curse from Lolla, the light bulbs in the apartment stopped working and an hour later the light bulbs in the entrance stopped lighting as well.

There were some power failures but then the light in the apartment was adjusted, there was a voltage drop in the entrance at her door, the light was on but it was flashing, the lamp was ready to explode

…Then the lamps in front of the entrance stopped working… They already understood what it was.

Anya.

          I’m just horrified at how much they’ve put on you, it’s so hard to recover from this damage.

Masha.

          Yes, I’m watching it all and I’m scared that I have to fight some kind of shadow. Do you think it does something to me regularly?

Anya.

           Hell yeah! Of course yes, I’m sure of it!

Masha began to pray even harder: “Lord, help me!” There was no good news about work either… Even though she got stuck at home in seclusion with depression and didn’t even try to find something new.

One day Masha decided: “That’s it, I’ve had enough of with it!” She needed to shake off all this stuff and move on! Physically, she felt that something was wrong.… She was lying, praying to God and crying, crying about her life, suddenly she closed her eyes and a strange Egyptian human eye looked out at her from a bright funnel on a dark background! AN EYE! An eye looked at her! A person who is not used to esotericism, not interested in it at all, will say — so what? And Masha would say that such visions come only to very enlightened people4. From that moment on, Masha began to see pictures out of the darkness in front of her closed eyes. She began to have clairvoyance. By that she meant the way ordinary people used to understand it. But Buddhists in the East call this an active “third eye.” But the fact that it all was done by the machinations of the transhumant system we will discuss later.

Once again, she decided to remove the damage from herself. She wrote to a well-known social network with some witch who advised her to plot. According to the instructions, Maria twisted three church candles and drew runes for removing the evil eye on them, and burned them at night, saying spells and imagining that she was burning snakes, scorpions and other evil spirits with this. Or to the people who were destined to become victims of someone’s Plan.

Anya.

         (Anya called in the evening.) How are you, how was your day?

Masha.

         Anya, I did something yesterday.… I was taking off the damage.

Anya.

         Yes, it’s sad, but I just had a dream at night where I walk through

the Egyptian pyramids, see a flying eagle nearby with my eyes and destroy snakes and scorpions with the tip of a stick of some kind…

Masha.

         Wow, these are the words of my conspiracy about snakes and stuff.

Anya.

         Well, I counted your thoughts and actions from you again, but I

don’t know how.

Masha.

          Anya, it scares me, how do we have such a strong connection? It turns out that the Eagle is my astral animal. My totem, through whose eyes you saw… And anyway, why the Egyptian pyramids? Probably some kind of Egyptian magic.

Anya.

         It may very well be, I do not know, honestly, kitty, but I was glad to help you astrally, I kiss you, we’ll call you again!

Since then, Masha began to see a flying soaring Eagle with her third eye — clairvoyance. When she closed her eyes, a funnel formed out of the darkness in front of her, inside which she saw an eagle soaring high in the sky. Masha also saw a paved road made of Egyptian yellow stone and did not understand where it led. Masha began to think that it was an Unknown powerful Force and the Lord was on her side because who else gave her clairvoyance, if not the Lord? Anya was delighted with Masha’s clairvoyance! They believed that the Lord had given her clairvoyance to cope with magical trials.… It became clear that the “Lord” was there, he was near and he heard her prayers! She knelt in front of the icons and asked for peace in her life, tired of the “magical” war: “Lord, help me to overcome it!”

Mom’s attitute to her clairvoyance was unclear. She immediately

sent Masha to the family “witch” from Tula so that Masha could ask her some questions. She finally arrived in Tula to Aunt Lyuda.

The witch Irina told Masha that everything was fine, that this was a family gift and that clairvoyance was given by God extremely rarely and one should be proud of it.It turned out that it was not the only case of clairvoynce in the family. Aunt Lyuda, with whom she reconciled against the “jinx” after three long years, also “saw things”.As for the fact that Masha saw the Egyptian road in front of her, she said that this was an exit to the astral and she needed to try to enter the astral field.

The eagle was her symbol of a magical animal. Irina confirmed the damage on Masha coming from Lolla. And immediately took away all the “jinx” from her.

Later, sitting at the table with Aunt Lyuda, they called their Mashas’s mom on FaceTime.

Aunt Lyuda.

              You see! Lolla is a total bitch, she actually put a spell on Masha!

Mom.

              Yes! Who would have thought!

Masha.

               I might have thought, Mom, I told you about it right away and you didn’t react to it.

Aunt Lyuda.

              Yes, but she’s sitting in your seat right now, and you’re sitting here. And who is to blame for it?

Masha.

             Did I call that jinx on myself?

Mom.

              No, you just didn’t have to twist your judge’s arms. And it turned out like this: you put in a statement and waited for her to beg you to stay.

Masha.

             It’s not anyone’s fault, it just happened, I felt like I needed to leave.

Aunt Lyuda.

             Anyway, qui sera sera, there’s no need to talk about it now…

Masha.

              Yes, it turned out that her jinx provoked my clairvoyance. This, it seems to me, is enough for my struggles.

Aunt Lyuda.

             Oh, Masha, life is just about to start — and there will be so much more coming! But you know you can’t tell anyone about clairvoyance, right?

Masha.

            I understand.

Finally, she returned from Tula to Moscow. One weekend, Anya came over to visit her.

Masha.

            Oh, honey, you’ve brought so much food to me. Did you get the paycheck? Oh, we’re going to cook right now.

Anya.

            Everything is for you, honey. Let me cook something delicious

and without meat.

Masha.

            Tell me, how are things in court?

Anya.

            I don’t know how your judge is doing.… We moved to another

office but everything seems to be fine. And they are considering my

promotion as well.

Masha.

           Oh, I’m so happy for you! I had such an interview the other day but it was unsuccessful. I arrived at the Business Center and got stuck in the elevator for two hours. While I was being rescued from the elevator, another person was hired. It happens sometimes.

Anya.

           Yes, it’s just bad luck! And what about you and Lolla’s practitioner? Didn’t you dream about anything?

Masha.

            I had a strange dream… But I don’t know if it makes any sense. So I’m going along my usual route from Dmitrovsky to Altufevo by bus. I’m sitting by the window, there are a couple of people in the bus. Then suddenly some dark dirty substance in the form of a scary person appears next to me, everything is covered with smoke from it but I saw that “it” was approaching me. Then, out of nowhere, a sharp dressed man appeared next to us, who opened his ID in front of this substance. It shrank and screamed. At that moment, FBI special forces burst into the bus, twisted this terrible dark matter and took it out. The FBI officer asked if I was okay. I shook my head, totally shocked. And the bus went on as if nothing had happened…

Anya.

           Well Masha, this is Lolla’s practitioner doing magic, I’m sure.

Anya.

          Masha shrugged her shoulders. And FBI is just the form the Astral police!

Masha.

          Do you think so?

Anya.

          Hell yeah! I would never have said that if I hadn’t walked hand in

hand with you all the way.

Masha.

           All in all, I don’t understand what this dream is about… some

kind of nonsense. Lord, give me the strength and understanding to

resist the evil spirit that hunts me…

Anya.

           The Almighty can hear you, don’t worry.

Everything was fine but life was still rather difficult for her.She went through a couple unsuccessful interviews: sometimes she didn’t fit or the conditions didn’t suit her. There was always a lack of money. There were hard days, hard moments… So many months passed, until in winter she decided to put an end to this whole “chaos”.

On February 9, she, driven by misfortunes, came to church for service, thinking about God and asking him for protection before the final removal of the “jinx”. She was driven to do this by a feeling of complete exhaustion and lack of vitality.

She came to the chapel across the apartment building where she lived and said: “God, help me to take off my curse and meet my husband! Or else I stop believing, I’ve had enough! I’m very tired, give me some strength.” At that moment, the priest looked at her and crossed himself, after that he didn’t take his eyes off her throughout the service.

As soon as Masha returned home, she turned to God again:

“Lord, help me tomorrow, and now I’m going to sleep!” She communicated with “God” not as with unknown matter but as with a friend who heard her.

It was evening but she had already fallen into a deep sleep for fourteen hours. An unknown force came to her in a dream and said in a woman’s voice: “Tomorrow from four o’clock in the afternoon to four o’clock in the morning you will receive POWER from God.” At these words Masha was thrown out of a dream. The echo of those final words wandered in her head. When she came to senses after a deep sleep, she decided that it was an Angel from God. She called Anya and immediately told her everything.

Masha.

            Anya, can you imagine, my prayer was answered… An angel told me that I would have the Power to remove the curse!

Anya.

            No way! Did some kind of a voice really say that?

Masha.

            Yes! From 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.! I really don’t know what kind of Power it is though.… The day before, I really asked God for strength in church! In the afternoon, Levushka, a kind neighbor, decided to visit her.

Leva.

             Why aren’t you drinking?

Masha.

            I can’t, I have an important event tonight.

Levushka.

            What is it?

Masha.

            I can’t tell, it’s a secret.

Levushka.

             Well, if you don’t want to, you may not tell me, but I could help.

Masha.

              No, you can’t help here.

Levushka.

              I can help you in general… if, of course, you agreed to be with me…

Masha is washing the dishes.

             Oh, Lev, don’t even get me started, we’ve already discussed it…

Levushka.

              You would stop working, you would have everything you want…

Masha.

              Lev, let’s never raise this topic ever again, I’m waiting for the Love of my Life and I can’t change myself.

In the evening, on the eve of February 11, 2019, she gathered her strength and sat down to compose her own spell. She approached everything with great responsibility. Twisting large candles, she painted the cleansing Runes of the Sun on them. By two o’clock in the morning, everything was ready. Masha burned the candles and read her long spell, imagining huge flashes of golden color in space over the planet Earth. She imagined them as small galaxies, as they grow and explode with immeasurable force. And they spread in space over long distances.

After that, thoughts began to swarm chaotically in her head: “God help me, I want to live happily ever after, so that nothing darkens my life! Help me find a husband and let our union would be imminent!

It’s imminent! It’s imminent! Whatever happens in life, Lord, in the end, let us be together no matter what! Imminently, Lord!” With these words, she folded her palms and struck them in the middle of the spell, fixing the words. As soon as this happened, thoughts appeared in her head yet again, but they were strange and unexpected for Masha: “Oh my God, do I really want to die?” And again the answer came: “No, I want to live happily ever after!” “Lord, give me a husband with the smile of Anton Morgunov and the eyes of Michael Khaldey! So that I’ll love him twice as much as I love them!” And again, someone else’s thought was imprinted inside her mind: “Do I want to die?” “No!” she immediately replied and began to cry in confusion.

Masha.

           I want to LIVE! Happily ever after! Lord, give me a husband! Let this be my “Gift from God” on this magical, special night. And may we live happily ever after!

Finally, bursting into tears from unexpected thoughts that crept into her head, she calmed down and went to bed at half past three.

In the morning, she decided to check her messages and news on the Internet. The feed said: “At three o’clock in the morning Moscow time, mysterious golden flashes occurred in space. They were detected by the Lomonosov satellite and dissappeared.” Masha couldn’t immediately compare this event with what happened to her last night. And then it dawned on her… how!? At the same time! There were flashes in space! And scientists say that these were mysterious flashes. Their nature was unclear. And she decided to tell Anya.

Anya.

         Wow…

Masha.

          Yes, Anya, at the same time with my ritual there were flashes of golden color, just as I imagined!!! I’m shocked!

Anya.

          It’s just like that voice from your dream said! — “Power from God”…

Masha.

          I’m confused. How can such coincidences happen…

Anya.

          I knew, honey, that God had a special plan for you…

Masha.

          Maybe it’s just a coincidence… But hoooooooooow?!

Anya.

          I doubt it’s that simple, Masha. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

Masha.

          So, “by the power of God” I created real flashes in space… Don’t

tell anyone about it.

Anya.

          No, honey, this is between us.…

They had no doubt that the Lord had heard her prayers. There was a new energy in her body. Life was colorful back again. Masha happily forgot about the “curse” for the first time in six months… However, there was a call from the kind landlady Olga.

Olga.

         Masha, hello, we’ve got some news… We would like to sell the apartment on Dmitrov Highway… So I offer it to you.

Masha.

          To me? Oh, no, thanks, my parents and I haven’t planned such

purchases yet…

All in all, after four years of living on the Dmitrov highway, Maria again moved all her things to Konakovo to her grandmother, and she stayed at her Aunt Natasha’s in Skhodnya.

Aunt Natasha.

            Well, Marusya, tell me, how did end up here?

Masha.

             I have no idea but in my opinion, someone gave me a ride to such a point in my life and they were not driving a Ferrari…

Aunt Natasha.

             And what are we going to do next?

Masha.

            Well first of all, I need to look for a job, I have a lot of offers now. I can go to the Court of Cassation of the Moscow region. They want me there but I would like to work as a judicial representative, try to walk a mile in lawyer’s shoes, in other words, to see things from the other side …and only then return to court.

Aunt Natasha.

            Oh, it’s a good thing, no matter how much I tell my daughter to get a job as a Representative, she doesn’t want to hear anything about law. She studied for 4 years at MGIMO and then dropped out.

Masha.

            Actually, I miss the court and working as a lawyer.…

Aunt Natasha.

            So get a job there then! You’ve been out of work for so long already…

Masha.

            Yeah, I wasn’t that lucky before, instead of employment I was busy with completely different things…

One way or another, Maria began to be haunted by another number: 11. After the flashes in space on February 11, everything in her life turned upside down. Job offers poured in, everything went to her advantage. She was full of energy. In order to relieve excess energy tension, she began to imagine how golden-colored energy bursts out of her body with an explosion and splashes through the nearest streets.

In order not to get on Aunt Natasha’s hair, she went to her grandmother’s house in Konakovo for the weekend. There, alone in a room on the third floor, Masha indulged in dreams. She wondered what those flashes were, whether God had heard her request for a husband, and how soon she would get a job. She had no doubt that the curse had been removed and she could forget about it.

Sitting on the bed, she fell into a sleepy trance state and leaned back on the pillow in the middle of the day. She had a dream. A tall guy was sitting on a chair in a white shirt and black trousers. He looked at her. There’s nothing behind him, just an empty space. The guy asked, “Who would you like me to be for you?” Masha was standing and looking at him straight in the eyes. Suddenly he turned around and saw about three hundred empty coffins behind him. A second later, the coffins begin to sink through the ground. The piece of land where the guy’s chair was and where Masha was standing began to collapse. Thinking it over for a second, she decided to grab the guy by the hand and run away with him from the sinking earth and those coffins. They were running away with the guy, she turned to him and he was smiling and looked like a rotten corpse. At that moment Masha woke up. After 5 minutes, she woke up completely. Suddenly there was a phone call.

Masha.

          Hello.

The recruiter.

           Hello, the company AutoLeasing is calling, we would like to invite you for an interview.

Masha.

           Oh, great, I’m ready, when should I come?

The recruiter.

            I’ll sign you up for May 22.

Masha.

           Great.

She ran to her grandmother to the garden to tell about her dream.

Masha.

           Grandma, I just had such a weird dream, there was a guy there, and behind him a bunch, a bunch of coffins that then fell into the ground!

Grandma Nonna.

              Masha, I don’t care about all this nonsense, I actually want to know when you will be strong and responsible for your life.

Masha.

              Grandma, I’m talking about my dream and you’re talking about work and all that stuff.

Grandma Nonna.

              Don’t tell me about this, I want to hear the important things and not your imaginary troubles.

Masha.

             Well, okay then!! I’m going back inside! II won’t tell you anything at all!

She made a call to Anya.

Masha.

             Anya, it’s crazy, I had such a dream, there was a guy sitting, and he was so… cute, and there were a bunch of coffins behind us, what do you think it was? What’s the meaning of it??

Anya.

            Honey, I don’t even know what the coffins have to do with it…

Masha.

            That’s what I’m talking about, what do coffins have to do with it?!

Anya.

            Did you watch any movies before going to bed?

Masha.

            No, Anya, I don’t watch anything but melodramas, you know that. Coffins, coffins, what do coffins have to do with it?

Anya.

            Maybe it is necessary to visit some deceased relatives, I’ve heard

it somewhere.

Masha.

           Anya, thanks God all my relatives are still alive.

Then she called to Aunt Natasha:

            Aunt Natasha, I had a dream and there the guy asked me: who would I like him to be for me, and then there was a bunch of coffins, I’m still shocked, though I was sleeping for 5 minutes, not more.

Aunt Natasha.

           Don’t worry about the coffins.

Masha.

            It’s still kind of weird.

Aunt Natasha.

            So maybe this is your future husband?

Masha.

            I don’t know… But I know one thing: the higher ones will show me my husband in a dream. I just know it. Okay, I need to go inside to cook dinner.

Aunt Natasha.

           Don’t be afraid, Mary, everything will be alright!

She thought it was a rather strange dream, especially because it was May 11. Number 11 was now always in her sight. She didn’t understand what was going on then. What were those coffins? What did

coffins have to do with it?!?! And what was that guy who was sitting in front of her as if it wasn’t a dream at all.

In 2 weeks on May 22, she went to the interview as they had agreed. She was well received and escorted to a cozy office consisting of several spacious rooms. There she sat down and waited. She looked flawless. Long blonde hair, high heels matching the color of a light black coat with colored patches on the sides, her favorite gray skirt, a light sweater, and flawless light makeup.

Masha.

          Hello!

Lawyer Sannikov.

           Hello! Do you have any work experience?

Masha.

            Yes, for almost three years I worked as an assistant judge in the Arbitration Court of the city of Moscow, in the corporate structure.

Lawyer Sannikov.

            Well, we are engaged in leasing, you know.

Masha.

            Yes, I know that leasing is a well-established judicial practice, so we can consider these disputes rather simple.

Lawyer Sannikov.

              Well, we also have such a requirement as drafting contracts.

Masha.

              I haven’t drawn up any contracts before but thousands of them have passed through my hands, so I think there will be no problems.

Lawyer Sannikov.

              Okay but you’ll have to work for such companies as Pobeda LLC and FinanceLeasing LLC.

Masha.

              It’s okay, I’ll be able to represent you in court.

Lawyer Sannikov.

              Okay, let’s try it then, are you ready to start your work?

Masha.

              Yes, I’m ready.

Masha and Sannikov liked each other right away. He was very pleasant. An ordinary simple man, dressed in casual. But only his appearance seemed so. His head was like a computer, reading and calculating everything. He was a great lawyer but first of all he was an accountant, which made him way more valuable specialist.

There were arguments at Aunt Natasha’s house about where Masha should move to. They agreed that an apartment in Khovrino was suitable for her. It was not far from the Skhodnya where Aunt Natasha lived and not far from Podrezkovo, where Aunt Olya lived. Despite the fact that dogs used to live in the apartment and everything was covered in dog hair, Masha was not worried. So she moved there on the weekend and began to clean the flat.

The next morning, she went to the stop on the first line in front of the house and saw funeral wreaths literally a meter away. She walked along the fence and found out that there was a huge Cherkizovo cemetery! The cemetery! “And here go the coffins”: she thought, remembering her dream. But the main surprise was still waiting for her. She came into the office, and lawyer Sannikov came to see her.

Lawyer.

            Masha, this is our office for clients, but we are not working here.

Masha.

             And where is our work place?

Lawyer.

             Come on, I’ll show you.

The founder of the company and the real owner of all the companies, Sergey Baev, came out to meet them. Sergey was very tall and handsome. Masha, seeing him, indifferently asked herself: “Is this my husband?” “No” answered something inside.

She looked at him with no interest and went into another office. A little later, Sergey returned to the office and began probing the new Lawyer.

Sergey.

          Maria, can you look how much we have to pay for a fine according to Rosfinmonitoring?

Masha.

           Yes, of course, give me a second.

She was actually horrified by the question, as she didn’t like to use the Consultant plus. Half an hour later, Masha sent Sergey a printed response from Rosfinmonitoring. When their eyes met, she immediately recognized him — it was the man from her dream! It was the guy who was talking to her! He was the one asking who she would like him to be for her! After a while, she came to her senses and continued to work, thinking about it for the rest of the evening.

Masha.

           Anya, it’s HIM! This is the guy!

Anya.

           No way… Do you remember you said that the Higher Ones would

show you your husband?

Masha.

            Yes, I remember. I’m losing my mind. This is the guy — Sergey!

Anya.

            Yeah, Masha, everything is coming true.

Masha.

             And do you remember that the coffins also came true?? It’s totally minblowing! I am just speechless.

Anya.

             What can I say, the Higher Ones showed you the future.

Masha.

             Yes…

Masha continued to live in sensations, she carefully listened to everything: to the soul, to the body, she was trying to catch signs from above! And who wouldn’t? With such an experience of communication with an Unknown Higher Power, she couldn’t but believed in the supernatural! It seemed to her that the world was limited, and she was a tuning fork in it. Figures, numbers, dates, fragments of phrases, lines of poetry — all those were “signs” from above! Masha had been living in an enchanted world for a long time…

She couldn’t notice it but somehow something changed in her. She was really shy when Sergey was around. She began to care. She continued to work and try her best: to count penalties, write lawsuits, mail correspondence, represent the interests of the company in court together with Lawyer Sannikov.

On June 7, 2019, she returned home to a rented apartment opposite the cemetery, and went straight to bed. While being in a dream, Masha screamed: WHO CREATED ALL THIS??? The Moscow City skyscrapers began to collapse around her. A huge crowd of people with their eyes closed formed behind her back. People were like zombies. Masha left the skyscraper and found herself at the Novokuznetskaya station.

She led the people to a wooden church. When she reached the church, she screamed: WHO CREATED ALL THIS???!!! Her scream made the church caught fire and a huge white stone temple appeared instead of it. At that very moment, a stranger in dark animal skins with a staff in his hand walked past her, looking at her with his bright blue eyes, as if they were the only real thing about him.

Masha turned to the newly formed temple, crossed herself and said: “Thank you, Lord.” She turned to the blind crowd and disappeared into it, going back into the mass of people.

When she woke up, she had a severe sore throat, as if she was screaming in her sleep with all her might. Her throat was wheezing and she lost her voice. She didn’t understand the only thing: What kind of creature was it? Coming from where? Who created all this? What it refers to? Since she knew that her dreams were coming true, she felt uneasy.

The next day she had another dream: she was standing in a huge empty hangar with a torch in her hand, two children were walking behind her. Suddenly, the floor and the building began to shake, and Masha quickly headed for the exit. Then skulls begin to pour into windows and doorways right after her. When Masha ran out, a huge number of these skulls rushed after her like a wave, the building was bursting with the remains of dead people.

In the final scene of the dream, her parents and brother appeared, shaking off everything that had happened, as if they too had to run away, and Masha was lying next to her family and her bloodied, mutilated legs were lying in front of her.

Despite all these dreams, Masha tried to think logically. “It’s just a dream” she thought, maybe it will come true. After all, you may see literally anything in your dreams…

Masha and Sergey hardly communicated at work. Masha was struggling and over time she began to fall in love. But Sergey looked different every day. Not in terms of clothes, but he was getting more and more attractive. As if they were all different people.

On one of the summer working days, Anya and Masha crossed paths after work at Novokuznetskaya, they took a black Americano as usual and slowly headed towards Tretyakovskaya.

Anya.

          So how do you like your job at the company?

Masha.

          Oh, I really like everything. Now I will gain legal experience and return to court.

Anya.

          I also want to work but in legal consulting.

Masha.

           By the way, I won a simple case yesterday. But the trick is that I did everything myself from writing the lawsuit to the hearing.

Anya.

          Keep it up! We should definitely celebrate it on the weekend… And what about Sergey?

Masha.

          Nothing. He doesn’t even look at me.

She immediately became sad and sipped her coffee, looking away. So they reached the Tretyakov Gallery building and stared at the poster of the Edward Munch exhibition.

Masha.

           Ohhh, how I want to see Munch! I love expressionism! His works are riddled with loneliness, death and mental disorders but at the same time with a frenzied desire for survival!

Anya.

            Honey, the tickets are hella expensive, we don’t have enough

money…

Masha.

            Yes, I know What a pity.

They sat down on a bench at the end of the building near the entrance and lit a cigarette. Anya stared at the phone, and Masha thought about it all and screamed hopelessly inside herself: “My God, I want to go to the Tretyakov Gallery to see Munch!!!”. Her thoughts didn’t end there. In between a conversation with her friend, she began to think of her boss as a man for the first time, staring into the crowd, letting people pass and looking at them with no interest. “I wonder how well he kisses? Will it be pleasant for me to get closer?”. Then her gazes crossed with the figure of a man five meters away from them. The man smiled as if he knew everything about her and looked into her eyes. Someone else’s unobtrusive phrase flashed through her head: “Get what you ask for, bitch.” She followed the man with her eyes, watching his silhouette disappear into the crowd.

Anya.

         Masha! Masha!

Half a minute later, the friend was pushing her, while Masha was trying to find a mysterious man who had passed by in the crowd. At this time, an intelligent elderly couple, a man in a gray suit and a woman in a formal dress, approached them.

Couple.

          Here, take it, we have the tickets.

Anya.

          Where to?

Couple (smiling).

          To Munch!

Masha (deciding that they are dealers).

           No, thanks.

Couple.

            Take it for free and go instead of us!

Masha and Anya looked at each other and grabbed a ticket, smiling happily.

Anya.

           Thank you very much, we just wanted to go but we didn’t have

the opportunity!

Masha (on the run to the entrance).

            It’s so strange, Anya, ten minutes ago I prayed that we would have tickets and now we have them in our hands!!! This is something incredible!!!

Anya.

             I’m sure they can hear you up there, honey. Keep on dreaming and everything will come true!

Masha.

             Well, then I’ll dream for the two of us!

Time passed but the situation in the company did not change. Her “Gift from God” continued to ignore her and even held meetings of the entire team without her. Inside, Masha was torn and trembling thinking about him but she didn’t show it in any way. She was calm and unperturbed, treating her boss like a senior colleague. Internal etiquette did not allow her to behave differently.

In the end, her mother came to Konakovo and she and Anya went there as well. Therefore, now the girl and her best friend Anya were shaking on the train to Konakovo to spend the weekend together there. They got to talking on the way.

Masha.

           Anya, I can’t, I’m falling in love, and he’s silent and doesn’t talk to me at all.

Anya.

           Well, Masha, maybe you should take the first step? Sometimes

women do it too…

Masha.

           No, I’m not going to take the first step.

Ania.

            In order to be happy, it’s worth it, honey.

Masha.

            I saw him, you know? Moreover, I always said that the Higher Ones would show me my husband in advance. And here you go! Sergey! That’s what I asked God for.

Anya.

            I don’t know what I would do if I were you, Masha.

Masha.

             This is my “gift from God.“That’s what I call him. Then, during the flashes, I asked to give me a husband… And he appeared! And he’s not saying a word!

Anya.

             Masha, you have to stay strong…

Masha.

             One thing I know for sure — I can’t live without him. And I don’t know where I get this feeling from, but it’s bad, like if we don’t get together, something horrible will happen…

Anya.

             But here you are wrong, you should always set yourself up for positive vibes, you know the power of your thought, how strong you are, why do you wish evil upon yourself, and moreover why are you doing it purposely?

Masha.

             Yes, you’re right, I need to put myself together and keep these thoughts away. There is another problem with Sergey: it seems to me that he is a Jew, and I am not a Jew. What should I do?

Anya.

            Masha, Jews often marry Russian girls, so don’t even think about it. How do you know if it’s a problem or not, when you don’t know for sure.

Masha.

           Well yeah…

In the evening they all gathered at the table: Masha, Anya, Grandmother Nonna, Aunt Lyuda, Masha’s mother, grandfather Savely.

Grandma Nonna.

            So girls, tell me about your plans!

Masha.

            We’ll go to the Volga River tomorrow.

Grandma Nonna.

            No, I’m talking about plans for life in general.

Masha.

             I’m already working, the company in general suits me, so we’ll

see what happens next.

Anya.

            I work for my aunt Judge Georgadze and I will be officially hired

there soon.

Masha.

            Grandma, we haven’t come up with anything new yet.

Aunt Lyuda.

            Let’s eat, otherwise the food will be cold.

Later, Aunt Lyuda, Masha, Anya, and Masha’s mom started talking on the veranda again.

Masha.

            Mom, do we have Jewish roots?

Mom.

           Yes, we do, our great-grandfathers were called Isaac, Joseph, Ilya.

Maybe we do have some Jewish roots.

Aunt Lyuda.

            C’mon, what Jewish roots are you talking about! Everyone used to be named in honor of some saints.

Masha.

            It’s just that when I saw their photos, I immediately realized that

they were Jews.

Aunt Lyuda.

            Well, maybe, I don’t know, I should ask my Grandmother.

Masha.

           Grandma said they were Jews.

Masha.

           My friend Mikail Khaldey looks like a mongrel compared to them, I was shocked.

Ania.

           So you have Jewish roots.

Masha.

            At least something…

Aunt Lyuda.

              Why do you need that?

Masha.

              Auntie, I’ve fallen in love with my boss.

Aunt Lyuda.

             Does he react to you in any way?

Masha.

            No, we don’t Eeven talk, I’m already exhausted.

After a while, only Masha and Lyuda remained there. Anya and Masha’s mom went into the living room to clean the table.

Masha.

             Aunt Lyuda, and can you use your clairvoyance and see if Sergey and I will be together?

She didn’t think that her aunt had also been under the influence of a Higher Unidentified Force. It was clear to her that she and Aunt Lyuda had simultaneously discovered clairvoyance and it was given by God. And who else could it be from for a common person? Oh, if only they knew who the source of their unnatural talents was, what kind of shadow impact fell on the whole family… Lyuda covered her eyes with her hand and started looking.

Aunt Lyuda.

           I see, I see you. There is a girl in a white dress and a very tall man, it’s like an old wedding photo, but it’s completely surrounded by fire.

Masha.

           Yeah! Hurray! I’m going to tell Anya!

Aunt Lyuda.

           Run.

The next morning they went to the Volga River with Anya.

Masha.

           Anya, she saw him! She did! It means that we will be together.

But what do I do with the fact that we don’t communicate…

Anya.

            Masha, I had such a weird dream last night…

Masha.

            What did you dream about? Do tell.

Anya.

             So we are in your house in Konakovo. Your whole family is in the yard there. Everyone is very concerned about you. And there were two of you: one of you is an adult sitting in a wheelchair outside, watching the whole family and smoking. And the other one is you, a little child, sitting inside a huge house alone. And the house is filled with phantoms of dead people. And you’re sitting there alone!! I’m trying to open the door to the house but the phantoms of dead people won’t let me in! And no one is allowed into your house! And I don’t know what this dream is about.…

Masha.

           Holy shit… a wheelchair!

Anya.

           Yes…

Masha.

           I’ll tell you a secret I haven’t told you yet.… I constantly imagine that I don’t have legs, either my legs are cut off or broken… It somehow pops up in my head and that’s it. I constantly pray that this will not happen….

Anya.

           No way! Honey, it’s dangerous… Maybe my dream about a wheelchair is related to it somehow?

Masha.

          I don’t know I think I think I should be really careful and actually I need to move out of this apartment next to the cemetery, my heart doesn’t feel right at that place.

She, as a newlyborn clairvoyant, and even more, as a believer in esotericism, was concerned that she lived in an apartment facing the cemetery. Such a neighborhood made Masha uncomfortable despite the fact that the windows overlooked a beautiful church. Two weeks later, she decided to move out. She found a new apartment in her good old favorite group for vegetarians, which she has been for 10 years.

She came, looked at it, decided that it needed some touchups, but still moved in right away. Everything was settled with her new kind landlady. So, after two weeks of living across the cemetery, she finally moved to Kantemirovskaya. She moved all her belongings and started repairing the place. Her mom just arrived and was helping her.

A month later, they were standing with Anya on the balcony of a chic freshly renovated apartment, furnished in Masha’s favorite retro style.

Masha.

            Anya, this is the apartment used to belong to a former madman, of course it is rather unpleasant for me to understand it but what can I do? I have already cleaned all the energy here a hundred times.

Anya.

           Well, if you cleaned everything, then you have nothing to worry about.

Masha.

           Yes, look at that park about thirty meters away from my house, I’ll start jogging there in the mornings soon.

Anya.

           Masha, I have news for you: it is also a cemetery. I just looked at the map.

Masha.

           What do you mean!?

Having withdrawn into herself, she put her hands onto the balcony window and said to herself: “The Matrix…”

Masha.

            Anya, I can’t believe it! The thing that I left is haunting me again,

we’ve already done repairing this place!

Anya.

            Yeah… Honey, be strong, you can’t actually see it from here.

Masha.

            What do you mean you can’t see it! I sleep in front of the cemetery, we both have incomprehensible dreams about skulls, dead people, about all kinds of nonsense, how else am I supposed to react to this?

Anya.

            Remember that I have these dreams about you, too.

Masha.

            Yes, you are my guide.

Anya.

            I’m with you, honey. You should not move from here to another place, you have invested so much effort with your mother repairing this apartment…

Masha.

            I will look for another apartment. I’ve just come to what I was running from! After all, I moved here because of the Cherkizovskoe cemetery, and here…

Anya.

            It says Kotlyakovskoe…

Masha.

            Yes, Kotlyakovskoe is again next to my windows. God damn it! Maria put herself together and began monitoring other real estate groups while working. Most of all, she liked the apartment on the Susokolovskoe highway in Vladykino. That’s where she went.

The landlady of the apartment. Here is a oneroom apartment, the kitchen is new, the entrance doors are new, the last time we did repairs…

Masha.

           It’s a very nice apartment… How much will we agree on?

The landlady of the apartment.

           26k so far, and in winter, due to the bills, 28k…

Masha.

           Great, it suits me, the view from the window is wonderful, is this a park?

The landlady of the apartment.

            No, it’s a cemetery.…

Masha was running from there and was just praying. What brought her to the apartments next to the cemeteries? What was this unknown force? How was that possible? She went to visit her aunt and mother in Tula for the weekend, and they went shopping.

Mom.

           Well, try it on, all your clothes look like you’ve taken them from

a homeless person.

Masha.

            I don’t want to try on anything anymore, I’m tired of it!

Mom.

             Yeah, what are you going to wear? What a disgrace.

Aunt Lyuda.

             Let’s go home already, Sofa. Masha won’t take anything here…

When everyone arrived home, Masha decided to talk to Aunt Lyuda again.

Masha.

            So Aunt Lyuda, as I told you I think he’s a Jew, and Jews don’t communicate with Russian girls, that’s my problem.

Aunt Lyuda.

            How do you know that? If you don’t try, you will never find out.

Mom.

             You work together, you can start a conversation.

Masha.

              No, he doesn’t talk to me at all, only to our Lawyer.

Mom.

              In that case, he’s just not your man.

Masha.

              No, he’s mine, I saw him before I met him, I always knew that I would see my husband in a dream first.

Mom.

              Then do something, and don’t just sit here and whine.

Masha.

              Oh, Mom, I’m never enough for you.

Mom.

               Well, what else should I tell you, you have to manage your own life already.

The next day, Masha was sitting in the train with a bunch of recently bought clothes, and her thoughts were somewhere far away — she was thinking about Sergey. One thing was clear to her that something needed to be done. But what? How could she draw his attention if he only communicates with other colleagues? He gathered all his colleagues for a meeting in the morning, except for her. There were a lot of questions and very few answers.

A stranger.

            Do you mind me sitting down next to you?

Masha.

            No, I don’t.

A stranger.

            I’m sorry to bother you.

Masha.

            It’s okay, you have such an interesting brooch on your shoulder, where is it from?

A stranger.

            Oh, I brought this from the East when I studied spiritual practices there.

Masha.

             Wow, I wonder where exactly?

A stranger.

              In Tibet. My teacher was Lama. They taught me how to answer

many questions.

Masha.

              No way, and you’ve just come up to me, I am very pleased!

A stranger.

              But speaking about you, I can say one thing only — the Cosmos knows!

Masha.

              What does the Cosmos know?

A stranger.

              You will choose your own fate…

Masha.

              And how to choose it and not make a mistake?

A stranger.

              I’m talking about meeting your husband soon. But you have to go up to him and just say, “You.”

Masha.

              Is it so easy to come up and say it? Oh, it’s not so easy for me, I like one guy but it’s so hard to deal with him…

A stranger.

             Just come up and say, “You’re mine.” That’s how I hooked up with mine, he didn’t think for a long time — he immediately ran after me.

Masha.

            And if he doesn’t like me?

A stranger.

            Well, then let him go and think it over…

Masha.

             All right, I’ll do as you say.

It was already September but it was still rather warm. Masha arranged to meet Anya at the Patriarch’s Ponds. She arrived there in advance and was sitting on a bench thinking about Sergey. A weird stranger sat down next to her. An elderly man with some serious leg disease.

An old man.

            Hello, am I bothering you?

Masha.

            Hello, of course not, sit down.

An old man.

            Do you talk to strangers at the Patriarch’s Ponds?

The man smiled gently at her. It all reminded her of a famous novel, she could feel it in the air. She immediately remembered that at the water’s edge there used to be a sign with crossed out Bulgakov’s characters in order to warn random passersby from mystical encounters and accidents.

Masha.

           Uh… well, yes… it’s a pity that the sign was removed for some reason.