Armina’s heart was still racing as they rounded the corner past Café Olympia in search of the source of the mysterious sound. Now that the initial surprise had worn off, she was thrilled that they had something for their viewers. Likely it was just a wolf, but it was something, and if she knew Alexei, he would play it up to full effect.
Things went splendidly. Alexei, in hushed whispers, speculated about the source of the howling, wondering if it had been the sound of a soul in torment. He pointed out creepy, crumbling buildings, and fabricated elaborate legends about the place. He was brilliant. Oleg excelled in his own way, jumping at shadows and swiveling his head about every time they rounded a corner. Armina felt like singing. She was certain they had a hit on their hands.
Alexei was walking backward, regaling the viewers with the story of two criminals who had sought refuge in the abandoned hospital, so he was the last to see what Armina and Oleg saw. They froze, gaping at the sight. Alexei walked a few more steps, his story sputtering to a halt like a dying engine.
“What?” He frowned, clearly disappointed that his story had been interrupted. “Is something wrong with the camera?”
They were rendered mute, but Armina managed to point a trembling finger. Alexei turned and gasped at the sight. The Ferris wheel, long the most poignant and enduring image of this abandoned city, was turning.
Armina stared, mesmerized by its slow rotation, wondering if there could be any natural explanation. She racked her brain, but nothing came to mind. Wind could not move the heavy machinery, and there was little breeze tonight. It was surreal. No lights, no music. Just the slow creak of the dead attraction, come to life.
“Let’s get out of here.” Oleg’s voice trembled and he quaked. “I want to go home.”
“This is why we are here.” Alexei had recovered from his moment of shock and was back in character. “Something is happening in this place, and we are going to find out what it is.” Beckoning with theatrical aplomb, he signaled for the others to follow him as he moved closer to the old amusement park and its resurrected feature attraction.
Armina supposed she should at least be a little frightened, but by returning her eye to the viewfinder, she slipped back in to her comfort zone. The camera created a subconscious distance between her and her subject. It was as if she was in a richly textured virtual world where she could experience the thrill of danger while remaining insulated from harm. Goose flesh rose on the back of her neck as she imagined the comments this video would receive once posted online. They were going to be celebrities!
“The amusement park has been the source of many stories…AAAH!” Alexei’s discourse ended in a scream of terror as someone or something reached out of a nearby doorway and yanked him inside. They heard him cry out once again, a clipped sound that was immediately muffled.
And then silence.
A dark stain appeared in the crotch of Oleg’s pants, and he stood frozen in the middle of the street. His lips moved, but he could form no words. Armina took two steps toward the doorway where Alexei had vanished, but the fear her camera had kept at bay now threatened to overwhelm her, and she backed away, slowly at first, then faster.
“Oleg, we have to go get help.” She sounded like a frightened child, and at this moment, she was. “You’ve got to come with me. We have to get out of here now!” Oleg didn’t move. She knew she should go back, take him by the arm, and drag him along with her, but her feet would not listen to her brain, and they kept back-pedaling, taking her farther and farther away from Oleg, and from Alexei, if he was still alive.
She suddenly realized she was still looking through her camera. Even the shock of Alexei’s sudden disappearance had not been sufficient to make her stop recording. What was wrong with her? There was no time to contemplate the question, because a dark form had just appeared from the shadow of the Ferris wheel and was headed toward Oleg with blinding speed.
She wanted to shout a warning. Even a scream would remind her immobilized body that she was still alive, still capable of movement, but as the figure came closer to Oleg, and she got her first good look at it, she could do nothing but stare in mute disbelief.
Oleg, for his part, finally overcame his paralysis, uttering a strangled cry and raising his hands in a futile attempt at self-defense. The thing, whatever it was, smashed him to the ground, clawing, biting and snarling with rage.
It was only when the monster ripped out Oleg’s throat that Armina managed to lower her camera and run.
Chapter 2
The skies over Kiev, Ukraine