The specialists concluded that they would not give me any weapon, because as an ordinary citizen I cannot and do not handle weapons. Moreover, a striga could get hold of any of my weapons and use them against me or others as well. And so my only hope of survival was that in our previous encounter, when I was still a child, the striga had already found something about me displeasing or, for some strange reason, had been forced to leave me alone.
A search operation has been launched.
I was the first to enter the trees and slowly waded through the creaking snow. It was half past seven in the evening and I was freezing. It was windless and quiet on the whole, with only the occasional crunch as a doe scampered by, leaping through the high snow, or other wildlife ran by. From time to time I turned and checked the movements of the persons in black uniforms behind me. I was calm for the time being, and quite slowly I waded on and on. The police considered a helicopter for this event, but then decided that it would make unnecessary noise and circus, and would certainly scare the striga away at the same time. She decided that a search operation without the distraction and commotion would be better. I had no idea the forest was so vast. I had an idea of a relatively small forest above the city, but was taken aback when I finally found myself in an endless dark mountain. I hoped that the snipers and other specially trained men knew what to do in case a proper melee broke out. At times I questioned whether I had done the right thing, but since I had already undertaken such an action, I continued on my way.
The moon was obscured by clouds, and thus in the midst of the forest darkness fell. Without the moonlight, even the white snow stopped glowing, became darker, and I could no longer see the ground I was walking on well. The darkness spread all around, and I suspected that something bad was about to happen.
But still I kept on walking, aiming straight for the spot where the cave was supposed to be. It was to appear on the trail I had taken. Straight ahead and not turning off anywhere! I repeated to myself. I paused for a moment. My legs were already aching from the heavy snow drifts and the occasional steep uphill climb. I noticed that the trees in front of me were beginning to thin and a meadow area was appearing, but all covered in heavy snow. I realised that more snow, which was loose, had started to fall. I shuddered as I approached the last trees. I hid behind one tall tree extending its wide crown into the meadow area. I watched the empty dark meadow ahead of me, but saw nothing suspicious. So I stepped out from behind the tree and stepped into the snow-covered meadow. I proceeded to cross it very cautiously. The creaking of my bagels on the hardened layer of snow was more audible in the open area. The new loose falling snow was making my visibility even worse and this made me feel that I was all alone. I became uneasy, looking around at times, but I could see nothing at all in this darkness. I took my walkie-talkie out of my windbreaker. I switched it on and started talking into it: "Can you hear me? Are we going in the right direction? I'm on an empty surface and I see a rock in the distance. I can't make out much yet."
The transmitter made a dusty noise, so I switched it to receive.
Immediately a voice spoke up.
"Yes, we hear you fine, we're still behind you. We can see you with the night vision in the telescope. You may continue on. We're still keeping within the agreed distance."
I was comforted and immediately felt safer.
I continued to tackle the snowy section, which was challenging in that I took a few steps on the hardened surface and then suddenly I was sinking into heavy knee-deep snow. Despite the thickening snowfall, I could gradually make out a rocky hill rising up in front of me. Some of the rocky outcroppings were massive, intimidating, and I didn't want to climb them. We hadn't even planned to. By my reckoning, I should have been somewhere near a small cave, or rather a hollow in the rock. But it would be very difficult to find it in the dark. Unless the moon emerged again from behind the clouds and illuminated everything around me. I remained standing opposite the big dark rock and examined it. I wondered what I was going to do. Suddenly something whizzed through the air to my left and bounced off the rock. Startled, I took a few steps as quickly as I could and squatted down against the rock wall. And then it happened again and again. The swishing and metallic sound of the bounce off the wall. I understood what was happening. The target shooting had started. I turned on the radio. There was an audible rustle in it. I switched it to receive since I was in no condition to say anything. Shouts and gunshots could be heard in the radio.
"Aim outside of him so you don't hit him! Would that he had remained kneeling by the rock! Four left!"
A shot rang out. It was immediately followed by another, probably from an automatic weapon.
"Aim up! He is upon us! Two turn and fire up! Even blind, the target is moving very fast! So what the hell! He's above us! One through four, all of you, fire up! He's right on top of us! What the hell! Ahh... no, that's impossible! Two... where are you? What's going on? Oh, no! Please, no! It's her! Where are you all! Noooo!"
There was silence in the radio, only a low humming could be heard.
I switched to broadcast and made the call.
"Hello, are you there? Can you hear me? What happened? Talk to me!"
No voice or sound was heard. I continued to crouch by the cliff face, shivering from the cold because I hadn't been moving. After a minute or so, something rustled louder in the walkie-talkie. And then there was a low hiss. It was a clear sign to me of what was to come. I began to panic and hastily consider my situation. I must escape it with all my strength, because this time it might end very tragically for me! What am I going to do now? Which direction will I take to run through the heavy snow terrain? I looked around, but I didn't see any movement anywhere. It had stopped snowing and the moon began to peek out from behind the dark clouds. The trees in the distance were clearer. I pondered: I couldn't go in the direction from where the gunfire and screams could be heard.
It's the epicenter of all the action. I'll go around the rock on the left and head left towards the woods. Then I should come out somewhere a few miles outside our town. Yes, this is a good plan, I scoff. So I slowly started to wade through the snow, trying to get into the woods as soon as possible. I was still shivering from the cold and my heart was pounding like a bell. I tried to walk quietly, but the snow under my feet creaked.
My breathing was heavy and loud, I was exhausted and generally weak. Stress and fear at the same time were taking their toll. I approached the first trees in front of me thinking I had chosen a good exit strategy. But how could I have been so naive? How could I have thought I would get out of this bad situation. Just as I entered the trees, I heard a strange sound behind my back. I winced. Striga hissed like a snake. I took a blunt blow to the back of my head. I was falling and losing consciousness...
I felt someone or something gripping me hard on both legs and dragging me along the ground. But there was no snow on it, but hard dirt and dust. I couldn't fight back. I tried to turn on my back so I wouldn't lose all my face, but I couldn't. So I put both hands in front of my face. Suddenly we stopped, the extremely strong grip on my legs loosened, and my feet dropped to the ground. I remained lying down and tried to get my bearings. I was in some dark space. I couldn't gather my wits, so my hands began to feel around me. I couldn't feel anything anywhere that would bring me closer to where I was. Occasionally I heard a low hissing sound, and I thought I could hear some music in the distance as well. It was strange, and I perceived a chorus of several voices.