‘You know, dear, you have to live with people a bit to answer your question now… Honestly I don’t know what to say, what I have to say…’

‘You don’t need to say what you have to. What’s there?’ Victoria touched his chest. ‘What does it say?’

Kharon said nothing. Tears. There were tears in her eyes. Vic was waiting for an answer like manna from heaven.

‘I…’

‘The truth, please, Kharon. Tell me the truth, what do you feel here?’ the first tear dropped on her cheek and hurried to run away to flow together with the rain.

‘The truth?’ the demon defined. ‘Nothing. I feel nothing here.’

The demon put her hands away. Vic pursed her lips, fighting the coming up tears. She took his hand and kissed his fingers, pressing his warm palm to her cheek.

‘That’s ok… I’ll do everything to fill you with a human life, make you hear your heart trembling when you see the eyes of a human whom you really like. I’ll teach you how to feel, Kharon, I will. Please don’t resist me.’

‘I’ve got you. I don’t mind. Try your best. But don’t let them drop, ok?’

‘You don’t wanna me cry, do you?’ Vic smiled through tears, still pressing his hand. ‘I won’t.’

‘And you’re still doing it?’ he smiled.

‘No. The last ones. Shall we go further? I have something to tell you.’

‘About your meeting?’

‘Yes. There was a woman.’

‘Called you the Devil’s bride?’

‘Did you…’ Vic was about to get surprised but grinned instead of. ‘Exactly. Why did she say it, Kharon?’

‘You again listen to everyone and think that’s it all about you, don’t you? When we were going out from the metro some girl called you…just a second, I’m trying to remember. It was something like a bitch. Why didn’t you notice it? So maybe you shouldn’t notice what ghosts say?’

‘Do you want to say that the insult was about nothing?’ the girl exhaled.

Kharon stopped near the sad girl and with words “come to me”, pulled her into the nearest archway. He pressed the girl understanding nothing in the corner and put his hands on her head.

‘I’m sorry, Victoria, but I understand nothing what you’re speaking about… I need to know… Now!’ The demon pressed her head stronger with his hands with difficulty getting into her mind.

‘No, no. Kharon, that won’t work…’

‘It’s all useless… I want to get your honesty, Victoria, and how I’m supposed to get it without being in your mind?’

She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth because of the man’s pressuring, threw back her head and soundlessly squeaked. At that time the demon was covering the twisted corridors and halls of consciousness and subconsciousness looking for the answers.

‘Here they are,’ he whispered, stronger pressing the girl’s head. ‘You can stand it a little more… I’ll get them out.’

A minute had passed before Kharon let go of the exhausted girl. He relaxed his hands, gently kissed her lips and stepped back, having turned away from Vic.

‘I’m not a murder, dear.’ He said with his back on her.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m not a murder but you make me be.’ Kharon turned to her. ‘I’m really sorry that it’s me who has to do it as no one will.’

‘What are you talking about, Kharon? You’re scaring me…’

‘Tell me, Victoria, what on earth prompted you to think so?’ He folded his arms. ‘What was your logic?’

Vic frowned and had a blank nervous look, looking at the man.

‘Now you don’t understand what I’m speaking about, do you?’ the man came up to her again, grabbing gently for her shoulders. ‘You make me kill your hope.’

‘My hope?’ Victoria had a lump in her throat as she started getting what a hope murder Kharon was speaking about. ‘No, Kharon, don’t. Don’t shoot from the hip…’

‘I saw it in your thoughts. Is that old woman who gave it to you? Why did you believe her so ridiculously?’

Someone coughed and steps were heard. Kharon let the girl and stepped back. It was the first time in his life he felt so strange. He looked at a stranger, at his leaving shadow and didn’t understand his feeling that had appeared with the stranger together. That was the first step of shame.

‘The Devil’s bride doesn’t mean, dear, that you’re the one. There are no weddings in my world.’

‘No, there aren’t, but there are in my world!’ Vic interrupted him, grabbing his hand. ‘There are weddings in my world. There are brides and fiancées… There’s love. All of it exist in my world. And I have right to dream about it. You can’t make me stop doing it. You can’t. There are lots of things in my world which hardly can happen in yours and they’re immune to you. But it means nothing, does it? Jesus, Kharon…’ Victoria put her hands on her head, being shocked with the conversation. ‘I’m in shock indeed! I’ve never thought that living in your world is torn to pieces and wounded with stereotypes and prejudices which you’re not able to get rid of!’

The girl experienced great desperation. No, it wasn’t about the man. No. She was upset with that fact that some things didn’t depend neither on you nor your surroundings.

‘What’s it, Vic?’ the demon asked, touching his left side of his chest. ‘I can feel your feelings. How do you call it? I wanna know…’

‘It hurts now, and I feel desperation because of your words. I don’t like it and I’m hurt. I would call all of it disappointment…. Let’s go. We’re wet through. This conversation happened too early and now I’m catching up to it. Not for all the world borrow this dispiriting feeling for yourself. Nothing can change my feelings to you, but death can.’

Disappointment. What was the level of it? Was it a strong sense? What was going to be after? There was a small of human senses into insensitive depth of the demon and now he was preoccupied and tried to understand what and why. Most of all he wanted to know why. Why could people experience those terrible feelings? Why couldn’t they reject to experience them, harking after other feelings? Why did people like being disappointed? For a month of being with people Kharon had time to know what joy meant. Why not to use this perfect ability to be happy… What stupid things those two-legged creatures were. They had so wide range of positive thinking, but they ate dirty and garbage without stopping.

‘Ok, Victoria. At this time of day, I got your mind. Thank you. I’ll take this lesson into account. I’d like to tell you something about the man you had dinner with. There’s a thing for you creeping in his heart that you call affection. Certainly, it’s not a love. I don’t feel him feeling the way you do towards me. But as I see all people can fall in love. But, saying it in your language he’s ready to let you see what can be done in his bed.’

Victoria was listening so-called exciting story about her boss and instead of understanding the news she tried to realize if there was a share of jealousy in Kharon’s words, whose love she wanted to arouse. Just a little of jealousy… But she was either deaf or there was no jealousy. Kharon just spoke like a morning greeting or what’s up.

They went away from the Garden Ring Road to Tverskaya Street at Mayakovskaya metro station and headed towards the Red Square. It was the first time they kept silence for a long time. They both had something to think over. At that moment they both were ok. Kharon couldn’t and didn’t want to get into Victoria’s mind and one could hardly get into his except Lucifer. They gave a little time to each other to think over something, work on misunderstandings.

When they were at Pushkinskaya Square Kharon stopped and looked at a big building, proudly elevated behind the monument.

‘Why did you never tell me what a building it is?’ he asked Victoria.

‘This one?’ the girl nodded at the building. ‘This is a cinema. You’ve never asked me.’

‘What’s the sound?’ Kharon asked under his breath turning to Vic. ‘You… Is this a chatter of your teeth? Why are you doing it?’