Piper shook her head.“Not yet.It's just...sad.A life interrupted.”
They moved through the kitchen to the back door, which stood open to the yard.Two members of the forensics team were going over the backyard.Beyond the neatly trimmed grass, a path led into the woods, marked by more police tape.
“The body was found about fifty yards in,” Jenna explained as they crossed the yard.“In a small clearing.”
Piper’s steps slowed as they reached the edge of the woods.“The air feels different here,” she murmured.“Heavier.”
They ducked under the police tape and followed the path into the forest.The late afternoon sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
When they reached the small clearing where Claudia's body had been found, Piper stopped abruptly.The tree branch where the body had been hanging was marked with evidence flags.
“This is it,” Jenna said softly.“This is where we found her.”
Piper's breathing had quickened, but her expression remained calm.“Show me,” she said.“The pictures.”
Jenna hesitated, exchanging a glance with Jake.“Piper, these images are disturbing.Are you sure—”
“I need to see,” Piper interrupted, her voice steady.“I can't help if I don't understand what we're dealing with.”
Jake pulled out his phone, swiped through several screens, then handed it to Piper.“These are from before we lowered the body,” he explained.
Piper stared at the screen, her face betraying no emotion as she swiped through the images.Jenna watched her sister carefully, ready to intervene at the first sign of distress.But Piper remained composed, studying each photo with clinical detachment.
“Inside a wolf,” she murmured.
“Yes,” Jenna confirmed.“Just like in the story.”
Piper handed the phone back to Jake, then turned in a slow circle, taking in the entire clearing.She closed her eyes, her lips moving silently as if in conversation with herself.
Frank shifted closer to Jenna.“She okay?”he whispered.
“I think so,” Jenna replied, not taking her eyes off her sister.“She's listening for something.”
Piper had gone very still, her face turned up toward the patches of sky visible through the trees.When she spoke, her voice had changed—dreamier, distant.
“There's snow on the ground,” she said.
Jake frowned.“Snow?It's just October.”
“Everywhere.White and perfect,” Piper continued, as if she hadn't heard him.“So beautiful against the trees.”
Jenna stepped forward cautiously.“Piper?What are you seeing?”
“Snow,” Piper repeated, extending her hands as if to catch falling flakes.“And the sky...so pale it hurts to look at it.”
Jenna realized that Piper was somewhere else entirely, experiencing something none of the rest of them could perceive.
“I've pricked my finger,” Piper said suddenly, looking down at her hand with surprise.“On the thorns.It hurts.”
“There's blood,” she whispered.“Three drops of blood in the snow.So red against the white.”
Piper's body began to tremble, her arms wrapping around herself as if against a sudden chill.“Cold,” she murmured.“So cold.”
Frank moved swiftly to her side.“She's in shock,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over Piper's shoulders.
“Piper,” Jenna called, taking her sister's ice-cold hands.“Piper, come back.You're safe.You're with us.”
But Piper continued to shiver violently, her eyes unfocused, seeing a winter landscape that existed only in her mind.“Three drops of blood,” she repeated.“Red as blood, white as snow, black as ebony.”
