One of My Kind

Chapter One

In the small town of Bethel, a strange tension hung in the air, thick enough to cut with a knife. The kind of day where every resident woke up feeling like they had gotten out of bed on the wrong side.

It wasn’t just the winter chill that left people on edge; it was an unshakeable feeling that something was off.

People exchanged uneasy glances, whispers of anxiety threaded through the community like a low hum. As Olivia Smith drove through the winding roads to the police station, she couldn’t shake the sense of unease that seemed to blanket the town. The streets, usually alive with chatter and laughter, felt eerily quiet.

Even the occasional bark of a dog or the crunch of snow beneath boots seemed muted. Upon arriving at the station, she found it buzzing with an unusual tension. The chatter among her colleagues was hushed, as if everyone shared a secret too heavy to voice.

Olivia greeted a few officers as she walked through the cramped hallway, noticing the furrowed brows and tight lips.

“Hey, partner,” Carter called from the back, his voice breaking through the thick atmosphere.

His presence was a comfort, a familiar face in a room full of uncertainty. Olivia offered a small smile, but even she could see the tension reflected in his eyes.

“Rough morning?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood as she settled at her desk.

“Just feels… strange today,” he replied, leaning against the doorframe. “Like something’s brewing beneath the surface.” Olivia nodded, her own thoughts echoing his.

As they went through their daily routine—checking reports, fielding calls—she couldn’t help but feel the weight of the day pressing down on her. The phone rang, and Olivia picked it up. A voice on the other end was shaky and frantic.

“You need to come out here. I found something… something by the stream.”

“What did you find?” Olivia asked, her heart racing.

“Bones. I thought it was just an animal at first, but… I saw a pelvis. I don’t think it’s from a deer,” the caller stammered.

Olivia’s stomach dropped as she exchanged a glance with Carter. The unease in the town suddenly felt more sinister, a shadow creeping closer.

“Stay there. We’re on our way.”

As they prepared to leave, Olivia's mind flickered back to her past. Memories she thought she had buried surged forward—times filled with fear, survival, and secrets that seemed to cling to her like the frost on the windows.

She had lived in a different place before coming to Bethel, a cabin in the woods that was always shrouded in mystery. It had been home, but there were unsettling bookings that lingered in her memories, things she could never fully explain. When they arrived at the hidden stream, the air was thick with tension. Officers were cordoning off the area, while the camper looked pale and shaken.

He gestured toward the ground, his hands trembling. “It was just supposed to be a quiet fishing trip… I didn’t think…”

As they examined the scene, Olivia felt the weight of dread settle in her chest. She was a woman used to understanding people and situations, yet the connection between her past and this discovery gnawed at her.

Later that evening, as she drove home, the cold night air pressed against her like a reminder of the secrets she kept. No one knew she lived in the woods, hidden away in a cabin that held her childhood memories.

Most thought she was just another orphan from an orphanage, but the truth was more complicated. Inside that cabin, she had left behind a life that felt both familiar and foreign, with shadows that whispered of the past and choices made long ago. As she reached for the door handle of her car, the world around her blurred.

One moment she was there, and the next, she vanished into the cold night, leaving nothing but silence in her wake.