Later that morning, the team decided to check out the tree at the edge of the quarry, where the four children's bodies had been found. The quarry loomed in the distance, a jagged scar in the earth surrounded by dense woods. Roland led the way, his pace brisk as Marshall, Trench, Lewis, and two additional agents followed close behind.
The walk through the woods was eerily quiet, the air heavy with tension. As they moved deeper into the forest, Trench noticed something unusual. Nailed to several trees along the path were crude wooden signs, each one painted with the same words: "Crow's Nest: This Way." The paint was faded, the wood weathered, but the signs were unmistakably there.
"Looks like the kids left us a trail," Marshall said, her voice low.
Lewis ran her fingers over one of the signs. "These have been here a while. No one mentioned them in the reports."
"Maybe they thought it wasn't important," Trench said. "But if these signs lead where I think they do…"
They continued following the markers, each one pointing them closer to the heart of the woods. Eventually, the path opened into a clearing, dominated by a massive tree. Its gnarled branches stretched skyward like skeletal fingers, and remnants of crime scene tape still clung to its lower limbs, fluttering faintly in the breeze. Another wooden sign was nailed to the trunk, this one larger and more deliberate: "The Crow's Nest."
Marshall approached the tree, her sharp eyes scanning the area. "This is it. Where they found the bodies."
Lewis shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "The signs led straight here. It's like the kids wanted people to find it."
Trench stepped closer to the tree, his gaze fixed on the strands of tape and the ground below. "Or maybe they were drawn here. This place… it feels wrong."
Roland nodded grimly. "Get the researchers out here. I want every inch of this area combed for anything we missed the first time."
As the team began marking the site for investigation, Trench couldn't shake the feeling that they were standing at the center of something far darker than they'd anticipated. The Crow's Nest wasn't just a location—it was a beacon, and whatever had drawn those kids here wasn't finished yet.