1998

        The distress call came an hour before midnight giving patrol officer, Samuel Kenyon, finally something to do on this slow evening. He hated the night shift on Tuesdays due to nothing exciting ever happening. There were a few dozen traffic stops he got to do, but nothing that required him to bring anyone to the station. The only time he ever got to see any action was on Friday nights when he was stuck behind a desk hearing about the events from some other cops in the unit, but that was the life of a rookie. You did what you were told, kissed everyone’s ass, and waited for the next group of rookies to arrive allowing you to move up. Damn the chain of command. 

        Arriving at the house, Sam instantly got a sickening feeling in his stomach. Something wasn’t right. From the outside everything seemed calm and still, but if he had learned anything from the police academy, looks were deceiving. He pulled his car up to the front steps, turned off the ignition and prepared himself for what he was about to encounter. Dispatch stated it was a domestic complaint, possibly involving a child. Meaning; arguing parents, possible physical abuse, and a scared kid. Sam took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. This is what you wanted, a little more excitement to spice up your night. Getting out of the cruiser, he checked his gun before shutting the door and starting up the stairs to the house.

        He surveyed the outside quickly, looking up into the darkened windows for any sign of movement before knocking on the door. There was a light coming from what appeared to be the dining room and from the second floor window, allowing him a quick glance of a gentleman walking by in a hurry. The husband? Sam listened for any signs of yelling or screaming, but he couldn’t hear anything.

        Knocking, he listened for footsteps, but again heard nothing. He knew someone was there. He had seen them pass the window, so why weren’t they answering the door? The house wasn’t that big. His bad feeling kept getting worse with each passing second causing Sam to knock again, this time identifying himself, “Police! Open up”. As soon as the words left his mouth he heard a big crash and a girl scream. That was all he needed to enter the house.

        He un-holstered his gun, took a few steps back to give himself enough room before kicking the door open. It swung open with such force; Sam could hear the wood splinter and crack as he entered the home, his pointed gun leading the way. His adrenaline was pumping, causing him to hear his heart beating fast. Fear crept into his body, but he couldn’t let it affect him. There was a little girl counting on him. What if the husband had harmed the wife and was now going after the little girl? What if the wife had gone crazy and killed the husband and was now going after her daughter? So many scenarios were going through his head, but he couldn’t let them get to him. He had to stay focused.

        Entering the dining room, he found three plate settings of pasta and tomato sauce untouched, with the oven still on keeping a tray of garlic bread warm. There were three glasses, two filled with a red wine and one with white milk. Strange. It was as if they had been interrupted during their dinner. If it had been an argument caused by them it would have most likely happened during the process of eating their food not before and the chairs wouldn‘t be pushed in as they are now. Turning off the oven, he continued into the home, turning on the lights as he went.

        Switching on the light to the living room, Sam got a big surprise. There was a large sum of blood smearing down the farthest wall from him, right next to the entrance to the stairs leading to the second floor. Following the smear with his hazel eyes he saw a man in his mid-thirties sitting against the wall with his head tilted to the side looking like he was sleeping. As Sam got closer though, he realized the man wasn’t sleeping, he was unconscious. Bending down to check his pulse to see if the man was dead, Sam radioed in for help. “Dispatch this is Officer Kenyon. Badge number 3288. I need an ambulance at 259 Phoenix Ave. and additional back-up. I think-” He was cut off when he heard a scream coming from upstairs.

        Rushing up the stairs, he was met with a woman getting thrown into the wall beside him causing the wall to crumble and crack. His sight went from her to what had thrown her and he became instantly mortified. The man’s face was hidden in the shadows only allowing Samuel to see his figure which looked a little less than human. One of his arms was stretched down, hanging at his side, going passed his kneecap with his hand and nails dragging on the floor making that awful scratching noise he’d only heard in Freddy Krueger movies. His nails were like talons, long and sharp looking like they could slice through anything. On top of that, the man was holding a young girl in his other hand at arm’s length. Samuel raised his gun pointing at the half man creature, his arms shaking. “Put the girl down!” He didn’t bother identifying himself; he figured his outfit gave it away.

        The thing laughed at Samuel, giving him a Joker like grin. He stepped closer to Samuel, letting him see his face which was a sight to see. His eyes were weird.They were unnaturally glowing a deep dark purple illuminating in the darkness. His hair was jet black, being slicked back in a very professional manner. What was even stranger was the man was dressed in what looked to be a black suit, white button up shirt with a lilac purple tie. Definitely bizarre. “This is none of your concern officer,” He hissed at him like a snake, his voice darker, seeming to be inhuman. “Depart now before the option becomes unavailable.”

        “I said, put the girl down!” Samuel yelled trying to sound intimidating while attempting to ignore the fear and sweat rolling off him. “I won’t tell you again!” Laughter ran through Samuel’s ears for a second time making his bad feeling rise yet again. The sound was unsettling, creepy, a sound that would make the hair on the back of anyone’s neck stick up. A shiver went down Samuel’s back and before he could even think to pull the trigger, his gun plunged to the ground as he gasped for air trying to pull the man’s hand off from around his neck. Samuel didn’t even get a change to blink before he started to feel the pressure being applied.

        Smiling, the man continued to squeeze. “The option for you to depart is no longer available,” He stated in a very causal way, as if he were having a dinner conversation and discussing the bitterness of an expensive wine he was drinking. “You did not leave, therefore, your life is now irrelevant, goodbye,” Samuel began to feel light headed and could feel the life draining from him as the force around his neck increased. The pain became numb and all he remembered was looking over into the young girl’s bright, crystal blue eyes before falling unconscious.

        A few hours later, Samuel woke up outside the house laying down on the perfectly cut green lawn. He could hear something crackling and sizzling in front of him along with smelling a mixture of burning materials, but current smells over powered the rest. Such as, the smell of burning wood and smoke. For a second he wondered if he was lying in front of a fireplace that had just been lit, but the thought left just as quickly as it had entered his mind, when he had a memory flash of the man creature he had seen.  
        Panic over took him and he sat up rubbing his neck, remembering the pain that had been inflicted upon him. It was then he got a good look of what was burning and his heart seemed to have stopped as he thought of who had still been in the house. There had been the man creature, but there had also been a man and a woman. Not to mention the child. The child! Had the monster killed them all? How had he gotten out then? When had the fire started? All these questions passed through his mind all at once that he couldn’t do anything, but freak out on the inside.

        It was then Samuel heard the sound of a young girl crying beside him. Turning to his left he saw the seven year old that had been held by the creature, with her knees pulled to her chest. She had wavy, dark brown hair that looked black in the darkness. The length stopped just below her shoulder blades and he gave her a once over, looking for any sign of injury from where he was. In the dark, he could see a large amount of a thick red substance running down her right arm. Moving closer, he saw that it was blood. A lot of blood. The girl wasn’t holding her arm though, or showing any sign that she was crying over the pain from it.

        “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay” He told her not knowing if he was lying or telling the truth. He was very soft spoken, trying to show her that he meant no harm. Samuel approached as if she was a wild animal. Cautious and wary, not wanting to scare her any more then they both already were. “My name’s Samuel, what’s yours?” He asked touching her right shoulder lightly,  not knowing exactly were the wound on her arm started or stopped due to the three quarter sleeve t-shirt she was wearing.  

        She looked over at him, her blue eyes showing nothing, but sadness. Dried tears could be seen replaced by fresh ones, though she did not sob. It seemed like she was holding it all in, due to shock or just trying to be strong. “Kylie” She sniffled, before wiping some of the tears from her face with her left hand. “My name’s Kylie”