The officials in charge were convinced that thanks to the specialists and their quick action, they would find and eliminate the beast and everything would finally return to normal.
There was already enough fear and the VB officers themselves were getting really pissed off. A parade of armoured cars and even a tank swept through our town, just in case someone needed to watch their back. It was a nice spring day, and so the pupils and teachers from all the schools and the comrades and comrades of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia went to the town square to welcome the liberation parade. Russian armored personnel carriers drove along the main road in the square, and Russian police officials stood in roofless gazelles and waved in all directions. The crowd cheered: "Long live the Soviet Union and the Communist Party!" The people waved flags and rejoiced that redemption from the calamity that was giving the city was at hand. A military helicopter also flew over our heads and with a roaring deafening roar flew towards the forests above our town. That day is remembered by all my peers who lived in the city. In spite of the great hype related to the presentation of special military and police equipment, it was an event related only to our city. Everything took place in strict secrecy and there was no mention of the event in the media. In vain did we turn on the radio and the black and white television, in which often only television ghosts could be seen, because the picture was of very poor quality. On the evening news, the successes of the Communist Party were always repeated, but there was no mention of what was happening in our town.
That night after the parade we were all happy and we slept well because we believed that the Russians would put things right and defuse the Striga.
However, we never knew how it all turned out and how it went. Someone went on the air that the Striga had torn all the policemen and soldiers to pieces and no one had returned alive from the forests. The news of the bad outcome of the whole operation spread among the people in our town when we were still children. But today nobody knows if it was true. Under socialism, negative news was never officially announced in public. That's why today I think it wasn't entirely true, just a delusion spread into the ether. In the evenings I just listened to the little battery-operated transistor I got for Christmas under the tree. I often thought about Heli and what might have actually happened to her. I imagined how the striga was hurting her and how he was torturing her somewhere in the woods. It was a terrifying thought. Again and again we went to school in the morning under the protection of the VB and there was no end to the terror of the striga. Not even the comrades from the Soviet Union could defeat her. They did not come up with any plan that would be successful. And time dragged on marked by the loss and weeping of loved ones who had lost their little ones.
It was May 9, 1988. On that beautiful sunny day, all of us from all the schools of the city had to march through the streets in processions, flags in hand, shouting socialist slogans. On every corner stood armed members of the VB. Comrade teachers walked at the front, their faces showing uncertainty and fear of what might happen again. When we all went back to the schools, the endless counting of pupils began again. The headmaster and his entrusted corps went through one class after another. Each time we greeted each other, "Honor to the work." Not a single pupil from our school disappeared that day. No one knows what happened in the other schools. Everything was kept as secret as possible.
My parents decided to take me to my grandparents for the night. They wanted to go to the movies tonight and then go for some visiting. So in the evening we reached the house where my grandparents lived. It was right downtown by the city cemetery. My grandfather and grandmother were delighted when they saw me, and we went into the house. In the evening we talked some more about school and things like that. Around ten o'clock in the evening, I retired to a separate room - the second smaller living room. There was a couch spread out in it, ready for me to sleep on. I lay down and listened disinterestedly to my little transistor for a while longer. They were repeating a show that had already aired during the day. With my eyes I tried to make out the heavy dark drapes in the darkness. Since they were completely drawn, the room was as dark as a corner.
From the transistor came the sound of: "Radio Czechoslovakia announced twenty-two hours, thirty minutes. Today the presidents of all the socialist countries met in Moscow and discussed the progress of industry and especially the agricultural industry in the less developed parts of the socialist bloc. Comrade Kishinev put forward a plan to build new cooperatives in the Eastern Bloc and to revive the economy. This meant that more cooperatives would be built in Czechoslovakia under the auspices of Moscow, thereby raising the standard of living and employment in the countryside.
Other reports are already coming from abroad. Our President received a visit from the GDR in Prague and together they discussed the issue of the automotive industry and innovation in this sector. They concluded that it was high time to modernise the car plant for the production of East German cars. The meeting took place at the castle and continued with a more relaxed programme of boat trips on the Vltava River. The renewal and modernisation of the production enterprises, cooperatives and various sectors of our socialist bloc is beginning. Long live the USSR! Long live the Communist Party!"
I fell asleep, so I don't know how the news continued. In the middle of the night, for unknown reasons, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. It was a dark night, but I noticed that the light from the street lamp in front of the house was filtering into the room. I lay motionless and tried to go back to sleep. But after a while a feeling came over me that something was wrong. I also realized that the heavy curtains on the window were more drawn back than they had been when I went to sleep. Even the window was slightly ajar. I didn't understand.
I slowly turned over on my back and I stared into the darkness in front of me. Out of the corner of my right eye I saw some movement. On my side by the door to the room. I froze, afraid to make a move. My eyes followed the nocturnal figure as it walked in front of the door, pausing occasionally as if waiting for someone or watching something. My breathing was slow and quiet. I was scared of what was to follow. Occasionally a hiss could be heard, like a snake hissing in the grass from surprise.
The dark figure slowly walked back down the hallway to my room and stood directly in front of my sprawled out couch. It was hard to make out the outline of her face, but I could feel her watching me intently. She sat down on the living room furniture across from me and remained seated, unmoved, as if she wasn't even there. I heard the bed rustle in the next room and someone came out of the room. Apparently Grandma had gone into the kitchen. But I was completely frozen, unable to speak, just listening to the sounds and waiting to see what would happen. I wanted Grandma to come into my room and see my nightly visitor sitting on the furniture across from me. But it didn't. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. Soon the bed rustled again in the next room and I realized my rescue was over. Maybe this would be the end of me.
The curtain on the window moved in the gusts of night air flowing into the room and I lay as if frozen. Striga was still sitting up, watching me. I didn't understand what she was focused on, what she was up to. After a moment, she leaned over my couch, then got on all fours and hissed softly. When she towered over me, I felt an incredible chill. Then she straddled me as if she was on all fours and looked me straight in the eye. Her Black inhuman eyes pierced what was left in me besides fear.