Expedition to hell

By EDGARS AUZIŅŠ

Some time ago someone started sending threatening letters to Vladislav Karelskikh, the host of the popular TV program "Russian Mysteries". The unknown person claims that if Vlad goes on an expedition to the Medveditskaya Ridge, he will not live. And although Vlad himself is sure that this is just a bad joke and he has no enemies, just in case he hires a bodyguard Evgenia Okhotnikova to accompany him on the expedition....

• Language: English
• Publisher: EDGARS AUZINS
• Release date: Jun 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227977465

EDGARS AUZIŅŠ

Dzimis 1989. gada 22. decembrī. Absolvējis Rīgas Juridisko koledžu. Profesijā nav strādājis, bet apguvis programmēšanas prasmes un pašlaik ar to nodarbojas. Kopš 2022. gada ir personīgā uzņēmuma vadītājs, kas nodarbojas ar transporta pārvadājumiem, kā arī programmēšanu. Dzīvnieku, īpaši suņu, mīļotājs. Born 22 December 1989. Graduated from Riga College of Law. Has not worked in the profession, but has acquired programming skills and is currently working in it. Since 2022 he has been the CEO of his own company, which deals with transport transport as well as programming. Lover of animals, especially dogs.

Book preview

Chapter 1

I looked thoughtfully at the screen of my computer monitor, wondering what movie I would most like to watch right now. Several new films have been downloaded, judging by the annotations and reviews, each thing is worthwhile, viewing promises a lot of emotions. So I sat there like Buridan's ass, not knowing which film to give preference to. In the end, I decided to watch it in order - in fact, I had the whole day ahead of me, and I was going to spend it doing my favorite activity.

I probably developed a love for cinema at a very early age; I won’t even say exactly where it all started. But for as long as I can remember, watching movies has always been my favorite pastime. It would seem that the bodyguard that I am, Zhenya Okhotnikova, should have another, more suitable hobby. Let's say, studying martial arts, training in a sports club, and the like. But this is enough for me in my daily life! And if we talk about something for the soul, then for me it is undoubtedly watching films.

Just recently, or rather yesterday, I completed another case: I caught a criminal and saved the life of my client, and today I have every right to finally rest and relax. How nice it is to sit at home, watching movies and tasting Auntie’s latest culinary masterpieces!

My Aunt Mila, with whom I live, is an excellent cook, and now fragrant smells were coming from the kitchen. I can’t even determine what’s waiting for me for lunch, but apparently, it’s something divinely delicious. Yes, if I lived alone, I would probably eat only dumplings and sandwiches. I don’t know how to cook at all and have absolutely no interest in cooking. Nothing will work anyway, there is no point in wasting products. But Aunt Mila, on the contrary, spends her days studying cookbooks, watching cooking shows, and then preparing new dishes.

I pressed play on the first movie I downloaded—a thriller about a London maniac—but didn’t have time to watch even a minute. My aunt's voice came from the kitchen.

- Zhenya, let's go to dinner! – she called me. The clock only showed twelve, but I always get up early, even when I don’t have orders, so I usually have breakfast at seven in the morning. Auntie is also a morning person: she wakes up at five, although sometimes she goes to bed late, so such an early dinner time is common for us. I pressed pause and headed to the kitchen, intending to take my plate and go into the room with it.

There was a TV in the kitchen - Aunt Mila watches it often, and when she is at home, it is always on. On the table there were two plates in which the aromatic soup shimmered with sunny colors, and in a beautiful salad bowl there were fresh vegetables, bright, like a photograph from a culinary magazine. Everything is exquisite and incredibly tasty, you won’t find this in any restaurant.

You shouldn’t have gone to work as a cook! – I shook my head, looking around at all this splendor. - You would be taken to the most expensive establishment in the city!

- Come on! – Aunt Mila smiled, without even looking at me. She looked at the TV screen with interest, afraid to tear herself away from the fascinating program.

- Cooking show? – I made an assumption, nodding at the screen.

- No, look too! - Auntie waved her hand. – A very interesting program, it’s about the mysterious corners of Russia! About travel!

Hmm... I said, glancing at the TV. It’s strange, I didn’t think that Aunt Mila was watching something that wasn’t related to cooking.

On the screen, a young fair-haired guy was saying something about some kind of mountain - I heard that it was called Great Iremel. The mountain was made up of stone boulders, and the guy himself was on top of it.

– There is a legend that if you climb a mountain and make a wish, it will definitely come true. They say that in ancient times, priests of pagan cults performed human sacrifices on the top of Iremel, and perhaps that is why the place is notorious. Our film crew will now go to the local village to find out from the residents whether mysterious things are really happening here and what kind of miracle the white-eyed one lives in these places.

The program was interrupted by a commercial break, and Auntie finally remembered that we were going to have lunch.

– I just recently came across this program! – she spoke with enthusiasm. – Can you imagine, Vladislav is leading her, they have traveled all over Russia! I didn’t think that we have so many interesting places!

Yeah, I nodded, bringing the spoon with the fragrant soup to my mouth. - What deliciousness!

However, my aunt did not pay attention to my compliment - she continued to talk about the program and its presenter.

– What a pity that I didn’t watch it before! – she lamented. – You know, Zhenechka, when I was young, I also dreamed of traveling! I wanted to go to Baikal and the Urals, which Vlad is talking about now! I even planned to go to the mountains, I remember, but, alas, it didn’t work out...

- Seriously? – I was surprised. – And I always thought that you were a homebody... Well, I mean, you love comfort and all that.

- It is now! - Auntie waved her hand. - Of course, at my age, what kind of travel and adventures? Eh, now I can only watch programs, but you learn so many new things from them! I’ve never heard that a UFO was seen in the Urals and that even today there are still so many wild and unexplored places in Russia! I thought that everywhere there was a continuous civilization, but in fact our world is generally a wildly mysterious thing. So why don't you go anywhere? I mean, not at work, but in your free time?

I don’t want to, I shrugged, finishing my soup. – I have enough adventures at work.

- Well, of course! – Auntie clasped her hands. – Work is one thing, but traveling is completely different! Here they are, from the program Mysteries of Russia. No, I’m not talking about anomalous zones - I would worry about you, but in the mountains, for example? It's so beautiful there!

I’m telling you, I already have enough adrenaline, I repeated, helping myself to a salad. – And in my free time I want to relax. Watch movies.

This is how your whole life will go! - Auntie remarked philosophically. - In movie. Oh, if I were as young as you, I would definitely go somewhere!

I just chuckled in response. The advertisement ended, the aunt immediately stared at the TV screen, where handsome Vladislav was already wandering around some Ural village.

I grabbed a plate of salad and quietly left the kitchen to finish my lunch in my room while watching a movie. Aunt Mila can say whatever she wants, but personally, I don’t see anything interesting in running somewhere into the mountains for no one knows why. What's the point of climbing to some heights? To take a beautiful photo of the landscape and a selfie against the backdrop of this landscape? I apologize to all travel lovers, but personally I don’t see anything interesting in this. In the end, everyone is free to do what they like. And if I love watching movies at home and can happily spend several days without going outside indulging in this activity, I don’t understand why I shouldn’t do it.

I turned on the player again, intending to finally immerse myself in the film and finish the delicious and healthy salad. However, I was unable to do either one or the other. My mobile phone rang.

I don’t have any friends who want to ask how I’m doing; I communicate mainly with people at work. And yet I really hoped that someone had simply made the wrong number and that they would finally let me rest in peace. I pressed pause on the playback with a sigh and reached for my cell phone.

The number was unfamiliar, which was to be expected. I raised the phone to my ear and said in my most cheerful voice:

– I’m listening.

I need Evgenia Maksimovna Okhotnikova, a male voice rang out. Cursing to myself, I replied:

That’s what she is. What issue are you talking about?

You were recommended to me as a good bodyguard, the man continued. Judging by the voice, young. I wonder who could threaten him? A vindictive lover or a work colleague? No, it's too banal. Although who knows, during my practice there have been different cases... - Is it possible to meet with you? I may need your services.

Okay, today I’m free, I looked longingly at the monitor screen. - I can drive anywhere.

– Then it won’t be difficult for you to come to the park in the Zagorodny district? It is not too big, but there are not many people there, especially on weekdays. We'll talk there.

Okay, I repeated. - How do I recognize you?

I’ll be wearing a dark blue T-shirt and khaki pants, my interlocutor said. – I’ll be waiting for you on a bench near the stadium, you can’t go wrong.

I got it, I’ll be in the park in about fifteen minutes, I promised and hung up.

Well, watching movies will have to be postponed until better times. It's strange, lately I haven't had a lot of clients - as soon as I finish one thing, another immediately arises. Maybe in the summer things get worse for all criminals? No, I’m not complaining: I don’t want to sit without work either, but sometimes I want to rest.

The park in the Zagorodny district is not the most popular place in the city. Usually residents of Tarasovo want to take a walk in Central Park, or at worst on the Embankment, but the meeting place with my new client cannot be considered a local landmark. However, I understand perfectly why he chose this particular park - the fewer people there are, the more convenient it is to discuss sensitive matters. True, usually clients prefer to communicate with me in a cafe or at home, but that’s everyone’s personal choice. They told me to meet in the park - please, I’ll go to the Zagorodny district, it doesn’t really matter to me. Besides, the weather today is great. It’s August, the July heat has subsided a little, and the city has become more or less comfortable. I’m calm about any time of year, but still, when it’s terribly hot outside and the sun is hot like crazy, it’s not very pleasant to drive along the Tarasov streets.

I got to the park quickly - the roads were relatively clear at this time of day, so, fortunately, I didn’t have to hang around in traffic jams. I know the city well, despite the fact that I was born not in Tarasov, but in distant Vladivostok, where I graduated from a closed educational institution, better known as Voroshilovka. Thanks to my excellent memory, I easily remember any information - be it the location of streets in the city or foreign languages, therefore, after living for some time in any place, I easily begin to navigate there. And in case I have to go to an unfamiliar area, I have a navigator, which I still have to use from time to time. It wasn’t difficult to find the park in the Zagorodny district: I remember this quiet, slightly melancholy place very well. Surely in the fall poets and young people suffering from depression flock here.

I parked my car not far from the park, entered the molded gate with curlicues and headed straight to the stadium, near where we were supposed to meet my new client. Actually, the stadium was the only attraction of the park, however, few people were involved in sports exercises here now. As far as I know, earlier, back in the nineties, students from a local school passed their standards at this stadium, but then the school was closed for an unknown reason. It is quite possible that now the stadium is used for its intended purpose only by lovers of a healthy lifestyle living next to the park. But there are no playgrounds here, as well as flower beds typical of other places of culture and recreation. The only decoration is benches, old lanterns and a long-broken swing.

Despite the fact that I arrived at the meeting earlier than the appointed time, there was already a man sitting on a bench near the stadium who matched the description that my interlocutor gave me on the phone. A young guy in his early thirties, fair-haired, carrying a large black backpack, wearing a blue T-shirt and khaki pants. I realized that this was my client, and hurried to the bench.

When he saw me, he stood up, smiled broadly and said hello. Very handsome, I noted to myself. And the strange thing is, this man seemed familiar to me. I thought that he had already turned to me for help before, but I immediately dismissed this assumption. After all, on the phone he first asked if he could talk to Evgenia Okhotnikova, so someone gave him my number. And yet, how do I know him?

- Good afternoon! – the guy interrupted my thoughts. – As I understand it, you are Evgenia Maksimovna?

Exactly, I nodded. – How should I contact you?

My name is Vladislav, he introduced himself. – Vladislav Karelskikh, to be honest, I have never hired a bodyguard in my life. But now we have to...

It seems to me that we met somewhere, I said. Your face is familiar to me, and I have an excellent memory for faces.

It’s strange that you didn’t recognize me, the guy said calmly. – That’s why I decided to meet you in this park - to be honest, in more visited places they no longer give me access.

– Are you an actor? – I guessed, remembering all the Russian films that I have watched lately. Surely he acts in films, but since I watch a huge number of different films, from action films and thrillers to melodramas and comedies, I can’t remember all the actors. However, Vladislav shook his head negatively.

– You almost guessed it, but I haven’t acted in a movie yet. I am a reporter, the host of the program Mysteries of Russia, it is shown on TV almost every day. You probably don't watch the show, right?

I prefer films, I grinned, remembering today’s events. And how could I forget, because even at dinner Aunt Mila enthusiastically told me about this program, and I saw the presenter! She will be surprised when she finds out that my new client is her favorite reporter from Mysteries of Russia! Ask for an autograph for her, or what?..

Then I’ll tell you a little about the project, Karelsky interrupted my thoughts again. – To be honest, the idea was taken from a Western program, which was also very popular. There, journalists not only travel to different countries, but tell viewers about places of interest to tourists, and they themselves show which hotels to choose, where to go, and so on. In principle, it’s not a bad idea, but you must admit that making a similar program is not very interesting. I have been working as a journalist for a long time, and I always wanted to create something new, unique. So it occurred to me: why not tell people about our Russia? After all, there are a lot of amazing dangerous places here, worse than the Amazon, the Bermuda Triangle or wild Australia. You see, I am a supporter of extreme recreation, so just sitting at home and scribbling articles is not a job for me. I always wanted my profession to be related to travel, adventure, and adrenaline. In the Western program, the presenters simply travel around countries and study places that are popular with tourists. But they are already in plain sight - just ask the tour operator, and he will tell you everything! But filming stories about areas of the country where no sane person would go in life is an idea! I studied the material thoroughly, prepared a project plan, which was experimental, and then made the first expedition, with my own money. The goal of the research was Lake Labynkyr, which is called the Russian Loch Ness. Maybe you've heard something about the Labynkyr devil?

No, I shook my head. Vladislav continued:

– The lake is located in Yakutia, and there is a lot of evidence that relict monsters have survived to this day in Yakut lakes. According to one legend, the Labynkyr devil dragged a child to the depths, and since then the lake has been called cursed. Our expedition went there, we conducted research, talked with the local population, and as a result, the first transmission of the cycle appeared. The project was a success, and from then on everything started to move forward.

That’s it, I nodded. – I didn’t think that such a program was filmed in our Tarasov.

In fact, the main office is in Moscow, Karelskikh explained. – But I myself come from Tarasov, although I studied to be a journalist in the capital and, frankly speaking, was going to stay there. My parents live here, so I often come here on vacation. But a year ago, in the summer, I met Lilya, my current wife. She lives in Tarasovo, so I think that eventually she will have to return to her hometown. Lilya doesn’t want to move to Moscow, she has family here and she can’t leave them.

- So you are on vacation now? – I clarified. – For what purpose do you want to hire me?

– No, I just arrived in Tarasov to film material about the anomalous zone, which is located in the Tarasov region. Somehow it didn’t immediately occur to me that right next to me there was a real treasure for adventure lovers. My film crew and I are going to go to the Medveditskaya Ridge to make a report and check whether the mysterious events that legends are really happening there, or whether these are all children's horror stories. But in light of the latest incidents, I don’t even know what to do - unfortunately, I couldn’t solve the problem on my own...

Suddenly Karelskikh pulled out his sunglasses and quickly put them on. I was a little surprised - we were sitting not in the sun, but in the shade of a spreading tree. However, turning my head, I saw the reason why the reporter performed this strange action - a woman of about forty with a child was leisurely walking along the path to the stadium. It’s clear that Vladislav is afraid that the lady will now run up to us for an autograph.

- What, do you get recognized that often? – I asked when the couple passed by. Karelskikh took off his glasses and spread his hands.

I couldn’t even imagine that I would ever suffer from increased attention to my person. No, fame and glory are good things, but everything should be in moderation. And people seemed to have gone crazy - you’ll laugh, but I haven’t had lunch in public places for a long time, because if anyone finds out that a TV presenter is in a cafe or restaurant, they won’t let me eat in peace. And people don’t understand that reporters from television programs are ordinary people, just like everyone else. At first it was pleasant, even a semblance of star fever began, but then... - he