MATRYOSHKA: A Paranormal Suspense Thriller set in Russia (Russian Horror Fiction) by Artyom Dereschuk

Author:Artyom Dereschuk [Dereschuk, Artyom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-29T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13 - On the Familiar Shores

The director of the hotel helped me get up to my feet and patted me on the back, smiling. He glanced up at the sky and squinted.

"It's nice to have a sun over your head," - he said meaningfully. "Though the weather could be better. Oh well, let's count our blessings."

He headed towards the empty beach, giving me a signal to follow him: "Let's go, Arthur. I don't have the whole day."

I followed after him, gawking around and shivering from cold. For the second time since I'd arrived at the hotel, I was walking through the streets with my clothes wet. If I didn't catch a cold, it would be a miracle.

And yet, despite the cold wind pouring salt on my wounds and making me feel even colder, despite the birds still being eerily silent, I could appreciate being back in the world of the living. It wasn't an excited appreciation - I had been too drained by my experiences to squeeze even a single emotion out of me. It was more akin to a stoic acceptance that the horror was finally over.

"Ooh, it's quite chilly here. It's a pity it's not summertime, eh, Arthur?" - I heard the director speak to me. When I looked at him he was trying to squeeze the water out of the leg of his pants. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of you. We're experts in that field."

I tried to imagine how it would look if it was summer and the beach was full of visitors. A man in a suit appearing out of nowhere, pulling someone wearing a yokel's clothes out of the water.

We spent the rest of the way in silence - after a few more attempts at small talk the director finally figured out that I wasn't in a chatty mood and left me alone. It felt strange to walk the same path we had walked in that sunless world - even if we were walking in a different direction. In a way, it was almost symbolic. We braved through the night after which I was reborn in water and was now returning to society. A true hero journey, ripe for one of my books.

While we were walking past the parking lot, I noticed that now there were over a dozen cars - quite a sudden change from the two there had been in the past. Or was it three when I had arrived?

Something didn't add up. And I had learned my lesson by heart - if the little details didn't add up, there was a good reason for that.

"Why are there more cars here?" - I demanded to know from the man.

"Oh, this," - he waved his hand at them as if it wasn't worthy of his attention. "We've had to make a few… rearrangements here after your little incident. A few of our guests had to be relocated for their safety."

I was not satisfied with his answer: "Relocated from where? You have only one parking lot, as far as I'm aware.

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