Dunham Township, The Granite Plateau
Chris heaved officer McDonald over the cold slabbed wall and flopped him onto the mossy floor of the granite world above the forest path. Within the couple of hours they'd spent in the area, the temperature seemed to have dropped to a point much cooler than usual in early September.
Jared stared at the night sky, the cold air making it take longer than usual for him to catch his breath. "Pardon my language detective, but why in the god damn, is it so cold out here?"
Just then officer Eaton climbed up and over the cliff ledge, surprisingly with relative ease, taking the opportunity to answer McDonald's question before the Detective.
"Couple of reasons, firstly, the canopy blocks the sun all day. So, the forest cools quicker. Second, We're on a slab of solid granite in the forest. Gonna cool real quick, yknow? And third…"
Eaton heaved Jared to his feet and continued, "and third, you two are getting old. Older than Detective Molly even, everyone knows if the cold bothers ya like that. Well, youre about on death's door."
McDonald chuckled and brushed himself off, miming the movement of pushing the younger officer off the ledge.
Molly let out a sigh.
'Out here trying to solve a mystery and I have two teenagers as back-up. God damn you Demmer.'
The trio began the walk to the other end of the plateau, where molly explained their job over the next few hours.
"Provided McDonald made contact with Detective June, by morning this area will be swarming with FBI and/or the ATF and state police."
Eaton spit at his own feet in disgust and McDonald crossed his arms in frustration while listening to Molly.
"I appreciate the support gentlemen, but I for one do not mind handing this case off. We've suffered a lot of critical blows in the last couple of days and the investigation is a wild disaster. Our main objective hear tonight is this."
Molly reached into his pocket and produced one of the circular symbols from the tree he had seen upon his first walkthrough.
"What in the god damn is that? A dream catcher?"
Eaton huffed, unimpressed.
McDonald squinted in the dark at the symbol for a moment, "No, it's some kind of ritual thing, like that Blair witch film."
"No gentlemen, it's a marker. Hidden to my right, through those aspen saplings, is a staircase carved into the granite, these trail markers are the only way you're going to find it and most likely, follow the trail below."
Eaton raised an eyebrow, "The trail below? Where are we thinking this path leads?"
Molly raised the symbol up and spun around, pointing it into the green sea beyond, the officers noticing for the first time the vastness of the entity before them.
McDonald gasped as the scape of deep greens and purples filled his vision.
Molly turned back to the officers, "We follow the trail, if it splits, we split, your radios are short range and should keep you both in contact with one another. If things go south, meet back at where the path split on us and wait."
Chris turned to Jared, "did we get a timeframe on the fed search?"
"On-site by 8AM, I couldn't reach Detective June, had to call your captain."
Molly groaned to himself, "Okay, if the captain says On-site by 8AM, It means On-site by 7am. He probably thinks we're out here fucking something up, but if we get into some heat, this plays in our favor."
With a glare at the officers, Christian turned toward the aspens and finished his sentence. "But don't fuck anything up."
The steps were steep and short, carved in a way that ran along the side of the granite. This gave very little for the officers to hold onto as they descended into the green sea. The little light that the stars provided on the plateau above wasn't noticeable until it was gone. Below the canopy, the grace of gods lifted its veil. The Green and purple sea of wonder, the floor of granite white, all were gone. Only the hemlock of endless ancient aspens were left. Black and quiet in every direction, the sheer density of the forest raising the temperature high enough for McDonald to sweat.
Molly scanned his Torch around the forest, looking for a trail marker, until he found it, carved in the trunk of a large dead aspen a few yards ahead of them. Another few minutes and they had found another, and another.
"This place is fuckin' huge boys. We're gonna get lost out here."
Eaton whipped his flashlight behind him, nervous, skittish.
McDonald turned back to his younger counterpart, "If you pay attention to the trail markings, we won't. Or are you still afraid of the dark, little man?"
"Payback for the senior citizen jokes huh? Fair Enough."
Christian whistled and the men halted to a stop, Eaton nervously drawing his gun and whipping back around to face behind them.
Molly examined the two trail markers. Before the men laid two aspen trees, both bearing half of the symbol. On the left tree, a circle was carved, with another tree a few yards away bearing the same marking. On the right, the barbed thorn, represented by a large vertical gash in the trunk, followed by another not too far off.
The detective pulled the sapling pendant from his pocket once more and examined the symbol.
"I'll take the thorn; I want you two to take the circle. Meet me back here if you run into trouble. If it's too bad follow the symbols back to the stairs. But no matter what, we need to meet back at the plateau by 7AM to hand off anything we've found in the search."
McDonald interjected, "I think, only one of us should take the circle, it's probably the less dangerous route, the circle most likely means circuit, just gonna wrap around most likely."
Eaton shook his head, "No, it probably means something about fertility. Think about it."
The officer made a circle out of his left hand and slid his right pointer finger in and out in a vulgar manner.
Molly blazed his torch upon the large carved circle. "Enough, the circle is the most passive shape. It was carved with more care than the thorn, It's most likely the main trail. The one that can handle multiple people, and the one that has the likeliest chance of having any evidence along with it. If I were two officers, I think I'd want that kind of win for my career."
The two detectives exchanged glances and then turned and started walking down the circle trail. Very soon leaving Molly alone in the darkness.
Christian turned back to the thorn carving and stared awhile, and then back to the circle. He glanced at his watch face, the glowing hands softly reading 12:24AM.
'6 and a half hours to find something, anything, before I'm shut out.'
He stared at the thorn for a moment, for some reason thinking back to Shanda, the pills, the hate, and then back to the circle. Remembering their nights dancing at the 'BunnyBriar' Bar in North Cherish.
'The good and the bad.'
Glancing back in the direction of the plateau, as if still visible. He reflected on a few hours before, thinking of those memories on the other side.
'As above, so below.'
Molly knew in his gut, the thorn would take him to whatever he needed to find. And with a step into the dark, he headed into the path of the thorn.