A year had passed since Eve had just vanished. Namjoon was not going to sit around and do nothing while another girl was taken.

A flashlight lit up the foot of the trees working its way up slowly. Joon is startled by eyes looking back at him. The raven tilts his head examining him and lets out a solitary mournful cry. Was it the same raven he had seen yesterday? Joon shrugged off the maddening thought. This place does strange things to your mind. There are millions of ravens. Why would that be the same one? Yet he continued to stare at it as if in a trance. The villainous, strange creature stared back.

"Come on, we've been searching all night."

Joon turns back to see Deputy Jung blinking at the flashlight hurting his eyes.

"Stop that! We'll never find anything in the dark. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"The first 48 hours are the most important besides if it rains we will lose all trace of her."

"Only nobody has been reported missing, Joon."

"Jung, it happens every year around this date. I'm trying to be proactive. This place is crazy but I'm starting to see a pattern."

"Be careful, someone might think that you are the culprit," Jung replied.

"No, but if you keep protesting, I might think you are."

"This is nonsense looking for someone in the dark. I can barely see my hand in front of my face," Jung said with a shudder. "If I disappear, I'll never forgive you!"

"We have to try, Jung, please. Besides we have our flashlights."

"Come on, let's go back and get some rest. We don't even know if someone is missing," Jung said with pleading eyes.

"Okay, let's go, but keep your eyes peeled. We might just get lucky."

By the time they found the way back to the road, the sun was coming up lighting up the fog in eerie swirls.

As the engine roared to life, Namjoon's gaze remained fixed on the moonlit clearing. The raven, disturbed by the sudden noise, took flight, its ominous caw echoing through the waking forest. Namjoon's mind raced, grappling with the haunting sight in his mind's eye of a figure obscured by leaves. He felt a gnawing emptiness, a sense of failure that hung heavy in the dawn air.

Deputy Jung, unaware of Namjoon's clairvoyance, shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, still preoccupied with the sticky substance on the car. "What is that stuff on your car, Joon?" he asked, eyeing the residue with suspicion.

Namjoon tore his gaze away from the clearing, the weight of the moment settling on his shoulders. "I don't know, Jung. But right now, we've got something more urgent to deal with."

He accelerated down the winding road, the eerie fog dissipating in the growing light. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if waiting for the revelation of the unsolved mysteries that lingered within its depths.

As they neared the town, Namjoon's mind raced through the possibilities. He needed answers, and he needed them fast. The disappearance of another person, even if unreported, weighed heavily on him. He couldn't shake the feeling that a sinister force lurked beneath the surface of this seemingly tranquil town.

Back at the station, the atmosphere was tense. Namjoon gathered the available evidence and mapped out the recent disappearances, searching for patterns or connections.

Namjoon's phone rang, jolting him from his thoughts. It was a call from a local resident who had stumbled upon something unusual in the woods. A sense of urgency gripped him as he and Deputy Jung rushed to the location.

The resident, a weathered man named Elias, led them through the dense foliage to a secluded spot. As they approached, Namjoon's flashlight revealed a makeshift altar surrounded by peculiar symbols carved into the bark of ancient trees. Elias pointed to the symbols, his voice trembling with fear.

"These markings weren't here before. I swear, something's not right in these woods," Elias muttered.

Namjoon's eyes narrowed as he studied the symbols. A chilling realization crept over him – the patterns matched those described in the files of previous disappearances. The forest held secrets, and Namjoon was determined to uncover them.

With a deep breath, he turned to Deputy Jung. "We need to find the missing people, and we need to do it now. There's something sinister at play here, something we can't ignore any longer."

Deputy Jung, still uneasy from their nocturnal search, kept glancing toward something darker than the surrounding darkness, his skepticism waning in the face of mounting evidence. His phone camera clicked taking pictures of the odd find, trying to stay focused.

As they ventured deeper into the woods, the shadows seemed to whisper secrets, and the ancient trees bore witness to a darkness that had long been concealed. The town's secrets were entwined with the forest, and Namjoon was determined to unravel the truth, even if it meant confronting the malevolent forces that lurked in the heart of the Blood Mountain.

Joon stared at the moonlit clearing just beyond the hood of his car. His eyes widen. The creature settles on what looks like a figure buried in the leaves. The thieves of Blood Mountain have taken another victim. An emptiness fills his soul as he realizes he is too late to save her.

Namjoon runs to her his heart filled with fear. He wanted to find one, but not like this. Her face is a ghastly shade of grey, her lips blue with cold or death. He shakes her hoping beyond hope that he is wrong.

"Jung! Come help me!"

He tugs at her buried figure, full of dirt and leaves. It looks as if she has been dragged here by her assailant.

"Wait Joon! Don't destroy the evidence. Let me take pictures."

Jung opens his phone and takes a video of Joon struggling to unearth the partially buried girl.

"Help me you idiot, I don't think she's dead!" Joon cries.

Jung drops his phone on the damp earth. "Damnit!"

He picks it up and turns on the flashlight. Joon is breathing air into the girl's lungs. Jung's eyes open wide as he sees the seemingly dead girl's eyes flutter.

"Hurry, open the car door!"

Joon scoops up the girl and carries her to the car. "You drive. I'll hold her."

"The hospital?"

"Of course."

They drove as fast as they could down the old graveled road.

"Faster, Jung!" Joon spoke as he looked down at her pale face.

Namjoon thinks how strange it is that she was left by the car. It's as if someone wanted him to find her.

The girl's eyes jolt open as they hit another rut in the road.

"Take it easy," Joon said annoyance clear in his voice. "Where have you been?" He asked her softly to not scare her but got no reply.

She whispers in a shaky voice, "Thank you."

They turned down a lane leading to the town. From here he could see the rooftops down below just starting to be visible in the early morning fog. It was an eerily quiet morning.

Joon looks up to see that Jung turned into the parking lot of the small local clinic.

"This is not the hospital."

"She won't make it that far Joon. We need help now!"

"You're right. Let's go."

The Seargent and his Deputy scramble into the old clinic. The scent of antiseptic permeates the air mixing with the inescapable scent of an old building.

"We need help. She's in a bad way," Jung shouted into the empty space.

I small man came out of a room slipping on a lab coat. Joon supposed he was the doctor as he laid the poor girl on the closest examination table looking expectantly at the doctor to do something.

"What happened?" The doctor asked immediately listening to the pale girl's heart. He took her pulse staring at his watch.

"She's one of the missing girls. We found her buried in leaves in the forest. She wasn't breathing so I gave her mouth to mouth."

"You saved her. Nurse, start an IV. How did you find her if she was buried?"

"A raven led me to her. Her face was sticking out of the leaves."

"They wanted you to save her," the doctor said in a low whisper, "what an odd occurrence."

"Who?"

"The forest."

Namjoon stared at him to see if he was serious. The doctor continued his examination checking for injuries that could be hidden by her clothes.

"Doc, as soon as she wakes up we need to ask her some questions. We need to catch whoever did this."

"She never gives one back. You have interfered with our pact with the mountain. This is a bad omen. Now, leave. I need to examine her."

Deputy Jung, still holding the video evidence on his phone, shot a concerned look at Namjoon. "Joon, maybe we should listen to him. This place, the forest, it's not like anything we've dealt with before."

Namjoon's frustration simmered beneath the surface, but he knew pressing the doctor further might complicate matters. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Fine, but the moment she's stable, we're getting answers."

As they left the clinic, the eerie silence of the early morning surrounded them. The fog clung to the town like a shroud, and Namjoon couldn't shake the feeling that unseen forces were at play.

"What the hell is happening in this town?" Namjoon muttered, his gaze lingering on the clinic's door.

Jung, still holding his phone, whispered, "We need to figure this out, Joon. It's like the forest itself is alive, guiding us to these victims."

Namjoon's jaw tightened. "Whatever it is, we're not stopping until we get to the bottom of this. No more victims, no more disappearances."

The sun, now fully risen, cast long shadows as they ventured back into the heart of the town. The mystery of Blood Mountain deepened, and Namjoon knew he was far from uncovering its secrets. The missing girl's fate hung in the balance, and with each passing moment, the town's ominous pact with the mountain seemed more than just a chilling superstition.

"How could a town so small have so many missing persons?" Joon said.

"People just leave I guess," Jung answered.

"It's not safe here, yet so many were out last night trick-or-treating."

"It's only once a year, Joon. The people here have earned that right. They share their blessings every day."

"Is that what you think? That you live in some fairyland and the mountain protects you?"

"Well, I've always been safe," Jung said. "The town folks leave offerings to the people of the mountain. They, in turn, protect us from the wood."

"Have you ever seen these people? Why have you never spoken about them in all this time?"

"Because I don't believe it. I'm just relaying what they think. The old folks believe there is a malevolent force in the forest and the girls going missing just proves it to them."

"What made you become a deputy? Did you think you were immune to the troubles?"

"No, don't be silly, my dad was a deputy. I thought you knew. He retired and moved away. I wanted to make a difference, keep the people safe."

"Well, I'm glad at least you are not deluded like some folks. I can't believe even Doc is superstitious. How can you stand living here, Jung?"

Jung shrugged, "I guess 'cause I was born here."

"The old ways won't fly with me. Were the cases of other missing girls even investigated? Do you know anything? Your father must have talked about it."

"I could get you the files."

"Okay, let's look at them again. I'll make some coffee."

"That's okay, Namjoon. I'll make the coffee. Yours is terrible. Why don't you get us some sandwiches?"

After a while of them sitting silently reading the old files. Jung looks up stretching his tired muscles.

"Joon, why do you think we never find a body? Do you think they have been swallowed up by a bog or something? Do you really believe it's not something supernatural?"

"I don't know, but we finally have someone we can ask. After reading these files I have more questions than answers."

"Yeah, I know most of these people mentioned. They have lost people in their lives but just continue to live here as if nothing has happened and their loved one will just walk through the door one day."

"By the way, did you contact her family?"

"Yes, they are coming. It will take them a couple of days. Her mother asked us to stay with Eve and not leave her alone till they got here. I'm sure they are thrilled but scared for her."