I gathered all my strength and managed to turn over on my stomach. Four-legged, I quietly followed the music. It was my only foothold in the darkness. My hands dug into the soft dirt, but later I could feel the hard ground. After a time, I stood up and walked slowly towards the music. Suddenly, I could make out the lyrics. It startled me. After all, I knew it. It's a well-known hymn - Internationale. It's the one we sang at the festivities at the primary school or in the town. The closer I was, the clearer the text became.
"Ey, burn, proletarians of the world, ey, burn, tortured by hunger! Already the volcano of our wrath is glowing..."
What the hell is that supposed to mean?! An Internationale in this darkness in an unknown place?! Where am I? I tripped over something and almost fell again. I had no idea what it was, as the darkness was awful. Suddenly the feeling that I was not alone came over me. I felt a chill on the back of my neck. Almost icy breath. Long icy fingers grabbed around my neck. I knew who I was dealing with. So now was the moment? I was gripped with rage.
"Kill me at last! Leave me alone! Finish it, and right now!"
Witch hissed softly, gripping me tighter, and my feet left the ground. Slowly, we floated up into the air. We remained suspended in mid-air for a moment, as if she was contemplating what to do with me. Since she was clutching my neck stiffly, I couldn't breathe properly anymore. Then, out of nowhere, she let go of me and I fell. But I didn't fall to the ground, but into the water. I immediately tried to get me to the surface. Even though I couldn't see anything, I was only guided by my feelings and groping around me.
The current of the water was quite strong and it carried me to I don't know where. I weakened and the icy water caused my body to convulse. I must have collapsed. I woke up after a long while. I barely opened my eyes. I was blinded by a beam of light that fell directly on my face. I had to turn on my side to avoid losing my sight. A slow stream was flowing alongside me water, I was lying on the bank of some river in a cave. Slowly I sat up and sat down.
I looked around. There was a mess everywhere, a pile of various things, many rags strewn about. Small and big pieces of clothing like T-shirts, shirts, trousers, skirts, shoes, but also watches, old posters, flags from the days of socialism. There was a lot of stuff. I started rummaging through them. Some of them were very old and had been gnawed by rats. I found various personal things. Even guns, some rusted so much that it was hard to recognize them. I picked up an old rusty submachine gun from the ground, who knows of what manufacture. With every step the mess grew bigger. Especially children's shoes were everywhere. Slowly my head began to lighten up. After all, this... this is the lair of the abomination! All this mess explained where the kidnapped children had gone, but also the security men. They all ended up in this place. So, after all, I found what we were looking for. But now what?! Where do we go?!
Then I heard a splash in the water and a scream. It was a child's scream. Then there was silence. Panic seized me again. I thought. Now I must move my mind and get out of this difficult situation. I went crosswise through the junk and though I was bitterly cold, I didn't take anything. The cave stretched along the water. The further I went, the more light there was.
I stepped into another part of the cave and noticed that something was scattered about in that part as well. When I looked closer, I was stunned to see that it was not clothing or personal belongings. It was bones and skeletons. Some in pieces and others whole like a complete human skeleton. Skulls were everywhere I stepped, too. Many skeletons suggested that they were child victims. They were small and the skulls were also small in shape. I tried to avoid or cross them as much as I could.
At that I paused. To my left, a small skeleton was dug into the ground halfway to my waist. I noticed it because it was the only one with a piece of cloth wrapped around its neck.
I bent down and looked at the piece of cloth. When I touched it, it slid off her neck and I suddenly held it in my hand. It had a triangular shape. The color was faded, but in some places it was clear that the color was red. For God's sake! Helen! It's you! I groaned. My little Heli! That's how I found you after all these years. Poor little thing, how much you've suffered. I can't even imagine. The scene of Helen standing in the hallway with her classmates flashed before my eyes. But a foul abomination took her life and dragged her here to the cave.
My thoughts were interrupted by another scream and a splash in the water. I don't have time anymore. I have to run, even if I don't know where. Everything has come together for me like a jigsaw puzzle. After all, this is a burial ground! I'm standing in the burial ground of all the missing children and other people who either chose to fight the striga or somehow got in its way. I don't think she thinks and feels like a human being. She's not human, but a beast of inhuman appearance, even if she can turn into a beautiful woman in a second. She has thrown her child victims into this river as she has thrown me. They all drowned in the strong current of water and also because of the great cold in winter. Their bodies washed ashore already dead. Drowned. Striga thinks I'm already dead too. She's probably sure I drowned. I guess I might as well have drowned and I'd be at peace and I wouldn't have to… I have suffered like this. I bent down once more to the small skeleton sticking out of the ground.
"I'll come back for you, Heli, I promise. If I survive, I'll do everything I can to get you out of here. I'll arrange a decent burial for you too, you're certainly not going to stay in this horrible hole forever." I put the triangular scarf away in my pocket, even though everything on me was wet and dirty. I fell into step. Children's screams echoed behind me. I was really sick of it.
The light grew bigger and the water flowed again. I was going so fast now that I was actually running, and I kept picking up the pace. Bones crunched underfoot and I stumbled, staggered and fell occasionally, but I picked myself up and kept running. My freedom and survival were within reach. I could already see the white snow and bright daylight ahead of me. But, unfortunately, suddenly something very strong grabbed me by the neck. A moment later I was looking at the exit of the cave from above. The hideous thing held me by the neck and slowly turned me around to face it. We were looking each other straight in the eyes. Its completely black inhuman eyes indicated that the end of my supposed freedom had come. She spread her left palm in front of my face and showed me all of the animal's long and pointed fingers. She wiggled her index finger from side to side. The gesture had a very simple meaning. "You don't stand a chance."
And with that, she squeezed my throat awfully hard. In a small, dark room with the curtains drawn, two men and a woman sat at a round table. They were two policemen and an old fortune-teller, Isidora. One of the policemen, a young graduate of the police school, was all the time writing down the fortune-teller's communication with the deceased spirit who had been murdered by the striga. The older gentleman in the black suit was a detective who smoked more than one pack of cigarettes during our séance. All the time he was thinking stiffly and making connections, based on the knowledge he had available. Isidora's connection with the ghost was abruptly severed. The detective looked wearily at the dark curtains, tapping his fingers on the table every few moments. He spoke first.
"Isidora, can you contact him again? I need to put a few more facts into this puzzle."