Pablo Chapter 3 | Pablo
Translation to English: Theofilos Tourzaridis
Editing and Proofreading: Cleopatra Strati
Illustration: ancalove2001
The weather is unpredictable but Pablo doesn’t feel the cold. As an apparition of the Beast, he has experienced the leva and the frost in the bowels of the earth. Too many years have passed since then but the feeling never goes away. Pablo has been on earth for about 200 years. He is one of many apparitions that exist. He faithfully follows the Master’s instructions; unlike others who tend to act on their own disobeying their Master’s orders. He is one of the Beast’s Sorcerers, and the most trusted. Alas to those who disobey the commandments and they think that they are strong like the Master, like the Beast. If they disobey, they have to pay for it. They pay. The price? Eternal torture after the completion of the deal. Pablo has saved many who have strayed from the Master’s path. The commands are – always – explicit:
- We do not kill mortals unless the Master allows it.
- We use only the oblique method of persuasion towards the worst path.
- In case of disobeying the orders, the penalty will be executed after the end of the agreement’s deadline.
Pablo has accomplished many missions over the past 70 years; he brought many innocent souls to their side, the ‘’right side’’, and he saved many colleagues from the dereliction of their duty. However, for the first time in many centuries, such a mission has arisen. A diplomatic mission, which the Master chose only him to carry out. Pablo knows that if he doesn’t succeed he will face terrible tortures. And that’s because the Other Side is also involved. An equal exchange between the two great powers, a mission that, if not successful, will upset the balance of the Great Plan.
These are Pablo’s thoughts as he eats Martha’s lunch during the second week of his staying in the village. Martha makes the sign of the cross every time she sees him, even though Pablo has taken the shape of a decent 45th-year-old man to integrate more easily with the villagers. He thanks her for the meal and goes back to his room. Pablo lights up the candles and calls Ferio, one of his closest friends, who is having a good time with many bottles of whiskey and women on the other side of the Atlantic.
“I bet you need my help, Pablo!”
“You know that no one else can involve in my mission!”
“So, what do you want? You are on your own!”
“Did you find anything new?”
“No, just what I had told you two days ago! You have to go and find her.”
“The Witch?”
“Yes, the Witch. She’s lonely and crazy as I’ve heard. But she is strong too, she doesn’t care if she kills you. Of course, this perhaps pleases our Master a lot… watch out!” said Ferio to Pablo.
After the communication, Pablo thinks that it is too risky to bother the Witch of Transylvania. She is indeed unpredictable and because of her ancient agreement with the Master, she is stronger than Pablo. But on the other hand, she is the only one who knows the village and what happened then. The candles light up by themselves as soon as the Beast’s voice rings in Pablo’s ears piercing his eardrums. Blood starts pouring from his ears and Pablo rolls to the floor in pain.
“Master, forgive me, I have a plan. Isabella knows… she might…”.
“Might what; Isabella doesn’t know anything…and you’re worthless!!!” the Beast yells making Pablo cover his ears without success.
“You know exactly what you have to do… Blood must be shed so the wrong became right. We have an agreement with the Other Side. The eclipse is in a month. Till then gather any information you can, and don’t forget to feed your filthy soul.”
The candles blow out and Pablo jumps to his feet. His ears stopped hurting as the Beast went away. Master is right, I need to gather my strength and information, without any losses for now. I have to eat…
The next day the baker’s daughter wakes up and gets up to feed their hens and their cows. At the coop, she sees two of their hens lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes, as if someone had sucked their blood and guts. She was so frightened, that she screams and faints.
