The Dark Below the Ice and Other Stories
Canadian Author Kenton J Moore learned to face his fears through story at a young age. The Dark Below the And Other Stories collects twelve of these short stories written throughout his life.
Meet Death in the woods with a hunter and his dog in The Touch of Shadow, and experience the shock of waking up alone on a naval warship in Seven Turns of the Screw. Ponder the mystery of the life of Franklin Aloysius Ritter in The Haunting of Old Man Ritter, and ride along with detective-turned-author Nick Perrega as he investigates strange disappearances on a high-mountain lake in the title story The Dark Below the Ice.
Contains foul language, and scenes of violence, gore, and death. May contain triggers for those with PTSD and certain phobias.
“What the…”
Annabelle’s words trailed off into the silence. She could not even bring herself to finish the sentence. How absurd of her. The loneliness must be playing tricks on her mind, she thought. The other person was out here, and the young lady must have simply made it to the lodge. She was probably all bundled up in blankets already, soaking in heat from the hearth while Tank purred and rubbed against her. People never just appeared and vanished up here. Annabelle did not believe in that sort of thing. Mountain lakes were not the homes of ghosts.
Annabelle scoffed at herself as she turned away from the lodge and took another step across the lake. And then she plunged. It was almost as though there had never been ice below her feet at all. She fell impossibly fast into the darkness beneath the ice. Cold water assaulted her, and the pressure built so quickly that she felt her eardrums burst. High above her, the surface swallowed what remained of the shimmering moon, and in the pitch black, shock and the pain in her ears made her scream. Before she passed out, she watched the bubbles ejected from her final breath reflect tiny silver slivers of light as they climbed to the surface. Down into the endless black she fell. Into the home of ghosts.
A finger-snapping sound caused Aiyana to break her attention on the television and return to the clerk. In her trance, while watching the news, she did not realize she had opened a bag of beef jerky and was gnawing on it while staring at the television. The clerk, realizing he had her attention, snapped at her.
“I said that would be forty-two thirty-five… and you can’t eat that before you pay for it.”
Aiyana nodded and began fishing through the pockets of her long winter coat. She produced a crumpled fifty-dollar bill and handed it to the clerk.
“Are you okay?” the clerk asked as he handed Aiyana her change.
Aiyana realized she had jerky hanging out of her mouth and took it out. Embarrassed, she put the half-eaten piece of meat back in its package and began scooping all of the snacks into her backpack.
“Yeah. Sorry… yes, I’m fine. Just starving is all.”
“Uh huh… want anything else?”
Aiyana shook her head as she finished loading her backpack and slung it up on her shoulder. She smiled awkwardly at the clerk and then made her exit from the store. The door made a soft chime as it closed behind her, and the clerk returned to reading his magazine.
“Feed your wild side, weirdo…” he mumbled.
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