My name is Charles Ingbörg, a retired detective, now I work as a private detective, from a small town in rural Massachusetts, set in the hills. I heard about strange goings on up in southern Vermont, so I decided I might go see what was up. I always enjoyed visiting Vermont, skiing mostly, but the beer is another reason, can't go wrong with Long Trail, but I digress. Currently I'm staying at the hotel right by the interstate, easy access to both the town and the outside world. Since I've been here I've seen and heard some strange things, but the case of the missing girls was the most disturbing event yet.
It began the summer of 2013. Seven young women around the Springfield area went missing on the night of the 20th of June. Each of the seven girls, Jamie Moore, Alaina Burroughs, Melissa Thrush, Elyssa VanStruut, Felicia Johns, Marisa Leblank, Shayna Haltorf, all were found two days later, all unharmed, none remembering anything but eerie dreams.
Jamie Moore was 18, living alone in a small apartment part way up Craigue Hill. She claims the last she remembers she was in her house eating and watching a show at around seven, apparently she past out around eight, after feeling unusually tired. Charles Towne found the girl on the side of Walker road, half a mile through the woods from her place, when he was on his way to work at 7:30 in the morning.
Alaina Burroughs has left her mother's house, on Elm Hill, around 9 to go visit a friend, according to her mother. Alaina didn't even remember leaving her mother's. Up Valley Street, on the side of the road half way up the hill before the turn to the trailer park, the car was parked and with no damage. Alaina was found on Carly road on the other side of the hill by a teenage boy walking to the bus stop.
Melissa Thrush lived with her parents at Evergreen Heights, just off the road to Charlestown. No one in the house noticed anything, in fact the only person who did was an old lady whose apartment lies on the edge of the woods. I went to visit her as the family told me where she lives and said she was quite welcome to visitors, as she rarely had any. “I heard a sound, like music,” she began,”almost sounded like a flute or a pipe. Strange thing was sir, as soon as I heard it I wanted to go into the woods and find it. Of course I can't walk so I just listened. As I was dozing off I thought I saw a young girl walking into the woods. Just before she crossed the tree line she stopped, and if I didn't know any better I'd say she saw me through my window and stared me in the eye. Last thing I recall, I saw a large hand reach out from the shadows and put it on her shoulder and slowly pull her into the woods.” The old lady didn't seem bothered at all by what she claimed she saw, granted, she was probably senile. Melissa was found a mile and a half away on Parker Hill road, at the bottom of a hill.
The next girl, Elyssa VanStruut, lived on Hillside road, off Fairground road in North Springfield. No one in her family remembers anything, it was a regular night. Nor do the neighbors recall anything, yet it might have been the strangest case. When Elyssa was found she was in a ditch on the side of a road called French Meadow, at the bottom of a hill, but she had blood on her left forearm. No wounds could be discerned, in fact she had no bodily harm whatsoever, the blood though, once tested, proved not to be hers. In fact the blood was quite curious indeed for it was uncannily similar to goat DNA, but with genes not found in any animal on Earth. Even stranger is that there aren't any goats in the area.
Felicia Johns was living with her boyfriend Alex at the time in the Dutton district in southern Springfield. According to Alex on the evening of the disappearance he himself felt an overwhelming drowsiness around nine o clock and wasn't sure when he fell asleep. Only thing he does remember was hearing someone go out the front door, but at the time, he says, he thought he was dreaming. She was found at the entrance to the hiking trails that lead to the top of Mount Ephraim. All she can recall are dark dreams which obviously terrified her, given the look in her eye when she awoke. She was brought to the Springfield hospital, as with all of them, but she, alone, had unexplained psychological trauma, which seemed stemming from the dreams. I asked to talk to her once she was stable. The dream she described was indeed terrifying. It started with her running through the woods towards a clearing. She heard something following behind, but not chasing, and she felt like she was surrounded by something unknown and unseen. As she drew closer to the clearing she could recognize the lights from town, but they were brighter than she expected. She came upon the edge of the woods and found herself overlooking the town. All the trees were burnt up, most were fallen, making the town look as though Death itself made his home there. What had not fallen into the now raging Black River was ablaze with a fire that seemed unnatural, as though it didn't burn it's source, yet was brighter and hotter than any flame on earth, she could feel the heat even though she was standing far from the town. It was as though the River and the fire were fighting over the cadaver that was Springfield. She said she than felt a pain unlike anything she has experienced. It was in her gut and her loins, as though she was giving birth, but to something of which she was unaware. She dropped to the ground, writhing in misery and confusion, the creatures following her, mere shadows of beings, now surrounded her chanting something in a low guttural growl. The pain grew, slowly moving downward into the very pit of her body, and as it did the flames over the town grew. She felt as though something was moving around inside of her, trying to make it's way out. The pain grew further, she began screaming and the things around her screamed alongside her in response, and over the town the flames rose still higher. All at once it seemed as though the thing rushed out of her in a swift escape as the creatures reached a fever pitch and the flames consumed the entire town. The pain was gone. The creatures disappeared as a darkness descended upon the town, engulfing the flames like an unseen hand from heaven smothering all light. Her dream ended there, her eye wide with fright from such a recollection. I did not bother her again.
Marissa Leblank lived with her parents and two siblings, a brother and a younger sister, on Summer St. near the old family center. The family claimed, like a few others, to have all fallen asleep earlier than normal, no one even made it to their beds, the whole family was on the couch together, while Marissa was in her room, up stairs. The youngest, a four year old, said she dreamed that a shadowy figure, almost like a cloud, came in and went upstairs, all the while she heard something like music, like a flute she said. Marissa was found on Summer Hill road outside of the Hartness trails.
Shayna Haltorf was leaving a party when she was seen last before her disappearance. Her car was found still running the next morning at the bottom of Commonwealth Ave, in the opposite direction she was heading.
Since they had all been found and nothing was seriously wrong with them, other than the poor girl with the horrible dream, there was little to no investigation, many people in town thought it was a joke the girls played, but only a few of the girls knew each other. Alex, Felicia's boyfriend, was quite adamant about further investigation due to how effected Felicia was by the ordeal, but she convinced him to give up, not wanting anything to do with it.
We all thought that was the end of it, couldn't imagine it would get any more strange, but that was quite presumptuous of us. A few weeks later every single one of the girls turned out to be pregnant. Fear started to creep back into everyone's minds. No one knew what to think about this. Each of the girls was tested and checked out at the hospital once they were found and nothing signified anything like rape.
More stories started to circulate about the girls, everything from a secret local harem to aliens and cults. I took in everything I could and spoke with them when I saw them. As time passed people started to see them spending more time together, leading some to further believe their conspiracy theories, others began to think less of it, that it was just a prank.
This went on for months. Than the horror struck.
Exactly eight and half months after they reappeared, all but one of them disappeared again. This time with no notice by anyone. The only one who was found was Felicia, the girl with the terrifying dream. Through the eight months she was never seen with the other girls, she became quite closed to all but her boyfriend. As soon as all the other girls are reported missing u immediately went to her house to check if she was also gone, and what I found will haunt my dreams forever, but it wasn't what I saw as much as what I didn't know that sends a shiver up my spine. As I knocked and heard nothing I entered, and found her boyfriend and her brutally torn to pieces, with no sign of the child she was bearing. When the detective examined the corpses he could find no evidence of weapons, it was as though they were shredded by some beast, who departed shortly afterwards, and was never found.
Nothing was found of the girls or whatever killed Felicia and Alex. The local cops closed the case and life went on for the town, most people forgetting, most never knew. The only thing which was found was a lock of fur that I found and told no one. I brought it to a farmer who was a newly made friends of mine on town to see if he could identify it. He said he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was goat fur, but there aren't any goats in the area…..
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