One hour later
Slamming his car door shut, the Sherriff observed his surroundings. It was almost pitch black, save for the light coming from the police car's headlights and the last remnants of daylight on the horizon to the west. The trees were silhouetted against the night sky and the leaves rustled loudly in the night breeze that seemed to greet the newcomers. Aside from that, however, it was deathly quiet.
The sound of another car door shutting nearby made the Sherriff turn his head to the left. Another police officer, younger looking with brown hair, blue eyes, a small beard and just slightly taller than the Sherriff, gazed at the surrounding woodlands, or what he could see of them.
"So … This is where they traced the call." He said. It was more of a statement than a question, the tone of his voice evident that he thought this was a waste of time. "You sure it's the right area?" he asked the Sherriff.
"Definitely," his superior replied, taking his torch off his belt and turning it on, illuminating the darkness around him, turning his body from left to right as the beam of light searched the surrounding scenery. "There should be an old phone booth somewhere around here, so keep a look out!"
With a nod and mutter of "Okay," he switched on his torch and set off down the road, shining it along the left side, momentarily blasting away the darkness that seemed to have consumed the forest before reclaiming it once the light had moved on. The Sheriff too scanned the right side of the road, though, unlike his younger assistant, he was torn on this assignment. Part of him thought it was a waste of time, likely to be the cold callers or jokers Elsa was talking about. Time wasters basically. They had probably learnt of Elsa's current residence through people in the town, hence why they rung up.
Another part of him, however, felt that there was something odd about this. Elsa had told him of the calls (we all know of that) but one would assume they would come from somewhere in an inhabited area, not out here in the middle of … well nowhere. Plus there was the caller themselves; they sounded genuinely scared when they rang Elsa's room. Even if it was fake the Sheriff had to admit they did a great job in sounding as if they really were frightened.
Maybe that's just me he tried to rationalise it as he scanned the treeline again with his torch, taking in the many trees and bushes that lined the road. No sign of the person they were looking for though. Part of him was really starting to believe this was a hoax. Still doesn't lead us any closer to Anna.
"Uh, Sheriff?!" the voice of the younger officer called out from nearby, causing said person to look over and see the younger's outline accentuated by the glow of his torch shining ahead of him at a- "You might wanna come and look at this!"
He could see it and rushed over quickly to his younger lieutenant, shining his beacon of light ahead of him too. He muttered something incoherent but his assistant stayed silent.
Before them was a telephone box, or what was left of it. The back of it stood alone, the glass cracked to the point where it looked as if the slightest touch would crack it. Scattered across the ground in broken pieces were the three remaining sides with the roof dangling by one corner, glass in heaps across the road and on the grass. The light that would have been on in the telephone box was smashed, hence why they had only come across it with their own torches. The two police officers, the Sheriff mostly, could not believe the sight before them. How could this happen? It looked like something had ploughed into it or knocked it over, but what? There were no skid marks on the road so a land vehicle was out of the picture. A quick search of the ground with their torches ruled out any bullets having done this too. Magic maybe? Or had a vehicle knocked into it and said vehicle was not … did not …
"This sure creeps me out!" the younger officer commented with an air of nervousness as he glanced at the trees, taking in their silhouettes against the moonlight, their swaying forms looking like enormous creatures of the dark. Watching, waiting to pounce and drag them away into never ending blackness. "I don't like this. I think we should go." He added.
Now that was something the Sheriff was not going to argue about. Part of his want to get away from here was frustration that they had been the victims of a hoax caller. Another was the apprehension, the underlying fear that plagued him from just being out here. It just really made him nervous, as if they were being watched. Goosebumps swept along his arms and made him shiver for a moment. Even his assistant had gone quiet despite his statements that they were wasting their time here. We probably are.
"C'mon, let's go!" he said rather hurriedly to his lieutenant and turned to leave but the second officer stayed put. "I said let's go."
"Sheriff!" the lieutenant exclaimed, his face white as a sheet and eyes open to the size of dinner plates; his hand with the torch leaving it facing the trees. "Look!" He pointed in the direction of the beam of light.
The Sheriff shone his torch in that direction, expecting to see nothing but the greenery of the trees and grass and bushes and-
He stopped his beam of light dead when it, joined with that from the lieutenant's, fell on a shape that lay in the grass about twenty feet in front of them. The Sheriff's breath caught in his throat as one look told him it was a person. What was more, they had red hair that was in a mess and, along with parts of the clothes that they could see from their position, splashed with dirt. They were not moving which immediately set off alarm bells in the law enforcement officers' heads.
The two rushed over and knelt down beside her; the Sheriff gently taking the head in his hand and turning the person over.
"Oh my God!" he breathed, flabbergasted and looked up at the lieutenant, meeting his eyes. "Get back to the car now and alert the town. We've found Anna."
