Creature

October 23, 1937. Biala, Poland

We have gathered great amounts of information from the local villagers. They seem scared, terrified even, but willing to talk. Our interpreter has problems with the English language, which slows down our progress, but without him we would be lost. The forest: that's where we can find it. You can only see it in their eyes, the swift and nervous glances at the brim of the woods. Sometimes it comes out, they say, but only at night, dashing along the outskirts of Biala. We haven't mended all the pieces of the puzzle, but it is time to move onwards. Doctor Yuri is getting tenser every day; I can see it in his movements. He barely talks anymore and when he does, it's angry yells at his servants. We all feel the upcoming adventure. We are so close.

October 25, 1937. Okoniny, Poland

We saw it! We had a first glimpse of the creature that we have been following for weeks! We were walking amidst the trees, almost leaving the forest and reaching the town of Okoniny, when it came into the open field that lay before us. It was so fast, so majestic. I saw tears of delight streaming over Doctor Yuri's face. It has been a great day for all of us. No longer do we have to rely on the eyes of the local people; we saw it ourselves. I am happy and excited. Tomorrow, the hunt will start. We will split up in three groups: one will head south in the direction of the river, another one will go east in the direction of Biala. I will join the Doctor's group. We will go north, the course the creature was headed when we saw it running through the fields. There won't be much sleep for me tonight. The adrenaline is streaming through my veins, even as I am writing this.

October 26, 1937. Poland

It is dark already. I am writing this at the light of our campfire. It is cold and the tents are not able to keep out the cooling wind and occasional raindrop. I think we are almost 15 kilometers north of Okoniny. It has been a hard day for all of us. When I opened my eyes this morning I had faith. I believed that we would find it today, maybe even capture it. But the terrain was rougher than before. Hills, rocks, and dense bushes slowed us down and took away our overview. We have not seen it today, but we have heard it. The song it sings is incomparable to that of any other animal. It is a song of hopes and dreams. I am aware of the bitter irony that the song which keeps us going is sung by the creature that we are hunting down. I'm not sure about Yuri's intentions, but regarding his reputation it is not likely he will show compassion once we have found it. I don't want it dead, but neither am I able to stop Yuri from killing it. My happiness of yesterday has been washed away by worries and the rain.

October 28, 1937. Poland

The terrain has changed again. I have no idea where we are; I don't think anyone knows. The dense forest has given way to open hills. It's beautiful. The fresh dew and the morning sun give the tall grass a lush and purple glow. My presumption of before has been proven correct: the creature knows that we are following it. Out in the fields of Biala we saw how fast it was, but for the last two days it kept close to us, adapting itself to our slow march. Sometimes we see it, but it's the song that guides us and keeps us on track. Yuri is exalted. I have doubts, however; it seems as if we are lured into the unknown. Everyone is tired; it's not a good sign with a full day of walking ahead of us.

October 19, 1937.

Everything is going wrong. I made a horrible mistake of coming here. Two of Yuri's servants are dead. I don't know where we are. The sun did not set last night; either we are going insane, or we are no longer on an earthly plane. Yesterday, we walked for hours, following its song. The landscape never changed, as if we were walking in circles. The hills seemed to repeat themselves, copying each others' shape and curves. And then there is the grass, endless waves of purple grass....Nobody expected there to be cliffs in these hills. When we found out it was already to late. Myscha and Kramn slipped down the edge and fell into the dark void within the blink of an eye. We don't know how deep the ravines are; we never heard them reach the bottom. We use ropes to bridge the gaps. It's a huge delay in our progress. We are resting now. Everyone is trying to sleep, but it's hard with the burning sun that doesn't want to leave. I don't know if it's day or night anymore. All I know is that its song is getting louder every second.

1937.

I am all alone now. Have I gone mad? Reality escapes me with every second I spend in this place. Rainbows are everywhere. We lost another three men a while ago (hours? days?), the last of Yuri's servants. Two of them disappeared into the back abyss when the rope snapped. Another one was shot by Yuri when he tried to attack him. I understand his anger; no sane man would voluntarily go to this place. Yuri and I decided tor est in a tent to relieve some of the stress and fear. We were awoken by its song, now closer than ever. It told us to open our eyes and come into the open. I refused, clenching on the small sense of security the tent had to offer, but Yuri did it. He went outside. I heard a spine-chilling scream as he was impaled on the horns of the shadowy figure. I don't know how much time has passed now. The creature is still standing outside, waiting for me. It never stopped singing. It wants to be with me. Always.

(Don't get it? Neither did I, until I read a certain comment.)