Tikhon Grigoriev has a problem. He's a member of the civil police, but has come to the attention of the political police. In Stalin's Soviet Union, that is a very dangerous situation. He's hanging on by his fingernails in besieged Leningrad, and he has a family to think of. Worse, he has reason to believe that something uncanny stalks the frozen ruin that is a besieged city in subarctic winter. But as a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he is not supposed to believe in the supernatural. How can he keep his head in this impossible situation? A short story. includes intense scenes that may be disturbing to some audiences. Reader discretion is advised.