Willowhaven - Red Zones #1

First testimony comes from Ms[redacted], who agreed to speak to me as long as I don’t mention her by name. I don’t expect this to go anywhere or for anyone to find these, but I’ll respect her wishes; she’ll be referred to as Ms Grey from here on.

Interviewer: Thank you for agreeing to speak with me today.

Ms. Grey: It’s fine. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re still looking into this. It’s been two years—I figured everyone would’ve moved on and forgotten.

Interviewer: I’ve been asked to re-examine the case by the victim’s family.

Ms. Grey: I’m glad they haven’t given up. I remember all the volunteers who came from everywhere, only to be sent home after five days, nowhere near enough time to search a proper area.

Interviewer: Why don’t we start from the beginning, Ms. Grey? I know it’s been a while, but I’d like you to walk me through everything you remember about the victim and her husband.

Ms. Grey: Okay. Well, they came through town like anyone else. Checked into the Crescent B&B. I was working at the front desk at the time. During check-in, they told me a bit about themselves—they were newlyweds, said this trip was part of their honeymoon. Big hiking people. They were on a seven-day tour of their favorite trails, plus a few they’d always wanted to do. Willowhaven was their second-to-last stop.

Interviewer: Willowhaven has two trails, correct?

Ms. Grey: Technically, it’s one path. It starts at the meeting point in town and leads to the entrance of Exmoor National Park. Midway, it splits west toward Fretter Woods. That stretch goes all the way to Fretter—the next town over. It’s at least a two-day hike.

Interviewer: Sounds like they were committed hikers.

Ms. Grey: They were very excited. They planned to stay in town for a day, hike to Exmoor and back. The next day, head out to Fretter. That would’ve been the end of their trip.

Interviewer: But they never returned from Exmoor, did they?

Ms. Grey: No, they didn’t. By nightfall, we were already worried. By the next day, we knew something was wrong. At midday, a search plan went into effect. We receive a large number of hikers, so we’ve a task force in place for emergencies like this. They started the search. Then they called the Exmoor authorities, and the Rangers agreed to drive along the trail and look for signs.

Interviewer: Did they find anything?

Ms. Grey: At first, no. It was like they’d vanished. No gear, no campsite, no footprints. Nothing to suggest they were ever there. Just gone.

Interviewer: You said “at first.” Did something turn up later?

Ms. Grey: Eventually. A few personal items. Small things—jewellery, gloves. That’s when they launched a full search and brought in the police. Volunteers from nearby towns joined in. They combed a wide area of the forest. But after seven days, the search was shut down. It was supposed to last twenty days.

Interviewer: Why was it ended early?

Ms. Grey: No one said. No explanation. Just that the victims couldn’t be recovered, that was the end of it. But a few days later, we had a town meeting. They announced new restricted zones along the trails and gave us ‘resident guidebooks’.

Interviewer: Restricted zones? Why?

Ms. Grey: Apparently, some volunteers went missing during the search. I never found out if it was true, but the last place they were seen is marked as restricted in the resident map. And here's the strange part—have you seen the standard maps? The one sold to tourists? It’s different from the one in the residents’ booklet.

Interviewer: Different how?

Ms. Grey: The restricted zones—they're not on the public maps.