Black Church

Chapter Øne

Tall brooding pines whisked past the large van windows. They had been traveling in their van for 4 months now, driving across Sweden and Norway. They had stayed near the coastline along the north, but upon receiving their degrees, decided to travel inland. Sonja and Håvard studied demonology, ancient Druidism and paganism.

"Håvard?" Sonja asked, turning towards her fiancé.
"I think we should think about a motel for the night love." She glanced at her phone. 9:47 pm.
"Go on your phone and see if there is one nearby," he replied, continuing down the highway. A few moments later Sonja tapped him on the shoulder, "Says here there's a small old inn not too far, only 9 miles. It's only a mile off the highway." Håvard agreed, and set the GPS for the inn.

About 30 minutes later, they turned down a dirt road, with a sign reading: Hvit Hund Vertshus
"White Hound Inn, sounds interesting," said Sonja, while peering through the window in search of the building among the black trees. A dim yellow light illuminated a small sign, beholding the mysterious inn. Parking the van, Sonja and Håvard collected their bags and headed inside.

Behind a large pine door, was a warm wooden cabin, heated by a massive fireplace built in one side of the main room. Walking up the the front desk, Sonja reached for the bell but before she could ring it a small old man walked through the doorway behind the counter. "What can I do 'fer you ma'am," he asked gruffly, peering at Sonja through bushy eyebrows.
"We need a room for tonight, if you have one," She replied politely. The old man stood there for a moment then turned to the wall behind him and began digging through drawers. "Aye, there's a room available. Just lemme find the key an- agh!" He turned back to the counter and placed a large rusty key down. "It's 200 kr a night. Rooms upstairs to the right." With that, he walked back into the other room, out of sight. Glancing at one another, the couple dragged their bags up the wooden stairs and down the hall. Inspecting the key, there was a small, worn, yellow paper tag that read '27'.

Unlocking the rusty old door to room 27 was a bit of a struggle, but the interior of the room was much more appealing. Opening the massive blue curtains revealed a large bed on one side of the room, a small table and chairs on the other. A small sofa occupied the wall near the door, but otherwise the room was quite spacious. Pleased with their room, the couple settled into bed for the night.

Soft grey morning light peaked through the old windows, as Håvard and Sonja prepared for their day. Pulling on a warm grey and yellow hoodie and some pale jeans, Sonja tied up her messy red dreads. Håvard pulled on his blue jeans and long sleeve tye-dye before also tying up his dreads. Walking down the stairs, they passed a round old woman, "Good Mornin, Egil told me you two came in last night, would you like somethin ter eat?" She smiles up at the young couple happily before guiding them into another room.

"The names Ola by the way dears," she said as she pointed at a thick pine table and chairs. As Sonja and Håvard took a seat, she bustled off through yet another thick old door. "This place seems pretty old, huh love," Sonja glanced around the cozy dining room. Animal heads and skulls were mounted to the highest points of the walls, and three tall windows took up one one wall. Opposite the windows, were 2 doors, the one they had entered through, and the one Ola had exited. Håvard inspected the random items decorating the shelves and counters of the room, but looked up as Ola returned to the room with two large plates of food. Setting them on the table, the couple were surprised with eggerøre, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. "Ola, thank you so much, this looks amazing!" Sonja thanked the old woman with a large smile before beginning to eat.

Håvard turned to Ola, "Have you heard any strange rumors lately? Of the area or nearby?"
"No I can't think of anything strange that might of been.. well.. oh it's just a legend." She prattled.
"Would you care to tell us? We love a good local legend," Sonja pried.
"Well I s'pose," she sat at the large table. "About 400 years ago, there were a massive number of witch burnings, in all the local villages near here. They were burning the accused women fer suspicion of witchcraft because it was said they served lords of the dark. The Lords of the dark were a demonic race of beings that entranced women and men to worship them. They used men due to their weak sense of will. The Mørkeherrer.
These ungodly beasts poison the land and corrupt people. But only children believe in old legends about witches and demons in the woods." With that she wandered off through the kitchen door with their empty plates.

Packing all their belongings back into the back corner of the van, they got in the van and continued their journey. "Follow the highway south," Sonja directed as they turned off the dirt road. "It says on the local map there are some of those old witch hanging related towns down that way." Nodding, Håvard turned right.
Two hours later, he pulled over for a break and asked, "So, how long until we reach this town?"
"We should have already passed the road, but I supposed it should be close," Sonja replied, looking closely at the old map she had gotten from the Inn.

It was almost 20 minutes later when they found the sign saying 'Førsik Road, Next Right'. Turning down the road, they passed another sign, reading 'Verdensrommet Landsby'. The old village. The village was little more than one main road dotted with ancient log buildings. Håvard took advantage of an empty parking space, and they scanned the community. Walking along the over grown sidewalk, they looked at every sign until they reach an open one.

Opening the wooden door to the small wooden building, they saw it was a common goods store.
"Hello, we were just passing through and were wonderin-" Sonja was cut short by a tall, scarred man at the counter. "Aye ya listen here las, you shouldn't even be anywhere near here," he glared at the two.
"Why is that sir?" Sonja questioned, bewildered by his aggression.
"Too much history in this 'er village, history is dangerous. Now buy somethin' and get on yer way before ya can't," he scowled and disappeared into a back room. Looking at one another in confusion, Sonja and Håvard walked around the shop in search of food and drinks. By the time they had found something, the man had returned and was waiting for them at the register.

"Please sir," Sonja stopped at the counter. "We need to know what's to bad about this place."
"It'd be better if ya jus got on out of 'ere" he handed them their change and pointed at the door. "An don' stop to talk to any of the locals neither." He glared at the two as they made their way out of the building. Once outside, Sonja noticed the sky seemed to be much darker than earlier. "Honey, I think it's gonna rain. We should maybe get back to the van," Håvard agreed and together they walked back down the old street to their van.

Almost 5 feet from their van, a frail old woman stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of them. Startled, They stopped and waited for her to move. Wrapped in torn, worn black clothing, her white eyes peered blankly through her frizzled grey hair. "Why have you come to this cursed place child," She croaked to Sonja. "Why have yo..you.. damned your souls.." she shook her head softly, as if in a daze, then turned and slipped back inside the building she'd come from. Sonja glanced at Håvard, who was just as confused as her, "What the fuck".