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November always brought with it a haunting mystique. The air smelled of damp and decaying leaves and hints of smoke from chimneys as mothers stoked burning logs in their fireplaces, their homes warmed by the ambient glow. Darkening days were clouded by a mist that could not be quelled, a biting chill in the air reminding all who felt it that their time enjoyed in the great outdoors were drawing to a close for the coldest part of the year. A strange foreboding often hovered on the wind, though no one really knew why. One could feel such fear in their soul almost as real if it could be reached out and touched.
That fear-laden wind swept quickly from the north, plucking reluctant leaves from their branches, their last desperate cling to warm weather severed as their time spent above the ground dwindled second by second, fluttering and spinning toward the dirt to their final resting place, destined to decorate, then rejuvenate the soil for the next year’s generation. It whipped locks of fiery auburn hair into a tangled mass below the brim of her hand-knitted hat. She shoved her hands more deeply into her pockets, wishing she had remembered to bring the leather gloves left absentmindedly on the seat of her car.
This country road was nearly impassable now unless you had a truck, thanks to heavy rains that lasted all that spring and summer. Almost no one used it, especially since it led nowhere, making it the perfect place for a ramble where Andie could clear her mind in uninterrupted peace. Every small-town busybody, well-meaning or otherwise, seems to know everything, and some of the most likely offenders in Andie’s town often stopped you on your walk home from the store to ask you what was for supper, rolling down their windows to chat at stop lights, hoping for the latest dirt on anyone. There was no such thing as privacy when you lived in a town as small as Goose Creek, Tennessee. Eyelids drifting closed in contemplation, Andie stopped walking and thought carefully for a moment about her predicament. If she was going to break the news that she would not, in fact, be marrying the son of her mother’s best friend, she needed to choose her words very carefully. With a deep breath, she tipped her chin to the leafy canopy above. The dappled light coming through the foliage was red and warm through her eyelids.
Something rustled in the leaves beside her. Her eyes immediately sprang open, senses alive and tingling. Hand flying to the holster inside her waistband, she drew her handgun and racked the slide in one smooth motion, just like her daddy always taught her. A girl could never be too careful when alone in the woods. She took in her surroundings, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, before settling her gaze on a large and frightened rabbit. A half smile twisted up one side of her mouth as she lowered her gun. Silly thing to get worked up over. A little old rabbit that reminded her of the White Rabbit Alice met in Wonderland.
A few moments dangled in time as girl and rabbit stood, his bright red eyes locked with her own brown ones. The creature held itself as steady as a stone, the only perceptible movement a slight quiver from his whiskers as he surveyed the forest intruder, no doubt trying to decide if she was friend or foe. Soon the rabbit darted away again, bounding on a large pile of leaves as he made his speedy escape. His feet kicked the fiery red foliage into the air in his haphazard haste, but that wasn’t all that he disturbed. A single piece of paper peeked from beneath the leaves. Intrigued, Andie reached down to retrieve it. She was unprepared for the words she read there.
With horror, Andie quickly realized that she was reading a hand-scrawled page from a detailed and terrible manifesto. Even more horrifying was the realization that the words were written in blood. As she read, she recognized the words. They had been splashed all over the news reports for the last half of the year; a chilling and veiled warning from a killer more reprehensible than any in recent memory. The entire country had been on a manhunt for six long months. Even remote towns like Goose Creek had talked endlessly of the great mystery, although even those busybodies were just as clueless as the FBI seemed to be. From coast to coast, law enforcement had turned the nation upside down, following every clue in what was proving to be a wild goose chase. After turning over every rock they could find, it seemed this case was growing cold. But Andie had just stumbled upon something big. Very big. How fitting that such a goose chase would turn up in a little town with a name like theirs.
Breath caught in her chest, Andie tiptoed toward the place where the rabbit had disturbed the fallen leaves. She stretched out a trembling hand to brush away more leaves and uncovered a padded plastic postal envelope that had been hurriedly ripped open. A few pages had spilled halfway out of the package and looked to be more of the manifesto that had landed at her feet.
She stared at the discovery, her mind racing. Could this be the break in the case the entire country was waiting for? As if on cue, the wind kicked up again and revealed something even more sinister. Andie’s blood ran cold, seemingly draining her entire body of energy and bringing a sudden chill to her bones like a thermometer quickly dropping from red to blue.
A lifeless hand on the ground clutched the polymailer of evidence. If she had to bet a million dollars, Andie could guess what else would be found underneath the leaves in front of her. She backed away from the grisly scene, turning to run back down the road for help. One red leaf fluttered down from above, landing on the pile of blood-stained papers. Visible just below it was the most chilling phrase of all, “My bloody reign of terror has only just begun.”
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