horror effect

Julian listened to voices coming from inside the dark door, which seemed to be elderly women arguing.But the strangest thing was that they seemed to be arguing about him.His own charm has not reached this point in any case.He felt the need to get to the bottom of things, and if they were indeed spying on him, he should explain to them that it was unnecessary and stupid.And if the other party is just out of curiosity, he can also remind them that it is very impolite to talk about people like this.

He walked to the door, observed it carefully, and found nothing unusual, so he was about to raise his hand to knock on the door.At this moment, there was a call from behind, loud and rough: "Hey! Young man!"

This made him feel very surprised, and even froze for a moment, wondering whether the so-called 'young man' was referring to himself.Julian turned his head and saw that the door of the house across the street was open, and a beam of light shot out from inside. There was a figure standing at the door. Because of the backlight, the details of his appearance could not be seen clearly, but it should be a man of some age.He was waving to Julian.

"Young man! How are you!"

"Hello." Julian replied.But in my heart I thought of Da Hei Tian, ​​greeting each other on the cold street, no matter how you looked at it, it was very strange.

"It's very cold!" said the strange man.

"It's cold."

"Would you like to have a glass of wine with me before leaving!"

"Oh, thank you, but I'm going back to the hotel."

"It's okay. Come here! Come here! I have a lot of wine here, enough for you to drink." Seeing that Julian didn't seem to want to go there, he persuaded him again, "Young man, don't be so serious, it's tiring to have a sullen face .If you have no troubles, a drink will make you happier. If your heart is miserable, you will have a drink. People often say that if they don't have whiskey to soften the injustice, they will kill themselves. Come here Come on! Have a drink, my treat."

Julian laughed cheerfully.It was obvious that the man was preventing himself from entering the courtyard where the sound came from.However, listening to this person's tone of voice, he doesn't seem like a bad person, but left him with a very hearty impression.And at this time, even if there was anyone in the yard, they probably had already returned to the house.So Julian agreed to him and said, "Okay! Since it's your treat, of course I won't refuse!"

"That's right, that's right. People don't refuse a glass of wine any more than they refuse a woman who brings them to their door...Come in, it's cold outside, but I'm warm here."

Julian left the gate on the left side of the street and ran to the lighted house on the right. He slipped and almost fell, but finally stood on the steps of the house smoothly.The strange man put his arms around his shoulders enthusiastically and led him into the house.Julian walked in only to find that it was a tavern.No wonder that person kept inviting him.

The tavern was low and dark, with wood paneling and a stucco ceiling.The space inside was not large, but it was crowded with people, as if all the men in this town had suddenly appeared here.Some of them were sitting, some were standing, each with a big wine glass, crowded together and chatted in a chaotic manner.However, Julian felt very happy, because this is the best occasion to observe the residents of an area.

Of course he didn't forget to look at the person who invited him in.But after observing it was very surprising.It was a very old man, at least 70 years old, tall but thin, his face was also thin and long, his face was sallow, full of grooves and wrinkles, especially his forehead, as if The fields that had been sieged for fifty winters were dug with countless shallow trenches and deep trenches.

As soon as the two of them entered the door, they attracted the attention of everyone inside. They turned to look at the old man and the newcomer beside them.

"People who come to us know each other, so you have to introduce yourself first. Young man," the old man said to Julian.

"Oh, yes." Julian smiled at the people, "Hello, my name is Julian Raymond, I'm from London, and I'm a reporter." Such an opening sentence was too common, so people stopped after raising their glasses to salute. They all continued to return to their respective conversations, as if throwing the foreigner out of consciousness after a moment of surprise.

The old man led him to the seat in front of the counter and sat down, then walked into the counter, said a few words to a middle-aged man with a big beard inside, and the man took a large wine glass from the shelf above his head and filled it Filled with beer, placed in front of Julian. "I invite you, Mr. Raymond," said the old man.

"Oh, thank you so much." Julian picked up his glass and took a big sip.To his surprise, the beer was lukewarm, as the Germans do.He grinned.And all his sufferings were seen by the old man.

"What? Doesn't taste good?"

"Well... I'm not used to hot beer."

"Aha!" The old man suddenly remembered something and snapped his fingers, "I forgot, you are British—"

"Scottish," Julian corrected.

"Then of course, you should drink whiskey." The old man started to take the bottle, although Julian politely refused, but half a minute later, a glass of amber liquid with ice cubes was still placed in front of him.He had no choice but to take a sip.But after a few sips of wine, the rising heat made him feel very comfortable.

"Thank you, but you bought me a drink, and I don't know your name yet."

"My name is Mikhail Filikovich, but you can call me Kolivan, that's my middle name. Everyone calls me that, I'm used to it. Look at the plaque with the lettering, that's The name of my tavern."

Julian looked in the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, he saw an old black and bright wooden board engraved with: Four Calendars.

"Interesting name."

"Ha! This was given to me by my daughter-in-law, but she has gone to Germany with my son now. This—" he pointed to the middle-aged man with a beard, "—he is my grandson, and he belongs to our family The quietest and obedient kid in there, he stayed with me when everyone else immigrated to Western Europe, Australia."

"You like it here?" Julian asked Micah.

"Yes," the man laughed, "I like it. I feel very peaceful here."

Julian nodded.Indeed, there is no place more suitable for contemplation and meditation than this small town located in the mountains and the ancient cultural atmosphere of Eastern Europe.

They chatted slowly, and at this moment, Julian carefully raised the question that he had been wanting to ask but dragged until now. "Father Collivan. Why didn't you want me to go to the house opposite just now?" Collivan glanced at him quickly.Julian felt puzzled by the surprise in the old man's eyes.

Julian and Papa Collivan were sitting in the innermost corner of the tavern.After hearing his question, the old man insisted on dragging him there, as if he was afraid that others would hear him, but in fact he was just worrying too much, because the tavern was full of noise at this time, and no one would pay attention even if they amplified their voices. "What did you hear at that family's door?" the old man asked.

"Looks like someone is arguing. It's older women's voices. Who are they?"

"Well, it's really nothing. I can tell you all, but you'd better not go around talking about it. Well, there are two old ladies living in that house. They are twins, sisters Tofana, both in their 70s Lah. They are afraid of seeing outsiders, so they live inside and never come out. Only my old neighbor can gain their trust. If there is anything, for example, they need some daily necessities, they will call me, and then Either I or Mitya will send things over. They lead such a reclusive life that some people in town think they're dead. But I think that's what they want."

"They like to observe people's lives outside, don't they?" Julian said.

"That's their only hobby. Sister Tofana either looks out of the window or through the little hole in the door. They learn about the world from there."

"But why don't they just come out."

"Maybe it's fear."

"Fear?"

"...Yeah. You're British, you probably don't understand. There was a time in our country's history when everyone wanted absolute equality, when everyone thought he was the master of the whole country, and private property was not the right thing to do. Allowed. People mean well, but the method is wrong, and many people are taking advantage of the opportunity to rob. Our town is the same, people destroy the houses and estates of the former rich and capitalists, forcing them to hand over their property.Trust Sister Fana has also been persecuted."

Julian felt the wine taste bitter in his mouth. "It's a sad history."

"You are quite right, Mr. Scotland."

"But I still feel that going out into the real world is the best way to solve the problem. They escaped from the world that was condemned for not treating them well. But they closed themselves off by doing so. One cannot always It's to escape..."

"Sister Tofana is over 70 years old. Whether they escape or not, they will not live for many years. It is better to let them escape in the way they like. God will have mercy on them."

Julian was silent for a moment.He doesn't like to escape, his personality decides that he should go forward bravely and will not retreat even at the age of 90.He suddenly felt short of breath, took a deep breath, and complained: "It's so strange, why I just came here for six days—and I was lying in bed for three days—but I encountered so many strange things."

"Oh? What else did you encounter?" Father Collivan asked curiously.

Julian looked at the old man seriously.He didn't know if he should say that. Both the front desk manager Balfin and Dr. Hostatova reacted a bit unusually to that. So what about this stubborn-looking old man?What can he know?

"I seem to have met a pale person in my sleep," he said.

With a sound of "boom", the wine glass in the old man's hand fell down. Although it was not broken, all the wine in it was spilled on the table.He got up from his chair, didn't stand up completely, pressed his hands on the table, and looked at Julian as if his eyes were about to bulge.That position lasted for a long time, as if by magic, before he slowly sat back down.