A Winter of Evil: Evil's Revenge

By MARK BARRESI

Two years after the horrific events ended in Canada, retired Detective Marc Collins now works as a private investigator. Dealing in paranormal cases and the occult, his most recent case will bring him to the brink of death and his own private self-destruction of his marriage and his faith. Now six years later, Collins is living alone in self-retirement. He finds himself contacted by his friend Sarah Furgerson. Sarah convinces Marc to help investigate the mysterious death of her cousins husband, Angela Ferrare. Marc will travel to the remote seaside town of Torrington Bay, located in the Pacific Northwest in Washington State. Torrington Bay has a very mysterious past itself, during the winter of 1906. A massive avalanche engulfed the small town from the nearby Peak of Horseshoe Mountain, killing many adults and children. As Marc begins to investigate the death of Sheriff John Ferrare, he will uncover an old legend of the town and mountain involving lost Viking treasure and an old evil curse that surrounds the legend. The curse warns everyone who seeks for the treasure that the Viking King, who brought the gold and riches to North America for its safe keeping, will ride upon his black horse, with a wind of snow and ice, and will kill anyone who dares disturb his gold. Once again Marc will be faced with battling an inhuman evil and tasked to protect Angela and her young daughter from forces beyond the realm of reality. Or is there a more sinister evil at work here, the evil of human greed and lust that will hold true for greed to be the root of all human evil.
In the third and final part of his first series, Mark Barresi ends it with a psychological thriller convincing everyone there is a realm of evil in our reality that we dont always see and encounter, but you will find it in, A Winter of Evil. Evil from the past will rise to the present to battle Good once again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491861400

MARK BARRESI

About The Author Mark Barresi spent three years in the army infantry, training at fort Benning and then fort Campbell while going to college and taking creative writing courses where he sharpened his military skills. He has authored six novels now and has established himself as one of Hollywood's most sought after action and horror Authors and Screenwriters, as he has completed his first Screenplay for the TV series, "The Poser Project," set to air on Television in 2014. As his novel, "The Encounter Over Alaska" will be a Television movie in the near future. Apart from writing, Barresi is a very strong supporter of the Republican Party, and a strong supporter of animal right's for abused and neglected animals and wildlife. He enjoys traveling and collecting military antiques. He currently lives in New York City. Other titles by Mark Barresi The Dark Mist of Autumn Evil's Redemption The Encounter Over Alaska The Reckoning Of Jack The Ripper Daughter of Affliction

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CONTENTS

Introduction: A Winter Of Evil

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

About The Author

From the Author of, The Dark Mist Of Autumn and its sequel Evil’s Redemption. Comes the third and final chapter of the trilogy as Mark Barresi unleashes the most graphic and scary novel of the series. A Winter of Evil

Introduction: A WINTER OF EVIL

Two years after the horrific events ended in Canada, retired Detective Marc Collins now works as a private investigator. Dealing in paranormal cases and the occult, his most recent case will bring him to the brink of death and his own private self-destruction of his marriage and his faith. Now six years later, Collins is living alone in self-retirement. He finds himself contacted by his friend Sarah Furgerson. Sarah convinces Marc to help investigate the mysterious death of her cousin’s husband, Angela Ferrare. Marc will travel to the remote seaside town of Torrington Bay, located in the Pacific Northwest in Washington State. Torrington Bay has a very mysterious past itself, during the winter of 1906. A massive avalanche engulfed the small town from the nearby Peak of Horseshoe Mountain, killing many adults and children. As Marc begins to investigate the death of Sheriff John Ferrare, he will uncover an old legend of the town and mountain involving lost Viking treasure and an old evil curse that surrounds the legend. The curse warns everyone who seeks for the treasure that the Viking King, who brought the gold and riches to North America for its safe keeping, will ride upon his black horse, with a wind of snow and ice, and will kill anyone who dares disturb his gold. Once again Marc will be faced with battling an inhuman evil and tasked to protect Angela and her young daughter from forces beyond the realm of reality. Or is there a more sinister evil at work here, the evil of human greed and lust that will hold true for greed to be the root of all human evil.

In the third and final part of his first series, Mark Barresi ends it with a psychological thriller convincing everyone there is a realm of evil in our reality that we don’t always see and encounter, but you will find it in, A Winter of Evil. Evil from the past will rise to the present to battle Good once again.

This novel was edited by Kathy Riehl of Riehl Faith Productions / Alan and Kathy Riehl Thank You Kathy.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank some very special people whom I have come to know in my short time as an author, Brian StAugust; for his passion as an Actor and his crusade to help all Animals from abuse and neglect for which I admire very much. And to Alan and Kathy Riehl, who both realized my talent and passion as an Author and now I am so proud and humbled to work with as they help me bring my novels to the big-screen. As we work together tirelessly to entertain so many people for years to come, I also want to reach out and express my gratitude and appreciation to some of my very close friends. Stephanie Raptis, Wendi Cohen, Ralph Morvillo, Jeff Schwartz and Angela Mariani, friends I grew up with and have supported me throughout my good times and bad. You are all very dear to me.

For Jeremiah Kincade, May 11, 1977-November 21, 2013 Our Dear Friend, You Will Be Missed.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see! I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

—Revelation 6:7-8

PROLOGUE

Torrington Bay, the Pacific Northwest in Washington State, the winter of 1906

Elijah Moore was standing by his wood burning stove. He placed another kettle on the stove-top to boil water for his coffee. His wife Emma Moore used a thick plaid towel to remove one of the kettles of boiling hot water. She filled the many cups of hot chocolate for their four grandchildren and seven other children invited over with their parents, who are all very close friends in the tightknit town of Torrington Bay. Elijah was five feet, ten inches tall with a full thick head of white hair and a full beard. He looked like an old fashioned fisherman, but he was strong and stern with strength at his fine old age of seventy four. He and the other men of Torrington Bay would work very hard on their homes and land. Elijah Moore is a well-respected lawyer and he and his wife have a large homestead on three acres. Theirs was the largest home in Torrington Bay, a town of just over six hundred residents. The month of December has just begun. It was a blistery thirty eight degrees as a light snow was falling upon the town. Elijah Moore looked out his frosty cold window and gazed upon the town. Torrington Bay was settled less than four miles from the enormous flat-plateau of Horseshoe Mountain. The mountain itself was curved like a perfect fit horseshoe, rising to an elevation of just over 10,200 feet and Torrington Bay was situated in the center of its base.

Elijah walked over to his fireplace and placed another small log into the burning fire to keep his home and the children warm. He turned around and smiled as he watched his wife and daughter Francine passes out the ceramic mugs of hot-chocolate to the children. They sat on the oval tweed rug covering the wood floor, just a few feet away from the stone slated fireplace. As Francine handed her daughter Hope her mug one of her young friends Chelsea, whispers in her ear and quietly requests her to ask her grandfather to tell them a spooky ghost story. Hope smiled and told her friend she would ask her grandfather. Elijah struck a match and began to inhale on his antique pipe as the flame ignited the tobacco and smoke exhaled from Elijah’s mouth. Hope raised her hand just as she was taught in school and in church. Church and school went hand in hand, to teach the children and adults the values and respect of life to honor one’s family and neighbors. As Elijah turned around and saw his granddaughter smiling at him with her arm raised in the air, he smiled at her and spoke to her.

What is your question my child? Hope politely stood up in her long dress just like the other girls and women wore. The men wore thick wool shirts, along with denim Levi® blue jeans and heavy leather patent soled shoes.

"Grandfather, can you tell us all a scary story on this cold evening, before we finish our hot chocolate and we are sent off to bed? My friends and I want you to tell us a story you have not recited before, one that will give us fear as the classic Charles Dickens tale A Christmas Carol. Elijah looked at his wife and daughter who both smiled back at him and nodded that it was alright to tell the children a nice tall-tale before their bedtime.

Elijah pulled his wooden rocking chair across the wood floor to sit near the children. He sat down and began thinking of a story he has not told before. He smiled and let out another puff of smoke, he knew of a tale they might like, but this tale might scare them more than any ghost story he knew of.

I have already told you all the ghost stories I know of. If you want me to, I’ll share with you all a tragic and scary story that I was told by my grandfather when I was your age. I want to warn you all, this story is very scary and might give you all many nightmares from this night on. Do you all still want to hear this story I know of? Elijah asks the children with a warning to them, but Hope and the rest of the children are mature enough and live in a time where peace and safety are known to them. The adults of Torrington Bay, value their knowledge of strict schooling for the children along with their strong passion to value religion. The majority of the town spends every Sunday in its large church to value the good faith of Christian religion.

The children smile at Elijah and scream for him to please tell them the story. Elijah holds his pipe in his right hand and requests the children to sit back down and calm down. Emma and her daughter sit with the rest of the adults behind the children at the long wooden table as they are also intrigued to hear this story, as Elijah begins to tell it.

Let me tell you all of a story my grandfather told me when I was your age children, a time when there wasn’t a Torrington Bay Town or even America itself. A time when this whole area was still very desolate and only a few hundred American Indians lived here in the mountains. Horseshoe Mountain has its own share of secrets and legends to tell.

My grandfather’s name was Thomas Moore. One day Thomas was a young man, he and three of his friends were deer hunting on the north slope of Horseshoe Mountain. They were about at an elevation of five thousand feet. This was the winter of 1827. It was a mild winter and most of the snow had not accumulated as of yet so the ice covered glacier was still visible on the ridge line of the mountain. Grandfather Thomas saw something that caught his eye. It was a heavy stone slab that was embedded into the ground with ancient markings on it. He and his friends could not read the writings at first, but they heard of tales that the great Vikings of Europe would travel thorough the lands they searched and conquered and would leave runestones to mark the areas of which they searched and settled. Elijah told the children, as they made the sounds of oohhs and aahhs amazed by the story he was telling them.

Thomas and his friends looked at the markings on the stone very closely and below the scripted ancient lettering, were drawings of what looked like Vikings caring a great treasure with them and three ships that they traveled on during their quest to search for something. Above the ships and the Viking men were war clouds and carved specks that looked like rain and snow hitting the ships. These markings told my grandfather and whoever saw the runestone, a great storm had entrapped the Vikings as they sailed in their massive wooden ships. They were then forced to land here in the Pacific Northwest and bury their treasure deep within Horseshoe Mountain. The markings on the stone did not show where on the mountain, or how deep they buried their treasure, but my Grandfather and his friends, all agreed that the entrance to the tunnel they had dug into the mountain had to be close by to the runestone.

Elijah paused and inhaled smoke from his pipe. He blew out smoke from his mouth and took a drink of his coffee. The men seated behind the children, looked at one another when they heard the words spoken of buried treasure. They j nodded to one another then to Elijah to finish his story knowing they would talk amongst themselves later.

Elijah continued to tell the story, Thomas and the others returned a few days later with picks and shovels but did not tell a soul in town of their discovery. If they were lucky enough to find the treasure, then and only then would they tell their families, sharing the riches among themselves.

They began digging in the early morning hours as they could feel the bright warm sun cast over them. Before too long, there was a cloud cover blocking their light. They halted their digging, as the winds picked up. Thomas and his friends had to shield their eyes and faces from getting scratched and blinded by the blowing dirt and small rocks. Suddenly a heavy snow combined with ice began to fall on them. The temperature was not at the freezing mark, this was an unearthly storm of wind, rain and ice. The children now huddled close together. Elijah’s voice was deep and he continued the story in a scary ghostly loud tone. Thomas shouted over the howling wind to his companions, to seek shelter from the storm in the tunnel they found. They cleared away the heavy bedrock stone from the path and entered deep into the mountain. One of the members of the group was able to light a torch he found on the wall. That’s where they found it! There, on the ground beneath the feet of a statue of a great Viking warrior were chests of gold and silver coins along with goblets made of pure fine silver. On the walls were long, heavy Viking swords, crafted by the great sword makers of Scandinavia itself, along with heavy round Viking shields. Thomas and his friends were delighted that they had found the riches of the treasure they sought, but soon their happiness faded to sheer terror. All of a sudden there was a strong howling wind within the tunnel itself, which was strong enough to put out the torch.

That is when they heard the heavy breaths of a horse only a few yards behind them. Thomas and the others turned around to see who else was with them. In the darkness of the tunnel, there he sat upon his black horse. He was draped in armor with a round gleaming silver shield in his left hand and in his right he gripped a large, heavy battle axe. His head was covered by a rounded flat metal helmet, from which my grandfather and the others couldn’t see his face. His dark eyes gleamed at them in the darkness. They seem to be telling them that they had disturbed his treasure and his tomb and now he would teach them a cold hard lesson for this intrusion. As Hope and Francine hugged each other tight and held their breaths at the most scary part of the story that Elijah was about to tell them.

Without a word spoken by the great Viking King, his horse made a loud dark bellow as he started to gallop very fast, his heavy hoofs dug up the dirt and rock from the ground beneath them. Thomas and the others stood there in shock and terror. Gripping his shovel in his hands to protect himself, the Viking king held out his large axe and passed my Grandfather far to his right side. He raised his axe and very swiftly and he brought the sharp steel blade down, beheading one of the group’s companions. The head flew into the air and landed a few feet from them as the headless, bloody body fell to the ground

The horse and rider stopped in place and turned back, as they heard only one word uttered at them.

Out!

Thomas and the others didn’t hesitate. They turned and ran from the cave. As they ran down the pathway in the heavy storm, they looked back and saw heavy rocks falling in front the opening to the cave covering it back up. They screamed and told one another to not look back, but just run for their lives. That is exactly what they did. They ran as fast as they could to get back to town making it back just before early evening. They were out of breath and in shock, but they swore they would never speak of what had just happened, furthermore, they swore to never again set foot on Horseshoe Mountain. This story was kept silent from everyone, until it was spoken to me by my grandfather shortly before his own death many years later. Everyone let out a breath, although they were still very scared by it, some had questions for Elijah. Not the children, but their fathers. Francine’s father, Mason Raines raised his hand. "Elijah, did your Grandfather ever tell you where on the mountain he found the runestone, or the entrance to the cave? I was only asking because some of us are still brave enough to go back and search for the treasure. We could all use the riches for our families and to help the town prosper." Elijah smiled at him and answered, that his Grandfather didn’t say where on the Mountain he found the runestone slab or the entrance to the cave. Just that it was on the north side of the mountain, the side that faced the town of Torrington Bay.

Outside the Moore house, as the parents bundled up the children and themselves to walk short distances to their homes, a few of the men gathered together and told their wives they would catch up to them in a few minutes. The group of consisted of three men, who were talking amongst themselves about the story of the treasure as they were now interested in finding the riches if it did exist.

The leader of the group was Mason Raines, one of the experienced miners and farmers in the town. He and the others gathered together along with two other men, Lang Finley and Corrigan Lennox. Raines knew they had to pick a day and time to search the mountain for the exact location of the runestone, but it had to be in daylight and with many other men to help them.

Look, on Sunday while most of the whole town is gathered together in church we will tell our families we have to clear out the coalmine at the bottom of the mountain. Water has been flooding it from melted snow and this will give us the perfect excuse and time to stay clear from the town folk as we search for the treasure. Mason tells his friends the plan and they agree to search the mountain on Sunday.

"Mason, we should start out early, we’ll need the daylight to