I had a comrade in the past. His name was Kolka Toporkov. We were always best friends. From the very school bench for each other - a mountain. Kolya and Tolya were our names. And what else could a real male friendship be? But now I know very little about the life of my best friend of my youth. The reason for this is a strange and terrible event that happened a few years ago on an August evening and turned our lives upside down.
Where we have not been, in what only trouble we did not get with Toporkov! Fate carried us to all sorts of evil places. Once we were teenagers, we were smart enough to build houses. We went to an abandoned construction site at night. Naturally, we had a hundred grams beforehand. He climbed up on the window, stupid. He wanted to admire the view, you see. He almost fell down. He stumbled, he could barely hold on to the window sill. I dragged him out of the swamp like a hippopotamus. And now we work together, and often have to clean up his messes.
But that's not what I'm talking about now. We have a shopping center in the village. It's called "Point Township." Why a point, and what kind of town - the hell he knows. Such a center of attraction for local aunties for compote at a discount, bix from the neighborhood, and all sorts of gopota for a beer. What I'm going to tell you about this "Point of the town"... I haven't visited this place for several years. And I don't want to. And about that at least to smell a cork from alcohol - in general forgot.
So, the case was at the end of August. As usual, on Friday Toporkov and I decided to socialize and have a mug of beer. His son had just recently turned a year old. Anyway, we got together for a well-deserved relaxing Friday night. Yes, in general, and already drank a bottle of light beer. Thankfully, on Fridays and on the eve of holidays our boss doesn't mind such things. Already on the doorstep, we hear the chief yelling something about the report. Well, I mumbled to him, like, everything will be on Monday. Toporkov supported, and here - the long-awaited freedom.
But it was not to be. Then Toporkov's wife calls: she says the child has a fever and needs to be taken to the doctor immediately.
"Yuck, Tolyan, I won't be able to sit here today. The child is sick," Toporkov was immediately concerned.
"Well, go. What can I do?" I said.
"Yes, I'm already in the mood for a vacation... Everything is always through the roof."
"Look, you see for yourself. Whatever you think is right. Maybe she can do it on her own. Call a cab, for example." "Yeah. We're not living in the seventeenth century. And how long can we plow and plow, I want to relax too. Let's go."
We got rid of this obstacle. Toporkov texted his wife with a tearful request to forgive him. Then he wired her money for a cab, and off we went. We went in our naive ignorance to the "Point of the city".
In general, we were walking, discussing all sorts of things. The weather was just right. As it usually is in the last August evenings. Warm, cozy. Walk all night long.
Suddenly Toporkov drew my attention to an inscription on the wall of the shopping center. Usually it has the neon sign "Point of Town" lit up in orange. "Look, Tolyan," he said. "Did they rename the shopping center?".
I look, and it's true: instead of the inscription "Point of Town" one word is lit up in orange letters: "Golokhab".
"What a word... The rich have their quirks, as they call it. What does it mean, "Holohub"? Something about hunger? Or about naked women?"," I choked and coughed with laughter.
"Hmm, I don't like it... Look, the inscription is burning in some strange letters. What was it like before?"
"What do you mean, what was it like? Same as it is now. Orange."
"No, Tolyan. It's usually so light, you can see that it's neon. And now, look - it's burning with fire."
"Shit, well, yes... it's a creepy color. It's red and black. Not just orange.""
"Do you know what that word means?""
"Nah, I wouldn't know.""
"That's the Jewish name for the demon. The scariest one. It means "firebringer." He spews tons of hellfire from his jaws. Of which he has not one, but three! Like a dragon. Destroys everything in its path."
"Ugh, Kolyan, where did you get such knowledge? I see you're overworked. Let's go and have another glass of beer. Relax. So they changed the name, so it's a different color. What's the big deal? I'd like to meet this Golohab. "Ahahahaha," I realized. "In that case, for six. He's got three heads, so he can make three for himself." So we go into the building. And in this shopping center, as in many others, the fourth floor is a hub of all sorts of cafes, mini-bars and restaurants. We decided to go up there by elevator. Who the hell told us to get in that elevator!
The elevator pulled up, the door jingled, and we got in. In the second and a half that it took us to go from the first floor to the second, suddenly we both had some kind of strange sensation. A kind of nascent dread. Extremely unpleasant. Toporkov and I looked at each other, knowing without words what we were talking about.
The elevator door opened, but it was not the fourth floor of Point City! Instead of a floor, there was a huge abyss ahead. The elevator shuddered and shook. The landscape we saw from the opening doors looked more like an underworld scene from a sci-fi blockbuster. But the funny thing was, it wasn't fiction at all! It smelled so bad that it was impossible to take a single breath. Volcanic explosions could be heard from everywhere.
Lucifer's domain was boundless! Everywhere you looked there was fire. And worst of all, the walls of the elevator were behind us. So there was nowhere to run. Though perhaps they were what saved us from falling into this place, which apparently wasn't very friendly and humane.
"What to do, Kolyan????!" - I shout, dumbfounded. He doesn't answer. His eyes have become wide, glassy. He's silent, shaking like an aspen leaf. I don't realize anything myself. Where are we, how to save ourselves?!
"Prayers," I think. "We have to read prayers! Urgently... What prayers are there... Our Father who art in Heaven...". I can't remember anything. From exploding volcanoes, every now and then, burning lumps fly off. Stench, thunder, some kind of screaming around. It's like sinners being roasted in cauldrons of tar. Suddenly one such burning lump began to approach us at a rapid speed. As it got closer, it became clear that it was not a lump at all, but a huge dragon with three heads. Each of these heads "Snake-Gorynych" spewed streams of hellfire.
"That's it, Toporkov, pray!!!", - I shouted. I tried to rip the iron handle off the elevator wall to defend myself. Now I realize how pathetic that attempt was. But at the time, it was the only thing I could think of.
The worst thing about the dragon was that there were waves of stench spreading around it along with the fire. Somehow this stench was not only disgusting, but also terrifying. It was as if there was not a single corner of his soul where even a single bright thought, even a single kind word...
Suddenly, the monster let out a vicious roar. It was as if thousands of screaming people were uttering one by one each of the words that came out of the mouths of the Gorny Serpents:
"Who, here, wanted to meet the Golohab?!...".
Since Toporkov was already in the last stage of stupor, I gathered the rest of my will into a fist and tried to move my tongue: "No one, commander! None of us wanted to meet any Golokhab! We, that is..."
Suddenly a wave of stench-horror washed over me. Everything inside clenched. "I'm screwed," I thought.
"Drink, glass, of death!" - I heard in the roar of a thousand voices that came from the jaws of the Holohabe.
I don't remember anything else. I only remember opening my eyes. We were lying with Toporkov right on the asphalt. It was early morning. A Tajik with a broom pushed me up. The first thing I smelled was the terrible odor of sulfur coming from my and Toporkov's clothes. I stood up silently. I began, holding my nose, to push Toporkov out of the way. After a few minutes I succeeded. We went home without saying a word to each other.
What happened then, we could not figure out. I was afraid Toporkov would go religious after that incident. But no. He just became something else. Like me, he stopped drinking. Not at all. After a while, he left with his wife and son for the capital, and started some kind of business there. He rarely calls - once a year at most. Business.
What about me? I live like a beggar. I try not to say a bad word to people for nothing. So as not to anger the very same, Golohab.
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