The scent of bacon mingled with the heady aroma of an open fire coaxed Zach into finally opening his eyes. The stiff throbbing throughout his back soon caught up to him. He had begged Gabriel to let him bring an air mattress for the tent but was shot down.

"Not unless you want to carry it," Gabriel had said.

Yesterday, Zach had skipped his afternoon courses to set out on an investigation with Gabriel. They had spent most of the daylight hiking through the groomed walking trails of the York Creek nature reserve, then set up their camp. Gabriel had insisted they go as deep into the forest as possible. The further they got from the other hikers and civilization, the more likely they would be to see the creature. All the reports he and Zach had read so far took place within the dense part of the forest where most of the trails hadn't been cleared in a few seasons.

There had been several accounts of a winged creature raiding camps. Some people had seen it skulking about in the dark. One story spoke of the creature's intense blue eyes that seared like hellfire from between the trees. Its wings were five metres long. Sometimes they were feathered, others said they were leathery, like those of a bat.

Zach unzipped the tent and joined Gabriel by the grill. The sun barely peeked over the treetops, but Zach still had to shield his deep blue eyes against the crisp dawn glare.

"You're up early," Zach said.

Gabriel shrugged. "We can't afford to waste daylight if we want to be the first to document the creature. Other people are probably after it too." He flipped the bacon. "I figured we could eat then head out."

Zach groaned.

Gabriel frowned at him. "This was your idea, remember? I could be home with Sam right now, but you wanted to do this."

"I thought it would be easier, ok?" Zach crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "There I said it. Are you happy?"

Gabriel grinned, and his green eyes twinkled. "So you admit I was right?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Zach mumbled. He pulled up the hood of his sweater. The early morning breeze was starting to bite at his exposed ears. He was envious of the thick black toque Gabriel wore. He made a mental note to ask Sam to make one for him too when they got back to Gabriel's farm.

After breakfast, they packed up camp and continued their journey further into the forest. His camping rucksack grew heavier with every step while Gabriel forged ahead. As they progressed, the trail became more and more overgrown. Zach grew weary of seeing only the plaid back of Gabriel's jacket ahead of him and the endless rows of trees and underbrush on either side. A strange fear they might be lost choked up in his throat.

"I don't think we're in the park anymore," Zach said.

"We left the park boundary a half hour ago."

"Do you think we should go back before we get too turned around?"

Gabriel shrugged and kept going. "We'll be fine."

"You might be."

"I won't let you die out here," he laughed. "It's not my first rodeo. Hopefully, we won't have to spend another night but I'm prepared if it comes to that."

"Ugh, I hope it doesn't. I have school in the morning. I can't afford to miss any more classes if I want to graduate on time this year."

"This could be the story of a lifetime, but that's only if we're the first ones to get to the bottom of it and report it officially. We've been researching the GreenerPastures laboratory for so long, I don't want to give up now. Not when we're so close to finally getting some proof."

Zach sighed, "I know."

He had been so enthusiastic at the start. When he and Gabriel decided to begin their blog, and other social media platforms to investigate local occurrences of cryptid sightings and paranormal activity they had both gone full steam ahead. Then, as the years inched onward with little to no valid cases of anything, not a single convincing ghost video or bigfoot print, he had slowly begun to lose hope they would ever find anything substantial. Then, about a week ago, there were multiple sightings of the winged creature. York Creek's very own Mothman. Zach and Gabriel both set their sights on becoming the next John Keel. The Newspapers hadn't even gotten around to naming the thing yet, so they figured they had a decent head start.

"I think we're getting close now," said Gabriel.

"To where?" asked Zach. All he could see were trees.

"GreenerPastures. I can smell the sea air. The little island is just off the peninsula. Have you ever been over there?"

"To the island? No."

"I got as close as the bridge once. A couple of friends and I back in high school made a trek out this way to see how close we could get."

"Did you see anything?" Zach asked.

"No. We didn't hear anything either. The only reason we even bothered was because Kenny's brother Duncan told him some guys he knew spent the night out here and heard terrible screaming coming from over there."

The wind became gradually colder as they got closer to the shore. The briny air started to make Zach's nose run and he wiped it with the back of his sleeve.

"Do you remember when we were in high school, Jason's Uncle told him he overheard someone at the bar claim to have worked security or something for GreenerPastures?"

"I think I heard that one going around. That one always kind of spooked me. Didn't the guard say he had to watch over this furnace room? I think Jason's uncle said the guard told him he had to watch over some orderlies as they shovelled foetuses into the furnace."

"I heard some of them were all deformed with extra eyes on their bodies and four arms. It's friggin' dark. Could you imagine doing something like that? Do you think this creature has anything to do with the lab?" Zach asked.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I certainly don't think it's a coincidence, but it's hard to say what's really going on. I always kind of thought it was aliens. I think they're harbouring alien technology and making hybrids or something."

Zach found he was getting short of breath. He wheezed as he struggled to keep up with Gabriel. The trail had become overgrown with roots and bracken from the nearby trees. Gabriel manoeuvred with practiced ease through the tangled mass. Zach tried his best to follow his lead, but still somehow managed to trip over roots, as well as his own two feet.

"Do you think we should stop and set up camp?" Zach asked.

Gabriel laughed. "Zach, it's barely mid-afternoon. We can stop for a snack soon, but if we want to make the most of our time, we should keep going."

Zach groaned. Though the spring air was brisk, sweat had begun to paste his shaggy brown hair to his forehead.

"What's that?" Gabriel asked, and gestured towards the bushes.

Zach broke out of his pity party to see that Gabriel had pointed at a long white feather. Gabriel got down on his haunches and picked it up,

He held the feather in the light. "I don't know any birds this could have come off of."

"An eagle?"

"Their primary feathers are black, and they don't get this long."

Gabriel pocketed the feather, and the two picked up the pace. Zach felt a renewed sense of energy now they had finally found something solid. Finally, he had some evidence he could actually hold in his hand. Gabriel made sure to take careful note of any crushed leaves, broken twigs or scuffed-up imprints in the dirt. Soon, they had left the trail altogether.

Zach grew nervous, but Gabriel was undeterred. The trees were thick around them. The naked branches reached their spindly fingers to the sky like pleading skeletons. Dead leaves formed a spongy carpet under their hiking boots.

An eerie shriek cut through the chick-a-dee song. Gabriel stopped in his tracks, and Zach bumped into him. After a moment of silence, the shriek returned, but louder this time. Gabriel hurried off in the direction of the sound, and Zach tried his best to keep up.

A mixture of anxiety and excitement played tug-o-war with Zach's intestines. He anticipated the disappointment and relief he would feel if it were to turn out to be nothing more than an owl. What really churned his stomach and spurned him on further was the elation and potential terror of finding the creature.

Is it some sort of eldritch horror? A deformed beast? An alien?

*****

The ethereal scream led them to a woman. She laid in the underbrush with one leg curled beneath her and the right one stuck outright, firmly clamped in a steel-toothed bear trap. The woman's eyes were wide. Her long black hair frizzed out around her head in a corona of mats and knots.

Zach and Gabriel barely overcame their shock, when she opened her mouth and emitted the scream they had heard previously. A shiver ran up Gabriel's spine. The woman leaned back to scream again, and this time a pair of white wings spread up over her head as she flapped them in her struggle to get free from the trap.

"Holy shit," Gabriel gasped and instinctively stepped back. "It's real, it's really real." He could only blink and soak up the surreal image in front of him. The sense of uncanny valley was overwhelming. A deranged angel, dressed in torn blue jogging pants and a bloody halter top didn't make any sense.

"Come on Zach, we have to help her," Gabriel said. He approached the creature cautiously with one hand out as one would walk towards a strange animal.

Zach took another moment to recover from his shock before he followed Gabriel's lead. "What are we supposed to do?"

Gabriel tried to recall what his Grandfather had taught him. Before his passing, his Grandfather had taken him hunting many times. On one such occasion, they had come across a fox trapped in a similar leg hold. Disgusted, his grandfather showed Gabriel how to disarm the trap and set the animal free.

"We gotta get her out of the trap first." Gabriel addressed the creature. "You have to stop moving, ok?"

It was as if she didn't even see them there. She continued to shriek, and thrash. Her large wings flapped in a flurry of dead leaves and pine needles. Gabriel bent to work on the trap and saw the jagged metal teeth had torn through her flesh and crushed her tibia.

"Hold her still," Gabriel commanded. "I can't get to the springs, and she's going to do more damage moving around like this."

Zach moved as if in a dream. He ducked to avoid her flailing wings and took hold of her shoulders. He struggled to keep her in place.

The moment Gabriel freed her leg from the trap's jaws, she scurried backwards away from them. The creature attempted to stand on its good leg before falling to the forest floor.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Gabriel said. "We're not here to hurt you. Your leg is in real bad shape. We can help."

The creature stared up at them with fire ablaze in her blue eyes. Her chest heaved with every rasping breath. It was the look of sheer, primal, helpless terror he had seen many times before in the eyes of deer.

A twig snapped. Both men tore their attention away from the creature to look towards the sound. A young woman burst from the trees. Her blue jogging suit was caked with what looked like mud and what Gabriel suspected to be blood.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Get away from her!"

"We were helping her," said Gabriel. "Did you set this trap? You know these things are illegal for a reason..." Gabriel trailed off. He finally processed her appearance, and it became obvious to him she couldn't have been the one to set it. No hunter would be out here without any gear, and what seemed to be the one set of clothes she'd been wearing for the past couple of days, if not weeks.

Her honey-coloured eyes pierced into him. "I did not set this trap. I thought you did."

"We came to help."

The young woman knelt beside the creature. Gabriel realised the creature's jogging pants matched the woman's outfit. Zach attempted to get Gabriel's attention, but he was far too preoccupied with the scene in front of them. There was a lot more going on here than he had anticipated when they first set out that morning.

"You can go," the woman dismissed them. "I can take care of her. You never saw us."

"Her leg is torn up. She needs serious medical attention," Gabriel said.

Under the layer of filth, the woman went pale. "No doctors."

Gabriel shook his head. "No doctors. My wife Sam can help her. She's not a doctor or anything but she's had lots of experience caring for animals."

"She's not an animal," the woman snapped. "I can care for her. I've been caring for her."

For the first time, Gabriel noticed the make-shift splint on two of the creature's fingers. "I can see that. You've done a good job, but it's clear now her injuries are more than what can be cared for properly out here. You're smart, I can tell, so you know it too. Don't be stubborn and let us help her. If you don't, it's only a matter of time before infection sets in. She could lose that leg or worse."

The two women huddled together on the forest floor. The blonde one was silent as she thought over her options.

"Fine, we'll go with you."

Gabriel visibly relaxed.

"But I have conditions," the woman said.

Gabriel took note of her affect. Despite the situation, her voice remained even. Her face revealed no emotion. It was as if they simply discussed the weather.

How can she be so calm? I'm about to burst out of my skin!

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "What are your conditions?"

"You can't tell anyone about us. We leave as soon as she's better. It will be like we were never there."

Zach looked to Gabriel, then back to the blonde woman. Gabriel watched as his renewed hopes and dreams began to slip through his fingers. Their article was kiboshed before he could even attempt to write it.

"Fine," Gabriel said.

The woman stood up, and for the first time, Gabriel truly noticed how tall she was as she nearly came eye to eye with him. Her shoulders were nearly as broad. Gabriel stooped to help the winged woman, but she stopped him.

"I'll take her." The blonde lifted the other woman and cradled her in her arms easily. Up close Gabriel could see the bone between the torn flesh and muscle. Her wings draped across the blonde's arm.

"What should we do about her wings?" Zach asked.

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked.

"We're going to get back to more civilized areas soon and we don't want anyone to see her wings."

"That's a good point," Gabriel agreed. He took off his backpack and rummaged through it for his ground sheet. When he finally found it, he put it over the blonde's shoulders so that it would come around her like a shawl and cover the girl's wings. All the while both women stared at him, the blonde with suspicion, and the other with terror.

"I'm Gabriel by the way, and that's Zach."

"I'm Proj..." she paused. "I'm Clay. This is Anpiel."