The Dark of Night

By Judy Lunsford

Dark fantasy short story collection:

• Alien Dreams
• Siren Bound
• The Fairy Army
• In the Light of the Full Moon
• The Rule of Three
• Pooka Deals
• The Cat
• The Sea Journal
• Number 37
• Touch
• The Burning

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Lunsford
• Release date: Oct 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201620035

Judy Lunsford

Born and raised in California, Judy now lives in Arizona with her husband and Giant Schnoodle. Judy writes with dyslexia and a chronic illness & is a breast cancer survivor. She writes mostly fantasy, but delves into suspense, horror, romance, and poetry. She has written books and short stories for all ages. You can find her books and short stories at your favorite online retailers.

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Copyright Information

The Dark of Night

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

Published by Judy Lunsford

Cover and layout copyright © by Judy Lunsford

Cover art copyright © A_Petruk/Depositphotos.com

Alien Dreams

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

Siren Bound

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

The Fairy Army

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

In the Light of the Full Moon

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

The Rule of Three

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

Pooka Deals

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

The Cat

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

The Sea Journal

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

Number 37

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

Touch

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

The Burning

Copyright © 2021 by Judy Lunsford

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Alien Dreams

*

Igot the call at three AM. The ringtone on my phone was the one I used for the unnamed bureau that sometimes called me in for consulting. I’d call them feds, but I’m not sure they have the oversight to qualify for feds.

These guys worked under the radar. And when they called, I answered. Because I’m fairly sure I would get disappeared if I didn’t.

In fact, I was certain that the only reason I wasn’t in some padded room somewhere in a silo, hidden away from the world, is because they kept me on a short leash. When they jerked on the leash, I obeyed.

I reached for my cell in the darkness and knocked it on the floor accidentally. I cursed under my breath and leaned over the side of the bed to find it. Luckily, it landed glowing face up, and in my shoe.

I picked it up and answered.

Hello?

Marshall? Get down here. Now.

It was the general’s voice. It must be serious. He never made calls himself.

Be right there, I said.

The line went dead. 

The general never minced words.

I got up, pulled on some dirty jeans and an old red hoodie with holes in it, and went out to my car. I stood at the door of my black ‘68 Camaro for a full minute before I realized that I left my keys in the house. As well as my shoes. I decided on my way back inside that I’d better stop for some coffee on my way to the super-secret location that they allowed me to drive myself to at this point.

It had been about a year since they stopped sending a small team to my house in an unmarked black van and putting a hood over my head to keep their location secret. They have been needing me too often to waste that kind of manpower and time. 

They let me come by myself, under the clear understanding that I reveal their location to no one. Or what they do. Or what I do for them, for that matter.

I stopped by a coffee shop on my way out of town and got a black coffee to go. I’ve learned to ignore the strange looks I get from the baristas for ordering such a simple drink. I hate all of the frilly crap that they pump into perfectly good coffee. Well, perfectly decent coffee.

I blasted the radio to keep myself awake as I drove down the highway with my windows down. It was a cool spring night and I could smell the scent of the pine trees as I got closer to the facility.

I exited the highway and pulled onto a hidden dirt road that I usually drive right past. I actually found it tonight, with the help of the light shining down from the full moon. It seemed larger and brighter than usual tonight. I should’ve realized that was some sort of omen when I saw it. But I didn’t. 

I drove slowly up to the front gates and turned off the radio as I pulled to a stop next to the guard gate at the entrance. Two uniformed guards were in the tiny little white booth. One was really young, the other, I knew.

ID? the young guard asked.

Hey, Jason, the other said.

Hey, Bruce, I answered back.

You know him? the young guard asked.

I knew Bruce. He had been one of the thugs that had black-hooded me on more than one occasion. We’ve become friendly acquaintances since all the kidnapping stopped.

Bruce pushed the kid out of the way. You get another call?

From the general himself, I answered.

We didn’t get a call, Bruce said, shaking his head.

As if by magic, his phone rang. 

Well, maybe not magic. Probably video cameras.

Yes, sir, Bruce said into the phone.

He hit the big red button that opened the security gate and waved me through.

I waved back and drove down the gravel driveway that led quite a way back into an overgrown forest. Cover for the small group of buildings that lay behind it.

I parked in my designated space in the lot and was met at my car by two more uniformed men.

Again, one I knew, one I didn’t.

Hey, Marshall, the taller one said.

Hey, Jackson, nice night, I answered.

Nice to have a few moments outside, Jackson agreed.

Those moments quickly came to an end as he and the other guard escorted me into the facility.

Before we stepped through the entryway, I paused to take one last look at the night sky and that huge moon. I breathed in the fresh air and the scent of the pine trees. 

This was a tradition since I had been driving myself. Mostly because I never knew if it would be the last time I was allowed to breathe fresh air.

I looked at Jackson and nodded and we stepped into the building.

The huge steel doors slammed shut behind us.

I always hated that sound. 

It was the sound of freedom being taken away. Hopefully not for good.

The smell of pine disappeared and the only thing I could smell was the over-cologne of the new guy.

I led Jackson and Private Over-Cologne down the stark white hallway. I knew the way at this point. I had walked these halls many times over the last couple of years.

When we got to the lab, I nodded goodbye to Jackson and he and Private Over-Cologne left me in the capable hands of Dr. Heloise Wessex and her security team. 

I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t even combed my hair. And I had coffee breath.

If Dr. Wessex hadn’t become a scientist, she could’ve been a supermodel. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a thick braid tonight. She turned around and nodded at me. Her beautiful green eyes were hidden behind her tortoise shell glasses, which meant things were serious.

I reached up to smooth my hair back and suddenly realized that driving with the window down had been a bad idea. Some sort of bird nest had entrenched itself on the left side of my head and all running my fingers through my hair achieved was getting my fingers stuck in the tangles. I decided to get a haircut as soon as possible and sighed. I gave up. My hair looked like I stuck my finger in a light socket. I had to deal with it.

The general was already in the room. He was short and portly and I could never understand how he made it this far in the military.

I remembered the first time I met the general. It was in this facility. 

I was out doing some grunt work for an insurance company. When times are lean, I tend to do a little contract work for a small local company. They know I’ll do the jobs they don’t want to.

They had just gotten off the phone with the driver. They said he was in hysterics and that I might need to deal with him too. The local authorities were on another call, so I had a good chance of beating them there because I just happened to be in the area.

They said the car was out in the boonies. That’s why they chose to send me. They thought the client was drunk, claiming he had been hit by a spaceship.

I actually had to go off-road to find him. I drove down some abandoned dirt road and I could swear that my GPS coordinates kept changing.

When I finally got out to the middle of the boondocks, it wasn’t hard to find his car. Because I’ll be darned if it hadn’t been hit by a crash-landed spaceship. Or really, he had driven into it. 

I’ll never understand how, even drunk, someone could hit a spaceship with their car, but this guy did it.

He was nowhere to be seen. But the general’s men suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I was surrounded by an army of vehicles and men in uniforms.

That was the first time I got black-hooded.

And I wound up here. 

Well, not here. It was over a year before they let me anywhere near Dr. Wessex or her personal lab. But in a white room with nothing in it but a metal chair that was bolted to the floor and a one-way mirror. I woke up on the white tile floor with spittle leaking from the side of my mouth. But at least I was dressed. There were quite a few times when they raided my house in the middle of the night and brought me here in whatever I was wearing that passed for pajamas on that particular evening.

On one very hot summer night, they brought me here in nothing but my boxers. That was the same night I met Dr. Wessex in person for the first time. It was also the night before I started working out.

Dr. Wessex approached me as I came into the room and put her hand out to me.

Thank you for coming so quickly, Mr. Marshall, she said. It’s good to see you again.

Good to see you too, I shook her soft hand. And it’s Jason, remember?

She smiled shyly. She was about to say something else when the general stepped in front of her, prying our hands apart, and started talking over her.

Let’s get to it, shall we? the general said. We have another atmo breaker. This one’s new. It crashed in a short-range ship. There has to be a mothership somewhere close that’s flying undetected. See if you can find out where.

He turned and led me to the window in Dr. Wessex’s lab. Above her vast number of very impressive looking computers and array of blinking lights was a one-way window into a large room with two gurneys in it. The gurneys were surrounded by another impressive array of machines, wires, and two lab techs in white hazmat suits.

Strapped to one of the gurneys was a small blue creature. It was definitely humanoid. Its wrinkled skin made it look ancient. It had large black eyes that stared through the one-way glass and right at me. It looked terrified.

That’s a new one, I said. 

We’ve never encountered this species, Dr. Wessex said. But we’re fairly sure it’s safe.

Fairly sure? I asked. Do I need to wear a hazmat suit?

No, I’ve been in there without one, Dr. Wessex reassured me. They’re just following protocol. The creature seems benign. And harmless as far as I can tell.

Alien species are never considered harmless until proven otherwise, the general said. "And even then, I still