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“Shall we?” I said, gesturing toward the path leading into the woods. Alex nodded eagerly and we set off, ready for an adventure.
As we hiked deeper into the lush forest, our feet crunched over the carpet of fallen leaves. Shafts of sunlight streamed through the canopy above, dappling the trail ahead. We chatted and laughed, simply enjoying each other’s company and the natural beauty all around us.
After about a mile, the trail opened up into a small clearing. I paused, taking in the view. The meadow was dotted with wildflowers - purple asters, yellow black-eyed susans, and tall grasses swaying gently in the breeze.
“Oh, look how pretty!” Alex exclaimed. But as we stepped into the clearing, she gasped and grabbed my arm. “Hannah, what is that?” she asked in a hushed voice.
I followed her gaze and felt my stomach drop. Scattered across the grass were bones - too many to count. They looked like the remains of animals. I spotted a skull and several femurs, all picked clean.
“Bones...” I murmured. “But what happened here?”
Alex shook her head, her face pale. A heavy silence fell over us. The birds and insects had gone quiet. Even the flowers and grass seemed to bend away from the skeletal remains.
“It is a wild forest,” Alex said. But this was too many bones for any kind of wildlife situation I could think of.
I shuddered, suddenly feeling like we were being watched. The shadows beneath the trees appeared darker, more menacing. This place that had first seemed so idyllic now felt eerie and wrong. But I couldn’t just walk away without examining the bones first.
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and approached the bones slowly. As disturbing as the scene was, my veterinarian instincts kicked in. I needed to examine them more closely.
Crouching down, I scrutinized the remains. The bones were weathered, indicating they had been here for some time. Gingerly, I picked up a femur and turned it over in my hands. My blood went cold.
“These are canine,” I said to Alex after a moment. “See the slope of the femoral head? And the length compared to the tibia?”
Alex just stared at me wide-eyed. “I know better to ask if you’re sure, but...are you sure?”
My heart ached at the sight. There were far too many here and I knew something sinister happened.
I noticed teeth marks on some of the bones. It was impossible to tell just from a cursory look whether the marks were made during the kill, or by scavengers later. But it didn’t matter. Because the breaks I saw, the remodeling…it was obvious that these animals were injured and healed before they ultimately died. Probably many times.
My stomach turned as I put the bone down and mentally calculated how many dogs’ remains lay here. I grabbed my phone and took as many photos as I could, capturing the scope of the bone yard and the detailed markings that left my blood frozen. The more evidence I captured, the more I knew…
“We need to go, now,” I said, standing quickly and taking Alex’s arm. She didn’t argue as I led us swiftly from the clearing.
Alex and I hurried back down the trail, my mind racing. I considered the possibilities, trying to think of a logical explanation, but not much made sense. The only things that did sent a shiver down my spine. I thought of Bear, still clinging to life back at the clinic.
“Han, you’re really freaking me out,” Alex said, glancing back nervously as we moved swiftly through the trees. “Should we tell someone about this?”
I hesitated, uncertain. “Yeah, we should. But it’s probably gonna open up a whole can of worms.”
Theo needed to know. I just hoped he would believe what I had to say.
* * *
My heart hammered with a sense of urgency that matched the rhythmic thumping of waves against the shore in the distance. It was impossible to ignore the swell of responsibility rising inside me and the ocean’s persistent roar seemed to echo my inner turmoil—vast, relentless, and demanding attention.
“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath, rubbing my palms down the thighs of my jeans, feeling the rough fabric scrape against my skin. I couldn’t shake the images that had been haunting me since yesterday—the hollow bones in a makeshift graveyard. Bear’s innocent face as he slept off his surgeries. It clawed at my conscience, leaving raw, angry marks that screamed for action.
I stopped pacing and squared my shoulders, taking in a deep breath, tasting the salty air. “You have to do this, Hannah. Those creatures can’t speak for themselves.”
My resolve solidified, but it wasn’t enough to quash the gnawing anxiety that buzzed through my veins, as if my blood had been replaced with live wires. I needed support, someone to tell me I wasn’t about to stir up a hurricane in a town that prided itself on tranquil waters.
That someone was Sawyer.
I found him behind the bar at the Anchorage, his domain where he played alchemist, his tattoos a tapestry of stories beneath rolled-up sleeves. He flashed that cocky grin as I approached, the one that sent ripples across the room and directly into my chest.
“Hey, Doc. What’s got you looking like you’re about to take on Goliath?” he asked, wiping a glass with a white towel.
“More like a pack of Goliaths,” I said, leaning against the polished wood, my fingers tracing the knots and grooves like they held answers. “I need to talk to you about something serious.”
