Lizzi Bizzi and the Red Witch

by Stefano Pastor

  The senior agent went to test the ladder. Stretching, he managed to grab her. She turned to Andrei satisfied.

  «The lady is right, we can do it!».

  But Andrei did not listen to him. She was trying to understand the reason for agitation in the street, how they all screamed at them, what they were saying. I too came to look at it, listening to it; we could only understand a few words.

  «… it’s coming up… away… soon…».

  Andrei grabbed my arm by making me cry.

  «Look! Curse, look at it».

  I looked closely: at first I could not understand, then, little by little, I noticed some oddities. The wall of the building seemed to shake, rather than move. It was almost a shadow, but it was moving toward us. It was only a few meters away.

  «Of course! He wrapped the house! That’s why the windows were dark and nobody had the courage to open them! He attacked those who had taken refuge on the roof, wrapping them from outside. He came to them along the walls of the building. That’s what Mr. Durante meant».

  There was no time to waste.

  «We have to get up right away. On the roof».

  The senior agent shook his head.

  «But sir, go there is a sure death! We try to stay home. Maybe it does not hear us».

  Andrei did not listen to him anymore. He helped me climb the ladder, then jumped over. The agent had remained motionless.

  «Soon! Come with us!».

  The agent shook his head and returned to the apartment. We heard him close the glazed door and bark inside.

  «Stupid idiot. I hope you will!».

  We started to climb.

  From the floor came the screams that made us excited. The situation had taken grotesque tones.

  At last we came to the roof, we saw the jelly drown on the fourth floor and then the fifth. It would soon be there.

  «Claudia, you must do as Durante. Enter that locker».

  He called me by name, it was the first time.

  «And you?».

  There were no other safe places to hide. The other locker was pulled, opening it with force equivalent to destroying the door after it would not be of any use.

  «Do not worry. I go on the antenna».

  I knew Andrei had said a nonsense, hoping I did not realize it. Besides, there was barely space for one of us in the closet.

  I could not leave it, I could not accept being sacrificed for me. Even though he did not represent anything, I could not accept his decision. Without Guido, my life was no longer important. I was absolutely certain, but the idea of dying, and especially that, was intolerable.

  «Soon, soon, move!».

  Andrei made me enter the small room and hermetically closed the door. At that point all doubts became useless. I took the pieces of rag left by Mr. Durante to tap every single slot and, when they were over, I tore my clothes for more material.

  Meanwhile, I could not distract my eyes from thick matt glass that, from the center of the iron door, allowed a limited view of the outside. I looked at Andrei, and I saw him running over here and there: there was no place to go. At the end he seemed to me to decide: the antenna was three meters high, probably a useless attempt, but it was worth trying, I begged him to take it.

  Suddenly, the Thing appeared on every side like an unstoppable wave. It came from the outside, from the side walls that it had come up against any law of gravity and through the door leading to the lower planes. It joined to form an absurd lake that went both up and down. There, on top of a roof, the lake was lifted, having nothing to do with it.

  Take the casing where it was hidden. The door was still closed, it did not try to break it, it could not see my presence. He stood up to him.

  Andrei could climb the antenna for over a meter, but he seemed unable to climb higher. The risk that the antenna was giving worried me much.

  The jelly lapped almost at his feet. Everything was lost.

  A sudden sketch hit him, wrapped his legs and started dragging him down with an unexpected force. I saw Andrei trying to resist, determined. The antenna broke with a dry crash and the man rushed into that substance still embraced at his useless anchor. The jelly wrapped it around. He tried to scream, but he could no longer make sounds. I could see him rush into that liquid mass and move frantically, uselessly.

  But he was still alive. With my great astonishment, he kept breathing, probably that strange substance allowed the air to penetrate. I saw him dragged away, the thing was withdrawing, it had extended to him, and now that it had taken him, he was going down to the cellar.

  It left the roof completely. Andrei had almost been dragged past the door. With an unexpected effort, he managed to turn the antenna rod still in his hand, locking it in the door to block his descent. The jelly continued to contract. Andrei found himself with his hands free, then his head. He could still breathe the air. It was a miracle.

  I could not resist, I pushed the door with all my strength, and, fearful, I went outdoors. I felt urgent need to run into help him, so strong that I could forget the terror that had paralyzed me until a moment before.

  Andrei saw me and for a moment our eyes met.

  I see the horror in her eyes, a horror as deep as I had never seen, but also the worry, the fear I could expose, that I was in danger: the Thing could have smelled my smell, come back to me.

  He scream something that I could not hear, probably the prayer to come back shelter, or a desperate request for help?

  Then the rod broke down and in a moment Andrei was sucked away.

  I was alone on the roof.

  I had done it. I was saved.

  In a moment, in a single instant, a thousand images passed in my mind. Can you be so fickle, change your mind so suddenly? Yet, in that crazy night, how many times have I ever been! First, Guido was the sole purpose of my existence, then the desire for revenge, that of survival, and now, in a single instant, nothing else was interested in saving Andrei at any cost.

  It was a madness, and yet… I had seen him breathe immersed in that thing, so he was alive, maybe he was still alive. And I needed a reason to continue to exist, to fight.

  I ran to the door and picked up the sharp shaft of the antenna from the ground. I through; As a weapon was totally useless, but in the absence of other I decided to take it with me.

  In the dark of the stairs I was paralyzed. I could not, just did not dare I was going down there in the dark. Guido’s wheelchair was waiting for me and who knew what else.

  Then I reached the parapet and slipped on the safety ladder. I went fast, trying not to look down. I expect that the liquid that had wrapped the house was also withdrawing to the point of origin: the cellar. I did not dare look down to assure myself, I feared that terror would paralyze me. I knew I had counted minutes, if I had been late it would have been useless and I was determined to go all the way. I had to do it.

  The closer I came to the road, the more I heard the crowd screaming. Someone clapped their hands. When the ladder ended I had to let go. It was an impulsive decision, without wasting time on, with eyes closed.

  Two policemen catch me, lying unlucky on the ground. I was immediately surrounded by pressing questions. But there was no time to answer.

  «Soon! Andrei is in danger, he needs help».

  But the crowd had overflowed and the agents were busy holding it, separated and dispersing among the curious.

  I snatched a flashlight from the hands of an agent and screamed.

  «We have to go right now».

  I tossed myself to the entrance, threatening with the TV aerial anyone who was in front of me. I had to be scary, dirty and mischievous, eyes injected with blood and that auction in my hand. Curious turned aside and two agents followed me.

  When I reached out to the door of the palace there was a cry of warning, but completely useless. The substance had already been withdrawn: entry was mackerel. I was uncertain, just a moment, then opened the door with a kick. I was in the lobby. The jelly had retreated w
ithout causing damage: the plants were intact. I approached what was left of the glass door of the landing. The last fragments of jelly swirled on the floor, headed toward the cellar door. No trace of Andrei.

  The agents did not stop me in time, like a fury I opened the second door.

  The gelatin did not care about me, it seemed not to notice my presence, the sensors that would have to get my smell had to be put to rest. It disappeared past the door: the landing was free. There was to be an explanation for this behavior, I felt like we were close, that I almost understood what it was. At the last moment, however, the solution disappeared, leaving the void: there was no time to think. The lamp turned on, it was too late.

  I reached the door and licked it down the stairs, the cops struggled to stay behind me.

  In the descent it was almost impossible to hold the lamp down: the light moved too fast to be able to pick something up. The stairs seemed unobstructed.

  At the bottom a nightmare vision awaited me.

  What would I do, how I should have acted… I suppressed this anguished question over that crazy descent. But now, there, the problem was immediate and I did not know how to behave.

  The gelatin filled the room almost completely and then went down into the well. Unrecognizable, figures were moving inside it: men.

  The instinct told me to go to the right, crawling to the wall toward the electric board. The two policemen came out of the stairs and were paralyzed in front of that horror.

  «Lady, what do you do? Get away, right away!».

  I reached the current circuit breakers. The sledge cable hung to the ground, emitting sparks. It was isolated from a plastic jacket.

  I paused for a moment the scene a few minutes earlier, when the liquid out of the well hit the cable, dropping it and bringing the darkness into the house. A moment before the darkness wound it, I had seen the thing go away from the source of electricity, from the source of the… pain!

  I prayed I was not wrong. I grabbed it firmly, be careful not to touch the bare part of the shield.

  Let me strike with all my strength, trying not to lose the grip. The nails went up, along with crusts, leaving a bad diagonal injury along the wall.

  While the cable was free, more functional.

  Take a step forward.

  The cops understood what I was about to do.

  «What does you do? It’s crazy! It will not work for anything!».

  But I felt an incredible force inside me, and I was determined not to lose, not yet.

  «It’s an animal, only an animal. And like organic beings, it suffers. The current will make him suffer».

  «But it’s liquid, it’s just a mud».

  They could not understand it, it was too absurd to be credible, even if it was clear, always in front of their eyes.

  «You do not understand, you’re blind! This is his tongue, like that of the ant-bear. That hole is his mouth and down there, in the pit, there’s his stomach. It stuck, under the house, like a baby at a baby bottle. And he stretched his tongue to take food».

  The cops were astonished. I made another step forward, brandishing the electric cable.

  «We are food, just us. It only wants us. There were cats, but it ignored them, he seeks men, hears our smell and wants us alive. Look, they’re still alive! He ignored the old woman corpse, food must reach its stomach still alive».

  A horrible picture almost blocked me and almost I did not faint. I imagined my husband, I saw him go down into the pit, to the terrible end that was waiting him there. I imagined his terror, I felt his death physically. I tried to move away from those nightmares and forced myself to continue talking, to exorcise them.

  «It had eaten, it was satisfied. But then that agent fell into the pit, inside him, and he awoke. There was still food to be taken. So, he stretched out his monstrous tongue again».

  The jelly continued to fall. For a moment I saw the terrified face of the old agent, then disappeared into the well.

  Hold that substance with the cord. There was a scourge of burnt matter and a sharp smell invaded the environment. The gelatin retreated.

  I went on and hit it again. The jelly twisted, gathering over the well. It seemed that a wall of water, contained from invisible walls, overhangs the well.

  It continued to descend. I saw Andrei: he seemed to swim, desperately trying to approach the edges. I moved to him: then, with all my strength, I planted the antenna inside that sticky substance.

  I will easily penetrate, without finding any obstacles. It did not hurt that being. I saw Andrei grab the end and shouted at the other agents.

  «Soon, I took it, come and help me».

  The two ran to our rescue. They grabbed the other end of the auction, leaving my hands free and pulled with all their strength, but Andrei was imprisoned without hope. Then I got the gelatin and immersed the electric cable inside her. It withdrew and Andrei’s hands appeared: immediately the cops abandoned the rod and grabbed him by their wrists. As a fool I jumped around them, continuing to strike the jelly with the cable. I realized that it did not do much to hurt her, rather than just give her a careless annoyance. But that was enough, I could not kill her, and my purpose was not that, though I did not want anything else. Andrei was already free for half and screamed, with all the breath that had left him. A scream that had been forced to repress too long.

  The cops were exhausted by the effort to fight that substance. They could not completely release him. The jelly was drawing and dragging Andre’s legs down into the pit. I continued to strike her without stopping. At every stroke, she took a little more, gradually releasing the unfortunate. Eventually, the grip was less and Andrei was free. The thrust rolled the three policemen up to the wall.

  The liquid disappeared, completely swallowed by the vortex.

  With a yell of triumph I let go of the cable, which slipped into the well, striking the walls.

  The whole room began to shake. Slowly the hole closed. A thick black cartilage replaced the floor. He looked shiny and brilliant like the wings of a beetle.

  «It goes, it’s moving!».

  Then the hole closed completely. The vortex had disappeared, and within it the ugly jelly. The room, the whole house, trembled more and more. The floor, the creature, everything was moving, was going down.

  The danger was immediate.

  «We have to go out right now! Everything here collapses!».

  The two policemen grabbed Andrei firmly and dragged him to the stairs. I followed them trembling, the forces had abandoned me and I was exhausted, destroyed. Only now did I realize the terrifying power against which I had beaten and suddenly I found myself as useless and stupid ant.

  The house was collapsing. The creature had demolished walls and foundations, and now that it was missing, the building collapsed in the remaining hole.

  The climb to the stairs was a nightmare. The walls that cracked and opened, revealing dark shadows. Steps that one by one precipitated in the void. Then, finally, the landing and the exit. The plans that, sequentially, collapsed on the underlying, while the rubble filled up that terrible hole that seemed endless.

  We got out and continued running again, trying to get away as much as possible.

  There was nobody in front of the house. The curious had already fled, the few remaining cops waited for us on the other side of the road.

  The house collapsed, almost disappeared. In less than a minute, the rocks of the roof were like a cover of the vault.

  We landed, exhausted. Andrei struggled to breathe, sobbing.

  I embraced him, forcefully.

  I managed to give him the warmth he needed. His breathing became more smoothly flat and the sobs ceased.

  We stayed so long, while the confusion came back around us. They were all agitated and scared. But by now they had realized that that terrible night was over.

  Now it was all but waiting for dawn.

  January 2000

  DOLLS

  Translation by Alfio Loreto
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  The woman stood for a moment to look at the shop window before coming in. I could not help but notice its elegance and beauty, even though the last few years that these attributes were indifferent to me. From Rosa’s death every desire lessened, even though I was only sixty years old.

  There were no children with her, and that was unusual. Mine wasn’t a simple toy shop, my dolls were craftsmanship, built with the care of past times. Special dolls, tailor made for their little masters, exclusively made on order. It was a craft that was fading and that maybe it would end with me.

  She came decisively and walked on like a model on the catwalk. Very tall, a slim body, pointed stilettos on which she moved with ease. And then the dress, red and gaudy. I wasn’t an expert, but it was obvious that it was an exclusive model, created for her shape.

  She was very concise. «I want a doll».

  Thin lips, a delicate makeup, green intense eyes and a black hair’s cascade like the night itself.

  I was not surprised by such a simple request. «Do you have something special in mind?».

  She had it, no doubt. «I want an eight-year-old girl who looks a bit like me».

  It was a confusing request, which I tried to interpret. «Do you want a doll that resembles you, and she has an apparent age of eight?».

  «It must be perfect, it must look real».

  I sigh lightly. «I do not deal with such bulky articles. As you can see my dolls are smaller. Won’t it be better for you to look into a toy store? Dolls of all sizes are easily found there».

  She did not blink. «They do not look like me. I did not even find one that resembles me».

  «You want her to be realistic, is this what you’re saying? That looks like a real little girl? Like a manikin?».

  She shook her head. «I do not want a dummy, I want a doll».

  I tried to explain the difference. «Madam, in this shop we sell the best dolls you can ever find. But they are dolls, they can not look like real children».

  «They told me that you are able to satisfy any wish».

  And she was convinced, she did not say it just to flatter. «Eight years are a lot, I don’t think I can reproduce the exact proportions».