I had moved into my new place in Haven 2 weeks ago. It had taken a while to find a house I liked and then I had to move in all my things from Virginia. Now, 2 weeks later, I was taking a hike through the woods. These used to be estate grounds but after my family disappeared 30 years ago, the state claimed them as a park. While I had been in town, I'd asked what the danger was around here for hikers and learned that no one left house without at least one shotgun. I didn't really think that I would run into anything but better to be safe than sorry. On my hips were 2 gun holsters, one for each leg. My Grandmother often referred to them as "hand cannons" because I loaded them with hollow point rounds most often. These guns held 15 in the clip and one in the chamber. But I really hoped I wouldn't have to use them. I didn't like violence.

As I was walking I caught sight of a group of hunters. They were strange looking. One looked like a modern pirate and another struck me as a preacher, he wasn't dressed in the traditional black robe but he had a "fire and brimstone" look about him. Each of the 5 people in the group had either a shotgun or a rifle in hand. I hadn't yet met anyone in town so I kept my distance from the group. I made to continue past them at a distance but they went in my same direction. Before they could catch up to me, they came upon a seemingly separate hunting group. I snuck closer to listen.

"Play nice boys, I could take out two of you before anyone gets off a shot." A blonde woman spoke.

"You all just committed a felony." A tight jawed man.

"Protecting one of our own Nathan. You should understand that." The preacher look-a-like said to the tight jawed man. Apparently his name was Nathan.

"What are you doing here? And what the hell are you doing with the Rev?" Nathan asked the pirate. Apparently I was right about that guy being a preacher or something.

"Just some concerned citizens trying to protect our town." I saw through that lie even though I didn't know anything about him. It just seemed too staged to be true.

"Trying to find that boy, and the killer who took him." The Reverend. Killer? What the hell? This is a man hunt?

"Killer's dead. You have no idea what we're dealing with. And you've got no authority to be here." Nathan to the Reverend.

"We know how to hunt down evil. And we know, what to do, when we find it. Unlike you. Why don't you ask the boy's father if he wants us to leave?" Reverend. Clearly there was some hostility in this group. Nathan looked even more displeased after the father responded.

"We need the numbers." The father and most of the group walked away, but the pirate, Nathan and the blonde chick stayed behind.

"What are you-insane?" Nathan to the pirate.

"Insane is doing the same over and over again when it gets you nowhere."

"So you make a date with the Rev? Is this just about Evi?" Seems like blondie is staying out of this conversation.

"Evi's dead, and for the first time I am seeing things clearly. Now stay out of my way."

Then the pirate left. I let blondie and Nathan slip by before leaving my hiding spot. I debated leaving but curiosity already had me, so I tailed them all at a distance until blood-curdling screeches started in the distance. I hurried to try to catch up to blondie, I had a feeling she wouldn't shoot me on sight. I didn't reach her until after nightfall.

The whole group was camped at a lake edge although there were clearly two groups. I was about to approach blondie when the pirate and her got into a heated discussion. I just barely hit in the bushed nearby when the screeches came again. Most of the party went into the woods, but two older men stayed behind that I hadn't seen before. I decided to take my chances with them.

Instinctively I was nervous but forced myself calm and used my trouble to play a soft, gentle melody through the air. I hoped it would calm their nerves like it was calming mine. I took a breath and stepped out of the bushes to their left.

"Hi. Um, I'm new here. Is that screeching thing normal?" Immediately their guns were pointed at me. I raised the volume of the music in panic.

"Who are you?"

"Fae."

"And your last name?"

"Haven." A look of realization dawned on both of their faces.

"Is this melody your doing?"

"Yup. I'm going to stop it now though. Cool?"

"You have that much control?"

"In my family, the trouble doesn't disappear. I've had time."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I was exploring. Doesn't seem that safe anymore though. I was thinking about joining up for the night but I don't trust this many edgy people with guns that I don't know. Instead I think I will go camp out in the treetops tonight." Before they could say anything, I backed myself into the darkness of the forest once more, just as sounds of people returning to camp could be heard.

"Anything happen while we were gone?" Blondie asked the two old guys.

"They shared a look but shrugged it off and said that nothing had happened. The following morning the two groups left in the same direction, Blondie's team was leading. About 30 feet behind her team was the pirate's team and about 30 feet behind them was me. At a ranger cabin, the pirate's team veered off in one direction while Blondie's team took another. Again the two old men were left behind. From the conversation I had overhead I needed to clarify some things.

"So this thing you're hunting is a girl?" I asked as I stepped out of the woods. They startled.

"Oh, it's you."

"We don't want to hunt her. We want to save her."

"Save her?"

"The Rev."

"He'll kill her."

"Gotcha. And I guess killing him isn't a good option?"

"Not really no."

"He has very loyal followers."

"More like rabid dogs."

"But they back off when he tells them too."

"What do you think would happen if he was shot today?"

"Nothing good."

"It would probably start the war we've been trying to avoid."

"War? What the hell did I get myself into…? Right anyway, I'm going to continue tailing your people. See you later, I'm sure." Then I took after Blondie and her team. Halfway out they double back, leading was a teenage girl. I only just managed to not be seen by them. Of course it helped that they were very focused on finding someone who was not me.

They were running and not paying attention to how much noise they made so I ran just behind them. I noticed that another member was missing but was more interested in finding this monster-girl. Suddenly the girl leading stopped.

"Amelia!" She screamed. The Reverend had a knife in his hand and was about to stab the girl. Without thinking I pulled my gun out it's holster and in one swift motion shot the Reverend in the shoulder. Because they were hollow point rounds the force took a large chunk out of his shoulder and sent him back against the tree just behind him. The girl, Amelia, bolted to what appeared to be her sister's arms. It was quiet for a moment as everyone tried to find the shooter. Finally they turned to me.

"Who the hell are you?" The Reverend.

"Hi. I'm Fae Navaeh."

"Where did you come from?" Nathan asked me this time.

"Technically? Right behind you. You should really work on that. Literally? Northern Virginia. Just moved here a couple weeks back."

"How long have you been following us?" Blondie this time.

"Since yesterday. I was out exploring and decided to tail you. Was going to come say hi when you set up camp but there were a LOT of nervous, edgy people holding guns." And then the pirate's team arrived.

"Amelia!"

"No no son, don't move."

"Who did this?" The Rev focused his gaze on me.

"Howdy."

"What happened here?" Pirate.

"I shot him. He was going to kill that girl."

"So what? She's a monster, he's a man of God." A different cronie spoke.

"Men of God are not the exception to the rules they preach. They are the example. If he can't follow his own rules about murder then he does not deserve the title and everyone should be ashamed of his deplorable behavior. Besides, what's the big deal? I shot him in the shoulder, it's not like I killed him."

The way out of the woods was surprisingly short. As we walked I received a call from my Grandmother. Imagine her shock when I told her I had just shot a Reverend because he was about to kill a teenage girl. I quickly moved on to details about the move but tried to stay vague, I didn't want anyone knowing my family had a history in this town.

The Reverend was arrested under charges of attempted murder and taken down to the station in a squad car that everyone waited for. Once he was driven away people split off into their own little groups to discuss what had happened. I used that time to make my escape but because I had not entered the woods from this point I had to backtrack quite a distance to make it back to where I had left my motorcycle. When I made it to my house I collapsed happily into my bed which I'm sure cost entirely too much.