Terrence could only hope he was dreaming, and that pinching himself could wake him up, and he'd be back in his one-bedroom apartment, smelling the dusty walls.

"Terrence!" Emily screamed, backing away toward the staircase.

They saw a man who may have looked normal from behind, but the front was a demon-like creature. His eyes were red with black slit pupils. Fangs protruded from his mouth and his hands were like claws. They could rip you apart like paper.

"Who dares enter here?!" The demon screeched. Emily was at the top of the staircase, the only thing preventing her from leaving was Terrence, who still stood in front of the demon, as if it wasn't able to kill him in two seconds.

"What did you do to the children?" Terrence shouted. His hands and knees were shaking uncontrollably, you could hear it in his voice. But his feet stayed glued to the floor.

"Why should I tell a petty human what I am doing? Leave here, or I'll snap you in half." The demon took a step toward Terrence.

"I- um..." Terrence stuttered. He was paralyzed from fear.

Suddenly, a flying object hit the demon's eye, making him stumble backwards, screaming in pain.

"Terrence! The girl is over there! I'll distract him, go get the girl!" Terrence was confused. What girl? All the missing children were dead. But then hit him. The crazy woman said, "He has my daughter!" He had to save what he could.

He ran past the injured demon, toward the wall where he saw the little girl. She looked pale and sick, and duct tape covered her mouth.

"Hey, kid, You're gonna come with me, okay? I'm gonna get you out of here." He untied her hands and face and motioned for her to follow him. But she was too weak. She couldn't stand on her own. Terrence scooped her up into his arms and turned around toward the staircase. Emily was distracting the demon. Her forehead was bleeding and her ankle was twisted weirdly. She had a metal pole she found on the ground as her only weapon.

"We gotta get out of here!" shouted Terrence. But Emily shook her head.

"I have to kill him or he'll take more kids!" While Emily was distracted, the demon threw her into the wall, knocking her unconscious. He slowly began walking toward Emily's limp body, ready to kill her off for good. Terrence didn't know what to do. He had a sick child in his hands and no weapons.

"Light," a small voice whispered.

"What?" Terrence looked down at the little girl's face.

"Light," she repeated. Her eyes closed as she fell back to sleep. It didn't take long for Terrence to realize. He carefully but quickly put the girl down on the ground and whipped his flashlight out of his pocket.

"Hey, you!" he shouted. "Over here!" The demon turned around, growling. Terrence switched on the flashlight and pointed it at his face. The demon screamed and tried to cover his face from the light. But Terrence ran closer, the light becoming brighter. He saw smoke rising from the demon's skin. It was burning him. He was dying.

"My eyes!!" the demon shouted, falling backwards as he began to evaporate into nothing. Terrence watched as the demon disappeared into only a pile of ashes.

"Emily!" He shouted, running over to where she lay by the wall. He lifted her head into his lap and put his fingers to her neck checking for a pulse. He felt a steady heartbeat, which was good. "Emily, the demon is gone. We can go home." Emily didn't respond. Terrence wiped a tear from his face, he was still trying to understand what the heck just happened.

He heard the sirens of police cars. He heard the shouts and footsteps of policemen coming through the warehouse. Someone must've found out he went on an investigation without permission.

That night was a blur. An ambulance took Emily to the hospital. The little girl, Rose, was given back to her mother. The parents of the dead children were informed of what happened.

He was sitting in his office, even though it was long after work hours, processing, when the Chief walked in.

"Detective Terrence," he said in his deep voice. "I hear you've had a long day."

Terrence didn't look up at him. "You know why I'm here, right?"

"Sir, I found the kids. I saved Rose, I-"

"I am aware of your accomplishments, Detective. But remember what I told you?" Terrence remembered. He had never been an amazing detective and he broke rules all the time. The Chief had told him if he broke the rules one more time, he'd lose his job. But Terrence loved his job with his whole heart, and he was determined to prove to the Chief that he could trust him. But apparently, he can't.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright then. You brought an innocent police officer with you to an unwarranted investigation. That breaks one of the biggest rules he have here."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. Pack up your things, Terrence," he turned around to the door. "I expected more from you." As he shut the door, Terrence didn't know what to say or feel. He saved a little girl, but he hurt Emily. He found the missing children, but he lost his job. Was there any other way he could mess up?

An hour later, at 3 am, he left the police department to go home. The radio was playing but static interrupted the songs. When he came to the intersection, he pulled into the right lane that would lead him home. He saw the sign:

HOSPITAL. TURN LEFT. THREE MILES.

The light turned green. Terrence didn't push the gas pedal. Cars behind him honked until he made a sharp right turn, breaking the law, but going towards the hospital. He sped down the road and turned into the parking lot. He jumped out of his car and ran inside to the front desk lady.

"Hi, my name is Terrence Barter and I'd like to visit Miss Emily Watson?"

"Yes. Just sign here. She'll be in room 212."

"Alright, thank you, ma'am." Terrence scribbled his name and followed the signs to Emily's room. He lifted his hand up to knock, but he paused. What if Emily was asleep? What if she was angry at him? The possibilities were endless. But nonetheless, he walked in. Asleep, Emily lay on the hospital bed. In front of her bed were flowers and chocolates and Get Well Soon cards. Terrence sat in the chair by her bed. She had bandages around her head and her foot was wrapped up. He stared at her for a few minutes, then fell asleep.