THE FENRIS WOLF
Three Dark Tales
By Justin M.D. Nelson
Copyright 2016 Justin M.D. Nelson
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Table of Contents
The Fenris Wolf
Mister Grinn
The Last Photo of Dr. Graham
Author's Note
The Fenris Wolf
The forest was cold and silent, and a painful wind blew fresh snow through the trees and across the ground. Tyler and Andreas had trouble adjusting to the bright afternoon sunlight reflecting off the pure white snow. Still, they entered the forest from where Barb Thorson's son had been attacked on the northeast side of Mandal Lake. They trekked the wilderness searching for any clues that could guide them on their way.
"Hey Ty, what should we be looking for exactly?" Andreas asked his cousin, after moving for about an hour, "If there were any tracks, the storm would have covered them up."
"You're right. If nothing else, we'll wait until night falls and then we can?"
"Listen for the howling?"
Tyler turned to him with a grim expression on his face.
"Yeah."
Andreas chuckled as he said, "You know, this could make a hell of a story for our grandkids someday."
They continued to wander for a few more hours, searching the grounds occasionally for any sign of life. For miles, nothing caught their attention.
"You'd think we'd have at least found some deer tracks by now," said Andreas.
"Maybe they're too scared of the Wolf to come around. If it's scaring the folks in town, I bet it's got everything else out here pretty riled up too."
"Everything's too scared to come out? That's bad news for the other hunters in town when? Wait. Ty, what's that?"
Tyler turned towards Andreas's gaze and saw it instantly. A tall tree with four large claw marks cut into its trunk. The two moved in to examine the marks.
"Are those? from a bear?" Andreas asked.
Tyler ran his fingers over the slashes and said, grimly, "Nope, they're from a wolf."
"They're way too big to be from a wolf."
"Look at the claw marks. There are four here, the middle two are the same length. They're also longer than the other two. If this was from a bear, the slashes would have been all different lengths and further apart, so I'm pretty sure this was from a wolf."
Tyler turned and looked at his cousin and said, "Andy, you realize how big this thing is?"
Andy took a deep breath and said, "As big as a grizzly bear, I would guess."
"Exactly," said Tyler.
They held their rifles and surveyed the area, which began to grow darker with every passing minute.
* * *
The night before, back in the town of Mandal Lake, Minnesota, everyone sealed themselves up in their homes as a blizzard howled through the night, even though it was not just the blizzard they wanted to keep out.
In downtown, or rather, what could be considered downtown in a community of three hundred people, the only lights on were those of Dahl's Caf?, proudly owned and operated by the Dahl family. That night around midnight, the same family held a get-together in the caf?.
Two-dozen people, both family and friends, young and old, huddled together in the warm building. Hot drinks and warm blankets were shared among the group. As the kids sat with Grandpa Ragnar and Grandma Ella, the adults and older kids stood in circles, discussing the turn of events around town.
"Every night for the past two weeks!" Aunt Kathy exclaimed with a hushed energy. "I've been keeping track, every night for the past fourteen nights!"
"It's been so hard for the kids, especially," chimed in Aunt Carol, "Some nights, I have to leave the TV or the radio on to drown out the noise! You know, so the kids can stay asleep."
In another circle, another group of relatives spoke more eagerly.
"Everybody's heard it. The howling? How can you not?" said Uncle Ben."
"But, why does it only howl once?" asked Uncle David, "Aren't wolves supposed to travel in packs and call and respond to each other? Why have we only heard one? And how is this one wolf loud enough to wake up the whole town?"
"I don't give a damn about that!" Uncle Jack yelled, grabbing all the attention in the room at this point. "It was fine when it was just making noise, but now, it's coming onto people's property, and it's bringing our town into its territory. I don't know about you, but Barb Thorson's son, that was the last straw for me!"
Everyone in the room seemed to shudder. A couple people in town claimed to see a large wolf, but no one gave it much thought. That is, until the incident with Barb Thorson's seven-year-old son. After going out to play in the snow one evening outside their house, Barb went out to find him laying in the snow, his clothing torn to shreds, covered in cuts and bleeding badly. It happened a couple days previous, and her son was fine, but he was still in the hospital.
Uncle Jack became even more agitated. "Someone has to do something about this! Someone has to go out there and take care of that thing before it hurts anyone else! In fact, why hasn't anyone done that already?"
Aunt Agnes, Uncle Jack's plump and patient wife, moved in to calm him down. "Everyone's dealing with it the best they can, Hon. We don't know enough about it to just go out and start hunting for it."
"Well, someone has to know something. Isn't there anyone around who can tell us what we're dealing with?"
"Have I ever told you the story of the Fenris Wolf?" asked Grandpa Ragnar.
All eyes in the room, young and old, turned his direction. The question came out of nowhere and seemed so out of place.
Grandma Ella turned to her husband, "Ragnar, don't go scaring the kids with another one of your ghost stories!"
"This is no ghost story, dear," said Grandpa, with a sly grin, "This story was told to me by my grandfather, a story that's been passed down all the way from our ancestors in Norway."
Two of Ragnar's grandsons sat listening intently to his words. Tyler, a boy of sixteen, sat with his fifteen-year-old cousin Andreas, whom everyone called Andy.
"The? Fenris Wolf?" asked Tyler, "I don't think I've heard that story."
"I haven't either," said Andreas, "Is that what you think it is, Grandpa?"
"I'm not sure," said their Grandfather, "But, quite honestly, I had forgotten all about the story until just recently. Everything that's been going on around town, the howling, the talk of wolves, the Thorson boy, it all brought back a memory that I'd like very much to share with you all. If you want to hear it, of course."
Tyler and Andreas grew up together with their grandpa's stories. Both of them happily ignored their parents' advice to refrain from taking his stories to heart. Whether it was hunting, fishing, sports, summers at the lake, or anything else, the two of them were a team, partners in crime. And they were proud to consider Grandpa Ragnar their third member.
"I want to hear it!"
"Me too!"
The kids gathered around Grandpa and Grandma. The adults tried to maintain their conversation out of earshot.
"This is the story of the Fenris Wolf," Grandpa Ragnar began.
"The Fenris Wolf was one of the children of the mischievous god, Loki. The Wolf grew more powerful and more vicious every single day. Eventually, the gods became worried that it would become too powerful for them to control. So, they decided that it needed to be tied down, tethered before it became too strong. The gods
commissioned dwarves to make an unbreakable restraint. However, the Wolf would only allow himself to be restrained if one of the gods put their hand in his mouth. And so the god T?r agreed to put his right hand in the Wolf's mouth. When the Wolf struggled to break free, he bit off T?r's hand. But the bond kept the wolf bound, and so the gods rejoiced."
"This part of the Norse legend is well known. But, according to some, the gods also commissioned humans to take part in the Wolf's restraint as well. So, Odin ordered the Vikings, our ancestors, to take the Wolf to be restrained in a distant land. Lead by Leif Erikson, they journeyed to a land that was as far away as their ships would take them, on the other side of the world. The Vikings obeyed, and landed in North America, long before anyone else in Europe set foot on North American soil."
"So, the gods opened the way to the New World. In exchange, the Vikings restrained the Fenris Wolf in the countryside, sealed away in the wilderness of the New World."
The room fell silent; all focus having turned to Grandpa Ragnar.
At that moment, they heard the howl.
Everyone froze and remained close together in the darkened room, quiet, as though trying to keep themselves unheard over the noise. It was low, haunting, almost mournful, but very powerful. The family held their children close, and the howl continued over the roar of the blizzard for much of the night.
* * *
The temperature fell as the sky became darker. Before long, the boys saw the first few stars appear in the sky.
Andreas took off his gloves and breathed into his hands hoping to get some feeling back into his fingers. He turned to Tyler and said quietly, "Well, it's getting close to nighttime and no sign of anything. We should head back towards town, don't you think? We don't have to turn in, let's just be closer to town if we hear anything."
Ty took a final look around the forest and turned saying, "Yeah. Let's head back. Maybe we'll find something along the way, so keep your eyes open."
They made their way back. Though they did have a map and compass, they had no trouble following their own footsteps.
They went only ten paces when they heard it.
A howl. The same heart-stopping howl they heard every night for several days. But this was different; it was close, very close. And at such a distance, it seemed otherworldly, too frightening to be real anywhere but in a nightmare.
The boys stopped dead in their tracks, their rifles in hand, listening for any sign of movement. When the noise stopped, they held their breath. The forest made no noise. Even the wind seemed to pause.
Andreas slowly took off his pack and removed a large flashlight. Tyler leaned over to him in a whisper.
"Did you hear where it came from?"
Andreas shook his head, took one long breath, and turned on the flashlight. The shaft of light reached further ahead than they expected, bringing several yards of trees and forest into view. It reflected off the snow, glowing in the night, putting them only somewhat at ease.
"See anything?" whispered Tyler.
"No," said Andreas. He aimed the light at the surrounding area. He saw nothing, just more darkness in the distance beyond the view of the light. "Let's keep moving, quietly. Have your shots ready."
They loaded up and proceeded through the forest, lights shining ahead. The moon was full above them, bringing some light to the dark forest. It might have been possible to see without the aid of the flashlight. This, of course, was a risk the boys were not willing to take. They knew well that wolves hunt best at night, having excellent night vision and hearing, and using the cover of darkness to sneak up on their prey.
"What's that?!" Andreas exclaimed under his breath.
He and Tyler spun around toward a sound that made them both jump. Their hearts beat faster as the sound grew louder.
Something came out of the darkness, startling the boys. They looked and saw that it was a deer, running straight after them. It passed by within a yard of Andreas, running off a nearby slope. Before they could react, another came into their sights, and then another, and another. Before long, a whole pack of deer ran right past them from the dark of the forest, off the hill, then back into the darkness. They listened as the sound of running faded into the night.
"They ran? towards us?" said Tyler, looking very confused. "And they didn't stop when they saw us? That doesn't make any sense!"
"They weren't running towards anything," Andreas stammered, looking out into the forest with sheer terror in his eyes, "they were running away from something!"
Tyler looked out, pointing his rifle. Sure enough, one more figure came out from the darkness.
Two massive red eyes stared back at them. The fiercest, most ferocious-looking eyes either boy ever dreamed of. As the eyes came closer, they saw the creature's sharp teeth, twice the size of those belonging to a normal wolf, and every single one of them bared in a fierce growl. Then, into view came the full body of the Wolf. It was indeed the size of a bear walking on all fours, but its fur was black and ghostly. It moved constantly on its skin like black fire.
As it stared them down, Tyler needed to summon up all the will power he could muster just to whisper a single word. "Andy?"
No response, both could only keep their eyes fixed on the beast, coming closer and closer in the light.
"Andy!" Tyler whispered fiercely.
"What?" he answered.
"We need to shoot it before it gets any closer. Aim your gun and shoot, on the count of three."
"OK," Andreas said, the light trembling in his hand as the Wolf still crept forward.
"One? Two?"
Tyler never finished. At that instant, the Wolf sprinted forward, charging them at full speed.
Andreas dropped the light, and both boys fired their rifles. Both could be sure that at least a couple of their bullets would hit the Wolf. But the Wolf dodged them, moving from left to right with incredible speed that seemed like a blur. All the while, its eyes never stopped watching them. They fired two more shots. Still, the Wolf dodged them completely. Still, it ran towards them, getting faster with every step, until it came up over them. It sprinted right up in between them, passing by and break-neck speed, and slid around on the other side facing them, its monstrous claws coated in something wet.
Tyler looked and saw Andreas lying on the ground, with deep cuts on his chest. He covered his chest, causing his gloves to turn red with blood.
Before Tyler could move in to help, the Wolf leaped up into the air onto Andreas. It seemed to pause in the night sky as it loomed over him. In the time it took the Wolf to fall upon him, he grabbed the rifle at his side and held it out above him. When the Wolf came down, his jaws locked into the shaft of Andreas' rifle, preventing it from biting down on him.
As it shook its head trying to break his grasp, Tyler took his rifle and smashed the butt end of it as hard as he could into the side of the Wolf's skull. It fell to the side, giving him just enough time to pull Andreas up. Both of them aimed their rifles at the Wolf and fired once more.
The Wolf leaped aside, dodging the bullets with ease. It bared its teeth and edged closer and closer to the two of them, turning its attention to Tyler.
Suddenly, it seemed to pause, looking at Tyler with a hint of fear in its eyes.
The Wolf knelt down, growling, ready to pounce. But when Tyler and Andreas aimed their rifles, the Wolf dashed away, disappearing quickly back into the darkness, leaving the boys looking after it in the silent forest.
Andreas dropped his rifle and fell to his knees, holding his chest.
"Are you alright?" asked Tyler, as he knelt down beside Andreas.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Here, let me take a look."
Tyler examined the wound with the flashlight. "The scratches aren't too deep. But we still need to cover it up."
Andreas went to work stripping off his coat and the layers that protected him while Tyler took out some bandage wrap from their pack. Tyle
r hastily wrapped them around the upper part of his torso.
"What the hell was that thing?" said Andreas.
Tyler continued wrapping bandages as he said, "There's no point in pretending we don't know."
"Grandpa was right," said Andreas, with awe in his voice and eyes. "Ty, do you think it'll it come back?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, what scared it off? It wasn't the guns, I can tell you that."
Tyler stopped wrapping the bandages as he hurried to grab his rifle and gear. Andreas quickly put his clothing and his coat back on. When he looked up at Tyler, he noticed something.
"Hey, you're wearing that necklace Grandpa gave us."
Tyler checked around his neck. He'd kept the necklace tucked under his coat before they went out into the forest. As they fought the Wolf, it came out without him noticing.
* * *
That morning, the blizzard was gone, leaving new fallen snow in its absence. Andreas was up and moving, having spent the night at Tyler's house a mile outside of town.
"Hey Andy," said Tyler, "this wolf, or whatever it is, that attacked the Thorson boy, I think we should go after it."
"Wait, are you serious?" asked Andreas.
"Yeah. We'll get our hunting rifles, pack some supplies, and go after it."
Andreas looked outside into the woods; half expecting to see something prowling around near the house.
"Ty, we've never hunted wolves before. And you can't just wander around the forest looking for one. We not even sure if that's what it is!"
"Grandpa seems to be sure."
Andreas had his reservations. He liked Tyler's ideas that walked the line between brave and foolish. But the thought of hunting down something truly dangerous got better and better the more he thought about it.
"Listen," said Tyler, "We'll go right away. Our parent's don't need to find out; my parents can think I'm staying at your place, and your parents can think we're staying at mine. And as for the Wolf, It's fair game since it's attacked someone in town. We'll track it down, and?"
Tyler aimed an imaginary rifle and made the sound of a gunshot.
Andreas gave this idea some thought, then finally said, "If we go looking for it, we'd sure as hell better find it and kill it. We're going to have a tough time explaining it if we come home empty handed."
After taking their hunting rifles and a few rounds from the safe, they loaded some supplies, planned a route, and suited up in their warmest hunting gear.