What Lurks in the Dark

Chapter 1

    "You're being assigned to a new partner tomorrow. He's new in this precinct, so treat him well; his name is Nathaniel Ross." My boss suddenly announced as I was lazily looking through some trivial paperwork - at his words, I stopped my actions and froze for a split second, processing what he had just said. Was he serious? I was appalled, I didn't want to believe the words that had just escaped his mouth.

    "I'm not working with a rookie," I instantly answered coldly, rolling my eyes. My boss placed a cream-colored file on my desk which I could instantly tell was Nathaniel's profile, I ignored it though, refusing to open it. I gave him a glare of distaste to which he easily shrugged off, unfazed by my attitude after experiencing it for years.

    "He's extremely good-" he began.

    "I don't care about his skill level. Just find him another partner." I snapped and quickly cut him off. I leaned back in my leather chair and took a tentative sip of my cup of coffee which seemed to be a little more bitter than usual, but nonetheless, I drank it anyway. I pushed my glasses up on the bridge of my nose.

    "Do you want to lose your job, Edythe? I know what happened two years ago with Carter will never get any easier, but I need you to work with this kid." His tone of voice was serious and authoritative, which meant he wasn't bluffing. I clucked my tongue in annoyance before picking up the file and stuffing it in my bag, deciding to deal with it later; I could only bet that Nathaniel was probably great at his job, it's not very often my boss compliment someone, but, I just didn't want another partner - not after Carter.

    Carter Smith was my best friend, he'd been there ever since I could remember. We grew up together and were inseparable, practically glued to each other's sides; when we were 14, we swore to become detectives together - and we did. But then, during one of our first cases, he was killed. We'd gotten a lead on who had been dubbed as the Cross Killer by reporters.

    He had gone ahead of me into a warehouse and we ended up getting separated. I went in as soon as I heard a gunshot, running past the storage containers, not caring if I was open to fire and I found him lying unconscious on the floor with a cross engraved into the left side of his neck and a bullet wound in his chest. Through my cries, I was somehow able to hear faint footsteps heading away from me and turned around to see a man with a grey hoodie. With teary eyes and anger running through my veins, I shot him and hit his leg.

    However that didn't stop him and he still ran away, I chased him out of the building but next thing I knew, I felt something hard hit the back of my skull - instantly knocking me out. I had woke up in a hospital with a headache and a bandage wrapped around my head the next morning. I was then informed that my partner didn't make it, he was dead. The love of my life: gone because of a stupid mistake that I had made.

    "All right. I'll work with him. But don't expect this to be a permanent change," I said with an evident bitterness in my voice.

    After I arrived home I sat on my bed, fishing out the folder from my bag and contemplating whether I should read his file or not. Hesitantly, I finally opened it and started reading, regretting it instantly after I scanned through his profile. He was 25 years of age and hadn't attended college. I groaned in disappointment upon discovering that he was a high school drop out. I scoffed and when I saw that he'd only had one month's experience as a patrol officer, I threw the folder across the room in outrage. I sat there and thought to myself, This kid is probably the most stuck up person on earth. I sighed. This had already been the worse week ever and Nathaniel was only going to make it worse.

    I walked down the hallway into the living room to see my brother, Jamie, sitting on the plush couch watching the news. "Hey," I said quietly and he instantly glanced up at me and flashed his gummy smile, his eyes crinkling into cute moon crescents.