I take a slow sip of my coffee as I walk into the door of my office. The musty smell fills my nose, and I think to myself, I'd rather be anywhere but here. I hear my ancient secretary, Rosemary, tapping away at her keyboard, filing reports that probably should have been done four years ago. I remember the day I took this job, I was a bright eyed young boy, ready to fight crime. I didn't realize I would spend my days waiting for phone calls from townsfolk, who don't understand the police line isn't their own personal therapist.

I hear the phone ring in the next room and Rosemary pick it up. She promises to transfer them over to me and I groan. It was probably old man Mills, talking about some hooligan breaking into his store again, when really he should just lock his door, which he forgot to do almost every single night.

"Chief, there's been a break in at my store again. Some damned kid just waltzed in, and grabbed toilet paper, probably about to go vandalize a house with it," Mr. Mills said on the line, I heard a voice in the background arguing with him. I was right.

"I'll be over in a minute," I sighed.

I got in my car and drove, stopping on the way to get more coffee. When I pulled up, Mr. Mills was waiting impatiently, tapping his foot and holding a kid by the scruff of his neck. I sigh again, and walk over. The kid looked about 15, like he should be in school right now. The only reason I like fall was because school started, and kids were off the street so I didn't have to deal with them.

"This kids just walked on into my store like he owned the place, grabbing whatever he wanted, and then trying to break into the cash register," Mills said angrily.

"I wasn't-" The kid started.

"Shut up kid," Mills snapped at him.

"Let the kid speak," I said with a sigh.

"I wasn't stealing. The door was open when I tried it, so I went in and did the shopping I needed, then I was waiting to pay, by the cash register. I never even touched it I swear." The kid said.

"Alright, Mills look if you don't want people breaking in, lock your doors, it makes it a little harder. And kid, are you new around here?"

"Yessir," The kid replied.

"Mr. Mills doesn't open shop until ten. I would stick to the general store down the block on the corner. Now, for my next question, why aren't you in school?" I asked.

"I have a free period first, and my mom sent me out to get some toilet paper." He replied nervously.

"Alright, get in my car, I'll take you to school and explain why you're late."

After that whole mess was over, I headed over to the station. Rosemary looked up from her work then went back, typing furiously. I leaned over her desk.

"Rose, next time Mills calls, let it go to voicemail," I said.

"Chris, you know I can't do that," She said.

"Yes you can, it's easy just don't pick up the phone," I said, emphasizing the last five words.

Rose rolled her eyes and I walked back to my office. I hung up my jacket on a coat rack Rose got me for Christmas one year, and sat down at my desk to take a nap. Just as I was closing my eyes, the lights started to flicker. I groaned, in Bell Acres, the power company never did their jobs right. Electricity only worked about half the time, and the other half, it didn't work very well.The lights then shut off completely, enclosing my windowless office in darkness. I didn't really care in fact, I liked when the power went out, it meant no one could call me, and it was dark making it easier to fall asleep. However, after it went back on, everyone always called in, complaining about how I should be keeping tabs on the power company.

I heard Rose curse in the other room. She always did when the power went out, she already worked slow enough and didn't need more obstacles. I closed my eyes and slowly fell into a light sleep. I was woken up by the phone ringing. I cursed and checked the time, it had only been fifteen minutes. The lights were back on. I reluctantly picked the phone off of the receiver.

"Hello, its Chris," I said, expecting a complaint about the power.

"Chris, thank god. I'm so scared, I think the Charlestons have been murdered." I heard Carly Ingrid on the on the line say, sobbing.

"I'll be right over," I tried to sound calm but I was panicking.

I grabbed my gun and holster, something I hadn't even touched in years. The last time anything even close to this had happened was four years ago, when the Harrison twins went missing. Turns out they had just gotten lost in the woods, and they were fine in a few days, just had a nasty cold for a while. I headed into my car and turned on my siren, trying to get to the Charleston's as fast as I can, thinking irrationally that if I get there fast enough, they might not be dead when I arrive. On my way, I called in the detective

I got to the scene, and Carly was standing outside crying hysterically. I went over to her, trying to stay calm. My nerves were skyrocketing, I was losing it. I took a deep breath and approached her, putting a steady hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The lights went out, only for a short while. Almost as soon as they went out, I heard a loud scream from their house, and then nothing. No noise, no movement. So, I walked over to see what was wrong, that's when I saw a shadow jump out their window. I knocked on their door, but there was no answer and then I called you." She explained between sobs.

I ran inside, my heart beating in my ears. There was no one in sight, the house was empty. The TV was turned onto the news anchor talking about the zoo's new panda, but no one was around to watch, the armchairs empty. I walked into the kitchen, no one there but a turkey cooking in the oven about to burn. I turned the oven off, didn't need a fire and a missing person case. I went upstairs, a radio was playing, and the heat was on. It was obvious there had been people here recently, and that whenever they left they weren't exactly planning on it. However all of them were gone, just vanished unexplainably. I decided to take a closer look around the house now, at least until the detective arrived. On the rug there was a single drop of blood.

A/N: So I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month, or at least trying to. Hopefully this will be update daily, or at least every other day. I'm a busy child so maybe, maybe not we'll see. 

-Liziathan