1 CHAPTER ONE

Bailey Falls was a small traditional town with no mayor or Governor or any known political figure. It was a town led by the oldest members of the community. An assembly of 10 elders. 5 men and 5 women. My maternal grandpa Tom Hiddleton was 72 years and one of the founding member of the Elders Forum. They were responsible for handling the budget of our community, giving advice on marriage, settling disputes, and setting down compulsory ground rules to guide the townsfolk.

As a child I had grown up in a middle class family and as the third and last child of my parents, life had been perfect and beautiful and easy. I was adored by my parents and my maternal grandparents. I never got to meet my dad's parents because they left town when my dad was only 21 years old. And never came back and I don't think they'll ever come back.

Bailey Falls was known for it's mass production of wine and sugar cane so we held quite a few trade fairs yearly. People from the big city would come down to Bailey Falls to buy our wine and our sugar. You could say we were a fairly rich town.

Bailey Falls was a small town with an average amount of about one thousand inhabitants so it's fair to say  we all knew eachother and got along quite well.

We had one elementary school that was unusually big and two high schools because nobody attended a mixed school here in Bailey Falls.

We had two high schools Bailey Boys High(BBH) for boys only and Bailey Girls High(BGH) for girls only and both schools had a strict dressing code. In other sense, we were only allowed to wear our assigned uniforms. It was only the elementary school that was mixed .

I had just celebrated my 17th birthday two days ago and I had gone with my two bestfriends Kennedy and Parker to the grocery store when we saw a large crowd of people heading towards Bailey falls' city hall.

"Woah, I've never seen so many people in one place before" Kennedy said with her face plastered on the exit glass door of the grocery shop.

"I know right, yo Destiny what do you think could've happened?" Parker asked calling my attention from the canned food department of the grocery store. "I dunno, why don't we follow them and find out" I offered .

"Yah sure" both my bestfriends replied simultaneously.

So we followed the mob of people curious to find out what was really going on.

Boy 1: "this is the first time something like this has happened."

Boy 2: "I know right.. I mean what was that kid even doing in the forest so far from town."

Boy 3: "beats me."

Boy 4: "you think the elders might have an answer for us?"

Boy 5: "only one way to find out."

"Uhm sorry excuse me what are you guys talking about" i asked the two boys that looked like they were around my age.

Boy 1: it's Mrs flint's son Caleb, the sheriff and his men found him this morning after his mom had reported him missing two days ago. I heard he was found in an unrecognizable state.. he had been mauled by some animal or by some thing."

"Shit!!! That's awful.. does Mrs flint know yet?" I asked even more curious than before.

Boy 2: " I don't think so... they just found him.. I think the sheriff will send some of his men to go break the news to her. Poor woman... she just lost her husband last month yunno.. now she's got another reason to mourn. Life sucks"

"No kidding man... no kidding" Kennedy replied with a sigh.

We had reached city hall and that was the first time I saw the sheriff had been carrying a body bag.

He walked into city hall with some other men and they closed the door and locked it.

The rest of us just stood outside waiting .. it took about two hours before the sheriff stepped out with Mr Wellsworth the oldest and also the leader of the Elders Forum.

"Hmm hmm" Mr Wellsworth cleared his throat and everywhere became quiet as everyone eagerly listened and waited for Mr Wellsworth to talk.

"Well since you're all here already, I might as well just cut to the chase. It's quite unfortunate that Caleb was found in that position and situation. Caleb had probably gone out to play when he was attacked by a bear"

"There's no way that was a bear, bears  don't drain people of blood" boy 1 interrupted.

"Oh really?? You think you know everything about bears?... now Listen everybody! If I say it was a bear that killed Caleb, then it was a bear. Now am I clear??" Mr Wellsworth asked sternly.

Everyone was shocked and quiet, staring blankly at him. He had never used that tone on anyone before. Something was up, and I wanted to know. No, I needed to know.

"From now henceforth, curfew is 7pm. Soon as the sun goes down everyone is adviced to stay in their houses until 9am before anyone is to come out. More so, no one's allowed anywhere near the forest. No more camp activities, no field trips, nothing.. now when you all go home, pass the message."

And with that, Mr Wellsworth dismissed all of us, and we all dispersed and went home.

I was determined to know why all of these new rules were being imposed on us because of some kid who carelessly left home and got himself killed.

I was pissed... my friends and I had planned this whole camping trip and it'll all be ruined because of some kid. There was no way I was bailing on my camping plans.. i was gonna follow through with it regardless.

Every school year, both schools came together and held a sort of sleep over and it always happened in my school Bailey Girls High. And everyone has been looking forward to it All year.. Mr Wellsworth didn't exactly say anything concerning the sleep over so maybe it'll still be held. maybe.