Chapter 5

On Polpo's Street, between the blocks of Saint Mary and Saint James, in a resounding crowd of guests - a dancing gale of red hats swirled. The hot and shining sun covered the majestic clothing on the heads of people gathered on the annual feast of St. Jakub the Red. A massive crowd of people, covering the whole square, danced at the illusory pace given by loud synchronized applause and loud, deafening music - it swirled like a hurricane. Each of the ballers was covered with a red cloth, a symbol of fertility, liberation and mystery.

The cafes were full of all regulars, the streets were overwhelmed with the rhythmic stomping of drunken guests. The sweet smell of fresh flowers spread through the window of one of the cafes. Alfredo Bruno sat in the half-open window, propping his head with his hand, which he leaned against the window frame. On the man's table were two cups of Americano and one crunchy and fragrant chocolate croissant. The summer's sun gently embraced Alfredo's half of the face, another half being shrouded in darkness.

'Dearest father - Alfredo Bruno, I see that you are in a hurry for war.', a woman's voice came from around the corner of the room. Three people sat at the table where Cardinal Bruno was sitting, they were Luna with Sierra and Beatrice - an old best friend of Luna during the events of Madrid.

'I haven't met this lovely lady yet, Luna. I think that before we get to the topic of our meeting, it would be worth presenting me to your friend.', Alfredo turned to Beatrice, who was wearing a scarf in colours of black and steel masking her face, replied with a grin, 'Fuck off, you basic unprivileged cunt.'

Luna snorted at the sight of Alfredo's confusion, even though the man tried to hide his anger. 'Do you really think I will reveal all my cards before you so early? You are getting old, Alfredo.'

The cardinal did not respond to Luna's words, staring into Beatrice's mystical eyes. 'Boss said something to you, old dick. Maybe you will stop having wet dreams about Beatrice and we can get to the point.', Sierra snarled menacingly, showing visible nervousness.

'Shut your foul mouth, you lousy hellish spawn. Why do you think I'm letting you wander around in those wet Lozano's dungeons? I would have got rid of you along with your brothel a long time if...', Beatrice interrupted Alfredo: 'If Luna did not influence half of the cardinals from the conclave, which effectively holds you in the place of the guard dog, where you belong.'

'Okay, that's enough, we came here to find out what was your motives to send Adam's Congregation to attack Eden.', Luna rested her chin on her crossed hands, looking deeply into Alfredo's eyes.

'Well, dear Luna, I also have my reasons for keeping my cards ready and hidden. I can only tell you that... next time, our meeting will look differently... if that even happens.', Alfredo smiled broadly, showing a sign of disrespect for Luna Lozano. A moment later, a group of Adam's Congregation members burst into the cafe, armed to the teeth, they took several warning shots to scare off customers. In the blink of an eye, they successfully secured every possible escape route and part of the street near the cafe.

'Is this your plan? Eliminate me in broad daylight, so that the conclave's members would be frightened by your influence and bend to you after my death?', suddenly, from the building on the opposite side of the street, a loud shot was fired. It was Aldio with a sniper rifle, a mercenary hired by Cardinal Bruno. As the bullet was approaching dangerously towards Luna, his right hand - Sierra, threw herself gracefully out the window, receiving a shot in the eye. Despite the momentary shock, the demon quickly rose from the ground. Festival participants did not notice the shot or attack on the cafe, they were deafened and blinded by loud music.

'Luna, I'll take care of that fuck face on the roof!', Sierra yelled, screaming through the crowd without ever taking Aldio out of sight. Her sharp senses precisely determined the location of the attacker's position. At the same time, Aldio slowly began to disassemble the sniper rifle, not hurrying, whistling joyfully under his breath.

Beatrice, dropping a braided shawl majestically from her neck, started walking down the stairs, heading for the armada of Adam's Congregation. Companions of the lousy guild were donned in white pastoral robes, at the bottom of their attire a gold eye was sewn, enclosed in a blue triangle. The soldiers of the divine army aimed heavy artillery at Beatrice, who at the sight of danger only snorted, soon killing those white snakes with her murderous, piercing gaze.

'Finding that damn girl again was mentally exhausting, if you think you can just eliminate Luna, I may at least warn you...', Beatrice swung her beautiful pink hair, menacingly stepping closer to the enemy.

'Luna is an extremely strong bitch and killing her requires the use of something more than a group of mentally ill fascist fanatics!', the woman laughed, spreading her contempt around the room, enjoying the rich fury of Adam's Congregation.

Luna, looking for free birds from outside the window, sipped coffee slowly, poured out of Alfredo's goodness. Not paying much attention to their own moves. Luna swung her leg over her feet, this time watching the crowd through which furious Sierra was charging. Alfredo took the cups off the table, even though Luna wished to finish her coffee.

'You consider yourself almighty just because you signed the dark pact? You're a wrong, young and stupid girl. Are you pretending, that by accepting this scum, you're better than the church itself? However, you can't see how blind you are to the destructive side of your values.', the cardinal took a white tablecloth off the table, wiped his hands on it and then threw it out the window. Alfredo pulled a thick and long cigar out of his pocket, along with the scissors he used to cut the head and then lit, puffing hard, there was so much strength in his breath that when blowing out, he fogged a good portion of Luna's face. Smudges of smoke slowly circled the woman, yet Luna remained adamant and kept her eyes on the whirling white birds and blood-clothed participants of summer fun.

Alfredo puffed on his cigar again, blowing round clouds of smoke. 'I know well that Augustine and Santoro are attending to Eden not only intending to give full reports on me. I know them the worst kind of plague that ever blighted the earth, and I can assure you, that I have an opportunity to burn their foul beings from this land.', claimed Alfredo. 'Fucking satanist, rot in hell...', Alfredo growled bitterly, putting out his cigar on the table in front of Luna.

A sudden expression of disgust appeared on Luna Lozano's face. The woman jumped up from the chair with such force that it slammed against the floor and tumbled a meter away. Leaning against the table, she slowly bent over to Alfredo Bruno. Her terrifying crimson eyes drilled in the cardinal's head, forcing him to sweat. The woman seemed to devour the soul of the priest alive. The terrified man began to wobble in his chair to avoid closer contact with Luna's thunderous gaze.

While Luna was busy with Alfredo and Beatrice had to set a trap for Adam's Congregation, the self-appointed Sierra slowly caught up with Aldio. A strange couple indeed, a demon and a cardinal's mercenary, met across the square a few blocks away. The painstaking pursuit gave the succubus some broken nerves, so it was time for Rome to find out the truth about the true power of the hellspawn of the infernal ruler Andras. Sierra stopped firmly, with a bang in the middle of the street intersection. The avenues were full of passers-by, who, attracted by the strange behaviour of the woman, clung like workers ants to the queen. Succubus, not bothering about the eyes of the audience, bent down to the ground, her bow was so tight that Sierra's forehead almost met the ground. Suddenly, like a flash of light, the demon disappeared from everyone's sight. Even Aldio, who closely controlled every move of the stalker, could not trace the position of the woman again. Finally, someone in the crowd broke the wait, a huge storm broke out among the spectators of the pursuit. It was hard to determine exactly what was happening. To describe the situation, it is worth comparing it to a beehive, which was suddenly burnt in mere seconds, the traces of its existence were no more. And the walls of the everyday world have fallen apart from the unknown, new world. Like a huge storm, the shadow of infernal prophecies glided across the sky.

Here she is, it's Sierra, in her true form: powerful bats wings, span lengths of about three adult men. Black burning skin, cut with glowing veins. Dark, angry eyes. Huge clawed hands transformed into various bizarre shapes unknown to people. Sierra's legs have practically become the equivalent of goat, black smeared hooves and behind them fluttered a long grey-shining tail, thin and elegant - the complete opposite of the overall image of a succubus.

With each subsequent flutter of wings, Sierra gained an unearthly speed, a gale caused by its enormous strength and speed knocked down nearby street lamps and blew up the windows of the tenement houses completely. Her menacing screams became distorted. On one hand, Sierra's war cries could have been terrifying, but one cannot disagree that something was charming, almost unearthly sexual in their colour.

She became the beginning of the end.

'Michael...', Enigma said pragmatically, as if a bullet fired from a distance of two meters flew through his head.

'Did you say something, Mr Enigma?', worried Elias was sitting behind the bar, stirring a drink. 'Maybe you would like a drink too?', suggested the bartender.

'Thank you, Elias. I would like to be full of my senses when it finally begins.', Enigma humbly refused at Elias's request.

'Michael.', The older man said simply, waiting for Enigma to react. For his amazement, the boy replied without the slightest uncertainty.

'Yes, Elias?', replied Enigma, sitting for just a moment until the sudden realization hit him like a sledgehammer. 'Wait... why did you call me Michael?', snorted nervously stressed Enigma.

'Why did you answer that?', Elias looked straight into Michael's eyes, saw nothing in them but shattered memory and gloom. 'Memories may be coming back to you, Mr Puzzle.', the bartender laughed.

'You know what, Elias... give me that shot, I do certainly need alcohol right now.', gasped Enigma.

Elias just sighed with relief and poured Enigma a shot of vodka, and finally added: 'It certainly will not make you feel better, but it will slightly fuck up your senses, and that is way better than feeling anything.'

Both Elias and Enigma were sitting at the bar in Eden club. There was an unearthly fuss there. Most guests have been thinned so that a small group of extremely trusted people stay inside. Most dancers carried medium-sized boxes of unknown load through the club's gates, following in equal rhythms and intervals, like controlled puppets. After all, it was their own choice. The plan was made, and the success of the mission depends on this dozen of members of the social margin, which found their places under the wings of Luna Lozano. This is the last straight before the start of the main act, the vision of true religiosity can actually come true.

Enigma was still returning with fragments of memories to the day of the when the plan has been set into motion - Noah's Ark Genesis.

It was that faithful day, when Beatrice crossed Eden's gates, at that moment something in Enigma's head started to revolve. The image of a charming magician set something in motion, something subconscious... something that will happen... or has already happened.

"Michael"

Chapter 5 of "Sacred Whorehouse"