As one, the whole team ventured outside. Everyone reached for their flashlights. Regardless of the fact that the sun is still out, the trees are too heavily packed together for proper lighting to filter through.

Zara clicks hers on, the light shining at the ground below her. Positioning herself beside Nate, Zara trailed the stick left and right as the team scoured for any evidence they might have missed.

The spring air was getting colder as the sun made its slow descent in the vibrant purple hazed sky. Grabbing hold of her red jacket, she zipped it close when a bitter wind wound its way in between the lapels.

Glancing around, a small curl of irritation furled inside of her when she saw that none of the males were suffering as she was. If there was once thing she was jealous of, it was the intense body heat an Alpha generated.

The leaves crunched underneath her boots, twigs snapping in half, their broken bodies left on the cold, hard ground. But even their bodies served a purpose, for it was now the time when birds would be searching high and low for them. It would serve the birds well whenever they created a nest in which will house their children.

The light from Zara's flashlight moved up on the cherry oak tree, the sturdy bark a contrast to the cabin stationed not too far from it.

With a lazy wave, she scanned the hard body and its arms.

"Crones," Oliver's rough voice broke the silence that had befallen on the team. "We're moving further in. You coming?"

Downwards, she moved the light. Warming the hefty body of the tree.

"Yeah, I'm comin—"

A sudden glare shone back at her, catching her eye at the last second before she turn to head off towards the guys.

Moving with a sureness in her step, Zara ventured closer to the flare. Her ear caught the sudden stop of shuffling feet from the other team members. Warmth bathed her ears when Nate's voice trailed out to her.

"Zara? What's wrong?"

But she ignored it, and instead continued on forward, not willing to lose sight of this find. For it could be the break they needed after not being able to find anything in the last six — no, now seven — cases.

Closer she creeped, and as she stood at the foot of the bark of the cherry oak, her breath stuttered to a halt.

Nate's minty breath tickled her nose. His strong hand clamped down on her shoulder, the thumb skimming the edges of the collar of her jacket.

He tried to move her body around so that he can step forward to see what had gotten hold of her attention, but for the first time in so many years, she can't move. Her limbs are frozen in place, and the air around her gets getting thicker.

Zara can feel when the others join them at the tree. Could feel as their eyes move from her face, to the object currently creating the unsteady staccato of her heartbeat while an array of colors bask the late evening sky.

"A birdhouse? That's what's gotten you so worked up?"

"Shut the hell up, Summers."

Nate and Oliver's quarrel is suddenly at the back of her mind, fading as her eyes are still set on the small bird enclosure.

Red paint stains the wood, the once vibrant color now dull with age and a torrent of rain, sleet and snow. The small landing stick, one that had been long and sturdy, now bent downwards. The beautiful stained glass, a gift her father had crafted for her, no longer held a frosty look.

Instead, it was a dark muddy brown. Like her childhood.

"I know this place."

Whipping around, she could see everyone's gaze now centered at her. Nate's hand, which had fallen away at her sudden movement, grasped her elbow at her declaration.

"There should be a lake not too far from here," shaking his hand off, Zara begins to head straight for the woods surrounding the house. "Come on."

Splinter of memories start invading her head the further she goes, almost like a game. As one stumbles into the forefront of her mind, it quickly disappears before it's analyzed, only to be replaced by another.

They come and go in a matter of seconds, not giving her enough time to actually see them. But while her mind is a chaotic mess, her feet seem to know the way.

Muscle memory at its finest.

The thought swiftly leaves the moment a wave of lake water stains the air. Zara can hear Ivan's "fucking shit," through the currents crashing against the rocky shore.

Without stopping, she continues on with the rest of the team trailing behind her.

"Wait, Zara," Nate grasps her elbow once again, causing her to come to a complete stop.

"What is it?"

"Where are you going? There's nowhere to go to from here."

Pointing to the shore ahead of them, she quirks an eyebrow at him. "I know. I want to see if there's anything there." Shrugging his hand off, she leaves him with the other guys who have also stopped.

Night has fallen already, and the air has grown vicious along the way. Zara's hands, cold from the frigid air, are shoved inside of her jacket in an attempt to warm them. She could see a layer of frost taking hold of the stones laying on the sand, before the blue-green water once again takes reign of its domain.

Scanning the bank, nothing catches her eye or speaks to her. A mountain of frustration begins to form inside of her. And with it, a sense of failure.

Pain starts to prick at the corner of her eyes. Zara's frustration begins to twist and transform, and now a sudden pressure takes hold inside of her chest, along with the urge to scream.

To yell out the unfairness of this case. For the victims that still couldn't receive justice. For the killer that continued to stroll on with their life and not be punished for their heinous crimes.

But most of all? She wants to scream because all she wants to do is just cry.

It wasn't fair that in order to be taken seriously in this job, not only does she have to be unbreakable, but perfect. Just once, she wished she could display her real emotions to her teammates.

She was human too, dammit.

"Hey."

Warm fingers sweep along her cheek, and without thinking it through, Zara presses her face against the comforting hand. Nate's coconut sunscreen steadies the stormy thoughts and feelings to a slow simmer.

His thumb creates circles on her cheekbone. Glancing at him, his honeycomb eyes are soft as he gazes down at her. He lowers his body a little, so that they are now almost at the same level.

"Are you okay?" he shifts his eyes back and forth to see if he can discern the truth beneath her gaze.

"Yeah," the truth spills out fluidly. Because now, at this moment, she is.

"Can someone tell me," Oliver's grating tone breaks the moment shared between the two, "what in the hell is going on?"

"Nothing is going on," Nate speaks for the both of them, straightening from his position. "Zara just realized that she's been here before."

"Is that true?" Samuel walks towards them, a question in his gaze.

"Yes. I used to come here with my family when I was little. It's a lake house, and it's used by the majority of the people who live in Allura."

The lie at the end came like second nature to her. But with the way Nate's body tensed beside her, she figured it wasn't as smooth as she had first believed. Unease curls at the pit of her stomach at the thought of lying to him.

But, she reasoned, she had to do it while the others were present. Later, she'll tell him the truth.

He deserved it.

"Interesting. So everyone knows about this place?" Something in Ivan's voice indicates that he too didn't believe her, and the unease slowly forms into anxiety.

Nodding, Zara turns away from him and focuses it back on the lake.

It was weird, she noticed as the waves continued to crash against the rocks, how everything was so silent. There were no owls hooting in the distance, or the chirps from crickets orchestrating the night air.

On the way over here, she saw that there were deer that visited often, the tracks they left behind a big indication of that. But since the moment they've stepped outside of the SUVs, no wildlife cried out with their own distinctive call.

"Looks to me like there's nothing for us here. How about we head back?"

One by one everyone agrees with Micah's quiet statement. Zara, still focused on her thoughts, continued to stare at the lake as the sounds of people retreating rent the air.

"Zara," Nate calls out to her from behind.

With one last look at the dark, oily waters, she gives a small prayer for memories to once again penetrate her mind.

"Yeah, I'm coming."