Chapter 3 – The Expedition Begins

Dexter arrived at Millbrook Park at 8:45 PM, which meant he'd been sitting in his car in the parking lot since 8:15, watching the sun set and second-guessing every decision he'd made in the last twenty-four hours.
What if this was just another deer situation? What if Isabel thought he was a complete fraud? What if the Millbrook Shadow turned out to be someone's escaped pet llama?
His phone buzzed.
*"Running late. Be there in 10. Don't leave without me. – Isabel"*
Dexter typed back a thumbs-up emoji, then immediately regretted it. Was that too casual? Not casual enough? He'd never been good at texting.
Headlights swept across the parking lot. But it wasn't Isabel's car—it was a beat-up mountain bike with a flickering LED light duct-taped to the handlebars. Riding it was a teenager in a hoodie, backpack slung over one shoulder.
The kid coasted to a stop next to Dexter's car and knocked on the window.
Dexter rolled it down cautiously. "Can I help you?"
"You're the cryptid guy, right?" The kid couldn't have been older than seventeen, with shaggy hair and the kind of confidence that came from spending too much time on the internet. "I saw your blog. You're investigating the park thing."
"I... yes. But this isn't really a public event—"
"Cool. I'm coming with you." The kid started locking up the bike.
"Wait, what? No. This could be dangerous—"
"Dude, I have a drone." The kid patted his backpack. "Four-K camera, thermal imaging, forty-minute battery life. You want aerial surveillance or not?"
Dexter hesitated. He *did* want aerial surveillance. "What's your name?"
"Jesse. Jesse Tan." Jesse grinned. "I run the MillbrookMyths Reddit. Got like three hundred followers. If this is real, I want the footage."
"Does your mom know you're here?"
"Does *your* mom know *you're* here?"
Dexter couldn't argue with that logic.
Another car pulled up—Isabel's compact sedan. She got out, hauling a professional camera bag and a thermos of coffee. She stopped when she saw Jesse.
"Who's the kid?"
"Jesse," Jesse said. "I have a drone."
Isabel looked at Dexter. "You brought a child?"
"I didn't *bring* him, he just... showed up."
"I'm seventeen," Jesse protested. "That's basically an adult."
"It's basically not," Isabel said, but she was already pulling out her equipment. "Fine. But if anything happens, I'm not explaining this to your parents."
"Deal."
---
The three of them stood at the edge of the park, staring into the darkened trails. The caution tape was still up, but the police officer from earlier was gone. The park was officially closed after sunset, which meant they were technically trespassing.
"So what's the plan?" Isabel asked.
Dexter pulled out his printout of the park map, now annotated with notes and highlighter. "We start at the pond. That's where we saw the disturbance this morning. If the creature—"
"The Millbrook Shadow," Jesse interrupted.
"—if the *entity* is still in the area, that's our best chance of finding evidence. Jesse, can you launch the drone and do a sweep of the northern perimeter?"
"On it." Jesse was already unpacking his equipment, fingers flying across a tablet controller.
"Isabel, you and I will check the shoreline for fresh tracks. We document everything, stay together, and if anything feels wrong, we leave immediately."
"You've done this before," Isabel observed.
"Many times," Dexter said.
"Ever found anything?"
"I found a deer once. It was very nice."
Isabel almost smiled. "Inspiring."
The drone buzzed to life, its rotors whirring as Jesse launched it into the air. On his tablet screen, a thermal overlay showed the park in shades of blue and red—cool ground, warm patches where animals had recently passed.
"Anything?" Dexter asked.
"Not yet. Lots of small heat signatures—probably raccoons, possums. One bigger one near the west trail, but it's moving slow. Deer, maybe."
They made their way down to the pond. The water was black and still, reflecting the crescent moon. Dexter swept his flashlight across the shore, looking for the tracks they'd seen that morning.
They were gone.
"That's... weird," Isabel murmured, crouching down. The mud was smooth, undisturbed. "They were right here."
"Tide?" Jesse suggested from behind his tablet.
"It's a pond," Dexter said. "There's no tide."
"Then something covered them up." Isabel aimed her camera, snapping photos of the shoreline. "Or someone."
A chill ran down Dexter's spine. He turned slowly, scanning the tree line. The forest was dark, impenetrable. Anything could be watching them right now.
"Jesse, bring the drone lower. I want a closer look at—"
A sound cut through the night. Low, resonant, somewhere between a growl and a hum. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
All three of them froze.
"Please tell me you heard that," Isabel whispered.
"I heard it," Dexter confirmed, his voice tight.
"Me too," Jesse said, eyes locked on his tablet. "And the drone's picking up something. Big heat signature, northeast quadrant, moving fast—"
The growl came again, closer this time. Dexter's flashlight beam trembled as he swept it across the trees. Nothing. Just shadows and branches and—
There.
A pair of eyes. Glowing, yellowish-green, reflecting his light.
Too high off the ground to be a dog.
Too large to be anything he recognized.
"Dexter," Isabel breathed, her camera clicking rapidly. "What is that?"
Before he could answer, the eyes blinked—and vanished.
The forest erupted with sound. Something massive was moving through the underbrush, snapping branches, shaking trees. The drone's camera swung wildly as Jesse tried to track it.
"It's heading west!" Jesse shouted. "Toward the playground!"
"Follow it!" Dexter took off running, Isabel and Jesse right behind him.
They crashed through the trail, flashlights bouncing, boots pounding against dirt. Dexter's lungs burned but he didn't stop. This was it. This was *real.*
They burst into the clearing where the playground sat—swings swaying gently in the breeze, slides gleaming in the moonlight. Empty.
"Where'd it go?" Isabel panted.
Jesse stared at his tablet, frowning. "I lost it. The signal just... disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Dexter spun in a circle, searching. "That's not possible."
"I'm telling you, it was there one second, then gone. Like it just vanished—"
A metallic *clang* made them all jump.
One of the swings was moving. Not swaying from the wind—*moving*, as if someone had just leaped off it. The seat rocked back and forth, slowing gradually.
No one was there.
"Okay," Isabel said carefully. "I don't like this."
Dexter approached the swing slowly, his scientific mind trying to rationalize what he was seeing. Wind. Had to be wind. Or maybe an animal had brushed against it—
The swing next to it started moving too.
Then the one next to that.
All four swings, swaying in perfect synchronization.
"We should go," Jesse said, backing up. "We should really, *really* go."
Dexter wanted to argue. Wanted to investigate. But every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run.
"Agreed," he said.
They turned to leave—and found their path blocked.
Standing at the edge of the clearing was a man. Elderly, wearing a worn flannel jacket and a hunting cap. He held a flashlight and regarded them with a mixture of amusement and concern.
"You kids ought not be here," he said, his voice raspy but kind.
Dexter's heart was still racing. "We were just—investigating."
"I know what you were doing. I've been doing it myself for fifty years." The old man stepped forward. "Name's Bill Kowalski. This is my park, in a manner of speaking. I'm the groundskeeper."
"Your wife—" Isabel started.
"Margaret. Yeah, she saw it this morning. Scared her half to death." Bill glanced at the swings, which had finally stopped moving. "It doesn't usually come this close to town. Something's got it riled up."
"You've *seen* it?" Dexter asked, incredulous.
"Seen it? Son, I've been tracking the Millbrook Shadow since I was your age. My daddy saw it. His daddy before him. It's been in these woods longer than this town's been standing."
Jesse's eyes were wide. "So it's real. It's actually real."
"Real as you and me. Though what it *is*, exactly, I couldn't tell you. Not a bear. Not a wolf. Not anything in any book I've ever read." Bill gestured toward the trees. "Mostly it keeps to itself. Hunts deer, stays in the deep woods. But every twenty, thirty years, something changes. It gets bold. Comes closer. Starts making itself known."
"Why?" Dexter asked. "What changes?"
Bill shrugged. "If I knew that, I'd be a lot smarter than I am. All I know is it's happening again. And you three stumbling around in the dark with your cameras and your flying machines—you're gonna get hurt if you're not careful."
"We can be careful," Dexter said quickly. "We just want to document it. Prove it exists."
"And then what? You put it on the internet? Get it killed by some hunter looking to make a name for himself?" Bill shook his head. "Some things are better left unknown, son."
Isabel stepped forward. "With respect, Mr. Kowalski, people are already scared. If we can prove what this is, show that it's not dangerous—"
"Who said it's not dangerous?"
That stopped her.
Bill sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "Look. I'm not going to stop you. You're going to do what you're going to do. But at least be smart about it. Stay out of the deep woods. Don't go alone. And if you see it—really see it—don't try to get close. Just take your pictures and leave."
"Can you help us?" Dexter asked. "You know this area. You know the creature. We could use a guide."
Bill studied him for a long moment. "I'm seventy-three years old. I don't do nighttime expeditions anymore."
"Then daytime," Dexter pressed. "Just show us where it dens, where it hunts. That's all we need."
Bill was quiet. Then, finally, he nodded. "Meet me at the north entrance. Tomorrow, noon. I'll show you the old trails. But we're not going in deep. Understand?"
"Understood," Dexter said, relief flooding through him.
"Now get out of here before the police show up and arrest you for trespassing."
---
They reconvened in the parking lot, adrenaline still buzzing.
"That was insane," Jesse said, grinning despite himself. "Did you see the swings? And the eyes? That was—"
"Inconclusive," Isabel finished, but she was smiling too. "But yeah. Insane."
Dexter couldn't stop replaying the moment in his head. The glowing eyes. The growl. The way the creature had simply vanished.
It was real.
It was *real.*
"So we're doing this?" Isabel asked. "Tomorrow, with Bill?"
"Absolutely," Dexter said.
"I'm in," Jesse added. "But I'm bringing better batteries for the drone."
They stood there for a moment, three people who had been strangers twenty-four hours ago, now bound by something bigger than themselves.
"Dexter?" Isabel said.
"Yeah?"
"For the record, this is way better than covering city council meetings."
Dexter laughed—a genuine, unguarded sound. "For the record, this is way better than finding another deer."
As they drove away in their separate vehicles, Dexter caught sight of the park in his rearview mirror. Dark, silent, full of secrets.
And somewhere in those trees, the Millbrook Shadow was watching.
Waiting.