"Honey, you know I will always be here for you, right?" Mom said, hugging me under our favorite tree. I nodded my head in agreement. She gave a soft smile and I smiled with her. She had gone back to the house to prepare dinner, and I was about to follow her when I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from behind me. I turned towards the noise to see him hurting Mom. "STOP" I yelled, trying to bring him to his senses, but he didn't stop. I couldn't move an inch, frozen in fear and anger.
RING, RING, RING
I sat up, drenched in sweat. I reached over and grabbed my phone off of the nightstand. It was Chief Holtman. Why in the world was he calling me in the middle of the night?
" It's 2 a.m.." I said in a groggy voice, answering the call. Nonetheless, thank god for waking me from that horrible dream. "What is so important that you have to call me in the middle of the night?" I hissed. "There's been a report," he responds. "A missing person report, and it's not just anyone either." Not just anyone? It must be someone important for him to call me in so late into the night. "Who is it?" Chief pauses before answering, "It's Asher Stone."
Asher Stone? Who's that? "He's my best friend's younger brother," he says, reading my mind. Ohhh, now it makes sense. I'm his best officer after all, of course, he would call me in the middle of the night to find his best friend's brother. "Alright. Do we have any leads yet?" I say, knowing I have no choice in whether I take this case.
"Not really, the only thing we know is approximately where he was last seen and his phone was left behind in the kitchen," Chief Holtman confessed.
Hm..
This sounds like kidnapping, but I don't want to tell the Chief just yet. Just in case I'm wrong, it is only speculation after all. "Ok, could you give me the address to his house, so I can check things out myself?" I asked. He grunted in agreement saying, "Thank you, for this, and for everything else you've done here." When we hung up, he had already sent me the address.
After I put some clothes on, I got in my truck and left, heading toward the location. On the way, there was a gas station. One car was in the parking lot, but all of the lights were off. A moment later, the lights inside and out started flickering, making it eccentrically creepy. For a moment I thought I should stop to get gas, but after seeing that, it had shivers down my spine. So I kept driving, not looking back. Not much time had passed, and there was a large red stain on the road. This time, I stopped, exited the truck, and inspected the red stain. It looks like blood, somewhat dried but still a little fresh. Is it human blood, or something else? There's no way of telling.
I move on, driving towards the man named Asher's house.
When I get there, and enter the empty house, it's dark. Depressing, even. The gray furniture all around the living room was spaced out, only the couch in the middle had a small splash of color, not belonging to the couch in the first place. It looked like food stains, the smell still fresh, telling me it wasn't that long ago. I walked into the kitchen, red flags were placed on the ground where there was a phone and glass shards. There were chairs knocked over and the water faucet dripped as I took the scene in. It looks like there was some kind of struggle. Suddenly, a drop of bright red caught my eye. Blood. And it's fresh, unlike the other splatter on the roadside. There was a trail, leading to what seemed to be a porch door.
Before I could open that door, I heard a creek come from behind me. I whipped my head around, all doors were closed. Except for one, ever so slightly opened.