Chernobyl’s Revenge

IX*

Kreves woke up suddenly, his head hurt, it felt as if hundreds of needles were piercing his brain. He struggled to open his eyes, and his breathing began to quicken as he couldn't orient himself. He heard a voice in the distance, but he couldn't respond. They were calling him urgently, desperately, but Kreves couldn’t move toward the voice. Darkness consumed everything, his senses were slowly fading, and the headache intensified gradually. He felt something behind him, something that filled him with deep fear, making his skin break out in cold sweat, a shiver run all over his spine, goosebumps appear from head to toe, his breath and heartbeat quickened, and he felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest.

"Krrreeeeeveeees." A spectral voice called him from afar, and a cold wind began to blow. He heard footsteps coming closer slowly. However, he couldn't discern the exact place from which they were approaching. In his desperation, he started running, trying to escape the being that was chasing him. That voice, it pursued him like the wind, and as he fled, he felt it drawing closer and the wind roaring louder. He decided to stop, feel the source of the wind, and run in the opposite direction. It seemed like a brilliant idea to him, but he was completely wrong… After running against the wind for a few minutes, he could see two red lights in the distance. No… not lights, two eyes, red as blood, staring at him fiercely as if analyzing its prey. Kreves stopped dead in his tracks, his legs no longer obeyed him, and fear slowly took over as he recognized the figure just a few meters away… The Mothman.

"Krreeeeveeees." – Its voice was hoarse, as if it hadn’t been used in years, its breath was moldy and putrid. Kreves had to hold his breath to keep from recoiling at the foul stench.

"W-w-what d-d-do you w-want?"

"You have to remember, you have to remember meee."

"I-I s-s-saw you in th-th-the p-p-park."

"Nooooo!" – It let out a roar, its red eyes began to glow brighter, and Kreves felt that this creature would kill him at any moment. – "Rememberrrr, only then will you save everyone." Kreves remained silent as he tried to remember. The last time he had seen it was in the park, if there was another memory, it would surely come to mind. This creature was very hard to forget. How could there have been another encounter that he didn’t remember? The creature stared at Kreves, and every time time passed without him responding, its eyes grew brighter with the fury building within it.

"Remember!" – This time the beast roared loudly, spread its wings, and unleashed a powerful gust of wind at Kreves. The force of the wind was fierce, slowly pushing Kreves despite his efforts to resist. Without warning, his legs gave out, and he flew into the void. Gradually, the creature’s red eyes grew smaller, and he could remember… It was the day he left Pripyat with his family. Just as they were leaving the city, he saw the Mothman in the distance, flying toward the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. He called out to his mother to show her, but as she approached the window from which Kreves had been looking, it had vanished.

"Now you remember…" – This voice came from right behind him, he felt the breath on his neck… He couldn’t, or rather, he didn’t want to turn around, as he would have to face that demon. However, it had other plans. It raised one of its arms and placed it over Kreves' mouth to pull him into the darkness without making a sound.