The Art of Being Right

Running Alone

The morning had dawned grey and frosty, and hours later the sunset mirrored the cloudy beginning of the day. Dying rays of sunlight infiltrated the gaps in the leaves on the mountainside, illuminating the red, amber and gold leaves scattering the woodland floor. The peace was only broken by the quiet birdsong and the faint thud of footsteps on freshly fallen leaves that littered the trail snaking up the hill.

JJ inhaled steadily, listening to the rhythmic thump of her trainer-clad feet on the dirt. She'd been running for just over an hour, weaving her way between the trees as she followed her usual route. Her shift would be starting in a couple of hours; she had plenty of time to get home, shower and change before driving to the station.

It had been a quiet day - she'd spent most of it alternating between reading and re-reading all the files they had on the disappearances; noting down any important details, and cleaning around the house for when Wilson arrived. The guest room was made up and everything had been tidied up by early afternoon, so JJ had taken the brief window of opportunity and opted to go for a run before work.

She stopped at the top of the slope, breathing heavily as she leaned against the trail marker. The sun was sinking lower and lower behind the horizon, and somewhere in the distance she heard a dog bark. JJ turned to her left to look over the valley, eyes narrowing as her gaze passed over Arkfield.

She hated the place - when the disappearances had first started she'd gone with Spencer to ask a few questions and see if anyone had seen anything. The scientists they actually got a chance to question were less that useless; they were all arrogant and had an air of narcissism about them. There had been one in particular - the director of the facility - who JJ had been close to punching. His name was Conan, as she remembered, Elliot Conan. He was the biggest ass she'd ever met.

Conan was in his mid to late fifties, average in height but with enough obnoxiousness for a man twice his height. She was sure he was overcompensating for something; when she told Spence he'd laughed.

JJ was wrenched from the memory when her eye caught something in the dirt, a few feet from where she was standing. Cautiously, her hand flexed into a fist as she stepped forwards, glancing once over her shoulder incase anyone was around. Without a word she shuffled down the slope carefully, stopping at the bottom and taking a few more quiet steps forwards. JJ saw the glint of something metal, embedded in a patch of wet mud.

She crouched to get a better view, but when her eyes finally adjusted to the growing darkness, JJ wished she hadn't bothered looking.

"Oh God."