I lifted the yellow tape over my head and started walking towards the front door of the school. Another officer opened the door for me and pointed me towards the hallway where everyone was talking. I joined the other detectives and officers in the hall and they started telling me how someone had broken into the school and destroyed one of the classrooms and the surrounding halls.
“I will go take a look, you guys head back to the station and start sorting through the evidence. We need to find out who did this and why,” I said, walking further down the hall.
I could hear the officers walking away from me as I continued down towards the end of the hall. It was Halloween night and it was one of my first big cases as the sheriff of the department. I had just gotten home from trick or treating with my wife and kids when the call came. I apologized to my wife and hugged my kids before I walked out the front door of our house. I hated having to leave my family, especially on a fun holiday, but that was the job. I knew my wife understood but my kids were so disappointed. I had promised to tell them a scary story before they went to bed and now they are going to bother their mom about it when they have to go to bed. There was no way I would be home before they went to bed, it was going to be a long night, trying to figure out who broke into the school and what to do about school on Monday if we couldn’t get the school cleaned up in time.
I got to the end of the middle of the hallway where there were big double doors. I pushed them open and immediately saw a light on in one of the rooms at the end of the hall. I walked slowly down the hallway with my flashlight pointed on the ground in front of me. I looked at the markings on the walls and the broken desks and chairs that were scattered throughout the hallway. I was almost at the door of the classroom where the light was coming from and I stopped. The light was coming from a small lamp on a desk in the corner of the room and there was a shadow of a man sitting behind the desk. I reached back and put one hand on my gun and took a step into the doorway.
“Who are you?” I asked, demanding answers.
When he didn’t respond I took a couple steps forward, keeping my hand on my gun, afraid he might try something. I could make out the man’s face slightly as I moved closer. He had gray hair with a gray beard, he looked old and his eyes were sunk way into his head. He sat leaning back in a nice desk chair, with a big desk in front of him. The room was completely destroyed, it looked like the desks and chairs had been thrown across the room and there were red scribbles all over the walls. The man stood up and walked around to the front of the desk.
“I believe I am the one you are looking for,” he said, leaning back on the desk.
Before I could respond I heard the pounding of footsteps from behind me. I turned and pulled out my gun but I couldn’t see anything. The next thing I knew I had been knocked over and was being dragged across the floor. I could hear the man laughing as I was pulled away. Then everything was dark.