Not Broken, Not Yet | Tom Riddle

Prologue

Prologue

It was a dark night in July. Chief of Police, Officer John Wilson sat alone in his office as the thunderstorm raged outside. For a moment the whole world lit up as a lighting bolt illuminated the sleepy town with its light. He shuddered.

Usually storm nights meant calm nights for him. Most crooks opted to stay home when the weather was too bad. Usually the petty crime he had to deal with wasn't worth getting wet over in the minds of most crooks. But something felt different that night. He had a strange feeling that bad things were about to happen. Bad as he often did he put his worries to the side, instead deciding to spend his night filing the piles of paperwork he'd been ignoring all week.

That was how Officer Wilson spent the rest of the night. Filing, drinking coffee and humming to tunes spewing out from the radio.

Not by any means was it a bad night.

That is, at least, until the phone rang.

"Chief of Police speaking." Officer Wilson said, as he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. As he heard the words from the other end he suddenly sat up straight, cigarette dropping to the floor as his expression grew grim and he nodded. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes later Officer Wilson arrived at the scene. And what a scene it was.

The house, or what used to be a house, had once been an old stone house in one of the older, more wealthy areas of the small town. The street which only had five other houses was already packed with people, most of them, by the looks of it, probably not from the area.

Whispers filled the usually sleepy street, and all eyes were on the remainder of what once had been a three story house. Smoke rose from the pitiful caved in eastern wall as Officers and Firemen tried to clear the rubble.

Officer Wilson let out a long whistle as he lit another cigarette.

"What have we got?" He asked, eyeing the young eager woman who approached him. The woman, a Natalie Andrews, was a trainee at the station. The town's first female Officer, if she did well that is. Times truly are changing, Officer Wilson thought to himself as he eyed the young woman. Her eyes were a tad bit too bright as she eyed the scene. Upon noting his glance she tried, and failed, to look solemn.

"I talked to some of the neighbours, apparently they heard a loud bang but didn't think too much of it, with the thunderstorm and all," Natalie looked up at the unruly sky above them. "It was the next door neighbour, Mrs Davis, that noticed the smoke. She was the one that called us."

Officer Wilson nodded and walked toward the house, his steps so long that Natalie struggled to keep up.

"How many people live here?" He asked.

"Two." She replied. "The Wrights. Husband and wife, according to Mrs Davis."

Officer Wilson nodded once more. "Very well then." He eyed the house. "Someone might be stuck under the rubble, if they survived, that is." He looked back at the bystanders, grim suddenly. "Get the crowd away, the storm is brewing up and... I don't want them here when we retrieve Mr and Mrs Wright. I fear what we find inside might be upsetting to the ladies." He said, thinking about the state of the people in the building. As Natalie walked off he discreetly did the cross sign, finishing his smoke as he watched the combined efforts of the firefighters and policemen as they cleared away the rubble.

As he dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it he heard the first shout.

"I found them!"

Officer Wilson nodded to Natalie as he made his way to the house where a crowd of firefighters, policemen and paramedics gathered. They laid side by side, Mr and Mrs Wilson. Although he struggled to see who was who.