The Pass (Wattys 2019)

Prologue: Ural Mountains, 2 February 1959

Igor Dyatlov was going to die.

            He knew it, even as he ran from his campsite, down the mountain and towards the valley below. The Urals were locked in the worst snowstorm he'd ever seen, the wind blew loud enough in his hears that he could barely hear past it, the snow turned all the world white. He'd been in such a damned hurry to leave the tent: he hadn't even had time to put on his boots. Otherwise, he might be prepared for the hell that had awaited him from the moment he left the tent. Every part of him was numb, but it didn't matter. He could hear his dear friends behind him screaming just above the sound of the wind. All of them were already dying, and there he was, abandoning them. Like a coward.

            But, someone had to get out of that God-forsaken place. Somebody had to tell their story. Somebody had to get out of there and tell the world what happened there, or nobody would ever believe it.

            Suddenly, he lost his footing and went tumbling down into a ravine.

            He fell down, down, down. His frozen body felt every hit far harder than it would've normally. By the time he reached the bottom, he couldn't move. All he could do was lay there in the snow, shivering, every ounce of strength he'd had left leaving his body. And stare at the orange lights. They drifted in the sky above him like eyes in the night. They were beautiful, in a way. The glow was warm. He wished that... he could feel it...

            The shadow of the thing approached him, the eyes yellow in the darkness.

            No, he heard in his feeble mind. No, not like this. Not like this...

            Igor drifted off to sleep, never to wake up, again.
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Hello, one and all, and happy Saturday! I hope you guys have had a good day, thus far. And I hope that it was made a little better by the launch of my new story, "The Pass". I'll hopefully have another chapter up in the next few hours.

But first, we have a bit of housekeeping to do. For those of you who have never read any of my stories on wattpad, before, I have a particular way of running things. Every story has a particular update day. This story will be updated every Saturday, meaning a chapter a week, hopefully without fail. You guys will, however, get bonus chapters based on special occasions, like holidays, and milestones. What are the milestones? you might ask. Milestones include hitting a certain number of reads, votes, getting a personal record on the hotlist, winning in a contest, etc. So, if you like this story, be sure to vote and such, and get others to read it, too. There's other incentives, too, like getting a dedication. The next chapter will have one.

So, stay tuned: more excitement coming your way, tonight, and I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter of "The Pass". Be sure to vote or comment: I love hearing from you guys, and I also base dedications off of who's been voting and commenting.