Chapter 1 Cedar Flesh-1

Have you heard of Cedar Flesh?

Feed a pig nothing but toon leaves for three months. Not a drop of oil or meat allowed during this period!

The meat patties made this way are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!

====

Tessa Reed woke to her phone glowing at 3:17 a.m.

The last message from Kira Hall had been three days ago—a blurry selfie， dusty wooden walls behind her， a string of dried leaves dangling in the corner.

>“This place is fucking silent，” she’d texted.“Not even a dog barks.”

Tessa replied:*Where?*

No answer.

Kira didn’t just vanish. She was the most wired grad student in UW’s Anthropology Dept—oral histories， cultural memory， marginalized voices. Always had that old Sony recorder clutched like a lifeline， denim strap worn thin from her grandma’s Oklahoma days.

She tracked down forgotten towns: recorded ghost stories on church pews， behind hardware stores， even in funeral home waiting rooms. Turned‘em into podcasts.“This，” she’d say，“is real America.”

Last Friday， she posted this:

>*The cured meat in Pine Hollow smells like Grandma’s apron—but nobody told me who’s feeding the pigs.*

Photo: dawn light over a backyard full of dark-brown strips hanging on iron racks， glistening with oil. A faded tag fluttered in the wind:

**CEDAR FLESH—PREPARED WITH HONOR**

Comments blew up.

>“Don’t ask questions， kid.”

>“Cedar Flesh isn’t for outsiders.”

>“Watch out for the cellar wind.”

Tessa scrolled slow. Kira didn’t post random shit. This was bait. A clue.

She deleted three DMs.

First: a number traced to Pine Hollow.*“Your friend is safe here. Don’t come.”*

Second: from Kira—but on an account Tessa had never seen.*“Don’t look for me， Tess. You won’t like the answer.”*

Third: blank.

She called the cops.

Seattle PD sent Marla Chen—mid-forties， scar above her left brow， voice like a robot reading a death certificate.

“Adults go dark all the time，” she said.“Unless there’s violence， coercion， or a body? We don’t do missing person sweeps for grad students who hop on their own.”

Tessa gave her Kira’s last ping—12 miles out on Highway 3—and the audio clip: 1 minute 47 seconds of wind… and that low hum. Like generators. Or wings.

And the photo’s wall.

She enhanced it. Barely legible， weathered wood:

**PINE HOLLOW– EST. 1892**

“That’s deep in the Cascades，” Marla said.“Pop under three hundred. No hospital. Cell service? Ha. We called town hall—they say Kira Hall checked into Cedar Rest Inn. Voluntary.”

Tessa stayed quiet.

She knew it was a lie.

Took two weeks off. Flew from Seattle to Spokane. Rented a rusted 2015 Ford F-150—eight years old， tires cracked， but full tank and AC still working. Backseat: dog-eared guidebook *“Remote Towns of Washington”* and half a pack of peppermints.

Destination:**Pine Hollow， WA**.

Rain hit as she hit Highway 3—not buckets， just that Northwest mist， clinging like wet wool to the trees. Pine branches dripped in slow lines. Signs vanished. Then—rusty iron marker:

**PINE HOLLOW– 12 MI**

She expected boarded-up gas stations. Abandoned churches. Old men spitting tobacco on porches.

What she got? Too clean.

Asphalt smooth as glass. Streetlights—cast-iron， yellow glow cutting through mist like halos. Shop windows: handmade bread. Maple syrup. And rows of deep-brown strips， neatly wrapped in wax paper.

Label:

>**CEDAR FLESH—PREPARED WITH HONOR**

>*Since 1892*

Tessa stopped. Walked into the first store:*Whitmore’s Pantry*.

Doorbell chimed—church bell， copper.

Behind the counter， a woman in her sixties， gray hair pinned tight， apron stained crimson. Knife slicing wax paper with a soft tear.

“New here?”

“I’m looking for Kira Hall. She was here last week.”

Woman didn’t look up.“She stayed seven days. Now she’s being cared for at the Mayor’s.”

Tessa froze.“Cared for?”

“Yeah.” The woman smiled—lines around her mouth like bark carved by wind.“You don’t get it here. We don’t raise livestock anymore. Cedar Flesh? It’s a gift from above.”

“What… is it made of?” Tessa asked.

The woman slid a slice onto the counter.“Taste it. It’ll make you forget who you are.”

Tessa didn’t move.

“You don’t believe me?” The voice dropped to a whisper.“Your friend said the same thing. Then she ate it. Stopped asking questions.”

—

Town Hall was upstairs. Doorplate:**Eli Whitmore， Town Trustee**— beneath， smaller:*Keeper of the Covenant*.

He sat behind an oak desk—plaid shirt crisp， sleeves rolled to show forearms crisscrossed with thin scars. Like vines wrapped tight.

“Tessa Reed.” His voice was low， smooth as mountain water.“Kira’s friend.”

“She lost her phone. I’m taking her home.”

Eli didn’t stand. Pulled out a silver iPhone 14—screen cracked into four jagged lines.

“This hers?”

Tessa nodded.“I know that case. She had that dumb cat sticker on it.”

“We found it by the creek. Waterlogged. Battery dead. But data’s intact.” He pushed it toward her.“We backed everything up. Just in case.”

Her fingers went ice-cold as she took it.

Screen was black—except for a faint pulse along the edges.

Like breathing.

“Why’d you take it?”

Eli leaned back.“Rule one: no electronics in the cellar zones. Kira… went where she wasn’t supposed to.”

“What cellar?”

He didn’t answer. Just opened a small wooden box on his desk.

Inside—dozens of brass rings. Each engraved with a date:

*1923.07.14

1958.03.06

...

1892.10.01*

“Whose are these?”

“Every outsider who chose to stay… over the last thirty years.” He looked at her.“They don’t need phones anymore.”

Tessa stared.“Kira chose to stay?”

Eli smiled.“She’s our daughter now. You should be glad she didn’t end up like the others… eaten clean by the bugs.”

—

Mrs. Wu’s house sat on the east edge—a wooden farmhouse with a loft， lined outside with prickly ash trees whose leaves shimmered oily green.

“Lucas is her adopted son，” whispered the old man selling cider next door.“His mom died in the cellar when the snow blocked the road.”

Tessa knocked.

The door opened to a tall， gaunt guy—late twenties， glasses， faded linen shirt and jeans. Looked like a prof who’d wandered into the wrong campus.

“You’re Kira’s friend?”

No surprise. Just exhaustion.“Lucas Voss.”

She nodded.“You knew her?”

“Yeah.” He stepped aside.“She asked me how to process prickly ash leaves. Said she was writing about‘modern meaning of traditional food.’”

The living room? Overflowing with books:*North American Insect Ecology*，*Parasites and Human Host Coevolution*，*Famine Records in 19th Century Northwest*.

On the wall—a hand-drawn map. Seven locations marked:

**CEDAR CHAMBER #X**

“These are cellars?” Tessa asked.

Lucas didn’t answer. Just poured two cups of tea.

“Prickly ash boiled. Keeps the cold out.”

She sipped. Bitter. Metallic.

“Why’d she come here?”

He set his cup down， fingers tracing a book spine.

“City folks think‘tradition’ means candles and campfires and people dancing in furs.” He paused.“Here? It’s real.”

He pulled back the curtain.

Outside—dozens of townsfolk lined up at the butcher shop， taking sealed boxes of Cedar Flesh. No talking. No eye contact. Each bowed slightly as they took theirs. Like communion.

“They don’t raise livestock，” Tessa said.“So what is this meat—”

Lucas turned to her. His eyes? Like he was watching someone stand on a cliff’s edge.

“Have you ever heard of‘human pigs’?”

“What?”

“In the early 1800s， famine hit hard. Snow higher than cattle. When the last pig was gone… someone dreamed of Lin Ling—the Forest Guardian.”

He lowered his voice.

>*‘You no longer deserve livestock. But if you offer flesh and blood—I will give you immortal meat.’*

Tessa’s throat tightened.

“And then?”

Lucas opened a leather-bound notebook. Page: meticulously drawn insects. Textbook precision.

**Oculea carnifex— Cedar Bug**

“It’s not a god.” He tapped the drawing.“It’s a parasite. Larvae mature on prickly ash leaves. Adults burrow under skin， lay eggs… three months later? Muscle breaks down. Reassembles.”

He pointed outside.“You think they’re selling pork? No. It’s human flesh. Live people—fed for three months， then dropped into cellars. Wait for them to pupate. Harden. Shed their shells.”

Tessa stood. Chair screeched.

“Where is Kira?”

Lucas closed the book. Handed her a brass key.

“If you go to the old mill north of town at 11 tonight—you’ll find your answer.”

“Don’t touch any bugs，” he added.“They smell fear.”

—

The mill lock was rusted shut. Tessa pried it open on the third try.

Sweet rot hung in the air—like fruit left on a radiator.

Moonlight sliced through broken glass， painting blood-red stripes across the floor.

She knelt. Fingers touched tile—cold， slick. Claw marks gouged into edges.

Pry it up. A wooden ladder dropped into darkness—the throat of something alive.

Her flashlight hit bottom.

She nearly screamed.

It wasn’t a stone chamber.

It was a **forest**.

Thousands of giant stinkbugs—fifteen centimeters long， deep-brown carapaces gleaming oily， hooked legs gripping walls and floor. Their abdomens pulsed like bloated sacs. Each clung to… a human form.

Naked. Skin purple-blue. Veins raised like roots. Chests barely rising.

Alive.

In the center—hair wild. Ribs jutting beneath skin.

Kira.

Dressed in white. Arms chained from ceiling. A prickly ash leaf stuffed between her lips. Blood seeping from her mouth.

Tessa’s phone buzzed.

Text:

**You came.**

Sender:**Kira Hall**

Her fingers shook as she typed:*Where are you?!*

Three seconds later:

>**I’m inside.