_It all started with the old cars hidden in the woods_.

“Weirdest case I’ve ever done,” muttered Talon as he read over the file he’d been given earlier that day.

He read about all of the cars in the woods, and how they had been there for over a decade, some even more.

The young detective was on his way to Garhound National Park, a trail that led through a deep patch of woods in a giant valley.

He pulled into the parking lot. There, a cheerful lady was waiting for him. He opened the car door and stepped out. “Hello, are you Shelly McLaun?”

“Yes, I am, Dectective Talon. Pleased to meet you— let’s have a walk in the park while I tell you what’s going on.

“You see, I started looking into it a few years back,” she began as they walked along. “I was a young lady visiting this trail for the first time. As I hiked, a man walking past jokingly asked if I was visiting the cars. ‘Cars? What cars?’ I asked. ‘The cars in the woods, of course!’ He replied. ‘They’ve been there for who knows how long!’ I went to visit the cars. They were so many different types of cars! From so many different decades. I knew something had happened so I looked into it.

“Turns out that around all the times the cars landed there, someone vanished. No one noticed, no one sent out anything to find them. They just vanished -poof!- from history. I also learned that this place has a history of ghosts… there have been many sightings.”

Talon looked cautiously around at the trees, watching as they became a little creepier. He shuddered involuntarily.

“But in any case, I know you’ll figure it out,” went on Shelly cheerfully. “Anyway, here we are!”

They had reached the first car. It was old, rusted, and on its side.

“Wow,” murmured Talon, bending down and touching it.

“Indeed,” said Shelly. “Come along! There are more!”

She led him through the forest, away from the path and through the growing cemetery of old cars. Talon would never have admitted it, but the forest was gettting creepy.. and he was quite fearful. Morover, Shelly appeared to have no fear at all and strode on so confidently as though she knew exactly where she was going. Talon forced himself to remember that she knew this place, having been so curious about the mystery.

“Perhaps we could get back to the trail,” he suggested in a voice that showed signs of fear.

“Sure,” replied Shelly. “It only makes sense.”

They finished off their walk and headed back to the parking lot. Talon hopped in his car, waving to Shelly through the mirror. He watched as she waved back before pulling out of the parking lot, speeding away from that creepy place. He shuddered a little, reflecting how Shelly had seemed a little weird.

He turned to make sure he still had the files on the backseat and was shocked to find Shelly sitting there, smiling maliciously. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open.

“Shoot,” he swore. “What are you doing here?? HOW?!”

“Oh, I just wanted to point out how you’re not taking the shortcut,” she smiled.

“I don’t know how you got here but you need to get out right now and—” he stopped as he looked into Shelly’s eyes. They were swirling… magnetic. He gazed deep into them, noticing how weird he felt. But it was a good kind of weird…bubbly, almost. He wanted to look into her eyes all day.

“Oh, I think the shortcut is a _really good idea,_” Shelly said.

Without noticing, he subconsciously turned the wheel, still gazing into her eyes. The car spun onto a road that ended up ahead, shooting anyone who drove off of it into the air high above some deep woods.

At the last second, Shelly vanished. Talon blinked, turned his head around, and noticed, finally, the cliff ahead. He yelled in disbelief but it was too late. He shot off the end of the road before plunging into the woods.

Shelly walked up to the car and pulled out the dead body. The she-vampire sucked the blood out of Talon’s body and burned his body. She left the car and turned, wiping her mouth, to discover another she-vampire standing there.

“Hey, sis,” she said.

“You really go out of your way to create drama with your victims,” sighed her sister, Daisy.

“Of course! It’s half the fun. And the adrenaline and terror really hype up the blood,” Shelly grinned.

Daisy shook her head. “You do you, then.”

They both vanished away to their castle where they lived.

As for Talon, well… he was forever forgotten. No one ever thought about him again- it was like he never existed.