Dear Dee,
I am thinking this letter not actually writing it because I do not want to wake Reg. Andrew, poor Andrew. Poor Carmen.

One of Karen's students was a rather mopey young man who liked to wander. He had been an acceptable worker but socially distant. He had done the cooking as his preferred camp job. He felt touched by the unknown but not covered in it. He would not open up. When the rest of the team got here Saturday Reg brought lots of shiny new camping and cooking stuff. Being Reg he outshone Andrew and Andrew wandered off instead of helping after he cut his finger. Dinner was lovely and in the evening I recited the Grendel section on the Saga of Beowulf in honor of Tony. Not that I told him that it was in honor of him. People wandered to their respective tents.

I was woken at around three when Frank and the others heard a scream. Their were 5 students missing from camp. Two couples and Andrew were gone. We found the couples and sent them back to their tents. Frank had seen Andrew take a canoe out to the island in the lake (Lake Kawakawa) and the canoe was still missing. So we went out there. There was a cave. Frank and Aiden were the first down. It was …. It was almost more than I could stand. There were pictograms on the walls that had been done again and again in charcoal. There were strange grey footprints in or maybe on the limestone floor of the cave. Andrew’s remains were strewn around the cave like a shredded stuffed toy. There was a large rock that looked vaguely like an altar. There was new blood and old? blood? and very old ?blood? . I felt the blood drain from my face as I took pictures and studied the pictograms. They were like but unlike others I have seen. Aiden told us that the body-Andrew- had literally been torn apart. By something that had human shaped hands. Andrew’s heart was missing. Karen and I found several sticks that had been charred to draw the pictograms. I could not identify the type of wood until Karen and I both realized that they were not wood. They were arm bones ulna. Some new some were old and yellowed. The moccasin prints (which were large but human sized) faded to nothing. Outside of the cave they were pitch black. The prints only showed up on the ground itself under any organic material that happened to be on top of it. Karen and I got back to camp before the state troopers arrived.

Sunday went tensely as the officers interviewed people separately. Frank and the female officer took the remains you could not call it a body to a morgue where Frank could use computers to look at government files. Reg cooked breakfast and several students mentioned that it was better that anything that Andrew had prepared. Carmen threw hers away and stalked off. I followed her. She knew that something BAD had happened to Andrew and felt guilty and had had a nightmare. I told her some dreams are truer than others and some were just terrible dreams. Like the ones where my dead husband was chasing me. The day was otherwise relatively uneventful. In the evening a creepy ground fog rose to knee-high. At the campfire Karen stood and told everyone that she knew that everyone felt bad. She knew people were asking themselves if they being nicer to Andrew might have made a difference. She said that it was not our fault the rest of us would be safe we just needed to stay around camp. Someone asked if we (non students) could keep them safe. Karen said that we were trained, armed and not going to let ANYTHING harm them. Immediately there was a cold gust of wind that blew over us all. I could feel the unknown in it without trying. We were not welcome here. Just after this Frank and officer Enright got into camp. Frank had found several disappearances in the last month. They were all campers or hunters from other places so their missing person’s reports were not forwarded to the police here.

That night we set up watches. I had a dream about Joen chasing me through bogs some looked and smelled like ones at Home (Is it still home when I do not live there and have no plans to return there? Should I look into getting American citizenship? I am a Dane should I become an American? I have an American bounty hunters license and a license to carry a concealed firearm. I never imagined having such things. I never imagined needing a gun or advanced martial arts training. I sent the university a letter saying that I will not be back immediately after my sabbatical is over. Tenure is good for security but now I owe the university for their faith in me. But now that I am in SAVE I have a greater duty. My team is here and I will not abandon them. I need to make a lot of important decisions soon. ) some looked and smelled like ones around here.

When Karen woke up for her watch she did a head count and Carmen was gone. She had gotten dressed and taken her canteen but not her cell phone. Justin was able to track her to the gravel path. Justin really is an amazing tracker. I am no hunter but know the level of skill it takes to interpret tracks that are that vague. We called the police immediately so bloodhounds could get there early. Justin, Reg, Aiden, Frank and Karen walked either side of the trail and could not see signs of Carmen leaving it before the road. At camp we continued watches and nothing else happened in the night.

In the morning the bloodhounds were unwilling to get out of the truck they came in so all the locals were called in to do a line search. The fog stayed until late afternoon. We sent the students to a motel to hopefully keep them out of harms way. In the afternoon I found a body by stepping on its head. It stuck to my boot and I could see that the crunch had been the palate breaking to accommodate my foot. It was in wet ground and smelled like aged elk. I plucked some hair and wiped the mud off so I could confirm that the hair was a different color than Carmen’s. Aiden and officer Theovault got it off my foot. We radioed back to camp for Frank to bring collection bags. Poor Theovault was green and seemed relived that Frank, Aiden and I were willing to collect the body parts. Having stepped on his body and broken his face I wanted to do what little I could for this mans remains. The man had been butchered. I have seen the old farms were they butcher their own pork. This mans flanks and legs had been carved. Now I need to decide if I replace my boots now or after we are done searching. If I let my disgust overwhelms me is that giving in to the fear of the Unknown. Also this would be an uncomfortable time to break in a new pair of boots. The only cannibalism stories that I could think of were Wendigo which I think is a northwest story. I told Karen my idea which she already had. She is going to the local reservation to see if she can find out anything useful. While Frank was with us Reg who was alone at the campsite noticed that the animals had gotten silent. He called to let us know something was up. We left the body in a canoe and headed back to camp. Reg had been trying to use the radio and everything was silent. He started singing Broadway songs to see if he could hear himself. He may have managed to disturb the thing as all of the sudden we could hear him belting out ‘For Porn’. We found the black tracks and Justin followed them to the lake. Once again they disappeared at the water. I climbed a tree to see if there was any motion on the island or across the lake. I did not see anything other than Justin and Angie.

Karen is at the reservation. She called Justin to let him know that she had a story any will be back at camp about noon. I saw Frank and Theresa having a drink and talking quietly. If she does not pry the truth about the unknown out of Frank soon I will be surprised. They look like cop buddies. We are in a motel with a poor stuffed moose out front. It is a fake moose with real antlers. I hope this does not count as Hothgar’s horned hall. Aiden is planning on reading as much as Angie will let him.

I took the same room as Reg. I have wanted to talk to him. To be honest I have wanted to sleep with him but knew that he is seeing at least one person whose gender I did not know. So I talked to him. I asked him what his relationships looked like. If he had room for someone else on his dance card. He is dating someone in New York, Detroit, San Francisco and Germany. None are exclusive relationships and he was interested in dating but not in settling down. I told him that I had had my Mr. Right and was not looking for another great love just companionship and maybe adult entertainment. I told him my concerns about bondage and SAVE members. He thinks that normal safeguards are probably enough. I am more cautious. So neither of is planning on having sex right now but sleeping next to each other sounded like a big comfort. So he is curled up around me. It feels strange to be close to someone. It feels nice to start to relax. I am thinking about kissing him in the morning. Maybe I will not dream about Joen tonight.I hope it is not that poor man on my foot. I do not want to see that again. I am not as scared of what I will see tonight. Warm and safe feeling.

Sweet Dreams. God Bless you and Ailster.