The Obsidian Hand

Seven years ago, the Three Sisters Wilderness swallowed Bethany Grayson’s son, Caleb, leaving behind only echoing silence and unanswered questions. Now, a cryptic package reopens the wound: Caleb’s hand-carved wooden wolf and a map marked with strange symbols, a cruel breadcrumb trail back to the scene of her deepest sorrow.
Drawn by a desperate hope, Bethany returns to the towering pines and whispering trails, the mountain a looming presence in her grief.  A solitary tracker, Owen, emerges from the shadows, claiming to have seen a boy matching Caleb’s description years ago. But Owen’s fragmented memories — a tear in Caleb’s jacket, a strange flute Bethany has never seen — raise more questions than answers. Is he a lifeline or a manipulator? A witness… or something far more sinister?
Following the map’s cryptic symbols, Bethany and Owen descend into the wilderness’s heart, whispers of the Obsidian Hand swirling around them — a secluded cult shrouded in rumor and fear.  They believed the mountain held a power to absorb… and to return. Could Caleb’s disappearance be linked to this shadowy group? Could he still be alive, transformed by the mountain’s energy?
As Bethany retraces Caleb’s last steps, suppressed memories claw their way to the surface.  The hooded figure she’d dismissed as a hiker now haunts her. The unsettling feeling of being watched intensifies. Had she unwittingly led her son into danger? And what role did her volatile relationship with Caleb’s father play in his disappearance?
The search for Caleb becomes a terrifying descent into the wilderness and the hidden corners of Bethany's mind.  She discovers Owen’s horrifying secret: He’s not just a tracker, he’s a member of the Obsidian Hand, and she's been lured into a deadly trap. She escapes, but now she's a target, hunted by the cult.
Flashes of memory reveal a terrifying truth: Caleb wasn’t just taken, he was chosen.  The Obsidian Hand believe he possesses a unique connection to the mountain, making him the perfect vessel for their dark purpose. 
Racing against time, Bethany enlists the help of Ranger Vance, a skeptical but compassionate woman investigating the cult's resurgence.  Together, they delve into the cult’s history, uncovering their link to a series of unexplained disappearances.