"You should have seen them. It was absolutely bizarre. They moved with such speed and skill Dad. Honestly, I just wish you could have seen them."

I was rampant, but I genuinely couldn't help myself. I was still in awe at what I had witnessed in gym class at school. I paced back and forth in the kitchen of our new house. "I mean these girls were completely inhuman! The way they played basketball, they were better than actual professionals!"

My father sat watching me intently from the kitchen table whilst eating a bacon sandwich. His eyebrows were furrowed in heavy confusion, probably trying to decipher my irrational ranting.

"They sound like good players honey." He acknowledged and I came to a sudden halt before sighing sluggishly. "And congratulations for making the team."

"Thanks dad ... I'm sorry, it's just there's something really weird about this town that I can't quite put my finger on." I apologised realising I had probably been wrecking my father's head for the past hour going over and over at what had happened in school. "I think I'm just missing the city. Sort of like withdrawals you know."

My father remained silent looking at me before getting off his seat to go place his plate into the sink to be washed. "Look kiddo, I get what you mean. Things are pretty odd here."

"Odd is an understatement. The sooner you finish this case so we can move on the better." I grumbled in response shaking my head in disgust at the thought of having to stay here for more than a few weeks.

"About that..." My father trailed off before turning to me. No, I knew that tone. "From the information I've gathered today it looks like we could be here for a while. Longer than usual that is."

He was being serious. No, no, no. "Why? Why what did you find out?"

"It's classified-"

"Dad." I warned urging him not to vex me any further.

"Well I can't say much, but well you know how in the diner yesterday Orla and Tommy had said how they recognised one of the bodies to belong to a group of hunters that came into town about a month ago? I got video footage of their license plates and well it's pretty much a dead end. It's like these people never existed. They've no DNA matches, and their license plates don't even exist on file. Whatever is going on here in this town ... well it's a lot more complicated than I had thought. "

This place unsettled me so much. Why did we have to come here. Why did my father have to be sent to an investigation such as this.

"Now this is classified information. Don't go running around telling all your new friends." He warned me and I stayed silent looking down at my feet. I didn't have any friends to tell.

"I better head out. I told Orla I'd head up to the rangers cabin in the reserve to have a chat with them before six. Apparently more snow is on its way."

My father looked eagerly to the clock that was on the wall that's hands told the time of 5.45 to be exact. I looked out of the window and the snow had ceased off but everything still remained covered in a thick blanked of white.

"Can I tag along?" I asked suddenly. I don't know what had gotten into me but I felt as though I was meant to go along with him. Maybe it was my minds way of telling me I didn't wanna be alone out of fear.

"You want to come?" My father spluttered out in shock. "You never want to come with me on my job errands."

"I know, I just really don't want be alone right now."

I didn't have a better explanation than that. I didn't really fancy staying home bored and alone waiting for him to come back. Besides he was only going to meet with some rangers.

"I dunno kiddo. I don't think this one is such a good idea. This kind of ... situation ... that I'm about to attend to is not suitable for a seventeen year old girl to sit in on."

"Dad I'm not a kid. Just let me come say hello and see what the inside of the reserve looks like. That's all I'm asking. I promise I won't get in your way." I persisted.

"I've never been to a town like this, let alone one with a forest, hills, scenery... Animals!" I continued on. "This could be a good experience for my college application. As a future student vet I might get called to go out to sick animals in reserves."

I could tell he was already starting to crack up under the unrelenting pressure I was forcing upon him. My father scoffed and rolled his eyes before smiling over at me in amusement at my far fetched whine. He never could say no to my petulant insisting and witty reasoning.

"Alright, alright, fine. But you stick close to me Eliza, no straying away." He ordered pointing a finger in my direction and I eagerly nodded my head in agreement and anticipation like a five year old child.

I grabbed my coat and darted for the jeep parked in the snowy driveway outside before he changed his mind. It was still windy and freezing outside much to my dismay but at least the snowfall had subsided.

As I threw on my seatbelt in excitement my father pulled out of the driveway carefully and made a venture towards the entrance of the forest reserve just at the end of the town. As we turned up into the reserve entrance the icy road instantly started to thin out and become more country like. The Land Rover started to hop up and down as the suspension fought to stay balanced tackling the many deep potholes and gradients in its path making my father curse lowly under his breath.

A large wooden cabin came into view at the side of the ongoing road not too far in. It was made from red oak and a large terrace surrounded the entire building. Many different vehicles were parked up outside, a Land Rover much like ours in particular had a ranger leaning up against it with a mobile phone held up to his ear.

Taking notice of us he ended the phone call promptly and moved away from the vehicle towards our jeep as we pulled in. Without wasting any time my father turned off the engine and got out. I soon followed trailing behind him making sure to stick close as he approached the man in a direct manner shaking his hand and introducing himself right away. He was eager to get straight down to business.

"Good evening. My names Michael Jones and this is my daughter Eliza." He spoke pointing towards me. "Orla sent me up. Told me to ask any questions I have regarding the case at hand."

My father didn't hesitate to start debriefing the situation directly after he was finished with the formal introduction. The two began talking directly about the bodies that were found, the animal attacks and the disappearances that has been happening over the past many years. I listened carefully to their conversation making sure not to miss any vital information regarding the case.

"In the files I noticed some of the land within the reserve is private property. Have there been any investigations into that area?"

"Private property?" I mumbled below my breath confused. Father hadn't mentioned that detail. How odd. Reserves were designated forests and natural areas which are under judicial and constitutional protection under the legal system. "Aren't settlements forbidden within reserves?"

"Well there's a small village deep within the reserve but we've never had any problems with the people that live there. They've owned the land within the reserve for as long as anyone can remember. Long before the reserve was even created. They keep to themselves mostly and come down to the town every so often for supplies and what not. Overall they've been very co-operative offering to send people down to help with the search parties and such."

And that's when it dawned on me and realisation hit me. In class earlier the blonde girl had mentioned something about Sophia and her friends being 'reserve kids'. When I had asked Sophia if she was a local she had mysteriously answered saying I guess so. It all made sense now.

"Sophia and the girls on the basketball team are all from there." I voiced aloud to my father who looked over at me alerted.

"Yea the kids that live up there all go to the school down here. We see them all walking by every day after school." The ranger agreed smiling at me.

"There's a lot of people up there then?" My father further questioned the ranger, however his gaze remained fixed on mine. This changed everything, and I could see by his face that he had an entire new list of questions to ask.

"Well I wouldn't say a lot, there's quite a few though." The ranger hesitantly replied not getting at what my father was so worked up about.

"Have you been to the settlement yourself?"

"Several times as a matter of fact. It's quite the trek in, it's nowhere near where the animal attacks and disappearances have been taking place. They did let us search their land several times but it was also a dead end." He sighed sounding defeated and drained in regards to the matter.

"We have no leads regarding the disappearances. There were also no tracks of any kind at the scene of the incident either, which is why we called you. But please Mr Jones, let us talk inside. The rest of the rangers and such will help fill you in on everything that has happened with more detail." He suggested making an inviting gesture towards the front door of the cabin.

Listening to them talk about the gruesome details of the attacks wasn't really something I wanted to hear. I was used to hearing about my father's line of work but my stomach wasn't as strong as his when it came down to the gory details. That part of his job was something I held no interest for.

"Do you mind waiting around for a little bit Eliza?" My father said apologetically.

"It's a nice walk up into the reserve, why don't you go for a walk dear? Your father shouldn't be too long." The ranger suggested smiling at me.

"I'd rather not. That sounds like that start to a very bad horror film to me." I answered quickly and my father was quick to agree.

"I don't think that's such a good idea with all these disappearances and -"

"No young girl should have to sit and listen to us adults talk about matters such as these." The ranger interrupted my father urging me on much to his annoyance. He did not seem keen on the idea at all and I could see by his expression that he was uneasy.

"No, I'd really rather she didn't. You don't mind sitting in with us do you Eliza?" He asked trying to remain calm and composed but it sounded more like a subtle worried demand. I could read him all too well.

Even though I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of walking within the reserve, nonetheless by myself, I really didn't want to sit and listen to the gory details he was about to be exposed to. Plus if Sophia and the rest of the kids walked up here every day after school it couldn't be that dangerous right?

"Dad, I'll be fine I'm just going to stretch my legs. If the ranger thinks the main path is safe then it'll be ok. I'll go a hundred yards or so up and then I'll come straight back. I have my phone on me in case of an emergency."

I reached out and gently grabbed my father's arm giving him a reassuring smile.

"He says it's safe dad. I won't go far, I promise."