Nightmute, Alaska is a small town on the south western coast of Alaska. It is a very small town that doesn’t attract much attention from the rest of the county let alone the country. Many wonder why the town was founded in the first place, there aren’t enough trees for logging, aren’t enough fish for fishing, whaling is illegal, and it is totally cut off from the rest of Alaska for 9 months of the year. Only the old story teller in the town knows why it was founded…
It was 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War. Many soldiers had gone missing during the fighting and neither side knew what had happened to them. Most of the missing men had deserted during the battles rather than be killed, wounded or captured. These men knew that they could not return to their homes or they would be punished for deserting so they set out west and north across North America. They traveled through the U.S. and through Canada into what is now Alaska.
The men came from the North and the South with many differences, but one thing they had in common: they could never go back. The outcasts settled on the coast of Alaska in the most remote area they could find. They didn’t really worry about being found because not even the Inuit natives could find their village unless led in by the townspeople.
Now these men lived in peace for 2 years but eventually, a fight broke out. The two parties were the two most prominent men in town and of course, one was a former Northerner and one was a former Southerner. The fight occurred over land. The Southerner believed that the Northerner was building on his land and naturally the Northerner believed that he was building on his own land. The verbal fight almost escalated into a brawl that day, but luckily one of the men who had lived in a border state heard what had happened and calmed it down. The man was named Kazik. He was of average height and build with dark black eyes. He had black hair that looked constantly wind blown. He had light skin without a trace of a tan.
Kazik was the self appointed peace keeper in the town. His musical voice carried weight and he simply had this presence, this air of authority. People rarely crossed him and never did they continue after he had a little chat with them in private. They would disappear the next night never to be seen or heard from again. Kazik maintained that they simply ran off, but there was much speculation as to what actually happened.
Despite Kazik’s intervention, it took a while for the tempers to cool. Kazik was used to being obeyed immediately and did not like being ignored and yelled at by either party. That night, Kazik showed up at the Southerner’s house at five minutes to midnight. The Southerner was startled, but let Kazik in. Once Kazik was in the door he placed his hand on the Southerner’s shoulder and spun him around to face him. Without a word he pulled the man to him and bit his neck. Kazik drank until the man was dead then let the man’s limp body slide to the ground.
Kazik left that man’s house and ran next door to the Northerner’s house and knocked on the door. It was five minutes after midnight, but the man let Kazik in. Kazik walked in and grabbed this man’s shoulder and spun him around. Kazik pulled the man to him and bit him. He then proceeded to drink his blood until this man was also dead and left him lying on the ground too.
The next evening, both men were found with bite marks on their necks lying just inside the door. The people of the town went running to Kazik’s house to report the unnerving murder. Kazik opened the door and walked outside, but he was not the Kazik they knew. Kazik now had blood red eyes and his skin was pure white. He moved with an unearthly grace and spoke with a gentle cadence that made his earlier voice sound coarse. The town’s people were shocked at the transformation. No longer did Kazik’s presence give off an aura of safety. They were all on edge and afraid of this new Kazik, he seemed dangerous.
The townspeople explained the murders to Kazik including the curious bite marks on the necks. They were clumped together for safety. Fear, something they had never felt before in Kazik’s presence, invaded even the bravest hearted of them. Kazik looked around disdainfully at them and wondered why he had ever bothered abstaining from drinking their blood. He was drunk on the power coursing through his body and he gave in to it.
In just three hours, all of the townspeople over the age of 25 were dead and Kazik stood alone blood running down from his mouth. His hair blew wildly in the wind and his eyes were crazy, daring one of the survivors to challenge him. A moment only he stood like this and then he ran, reveling in his power and speed. That night, the town was absolutely silent and still.
Every 25 years Kazik returns to once again scour the town of all those over 25. That is the reason there is always a storyteller. The storyteller remembers the story and when the next culling will be. It is his job to make sure the town never forgets its origin. That is why it was named Nightmute, in honor of those murdered every 25 years and the town is silent and still for one night.