"Barker, Clive - Books of Blood 02" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barker Clive)

Clive Barker - Books of blood Volume 2

eversion 1.0

Every body is a book of blood;
Wherever weТre opened, weТre red.


CONTENTS

DREAD

HELLТS EVENT

JACQUELINE ESS:
HER WILL AND TESTEMENT

THE SKINS OF THE FATHERS

NEW MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE



DREAD

THERE IS NO delight the equal of dread. If it were possible to sit, invisible, between two people on any train, in any waiting room or office, the conversation overheard would time and again circle on that subject. Certainly the debate might appear to be about something entirely different; the state of the nation, idle chat about death on the roads, the rising price of dental care; but strip away the metaphor, the innuendo, and there, nestling at the heart of the discourse, is dread. While the nature of God, and the possibility of eternal life go undiscussed, we happily chew over the minutiae of misery. The syndrome recognizes no boundaries; in bath-house and seminar-room alike, the same ritual is repeated. With the inevitability of a tongue returning to probe a painful tooth, we come back and back and back again to our fears, sitting to talk them over with the eagerness of a hungry man before a full and steaming plate.

While he was still at university, and afraid to speak, Stephen Grace was taught to speak of why he was afraid. In fact not simply to talk about it, but to analyze and dissect his every nerve ending, looking for tiny terrors.
In this investigation, he had a teacher: Quaid.
It was an age of gurus; it was their season. In universities up and down England young men and women were looking east and west for people to follow like lambs; Steve Grace was just one of many. It was his bad luck that Quaid was the Messiah he found.
TheyТd met in the Student Common Room.
СThe nameТs Quaid,Т said the man at SteveТs elbow at the bar.
СOh.Т
СYouТre -?С
СSteve Grace.Т
СYes. YouТre in the Ethics class, right?Т
СRight.Т
СI donТt see you in any of the other Philosophy seminars or lectures.Т
СItТs my extra subject for the year. IТm on the English Literature course. I just couldnТt bear the idea of a year in the Old Norse classes.Т
СSo you plumped for Ethics.Т
СYes.Т
Quaid ordered a double brandy. He didnТt look that well off, and a double brandy would have just about crippled SteveТs finances for the next week. Quaid downed it quickly, and ordered another.
СWhat are you having?Т
Steve was nursing half a pint of luke-warm lager, determined to make it last an hour.
СNothing for me.Т

СYes you will.Т
СIТm fine.Т
СAnother brandy and a pint of lager for my friend.Т