Very scary stories about a monster. Karelian monster

In a word, there, “beyond the threshold,” there is such a paradise without pain and misfortune that you don’t even want to return to earthly life. And suddenly, there was a person who tells everything differently...
After receiving his master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Howard Storm had a pretty decent academic career. He taught art at Northern Kentucky University for 20 years, becoming a professor over the years. A convinced atheist, Doctor of Philosophy Storm did not believe in God or the devil, much less in such fables as life after death. That was until 1985, when he suddenly died and went straight to... hell. Even now he is noticeably worried when talking about the sensations he experienced: he often pauses and has difficulty calming down.

This happened last spring. On a cloudy night, I woke up wanting to go to the toilet. Overcoming laziness, I slowly began to pull my pants over my nightie and slowly walked to the front door. The gaze fell on the wall clock. The arrows on them showed 01:00. It should be mentioned that our family lives in an urban village, we have a vegetable garden and a large yard. And we entrusted the guarding of such a large area to two huge Caucasian shepherd dogs.
The toilet was located near the fence that separated the yard and the vegetable garden. Taking a flashlight, throwing on a jacket and turning on the street light, I went outside. It was very dark as the clouds covered the moon. I called the dogs over – they didn’t seem so scary to me, I stroked them and went to the toilet.

I meet amazing people along the path of life. Everyone with whom I was close friends was a storehouse of mysterious stories. Some of them voluntarily became involved in mystical adventures, others became involuntary participants in mysterious events. Take Irishka, for example. We met her in 10th grade. I started studying at the gymnasium, in a new class. And although there was no aggression from new classmates, friendly relations with no one really grew. Irka came up on her own, asked her to draw something in her notebook, and then invited her to go for a walk after school. That's how we started communicating. Love, lessons, girlish secrets are the favorite topics of teenagers. But sometimes, when, giggling conspiratorially, we sneaked into the next entrance from physical education, so that, shrouded in thick tobacco smoke, we could sit in the window and tell fortunes on maps; she began to tell her strange stories.

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back to sleep. It happens to me sometimes that insomnia comes out of the blue. The moon was shining outside the window, so brightly that the room was light. I turned over on the other side and my heart sank: I saw some kind of ball sitting in the corner. I thought I was half asleep, but somehow it was all realistic. It became scary. But I decided not to get scared ahead of time, maybe there’s a chair or something, this happens. But I was horrified when I saw that this ball was breathing. Nothing like this had ever happened to me, I just silently looked at him and tried to find a logical explanation for what was happening.

When I was writing a story about death, doors began to open and close for me. Just spontaneously. This has never happened in my apartment before; there is no one at home.
The strangest thing is this feeling of the presence of someone next to me, I constantly see something black flashing. The new doors suddenly began to creak. I went into the kitchen and all the doors slammed shut! I found myself in the corridor and asked: “Why did you come to my house?” In response I heard some kind of short and kind laughter. Then all the doors opened. It’s just mystical, it seems like I’m being protected by some kind of friendly spirit, and a playful one at that.
I'm terribly afraid of spirits. And he seems to know this, I just almost passed out from fear there.

Story one: I’m lying down, sleeping, and then strange sensations appear, warmth spreading throughout the body, from the legs to the head, then lightness. I get up and see that an old man, maybe a meter tall, is walking from the door to the closet wall, he saw me and rushes forward...
Second story: Now I’m already pregnant, my husband is lying behind me hugging me... The beginning is the same, the sensations are the same. Suddenly I feel a monster lying behind me instead of my husband, and I hear a growl. I can’t turn around, I can’t scream either. The only thought is that it won’t get to the child. I start trying to pump up my body, but it’s just starting to work out, it goes away. I start to turn around, this feeling again, and everything repeats itself, it was very scary, I tried to remember the prayers.

Reading time: 3 min

ContentsShow

When, returning from Karelia, my friends passionately talked about monsters supposedly living in one of the forest lakes, I only smiled skeptically. I have had the opportunity to participate in the examination of such reservoirs more than once, and I have never found anything unusual in them. I am well aware that any animal (especially a large one) living in a lake must have a food base and reproduce. And therefore, it will definitely leave traces of its presence in the water or on the shore. However, people who believed in lake monsters did not provide any evidence of their existence.

Monster

One day, my bosom friend, biologist Vadim, with whom we made many trips, came to visit me. Unlike others, he did not bore me with unproven stories, but put several photographs in front of me.
“They gave it to the editorial office of the local newspaper,” he explained.

And although the pictures were of poor quality - the photographer was apparently far from the subject, and the shooting was clearly not carried out in ideal conditions, they could be seen that something black was sticking out of the water, shaped like a human fist. Next to it were several thin, barely noticeable teeth, reminiscent of a dorsal ridge. On the back of one of the photographs, it was handwritten that this was indisputable evidence that an ancient lizard lived in Lake Grishino, and that local residents had repeatedly observed it.

So how? - Vadim asked, looking inquisitively at me after I put the photographs aside.
- Do you really take this seriously? - I asked a counter question. - Remember how many times you and I discussed each other in a similar situation. Do you really want a repeat?
“He who does nothing makes no mistakes,” Vadim avoided a direct answer.

“Let’s not get involved in such adventures anymore,” I suggested, trying to convince myself rather than my interlocutor. - Besides, Vadim, I already bought a train ticket to Kungur. This holiday I want to visit the caves there.
“Well, as you know,” Vadim responded, getting ready to leave. And right from the start he advised: “Study the photographs properly.” I think they are quite interesting. And one more thing: keep in mind that the Kungur caves can easily wait, they are not going anywhere.

“What’s interesting here?” - I asked myself, looking at the pictures. But the more I looked at them, the more they attracted me. And not at all because I was hoping to see this mythical monster. No and no! I was simply unconsciously attracted by the romance of the search, the thirst for adventure. Therefore, after some hesitation, I finally decided to get involved in another adventure: to go to Karelia to the mysterious Grishino Lake. And now I'm reaching for the phone...

Unfriendly meeting

Vadim was not at all surprised by my decision, quite the contrary.
“I had no doubt at all that you would go with me,” he said and explained why: “I know that you, like me, are a vagabond and an adventurer.”

And now we are already in Karelia. Grishino Lake was located fifteen kilometers from the village where we arrived. As local residents explained, once upon a time on the shore of this lake lived the Old Believer and hermit Grisha. He has been dead for a long time, no one in the area even remembers what he looked like, but the name has been preserved. The old-timers pointed out the shortest route there.

A semi-overgrown, barely discernible path either twisted between the rocks, twisted intricately among the trees, or went around huge fallen trunks. We were thoroughly exhausted when, finally, having climbed a rather steep hill, we found ourselves on the shore of the lake. It greeted us unfriendly. A cool, gusty wind drove gray clouds across the sky and, sweeping over the water, raised high waves that crashed noisily on the rocks far below. It was clear that the shores of the lake were littered with fallen trees. They trudged along with branches and uprooted roots, so that it seemed as if it was a gathering of some hitherto unseen animals.

Before deciding where to put up the tent, we undertook to explore at least part of the lake. We went down the hill, found a place where we could approach the water, pumped up the rubber boat and rowed it out into the middle of the reservoir. The lake was a slightly elongated oval from west to east, probably a little more than a kilometer long. Its width is 500-600 meters. From the west, a lopsided oblong cape protruded deeply into the water, and from the east - two smaller ones. Thus, there were three capes and five bays. We immediately numbered all the bays.

Camp

While rare approaches to the water could be seen on the capes, most of the shore was either littered with fallen trees or consisted of piles of steep rocks. Only a narrow coastal strip in the north, gently rising from the water and turning into a vast meadow, was free. But there, a tall green reed wall rose out of the water. It was quite obvious that the supposed prehistoric monster could only get out to one of the capes. He should not climb onto rocks, through fallen trees or into dense thickets of reeds!

After looking around, we decided to settle on the western cape. Firstly, from its tip there was the best view of the water area. Secondly, it was possible to moor there without the risk of making a hole in the rubber boat on sharp branches and stones. A few meters from the water, near a huge boulder, we set up a tent. We placed our simple belongings and food in it. We chose a place for the fire and gathered wood. A table and two short benches were built from thin poles.

As soon as we settled down to rest on them, an uninvited guest immediately appeared - the cuckoo bird. Slightly larger than a starling, disheveled, with a funny, disheveled red crest, she sat down on an aspen branch right above us. And, looking at us first with one black eye, then with the other, she uttered, at first not very loud, then deafeningly sharp: “Kzhee-kzhee.” She probably greeted me.
- Well, hold on! - Vadim grinned. “Now she won’t leave us alone.”
I agreed with him. These cries are a signal to other jigs that there may be food here. And relatives will not fail to answer the call.

Having examined the cape on which we were located and not finding anything interesting, we got into a boat and sailed to bay No. 5, where the largest pile of rocks could be seen. They amazed us with their severity. The waves rolled furiously onto the foot of the cliffs and, hitting them hard, rolled back with a heavy splash, only to return with a roar. The gloomy gray stone giants were riddled with numerous cracks. There were piercing drafts in the bay. All this evoked a feeling of depression and hopelessness. We hastily left the inhospitable place.

White night duty

Our return to the camp was greeted by a dozen and a half cuckoos. “Kzhee-kzhee,” they cried out in discordant chorus. The birds were thoroughly in charge: they overturned a pot of water, threw a kettle off the table, and tore two buttons from a jacket lying at the entrance to the tent. Apparently, according to the Kukshas, ​​we returned at the wrong time, and for a long time they accompanied our every step with dissatisfied cries. The first day of our stay on the lake was ending.

By evening the wind died down, and the mirror-like surface was broken only by splashes of fish. Somewhere nearby, a duck quacked quietly in the reeds. In a grove on the opposite bank, magpies were probably settling in for the night. After dinner, listening to the incessant squeal of mosquitoes, we looked at the dying fire, and each of us asked ourselves the question: “Is there a monster in the lake?”

We agreed in advance to monitor around the clock, regardless of the weather. By lot it fell to me to start. Having put on a mosquito net, I got into the boat, sailed about thirty meters from the shore and anchored. It was the height of the white nights. Almost all night it was so light that you could even read a newspaper. Only at two o'clock the whole area was briefly covered with twilight. At first, being on guard, I shuddered at every splash in the water and every rustle on the shore. But gradually I got used to it and became drawn into the monotony of the summer night, not forgetting, however, to constantly watch the surface of the water. Every hour we went ashore and, rounding the cape, inspected bay No. 1, which was not visible from the boat because it was behind us.

As morning approached, it became easier to overcome drowsiness: the bird roll call began. The song thrush was the first to wake up. I looked at the glowing clock face: half past four. Gradually other birds joined the thrush. In the general chorus, the cuckoo and the crow stood out. And when the sun's rays warmed the earth, colorful butterflies fluttered around, squeaked, and other insects buzzed. My first duty ended to this discordant accompaniment.

Optical illusion

From that moment on, the countdown of a series of everyday life began. One of us watched from the boat, and when he was off duty, he examined the shores in search of traces of the monster. Alas, nothing could be found.

On the sixth day of our stay on the lake, after evening fishing, after cleaning my catch, I climbed into my sleeping bag and dozed off. Vadim woke me up. He shook me by the shoulder and said quietly in a broken voice:
- Sasha, wake up! It looks like a monster has appeared!
The word “monster” had a magical effect: I jumped up as if stung and instantly got out of the tent. Apparently, it had recently rained, and the lake seemed to be smoking, with a ragged whitish veil floating above its surface. I rubbed my eyes, not understanding anything, until Vadim, with a trembling hand, pointed to bay No. 5. And although it was at least half a kilometer away, I, far-sighted by nature, clearly saw what my partner was talking about .

Where the veil reached the rocks, a long neck topped with a small head, a hump and a ribbed wriggling tail were clearly visible in its breaks. The monster froze in place, but then, shuddering, it slid along the rocks. We watched him, spellbound. Vadim was the first to come to his senses. Probably fearing that the monster would disappear around the bend, he pulled me by the sleeve towards the boat. But I just shrugged it off. Some unnaturalness in the monster’s appearance confused me. And suddenly I understood: blurry trembling forms! I was about to tell Vadim about this, but then a strong wind blew. Under its gusts, the veil trembled and quickly dissipated.

The monster turned out to be a ghost! We sighed in disappointment - it was a shame to become a victim of an optical illusion. Maybe those who insisted on the existence of ancient lizards in the lake observed the same thing? True, in the photographs the head was sticking out of the water, but we saw the whole “monster” above the water. The incident of that night did not liven up our measured life for long. Then monotonous everyday life began again. Only on the fifteenth day did an event occur that thoroughly disturbed us. And again this happened while Vadim was on duty.

Chasing the monster

Long after midnight, when most of the birds had calmed down, and only an owl somewhere far, far away was chanting its monotonous “boo-boo,” and the ubiquitous mosquitoes were buzzing as they beat against the window of the tent, I lay in a sleeping bag and thought that our journey. Vadim distracted me from these thoughts. Having burst into the tent, he sharply pulled me by the sleeping bag and croaked in a choked voice:
- It's floating!
-Who is swimming? - I didn’t understand.
- It looks like a monster. - he answered hastily.
- Out of the fog again?
- No, it’s about to float past us.

Stunned, I literally flew out of the tent and looked at the lake. And he immediately noticed what Vadim was talking about. Something black was floating along bay No. 3, looking like a rugby ball. Without saying a word, we rushed headlong to the boat and jumped into it. Vadim sat down at the oars and, whispering: “Watch him,” began rowing energetically. We quickly moved across the supposed monster. My heart was pounding, my arms and legs were trembling, I felt my breath taking away from excitement. “Has it really come true, has it really come true?” - I repeated mechanically, like a spell, without taking my eyes off the “swimmer”. Surely the same emotions overcame Vadim, because he looked back every now and then, meanwhile the distance between us was noticeably decreasing.

And suddenly the monster, apparently having noticed us, abruptly changed course and swam to the cape between bays No. 3 and No. 4. Trying to catch up with him, Vadim worked the oars even more energetically. However, when no more than fifty meters remained before it, the monster reached shallow water and, noisily making its way through the reed thickets, climbed to the shore. And from there, looking back, it roared thunderously... We were stunned. Vadim stopped rowing, and I froze with my mouth open. Without a doubt, we were chasing a bear!

Having come to our senses, we looked at each other and laughed. But the laughter turned out to be somewhat convulsive and nervous. I must admit, we were very lucky that the animal rushed to run away, but it could have attacked. What then? I didn’t want to think about the consequences. After this incident, our enthusiasm in searching for the monster was noticeable
decreased. And although there were still two weeks left until the end of our planned stay on the lake, we decided that in five days we would leave here.

Hissing in the night

Having taken up my penultimate duty in the morning, I took my usual place in the boat near the shore. Having examined the water area with binoculars and not finding anything worthy of attention, I thought with satisfaction that very soon these useless vigils would end. The day turned out to be hot, stuffy. Sitting under the scorching sun, I was nodding off every now and then, but I was invigorated, trying not to lose sight of anything. Towards evening, the heat subsided, the water felt cool, and it became easier to breathe.

The day was slowly fading. The sun sank behind the hill, its rays illuminated the sky for some time, then they too went out. The bird noise gradually died down, and only Vadim’s snoring, coming from the tent, broke the silence. I peered into the gloomy shores and listened to the silence under the light, measured rocking of the boat on the waves. Suddenly, to my right, I clearly heard a quiet hissing, accompanied by a slightly louder gurgling. He became wary, peering intensely into the twilight. But, despite all my efforts, I didn’t see anything, because against the background of the dark shore it was impossible to make out anything. And the hissing and gurgling continued...

In order to find out what it is, we had to act! And I, holding my breath, quietly weighed anchor and headed towards the suspicious sounds. The boat slid gently, but I, bent over, peered into the black water until my eyes hurt. A few moments later, in the place where the hissing and gurgling was heard, I saw something small, but very shaggy, above the water. It was difficult to see nearby, but some vague protrusions could be discerned. Trying to stop the trembling in my hands, I leaned on the oars and jerked the boat towards the monster. In the park I no longer thought about the possible danger: I was driven by the desire to be in time and not to miss out.

In a matter of seconds, the boat hit something, there was a slight crash, then a loud, ominous hiss, and I immediately found myself in the water.
- Vadim! - I screamed at the top of my lungs. - Vadim, help!

No miracle happened

Floundering, he automatically grabbed with his hand something thin, cold, slippery. Tentacle? He quickly let go, but immediately grabbed it again. At that moment something sharp touched my side. With my free hand I pushed him away from me, and the hand holding the tentacle jerked with him. I took a quick look at what had just touched me and pulled back again! I was holding on to a tree branch! The monster turned out to be the most ordinary driftwood. All this happened, of course, instantly.
- Sasha, what’s wrong with you? - Vadim asked alarmedly. Where are you, where is the boat?
- I pierced the boat, move it towards the voice under your own power.

When he swam to me, I briefly explained the essence of what had happened, and we began towing. I was pushing the driftwood towards the shore, and Vadim was dragging the holey, half-submerged boat behind him. Having reached the shore, we sank exhausted onto the grass. Meanwhile, the view finally cleared, and we were able to really get a good look at the “lake monster” - the driftwood. The blackened, slimy tree was still releasing bubbles, which, bursting noisily, spread a sickening smell. What I took for a shaggy head turned out to be a bunch of half-rotten plants strung on a sharp branch.

How did this drifter end up afloat? - Vadim was surprised. - After all, that’s why it’s called a driftwood because it should be at the bottom.
“I think that the wood rotted, gases began to be released, and they pushed the trunk upward,” I suggested.
“Surely the same kind of driftwood is in the photographs that we saw,” Vadim reasoned.
Of course, we were very disappointed that once again we did not find the prehistoric monster. After all, despite all our previous unsuccessful expeditions, somewhere deep down in our souls we hoped for a miracle. Alas, it did not happen.

Alexander NOSOV, St. Petersburg

My name is Masha and I am 26 years old. I work in an office in the city. I love to get away from everyone, from the noise and go on a journey into nature. Fortunately, I have a house in the village, which is located right on the edge of the forest. How I love to get out of the city and spend the weekend in my little house.

This was last summer. After a hard week at work, I needed to rest, so I decided to leave the city once again. I packed my things, got into the car and drove off. When I arrived in the village, it was already evening and I was tired from the long drive. I went up to the second floor to the bedroom, went straight to bed and fell asleep instantly.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of a car alarm. I looked out the window, but there was no one there. In complete darkness, I fumbled for the car keys and pressed the button to turn off the alarm. When the noise stopped, I lay back down and tried to sleep. Suddenly, the alarm started working again. I didn’t want to get up, so I just grabbed the keys and pressed the button again.

Five minutes later the alarm went off for the third time. Once or twice might have been a fluke, but I was now wondering what was going on. Maybe someone is playing with me at night? I reluctantly stood up and pressed the button to turn off the siren, but this time I decided to watch what was happening. I hid by the window and began to peer into the darkness of the village night.

A few minutes later, I saw something in the moonlight. Shadows of the bites appeared and slowly began to move towards the car. The shadow suddenly took shape. It was something tall, skinny and black. The figure reached out with its thin arms and hit the car. The alarm blared and immediately the figure quickly dived back into the bush.

At that moment I did not understand what was happening and began to tremble with fear. Because I continued to watch and turned off the alarm. Something came out of the bush again and silently slid to the gate, stuck a long arm through the fence and closed the latch that holds the gate. I was trapped. Thousands of thoughts were racing through my head and I began to panic.

What was it? What does he want from me? What will it do next?

Tremors ran through me from the top of my head to my toes. My heart was pounding like mad. I stood gritting my teeth and was afraid to breathe.

After a while I came to my senses and ran down the stairs as fast as I could. I needed to find something to protect myself. However, before I tried to find the switch and turn on the light, my gaze fell on the window and what I saw made me freeze in place in horror.

A black figure stood at the window. Her face was pressed against the glass as she watched, looking around the room to see if anyone was home. I dived like a stone behind the sofa and carefully looked out. And then I realized that all these tricks with the alarm were needed in order to lure me out.

I couldn't take my eyes off the ugly face. The skin was the color of ash and covered with wrinkles and folds. The eyes were small, like buttons, and completely black. A hole instead of a nose. There were no lips on the face, only two rows of sharp, yellow teeth. His breathing was so heavy and hoarse that the window fogged up from the outside.

I just knew it wasn't going to go away. After standing at the window for several minutes, I heard a rustling sound and realized that it had approached the front door. I watched as it tried to push its fingers through the crack under the door. The handle began to jerk up and down. And then the creature made a chilling sound... it didn’t sound like a voice. It was a vile, angry sound, like an angry dog ​​tearing apart a bone.

I knew that if it heard me, it would look for a way to get into the house. I just hid behind the sofa, in the shadows, desperately trying not to make a sound. Tears started streaming down my face no matter how hard I tried to stop them. I could hear my own pulse, I was shaking like a leaf and just praying for it to end.

I don't know how long I sat there cowering. I must have passed out. When I woke up and looked at the door, the creature had disappeared. The door was still there and everything seemed to have passed. I've never been so happy in my life. I ran to the second floor and looked out the window. It was already light outside and there was no sign of the strange monster.

I realized that this was my chance for salvation, I grabbed the keys and, without stopping to collect my things, ran to the car. I jumped inside, locked the doors and hit the gas to get out of the village as quickly as possible. I never stopped along the way until I reached the city.

When I returned to my apartment, I turned on the radio and the news announcer said that in the village, not far from my house, the bodies of two girls had been discovered that night. They were mutilated and thrown into the swamp. I guess the creature found what it was looking for...

I usually go to bed late, but the last few days I've been feeling sleepy. I don’t know why, it seemed like I wasn’t too busy at work, and I wasn’t that tired at home. Everything was as usual, except for this unusual drowsiness for my routine. And even later, I began to notice how in the evening it became difficult for me to be in my apartment at all. My legs moved with great difficulty, my head was buzzing, and even though I had no fever and outwardly I was healthy, I felt terrible. By the morning everything went away, so I didn’t attach any importance to my illness. But an incident that happened later assured me that nothing ever happens for nothing.

Suddenly a light, uninterrupted rustling sound began to be heard. “It’s the wind outside the window,” I convinced myself, and began rustling the packages louder, turning up the volume of the TV. To the rustling sound, which still sounded tiresomely in my ears, was added a cracking sound, like a dish breaking into fragments. I stubbornly did not take my eyes off the faces on the screen. I no longer understood, I didn’t hear what was happening there, my eyes were intensely looking at one point. The noise became louder. My fear rose with renewed vigor, my body became stiff from tension, with sweaty palms I crumpled the wrappers in my hands, squeezing them until my joints hurt. "What is this? What is this?! I'm going crazy?" When it became unbearable to sit like that, I, I don’t know how, overpowered myself, and turned away from the screen. Naturally, there was no one in the apartment except me.

With this sudden realization, this incomprehensible noise, which frightened me so much, disappeared. “Naturally, there is no one here except me. Who else could be here? Nobody and nothing but me. It's stupid to give in to fears for no reason. What could it be? Of course it's fatigue. I just need to rest. Yes, I must still be more tired at work than I thought. We need to take a vacation and go to the sea. Or stay with relatives for a couple of days. Surely my living alone also played a role...” Calming myself with such thoughts, I walked around the room with a dull pounding heart and trembling hands. Little by little I calmed down, the invented reasons seemed more or less convincing. The TV was still burning in the room, a light breeze from the slightly open window fluttered the curtain, and scattered candy wrappers lay on the floor.

It was getting dark outside. Having come to my senses, the first thing I did was clean up, simultaneously driving away the annoying thoughts that tormented me. Having finished, I sat down and looked around with an unseeing gaze. My head was empty, all thoughts disappeared, leaving a vacuum. I didn’t want to make any movements, get up, go somewhere, even turn my head. My back and shoulders began to feel pressured by an invisible weight. The eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness set in. And imperceptibly, on the sly, the unknown noise that had wrenched my soul returned. All apparent calm evaporated and fear returned. But it was already too late. Some force, I don’t know, maybe it was even my will, turned my head towards what was behind me. I was consumed by animal horror, the blood was pounding in my temples, my trembling knees did not listen to the call of my mind to get up and run, run! Yes, it was it, something that was the source of my fear, it was real and it was in the same room as me. I heard the strangled whistle of the air I was exhaling, my heart was beating with such force that it seemed like it was about to stop. Despite this, I did not take my eyes off It. I tried to see it, but I couldn’t, it was like it was in the shadows. But it was not in the shadows, it was my eyes that were unable to see it, as if it was in the area of ​​a blind spot. I didn’t see its movements, I didn’t see its legs, paws, or anything else moving, but I knew that it was moving towards me. Looking with all my eyes, and still not seeing, I was still able to get up and back away from It. Hearing strangled moans and wheezing, I suspect my own, I gained the ability to turn and rush as fast as I could towards the door. It must have been the fear that had previously immobilized me that now gave me strength. With trembling, cold, sweaty hands I tried to handle the doorknob; I didn't turn around.

I flew out of the apartment and then into the street, leaving behind the growing rumble and an unknown monster. I don’t know how long I then walked down the street, wandering through crowded places, peering into people’s faces, making sure that they were real and that I could see them.

I don’t remember what happened next, but apparently I went home to my parents. It was there that I came to my senses. I told them everything, afraid to myself, what if they start asking questions, or even think that I’m crazy? But they just looked at each other and decided that I would no longer live alone. I moved in with them, my father, with the help of friends, moved my things, and the apartment was sold. I don’t know and will never know what it was then and what could have happened to me. However, ever since then I have been terrified of being alone at home.

This story is about life - life, where we humans are sometimes scarier than any monsters.
Let me start with the fact that in the early eighties, my father went to work in the taiga, somewhere in Siberia. There he made friends with a local resident, let's call him Andrey.

Well, we became friends, and they just don’t spill water. For the entire two years that dad worked there, they were shoulder to shoulder together. The time had come to leave, and since then they had not seen each other for twenty-five years, until, by the will of fate, they met again by chance, at one of the Moscow markets.

Everything was as it should be, we went to celebrate the meeting in a cafe with a bottle of cognac. Well, when we sat down, my father noticed that he was missing two fingers on his right hand, the index and middle.
- What's happened??? - Dad asked.
“You won’t believe me when I tell you,” Andrey answered.
“You know me, I trust you and believed you like no one else, and we never lied to each other.” - the father insisted.
“Okay, I’ll tell you, but until this day I didn’t tell this to anyone, so that they wouldn’t laugh at me and take me for a crazy person,” Andrei said and began his story. I will write further from his words.
After you left, two years later, a moneybag moved to our village, restored the collective farm, bought tractors, small and large cattle, and a moderate life flowed. Many went to work for him, a small but stable income. We were all happy, despite the fact that this rich man felt like our god and master of everyone and everything. It was harmful until we were blue in the face, but we endured it and had nowhere to go.
So he generally went mad when his cattle began to disappear, and they blamed it on the wolves. Well, indeed, most likely they are, since the remains of livestock were often found gnawed in the forest.
He appointed a reward for each head of a killed wolf. Well, there was a real gold rush for the total extermination of wolves in our taiga. Of course, I didn’t stay away; a quickie never hurts.

It got to the point that the men and I split into two teams and started competing to see who could bring the most goals by the end of the evening. We bet on three bottles of vodka for the evening feast.
On the first day, our team lost, and the men and I agreed to get up early and go deep into the forest to shoot more. We got up at dawn, got ready and hit the road.
The day started well. Already in the morning we managed to shoot three, and then there was silence, for several hours now there was not a single wolf. We decided to rest a little and have a snack. And not far away, under a large stone, there was a cave, and from there a wolf came out and growled at us, which seemed very strange, since they usually run away at the sight of people. Well, without thinking twice, I shot him with a well-aimed shot in the head with the words: “The fourth is ready.” We ate and left the carcass lying there (we then collected them on the way back, making coverings from brushwood).
They shot two more and decided to go home, collecting a bloody harvest along the way. When we reached our resting place, I stood rooted to the spot. Three wolf cubs clung to the chest of a dead mother wolf and drank milk. Tears flowed like a river on their own until I was struck like thunder by another shotgun blast and the words of one of the men: “With one shot I killed three people, small heads too.” I rushed to the wolf cubs, picked up one still alive in my arms and, imagine, a small ball of fur, bleeding, dying in my arms. He looked into my eyes with his little button eyes, after which he licked my hand, closed his eyes, from which two drops of tears appeared, and his heart stopped beating (I’m writing, but he’s in tears).

I started yelling: “This is a child, you killed a child, you killed innocent children. They are children, they are not to blame for anything. What difference does it make between a man or a wolf, children are all the same.” After which I jumped up and started hitting everyone with anything I could find, I went crazy until they grabbed me and I calmed down a little. And what do you think, they are going to throw them into the heap too. I again broke loose with the words: “Don’t touch them, otherwise I’ll shoot them all.” The men left me with the words: “Well, stay with them, we’re going.”
I dug a grave and buried them together, mother and her children. I sat at the grave for a long time and asked them for forgiveness, like a madman. It started to get dark and I headed home.

Gradually I began to forget about this incident, but I never went on a wolf hunt again.
Several years have passed. It’s winter, there’s no work, but the family needs to be fed. I went hunting to shoot a bunny, and if I was lucky, a deer. I wandered around all day, but not a single living creature in the area...
I was just getting ready to go home when a snowstorm broke out, so strong that I couldn’t see anything further than my nose. The icy wind penetrated to the bones, I felt that I was starting to freeze, and if I wasn’t home soon, I would die from hypothermia... There was nothing left to do but go home at random.
So I wandered in an unknown direction for several hours until I realized that I was completely lost. The strength left me, I fell into the snow, feeling neither my arms nor my legs. He could not move, only occasionally raising his eyelids with the thought of looking at the world one more time before death. The storm stopped, the full moon came out, but there was no more strength, all that was left was to lie down and humbly wait for death. When I opened my eyes again, the same she-wolf stood in front of me with her cubs, they just stood and looked at me... I remember the thought that ran through my head: “I deserve this, you can take me.”

Some time later, they turned around and climbed the hill, but what is most interesting is that in complete silence I did not hear any of their steps, there were no traces left after them. The passage of time seemed to slow down, I felt every second of my life, when suddenly the deathly silence was interrupted by the howl of wolves, not just one, but a whole pack. I look at the hill where my ghostly guests have disappeared, and a whole pack of wolves descends from there. “Well, that’s it,” I thought, “this is death, to be eaten alive.” There was no thought of reaching for the gun, since my hands had not obeyed me for a long time, I could only watch as death came closer and closer.
One was already at my feet, followed by ten more wolves. I mutter: “Well, come on, what are you waiting for, eat it while it’s warm.” And they stand and watch. The one that stood at my feet climbed on top of me and lay on my stomach, followed by the second, the third... They surrounded me from all sides, I didn’t believe it, I thought I was sleeping. From head to toe I found myself in a living fur coat of wolves; their warmth over time caused unbearable pain throughout my body, but I was happy. I felt myself, they warmed me, they saved me. "For what???" - I asked myself a question. I heard them seem to be communicating, they were muttering something to each other. “They are intelligent,” I thought, and they are saving the killer of their relatives... I fell asleep with this thought...

I woke up in the morning to the screams of men from the village who had come out to look for me. All the snow around me was in wolf tracks. I got up and moved somehow towards them, cloudless sky and bright sun. I'm alive, it's a miracle!!!
That's when I lost two fingers from frostbite. I think this is the only thing that my saviors did not cover up. As you can see, they will never fire a gun and kill anyone again.