The Nevermoore Disaster

The Nevermoore Disaster - Chapter one

Prologue

The night was clear and cold. Too cold for anyone to be wondering around so close to midnight. A cloudless sky allowed the stars and moon to light the sky with a deep blue. Silence was heavy in the air until the sound of three day old snow now crisp compact regions of ice crunching under the boots of a figure trekking up the obscure path. His features were covered by a large collared winter coat and scarf, it was impossible to see who or what was hidden under the thick wool. He left no real signs of existence behind, no tracks in the snowy ground, no breath hanging in the air and barely a broken twig under his foot steps. Save for the sound of his strides echoing through the trees it was as if no one was there. His legs were carrying him closer and closer to a small cabin at the foot of two fairly small hills nestled in a hollow wood with a few trees. The cabin was used as a hunting lodge during the summer and was generally vacant for the rest of the year. No lights shone from inside and the hills shadowed it from the star light; it could have easily been missed by someone who didn't know it was there.

His gloved hand pulled out a small key from the coat pocket and pushed it into the door, he paused for a few seconds as if to savour the moment, before turning the key in the cold noisy lock the sound rattled through the wood before being lost into the night. The tall figure cautiously pushed the door open and stepped into the dark cabin, clumps of ice where knocked off by the motion of walking on the hard wood and began to melt in slow isolation.

The inside of the cabin was gloomy and still save for the small swirls of dust sparkling in the moonlight, dancing after being disturbed by the rush of air caused by the door opening. The traveller stood in the doorway and assessed the silence, his ear twitched about the room listening for hidden danger. He was expecting something to have gone wrong this time although he had performed this old routine countless times before. As he stepped forward the moonlight followed him through the open door and slowly illuminated the room with dull white light. The cabin was mostly empty save for a single chair in the centre of the main room.

The chair was not empty. Someone was sitting perfectly still in the chair, their face was also hidden by a woven sack over their head. It was tied at the neck with a piece of twine, a contrast to the traveller's comfortable winter-wear. Their wrists were bound behind their back and ankles tied to the legs of the chair. You would expect to hear cries for help but there was nothing. The prisoner wasn't dead or unconscious, they were completely calm and in fact a little bored, they even took the time to let out a sigh of frustration followed slightly sinister and self-confident chuckle.

The traveller delved into his coat pocket once again and pulled out something else. A screwdriver. As it was drawn from his pocket it flashed away the moon light that spread across it's metal surface. He circled around his prisoner then stopped, standing in a solid stance behind the chair. Gripping the screwdriver tightly the traveller coiled his arm around his captive's head and lined the metal tip with their neck as close as could be estimated from under the sack. Suddenly with one smooth motion he dashed the screwdriver head into the captive's throat. The traveller remained emotionless as his victim's life slowly slipped away with a horrific gargle. He stood and marvelled at his handy work for a few seconds then mechanically repeated the process twice completely robbing the captive of their existence. The traveller stood in front of the seated corpse, the victor in some silent private war. The main thing was he was the one still there to tell the tale and his prisoner was not. The blood was soaking into the wooden floor and mixing with the remnants of dragged in snow, the warm blood melting it into blobs of slush. The traveller walked towards the cabin door picking up splashes of blood from the shallow pools with his boots, he dropped the screwdriver casually onto the floor and it landed with a clatter that echoed eerily in the stillness. The traveller took the cabin key from his pocket and tossed it out into the snow and with an arrogant strode away from his crime committed under the watchful eye of the night. He left leaving the door wide open for the entire world to see.