The Dark Land by D M Shepard

Author:D M Shepard [Shepard, D M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: An Alaskan Horror Novella
Publisher: Forty Mile Alaska Press
Published: 2020-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

THE IVERSONS

Ulrik sighed with relief to see lights in the windows. Smoke curled from the chimneys like silver snakes in the light of the moon. Loki and Thor panted with exhaustion, frothing at the mouth as they raced into the yard. Ulrik’s legs ached from pressing on the dragmat to rein in the malamutes. He had to bark stern commands to the dogs a few times to keep them from going after the tailed monsters. He didn’t want to risk another wreck. By the way Rose clenched her left arm to her side, and her colorless pallor, she was more injured than she let on.

As soon as he unharnessed the animals, both threw back their heads, calling out into the darkness like they had the night before. Wolf song echoed back in the still night. He studied the woods surrounding the lodge. While he couldn’t be sure, now and then, he thought glowing orbs winked from the interior of the forest canopy. Those things still watched their every move in the pallid moonlight. He grunted with the strain as heaved the whole sled with their gear in, cuts on his back itching and burning.

“C’mon Rose,” he said as he gripped her arm, tugging her inside. It took some effort to make her to move. She seemed frozen in place on the porch, intent on holding her weapon level at the woods. As the door slammed shut behind them, Edna Iverson’s silver and black braided head jerked up from where she read a tattered book behind the highly polished oak desk. She flicked her Marlboro into a stained-glass ashtray on the counter. A thin, gray trail of smoke wafted into the air, as ashes tumbled into the container. She took a sip from a flowered coffee cup before placing it back on the frayed, hand crochet ivory doily that served as a coaster.

“Ulrik! Rose! I wasn’t expecting you,” she cut herself short, cigarette halfway to her mouth. One eyebrow raised and her chestnut-brown eyes narrowed as she took in their disheveled appearance and Rose’s drawn Smith and Wesson.

“I’ll get you a room and some food. I take it there’s a story?” she said, pulling a set of keys from the drawer as the brown skin of her forehead creased.

“Yes.” Ulrik answered. “Are you expecting anyone else this evening?” he asked. The handmade gingham curtains rustled as he parted them. He wiped the frost off the cold glass and peered out into the deepening gloom. Yellow glints of light still flickered in the darkness.

“I only have one other guest, but he said he’d be out all night tonight. He can get in through the garage. He has a key for the deadbolt, and he can call on the intercom,” Edna said. Ulrik flipped the deadbolt and dropped the wooden crosspiece over the door.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. Edna nodded. Cigarette hanging out of one corner of her mouth, she grunted, knees cracking as she climbed up on the step stool behind the desk.

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