Polar (Book 1): Polar Night (17 page)

Chapter 39

The phone rang and buzzed
at the same time, vibrating across Danny’s nightstand. Desperate for the noise to stop, he reached out and grabbed the phone without raising his head from his crumpled pillow.

“Hello?”

“Danny?”

Danny didn’t recognize the female voice on the other end of the line. “Yeah. Who is this?”

“It’s Amanda.”

“Oh, Amanda. I’m sorry. I’m a little out of it.”

“Are you drunk?”

Danny glanced at his clock. “At noon? Are you kidding?”

“Hungover, then.”

“Well, yeah. Guilty as charged there.” Danny propped himself up on his elbow and winced at the pounding in his head. He needed coffee, as usual. “What’s up?”

“Nothing in particular. I just wanted to check in with you. See if you found out anything more about Aleksei.”

Danny sighed. “No, I haven’t. I’m kind of on an unexpected vacation.”

"What? Oh my God, you didn't get fired because of me, did you?"

“No, no. I’m not fired. And they don’t know anything about you. My boss just wanted me to take some time off because he thinks I’m a wreck.”

Amanda bit her lip and remained silent.

“What?” Danny asked.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah, but I know you wanted to.”

“I was just thinking your boss might be on to something.”

“Thanks a hell of a lot.”

“Well it’s true, Danny. Look at right now, for God’s sake. It’s 12:00 in the afternoon and the only reason you’re up is because I called you. You were passed out drunk before I called, I know it.”

“So?”

Amanda noticed the chuckle in his voice, and laughed herself. “You’re right, never mind. There’s nothing strange about that at all.”

Danny swung his legs over the side of the bed and forced himself to sit up. “So what can I do for you, Miss Fiske? I know you weren’t just calling to check in with me. Have you found anything useful there in Sitka?”

“Not really. Or at least nothing that could help us now.”

“But you did find something?”

“Nothing concrete, just speculation on my part.”

“Well spit it out, would you?”

“I did some research on the town where you said Aleksei is now, Coldfoot. It used to be a busy mining camp, but the place died out and the camp moved to a nearby town called Wiseman in the early 1900s. I looked into the history of the Wiseman area and starting around 1920, there were an unusually high number of murders and disappearances reported. And, the tribes in the region told stories about a white-haired monster that haunted the night.”

“So you’re thinking this white-haired monster is our Russian friend?”

“I’d say it’s possible. There was a significant Russian migration to the US and to Alaska in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially after World War I and the Russian Revolution. It’s possible Aleksei came to Alaska then and never left.”

“Possible. But it doesn’t prove anything.”

“I know it doesn’t. I told you, it was just speculation on my part. I’ve still got a lot of material to research to see if I can track him.”

Danny took a deep breath and rubbed his hand through his thick mop of hair. He couldn’t believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth, but, what the hell. It wasn’t like he had anything he could do here.

“I think I’ll come there to Sitka too and help you search.”

“What? You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. But I want to. It will give me something to do. And since I’ve fully committed to chasing a creature instead of being a cop, I might as well go all out.”

Amanda chuckled. “Well, okay. Since you put it that way.”

“How long does it take to drive to Sitka from here?”

“You don’t know Alaskan geography at all, do you?”

“No. But what kind of an answer is that? You care to enlighten me?”

“Sitka's on Baranof Island, so you can't drive here. Most of Southeastern Alaska is only accessible by plane or by boat.”

“Yet one more reason to hate this god-forsaken state.”

“Oh come on. It may be a tiny bit inconvenient to get here, but it's a gorgeous place.”

“Well I guess I better see if I can get a flight down there. Is it a long flight?”

“No. My trip was about 5 hours, it’s not bad. You’ll have to switch planes in Anchorage though.”

Danny got up from his bed. “Alright, listen. I’m going to see if I can book a flight for today. If I can, I’ll send you a text and let you know I’m on my way.”

“Okay. I can pick you up at the airport tonight. And I’ll book a hotel for you too so you don’t have to mess with that.”

“Thanks. I’ll get back to you in a bit.”

Danny walked to his kitchen and made his customary pot of coffee. While he waited for the coffee to brew, he sat down at the table and booted up his Macbook. He brought up the travel ap, where he typed in his flight criteria. To his amazement, there was a flight leaving Fairbanks for Sitka in 3 hours. If he hurried, he could easily make it.

He quickly booked a seat, trying not to flinch at the exorbitant cost, and printed out his boarding pass. Still waiting on the coffee, he sent a quick message to Amanda, letting her know when he would arrive at the Sitka airport. It was an odd feeling, and not one he actually wanted to admit to himself, but he couldn’t deny he was looking forward to seeing Amanda again.

He brushed the thought from his mind, rolling his eyes at his own silliness, and poured himself a cup of coffee. He gulped it down without bothering to add any creamer and quickly re-filled the mug. He took another sip and headed back to the bedroom to pack his suitcase.

Chapter 40

Amanda rapped her knuckles on the hotel room door and called out for Danny.

“Danny, are you up? It’s me. Amanda.”

She didn’t have to wait long for an answer, as the door opened and Danny greeted her with a scowl.

“I knew who it was. Who the hell else could it be, anyway? You’re the only person who even knows I’m here.”

“Wow. Good morning to you, too. Are you always so charming in the morning?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Amanda stepped around him and walked into the room. “Then I guess I can consider myself fortunate that you left my place before I woke up.”

“I’m not a morning person, I admit it. But I’m up, even though I’m suffering from jet lag. What the hell else do you want from me?”

“Nothing. Silly me for expecting you to act like a mature adult and exchange the customary morning greetings.”

“Fine. How are you, Amanda? Did you sleep well? How’s the weather out there? I hope this morning finds you well.”

Amanda chuckled. “Give it a rest, smartass. And give me a break on the jet lag. You’re in the same time zone you were in yesterday.”

Danny walked to the end table next to his king-sized bed, and picked up his mug of coffee. He took a drink, and plopped down onto the rumpled, unmade bed. “Well I don’t know what it is then, but I’m suffering from something.”

“I would guess it’s a lack of alcohol.”

“Good guess.” Danny finished his coffee and set the mug back on the table. “So what’s on our agenda today?”

“I thought you’d probably want breakfast first. Is that another good guess? Or did you bring your own box of Pop Tarts?”

“I wanted to, but they wouldn’t let me carry them on the plane.”

“Well you’re in luck then. I know a great diner right down the street. You can eat a real breakfast for a change. Put some meat on those bones of yours.”

“Who are you, my mother? I eat fine. And you’re not the first one to tell me I’m too skinny. I can’t help it that I’m naturally slim.”

Amanda chuckled. “You’re like a supermodel.”

“Is there a point to this banter? Or should we think about discussing the reason I’m here?”

Amanda plopped onto the bed next to Danny. “I was thinking we should go to the Russian Heritage Center today. They have an extensive archives collection there on Russian immigrants to Alaska.”

“You know, that’s one thing I was thinking about on the plane. If our friend really is a vampire, would he register himself through whatever process immigrants used? It seems to me he’d just come and go as he pleased.”

“Yeah, I know. But we don’t know for sure that he was already a vampire when he came here.”

“Good point.”

“Plus, they have a collection of materials from early 20
th
century Russia there as well. Photos, diaries, news accounts. We might find something useful. Based on the fact that you found related disappearances as far back as the 30s, and I learned about the mysterious deaths in the mining camp, I think it’s a good guess that Aleksei was around in the early 1900s.”

“Yeah, I agree. Good a place to start as any, at least.”

“We might actually get lucky. That time period was so tumultuous for Russia. World War I, the downfall of the Tsar, the Revolution…I would imagine we’ll be able to find a lot of material.”

Danny shook his head. “This is so strange to me. Trying to solve a case by looking at incidents from 100 years ago. It seems completely impossible.”

Amanda patted his knee with her hand. “You know what I think since I got attacked? Nothing’s impossible. The fact that Aleksei exists at all proves that to me.”

Danny stood up from the bed. “Well that’s the spirit. Let’s give it the old scout try or something like that.”

“I think it’s the old college try.”

“Whatever. I could swear there’s some kind of saying about scouts.”

“I don’t think so.”

Danny walked towards the door of his room and waved his hand dismissively, as if to surrender the point.

“Maybe you’re thinking of live by the Girl Scout way,” Amanda said.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Always been my mantra.”

Amanda laughed and followed him out of the room towards the parking lot and her car.

Chapter 41

After a breakfast of eggs,
bacon, hash browns, biscuits, and several cups of coffee, Danny and Amanda left the Early Bird Diner and got back into her rented Toyota Corolla.

“Off to the Archives now?” Danny asked, rubbing his full belly as he fastened his seat belt.

“I was thinking maybe we could make another stop first. I want to take you to the regular public library.”

“Why?”

“Remember I told you about the research I did about Coldfoot and Wiseman? I wanted to show you the materials I found there. I thought it couldn’t hurt to have fresh eyes looking at what I found.”

“Alright.”

“They have a special exhibit there about early Alaskan history. That’s where I found the primary sources about Wiseman.”

“Primary sources?”

“You know, artifacts, original documents, first-hand accounts.” She paused as Danny looked at her with a befuddled expression. “Sorry, librarian talk. There are primary sources and secondary sources.”

Danny searched the recesses of his brain. “I’m sure I’ve heard of that. Sometime in college, no doubt.”

“Probably. Anyway it doesn’t make any difference. I just want to show you the materials.”

They drove along Airport Road and turned onto Harbor Drive. As its name suggested, the road faced the Crescent Harbor, and it was immediately obvious why Sitka had a reputation as both a fishing village and a tourist destination. Danny couldn’t help but be reminded of Lake Shore Drive as Amanda drove alongside the water and finally came to the Kettleson Memorial Library.

Amanda nodded a quick greeting at the librarian at the desk and led Danny back to the Historic Alaska display that filled the back quarter of the library. She pulled two chairs together and sat down to find the materials that had caught her interest.

Danny sat down next to her and sorted through a selection of old books that had been arranged on the table in front of him. A title caught his eye.

He picked up the book, called “
A Portrait of Wiseman, Alaska
,” and held it up for Amanda to see. “Isn’t Wiseman the town you mentioned? The one with the murders and disappearances?”

“Yeah.”

Danny put the book down on the table and leaned forward to browse through it. “This was written by some guy who was there in the 1930s. I wonder if he wrote anything about our friend.”

Skimming the book, Danny came upon a selection of black & white photographs. A photo of an old cemetery filled with tiny headstones sticking awkwardly out of the frozen ground caught his eye. He brought the photo closer to his eyes and squinted, trying to make out the blurry inscriptions.

“What do you see?” Amanda asked.

Danny shook his head without answering. He wasn’t sure yet. He skimmed through more of the book, keeping his finger on the page with the photograph. Finding what he was looking for, he read quickly through a stilted account of the population of the tiny village.

“Look at this,” he finally said. “According to the book, there were only about 120 people in Wiseman at the time this was written. Mostly white males, miners and trappers, and a handful of white women and children. The rest were native to the area, an Eskimo tribe I guess.”

“So?”

“So look at all the headstones in this cemetery,” Danny said, returning to the photograph. “There’s a hell of a lot of them for that small of a population. And I could make out some of the dates. They’re all from around the same time.”

Amanda grabbed the diary she had found, written by a miner who was terrified of the creature the tribes called the “white-haired monster.”

“This guy wrote about the so-called monster in 1928. He says he knew the monster was killing people in the village, but the rest of the villagers chalked the deaths up to bear attacks. They thought he was crazy.”

“Almost all of these headstones are dated 1927-1929.”

Amanda let out a deep breath. “I’m sure there could be another explanation. I doubt people lived very long in those conditions. The cold alone would do a lot of people in.”

“True enough. But I know you’re thinking the same thing I am. That diary writer wasn’t crazy at all. The monster was Aleksei.”

“I wonder if he’s been in the area ever since.”

Danny put the book back where he had found it. “I doubt it. He couldn’t have opened Snow Creek until much later; the asylum itself wasn’t even built at this time. But if he got a taste of the Arctic and enjoyed it, he could have easily returned.”

Amanda glanced down at the diary in her hand. “This guy writes that most of Wiseman was abandoned by the time he finished this diary. He writes about planning to leave the Arctic and go back to Fairbanks, but that’s where the diary ends.”

“I wonder if the white-haired monster got him before he could carry out his plan to move to Fairbanks. Aleksei probably wiped them all out.”

Amanda shuddered. “God, it’s so awful to imagine.”

“It is. But I think it fits. I think Aleksei came to Wiseman from who knows where and found he liked the Arctic quite a bit.”

Amanda put the diary back in its place in the display rack and glanced up at the clock on the wall in front of her. “We’ve probably been here long enough. We should get over to the Archives so we have enough time to look for Aleksei.”

Danny nodded and stood up from his chair. “Maybe we can find out what he was up to before he became the white-haired monster.”