Fort Oakley | Part One

6 | The Woods Ate My Homework (And A Few People)

Sunday morning didn't come easy.

The woman I had heard last night had haunted me throughout the night, sending chills down my spine each time I woke up gasping from a nightmare, her scream echoing in my ears.

Nightmares weren't knew to me—I've had recurring ones since I lost my memory, waking me up most nights with the same sense of dread I experienced in them.

I had gotten used to them by now, but the ones I had last night filled me with real fear.

There weren't wolves or bears in our woods. No predator big enough to cause someone to scream with so much fear as that woman had last night.

It could have been an owl or a red fox, my logic told me, but I wasn't so sure.

After I had heard the scream, I had hightailed it out of there , fear clawing at my lungs until I made it to Claire's house.

Even there, the fear didn't leave me, wishing for once that Claire hadn't built her house in the middle of the damn woods.

She had been asleep when I locked the back door and made sure every other entrance was closed.

When I woke up this morning, I wanted to tell her about what I had heard, but a part of me feared that she would respond like she had to me telling her about Elvin.

So I kept it to myself, the scream replaying through my head as Claire and I walked to church.

Very few of Fort Oakley's residents attended the church in town, the majority of them rather driving several hours to the one in Clement, including Claire's parents.

As a result, our church only consisted of about thirty members, including Reverend Beckensell.

All of who were now gathered outside the church with the police, surrounding an area that was bordered off with yellow police tape.

"What's going on?" Claire murmured as we approached the group, and I saw a white sheet on the road.

"I understand you all have questions," Lieutenant Andino told our churchgoers, looking at them in what seemed to me like disdain. "But the FOPD is not permitted to disclose any information before an official investigation has been conducted."

Claire and I joined the group and I froze, staring at the white sheet that was covering a body on the road.

Part of a feminine hand was sticking out from under the sheet, the fingertips raw from probably clawing and scratching at something,

Oh my god.

"Is it someone we know?" I questioned, still staring at the hand.

This had never happened in Fort Oakley before. Sure, our resident went missing every few years, but other than that, there was no crime in town. No burglaries, no thefts, no assaults, and certainly no bodies turning up in front of our church.

I felt Lieutenant Andino's eyes on me, but I didn't look at him.

"All of our residents are accounted for."

Except those who went missing, I wanted to say, but decided to keep my mouth shut.

"We have a right to know what's happening in our town, Diego!" Ms. Saby shouted, earning herself a look from Lieutenant Andino.

"And I have the right to remove anyone threatening to contaminate an active crime scene from the vicinity, so I suggest you step back, Camilla."

Just then, a black SUV pulls up to the curb in front of us, and a man with sandy blonde hair wearing a suit steps out of the car. He reaches into his pocket as he approaches us, his sunglasses hiding his eyes. He pulls out a badge from his pocket, flipping it open and presenting it to us. "I'm SSA Clayton Vance and this crime scene is now under the FBI's jurisdiction."