Part 1 BEGINNING Chapter 1 The city of Kalach, our time. It was the end of March. Long icicles hung from the roofs. They often fell and scattered with a ringing sound on the ground or asphalt. Snow no longer covered the ground like a blanket, but lay in separate gray piles. In the city, almost all the snow was grayish. That's right, if next to the road on which cars drive, the snow will not be very clean(!). It was already quite warm and I was wearing a leather jacket and jeans. There was a bag hanging on his shoulder. I was returning from school, where I was in eighth grade. Nothing this evening foreshadowed any changes. But the calm could be a trap. Someone, someone, but I won’t fall into it! I need to always be in full combat readiness. Slowly walking down the street, I heard what I feared. It was a scream. The scream of a girl who was trying to cover her mouth with her hand. Having tensed and determined where it was coming from, I rushed in that direction. When I ran up, I saw that the kidnappers were no longer there, only a briefcase lay on the side of the road. I guessed where they could go and which direction I should go, apparently, the kidnappers headed towards an old abandoned two-story building, an excellent place to hide. Hoping for a successful outcome, I began to quietly approach the building. I remembered that two months ago I agreed with my enemies on peace. The terms of the agreement included that they would not touch me or their acquaintances, and I would not interfere with them. Until this moment, the agreement had not been violated. Let's see what happens now. Getting into the building was not a major problem, because the window closest to me had broken glass, and I climbed inside without any problems. I found myself in a long corridor with a bunch of doors. It was not very cozy here, only evil spirits would live here, because they love darkness, dampness and do not like tidy things. I felt THEM. It was like a prick in the ribs, like a sharp dagger, it meant, for sure, I was on the right path. Quickly pulling on the mask, from under which only sparkling eyes were now visible, and, taking out from the sheath under the jacket the silver Sword, my reliable comrade, which glowed jubilantly in anticipation of the next fight, I threw the bag behind my back and, holding the Sword with both hands, headed forward. To my right there was a door that was not tightly closed, and all the sounds coming from the unknown depths of the room echoed in the corridor. Walking close to the door and twisting my neck so that my vertebrae cracked, warning me that they would hurt all next week, I looked into the gap through which the skinniest and most seedy ghost could not squeeze through, and saw that there were three vampires and a girl in the room. In appearance, vampires were indistinguishable from ordinary highway bandits who rob everyone they come across. The guy standing in the center of the room immediately caught my eye, he was almost a head taller than the others, his muscles were much more developed than those of his brothers, and he behaved more arrogantly than the rest. Everything pointed to the fact that he was the “leader”. All three were dressed in leather jackets with strange stripes on the sleeves. The girl was sitting in the corner, this is good, she won’t interfere with the battle, one of the “subordinates” sitting on the windowsill of a window blocked from the outside said: “Boss, maybe we can finish her off here?” “No,” the powerful voice of the “leader” interrupted him, “we’ll wait for the others, if you don’t want to wait, you can get out of here.” The man sitting decided not to argue anymore. I was relieved that the girl was okay, well, for the moment. We need to act, and quickly. Judging by the conversation, soon there will be many more enemies, and even I with my Sword will not be able to defeat them, because I am still far from a master of battles. A plan has already been formed in my head. The silent “subordinate” stood closest to the door, but unfortunately turned his back to me. The “leader” was in the center of the room, and the “smart guy” was sitting on the windowsill. The rest of the room was empty, except for the floor covered in dust and debris. Not bad, there is room to turn around. I left my bag in the corridor, no matter what was in the way, and with a powerful kick I opened the door and entered the room. Judging by the faces of the vampires, I was least expected in this place. Without stopping on the threshold, making a short lunge with the Sword, I pierced the first one, and his corpse, before it even touched the floor, turned to dust. Then the “leader” came to his senses and, taking a small knife from his pocket, rushed at me. Easily moving to the side from the blow, I turned around and cut his throat by inertia. “Clever guy” didn’t want to test my Sword on himself, and while I was dealing with two other vampires, he managed to cover the distance between the window and the door, and when I turned to him, he was already crossing the threshold. It was no longer possible to reach him with a sword. But for such a case I had a surprise in store, a dagger in my left sleeve. So all I had to do was wave my hand, and it flashed, flew halfway across the room, and pierced the skull of the person running away. I listened to see if the noise had attracted unnecessary spectators, but everything was calm. Since time immemorial, this house had a bad reputation, and people preferred to bypass it by the tenth road. They said that ghosts lived here, but in truth, vampires often visited here, it was they who made the noise that they considered ghosts. So no spectators appeared, but now it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to figure out what happened here, because all three corpses turned to dust immediately after the touch of silver. Having wiped all the dirt off the Sword and Dagger, I turned to the girl and easily recognized her. It was my classmate, Sasha. She didn't recognize me only because of the mask that covered my face. And it’s good, if I found out, it would be bad. After all, if there are those who know too much about me, they can give this information to those who are not supposed to have it, as a result of which I had to hide my face. The friend stood up and asked: “Who are you, and why did you save me?” “Calm down,” I changed my voice a little so that it wouldn’t give me away, “I can’t answer your first question, but I’ll answer the second: I protect my friends from attacks.” Seeing that Sasha wanted to ask an even more interesting question, and maybe more than one, I quickly said: “You know me very well, even very well, you’ll find out the rest a little later, but now we need to get out of here.” Sasha didn’t argue, and it’s clear who would want to be in the house where you were almost killed. Having hidden the Sword, which now glowed with an even sky-blue light, under the jacket, and the dagger back into the sleeve, where there was a mini-sheath for it, I went out into the corridor and picked up the bag, which was not very light due to the abundance of textbooks and weapons located in it. Without looking back at the scene of the massacre, I went to the window. Sasha walked behind me and looked at my clothes with interest, but could not remember where she had seen me. Having climbed out of the window, we walked away from the unfortunate home, some guy saw us, swore at us, in general, the meaning was this: “What, people like us just climb abandoned houses, break windows, and howl like ghosts.” His swearing could be heard all the way to the abduction site. Having picked up Sasha’s briefcase, I returned it to its rightful owner, and walked her home, stopping the new flow of questions, saying that she would find out everything, but later, and headed home. Having walked a hundred steps away from Sasha’s house, I took off my mask and dusted off my clothes so that passers-by wouldn’t suspect anything. CHAPTER 2 After 20 minutes. I lived in a large two-story house, although sometimes I myself was surprised at how our entire large family could fit in it. On the ground floor there was a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room and my father’s workshop, which I lovingly nicknamed “The Den”. On the upper level there were bedrooms, children's rooms and a large hall. Having climbed the wooden, carved stairs, prudently stepping over the penultimate step, which creaked invariably betraying everyone who stepped on it, I entered my room. Relaxing and throwing my bag, which clanged with metal, under the table, I fell onto the bed. I needed to rest and get myself in order. I looked around the room, there was nothing special in it: a bed, a wardrobe, a table on which there was a computer, a bedside table with a TV. Naturally, I didn’t keep weapons in the room, and in general, no one in the family knew about my “hobby.” Looking in the mirror, I saw an ordinary eighth-grader, above average height, shoulder-length dark hair, named Oksana. “Hobby”, “hobby”, but lessons also need to be learned, and I sat down at the table and reluctantly pulled the Algebra textbook towards me. Having finished my lessons in about an hour and a half, I decided to visit " bunker", check if everything is in place. " Bunker" I call the shelter that people like me helped me build HUNTERS for evil spirits. We created it with all probabilities in mind, from a ceiling collapse to a hit by a tactical nuclear warhead. The “bunker” was located under my yard, and was an ingenious interweaving of rooms and corridors, with many exits, the closest one was between my house and the high fence on the neighbors’ side. Although there were many exits, I preferred this one. Having pressed a secret button that opened the entrance to the shelter, I went down the stairs and headed forward, hearing the hatch automatically close behind me. I walked along a narrow corridor, more like the hole of some monster from a computer game. In the rooms to the right there were weapons, clothes, the latest equipment, thanks to my friends hunters, They stuffed the "Bunker" so much that any American specialist would be jealous. service, to the left are rest rooms and warehouses. The shelter was designed for long-term living, so there was electricity, heating and water, food, computers, etc. The strange thing was that, having gotten used to everything new, unfamiliar, I just couldn’t get used to the “COOL” weapon , which was contained in the special containers that are opened only after DNA identification. There were plasma throwers, annihilators, and very strong protective suits. Luckily I haven't needed them yet. But I need to be prepared for anything and therefore I need to get used to it. In the rest room, I sat down at my favorite table, which stood against the wall, completely covered with maps of the city and diagrams of weapons, and quickly looked through everything that interested me, how many monsters were in our city and where their shelters were. No, of course, I wasn’t going to attack now, I just need to be prepared for any turn of events. After that, I got up and went to the weapons room. As I said before, most of my weapons are there, but besides that, there was a shooting range there. Taking a nine-millimeter pistol from the shelf and turning to the targets, she decided that she needed to shoot more often than three times a week, because a bad shooter can be considered a cold corpse, and a corpse, of course, cannot protect family and friends.
Having fired a couple of dozen simple cartridges, fortunately there were enough of them, I went back to the rest room and sat down at the computer. I didn’t spend a lot of time on it, but sometimes I had a moment and I fought with computer opponents tooth and nail, because it’s easier to win on a computer than in life. There were no interesting battles happening now and I, looking up from the monitor, stretched out on the sofa. There was something unimaginable in my head. The vampires broke the agreement and attacked my friend, which means the hunt is open again. But not only on evil spirits, but also on me. After all, after the murder, the spirit of dozens of “creatures”, their authorities declared me and others hunters enemies No. 1, and now the war, after a two-month lull, continues! CHAPTER 3 On the outskirts of the city. - Why the hell did they go there, because everyone knows that SHE lives there very close. Why did they kidnap that girl?” - it seemed that Raig’s anger would have no end, “After all, now we have to fight with her, and now we won’t get off as easily as last time. Now SHE has become much stronger, and she has a lot of assistants, although there are none in the city yet, I would not be surprised if she calls them in the very near future. You remember the prophecy, which says that the girl, without any superpowers, will destroy more of our people than her countless assistants destroyed during our entire long-term existence. It’s unlikely that SHE will leave us alone until she destroys us all, or maybe something personal will stop her. Having given out such a tirade, Raig looked around at the gathered gang members and asked: “What are we going to do?” Fifteen vampires were present at the extraordinary meeting, with the exception of those whom Oksana had killed and those who were now guarding the territory from her attack. The vampire gang was so afraid that Oksana would come and kill everyone, that they deployed triple the guards, armed to the teeth. But I didn’t know this, and I didn’t intend to take this gang on the raid at all... sorry, I went off topic. Then Brin stood up and said: “There’s no need to panic right away, who knows, maybe SHE won’t attack us right now, because now the girl doesn’t rush headlong, now SHE is calculating everything, but after this calm we won’t find it enough.” In the meantime, we also need to prepare, maybe the hunter will not dare to attack, because well-organized resistance can stop more than one hunter,” the vampire finished his speech. “Okay, we accept your advice,” said Raig, “we know that you always soberly and correctly assess the situation, we will all immediately begin preparations, now every vampire counts, you all go collect everyone you can... and I will prepare to defend our lair." The heroine's house. It’s good that the holidays are coming, but before them, as always, there are exams, this spoils the whole mood, because the lion’s share of all the time is spent repeating what has been learned. How you just want to go for a walk, and don’t have to give up your “hobby.” In addition, I still haven’t figured out what to do now, because the enemies probably aren’t sitting idly by either. I knew that it would not be possible to seize their home in a swoop, and I was wondering what to do next. A week has passed since the attack. The vampires remained relatively calm, which naturally got on my nerves; during this time they could easily gather all their “relatives” and attack me or my friends, which would be very inappropriate, they could also find a bunker or hide somewhere... somewhere by the road. I met Sasha only at school, there was no need to attract her attention to me, but I carefully and quietly looked after her, because history could repeat itself. But everything was calm, only the girl now walking home often turned around, fearing that she would be attacked again, and what kind of nerves must she have so as not to simply go crazy. I remember being in her place, it was a nightmare. Many people, having watched enough films, think that if there are monsters and evil spirits, then it’s cool, but it’s not so! Thinking and knowing are completely different things. Everything I knew about my world turned out to be an incomplete picture of life. Now I won’t allow the same thing to happen to Sasha. I knew that I could not win this war alone and was looking for support. An attack on a vampire lair was a very risky business, because all of OURs were quite far away, and you couldn’t count on their help, they simply wouldn’t have time to arrive here, and I was looking for someone I knew to play the role of assistant. I was looking for a strong-willed person who knew me well and knew how to stand up for himself. To my surprise, Sasha took first place on this list; she had all these qualities and knew something about the “creatures” I hated. My choice was finally formed after an incident that happened three days ago. Three days ago . As always, I calmly watched the girl, fortunately I had some free time from classes; she was walking out of the store with a bag containing groceries. Turning into an alley, Sasha walked about ten steps and suddenly stopped approximately opposite me. I already thought that she saw me, but the reason for the sudden stop appeared from around the corner; they were three guys who were not very friendly towards my ward. I wonder how I missed their approach, although they made quite a loud noise, and one was driving a high-speed bicycle, the wheels of which made a soft chattering sound. These guys were not vampires, but they posed quite a big threat to my friend, I don’t know how, but I felt that they were not armed, but they had more than enough strength in their hands and a bad mood. Such people walk in groups of at least ten people, so other representatives of a not very good profession could appear here. Judging by their shabby appearance, they had not had the best day. Seeing Sasha, they looked at each other and decided that they had not come across more affordable prey today, and the guy standing in front of the others quietly whispered to the friend standing on the left: “Ha, the bird wandered into the cage itself,” and they moved forward, deciding to figure it out quickly and get away. To my surprise, Sasha did not run, she stood still, although her face showed that she was not confident in her abilities, she lowered her bag to the ground and pulled out a small dagger from her belt. A fleeting glance was enough for me to recognize silver in it. Sasha probably didn’t waste any time, she guessed that the “creatures” were vampires, and now she didn’t want to get caught again. All she lacked was my instinct, otherwise she would have realized that the guys were people and the silver wouldn't do them much harm. By the way, they just saw that something flashed in her hand, but they decided that it was just a reflection from the watch, and without suspecting anything, they approached, this was their biggest mistake. Sasha was not going to just stand and wait, she covered the remaining distance with amazing speed and hit the first one in the shoulder with a dagger, spinning around her axis, knocking out the second one with a powerful blow from her sneaker, but missed the blow of the third one. A powerful blow to the shoulder knocked the light girl off her feet, and she collapsed to the ground. Of the entire campaign, only the third remained standing. He shouted: “Guys, come here!” Then, immediately, as if out of nowhere, five more appeared. This group was already armed, four had knives, and the fifth had a pistol. Seeing the weapon, Sasha realized that this time things would not end well, because there was no protection nearby, and she would not be able to protect herself (Sasha, I’m not used to such pain). All actions took no more than five seconds; the speed of the ward was only slightly inferior to me. It’s amazing how the vampires were able to tie her up, because she’s not even that bad at fighting. But vampires are still stronger than people, so everything is clear. I realized that if I didn’t intervene, Sasha would have a bad time, since the six were quickly approaching. Spitting on all the rules, I sneaked behind the backs of the six and, coming out from behind the cover, lowered my head, and said in a serious voice: - Guys... get out of here in a good way, huh...? The guys stopped, turned around, and the one closest to me said: “You’re the one who gets out of here, otherwise we’ll do something bad.” I shrugged my shoulders and answered: “No, I won’t let anyone with a weapon near my friend,” I nodded at the gun. - No, no, he looked at Sasha and concluded: - Today you will have one less friend. The guy raised his gun and shot me three times. The bullets would have hit my heart if it weren’t for the simple light body armor that I carried everywhere with me (that’s the feeling of danger), so the bullets only lightly hit my chest. Still, the feeling is not pleasant. A thought flashed through my head, let them think that they killed me... for the time being, and I immediately put it into practice. To heighten the effect, I swayed and crashed to the ground, the trick worked (!), not paying attention to my “corpse,” the guy continued to approach the ward, the rest also approached, but not so confidently. I decided that I should take down the guy with the gun first. And, really, it’s a gun after all! Sasha sat on the ground in an absolute stupor from the sudden appearance of the defender and from such a stupid and quick “death”. She probably thought that I was a Super Hero and that it was impossible to kill me. Realizing that now was the best moment to attack, I tensed up and jumped straight up from a lying position, while the pain in my back reminded me that I needed to be more careful, it had not yet fully recovered in a week, and at the same time I managed to catch the jaw of one of the approaching men with my sneaker and hit him with my forehead across the bridge of the other's nose. “I’ll have to teach you a lesson for your bad behavior,” I proclaimed reproachfully, standing right behind the guy with the pistol, having managed to pull out the Sword. Seeing who I was, Sasha’s jaw literally dropped; I don’t know who she expected to see in my place, but not me. The friend backed away. At that time, without ceremony, I slammed the hilt of the Sword into the back of the enemy’s head, and he, releasing the pistol, collapsed at my feet. “It’s better that way...” I said, stumbling slightly, my breathing had not yet recovered, “move away Sash.” .. what... so that I don’t hurt you. The girl silently jumped back about two meters and almost landed on the corner of the building. Three opponents stood ten steps away from me. This distance has long ceased to be great for me, and I simply switched to maximum acceleration and took three steps. From the outside it looked like teleportation, but without any special effects. I only had two hits for everyone. The first two collapsed from a powerful sweep, and the third received a personal blow to the face. That was the end of it. I stood in the middle of the carnage and regained my strength, the battle was easy, but had serious consequences. Firstly, I exposed my face, and this was a serious violation of the rules, they won’t leave it like that, and secondly, the guys saw my face, but you can’t kill them, you can’t hide the corpses. It’s okay, I’ll figure it out later, I decided arrogantly, and we didn’t get out of such troubles. Sasha, slowly approaching me, as if afraid that I would attack her, said: “It can’t be... it’s you... because I didn’t see anything strange in you... even in that building I didn’t recognize you.” .. Why? - she said, stuttering slightly. “It’s all about the mask,” I responded, “it helps me be faceless, by the way, why did you decide to fight with these idiots, and how do you know how to move well?” “You’re not the only one who has your own secrets,” the friend answered with a hint of pride and resentment, “but why didn’t you tell me the truth then... after the attack?” “It’s too early for you to know this,” I responded. “It’s cool you put them down and you came up with a cool idea with the “corpse”,” she praised me. “In such situations, only ingenuity helps,” I said. I foresaw what would happen now: Sasha would pester me with questions, and most likely I would have to tell her everything. But that will happen later, but now we need to get out of here. While Sasha was deciding what to ask me first, I went up to the guy with a pistol and took the weapon. Turning around, I saw that Sasha, as if reading my thoughts, had already picked up her bag and, putting away the knife, dusted off her clothes. I handed her the barrel: “Do you know how to handle things?” - If you get some training, I’ll shoot as well as you. “Okay, let’s get out of here,” I decided that I needed to get out of here quickly. “Where to now?” my friend looked at me with such an expression on her face that it was clear that she was expecting something even cooler from me. And she waited for it, but a little later. “Come to me, I need to tell you something,” I decided to clarify the situation a little. Chapter 4 I decided that it was not the time to take her to the Bunker. And I decided to just take her home (to me, naturally), and on the way I didn’t tell anything except where we were going. At home I said that I was just walking and that I had guests. My parents didn't do anything to me. (Although I was away from home for almost two days.) I often said that I was going for a walk or to the library so that I could have time for a “hobby,” although what a hobby it is, it has already turned into an integral part of my life (thanks to some!). I told Sasha only the most important things: who I am (HUNTER), are there many people like me (not very many, but there are), etc. What I told should be enough for now. Sasha was very interested in who we were fighting against and how to protect ourselves. I also told you what the rules are:

- Don't show your face. -- Do not give away secret objects. - Don't kill people, except in very extreme cases. -- Do not reveal the secrets of the "HUNTERS" team. Etc.

After my story, Sasha began her story. This was the moment I really needed to know. A week ago. Arriving home, Sasha, out of shock, fell on the bed; when I was nearby, she felt calmer. After resting, she decided that it wouldn’t work to hide behind my back all the time, and, having calmed down, she decided that she needed to find out more and the next day she went to the library. From the books, Sasha understood that vampires attacked. Finding information about the "creatures" was not a big problem. (I started out that way myself). Over the next three days, the ward learned a lot, and was able to find a pure silver dagger. (I wonder where she dug it up?) She decided that it was enough, and just in case, she carried it everywhere with her in her belt. At school and on the way home, she carefully looked around and wondered who was wearing the mask and what the name of her savior was. I watched Sasha at school and noticed that she became more attentive. It turns out that she once went to karate a long time ago and then decided that this would greatly support her. Over the next few days, she secretly practiced dagger throwing. As you already know, all this was very useful to her in her first major battle, which for me was nothing more than a simple warm-up. - You know the rest without me. I felt that I would see you again and find out who you are - Sasha finished her story. “Your feelings did not deceive you,” I finished. Present tense. Three days have passed since the conversation. Nothing very important happened these days. I also went to school, taught homework, practiced shooting and looked after Sasha. She, in turn, carefully watched me. I was already thinking about showing her “BUNKER”, because she still hasn’t told anyone anything. True, even if they don’t believe you if they tell you, few people know about the real threat. Finally I decided to show my hideout. There will be a lot of free time during the holidays, and I will show her everything. I hope I can learn everything in a week, otherwise I didn’t want my friend to be distracted in class, especially before exams. Beginning of April. Holidays. Sasha’s house was about a kilometer from mine. I thought that I should go underground, I wanted my appearance to be more impressive, so I used the tunnel that went to the surface about twenty meters from her house. The tunnel did not end there, there were many exits from it, some even went tens of kilometers from the “BUNKER”, and I had never used them yet. Didn’t I mention before that I had somewhere around a hundred video cameras all over the city? So, I saw that now Sasha is walking with friends near the yard. But I couldn’t help but notice that under her jacket she had a pistol, which I gave to her after the fight. I screwed the muffler onto it myself. I hope she doesn't shoot every second person. As I had hoped, I was able to quietly get close to my friend without anyone noticing. It seems the guys were playing hide and seek, I saw which way Sasha went and followed her. She hid behind a barn, a good place, the barn covered one side and tall bushes on the other three. A small area was fenced off from prying eyes; you can only approach from one side. Sasha was looking exactly at this narrow passage, but I was not going to follow the path. More than once I had to sneak up to someone, so not a single twig crunched under my boots. I approached from behind. It must be creepy to watch a dark figure with sparkling eyes emerge from behind and approach you, but Sasha didn’t see it. Still, it was not in vain that I chose her, no one could hear me, but she seemed to feel that there was someone behind her. Sasha knew that it was impossible to get through the bushes so quietly, and no one was passing along the path, and she decided that this was an attack again. Without warning, my friend jumped up and, almost without aiming, shot at me. This time I was without armor, I didn’t think that anything would happen here, I was twenty meters from the tunnel. The bullet hit the left shoulder. Blood, the usual red color, immediately poured out of the wound. Knowing that lead bullets are no more painful for evil spirits than a mosquito bite, Sasha, without looking up at me, immediately snatched her dagger from her belt. My classmate got so used to it that only my reaction saved me from a second wound (not fatal, of course). I managed to praise Sasha’s hand ten centimeters from my throat. Seeing who I was, my friend instantly lost all her fighting ardor. Surprise flashed in her eyes at first, but when she saw the wound and blood, fear appeared in them. - Oksana. .. it's you? ... I’m sorry, I thought it was THEM again - there were tears and remorse in her voice, - why did you sneak up from behind... you’re not going to die?.. No?.. - At least... not today, - I hissed through my teeth (it still hurts)! Sasha tried to free her hand. But it’s not that simple; I held on with a death grip. “Next time, watch who you shoot at, what if one of your friends were in my place, huh?” I asked. “Okay, okay, just let go of your hand,” the friend asked. Freeing herself from my grip, Sasha put the weapon and dagger under her jacket. “So, now you need to come to me, and quickly, I’m not a terminator and I can die from loss of blood,” I said with a hidden grin, pressing the wound with my hand, it should have healed immediately, but this time it won’t, for the reason that only I knew. “It’s good to at least have a pistol with a silencer, otherwise the whole street would come running.” By the way, now one of your friends will come here, it’s better to leave here. Follow me!!! I deftly dived into the thickets and began to make my way to the hatch. Sasha could barely keep up with me, considering that I was wounded! Two minutes later we were in the tunnel. My friend didn’t know about the “BUNKER”, so now she was at a loss. The passage was two meters high and one to twenty meters wide. Every twenty meters there were lamps that were powered by my own electric generator. Near the hatch lay my backpack with weapons and a first aid kit. I quickly took out a bandage, more or less bandaged my shoulder, and asked: “Don’t you suffer from claustrophobia?” “I didn’t notice before, but where are we going?” she answered. -I'll tell you on the spot, OK? -OK! Chapter 5 Fifteen minutes later. The closer we got to the “BUNKER”, the more separate tunnels we came across. I'll tell you in general. Some tunnels were here before I was born, but most of them were dug by OUR guys. Initially, five people lived in the “BUNKER”, not counting me. But more than a year ago, the evil spirits moved further south, and the guys went after them, leaving an entire town on my conscience. Now the Volgograd region is one of the most dangerous in central Russia. Two years ago there were more than two hundred nonhumans in our city, but now there are just over three dozen. Therefore, before the “BUNKER” was a stronghold of the HUNTERS, now I had to take care of preserving it in case of the next relocation of evil spirits. Around the central building there was a network of tunnels with security posts in case of detection. If there is an attack, the post will have time to warn the central base. Further on there were tunnels without security, why bother if each post had a powerful door that did not let anyone inside. The tunnels ran under almost the entire city; earlier, during construction, they were based on the location of hot spots in the city, but now the tunnels, like a web, entangled almost the entire city. Sasha and I just came to such a post. Naturally, there was no one in the room and there was no one to open the door, but in this case I myself came up with an entry option. Each door had a small square to which you had to put your finger, which I immediately did. The square immediately lit up, a red ray ran along the finger, and the door slowly opened. Then I remembered that unregistered individuals cannot enter the tunnel leading directly to the central building. I quickly turned around and stopped Sasha, who was about to enter, and said: “Stop!” Now you can’t enter, the automatic guns will kill you, I need to enter your data into the computer’s memory so that they will let you in. “Okay,” my friend said, watching me take the newest laptop out of my bag. - Cool, are all your computers so advanced? - asked Sasha. - Yeah, and not just computers, let’s get into the central building and show you a lot more. After turning on the laptop, a message appeared on its screen asking me to enter a password, quickly typing a ten-digit password, I went into the security system control network. Here I had to enter two passwords, which I had already forgotten. Now I was not typing so fast, my injured shoulder was taking its toll. My fingers stopped obeying me, I realized that I urgently needed to go to the medical compartment. But I couldn’t leave my friend here, and I stubbornly tinkered with the gun settings. It took me three minutes to fight the laptop. Finally, there was one last thing left: “Put your finger on the square,” I said to my classmate, closing the laptop. “Now,” she answered. The square lit up and confirmed Sasha’s right to enter the base. Walking quickly down the corridor, I headed straight to the hospital ward. My friend could barely keep up with me; every time we passed machine guns, she looked at them as if they were about to fire. Three minutes later we came to a similar door. Opening it, we saw two corridors, one leading to the left and the other to the right. I headed left. We were in the central building. We entered the first door on the right along the corridor. This was our base's medical center. The room was approximately five by five meters. Along three walls there were shelves with equipment and cabinets with medicines. The fourth had beds. I unmistakably pulled out a bandage and a bottle of red liquid that looked very similar to blood from the cabinet. It seems Sasha was thinking the same thing. - I hope this is not what I think? - moving away from me, she said. “No, that’s not it,” I answered, I usually carry this thing with me, but today I’m clearly not myself. Well, okay, this will be a lesson for me. What are you worth? Sit down. - What is this? - Sitting down, my friend pointed to the bottle standing in front of me on the table. “This is the development of our scientists, a serum that replenishes blood and heals most wounds,” I answered, opening the lid, “I think that in five minutes the wound will heal as if it never existed.” I opened the bottle and treated the bullet wound, at least the good thing was that the wound was through and I didn’t have to take out the bullet. After that, I bandaged the shoulder well back, the serum begins to act almost instantly, but it all depends on the severity of the wound, small ones heal instantly, bullet wounds take longer. I considered my condition satisfactory and decided that I needed to refresh myself. “Let’s go to the rest room, we need to eat,” I said to my friend who was looking at the equipment, “I don’t want to stay in this room for a long time, I don’t have good memories associated with it.” - Okay, let's go, can I ask a question? “Of course,” I nodded. - Why is there no one here? - Sasha examined the corridors and doors. - Previously, there were six OF US, now, when the danger had passed, THEY went south, and I stayed, to study and watch all this, - I waved my hand around the room we entered (the rest room), - and look outside the city, at my computers constantly receive messages about the tricks of vampires and other nasty things. .. -Are you saying that there are not only vampires? - my friend interrupted my monologue. -Certainly! There are also werewolves, zombies, spirits, which everyone calls ghosts, and other evil spirits. It seems that with my words I finished off my friend, who sat down on the sofa and covered her face with her hands. - It’s not getting any easier hour by hour! And this too!

Literature is full of examples of both generous and vengeful heroes. Some we, as readers, can take as an example, while others are clear illustrations of what not to do. Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” also contains such opposite characters, capable of atrocities and revenge or goodness and generosity.

1. (Revenge is useless and leads to bad consequences) Raskolnikov’s crime can be called a kind of revenge. He is tormented by social injustice, that the extremely repulsive old money-lender, for all her wealth, is unusually greedy, and poor people live in poverty. Thinking through and analyzing the theory of “trembling creatures with rights,” the hero nevertheless decides to challenge the current situation. However, his means to achieve his goal are robbery and murder, so no good came of his so-called revenge - the hero only conscientiously experienced what he had done, not knowing how not to go crazy. Revenge most often implies cruelty, therefore, even to achieve a fair result, you should not resort to atrocities: the taste of a well-deserved victory will not be so sweet, but rather only spoiled by the bitter taste of revenge.
2. (The power of generosity and its role in human relationships) Thanks to the positive qualities of other characters, Dostoevsky's novel is painted in bright colors. Sonechka Marmeladova, having learned about Rodion Raskolnikov’s act, did not give up on the hero. On the contrary, the girl sincerely wanted to save the soul of the poor young man, so she advised him to repent of his crime. Sonya even reads to Raskolnikov the legend of the resurrection of Lazarus with the hope of the revival of a new life. Realizing that Raskolnikov regrets the murder, she sympathizes with him, not leaving him without support. Sonya's immense love for people and responsiveness were able to pull Rodion out of a terrible abyss. Thus, the author emphasizes the power of generosity, which can save the human soul.
3. (Generous people often fall victim to rigidity; this quality does not bring happiness) Unfortunately, even kind and compassionate people can face unfair revenge and cruelty. Often they become innocent victims of the situation, as happened with Sonya Marmeladova. At her father's wake, Luzhin, Dunya Raskolnikova's failed fiancé, put a hundred rubles in the girl's pocket in order to later accuse her of theft. Luzhin had nothing specifically against Sonya: thus, he only wanted to take revenge on Raskolnikov for kicking him out of the apartment. Knowing that Rodion had a great attitude towards Sonya, Luzhin took advantage of the situation, but Lebezyatnikov saved Marmeladov’s daughter from slander. The hero's revenge was not successful; everyone was only convinced of his immorality.
4. You can fight for justice without revenge. Investigator Porfiry Petrovich is very talented in his field, and he guessed about Raskolnikov’s crime long before his confession. Having no evidence against the main character, he tried to psychologically bring Rodion into the open. After reading Raskolnikov’s article, his fainting and indignation that the investigator is playing with him instead of acting according to form, Porfiry Petrovich is only convinced of his intuition: “It’s no longer possible to give yourself away.” However, Porfiry pushed Raskolnikov to confess not in order to make his work easier, or to somehow take revenge on the criminal with real punishment. On the contrary, he did this out of deep generosity and compassion, because turning himself in can mitigate the hero’s punishment. Porfiry Petrovich is a man for whom justice is not an empty phrase, but in his work he compassionately shows generosity towards the suffering Raskolnikov.
5. (The price of generosity, an example of a generous person) Showing generosity is not an easy task; sometimes you have to give up what you want and make concessions. The Raskolnikov family lived very poorly, and in order to get out of their difficult situation, Rodion’s sister Dunya was going to marry the calculating businessman Luzhin. Raskolnikov understood that his sister was doing this not out of love, but out of a desire to help their mother and Rodion himself. Not resigning himself to this situation, the main character insists on terminating the engagement: he understood that it would be in Luzhin’s interests to reproach Dunya and command his future wife, because he saved her from poverty. Dunya was ready to do this, which speaks of her care and desire to help her family. But, fortunately, Rodion here also turns out to be not stingy with generosity, and does not allow his sister to ruin her life. Being generous is not so easy; for this you need to be ready for self-sacrifice. In addition, it is equally important that the people for whom one makes concessions appreciate it.
6. (Can revenge be fair? Revenge of fate) Svidrigailov is the embodiment of Raskolnikov’s theory. At first glance, he is not bothered by pangs of conscience, but he is guilty of more than one death. But, if judicial punishments never overtook the hero, this does not mean that Svidrigailov was not avenged by fate. Arkady Ivanovich himself admits to Raskolnikov that ghosts come to him, which means that the character feels his own guilt. Revenge can be fair and committed not by man, but by fate, this is exactly what Svidrigailov expected. For everything he had done, the hero was avenged by an unfortunate fate - he was left without support, as a result of which he could not stand it and committed suicide.
7. The generosity of friends can help anyone out in difficult times. Having committed the long-awaited crime, Raskolnikov can no longer behave as usual, although he tries to avert any suspicion from himself. The murder of the old pawnbroker did not save him from poverty, because the hero, in the pangs of conscience and fear, got rid of everything stolen. His friend Razumikhin repeatedly comes to Rodion’s aid, noticing that something strange is happening to his friend. Comrade is not limited to material assistance. When Raskolnikov realizes that he is ashamed to be with his mother and sister, he asks Razumikhin to be with them and support his family. Rodion could completely rely on his friend, and he generously supported Raskolnikov as best he could.

Revenge indicates weakness or strength - a philosophical question.

Revenge comes in different forms. If, for example, an insult has been caused that haunts you, the person begins to think about retribution. The main thing is that planning revenge does not develop into an obsession over time, does not become a fixed idea, in other words, does not lead to the development of a mental disorder. Mystics would say that that insult was a corruption that overtook the target. Simply put, a person launches a program of self-destruction when he directs all his thoughts towards plans of retribution. Of course, it’s nice to implement such a plan. But look at the situation from the outside. The offended person goes into the shadows and plans his revenge there for a long time. Does this sound like the behavior of a strong man?
There is revenge “according to tradition.” For religious reasons, etc. traditions, people have taken revenge on the entire clan against other clans for many years. Innocent people suffer, whose ancestor once offended the ancestor of an unfriendly clan. Is this normal? From the point of view of those who live according to this tradition - yes. From a universal human perspective - no. Does this look like a show of power? Is it physical?

Much is written about revenge in the gospels. There they teach you to forgive. Of course, many things are quite difficult to forgive. But only a strong-willed person can do this. Although, a coward can pretend to be generous, declaring publicly that revenge is beneath his dignity. Oddly enough, they will believe him precisely because the ability to forgive is a characteristic of the strong.
By the way, psychologists also advise not to devote your entire life to planning retribution on the offender, but to get rid of it as soon as possible, before the “self-destruction” program starts. They have already developed methods and work well.

Is revenge an indicator of a person's strength or weakness?

I think revenge is a sign of weakness. It is much easier to give in to impulse and take revenge on your offender by doing him at least a minor dirty trick. But getting over your anger and forgiving is much more difficult. Religious dogmas have nothing to do with it; forgiving just because it is written so in some sacred text is not the same as forgiving consciously. It is conscious forgiveness that is an indicator of human strength. Conscious forgiveness is a huge work on oneself, and in order to accomplish it you need to put in a huge amount of effort, time and mental strength, because you need to experience the situation hundreds of times, put yourself in the place of the offender, try to understand his motivations, his feelings and thoughts, you need to move on a different level of perception and, as it were, rise above human emotions, above human pettiness and feel yourself, the offender and all of humanity as part of one whole and be imbued with boundless love for the whole world. Only then will forgiveness be complete.

So, it is clearly much easier to take revenge than to forgive, which means that forgiveness, not revenge, is a manifestation of power.

Revenge is an indicator of human weakness.

The strength of a person is in his kindness, intelligence and mercy. A weak person sees peace in the pain and suffering of another person.

A strong person does not know how to take revenge.

Is revenge an indicator of a person’s strength or weakness?

I think revenge is the restoration of justice. If you take revenge, then it’s because the person deserves it.

Revenge is not strength or weakness, but the restoration of justice. On the other hand, if a person does not take revenge, then he is spiritually strong since he can withstand it.

What an interesting question.
From time immemorial there has been no revenge in Rus'.
She was disgusting to the Russian man.
But controversial cases were resolved with weapons.
He himself, his relatives, or a hired defender could stand up for the offended person.
The winner was considered right.
The problem is that the criminal was almost always more advanced in the use of weapons than the victim.
Just like now, basically.
But the way remained open.
Unlike modern times.
A person is placed in a situation where he has lost his loved ones for no reason at all and the criminal, perhaps a well-known one, has not received the deserved punishment due to certain reasons...
Or suffered a punishment inadequate for the crime...
How can a man endure this?
Perhaps revenge is the only thing that can be available to a person.

The only problem is that revenge is a very complex concept.
There are often situations when the victim simply cannot adequately take revenge on the perpetrator. Feeling the pain of resentment or loss, how can you convey such a feeling to the culprit? Kill him? This would not be adequate retribution... Kill his family? This will be the punishment of the innocent, and this may be contrary to the nature of the avenger; it will put him on a par with the criminal and make him a criminal in his own eyes. Torture the culprit, replacing his physical pain with his mental pain??
For many centuries, humanity has pondered the concept of retribution, but has never come to a single universal opinion.
A criminal committed violence against a woman... How can her family take revenge on him? There is no adequate punishment.
And in many other ways the same.

Revenge is neither strength nor weakness. This is an attempt to repay what is deserved, almost always unsuccessful...

Comments

“Listen,” said the count, and his face became filled with bile, as others’ faces become filled with blood. – If someone forced your father, or mother, or beloved to die in unheard-of torture, in endless torment, in a word, one of those close people who, being torn out of our heart, leave in it an eternal emptiness and an ever-bleeding wound , would you really consider that society gave you sufficient satisfaction because the guillotine knife passed between the base of the occipital bone and the trapezius muscles of the killer and the one through whose fault you endured many years of mental anguish experienced physical suffering within a few seconds?

“Yes, I know,” answered Franz, “human justice is a bad comforter; it can shed blood for blood and nothing more; one should not demand more from it than it can give.

“And I’m also talking about this case,” the count continued, “when a society, shaken to its very foundations by the murder of one of its members, repays death for death.” But there are millions of torments that tear a person’s heart, which society neglects and for which it does not avenge even in the unsatisfactory way that we just talked about. Are there no crimes worthy of more terrible torture than the stake on which they are impaled by the Turks, or the pulling out of the veins adopted by the Iroquois, and yet an indifferent society leaves them unpunished?.. Tell me, are there no such crimes?
“Yes,” answered Franz, “and it is for their sake that they endure the duel.”

- Duel! - exclaimed the count. - There is nothing to say, a glorious means to achieve a goal when that goal is revenge! A man has stolen your beloved, seduced your wife, dishonored your daughter; your whole life, which had the right to expect from God that share of happiness that he promised to each of his creatures, this man turned into suffering, torment and shame! And will you feel revenged if you pierce the chest with a sword or put a bullet in the forehead of this man who plunged your brain into madness and your heart into despair? Completeness! Not to mention the fact that he often emerges from the struggle as a winner, justified in the eyes of the world and, as it were, forgiven by God. No, no,” the count continued, “if I am ever destined to take revenge, then I will take revenge in the wrong way... (c) A. Dumas

Revenge is different. It's one thing to be domestic, petty and dirty, envious, and another thing is to be holy and patriotic.

Everyday revenge often arises from a quarrel, a desire to fight back, to prove to oneself and others that one is strong and powerful. Holy patriotic revenge in the name of the Motherland, in the name of your family and friends - just revenge. This revenge is inspired by the entire historical past, people's memory.

Like this...

Revenge is an indicator of a person’s savagery and narrow-mindedness.

Here, for example, are primitive people. They could not speak or write, but explained themselves by signs and gestures. Let's say the offender hurt them, stole food - in general, caused them suffering. They came up and beat him on the head (or other parts of the body) with a club or killed him. This is how they expressed their feelings and emotions and fought back. What we have now... The habits of primitive people are still preserved in society, because not all people have learned to think, not everyone knows how to explain themselves in words, not many know how to explain themselves and justify the actions of other people.
They give an example of a man who, because of the death of his relative, killed the culprit. It's clear - emotions. And did the one who took revenge feel better because another person died, but his relative could not be returned? If it’s easier, then there are no questions, although it’s very strange. Now, if you could get your loved one back through revenge, it would be logical.
If a person gains satisfaction through revenge (verbal or physical), this is not an ordinary person. I would call him not entirely healthy)))
Modern man is far from perfect, and for a long time he will have to get rid of the signs inherent in uneducated primitive people.

I really like the quote from the novel “The Twelve Chairs” by I. Ilf and E. Petrov, which has already become an aphorism - “And wild people!” the sightseers were surprised. “Children of the mountains!” - ostap org ru

This is a feeling of injustice that gnaws at a person from the inside. Revenge is what pushes people to do terrible things in order to punish for injustice.

Revenge: concept

Revenge is a feeling or act that harms a person's inner state, it motivates a person to take terrible actions, the purpose of which is to cause harm in return.

The main reason that pushes an individual to take revenge is injustice due to the fault of another person. The thirst for revenge is a rather dangerous psychological state; it can live in a person’s mind for a very long period of time, until he takes revenge.

Is revenge a destructive feeling or a necessary solution?

Everyone feels differently about revenge. Some consider it a manifestation of selfishness and intolerance towards the behavior of others. And some are sure that revenge is necessary for the psychological peace that comes when the offender got what he deserved. What is revenge for you? Evil or necessity? You decide for yourself.

Revenge is a necessity that can lead to calm, peace, psychological balance, which was disturbed by injustice, resentment, evil and other negative emotions and actions. For some, revenge is a triumph over injustice, because each of us faces it. There are those who believe that everything bad will come back to us like a boomerang. They believe that it is revenge that will help this, that it is with its help that evil will be punished with retaliatory evil.

We are all different, some easily forgive insults, others cannot forget about it and start living as if nothing had happened. Such people usually delve into themselves, every time they remember a situation when a person was somehow hurt. It is precisely such individuals who resort to revenge; there is nothing to judge them for. We are all different. Of course, you shouldn’t make revenge the meaning of life, but is the desire to respond to the offender considered a terrible necessity?

On the other hand, some people may become offended out of the blue, after which they begin to figure out how to annoy the offender. They cannot forgive, forget and calm down until their desire for revenge is satisfied. That is why there is an opinion that it is impossible to take revenge. These are the people who need to ask themselves questions: “Won’t I lose loved ones because of revenge?”; “Is the offender worthy of the effort and time spent?”

Revenge is a dish that should be served cold, but it requires a lot of effort and time. Does this make sense? Life is already short. Or is it better to forget everything, leave everything in the past? Learn the lesson learned from this situation, not to communicate with the person who humiliated you, offended you, or worse?

To take revenge or forgive is a matter for everyone, but is it worth what you might lose in the course of revenge?

Revenge is a must

Some peoples have such a concept as blood feud. Or, as you can also call it, vendetta. Blood feud is a necessity embedded in the consciousness of people in ancient times. According to this principle, if one of your relatives was killed, then the killer must take revenge by taking his life. At this time, blood feud is still common in the countries of the Middle East.

Is it possible to cope with the desire for revenge?

The psychology of the feeling of revenge as a concept is very complex; it can be hidden under the desire for retribution, an answer for what has been done, and generally under noble concepts.

If you yourself do not want to dull the desire for revenge, then it will not disappear, as if with the wave of a magic wand. In order to somehow help yourself overcome this obsession, you need to honestly answer a few simple, but at the same time difficult questions. But be as honest with yourself as possible:

1. What is revenge? Just for you. It's a terrible feeling to deal with. Or is it a noble desire aimed at punishing the offender and establishing retribution.
2. The reason you want revenge. Do you want to prove your superiority or do you want the one who hurt you to be in your shoes and feel how hurt you were?
3. How will you feel when you take revenge? Joy, satisfaction or nothing?
4. What will you get when you carry out your plan of retribution? Will there be a benefit or could you lose something valuable? And is it worth it?

How vindictive are you?

There are a huge number of tests to determine how vindictive a person you are. Below is a list of zodiac signs detailing each one's level of vindictiveness.

Aries. Loves to argue and win every bet. Therefore, with regard to retribution, he will try to compete, and moreover, to win against a person, and it is desirable that a large number of people see this.

Taurus. “Revenge is a dish best served cold” - this is about Taurus. He will hatch a plan for revenge for a long time, thinking over every detail. And when the plan is put into action, everyone inside him will rejoice, although no one will see a drop of emotion on his face.

Twins. Spreading secrets, secrets, gossip - this is what Gemini uses when taking revenge on their enemy. They try to destroy people as much as possible.

Cancer. By nature he is a very peaceful and kind person, so he will decide to forgive rather than take revenge. There will be a huge number of plans in his head to punish the offender, but he understands that he will harm himself much more than him.

a lion. The best remedy for revenge is ignoring. This is what Leo is motivated by. He immediately stops all contact with the person and demands the same from those around him.

Virgo. Doesn't come at people face to face. He does everything on the sly, using various kinds of dirty tricks so as not to be exposed.

Scales. Humiliation is the tool Libra mainly uses. They try to humiliate a person, hurt his dignity. Seeing that the enemy is struck to the core, everything inside them begins to rejoice.

Scorpion. The most vindictive of all zodiac signs. For him, the most important thing is to clearly think through a plan of retribution, no matter how long it takes. Scorpios take revenge slowly, gradually, which makes them more dangerous and unpredictable. Even if revenge took place, they will not be satisfied.

Sagittarius. A non-vindictive person tries to forget his offender and avoid communicating with him so that he does not cause even more harm.

Capricorn. This is the second most vindictive of all zodiac signs after Scorpio. He tries not to attack the enemy directly, but resorts to dirty tricks in order to set him up.

Aquarius. He does not know how to take revenge, like other zodiac signs, he prefers to forget everything, but communication with the offender will be quite strained.

Fish. Creative individuals like Pisces are able to express their anger or resentment in a more peaceful way. They will not directly humiliate the one who offended them, but will decide to bypass him.

What is vindictiveness?

Vengeance is a negative concept, it is expressed in the desire to harm a person for the evil he has done, offense, and so on. It is expressed in rancor, unforgiveness, a sense of retribution and retribution.

Vengefulness is divided into two types: healthy and unhealthy. The first is expressed in the fact that the individual wants to stand up for himself with the goal that all attacks on him will stop. The second is expressed in revenge until the offender is completely destroyed and in the inability to control oneself.

Quotes about revenge

"Revenge is a dish that should be served cold."

"Taking revenge is almost the same as biting a dog that bit you."

"The best revenge is oblivion; it will bury the enemy in the ashes of his insignificance."

"Cold revenge tastes best."

Conclusion

What is revenge? Everyone decides for himself - the necessary retribution or the quality of the weak. Revenge is present in every nation, in every person. But some people know how to suppress it and move on, enjoying every day. And someone will not be able to sleep peacefully until the offender is punished.