“Does anyone want to wager a guess?” Professor Barn taps his yard stick against the blackboard. Upon it, a long and complicated Equation of the Week lay unsolved Monday through Friday as usual. No one caught his eye. “Brandon Hughes? You’ve hardly contributed all year. Any ideas?”

Brandon made unwavering eye contact with the Professor, his bottom lip trembling. “I-.. I..” He stammers. The period bell rings. Professor Barn sighs and throws a fist into his palm. “Ah.. Well, see you all on Monday then. Have a nice weekend. Travel home safely.” A handful of Brandon’s peers look out the window at this and just now notice the sudden downfall of snow.

An absolute mass of students pours out of the school’s front doors; filing into their respective buses and cars. Brandon shuffles quickly past them all toward the trail beside the school, his typical route home. His sneakers sink into the snow as it accumulates, an inch or so already past his ankles. He tries to rush but he can’t go as fast as usual due to the weather. At home, his younger brother is no doubt about 5 minutes from home on his bus and will need Brandon to let him inside. Brandon being older by 6 years earned him a house key on his 15th birthday. Just 3 months ago.

The forest looks so serene and peaceful in it’s blanket of white sparkling snow. Every branch and rock fully covered. Brandon stares forward as he walks, about halfway home now. He spots a red-tailed hawk soar across the trail way from the east to the west. The flash of red grabs his attention against the bright white landscape. His vision follows it until he can no longer see it. Before he can evade it; a large rock meets Brandon’s sneaker and trips him up. He stumbles and tries to catch himself but ends up falling face first into the snow. He coughs and sits up; wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket. That’s when he sees it. A pool of thick red liquid that’s melted the snow just beside him. The substance leads off to his right; trails deep into the woods. He stares in the direction of the trail for a moment. His brother needs him to be home in a timely manner but.. He’d never seen such a thing in his woods before.

Brandon grew up here. He knows this area and these woods quite well. He spent many summers exploring them to nearly all of their edges. If he’d gone off to the left; he would end up on Old Man Barty’s property. To the right, he’d end up in the deeper parts of the forest. There were countless caves, cliffs and wildlife. Trees for miles in every direction if you manage to find it’s center.

He pauses. He takes a few steps parallel to the trail of red liquid. He inspects the substance and deems it is definitely blood. Fresh blood, no less. Warm enough to melt the freshly fallen snow. A few more paces. He tries to gaze down the way at what this trail might lead him to be cannot see very far. Brandon continues along the path of blood, curiosity getting the better of him. He pauses again and lifts his left sleeve; checking his watch. 2:47pm. His brother will have been home by now, waiting in the snow.

He sighs, feeling somewhat torn. He should be responsible and go home to his brother. But he had never stepped outside of his normal. He could solve a mystery, a murder, a kidnapping. Why wasn’t he frightened? It hadn’t crossed his mind.

He takes a few more steps down the trail of blood; careful not to disturb the trail itself. Following it deeper into the forest; he turns and looks back every so often. After a few minutes, he comes to a cave. There is blood splattered all around it’s entrance, even dripping from the cave’s mouth. Snow has nearly encapsulated the cave, making it’s entrance very small and narrow. Brandon tries to see down into it, craving the excitement and the mystery, but it is pitch black inside. He is hesitant to actually touch any of the blood and he would have to in order to enter the cave. He sighs loudly and combs fingers through his hair, considering his options.

“Mmmm!” emits from within the cave and Brandon’s mouth falls open. “Hello?,” he murmurs.