She looked up from her computer monitor, reaching for the Rip-it open on her desk as the clock began to chime twice. Out the window a full moon could be seen shining down as she continued through another all-nighter. One thought above all others ran through her mind: How do I find her?

She removed her glasses and massaged her temples, trying to regain the obsessive focus that had previously possessed her as she scoured through digitized documents long-ago photographed, entered into a database, and forgotten by the librarians and researchers at universities throughout the world. It was not easy going, and it took a singular sort of mind to continue at this research in the manner she had been at for the past month. And this particular set of documents was the worst. Not only was the text in a sloppy hand that precluded it easily being scanned and turned into a format friendly for word-processors, the writer used all sorts of big words to show off how “learned” they felt they were. While she was rather confident in her vocabulary that didn’t extend to Latin, a language she had little actual practical education in.

The use of Latin in this document in and of itself was a pretension, with the writer treating it as an academic text as prestigious as any other university text on philosophy or law. Latin was the language of academia for the longest time, it only makes sense it would be used by someone in a text they felt was just as important in an academic environment. The primary readers of this text would have been university students or clergy; it was really no inconvenience to them back when this was written. But for a modern amateur researcher trying to decode this grimoire, it was torture.

There were other theories too on the usage of Latin for magical texts. Cornelius Agrippa, in his famed writings on occult philosophy, discussed the importance of language in the use of magic. He discusses the importance of the word, or rather Word with a capital letter. Language is structured intention, after all. But his specific thoughts on the matter were that the closer a language was to the original language that existed before the Tower of Babel, the better.

He pretty much just thought “the older the better” when it came to language used in magic, and the only saving grace of this all is that so many of the occultists she had read decided Latin was “old enough” and didn’t bother with Hebrew, which Agrippa felt was even better than Latin for magic. That’s why so many occult texts and magic circles you see have random Hebrew letters; they thought it was better. Or rather, they felt it was closer to the language used by God at the creation of the world, and therefore retained more of that power of creation in shaping reality.

Medieval occultists and magicians really were a pious lot, despite the modern conceptions to the contrary. Everything was focused on a Judeo-Christian world-view. They may have summoned demons, but in their minds it was the power of god that gave them control over demons. Every other text or book that describes summoning demons involves using faith, usually Christian or Jewish, to control angels and demons to do the bidding of the magus.

Even the association of the pentacle with the occult comes from these beliefs. Much like the exorcism rights of the Catholic and other churches, the magician invokes Christ. And for protection they also rely on Christ, and the five-pointed star that symbolizes the five wounds of Christ. In Christ’s name they would command demons, exorcise them, or dismiss them from service after using them to do their bidding. Which is all fine and dandy for them, but that does jack shit in helping her find the one she’s looking for: Rose Snyder.

One day she had just dropped off the face of the earth, after getting separated from her friends while hiking. It was a case that garnered some local attention, but like most cases where people go missing it was quickly forgotten about by all but those closest to the one who disappeared. Not that she was as close as she had wanted to be with Rose, but she felt she was close none the less.

In many ways it was almost disconcerting how quickly the public forgot about the case, despite how weird it was. Her footprints just disappeared on the trail, like she was picked up by a UFO or some flying creature. They were distinctive footprints too, as she was wearing heeled boots that no reasonable person would have worn on a hike if given the chance. And there’s no mistaking the boots she was wearing, as they were found a ways down the trail. On top of a rocky outcropping, on her neatly folded jacket. Inside of the boots were her car keys. The papers had no idea what to make of this, and dropped coverage soon afterwards.

Even trying to locate Rose or her remains went poorly. No visible tracks were located beyond where her footprints disappeared, though search dogs alerted to her sent at random, disconnected spots throughout the woods where she disappeared. After several weeks the regular search dogs were swapped for cadaver dogs, who detected no scents outside of a few deer lost by irresponsible hunters. It was just weird, and most people don’t want to deal with weird. Rangers, Search and Rescue, and Fish and Game cops have enough weird to deal with, so after a few weeks they chalked it up to just more weirdness and left it at that.

Things got even worse when it came out she had thousands worth of unpaid taxes. In the minds of the authorities that made perfect sense. She staged her disappearance to avoid paying taxes. Simple as that. While that did technically mean there were still people looking for her, the IRS was doing so under the assumption it was a willing disappearance rather than a serious issue of a girl lost in the mountains. Their attempt to repossess her possessions to get their pound of flesh led to the ATF being brought into the mix. Naturally, as another tax-collection agency, albeit ones with delusions of being law-enforcement, they took issue with what was at least a thousand dollars worth of unpaid NFA taxes.

So the authorities long abandoned the unexplained disappearance. It fit their agenda much better to view Rose as a fugitive from “justice” rather than a victim. Her fists clenched in anger at the thought. Those scum, treating her Rose as a common criminal. There were other, deeper reasons for their treatment of the disappearance of Rose, but that doesn’t change the disgraceful surface level explanation of her “flight from the law[sic].”

Even an initial look into the circumstances brought up dozens, if not hundreds, of similar cases. There were even several documentaries discussing scenario’s eerily similar to Rose’s case. The clothing, the location, the weather, even her heritage, all played into a series of unusual cases. The explanation of it all was kind of milquetoast “hell if we know” but it was a starting point.

That led her down a rabbit whole of mysterious disappearances and the idea of their being “specific locations” where these things would be most likely to occur. The previous mentioned documentaries suggest there are areas where one might be able to find more signs of this sort of thing happening. The one that’s garnered the most attention was one oddly named “Skinwalker Ranch.”

A unusual place. Countless documented cases of interactions with entities, UFO’s, cattle mutilations. The ranch house had numerous cases of apparitions and paranormal activity, cryptid sightings were endemic to the property, and UFO’s were seen going in and out of what the layman would outright call inter-dimensional gates.

It sounded promising. This place was a hot-spot of activity, but that doesn’t mean nothing of the sort ever happens else-wear. UFO abduction, as outlandish as it sounds, would fit the “footprints disappearing out of nowhere” bit about Rose’s disappearance to a “t.” But somehow, it seemed to be lacking. Despite her firm belief she was heading down the right track, she couldn’t seize her Rose back from aliens, at least not with current technology. There had to be something she was missing.

Maybe there was something behind the cryptids? There was one case discussed in the history of that Skinwalker ranch, where they see a large wolf. It seems friendly at first, until they see it attack a calf on their ranch. Despite shooting it, the creature manages to flee, leaving behind rotting flesh. That sounds rather...unscientific. Rather, it sounds like something stolen from a fantasy novel. Then there’s the unusual cases of spectral happenings in the ranch house in that case. Despite all the UFO stuff and talk of inter-dimensional gates, cattle mutilations, and phenomena generally associated with sci-fi, the core of everything seems rather folklorish.

Spooky lights in the desert brings to mind Roswell, jackrabbits, Area 51 and glowing green men. Spooky lights in the Appalachian woods, on the other hand, brings to mind haunts, ghosts and mysterious backwoods spirits. Framing can make a difference in how this thing is perceived, after all.

If someone is primed to think UFOs, large spooky dogs that smell of rotting flesh seem like an alien experiment. If you place those same spectral hounds on say, the moors of England or a churchyard you get a Grimm foretelling future misfortune. Oddities in a ranch house are one thing, but in a stuffy Victorian mansion the first thought is a haunting. So maybe, the answer is less science fiction and more “Occult.”

And maybe, just maybe, there are stories of this going back centuries if not millennia. That the disappearances are happening is a fact, but it’s not like there’s any evidence of it happening in the past, right? Wrong. Just think of it. Someone going into the woods, and they’re called to by a light. Or a mysterious piper offends the burghers of a town after ridding them of rats, leading to all the children of the town being led into a cave to disappear forever.

The answer is fairy tales. Myths of lone hunters wandering into the woods and coming across angry bathing goddesses who turn them into stags who get eaten by their own hounds. Those who wander into the woods and get stalked by fearsome, almost human wolves. Giants, fey, ghosts, wolves, elves and witches. People who wander into the woods and find a tower with a fair maiden who lets down their hair for a prince. Those who wander into the woods and come across a cheerful witch, who offers them food and fattens them up…

“Fairy Tale” or not, it was clear to the girl, drinking her energy drinks as she renewed her research; Rose was in danger, and needed to be rescued. Before she gets eaten by the archetypal wolf or witch of the fairy tale realm.