One By Night and Other Collected Tales

Filed Under "Suspected Grizzly Attack"

Ranger Calypta pressed the palm of her hand to the fresh paw print in wonder. Four-toed, shaped like a canine track, only spanning wider across and longer than any canine she knew of. The shadows pooling inside the imprint swallowed her hand whole. She rose and faced the witness.

"Tell me again what you remember, Ms. Fauria."

"It's Mrs. But you can call me Moss," she replied, shifting her weight from foot to foot, eyes darting between the tracks and the ranger, taking in everything and nothing at once.

"Moss. What did you see? Hear? Smell? Any detail could be helpful."

"I was hiking my usual trail, a bit slower than usual. This was my first solo hike since becoming a new mom three months ago. Trying to savor the precious alone time while the guilt nags with every step. That maternal bond pulls, you know? Like a rubber band stretched taut. You have kids?"

"No, I don't."

"So, I was hiking rather casually when I passed a very striking young woman."

"Right. Can you describe her?"

"She was carrying a purple leopard print backpack. I noticed that first. A little extra for hiking, but it suited her."

"And you've said the torn pack we recovered matched the one you saw."

It was more a statement than a question, but Moss nodded anyway.

"Good. What else did you notice about her? You've called her striking. How so?"

"My sister does hair. She set up my Instagram for me, you know, to help me promote my poetry, and she's always sending me posts on hair. The woman I saw. Hers must've cost a fortune. I think you'd call her a smoky brunette with chocolate mauve highlights. Very on-trend. Long, layered curls and long bangs that framed her face. Cassia, my sister, would have loved her look. God, and now she's..." Moss's sharp, almost-elven features crumpled. Tears glimmered in her sage green eyes.

"We don't know anything yet. Please, I know this is hard, but you're doing great. What else do you recall?" Calypta softened her tone. "Please."

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I kind of mentally scoffed at her, taking selfies on a hiking trail. I passed her, even slow as I was going. Then I picked up my pace a little bit, hoping to avoid conversation. God, if only I had..."

"None of this is your fault, Moss. Something might have happened to both of you if you'd stayed behind. But what happened next? Even if you didn't see anything, what did you hear?"

"Screams. No words, just guttural moans and shrieks. She sounded absolutely terrified. I'm not proud of this, either, but I ran as far and as fast as I could then ducked into the tree growth off the path to hide. But by the time my heart had stopped hammering in my ears and I caught my breath, everything was silent. I steeled myself and threaded my way back to where I'd seen her, keeping to the trees. And that's when I saw it."

"What did you see?"

"The pool of blood back there. Only for a moment, it was on fire."

"Fire?"

"Eerie blue flames, kind of dancing over it. Hypnotic, almost. I don't know how long I stared in mute incomprehension. But then the flames winked out, like they'd never been there. And I got a grip on myself and saw the tracks and ran to find you, back at the ranger station."

Calypta's expression remained inscrutable under the brim of her stiff brown uniform-issued hat. She gazed long and hard at Moss as though trying to figure out what to do with this last detail, how it fit into the narrative.

"Right. Thank you for returning with me to the scene to walk me through what happened while the rest of the team scours the parks for the...bear...and the young woman. Would you like to call someone? Or I can escort you back to your car?"

"My husband. I should've been home by now, I think. What time is it, even?"

"A little after seven."

Missing persons toyed with the case, figuring maybe something spooked her, and she got lost off-trail. A casual hiker wouldn't know the woods so well. Moss must've navigated them before, as Calypta mentioned in her report. The pines are dense enough to block the path from view in most places, after all. The day of the interview, Calypta had noticed what appeared to be a digital compass strung about Moss's neck. No doubt that had come in handy. She made sure to mention that detail, as well.

What she didn't report, what she whispered to her partner in the dark, months after not a scrap of human remains were discovered, were her darker suspicions. What if the "striking woman," later identified as Nora Jade by family, had been eaten all the way down to the soles of her shoes, leaving only the backpack behind? Or maybe she'd been dragged body and soul, screaming all the while, straight into the gaping mouth of hell.