horror effect

Feelings will always ebb and flow due to various reasons. When the relationship between Julian and Irina encountered obstacles due to Theolos' illness, the relationship between Stephen and Anna became deeper quietly. stand up.

Mihail Bouilly called to say that he would not be able to come back until the New Year because of his busy schedule, and the wedding had to be postponed until January.Anna, who had been busy preparing for the wedding, suddenly became more relaxed. She used this time to go around the town and neighboring villages and towns, visiting the families of a few of Mikhail's acquaintances, but these activities did not make her feel happy. She still felt stuffy, the mountains surrounding the town were as insurmountable as a white wall extending from the earth to the sky, separating the world inside the wall from the outside world, and after a long time, she even found that the whole world in her heart except the town Everything else is an ethereal shadow.

She began to read a lot of books, but that depressive thing always squeezed in through the cracks in the wall when she was alone, and lingered at her feet.After a few days like this, Anna couldn't stand it anymore, she wanted to find someone to talk to, not those mindless maids and servants.

So she dialed the phone number Stephen left for herself and invited him to be a guest at home.

Stephen wasn't surprised by this: he had helped Anna before, and now her invitation made sense.But Mr. Brumontrost, who didn't understand the reason, was very surprised, "I didn't know that you were already very familiar. It has only been half a month since Mrs. Bouy arrived."

"Seventeen and a half days to be exact." Stephen replied calmly.

"Oh, then tell me clearly why Madame de Bouilly treats you differently."

"Because we all like Raggweiss. Madame Bois is a refined lady."

Mr. Breumontrose stared at Stephen with deep suspicion for a while, trying to find something different from his memory in him, but found nothing.He had long seen that Madam Bouilly was intelligent and elegant, and therefore he did not want his son to have too much contact with her.

Madame de Bouilly was younger than Stephen, and it was dangerous for two young men to be together for a long time;

Contrary to Mr. Brumontrost's caution, Mrs. Brumontrost was overjoyed at the invitation.She was very happy that Stephen could be favored by such a noble lady as Madame de Bouilly, "I knew Anna had good taste the first time I saw her. Look at her deer fur coat, how well fitted and beautiful, and her black earrings And the necklace is so unique, and the red handbag, it's definitely handmade..." Mrs. Brymontrost talked endlessly, and Stephen and Mr. Brymontrost, who had gotten used to her temper, began to talk about goodbye. of.

"Stephen, of course you will go to this invitation. It is impolite to refuse, but I hope you pay attention to your words and deeds."

Facing his worried father, Stephen just smiled and said lightly: "You think too much. We are just friends."

Mr. Breumont Rose didn't say anything more, he nodded to show his trust, and continued to read the newspaper, but the anxiety revealed in his silence was transferred to Stephen.He began to draw a picture in his mind for the future of himself and Anna: they took a pleasant walk together, talking about their views on a certain work; they sat at the table drinking tea, and Anna showed him the watercolor painting; They will tell about their experiences...

It's nothing, it's all very ordinary, but Stephen can't think of the picture since then: a gray mist in the field of vision, all the lines are intertwined in a disorderly manner.He tried to start from scratch, but he still couldn't see anything. For some reason, the indescribable future frightened him a little.

In a blink of an eye, Christmas is coming, and every household in the small town is decorated, celebrating the festival with joy.

But amidst the bustle there were a few families whose festivities were a reflection of joy, black shadows in the brightly lit hall.

The Theolos house was no different from other days. There were no lanterns or gifts in the room. Irene and Nikolai sat at the dining table and ate a dinner that was not much different from the usual: potatoes, boiled lentils, chicken.Just lit a few big candles on the dining table, revealing a little festive atmosphere.

Theolos was not at the dining table. The heart attack a few days ago made his body collapse immediately. Irene and Nikolai brought the dinner to him and helped him eat slowly, but Seolos Oros was absent-minded. He always stared blankly at the corner of the room, as if something would suddenly appear there. His dull, fearful eyes made Irone and Nikolay feel sad for a while.

They knew that his heart was dead, and it would be like this for the rest of his life. It was so painful for such a person, but his body was still alive, especially for those who watched him change.The noise of people and the explosion of fireworks were heard in the distance, and Nikolay burst into tears, while Elena bit her lip so hard that it bled.

In Bovail's mansion, the scene is the opposite of Theoros's. The railings and treetops are covered with flickering lights, and there is a Christmas tree in the hall full of small gifts wrapped in gold and silver paper. People were frolicking there, which is permissible on this day, but you couldn't find Anna Bouilly.

She was in a secluded small drawing room on the second floor, where a table of food and drink was set up, and her guest was her older daughter, Renee Hostatova, in name.Anna tried to salvage their relationship, but now the two women sat face to face at the small table, neither speaking.Anna didn't know what to say. She felt that any words she said would be an offense to Renee's dead mother; and Renee was even more reluctant to speak. If it wasn't because it was Christmas, she would not have attended the appointment at all.

Looking at Anna's young and beautiful face, Renee felt a mix of bitterness and hatred rushing from her heart to her throat. She knew that she shouldn't hate the innocent woman in front of her, but her feelings were always in conflict with reason. Vigorous, they fought inside her, almost tearing her apart.

At midnight, there was a midnight mass in the church held by Priest Georgi, and the whole town came to fill the church.The young girls wore bright traditional dresses, and the boys wore breeches and black leather boots. They looked particularly beautiful under the flickering light of countless candles in the church.

Julian Raymond came to the church with Stephen's family. They invited him, a lonely traveler in a foreign land, to celebrate the festival with them. Julian readily agreed, and he would make the festival celebration the most important part of his report.

The mass began, as usual, it was full of praises to the Lord Christ, nothing new, and Priest Georgi's speech level was only average, but to the happy people, it was very beautiful, in fact, even the priest Not to mention, people will still send out warm praises, the midnight bell struck, although the bell was a bit messy because the bell ringer Klodkov was drunk, the crowd still cheered.

After the mass, there was a firework display. People walked slowly to the bank of the river. They talked and laughed, and the energy of joy drove away the severe cold.Accompanied by the housekeeper, Anna stood at the back of the crowd. She carefully looked at Stephen in the distance. The young man was standing with his parents and the British reporter. His beautiful smile from the heart made Anna very envious.

With several loud noises of "dong dong", the fireworks rose, and the flowers that bloomed and extinguished convulsively were thrown into the air, and then the smoke columns rose slowly, and the valley was reflected in rose red and golden colors, as if The land was burning, the trees showed hideous skeletons in the strong light, and the stones seemed to be rattling.

People cheered as each light flower bloomed, but Anna, who was standing outside the crowd, felt that these people were shining like being burned by fireworks, but they were still waving their hands and dancing, as if they were celebrating Burning.This made Anna suddenly frightened, she took a few steps back, turned around, and was about to walk back.

But at this moment, she vaguely found a white light spot on the frozen river surface. At first she thought it was the reflection of fireworks, but the light spot did not disappear, but grew bigger and bigger. Gradually, the shadow of something appeared in the center of the room. The thing was moving, and gradually gained limbs and a head. This unknown thing walked towards Anna step by step. It was shaking, swaying, and Like the undulations of air clinging to the ground in hot summer, it got closer and closer, and Anna finally saw clearly that it was a white lion, as if carved out of crystal and marble, its steps were as light as if it were flying, and its silver mane Its head was bouncing around.

Anna grabbed the butler's shoulders tightly to prevent herself from falling to the ground. "Did you see it? Did you see it?" she said excitedly. "See what? I only see the reflection of the flame..." the butler replied in a panic.

ah!He can't see it!Only I can see it!Anna felt the stars spinning above her head, the ancient moon and Mars and Jupiter bouncing up and down.Who are you?Who are you?Who are you?Anna yelled inwardly.

The white lion approached the bank of the river, stopped, and its gaze met Anna's, and it burned brightly, and suddenly everything around it was darkened, as in a flash of lightning and all the rest of the light disappeared. Like losing brilliance.

who are you?

Anna asked about it, but it collapsed like a collapsed building, and its silver-white body turned into countless light spots of fireflies and flew towards the night sky. As a result, the singing was so weak that it was almost inaudible, as if someone was holding down the strings of the lute in the dark, it was the sound of a group of women dancing barefoot on the autumn leaves all over the ground, it was the sound of a flock of geese flying south. Tweeting, the whistling of the cold November coast.

This voice is full of desolation, which makes people know, feel warm, and comprehend the sorrow of death and the brevity of life as soon as they hear it.Anna smiled slightly.She was so happy that she couldn't help stretching her arms and breathing hard the intoxicating, pure, snow-born air in the dark.

One night in late January, Mikhail Bouai called Anna, saying that he had arranged the business of the company and negotiated a new wedding date with Anna's parents.They set the time on the day of the Lord's Entrance, that is to say, 22 days later.Mikhail Bouyil is a person who thinks everything is perfect as long as he thinks it is right, so he did not specifically ask for Anna’s opinion, but asked politely: “Do you think it is appropriate?” Anna did not raise any objections , so the content of the conversation began to turn to the preparations for the wedding.

The conversation between them was always quiet and respectful, but it was the conversation of emotionless businessmen, and marriage was the commodity they traded.

After putting down the phone, Anna felt sad in her heart. She didn't hate her husband, nor would she hate the parents who married her to him. She knew that these people loved her, and they designed a life for her that many people envied. But this kind of love made her feel something terrible inside, just like the world around her - harsh, cold, all precious seeds were frozen, unable to germinate, grow, bear fruit, unable to To feed anyone who desires salvation.

No one can save her.

She knew from an early age that the world she loved the most in her heart had not yet come, and she saw a flash of that world in Stephen, but it was like a small bonfire trying to heat the whole Atanasoff Like a lake—too faint, too faint.

She sighed, and the whole room sighed with her, and in this melancholy atmosphere, countless stars flew past her carrying countless other worlds, but the night sighed to the countless sighs of these countless worlds. Simply indifferent.