‘Kh…’ Vic was strong enough to say the first letter of the demon’s name while she exhaled.

The man couldn’t hear her. He was so much interested in a noisy traffic-jam under his windows. There were multi-coloured and the same cars, screwed-up drivers, annoyed pedestrians. Kharon had no idea that Victoria was calling for him.

Suspicious crowded upon him when he heard the ringing off alarm for the third time and there was nobody in hurry to switch it off.

The man came quietly into the room. There was breathless silence. Kharon frowned, sat down on the edge of the bed and called the girl. There was no answer. The demon closed his eyes, trying to go into sleeping Victoria’s mind but he faced a strange obstacle: there were twisted halls again. Empty. There were no thoughts.

The demon went around the bed. He had to see the girl’s face right now.

Victoria was still lying on her stomach, arms outstretched. Her eyes were opened, and a tear was running her cheek. She had a soft whistle of her breath and feeling of fear, her heart beat weakly. Victoria didn’t understand what was going to her, why she was incapable of taking a good sigh and even of moving. The numb body that she didn’t feel, made her panic. Could it be a blood-stroke? Blood-stoke had hit her was her the first thought. She was getting worse and so upset she could cry. She didn’t want to live like this. Victoria appealed to the demon to kill her, but he was incapable of hearing her. He was walking about the grey halls in the girl’s mind to seek for her mad thoughts, being unable to catch any of them.

Kharon looked at her running one by one tears and slowly he started getting what was going on. He couldn’t help smiling and, of course, he didn’t feel any sympathy for the girl.

The demon turned her on her back, took her hair away from her face and kissed her numb lips.

‘Today is a day of my monologue.’ He said, lying near Vic.

Vic could lie and move her eyes. Having seen Kharon smiling she felt uncomfortable. She looked pity and awkwardly while he dared to make fun of her when her body had broken down.

‘Well, I’ll start with myself.’ He said, fondling her naked shoulder. ‘I’m confused a little bit… I better say I’m scared of your strange system of twisted halls in your clear head. I’ve seen it twice already. It could have been nothing but there’s a slight objection – I can’t catch any of your thoughts. I can’t read your mind but see your foolish halls and corridors.

Kharon looked at Victoria’s face: there were no emotions just frustration and indifference. Vice versa was about her heart and soul. She had been already scared of misunderstanding her condition after Kharon’s word she got more scared. If he couldn’t hear and read her mind, then he couldn’t help her…

‘Silent human child…’ he murmured, still smiling. ‘Do you know what the reason of your physical condition is now? Do you know why you can’t move even your little finger and sigh deeply? I’ll tell you…’

The demon lay on his back with his hands under his head. He saw the morning light line slowly stealing over the sleepy ceiling. The city was greeting the morning, meeting another new line of life like previous ones that had been yesterday, the day before yesterday and years ago.

‘This is not a disease nor illness, this is tranquillity. Any sexual influence made a person let so much energy to fill a flat with… It’s ok! It’s ok when you have sex with someone like you… with a human. You chose another way and another man one. Knowing nothing about me you gave yourself up to the blind impulse that consumed you fully. I know this night was the best one in your life, you whispered it to me when you were capable of… As usual in any coition you, being in arms of extra-terrestrial passion, burst all your energy… I’ve taken it.’

Kharon rolled over on his side, having stared at the girl’s face. Of course, she almost calmed down that that wasn’t blood-stroke, but she was still afraid of what would be next.

‘You’d have been alright if you hadn’t been so… avaricious.’ He smiled. ‘I came into your dream… if you had told me the night before had been enough you would have moved, breathe and live as usual. You’d have been had a slight malady, tiredness but it would have been ok. But you, dear, couldn’t resist your desires… I took the rest of your energy in your dream. That’s why you’re incapable of moving now. On the contrary I really feel groovy. I’ve never felt better than this. I can’t still read your mind… Let me.’

Kharon put his hands on the girl’s head and slightly pressed on her temples, slowly like a corkscrew, penetrating her consciousness.

‘You’re hiding them from me, dear… How can you do this? Ah?’ Kharon kisses the girl with no taking his hands away from her head. He wanted with the kiss to distract her from blocking her thoughts. ‘Many corridors and halls… Holes and ways in and out. Oh, here they are! Your intimate thoughts!’

Kharon closed his eyes and smiled, reading all her feeling. He read all her fears for her life, all the memories about the divine night having spent in the best man’s arms, all her worries about her incapability to get to work, her original happiness that they were going to spend that day together with Kharon. She didn’t care that she was like a statue lying with no moves. The main point was that he was nearby, his velvet voice whispered in her ear pleasant words, his hands touched hers, and he chuckled at the youthful greediness.

‘Don’t worry.’ Kharon took his hands away from her head. ‘You’re gonna be ok. Soon. Honesty I don’t know when exactly but soon. Then I’ll take your energies again, won’t I, dear?’

The demon touched her hand, smiled and gently kissed her on the cheek and his arms came tight around her waist.

‘It’s an interesting thing, Victoria. There’s never been a woman who didn’t embrace me… Your physical helplessness and incredibly beautiful nudity provoke in me a new spurt of only now born feelings and emotions. I’m not gonna even read your mind to know if you agree or not… thousand times yes were your words…’

 He took a corner of her quilt and flipped it off and started covering her body with the smallest kisses. The girl wanted to smile, take him into her arms, maybe laugh, because his light stubble tickled her body. But she couldn’t do anything. Nothing.

Suddenly Kharon stopped and with a sad grin, he looked at the girl’s eyes.

‘I can’t do anything.’ He whispered, taking his hands from her. ‘You’re weak, you have no energy that’s why I can’t do anything. I’m sorry but I have to wait for your energy stores to be obtained again.’

Certainly, the demon didn’t tell that energy of a witch was a thousand times stronger and greater than energy of an ordinary human. He didn’t tell her that a witch was more difficult to obtain her energy stores. That was the secret Victoria had to realize herself.

‘By the way, your job…’ Kharon took Victoria’s cell. ‘Shall I tell that you’re ill a bit?’

The man easily managed the task, having informed Victoria’s manager that Vic felt ill and asked for compensatory leaves. Victoria took a sigh of a relief when she realized that Kharon fixed everything.

The man turned on relaxing music, lay near the girl and fell asleep. Victoria, being tired to look at the ceiling, closed her eyes and got to sleep.

It’s summer. It’s 1948. Moscow. She is a travelling substance. She can’t see herself, but she can hear and see everything around. She has a great ability to move fast in space like a comet or asteroid in the depth of the universe. She has no obstacles: as a bodiless spirit, she can easily go through walls, buildings, fences, big factories and whatever else.

Here she is rushing through Moscow narrow streets. The streets aren’t crowded yet. The huge pedestrial areas are empty. There are almost no cars. One maybe two… the roads are empty. It’s so good.