The Hidden Gods of Appalachia

<p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>My mama always said </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Don't fly too far or you may forget where your nest is</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>So naturally I flew thousands of miles away-because when there's nothing left in the nest what else is there to do?</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>After her death I couldn't sit still.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>When my little brother Daniel disappeared suddenly two years later I knew there was nothing left for me in North Carolina.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Oregon took me in as well as I could've hoped for a naive girl from Appalachia who showed up with only a single suitcase to my name.</span></p><p></p><p><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>But that was ten years ago.</em></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Now a random phone call has left me with more questions than answers. A distant aunt's passing has necessitated my return home to handle her final affairs as I'm her only living relative.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>But there's more. . .</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>People are vanishing into the dense woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Strange sigils are being found all along the Parkway.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>. . .And there's a private detective who seems to think I might be the only one able to help him work out why.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Home is nearly unrecognizable.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Industry and development have crept into the heart of something ancient and it feels like the old gods are </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>angry</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> . . .</span></p><p></p>