CHAPTER 4

Jana awoke at midnight, startled by the car alarms outside. She peered through the half-opened window and saw other people also straining their heads to see what was happening.

She felt it again. Her heart pounded hard and a strange roar made her ears pop, then the ground shook slightly, but for a long time. She was a bit surprised, since earthquakes were not common in that area. True, there were a few every year, but they were of very low intensity, no more than a second or third degree on the Richter scale. She hoped that everything had already passed since the swinging had stopped.

“Mom, I’m scared!” Jana heard a voice.

The child was standing at the bedroom door and dared not step forward. She was trembling, but did not dare to enter.

She was a big girl and at age eleven was expected to sleep alone. At least those were her mother’s words and she had no choice but to agree, though she liked to snuggle with her mom. Valentina was a very lively and intelligent child, although somewhat introverted. Besides the disease, there was another reason – she struggled with the separation from her father. She could not believe that he would no longer live with them and she had a hard time explaining to herself why it had to be so. And the reasons were more than banal. Another woman had turned her father’s head. A handsome man, he was very popular at the university. Jana, too, was an attractive young woman and had won him with her charm and intelligence. He preferred her over any other and they seemed very happy until little Valentina came along. Things deteriorated sharply after her birth. He was getting restless from the incessant crying and regularly found occasion to leave the house. And regarding the disease – he refused to accept that this was happening to him, unwilling to take responsibility. He started drinking, though he would not get drunk. But he did not help around the house and just looked for excuses to pick on Jana. She endured this for the sake of the family, hoping that everything would turn out fine, but alas, things were getting worse and worse. And finally the inevitable came. One night he just didn’t come home and the next morning when he appeared, he said he couldn’t stand it any longer and he was leaving them. Jana made no attempt to stop him, she knew it was pointless, and besides, she was sick of all the tension. She was not getting any help from him anyway. The passion between them had vanished forever.

But Valentina was five and suffered tremendously. She had been left on the sidelines and lived in blissful ignorance. But after her father left she refused to leave her room for a month, barring the treatments, of course.

Jana was startled. “Mom, may I cuddle with you?” little Val asked, tearing Jana from her memories. “Yes, sweetheart, come under my blanket for a while and warm up,” she said with a smile but the little girl couldn’t see it in the dark.

The child’s small steps could be heard clearly on the creaking parquet boards as she quickly approached her mother’s bedside.

“I had a nightmare, Mom!” Val said.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

Val hesitated. Finally resolved.

“The strange thing was that I was actually... a princess...”

“Interesting, but how is this a bad dream, darling?”

“Because I was Princess of the Freaks, Mom! They were everywhere, deformed, ugly, but they all looked at me adoringly! And they wanted me to save them, to lead them somewhere, but I was terrified, Mom! They were related to me in some way... and it seemed that I loved them and wanted to make sure they weren’t in pain!”

“This is only a dream, Val. And I think it means that you’re the most beautiful thing on this planet, at least you are to me!”

Jana glanced at the clock. It was a quarter past four – a little more sleep before the start of her working day and Val’s going to school.

***

The thing moved at great speed. It had a goal, a task, but no master... not yet! It was so light, gliding through the air. And then there was a strange creature with four appendages, making strange guttural sound. It was the first. An honor rarely bestowed.

The dog saw the thing speed toward him. He started pulling his chain with fright. There was no escape. There came a thud and then silence filled the night again.

Inside the dark room only the moonlight lit up the vague shapes of furniture. The woman shuffled under the blanket and looked up. She was scared but did not know why. The dog abruptly stopped barking and the woman’s fear increased sharply.

“Jack, wake up!” she nudged him with her elbow.

“Shut up, woman, I’m sleeping!” muttered the farmer.

The woman did not give up easily.

“Get up! Now! Something’s going on outside! It felt like an earthquake.”

The farmer slowly rose from the bed. He knew from experience that her tone ment a final warning of problems to come. And he did not like problems. Must be the damn weasels again stealing chickens. But what the hell, they had to eat, too. And he wanted to sleep.

“Ok, I’m going, quit your whining – surely they can hear you way out in the city!”

He put on slippers and shuffled to the wall, where his rifle was propped. He would not need it but it was comfortable to lean on. Then he slowly opened the door and stepped outside. The silence was all around him. And then he saw it.

A gigantic structure stood stuck in the ground, bathe in moonlight, reaching up as far as heaven. The upper end was so high that it was practically invisible. The farmer rubbed his sleepy eyes in disbelief.

“What the hell is going on here!”

He heard a strange metallic scraping sound. Turning sharply, he instinctively raised his rifle and fired. Thick silence settled again over the farm.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5