The villagers watched in horror as the chapel burned. Nobody ran away. Not even the children. Every single villager stood in sadness and anger. The bright orange glow from the flames could even be seen through the thickness of the fog and snow.
A few villagers heard a loud noise that sounded like a house falling apart. They thought it was the chapel being destroyed, but the sound had come from the left of the burning building. When one of them went to look, they noticed a dead Angel on the ground in a pool of dark black snow. The villager looked up toward the hill. A shadow was running into the fog.
The villager, a white bald man in his forties with a scar on his face, sprinted back to the fellow cultists to tell them what he had just seen. During this time, the chapel caved in on itself, leaving all of the villagers to scream in agony and rage. The villager with the scar on his face pointed toward the cliff.
At that moment, every single remaining member of the Angels of Artemis ran to their houses and grabbed any weapon they could find. Knives, machetes, axes, scythes, you name it.
Before they set off toward the cliff, they heard three gunshots coming from that direction. The bald cultist told the rest to follow him. They were going to avenge Calvin and the king himself, Artemis.
*
Lewis looked down at his fallen friend. He was trying to come up with a way they could bring Bolton’s body with them so he could give him a proper burial instead of letting him lie in this frozen hellscape. But no ideas came to mind. He and Karissa knew the cult would chase them off the end of the earth if they wanted to so, hauling a body through Iceland and onto a boat or plane would draw a lot of attention.
“I don’t want to leave him here,” Lewis said to his wife, who was kneeling right next to him.
“I know, Lewy.”
“You know, I taught my students about grief. The emptiness, the large hole it throws you in. Nothing feels the way it should. The things that typically make you happy make you sad. The world becomes dark and gray.”
“Lewis…”
“And although I am going to grieve the loss of a good friend…” He looked up into her eyes. “He led you back here to me. He saved our family and who knows how many others. And Karissa?” Now she looked at him in his eyes. “You are and have always been the love of my life. I will love you until the end of time, and I promise I will make everything up to you.”
She shed a tear and smiled.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They embraced each other and cried.
While the moment felt electrifying for them, it was cut short by the sounds of chanting creeping closer and closer.
Lewis grabbed her hand, and they stood up. They could see the orange glow of the villagers’ torches.
“Okay, we have to get around them,” Lewis said, looking in both directions. The cliff was the only thing he was afraid of. He then noticed that the large orange glow began to break up. The villagers were separating to cover more ground.
“Damn it.”
“They know this land better than anyone, Lewis,” Karissa started. “They know the outlines of the cliff.”
Lewis agreed. “That leaves us one option.”
Karissa stared at him in realization.
“We have to go through,” he said, still trying to think of another option. But there was none. “Back to the village.”
He grabbed Karissa by her hands. She felt how cold they were. “We’ll use the snow and the fog to our advantage,” he said. “They also have torches, so we will be able to see them from afar. And if any of them sees us, we run. Run as fast as we can. Okay?”
She nodded. Lewis gripped his knife tightly in his right hand.
Karissa’s tears were freezing on her rosy red cheeks. There was no longer any time to show emotions. Survival was the only goal now.
Lewis led Karissa through the fog and closer to the villagers. Their chanting became louder and louder. The orange glow of the torches kept getting closer and closer. Fear rose up through the back of Karissa’s spine. It was so chilling that the Icelandic snowstorm felt like summer in July.
After a few brief moments, Lewis told his wife to crouch down. They were nearing the first villager they needed to pass. They saw but a shadow of him, and his voice was deep and rusty. He chanted with a vengeance, and although neither of the Nelsons knew what he was saying, they knew that evil and revenge were behind it.
They waited for him to pass before slowly moving ahead. This time, there were three villagers in their way. Again, the Nelsons could not see them, only the orange glow of their torches and the sounds of the voices of those who held them. It was two women and one boy. His voice was high. Lewis figured he couldn’t be more than thirteen. But even his voice was filled with rage.
The two women broke off and continued their path away. The boy continued to search the area around him, the area that was literally five feet away from the Nelsons. Lewis gripped the knife tightly, ready to strike. Karissa looked at him with wide eyes. She realized he was going to kill this boy. She knew it might be necessary, but thoughts poured into her mind.
Was he going to do it because he loved her? Because this cult had caused so much pain and suffering? Was he going to do it to avenge Bolton? One thing was clear to her: her beloved husband would do anything to get her home safe.
Thankfully, the little boy turned and ran toward the cliff because one of the villagers discovered the Angels’ and Bolton’s bodies. They screamed out, which led the rest of the villagers to swarm the area. The torches were moving so fast they looked like balls of fire zooming past the Nelsons’ faces.
It offered them an open path around the village, and Lewis could not have been happier. However, that idea was scrapped because it wasn’t long before one of the villagers yelled something loud in Icelandic and the balls of fire started to come straight for them. Lewis grabbed Karissa’s hand and began to sprint straight to the village.
“They discovered our tracks!” Lewis yelled. “We gotta run!”
They sprinted through the graveyard that was behind the burned down church. Obviously, they couldn’t go through the church anymore, so they headed to the right. There, they saw a dead Angel. His skin was gray and hideous. Above the dead being, they saw a house with a large hole in the side. They decided to go through there and collect their thoughts.
The villagers arrived at the graveyard and stopped. The Nelsons were crouched under the hole in the house, and Lewis put his finger up to his mouth. They listened intently as one villager said something. Lewis could tell they broke up and began searching, as the various sounds of feet in the snow either got louder (closer) or quieter (farther).
Lewis grabbed Karissa by the hand, and they began to crouch-walk toward the other side of the house. There was a wooden door there. He creaked the door open and peered out. There were villagers all around. The fog wasn’t nearly as dense in the village as it was on the cliff, so that was another problem. Now, he had to lead his wife from house to house with numerous angry, evil villagers trying to find and kill them.
Or maybe something worse.
A few villagers passed down the main road through Blackgate. Lewis tracked them with his eyes and noticed they were going to the main gate. He looked up in the direction of the church and noticed most of the villagers were there. They were looking through the rubble of the church that was no longer on fire.
Seeking out survivors, Lewis thought.
He knew that in a matter of moments, they could find Calvin’s dead body, which would cause the cultists to absolutely lose it. He knew he didn’t have much time, so he made sure the alley behind the house was clear before he led Karissa to the next house. After another quick check, he went to the next house. Then the next one.
All of a sudden, a villager walked into the alley in the distance, which caused Lewis and his wife to slide in the snow and hide behind the house.
The villager heard the slide and began to walk toward the Nelsons. Karissa covered her mouth, as she was breathing heavily. Lewis listened intently to the sound of boots in the snow. They kept getting louder and louder. He gripped the knife hard and realized what he had to do. Once the sound of the boots seemed like it was upon the Nelsons, Lewis jumped out, knife ready to strike, and swung at the villager.
The only problem was that Lewis jumped out too early, and he only sliced the front of the man’s robe. Both men looked down at the cut, and once they realized that it was only sliced fabric, they looked at each other. The villager opened his mouth wide, ready to scream, but Lewis seized the opportunity and penetrated the man’s belly with the knife.
The only noise that came out of his mouth was a grunt. He stumbled into Lewis’ arms until he pulled the knife out and did it again, this time in a much more vital area, which caused the man to fall down into the snow. Lewis knew he’d bleed out until he was found.
Karissa watched in horror as the man stared up into the sky with dead eyes. She looked at her husband. He was staring back at her. His hand reached out for hers.
She grabbed it, and they continued down the alleyway. In her mind, Karissa thought about how, for the past few weeks, she hadn’t really been sure if her husband loved her anymore. Now, seeing everything play out and seeing him kill someone who could’ve killed them, there was no more wondering. He protected her at all costs. She knew it was her Lewy, her beloved, her soulmate. She held on to his hand tightly.
They were now close enough to see the gate.
Lewis stopped for a moment because the house they were at was the last bit of cover they could use. With the fog dissipating and the main gate about twenty feet away, they would need to make a run for it. Lucky enough, Karissa noticed something right outside the gate. It was the truck that she and Bolton had ridden into Blackgate.
“Lewis,” she started, “Bolton and I drove here in that truck.”
“Wait, really?” he asked with wide eyes.
She nodded her head. “There was a bag of guns in there as well.”
Lewis’ visible excitement started to fade. Once Karissa noticed and asked what was wrong, he said, “You don’t by chance have the keys, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” she said, dropping her head. “And the bag of guns is probably gone by now.”
“Well,” Lewis started, “we either hope we don’t get seen and run down to that town, which is pretty far away, so we could freeze to death, or one of these cultists could find us. Or we check the car and hope to god that the keys—or at least the guns—are in there. Or…we search the village for the guns or the keys and most likely die trying.”
They looked at each other intently. They knew they were going to have to fight their way out either way. Lewis sighed and looked into his wife’s eyes. “Okay look,” he began, “I want you to sneak around these houses and look for the keys or the guns. I am going to run to the car, and if they are not there, I will create a distraction. This will lead the villagers away from you so you can have this whole place to yourself.”
“No…” Karissa started, but he cut her off.
“If you find the keys, drive down the road and pick me up, because that’s where I’ll be. If you find the guns, I want you to load a few and shoot every single one of these bastards you see.”
“And then find you, right?”
“If you only find the guns, I want you to think only about yourself. Find another way to leave this place, okay?”
“I’m not leaving you, Lewis,” she said with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Not after I just got you back.”
“I’m sorry, honey,” he said, clenching his jaw. “I don’t think we get to choose.”
“Yes, we do,” she said, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him close. “And I choose you. I’ll always choose you.”
They shared one final kiss before Lewis pulled away and said, “I love you.” He leapt up and ran toward the front gate. As he was running, a few villagers noticed and began to chase after him. They started yelling, which of course caused the entire village to turn their attention to the front gates.
Karissa, still stunned from that move her husband had just pulled on her, shook her head and remembered the plan. She turned around and ran through the first house. It was dark in there. The only light came from embers in a firepit. She squinted and looked around. She checked an old wooden table and a hay-bale bed. Nothing.
Then she saw something. In the corner of the house was a long object. She reached out and felt the smooth wood and the hard metal. She picked it up.
It was a double barrel shotgun.
She clicked the lever and saw it was loaded. She looked around for any more ammo but couldn’t find any. She kept searching but found nothing. Then her hand swept past a small sack. She quickly moved her hand back toward it until she felt it again and grabbed it. Once she opened the sack, the smell of gunpower hit her nostrils. Inside was about ten shotgun shells.
She then made her decision.
*
Lewis reached the car, but a villager tackled him into the snowy gravel. The rest were not far behind. The villager had a black mustache and a scar above his right eye that was leaking pus.
The man punched Lewis square in the chin, causing him to lose his breath. He recovered, though, and stopped the man’s next attack with his forearm. He was reminded of his time in the chapel in Portland as the Angel jumped on him. Bolton shot it and saved Lewis that day.
However, today he was quickly reminded of Bolton’s fate. He knew he had to get out of this situation himself. He focused and elbowed the villager in his gut, stunning him. Lewis used this time to reach for his knife, which lay under the tires of the truck, still within reach. He proceeded to swing the blade across the man’s neck, leaving him a bloodied and gurgling mess.
He quickly threw the body off of him and sprang up to see another two villagers closing in on him. One had a pitchfork and attempted to stab Lewis. The charge missed, and the professor quickly grabbed the pitchfork and pulled it past him, which dragged the villager close enough for Lewis to stab him in the gut. Then he looked up at the next villager and took a quick peek to his right, inside the truck.
And, to his surprise, the keys were still inside.
They were sitting on the dashboard, just waiting for him and Karissa to shove them into the ignition and leave this nightmare behind. His eyes darted back to the next villager. This one was tall and skinny, not like an Angel. However, he was as close to a human as an Angel could get. He was holding a sickle, and his face was so bony it looked as though he was starving. Lewis bent his knees and readied his knife.
The man swung his sickle hard, and it nicked Lewis’ arm. He let out a grunt of pain before spinning around and slicing through the man’s robe. However, he was too skinny, and no flesh came away with that swing. The man used the professor’s momentum against him and pushed him to the ground. Lewis looked up in fear as the man raised the sickle above his head.
But before he could bring it down and seal Lewis’ fate, the villager’s head exploded like a watermelon. The body fell onto Lewis, who then flipped it off of him in a hurry. He looked up and saw Karissa holding the double barrel shotgun, smoke still coming from the barrel.
“I told you,” she said. “I’ll always choose you.”
He got up quickly and hugged her. “I love you,” he said, kissing her passionately.
The rest of the villagers were getting closer, so Lewis hurried to the truck. “The keys are in here,” he said.
Karissa ran to the other door, but when they both tried to open the truck, they realized the keys were locked inside. The villagers were now super close. Karissa turned around and aimed the shotgun at them as Lewis cocked his elbow back and hit the window.
It didn’t break.
A villager came at Karissa, and she responded by blowing him back with a shotgun blast and a puff of red mist. She unclipped the barrel and loaded two more shells. Lewis cocked his arm again, and this time he was successful, and the glass broke.
He unlocked the door and got in. He reached over to Karissa’s door and unlocked it.
“Get in!” he yelled at her.
She was finishing off another villager while Lewis grabbed the keys and put them into the ignition. The truck didn’t start on the first turn of the key.
She shot another villager.
He turned the key again and heard the engine roar with power.
“Ah ha!” he yelled. He quickly noticed Karissa still wasn’t in the car, and the wave of villagers was upon them.
“K, get in the damn car!” he yelled.
Out of ammo in the shotgun, Karissa flipped it around and hit another villager in the head with the butt. It slipped out of her hands after it made contact though, so she turned around and got right in the truck. Lewis began to speed off down the road until all of the villagers were no longer in their rearview mirror.
Both of the Nelsons sat quietly for a moment. Nothing could be heard but their heavy breathing and the engine of the truck that had just saved their lives. The cold air was blowing through Lewis’ broken window, but neither of them cared. They had escaped the nightmare. Now the only thing to do was make it to town and find a way home.
Karissa turned her head to look at her husband. He had one hand on the wheel, the other on the gearshift. She put her hand on his. Both of them were blood soaked and smelled like death, but they were alive and, most important of all, together.
The road was iced over and the fog still heavy, but Lewis kept his eyes on the road and his grip on the wheel firm. No words were spoken between them on the drive. There was no need. After about twenty minutes, Karissa could see the town of Dalvik in the distance. They were driving down a long hill, and with every few feet things became clearer as the fog stayed in the mountains.
She could see the boats in the harbor and the bright colors of the buildings. Red, blue, and yellow. The lighthouse on the hill was a blazing red. The sun shined off of the ocean like glass. The closer they got, the more the smell of saltwater masked the stench of death.
It wasn’t until they were about two miles away that Lewis said, “Check the glove box for a gun.” As Karissa did, he continued, “We don’t know if any of them are down here in town, so we have to be ready.”
Well, the glove box didn’t feature a handgun, but it did offer something else: a flare gun. There were two extra flares next to it. Karissa pulled it out and said, “This’ll have to do. You still have your knife?”
Lewis nodded. The wind blew through his long brown hair. She hadn’t had time to look at her husband in a while. Not just look at him, but really look at him. Memorize his features, notice some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. Notice how untamed his beard and hair had gotten. How black and blue his fingers were and the bruising on every inch of his body.
She wondered what it must’ve been like having somebody else inside his body and mind. Sharing a consciousness. She knew she was going to have to be there for him the way he was for her when this whole thing started. It must not have been easy or pleasurable.
They entered the town and instantly caught looks from other people. Was it because they came in speeding like bats out of hell? Or were their bloodstained clothes visible through the windows? It didn’t matter.
Lewis drove them straight to the docks in search of a boat back to America. After they put the truck in park and got out, Karissa put the flare gun in the front of her jeans. The two extra flares went into her jacket pocket.
They walked toward a little yellow hut on the front of the dock. Inside was an old Icelandic man whose eyes widened at the sight of the couple.
“Hallo,” the man said a bit hesitant, eying the two up and down.
“Hello, my name’s Lewis,” he started. “Do you speak English?”
The old man nodded and said, “How… can I help you two?” in an Icelandic accent.
“We need a boat back to America as fast as possible,” Lewis said, wiping his forehead of sweat and blood.
“Well, we have one departing in about three hours.” The old man looked both of the Nelsons up and down again. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Karissa said quickly. “But we are running from some very dangerous people, and we definitely need out before three hours, if you can.”
The old man lowered his voice and checked his surroundings. “You come from the mountain?”
“Yes,” Lewis said, dropping his head. “We know there are eyes everywhere, but we are just too tired to care anymore. If you can help us leave as soon as possible, it would mean a lot.”
“A great evil lurks in these mountains and in this bay. A great evil I want no part of. I will get you two away from here.” He reached into a drawer behind him and pulled out a set of keys. “My son’s boat. It’s the blue one at the end there.” He nodded over his shoulder in the direction of the boat. “It is stocked with enough food and water for up to a month. However, I cannot promise that boat will make it back to America.”
“You’re just going to give us your son’s boat?” Lewis said, creasing his eyebrows.
“My son is a part of that great evil, I’m afraid. It is more use to folks like you than it is to men like him.”
“Thank you so much,” Lewis said, grabbing the keys and making his way to the boat. The old man stopped them in their tracks and exited his hut. He walked close and spoke softly. “Understand that it is around a two-week journey to the port of New York. Also, I am not sure what your experience is out on the open waters, but nasty storms come through all the time without warning, so be careful.” Lewis nodded, and the old man continued. “Another thing. I am not sure you are aware, but the great evil has spread its way around the world.”
“What do you mean?” Karissa asked intently.
“The world is on fire, I’m afraid.”
The Nelsons looked at each other in shock and disappointment. They then said their farewells and headed for the boat as the old man headed back to his hut.
It was a nice boat, one that could get them pretty far, but not far enough. That’s exactly what Lewis said when he started it up and asked Karissa if she still had the flare gun, to which she replied yes. There was a bedroom on board with a drawer and a shower. Karissa set everything down and began to search the drawers.
Sure enough, there were a few sets of clothing. Some very big, as if they had been made for a large or possibly obese person. And some were small, most likely belonging to a petite woman.
Lewis began to drive the boat away from the harbor while his wife exited the bedroom holding piles of clothes. They both turned around and said one final farewell to Iceland and a hello to whatever they would be coming home to.
*
A few hours later, Lewis turned off the motor for a bit. The wind was blowing in the direction they were headed, so he thought they could save some fuel and let the current take them as far as it could.
Karissa had showered and was sitting next to the shower door while Lewis finished up.
“Hey,” Lewis said from inside the shower. “How did you learn to use a gun like that?”
His wife was drying her hair with a towel. “My dad was always worried about other men when I was growing up. He taught me how to defend myself. I never told you, I guess because it never seemed important.”
“Hm,” Lewis said, pleasantly surprised. His wife had saved his life, and he was grateful.
After they were both showered and clothed, Lewis trimmed his beard with an electric razor he’d found in the bathroom while Karissa examined the flare gun.
She had on a red long-sleeved tee and black leggings, while Lewis had on an oversized brown flannel and some very large jeans that even a belt was struggling to keep up.
When Karissa saw her husband in this outfit, she couldn’t help but laugh. Lewis looked upon her with a smirk and said, “Oh, that’s funny, huh?”
Her smile quickly became faint, and she looked at her husband with wet eyes. He gave her the same look until the first tear streamed down her cheek. Once Lewis saw that, he darted over to her and held her tightly. They both began to sob in each other’s arms. They were now able to feel the weight of every little thing that had happened to them.
The professor thought about his life before all this. Every morning, coffee and kisses from his wife and dog. Then to the university to teach students about the criminal justice system and those who had to face it. Those who deserved justice.
Karissa thought about her life, which would never be the same. She thought about the amazing news her boss had given her when she was awarded the big news story. In a matter of weeks, she would see her dog killed, go on an incredibly terrifying journey, and witness her husband become somebody else entirely.
She cried harder. Lewis held her tightly and said, “You saved me, you know that?”
She looked up into his watery eyes. “I wasn’t strong. I…”
He stopped her. “Karissa, you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You saved my life and the lives of countless others. You did what you said you would do; you kept going north.”
She kissed him passionately as the waves carried them further toward their destination. They embraced each other with so much love, it felt like the whole world had stopped turning. They were together now and forever.