The Taken

ONE

"So what's the story this time?" Detective Gage lit a cigarette, took one drag, and exhaled slowly. "Another missing person? Another damn dead-end?"
"Actually, Gage, quite the opposite. We've got two persons missing. One, by the name of John Garrison, a local history teacher at the high school. The other, Amy Dalton, the guy's fiancé. Neighbors state that John and Amy came home last night around eight. Never left their home after that."
"So, you're saying that they came home, and just... gone? There's something missing here. Is it possible that they could've left when no one was looking?"
"Why would any one leave without their vehicle? Or their cell phone? And they couldn't have been kidnapped, there's no sign of struggle."
"It's all the same. Just another strange, damned disappearance." Gage dropped his cigarette onto the ground and stamped it out. "Take me inside the house."
So many thoughts went through Detective Gage's head while walking towards the home. The fact that there had been no progress on this case disgusted him even more. Eight disappearances in the last three weeks; John Garrison and Amy Dalton included. What the hell is going on?
The old house loomed over Detective Gage and his partner, like a large skyscraper standing tall over it's city. The lawn still fresh with dew, scrunched under each step taken, and soon transitioned into firm clunks as the footsteps were taken upon the wooden porch. The two detectives passed through the already open door and immediately scanned the living room. While looking for anything out of place or unnatural, the only thing that grasped their attention were the chilling scratches on the wooden floor.
     "You see this, James?" Gage asked as he followed the scratches with his finger. "Scratches. And faint signs of blood in it. I thought you said there was no sign of struggle?"
     "I thought the same. This wasn't included in the report on my desk this morning." James kneeled down, taking a better examination of the scratches. "They lead towards that door."
It was eery to the two detectives. The fact that the house had been swiftly, but thoroughly searched, and this major piece of evidence wasn't mentioned in the report. Detective Gage and Detective James both approached the door in which the scratches led. The door wasn't shut all the way. It was closed, but not latched.
"Let's see where this leads." Gage pushed the door open with the tip of his foot. It slowly creaked open. "James, take point?"
"Gee, thanks." James sarcastically replied. His sarcasm quickly faded as he gazed down the old, wooden steps.
James pulled out his flashlight and illuminated the end of the stairs. Before even taking his first step, he immediately noticed something at the base of the stairs. Cautiously, the two men made their way down to the basement. It was small, damp, and stuffy. Everything you'd expect a basement to be.
James kneeled down to examine the object he had noticed from the top of the stairs. It was a hammer. And next to the hammer, lied a few dabs of dried blood.

"Hello?" John earnestly called. He knew that the basement was small, but should anyone be down here at all, they could be beneath the staircase or behind the hot water heater.
John gripped the hammer tight as he pulled the switch from the single lightbulb that hung from the basement ceiling. The light flickered on, revealing the cold, hard cement floor and the bottom of the stairs. Even though the light allowed John to see, the small lightbulb was unable to reach all corners of the room, and barely beneath the stairs.
"Is everything okay, Baby?" Amy called from the basement door.
"Amy, I told you to wait in the living room." John pulled the light switch to turn the light out and then made his way to the top of the stairs. "There's nothing down here, just like I told you. It must have been that damn water heater kicking on or something."
     John tossed the hammer into an open box and closed the basement door behind him. Amy hugged his neck, as if she hadn't seen John for a very long time. "Baby, that really scared me. I wanna get a security system installed. First thing in the morning. Please?"
     "Everything's fine, Sweetheart. There wasn't anything down there."
     "John. Please. It'd make me feel so much better. Okay?" Amy looked into her fiancé's eyes. She knew he couldn't resist when she did that.
     John tried to fight the look she was confidently giving him, but he knew he couldn't fight it long. "Fine. Okay. We'll get a security system installed. But only because I'm such a good boyfriend." He jokingly stuck his tongue out at Amy. "Can we go to bed, now?"
     Amy grinned and pecked him on the lips. "I'll go clean up our glasses of tea. Go ahead and go lay down."
     Almost immediately as the two ended their discussion, the basement door unlatched and slowly creaked open.