Berlin blood

Paris was slowly plunging into fog from early morning. All four did not sleep and everyone knew: today it would happen — their meeting. Each of the men checks the pistol with a full magazine and dresses, looking in the mirror. But they see completely different things. Paul is a middle-aged man who has been through a lot. The man won many battles, but there were also those he lost. Paul knew that today he would have to open the doors to the attic of the soul and enter a room where he had not been for a long time, and Paul hardly wanted to go there. Moritz will force you to open this attic of memories and will obviously stir up the past, of course, not missing the opportunity to remind him of all the mistakes and mistakes, and, of course, will blame Paul for what they left behind. They didn’t save me. But Paul will have one trump card that he will keep up his sleeve: friendship and memories that remain somewhere there, at the bottom of his soul. But if you stir them up in the human soul, it will certainly touch even the coldest and most callous soul, for we are all slaves of our own memories, we have nowhere to escape from them. Paul goes out and for the last time looks at the people who are always here: the concierge, the cleaners and the regular visitors who have been sitting here, probably since the opening. He passes by on his way out and enters the cafe. The last time he thinks in his spare time. Moritz knows where they will meet. He couldn’t help but see the sign left by Paul: an abandoned cap with a pectoral cross at his table, where he was sitting when the man saw him. He understood everything and smiled in response. Moritz left him his answer, defining the time: at the entrance to the hotel he drew the devil’s hour or, as everyone knows, midnight, the time when the most secret and loud things happen, when corpses are found and people are killed, when life gives way to death and night, and they create and live according to their own laws. He orders black coffee without sugar and drinks it in two gulps. Refreshes and burns at the same time. Paul looks at the cathedral a little longer and mentally imagines Laura. He must return to her, therefore, no matter how many enemies he has to kill today and no matter how many times he has to get out of this trap in Paris later, he will come to Austria, crawl or run, but she will wait for him. Now they have each other, so she is part of him. True and indivisible. Paul asks heaven for strength to win, gets up and heads to the church, which stands outside the city on the outskirts. It was destroyed, the bombing left nothing of it: only supporting walls and a few wooden benches. At one time, it was a haven for emigrants who hid within its walls, and for ordinary people, and in the end for German soldiers, who now only knew what to pray to God. There is only one icon preserved on the wall opposite the entrance — large and cracked in some places — but it exists, which means the church is not dead. He walks through the entire city, soldiers rush past him, tanks pass in places, and he goes to his own battle. *** Moritz always ate on the go. It was a habit that distinguished the man from the people around him. Since childhood, Moritz did not understand his friends and relatives why they ate for an hour, or even more, because it was just a meal. The man never put anything special into it. And now, having had breakfast almost on the go, I flew out of the cafe and went to think about today’s meeting. Yes, there could be no mistake. But will more guests come to their meeting with Paul? Moritz knew that he would not only kill Paul today, but also one more, and maybe even two. In any case, you need to get rid of them. He will win this case and grow in Jerry’s eyes. Of course, Moritz understood that he was unlikely to get far: the British would only keep him while he was useful, and as soon as he made the slightest mistake, he would immediately fall into the abyss of death, and no one would keep him. Also, setting Jerry up… No, he won’t. Besides, what else is needed other than to shoot Paul? It would seem that nothing could be simpler. Moritz will come to the church, he will already be waiting for him behind some wall, and at the right moment he will shoot him. However, Moritz did not want to do this without talking. For what? The man wanted to find out the full truth. Why did Paul betray his friendship, why did the person with whom he wanted to share his whole life and carry friendship through it do this? Moritz did not find the answer, but it was clearly somewhere on the surface, but Moritz did not notice it or did not want to notice and accept it. Hear from Paul an answer that would finish them both off, and in a fit of rage kill him. Great idea. Yes, that’s exactly what Moritz will do. Moritz, with a cheerful gait, walks along the main streets along Notre Dame. As he passes, the man notices a raven that has been following him since the morning. Fear and a bad feeling overcome, but the man quickly pulls himself together and, holding his head high, heads towards the church. Not to the one where they should meet. He heads to the church where his mother was buried. Of all the women he knew, Moritz believed that she was always with him, even though she died from beatings from her second husband, Moritz’s stepfather. He didn’t know his father, but they say that they are very similar, and their character is from their mother. Half. She died on a cold January night when her stepfather, drunk, came home and, in a fit of psychopathy, which was diagnosed during the trial, picked her up and hit her head on the radiator several times. Moritz, who observed all this, packed his things that evening and ran away from home. They met in the courtroom, where he was declared insane. Moritz forever remembered the body of his mother lying in a coffin. Her final dream was to be buried in France, where she met his father, who was shot for spreading false information in 1933. Every time he enters the illuminated church, he finds her grave and cries every time, although he knows that tears are weakness. A huge weakness. It is given by nature to a person in order to feel alive, but Moritz has not felt like one for a long time: he is dead inside and alive outside, and the emptiness generated by the thirst for revenge closed the bloody wound of the past for him. It needs to be removed somehow, but so far it has not been possible. Moritz asks her for forgiveness for not appearing for a long time, and then just sits in silence, and only the wind blows through the cemetery. *** Wilke notes to himself that at noon in Paris it is very hot, there is not enough coolness. The man has lunch, ordering himself everything that pleases his soul. He’s in no hurry. What for? Paul, apparently, is in no hurry to come here either — he can savor every minute of his life. Wilke underestimated this man; he is not as simple as he seems. But there must be something that brought the two of them into such a fight for a reason. Moritz doesn’t just want to kill Paul: it’s not about the task, but about personal revenge, which he covers with the veil of the task in front of the British. Both have long since said goodbye to life, and now all they have is less than a day to deal with each other. Wilke sighs. He didn’t want to get involved in this matter, oh, how he didn’t want to, but, on the other hand, this is a great opportunity not to sit and listen to everyone get the first number. Yes, things are much worse than he could have imagined: the Germans have already lost everything, and any attempts at resistance will only worsen the situation, although how much worse? Wilke drank champagne. He was destined to die today, and if you think about it that way, Wilke lived a wonderful life, full of both good and bad. The man served for the good of his country, even if it was evil for others. Wilke loved and was loved, so now he has nothing to lose, even if he dies today. Returning, all the man will do is cross the line and meet in heaven with the one he loved during his life. Marie… Wilke carefully preserved the memories of her and rarely recalled them because he wanted to get into a noose after that. But Wilke made a promise to himself: he would not give up just like that, he would live a wonderful life and only after that, when he was destined for it, would he leave for it. This world is rotten through and through, people have turned the land they walk on into a continuous minefield. They don’t care about anyone or anything. And all because they think that they are the most important. The day is approaching evening, which means we need to start looking out for Paul. Wilke gets up and, looking at his watch, counts down the time until the man leaves: he knows for sure that he will show up now. And in no less than ten minutes, he appears and, passing, turns onto the main street, mingling with the crowd. Passing by the Eiffel Tower, passing by the company, he moves out onto the road that leads into a small forest and enters a sun-drenched church. Wilke follows him, led by force. Wilke has always treated the church with caution and respect, so he enters unnoticed, sits on a chair and, putting a pistol and watch in front of him, looks at the time. The sun begins to set. *** The evening pavement, bathed in sunshine, resonated perfectly with the mood. It was the first time Julian was somewhere outside his native country and was incredibly happy about it. Julian knows why he is here. Moritz, his opponent, was either so inattentive or so caught up in his own world that he did not even notice that he was being followed. First it was day, then evening came, and after them the night came into its own. The city was lit up with lanterns, and the time came when Paris became the same, despite all the troubles and misfortunes. Music played, concerts were given and fine French wines were drunk, and women put on makeup and attracted men. The night was given to people in a special way, only at night you could look at people without fear that they were not real, and, passing by a lonely girl sitting and reading, if not for the assignment, Julian would have been happy to meet her, but not that time, not the right place. He admires the sunset, covered with the sun, which slowly plays on his face with its last rays, setting over the horizon. Julian gets up and resolutely heads towards the abandoned and old church. Why did they choose her for the meeting? Maybe she’s on the outskirts? Is this the point? Hardly. Or maybe because in their last moments they decided to cleanse themselves of their sins? Julian clearly knows for himself: it doesn’t matter whether he wins or not, whether he completes the task or not. He will not return to Germany. Julian has nothing to do there. This is a foreign land and country. A man has no need to see how everything he believed in and wanted to show to his future chosen one and his love was destroyed. He dreamed of marrying a French woman, but after the start of the war all dreams evaporated. He passes by a cemetery located nearby. Nearby there is an abandoned car that has fallen on its side and now will not budge. The church is dark and chilly, and you can feel it inside. The cold that wakes up here is unlike any that Julian had experienced before. He combs his hair back and mentally says to himself that he is leaving everything to the will of higher powers, that they will determine the outcome of today’s meeting, and enters the church. His newly arrived victim is already here. He sees another man, both sit down opposite each other. Moritz takes out his gun and watch, they don’t say a word. At the other end, Julian sees another person. He looks at the man who is sitting opposite him, crossing his legs. Julian doesn’t know what to do. There is a great desire to kill Moritz, the only one he more or less knows here, and leave, running away wherever his eyes look. But no. He’s not a coward, you can’t just run away. — How long will you stand there like idiots? — the man turns to the two of them and looks. Moritz doesn’t move. — More like cowards. Take chairs and sit down, since everything happened like this,” Moritz glances at them, and both have to come out of their hiding places. Wilke, without taking his hand off the pistol, offers a chair. Julian sits down next to Moritz, since first he needs to get rid of him, and then he will deal with these two, if, of course, he has to at all. “I didn’t know you brought guests with you, Paul,” Moritz looks at him with contempt. “Well, at least I have guests, and not mongrels like you,” Paul answers in the same way. — Well, who are you? — He looks away. There are too many people for him alone. “I came to kill you,” Wilke takes out a pistol and points it at Paul, but he doesn’t even move. “Put it on the table, you’ll still have time to use it, Wilke,” Moritz says his name. — How do you know me? “Before I betrayed the country, sacred Germany, I knew a lot of people. But I’ve heard about you. This will be a long conversation, gentlemen, we’ll start at twelve. — Why so late? — Julian raises his voice, attracting attention to himself. — Because this conversation and battle between Paul and me, you are the scenery here. If you want, you can shoot yourself right now. — They will stay, Moritz. — But this battle is only ours, Paul! — Moritz begins to hiss with indignation. — That’s why they will stay! Without them, we would be overshadowed by emotions, never finding out the whole truth. Today many secrets will be revealed here, I’m sure. And, be that as it may, we are all connected. Fate decided to play cards with us, so let’s play. Most likely, only one of us will come out. “No one will leave this church alive.” We will shoot each other and die here,” Wilke does not take his eyes off Julian, who is sitting and thinking about the situation. “The last one will kill himself,” Moritz’s voice is firm. — There is only one winner. This is the law. Therefore, no one will win, we are all losers if we humiliate ourselves and kill each other today. We admit: we are idiots, thirsting for revenge and reprisals against each other for deeds committed not by us, but by our bosses and many others, everyone, but not us. But today we have to pay,” said Julian. No one made a sound in agreement. Everyone silently, assessing the enemy, began to wait for midnight, taking out pistols, which were pointed at the clock. Everyone, absolutely everyone, entering here said goodbye to the world.