Great White Hunter Ghost

The Great White Hunter Meets the Ghost of a Demon
         
December 2, 1979.  A Cossack named Sereite, whom I owed a substantial debt to, had called me to Siberia.  I'd rather not get into any details, but it was a debt I felt I had to repay.  I met him deep in the Siberian wilderness, in a tiny town whose name escapes me. 

Outside of the station was in old man selling gipsy charms.  As I walked by he froze, then he silently approached and handed me a tiger claw.  I examined the item then turned to the old man, he was gone.  I had not the time to waste on foolish games, so I stuffed the claw in my jacket's packet and moved on.

It was a miserable place where unsavory men tripped through the streets dunk.  The snow that fell was not a pure white but a sad dark grey that made me long for death.  I slouged down the street and found Sereite staring off into the distance dreaming of god only knows what.  He quickly came to and greeted me by furiously shaking my hand and slapping me on the shoulder.  "Stop it already, and tell me why you have summoned me.  It must be something big for you to call in the one and only favor that I owe you."

"A challenge truly up to your standards."  He said with a smile on his face.  "Talk is cheep as you Americans say.  So let me show you."

He took me to the edge of town where two snowmobiles were waiting.  He hopped on and shouted over the roar of the engine "Follow me."  Then sped off.  I hopped on the remaining snowmobile and followed him.  He was long out of sight, so I had to follow his tracks though the fresh snow.  I wove in and out of trees and across a frozen lake, Sereite was clearly having fun with this chase.  I rode on for almost an hour, and realized I was low on fuel.  Damn, where was he?  Finally out of the trees appeared a hunting lodge, with a snowmobile in front of it.  I parked in front of the lodge and went in.  I found Sereite sitting in a chair in front of a fireplace trying to role a cigarette.  His hands were nearly frozen and he was having trouble, he soon abandon his attempts and threw the paper and tobacco into the fireplace.  He then tuned to me and smiled, "Take a seat."  He said, as he gestured to an empty chair. 

I plopped down in the worn wooden chair and reached into my jacket and pulled out a flask, only to find Sereite holding up a large bottle of vodka.  "The weather calls for a good drink.  Don't you agree?"  He poured the contents of the bottle into two small glasses and handed one to me.  I raised my glass to Sereite, only to find he had already guzzled his down his first shot and was now pouring his second.  I took a swig and emptied the glass.  The vodkia was sharp and warmed my gut.  As soon as I set my empty glass down on the table Sereite poured me another glass.  "What do you want?" I asked him.  "To kill Siberian tiger that has harassed these parts for more then a year." 

"That's it?  Couldn't you get someone else to do that?  Its only a tiger."  Sereite slammed down his glass and took on a dead serious expression.  "The locals think this tiger is a demon, it has killed the last twelve hunters who tried to kill it.  No hunter in all the Soviet union will set foot in that forest alone, including me." 

"You've set traps right?  Set enough and one is bound to catch it."  Sereite began to laugh, "one hunter was killed setting up a trap, and two more while checking on their traps.  I my self set a few by the river, and returned to find two of them destroyed.  This tiger hunts hunters, almost as if it finds sport in it." 

I butted in to the conversation, "Its only a tiger, and I'll show you what sport really is." 

Serete laughed, "Grab your gun and follow me, no traps, no dogs, no blinds, just you, me, and our guns." 
         
We sped through the frozen forest on snowmobile, looking for any tracks or kills we could find.  After three hours, nothing.  I was ready for a lunch break.  Sereite stopped, I pulled up to him.  He pointed to a near by hill and said something I couldn't make out over the engine, then sped off, I quickly followed.  At the base of the hill we stopped again and got off our snowmobiles, then hiked to the top.  The slope was covered in show, making the climb difficult.  Once at the top we ate some salted meat we had brought with us, and drank some more of Sereite's vodica.  Sereite pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the country side.  Up hear you could see just how vast and desolate the land was.  No houses, no smoke, no one around for miles.  "I think I have something." Sereite said as he zoomed in with his binoculars.  "Let us go now."  He then slid down the hillside, I followed with much less grace.  We hopped back on the snowmobiles and were off.  We rode for only a few minutes before we stopped and set off on foot  so we could sneak up silently on our prey.  "You move in I'll cover you from behind."  Said Sereite, as he primed his gun.  I could see it about 200 feet away. 

It was not the tiger, but a carcass.  I causally moved in.  I knew tigers would return to uneaten kills, even if they were several days old.  I darted through trees keeping a sharp eye on my surroundings.  I was now within ten feet of the carcass, it was striped so clean I couldn't even identify what it had been in life (a reindeer).  The coast was clear and Sereite had my back so I set my rifle next to a tree and walked up the kill.  I looked around for look for tracks, and saw none, but I herd something.  Suddenly a huge badger burst out of the ribcage of the carcass.  It snarled and growled, then lunged for me.  I reached for my rifle only to have it slide off the tree trunk and sink into the deep snow.  I reached for my knife just as the badger bit into my left boot.  With a crack the badger fell dead.  I examined my foot to find it scratched but no worse for wear.  I then stood up and saw Sereite waving his rifle in the air,

"Looks like you are once again in debt to me Hunter!" He shouted as he danced around waving his gun.  It was then I saw a tiger on a bank opposite Sereite sneaking in for the kill.  I shouted, but he could not hear.  I crawled to the tree where I had set my rifle, and dug through the snow.  I looked up to see the tiger quickly moving in, I dug faster then found it.  I raised the gun and dusted off the snow.  I quickly threw the bolt and took aim.  With a bang Sereite froze and turned to see a Siberian tiger in its last moments of life floundering behind him.  He leapt for safety and brought his own gun to bear unloading a whole clip into the dying beast.  I stood up only to hear a rustling sound behind me.  I turned to see nothing.  I ran back to Sereite and the snowmobiles. 

"Great work. We make quite the team." Said Sereite as I approached. 

"Consider us even." Was my only response.  Sereite tied the tiger's corpse to the back of his snowmobile, while I grabbed a drink.  As I took a swig of vodka I saw something out of the corner of my eye.  "Sereite, could Siberian tigers hunt in teams?  Like wolves or lions."  He paused for a moment. 

"I have never herd of such, they would probably kill one another before they could kill any prey." 

"What if we lie on the border of two territories, we could still have another?" 

"Maybe." He answered.  I turned around and skimmed the tree line.  I saw nothing, not even a place for a tiger to hide.  I spent a moment surveying the land when I turned back to Sereite to find a tiger perched atop his dead body.  It was so fast and silent, how could this have happened?  The tiger stared at me and wagged its tail.  I reached for my gun and as I did the tiger claw the old man had given me fell  from my pocket. The beast froze and stared at the claw as if it was some acursed charm. I saw the opening and fired.  Just then the beast moved, and I missed.  It leapt high, it soared off into the sky and landed silently more twenty feet away and disappeared behind a tree.  I looked around and found the corpse of the first tiger gone.  It was then I began to comprehend what had just happened.  I knew what I had seen was no ordinary tiger, it had the chance to kill me but didn't.  I decided one dead man and ond dead tiger was enough.  I grabbed Sereite's body and fled. 

Upon my return to the village I dropped off my friend's body at a church and headed to the train station.  I can only guess what I saw in the wilderness a ghost.  After my departure no more attacks were reported.  As for the old man and the charm, I don't know what he was saying.  I can only guess it was his thanks, but I still cant help but think he knew something about the tiger, perhaps the claw came from the ghost tigers corpse, but who knows.