Paranelope, a ghost hunter who's been cancelled for faking evidence, must discover the truth behind a local cryptid in order to clear her name.
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Penelope, better known as the ghost hunter PARANELOPE to her millions of followers, has only ever want...
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The bird croaked like it understood and then took off. It flew to the branch of another tree a little further away and looked back at her expectantly, waiting for her to follow as she said she would.
With a deep breath, Penelope took her first tentative step, like she worried the forest around her might melt away, revealing the scene to be a dream at last. The world seemed as steady as ever, so she kept walking. As she walked, the neon tape stretched out behind her from its place in her pocket. She wove between the trees, winding the tape around their trunks, sometimes stopping to wrap it around a branch or two. This would make sure her path was marked. That way, she could find her way back—or someone could follow her trail after her.
The bird waited patiently as she did this. It didn't seem to be in any hurry, as long as she was following.
When she reached the tree the raven was sitting in, it took off again, flying to a tree a little further ahead. She caught up again and it flew off to the next tree. It kept up this hopping gait, slowly but surely leading her to its destination.
More of its kind flew overhead, calling out with their guttural cries. Where the tree canopy thinned in places, Penelope could catch a glimpse of the hundreds of black birds streaking across the grey sky overhead. They were all flying in the same direction...
The same direction her little raven guide was leading her.
Suddenly, the woods opened up onto a strip of bare ground. It was almost out of nowhere like she blinked and there it was. It wasn't quite a meadow, more like a wound in the lush green, where the ground was suddenly a deep rocky divet where nothing grew, not even grass. Her raven guide flew easily across the gap and sat in a tree on the other side, beckoning her onward with its silent beady stare.
Penelope lingered on the edge into the rocky gap. Something about this space felt like a border, the point of no return. If she crossed this space, she might not come back.
She couldn't help but wonder if this was where Daevon, Xander, and their crew had ended up. Had they crossed over here? Penelope twisted a lock of her hair as she debated it.
