Terror
Bob McFarley was out for an early morning jog. He loved the silence and thought it was the perfect time for jogging. He was enjoying it, and sweating profusely. He knew he should have brought a water bottle with him, but he didn't care. Bob was a runner, so it didn't matter. He would just drink plenty of water when he got home. He came to a park and went in. He had heard that this park was good for a long run. He soon stopped at a bench though to rest, when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He chuckled to himself, "My eyes are playing tricks on me." Then he saw a large shape pass overhead, and knew then, his eyes weren't playing tricks. This was real. He got back up and started to run as fast as he could, but still he saw the shadow from the thing above following him with seemingly no effort at all.
1
At the home of Bob, his wife, Julian, and their two kids, were getting ready to leave for work and school. Julian was wondering when Bob would be home and knew he might be late. She knew he sometimes tried new routes to jog. But she sensed that he would have also been home by now. No matter where he went, he was always home in time for breakfast. He wasn't home yet, but she figured he'd be back soon. As she was driving the kids to school, the sky thundered. She saw a flash of lightning far off. "Looks like a storm brewing. Kids? If this storm is still going after school, I'm picking you up." Two answers of "OK" come from the back seat. They come to the school and the kids get out without a word. She drives off and grumbles about work.
Julian is a police officer. She had made it at the academy where others hadn't. She loved her job at first, until she got married to Bob and they had kids. Now, she just knew somebody had to do the job. That somebody was her. She knew she was one of the best, but that didn't stop her from worrying if something happened to her on the job. When she started worrying, she thought about the kids and Bob, and what they would do. When she did that, she told herself to cut it out. She would be fine. The one she worried about was Bob. He might be athletic, but he wasn't very smart. Not the type of person you would trust with money. Not because he would try and double it, but because he wouldn't know what to do with it. But he was honest. That was one thing she loved about him. Another thing was that she could trust him. She knew she could count on him, and that's why she was a bit worried when he didn't come home this morning. She got to the precinct and sat at her desk. She booted up her computer and checked her inbox. Nothing except for a disturbance that had been called in early morning. Something about a noisy bothersome yelling. A minor complaint. But she decided to check it out, just for something to do. Nothing was going on anyways.
When she got there, the woman who called in the complaint was waiting. "It's about time one of you got here!"
"I'm sorry ma'am. It took a while before they could dispatch anyone."
"Well, I guess you guys can't control that."
"It's alright. So, can you tell me what you heard or saw?"
"Yes I can. I heard some yelling and what sounded like a large flying creature. It sounded like a very large bat. After about a 20 seconds the yelling stopped, and the flapping died off."
"Ok, now what did you see?"
"This is where it gets strange, I saw a man running like hell and then this large long flying thing swooped down, picked him up, and flew off with him."
"Mm'k, can you describe the man and the thing to me?"
"Yes, definitely!"
Julian nearly fainted, the man she described was Bob, exactly.
"Ok, now what did the thing look like?"
"Well, it was large, long, and seemed to be scaly. Oh, and yes, it was flying with what looked like oversize bat wings."
This time she reeled visibly, she had heard the town rumors, but she didn't believe them...
"Are you ok? You looked like you were going to puke."
"Yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
"Alright then. So are you going to take care of this situation?"
"Yes, the police will take care of the whole thing Ma'am."
"Ok, thank you very much for coming out!"
"No problem."
She gets in her cruiser, sighs, and covers her face with her hands." Better get back to the precinct I suppose", she thinks. She drives off waving to the woman with a smile on her face.
At the precinct she plops down on her chair at her desk. She grumbles, "What am I going to do now..." Now she felt a cold bad feeling sinking in her stomach. This she new from only once before, when she was in the military and was in battle. Nearly shot countless times. This cold was fear. She didn't like it. She told her co-worker, "Tell the Captain I'm leaving, I don't feel to good."
"Sure thing."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
She drive home and she notices the storm has died down. "Looks like I won't need to pick up the kids, but I will anyway", she thought. When the school was swarming with activity. The kids had already gotten out. She didn't see her two, so she drove off thinking that she would pick them up on their way home. She knew their route anyways. Driving home she noticed a new storm rolling in. "What a wonderful day", she thinks. She sees the kids and tells them to get in. They get in and she drives home. When they get home she goes directly to her room. The kids look at each other and shrug. They know she's worried about their father. They each go to their rooms wondering if their father was home recently. They didn't see any signs that said he was.