Once Upon a Dreary Midnight

Prologue

"So Mr. Harris, can you tell me about that night?" Detective Robert asked while flipping some papers in his hands. 

"Am I safe?" Thomas asked in fear.

"Yes. Can you please tell me what happened?" 

"My little girl, Jessica, she was out at her friend's house working on a school project," Thomas could hardly speak, "It was getting late so I called her cellphone, but it was off. I called her friend's parents to tell them that she had to leave but they told me she left two hours ago. Their house is only a five-minute walk away." He stuttered a lot and his throat felt dry so he picked up a glass of water and took a sip. His hands were shaking and sweaty. The fact that he was able to hold the glass without dropping felt like an achievement he should be awarded for. "So I went looking for her. I started calling her name as loud as I can, but there was nothing. Then I got this ringing in my ears and then.." His voice was raspy, barely audible.  

"And then what?" Robert asked.

"And then that thing, it took her!" Thomas's eyes were wide open and his eyebrows shot up as his hands landed on the table before him like a grenade. 

"What do you mean, Mr. Harris?" Robert's heart started pounding. 

"It took her! It took my Jessica, now it's coming for me! I can't sleep, I can't live! Gosh, I don't even feel safe in my own skin anymore!" Thomas buried his face in his palms and started sobbing. He heard the same ringing again and tried to push it away by pressing his fingers against his ears as hard as he could, but the ringing got louder. The detective couldn't hear it. Thomas was screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Sir, please, I need you to calm down," Robert said, thinking the man has gone insane. He felt terrified that this crazy man might harm him somehow, so he got up, guarded himself with the chair he was sitting on, and pulled his two-way radio out of his pocket. When the detective turned around, he saw a faceless man in a suit. That was slender man. Before he could try to make a move and escape for his life, slender man killed him.