Pulling up in front of a old white Victorian house with a white picket fence, you would never know that something terrible had happened here. It looked so normal and so like what most people dreamed about when they thought of their futures. However, this family was now anything but normal. Walking up the sidewalk to the door, there were drawings of flowers and other random doodles, making my heart tug at the sight. Surprise, surprise Barrett got to the door first. After knocking, a bedraggled woman opened the door. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes were puffy with dark circles.

“Can I help you?” she said in a sorrow-ridden voice while wrapping her arms around her body. I am surprised she was able to open the door because she looked so frail and broken. I couldn’t imagine how she felt right now.

“We are the agents from the Paraoffice. We are here to try and figure out what happened to your daughter.” Ethane replied in a soft voice, looking the woman in the eyes with a face filled with genuine concern. Surprised by how gentle Ethane was with her, I wondered if they always let him do the talking, at least at first. He seemed to emote a calm presence that set the woman at ease, at least a little anyway considering the circumstances. I really needed them to stop being amazing, my heart couldn’t take it.

“Oh yes please come in. We have been waiting for you.” she said, pepping up as if we were the ones who could fix all her troubles. I hoped that was the case, but sometimes it just didn't work out like that.

“I am gonna take a look around outside if you don't mind.” I said, hoping to miss all of Draven’s persuasive mojo and see if I could try to find a trail or anything that looked out of place. I was glad then that the men would be talking with her and not me because I hated giving parents any type of false hope, something my presence did just by being there sometimes. Without having to make introductions I could get right to work and not be distracted by my sympathy for the family.

“Yes ma’am. Please do whatever you feel is necessary.” She said with such hopefulness that it broke my heart a little bit. See, my sympathetic heart hurt with that one statement.

Breaking off from the guys I started to walk around the house. On the side there was a swingset and what looked like a sandbox. It smelled so crisp out here. I could smell the trees of the forest in the backyard. I pulled out the charm that would let me see traces of leftover magic. I slipped it on and started looking over everything on the side of the house. Seeing nothing I moved to the backyard. There was a small kiddie pool and a bicycle under the shade tree. I continued to make my way back until I saw a faint red wisp of something leading into the woods. I had seen many different colors, but never red. I had no idea what had left this trail but I was gonna find out. I probably should have let the guys know what I was doing. However, I was fully capable of taking care of myself and so I continued on, even with the warning voice in my head telling me to go back.

Pulling out my poisoned knife from my thigh holster, I followed the trail deeper into the woods. The further I went the brighter the color got, and I could smell a faint trace of sulfur, it tickled my nose as I breathed. What the hell had I stumbled upon? Hearing a faint voice to my left I got into a defensive position and eased my way towards the sound.

“Help” I heard as I drew closer. The voice so small and quiet that had I not been listening I would have missed it. Searching around all I saw was trees, until I looked further to my right and saw what looked like a small, pale hand. Jumping into action I headed straight over, coming up to what turned out to be a small girl who had been covered in leaves. I dropped my knife while checking for a pulse. I looked her over, finding bruises on what I could see of her arms and legs but I saw no blood. A good sign. She was not the little girl we were looking for but she must be another victim.

“Hey there little one. My name is Gwen. Are you hurt anywhere other than your arms and legs?” I said gently pulling her into my lap to cradle her. She couldn’t have been older than eight. She seemed so small and frail in my arms. I vowed to kill the monster that would hurt such a small child.

“Please help me.” She replies looking up at me with her pale green eyes and dirty face. She looked terrified and helpless. My heart broke for what she must have been through.

“Can you tell me what happened? I am gonna call for help.” I said getting out my cell phone to buzz the guys. I knew that I would need their help if the monster came back. It would probably take more than me to protect her, especially since none of us knew what we were dealing with.

“NO! Please just help me! Promise that you will help me find a way back home.” She screamed slapping my phone from my hand. The vehement answer stunned me and again made me wonder what she must have been through.

“Its okay. I promise that I will do whatever I can to help you.” I said rocking her softly in my lap, hoping to get her calm enough to where I could call in for backup. I needed to make sure that she could understand that I was trying to help her and not forcing her to do anything.

“Anything no matter what it is?” She asked staring at me. Her eyes felt like she was looking into my soul. Weird and creepy. My spidey senses started going off but I reminded myself that she was just a little girl, not something that could harm me.

“Yes. I promise no matter what it is I will help you.” I replied. No sooner than I had spoken those words, her hand flew out and grabbed mine like some kind of strange handshake. Shit! I knew I should have listened to my senses.

“Deal,” she replied in a voice that only could be described as something out of my nightmares. I tried pulling my hand back but it was like she had super glued them together. As I struggled to get free, I watched as the little girl turned into a man with glassy dead, red eyes. I froze. It was in that moment that I was sure that I was about to die. I couldn’t move, the only thing I could do was stare at the creature who was about to end my life.

“Our deal is done.” The creature man said as my body slowly started to heat. It started in my hand and moved its way up my arm and through the rest of my body. At first it was like I had laid in a warm bath but soon I became completely engulfed in the feeling. It got hotter and hotter until I felt like I would explode.

The man finally let go of my hand, and I fell into a heap on the ground. Whatever hold he had on me dropped as soon as he started walking off into the woods. I tried to move but I was burning from the inside out. I writhed and screamed on the forest floor for what felt like hours before a huge bear came barreling through the woods to stand in front of me. Closing my eyes to focus on breathing, I tried to calm myself and make sense of what I was seeing but my brain was scrambled. It felt like I had just worked out and every inch of my body was sore. It hurt to even breathe.

I could hear what sounded like someone talking but I couldn't focus on anything. Everytime that I opened my eyes everything was so bright and vivid that I had to close my eyes because it made me nauseous. The noises were just as bad. I wished I could turn my ears off. I could hear everything and it was overwhelming and making my already throbbing head throb even harder. I was slowly lifted up off the ground, but my eyes refused to open. All I could do was hope that whoever or whatever had lifted me would keep me safe as I fell off into oblivion.

“Does anybody have any idea what happened to her?” I thought I heard but I still couldn't move or open my eyes. I decided to just lay there. I could feel what felt like a soft blanket on top of me.

“I have never seen anything like it. What happened to her black hair? She even smells different. I have no idea what we should do, but I don't think we need to tell anyone what happened till she wakes up.” That came from a voice that sounded like Barrett. Wait, what's wrong with my hair? I started freaking out. My anxiety levels started to skyrocket and I could feel my breathing pick back up.

“It will be okay Gwen. We are here for you, and will take care of you till you wake up.” Donovan said, his delicious chocolatey sent washing over me. I could feel him pick up my hand and hold it in his. That calmed me down way more than it should have.

Slowly slipping back into oblivion, my last thought was that if I could just wake up I wouldn't waste another minute with all of my teammates.