A storm was threatening to break over Silver Pines.

The winds throw themselves against the buildings as if trying to take the whole town down. Big black clouds loom above threatening to pour down on them at any moment. The threat of thunder rumbling above them, lights flash in the clouds but lighting never strikes.

Carol stands on one side of the two-way mirror. The cop side. Of course. Across from her is the girl who had started all of this.

No one had been as surprised to see her as Carol had been.

It had taken a few of the cops to recognize her, but Carol knew who she was the second she saw her in an embrace with Cooper. There was no one else he'd hold like that, so possessively and yet so gentle at the same time. As if he couldn't bear to let go, but didn't want to hurt her at the same time.

Carol had every right to be angry, she kept telling herself. This interloper had chosen to leave Cooper. She had no right to come back and stake a claim on him.

Still Carol can't take her eyes off of Ruelle.

She somehow manages to look perfect.

Stripped of her fur and revealing a black tank top and green cargo pants, she was nothing but sinew and muscle. She was tall, a bit taller than Carol, an easier fit to Cooper who always towered over her, who often complained about a crick in his neck after kissing her for too long.

Her hair was long and windswept but not tangled. Her skin was smooth though smudged in places and littered with scabs and scars. She doesn't look like she's lived in a forest for 18 years battling elements and animals, struggling to survive.

She looks healthy, strong, and worst of all beautiful. Like she stepped off the cover of a magazine.

Ruelle sits placidly facing the mirror. She hasn't taken her eyes off of Carol even though she couldn't possibly know that she was there. Her gaze is unwavering and intense. Sometimes it's so overpowering Carol can't breathe.

Her eyes are a mesmerizing shade of grey.

Carol forces her eyes away from Ruelle's.

It isn't fair.

That this girl could just walk back into Cooper's life after 18 years and fit so seemingly well.

That she could live in a roughened state and look like a model afterwards when one session at the gym makes Carol look like a sweaty mess.

That she was so obviously insane that she was probably going to end up in an asylum instead of prison. That Cooper was going to stay with her, no matter how far gone she was, and Carol was going to end up alone.

The door to the interrogation room opens and Andrew Paxton walks in. Carol feels the heat of shame crawl up her skin at just the sight of him.

They had gotten close while Cooper had been missing. He had been her confidant, her shoulder to cry on, and her person to kiss when it got too unbearable. Now whenever she sees him she feels dirty.

Ruelle's intense stare is now turned on Andrew and even he seems unnerved by it. Still he takes his seat and makes a show of going through the many case files. Ruelle's unwavering stare stays on him, her face placid and blank as she waits for her to talk.

"I'm Sherriff..."

"Andrew Paxton of Redbank," Ruelle answer for him. Her voice is light and airy, but it has a scratchy quality to it. Like she's losing her voice. Still it's nothing but a mere whisper like the sound of the wind on the plains.

"The forest knows you. Knows that your wife has left you for another man. That you crossed into our territory to hunt a deer. That the buck you killed you stabbed 47 times pretending it was your wife and her new lover," she tells him and Carol's back straightens. It's like she's on pins and needles. She knew that Andrew was in the process of getting a divorce but she never asked him why.

Andrew just stares at her.

"Shall I go on? I know a lot about your teen years too. Especially what you and your friends would do up at your grandfather's cabin..."

But Andrew had gotten up and left the room. Shutting the door quickly. Ruelle stares after it for only a few seconds before slowly turning her eyes back to where Carol is standing.

The need to scream stuck in her throat. For a brief moment something had passed over Ruelle's features. An almost animalistic grin, all smug and toothy.

The door opened again, this time on Carol's side and a flustered Andrew Paxton rushes in. His pale cheeks are aflame, his eyes are wide with panic, and his breathing is laboured.

"She can't know that. She can't have known any of that," he's whispering.

"So, what she said was true?" Carol asks and Andrew stiffens.

"She's not going to talk to me. We need someone she'll talk to," he says in way of answer which only proves that Carol was right.

She says nothing. She doesn't want to push him. She doesn't think she can shoulder anymore issues from immature men with ex-women stuck in their minds and branded on their hearts. She only stares at him. She knows the answer to the unasked question.

They have the only person she'll talk to in custody.

[----]

Cooper thought he'd get over the embarrassment of sitting cuffed to an interrogation table.

Turns out, one never gets over that sort of embarrassment.

He avoided the eyes of the cops passing him as he was paraded through the precinct. He refuses to look up from where his hands were bound, he tries to block out the voices burning through his ears, trying to not remember the look of betrayal on Ruelle's face. He didn't even want to know what Grandma Tala and Aaron were going to do with him.

He doesn't look up when the door opens. He doesn't look up when someone sits down in front of him. He knows it's Paxton, Carol would have said something by now, and seeing as he's the reason Cooper wasn't back in that cave with the woman he loves, he doesn't trust himself to keep quiet.

"How long have you known she's alive?" Paxton asks. He could tell him the truth, but he didn't want to tell them anything else or make it seem like he was deflecting.

When he remains silent Paxton continues. "I think you knew she was out in that forest all along. That's why you keep coming back here. I think you attacked her, you left her for dead, but she didn't stay dead. You figured she was harmless enough because she clearly went out of her mind and didn't remember anything but she's remembered, hasn't she. Recently too? That's what the message on the wall was about."

Cooper finally looks up. He can't help it. That pack of lies is laughable. Anyone who knew him knew he would have never left this town if he thought Ruelle was here. But he knew scare tactics when he saw them.

And there's only one reason this man came in here when he could have been in a room with Ruelle. Ruelle the key to blowing this case wide open. Ruelle who came face to face with this killer and survived... somehow.

"She won't talk to you," he whispers. "Right?"

Andrew Paxton stares at him, a frown on his face. The color rising from behind his neck and creeping up his face. Cooper's right.

"She may be more receptive to someone she trusts," Andrew admits.

Cooper just stares at him. He doesn't want to tell him that Ruelle barely trusted him before, she sure as hell isn't going to trust him now. He can guess what questions they want to ask and he already knows that not even she knows the answers. But he wants to see her. Wants to be near her during her time of need. To protect her if he can.

"You can't be in the room though. She won't talk if you're in the room."

Andrew stares at him for a moment. Cooper knows this is a gamble but he also knows she won't trust strangers.

She may not even trust him.

Besides, there's two-way mirrors. They can listen on the other side.

After a moment's contemplation Paxton uncuffs him, but takes a firm grip of his upper arm. He leads him out of the interrogation room to the second door down the hall. The door is opened and Cooper is shoved inside but he waits until the door is shut behind him before approaching the table.

He'd be lying if Ruelle's grey eyes on him the second he had him frozen in spot. He'd be doubly lying if he tried to tell anyone that he was fighting every urge to rush to her and pull her up in his arms.

His skin tingles under her watchful gaze, as he pulls the chair that Andrew left on the opposite side of the table over to hers. He tries not to look at her as he sits down in the spot beside her, even though her eyes are still watching him.

He spots their reflection in the mirror. That two-way mirror. He knows it's not just Andrew behind it, he can practically feel Carol's anger radiating out at him. He deserves it. He knows he does. And he should have felt bad for what was going to come next, but he couldn't bring himself to. Ruelle was his priority now. Not Carol.

He finally turns to her, their eyes linking and he's frozen all over again. He wants to kiss her, to hold her, to throw her up against a wall and screw her. But he can't do any of those things.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly and she shrugs. She too is cuffed to the table, her hands rest placidly on top of one another. The cuffs scrap against the table as she shrugs. The sound making him wince.

"Do you need anything? Water? Food? A blanket? You must be cold," he offers. Her eyes are piercing into him. All the way down to his soul.

"I need to go home," she answers in that soft voice he's getting used to. And his heart breaks for her.

"You can't, not yet," he replies. "There are questions that need answers."

She turns her eyes away from him. "They're going to take me away from the forest. I won't survive."

"It may feel like that but..."

"No, I won't survive in a room of stone and metal. I'm a creature of the forest and if I don't stay there, I'll die and the forest will die with me." Her eyes turn back to him.

He still can't get over that they're not really her eyes, not the green he remembers but a watered-down grey. But he sees something in them. She believes. She truly thinks that if she leaves Silver Pines she'll die. And he believes her too.

She'll wither away in an asylum. She'll lose her vibrancy and strength. They'll sedate and medicate until there's nothing left but empty glass clouds staring back at him. It would kill him to watch her fade away. It would kill him because he knew she wasn't going to get better. He knew it in the same way that he knew her eyes were the wrong color.

"They need to know what happened Rue," he whispers. "You need to tell them."

She must know what he means by that because her eyes don't blink once as she whispers: "You're not ready."

"Rue, it might save you," he pleads but she stubbornly shakes her head.

"The forest will pass judgement. The forest will punish. Mortals shouldn't get in the way," she argues.

He sits there for a minute watching her. Her fingers are tapping against her skin and against the table. It's a nervous tick. She never did well sitting in one place for long. While she was good at school, it was hard to keep her focused without her tapping against something.

"Don't let them take me away Cooper," she whispers. She turns back to him and for a moment he swears that he can see a bit of that grass green flash in her eyes.

His heart flutters in and out of his chest. It's the first time she's called him by his name since he found her. In this moment she isn't strong impervious Silver Sight. She's his Ruelle again. Scared and reaching out for him. Or at least she would be if she wasn't cuffed to the table.

So he puts his hand on hers.

His warmth seeps down into her cool hands. He ignores the angry heat he can practically feel radiating from the mirror. Their eyes link once more and he stops caring about who's watching. Nothing else matters outside of this moment.

"We'll get through this," he tells her.

And their fingers intertwine.

[-----]

Grandma Tala had felt the shift in the forest and knew immediately that they had taken Ruelle.

By the time the winds had started howling and the storm clouds had gathered she had informed Aaron and he in turn went to gather up the people.

They hadn't questioned him when he told them that the cops had taken Silver Sight. They had gathered up their courage and their righteous indignation and headed to the station with their pitch forks and fires burning. Not in reality but in their eyes and spirit.

As Ruelle's only immediate family Grandma Tala went in with Aaron. They were immediately greeted by the acting Sherriff and Cooper's angry girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend now judging by the redness in her aura.

They stared each other down as Aaron and Paxton spoke. She could see the pain in Carol's soul. The cracks where the grief was turning into rage.

"I want to speak to my granddaughter," Tala says, interrupting the two men speaking. She's not used to not getting her way. She can already tell by the worry lines on Paxton's face that he'll try to deny her.

"Ma'am, your granddaughter is very ill, she needs professional care," he tells her.

"No, she needs to be with her family," Tala argues. "We'll take care of her."

"More like release her back into the wild and we'll never find her again," Carol shoots back.

Aaron opens his mouth to argue, even though that's exactly what they were going to do. Tala doesn't give him a chance to respond.

"Child, I told you to let him go," she says instead. Carol blanches and shoots a glance to Paxton who is now staring at her with narrowed eyes. "That boy's heart was lost to you before you got here. Before Ruelle turned up again. Taking your anger out on my granddaughter will not make your pain go away."

The woman across from her recoils as if she's been slapped. But it doesn't take her long to recover.

"Your granddaughter is a threat. She could hurt herself or others. She needs to be locked up. For her own good," Carol snaps.

Tala wants to tell her that she knows nothing about Ruelle's good. That Carol harbors nothing ill intentions towards Ruelle. That her need to send Ruelle away didn't come from a place of healing but from a desire to create distance between Ruelle and Cooper. But arguing will get her nowhere and she needs to see if Ruelle is okay.

"I want to see my grand-daughter," she repeats, this time with more of her trademark sternness. Andrew Paxton flinches under the weight of it. He is one blow away from cracking so she adds: "Now," to her command.

"Only for a minute," he says and then waves her away. Aaron has donned his Chief Alo armour and is wearing it to bear down on the cops who stand on the sidelines whispering. His glare dares them to say something to him or to her. None will say anything to her, she knows it, fears of Indian curses echo in their minds, not that she'd waste any of her waning magic on them.

She follows him to a small room where she finds that Ruelle is chained to a table with Cooper beside her. He seems distraught to be told his time with her has come to an end. Reluctant to let her go. But he stands as he has no choice. The guilt she sees in his eyes when he spies her is enough for her. He is colored with it. Ashamed of what his actions have wrought. There is nothing she could say to him that would make him feel worse. Nothing to say to make him feel better.

Knowing full well that Aaron would cut him down the second he saw him.

The door shuts behind Cooper and Andrew and Ruelle is alone with her. For the first time in years it isn't those unfamiliar grey eyes staring back at her but green eyes the color of the forest in spring.

"Nana?" she asks.

It's the first time she's used that nickname. After being called Elder for more than ten years this was a miracle.

"What is it baby?" she asks coming to sit beside her granddaughter.

"Are you disappointed in me?"

A wry smile dawns on her lips. Tears well up into her eyes. She's not sure how it's happened but her granddaughter is starting to come back. She hugs Ruelle's narrow frame and inhales the smell of pine and storm on her skin.

She may have her granddaughter now, but Tala knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ruelle would always belong to the forest and it would only be so long until it's hold returned to her and took her back.

[-----]

Aaron is on him as soon as he's brought out into the holding area. Carol has her back to him and refuses to turn. Aaron says nothing but his eyes say it all. He's livid. He blames Cooper. Which is fair because Cooper blames himself.

Aaron has the smarts to not say anything to Cooper while they're in the police station. Admitting that he and Grandma Tala knew that Ruelle was alive all these years could be seen as either second-degree knowledge after the fact or obstruction of justice. Cooper would be stupid to think that he'd escape the angry lecture he so deserved, it just wouldn't come here or now.

Outside the precinct came a clamour of voices joined in a chant.

Free Silver.

The Sharrows had brought the people. With their pressure they may just be able to argue for Ruelle's release. When Andrew Paxton returns there is a grim frown on his face. Like he has bad news to bear down on them.

"I've spoken to my superiors," he tells them. "I've told them about our findings, about Ruelle's unstable mental state and the mob outside. They've decided it would be safer for everyone if we were to transfer her to a secure hospital to get her the help she needs."

"She's not unstable," Cooper argues. "Sure, she's confused, but she has been calm throughout all of this."

"The woman thinks that she's the guardian of the forest," Carol snaps turning around for the first time since Cooper's return.

Her brown eyes are a light with a fire that he knows is pure rage. Though Ruelle had never been a talking topic between he and Carol he knew that she had always been a sore point. Probably even more sore now that Ruelle had returned.

Was it really that obvious who he'd pick when asked to?

Who was he kidding? Of course it was.

He wants to yell at her. He wants to shout that Ruelle was harmless. Tell them that she can't leave the forest. She'll get sick. It'll kill her. It'll kill him.

"I don't think you'll be able to get her past those people," he says instead nodding towards the door.

"You let us worry about that," Andrew tells him and then walks away.

Aaron follows him leaving Cooper and Carol alone together for the first time since he had been arrested. Her angry eyes stare him down and he finds that he's not too ashamed to hold her eyes. He didn't ask her to come here with him, he didn't expect to find Ruelle on this trip, not alive anyway. None of this was planned. And while she has every right to be angry it's not like he set out to cheat on her, even if that's exactly what he did.

"I know you're mad at me," Cooper breathes out. "And I deserve that."

"Shut up," Carol snaps and Cooper falls silent. Not because he's scared but because he knows it'll be easier if he just lets her talk. "I'm going to ask you some questions and you better not fucking lie to me."

Cooper nods. Carol deserves some of the truth. Not that she'll believe it or like it. This wasn't the kind of truth that would make her happy in the end. But if it was what she wanted then he'd give it to her.

"Did you know she was alive?" she asks.

"No," he answers. He opts for simple answers. The long answer was No, for if he had he never would have started anything with Carol in the first place.

"How long have you known she's alive?" she asks.

"Not long, a few days," he says.

"Was she where you were the second time you went missing?"

"Yes."

It is that answer that doesn't require any further explanation. Carol looks at him with new eyes. She sees the invisible marks, the claims Ruelle has left on him. She takes a step back. He doesn't have to tell her what he did all that time he was with her. She knows.

"I love her Carol," he finds himself telling her. He doesn't know why he does. He doesn't know that Carol already knew that and has hated Ruelle for it. "I've loved her since I was eight years old. I know that's not fair to you, and I'm sorry. But I can't turn it off and I know this sounds ridiculous but if we take her away from the forest she's going to die. I don't want to watch her wither away to nothing in a padded cell. Please Carol, if you cared about me at all, you'd help me."

Carol glares at him.

"You're as crazy as they are," she spits out and then storms away leaving him handcuffed and leaning against the desk feeling like nothing more than a failure.

He lost Ruelle once. He wasn't going to lose her again, not after he had just found her. Not without a fight.

[----]

Aaron comes into the room in a cloud of worry. As if Tala doesn't have enough to worry about.

Ruelle's mind seems to be unravelling right before her eyes. One minute she'd be grassy green eyed, confused and lost, the other she'd be that stoic grey and silent girl that had come down the mountain that winter. The pain was starting to set in. Her breathing staggering, seams of the white scar were starting to redden and if she stayed here any longer, the scar would start to bleed.

She hasn't started to cry, yet.

A rare smile blooms on Ruelle's face. "Aaron," she breathes out.

For a minute Aaron stares at her, he's in shock. It's the first time she's recognized him. The first time she had said his name.

"She's remembering," he says to Tala and she nods.

"Not by much, but a little," Tala replies.

He leans against the two-way mirror and stares at Ruelle. There's a longing there that burns Tala's fragile heart. Aaron had been mourning his cousin since she went missing all those years ago. He had all but given up on finding her, on getting her back, and now she was returning to them. Just as something terrible was starting.

"You have to listen to me Rue," he says to her. "These people want to take you away from the forest. You have to tell them what you know."

Ruelle blinks her eyes. "The truth," she whispers.

"Don't tell them you think you're Silver. Don't tell them that you've been running around with Spirit Guides and the talking to the forest. Tell them a man took you, held you captive and you just got out."

"But that's not the truth," she replies, her eyes are starting to fade grey again.

"Ruelle, if you don't, they're going to take you away and there's nothing I can do to stop them," he pleads.

But those flashy silver eyes are back and for the moment Ruelle is lost again. The forest has its hold on her, it can reach her even in this place. Tala imagines that it is trying to keep a hold of her, trying to keep her mind under its influence. She doesn't believe it's doing so to harm Ruelle, but instead to save her.

She just wished she knew from what.

"The forest won't allow it," Ruelle tells him.

"Ruelle, be reasonable. What is the forest going to be able to do? Does it have the spirit of a lawyer to send you?" he snaps.

"I am not Ruelle, I'm Silver Sight, voice of the forest. And the forest will protect me."

Aaron swore and the door came open. Andrew Paxton appears, a healthy dose of fear is his eyes as he eyes Ruelle. As if she may lunge across the table and rip out his jugular. As if she were a wolf herself.

Andrew pulls a chair in after him as Tala is sitting in the only chair in the room and he's not about to ask the Elder to stand.

"I'm only going to ask you one simple question," he tells Ruelle and she placidly stares back at him, her face a mask of blank indifference.

"What happened to you up on that mountain?"

He is met with silence. Ruelle stares at him as if she didn't understand the question.

"I came to be on the mountain," she tells him and now Andrew is the one who's confused. To be fair his simple question was anything but. She had given him the truth, it wasn't her fault he didn't understand it.

"Are you or are you not Ruelle Sharrow," he asks her.

"No," she answers.

"Then who are you?" he asks.

"I am Silver Sight, eyes and voice of the forest," she replies and Aaron lets out his frustrated breath in a simple sigh.

"And what happened to Ruelle?"

At this Ruelle leans forward and Andrew edges a bit back from her. It's a fraction of a millimeter but Tala picks up on it. She can also see that Ruelle's eyes have started to glow so faintly that under these lights Andrew might miss it or blame it on the glare from the fluorescent above her.

"Eighteen years ago, one of your own murdered Ruelle Sharrow and left her in the forest. Eighteen years ago, the forest brought her back, gave her a purpose, made her me. Ruelle Sharrow is dead and I am all that's left. I am the voice of the forest. I have been hunting the darkness that lurks there. I will be delivering its justice. And no mortal shall be able to stop me."

Tala sighs to herself as Aaron swears and looks away. Well, that was that decided then.

They wouldn't be able to stop them from taking Ruelle away.

[----]

It took the whole Police force to keep the people at bay as they took Ruelle to the car. They were all in a frenzy screaming about racism and freedom for their freedom fighter. Carol had wanted to yell at them that she was crazy and they had no right to feed her delusions.

Once they had her handcuffed to the grab handle above the back passenger seat Andrew got in the driver's seat and Carol got into the passenger. They were using a black SUV to transport her and a Squad car to get them city the town limits just to make sure no one intervened.

Carol tries to ignore Tala's heavy warning, the one that was hurled at her as she was trying to get Ruelle out of the interrogation room. It weighs heavily on her. Like it's a noose tightening around her neck.

You'll understand what we mean when she starts to come apart in front of your eyes.

Aaron and Tala had been trying to explain that taking Ruelle away from the forest would kill her. Literally. But Carol didn't believe it. Her anger had made her cruel. She hoped, with every fiber of her being, that their warnings were true.

Then she could have Cooper all to herself.

There is no talking in the car. They're not even listening to the radio. So when Ruelle gasps they can hear it as loud as if she had screamed. She brings her knees to her chest as if trying to curl into the pain. When her legs go back down there is a sticky darkness pooling at her stomach.

"What the hell is that?" Carol asks as Ruelle shudders again.

The darkness continues to spread slowly up her shirt. Carol watches in muted horror until she sees it spread up to her neck. It's the scar, the one they had catalogued when shevwas found, the thick white line that travelled from navel to neck and met the one that slashed across her neck. The edges of the scar have reddened and begun to leak, the white peeling back and up as if she was being carved anew.

A whimper of pain escapes her mouth, blood is starting to trickle from her lips, her nose, her eyes. Carol had wanted this. But now that it was in front of her she changed her mind.

"Holy fuck I think she's actually coming apart," Carol breathes out to him but Andrew doesn't hear her.

"Something's following the truck," Andrew tells her and she turns.

It's there in the shadows of the forest edging the road. Something massive darting in and out of the trees.

It doesn't look like a person.

It looks like a horse.

Birds have taken flight. They darken the sky with their wings.

The clouds have followed them, the wind throwing itself against the sides of the truck.

The sky has finally opened up, lighting strikes trees as they go past, thunder rumbles like a warring drum, the rain is coming down in torrents.

This is too much for Carol. Too much for her rational mind to comprehend.

There is no such thing as spirits.

There is no way Ruelle could commune with the forest.

There was no way the forest could come for her, no way it could help her escape.

"Stop. Please," Ruelle whispers. "Help me."

Carol turns to her. She wants to tell Andrew to pull over to gauge how bad it is. But when Ruelle's eyes meet hers again the eyeballs are rolling back in her head. The pain vanishes from her face, the silver all but takes up her eyes. Carol even swears that they're glowing.

Brace.

It's not her voice. It's deeper, lower, and masculine. A mist escapes her mouth, like she's breathing out cold mountain air. As if the air around her was cold and chills run up Carol's arms.

"FUCK!" erupts out of Andrew's mouth.

She turns in time to see a giant bear in the middle of the road.

It is standing on the border of Silver Pines and the rest of the world. The edge where the forest of Silver Pines ended.

It was almost as big as their SUV, scars ran down its muzzle, spears and arrows jutted out of its hind quarters. Its dense brown fur is matted, there are bald patches. But it's those black eyes, they glitter and glare at them, like it knows what it's doing, that it had been sent just for this purpose.

It opens its giant mouth and roars at the oncoming vehicle.

Andrew is desperately trying to break in time but he's noticed the bear too late and they're going to crash into it. Brakes are squealing, the car is skidding and in a desperate attempt he swerves the car, right into the trunk of a tree that is in the process of falling into the road right in front of the bear.

Upon impact the car flips.

Carol can do nothing but hold on as her world turns around her.

She feels the freefall she's in as an almost slow motion. She has held the grab handle, her face stuck in a painful silent scream. Every inch of her tight and taunt. When they hit the ground she's jerked and tossed around. Seatbelts leave bruises, glass crashes around them, sparks fly and the water trickles into the car.

There is silence in the car when it finally stops moving.

There is no groaning.

No movement.

The engine is silent.

The world is silent.

Carol is cocooned in pain.

It wraps her up in agony, so bright it blinds her. She's sure she's been unconscious but she doesn't know for how long.

She forces herself to loosen her seat belt. Uses all her strength to pull herself out of the car. Glass cuts her hands and lacerates her through her jacket and pants as she crawls out through the shattered windshield.

It's what she sees when she's out of the SUV that makes her question whether or not she's alive.

Ruelle is free.

She stands in the middle of the road flanked by the bear the size of a car and a Stag with the forest living on its back.

Fireflies dance around her, the silence is heavy and oppressive. Her silver eyes are still glowing and as she stands there the fur grows back on her skin. She morphs, her features elongating until that wolf hood is staring back at Carol.

Free from the haunting silver eyes, Carol finds her voice.

"What the hell are you?" she screams.

But silence meets her. A giant bear turns, shuffling off into the forest. Ruelle and the deer bow their heads as it leaves. When it's gone, those silver eyes find hers again and the air is knocked out of her body.

I am Silver Sight. Voice of the Forest.

Carol wants to shout that she's crazy. But she just watched Ruelle grow fur. She either hit her head really hard or she was in some sort of next level shock.

Help is coming for your friend.

She remembers Andrew. She hadn't given him a second thought since the accident. She turns back to the car where she knows Andrew is still unmoving. When she turns back to Ruelle she's mounted the Deer and with a quickness that surprised her it took off. Disappearing back into the trees.

Carol watches. She knows she's returning to Silver Pines. Not for Justice but for Cooper. Carol has been defeated and she finds that she's in too much pain to care.

[----]

The forest howls outside.

The murderer stands alone in the cottage.

He needs to get rid of the evidence.

They're getting too close and he'll have to deal with the situation before it turned on him.

He is prepared.

Get rid of the body.

Get rid of the cottage.

It won't be hard.

Then he'd have to get rid of that stupid brat.

The girl who didn't stay dead.

He had hoped that they would prove it to be a copycat. Her idiot cousin trying to scare the boy into admitting what he did. But she was alive. Recently confirmed. He wanted to shout that it was impossible. He had slit her throat himself. Had sliced her body. Had buried her far away from where anyone could find her.

He hadn't wanted to kill her. He hadn't wanted her involved at all. The whole incident had been regrettable. He had buried her with his trophies, to show how sorry he was.

He never expected her to climb out of the hole he put her in.

Branches are lashing against the cottage walls. He can hear them scrapping against the wood. The little house is creaking against the onslaught.

Wolves howl in the distance. They're getting closer and he's getting more and more worried. It's not like them to come this far up the mountain.

He opens the hatch to the cave. His pretty little captive stares up at him. He throws her down the key.

"Do it yourself bitch," he snaps to her.

He waits.

This will be the fun part.

The hunt.

He'd let her escape.

Let her run. Let her think she'd get away.

And then he'd hunt her down and gut her like the pathetic animal she is.

He waits for her to free herself from the shackles he put her in. Waits for her to climb up the ladder his grandfather had built with his bare hands that he had to replace this year. But she doesn't come.

The forest comes instead.

In through the window, a tree crashes through. At first, he jumps, startled by the crash. Expecting Silver Sight to be bearing down on him.

When he spots the green foliage he smiles.

He's paranoid.

He's let the aboriginal myths get into his head.

There was no specter of the forest. There was no spirit coming to punish him for all the sins he had committed hidden in the shadows of the forest.

He pulls a lighter out of his pocket with shaking hands. It's been a long time since he's smoked. But the act of playing with a lighter calms him. So, he flicks and fiddles and waits for the girl to come out.

Another crash is heard.

Another tree has come down, right through the back door.

The roof above him creaks in protest. One more hit from a tree and the roof may come down. Another crash comes from behind him. But it's not a tree through this window.

It's a wolf.

Or maybe a dog.

It's small. It's brown and grey fur is matted. Its ears are flattened to its head. The teeth are bared. It growls, it snarls, it's ready for a fight. And he doesn't have his gun.

It starts forward and he backs up. The dog/wolf is herd him into a corner. Away from the trap door. He spots the girl rising up, head first. Assessing. Like a gopher. If he had his gun he could blow her head off. But he can't and the dog/wolf is in the way.

Her frightened eyes find him. She sees the animal blocking the way.

The wind blows the front door open, the screen practically off its hinges. And she runs. Naked as the day she was born. She'll get away. This wasn't the kind of head start he wanted to give her.

This wasn't like the junkie who got loose a few months back. This was a conscious girl who knew his name. Knew his face. He couldn't let her get back down the mountain.

The dog/wolf lunges. It's teeth sink into his arm. He bites back against a cry of pain and kicks at the animal until it drops it's hold on his arm. It falls back. Not because it's injured but because it doesn't seem to care anymore. It races out of the house through the front door that's still flapping through the wind.

He runs quickly. He wraps up his arm in a towel. Not the best first aid but it would do. He grabs the shotgun and gives chase.

He spots the girl on a trail down the mountain. She's being herded by the dog/wolf. She's letting it lead her away. He levels his gun. Gets her in his sights.

And pulls the trigger.

[----]

In the precinct a woman arrives.

They've been waiting for her. Waiting for her testimony. Waiting for her witness statement.

She seems well put together for a woman who was addicted to crack but she still jumps and twitches as if she was on it.

She doesn't want to stay.

Doesn't like being in this town again.

She wanted to forget what happened to her. Pretend that it was a crack head's fever dream.

That she made it up.

But she's also trying to be a better person and if this could save that girl she saw on the TV then she'd do it.

She's told the Sherriff is not in. He's transporting a suspect. She is not told which suspect. It does not make her feel safe to hear that they may have someone in custody.

She doesn't start to scream until she spots the picture.

The staff picture hanging on the wall. None of the cops can calm her down. A doctor is called to help soothe her, but all they have is Tala on hand.

The woman screams and screams and screams, her eyes never leaving the picture and the face of the man who had taken her all those months ago.