The Cursed Expedition: Part Two
By Carter Nielson
Part Two: The Runes
For part one, click here.
Cedric was still shaken up from seeing that woman in the snowy fields when the driver pulled into Qaanaaq. There was something about her still posture, how she faded into the snow, that just didn’t sit right at all. Cedric inspected the town he would be calling his home for the next few months. They call this a city? Cedric thought to himself with an internal scoff; there couldn’t be more than 100 buildings. The town truly was small, with scattered colorful buildings arranged in no apparent order. The colorful buildings would have given Qaanaaq a homely feeling, if the town wasn’t covered in snow and darkened by an incoming storm. Cedric checked his phone to get the address of the inn Jared was staying at, he assumed that that would be where he was going to sleep too. He gave the address to his driver and, after only a few turns, they arrived.
As it turned out, Jared wasn’t staying at an inn at all. Cedric, just being dropped off, stood by the doorstep of a local widow who rented out her spare room whenever she could to scrape up some extra money. She was a quiet woman and, besides a cordial greeting and showing Cedric around the house, she didn’t say much. Cedric hoped she would keep being quiet; he was here for work and wanted as few distractions as possible. The room he was staying in looked like it used to be an office, probably the late husband’s. A large desk took up most of the space in the room, with a small bed situated in the corner next to a tall wardrobe. Perfect, thought Cedric, this desk will work well for editing the photos I’ll be taking. As Cedric neared the desk, something strange caught his eye. Resting on the desk were four stones small enough to be held in one hand. On the stones were the Nordic Runes Algiz, Fehu, and Raido, with splotches of blood over all the stones. Cedric recognized the runes from his studies prior to coming to Greenland. That, and his uncle was sort of obsessed with Norse mythology. Cedric leaned toward the door to find the landlord and ask for the stones to be put in another room; they were too unsettling to keep in the room (even if they stayed out of sight). After turning just slightly, Cedric jumped and let out a yelp. In the doorway, was a hooded figure with a cloak eerily similar to the old woman’s. Just as he went to ask the figure what they were doing, its hood raised slightly; it was Jared.
“Hey man! Glad to see you made it here safely,” Jared said with a smile.
“You almost made my heart explode!” Cedric said. “Look at what I found on the desk,” Cedric gestured toward the bloody runestones.
Jared waved him off, dismissing the worry in Cedric’s voice. “I put those there, man. One of the locals I hired to take us to the site has been teaching me a little about the Elder Futhark runes. Those are meant to welcome you here, safely. Sorry about the blood; I cut my hand on one of the snowmobiles yesterday. I thought it looked cool… and spooky.”
“It’s okay,” Cedric said, despite his tone saying otherwise. “What’s with the jacket, didn’t you bring your own winter gear? You look like a yeti.”
Jared chuckled, “Some old local woman gave it to me. I started wearing it so no one thinks I’m your typical American foreigner.”
The mention of an old woman sent chills down Cedric’s spine, but he left it alone. No need to tie the two events together. There were probably a lot of locals who wore coats like that, maybe he’d even be offered one eventually.
They spent the rest of the day resting and catching up. Jared went into more detail about his trip to the site a few days back. But, he got a little heated when he spoke about the local he had been paying to take him to the sites, calling him names and cursing when the guide had mentioned he wouldn’t be able to take him closer. Apparently, Jared had tried to walk closer, but the local said he was going to leave, forcing Jared to follow. Cedric considered telling Jared about the woman he saw, but figured his friend would brush it off just like the driver. Instead, they made plans for the next day. The local Jared had been working with would take them back to the site. After the two caught up and planned sufficiently, Jared went to his room to sleep.
In the morning, Cedric met their local guide, a young man who went by Kurt. Kurt and Jared packed up in a quick, efficient manner. Before he knew it, he was trudging through the snow towards the site. Cedric looked back over his shoulder to look at Qaanaaq for what he thought would be the last time in days. And there she was, standing just at the cusp of Cedric’s discernable vision, the old woman. Just as before, she was leaning against her walking staff, this time waving at him slowly. Now I know I’m not crazy, Cedric thought to himself. It was almost reassuring to see her again, knowing she was real. He figured she was just some lost grandma from the town.
The trek out to the site took nearly eight hours. By the time they arrived, it was getting dark. Because of this, Kurt advised setting up the winter shelter for the night. As they set up the shelter, Cedric could see off in the distance the mountainous hill where the site was located. His heart skipped a beat, he couldn’t wait to get there tomorrow. This was his big break, the project would launch his career to new heights.
Cedric was woken up the next morning by a yell. Kurt was outside staring at the ground, with Jared next to him. In front of the shelter, on the ground, was a rune made from animal limbs and bones. The blood had frozen overnight.
“No, no, no, no,” repeated Kurt, “This is the death rune. We shouldn’t stay here anymore.”
Kurt walked around vigorously, scratching his head, looking like a mad man.
Jared looked like he was going to be sick. Cedric wanted to go, but he knew this was his shot for his future career.
“No,” Cedric said, “We stay, and we can double your pay Kurt.”
