Okay, Here is chapter one. I'm typing this on a plane. whee. I'm on my way to California. Right now the plane is passing over Illinois. Okay, so after reading the boring prologue, I give you something of interest. And the kid next to me keeps trying to see what I'm typing MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, KID!

Allright, so now let's focus on the story and not me on the plane

Here is chapter one. Enjoy. Oh, and If you've ever read the book 'Flight #116 is Down' by Caroline B. Cooney, you might recognize the cashier at the shop. KID, I TOLD YOU TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

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You could call the city Dullsville. Nothing ever happened there and anything that did happen, was boring and lost interest in about 5 minutes. The stores did not have signs; instead there were statues of various objects that represented what was sold there. For example, in front of the dentist's office there was a statue of a tooth. In front of the supermarket (a little one at that) there was a grocery cart. You get my point.

The police force was small, seeing as nothing ever happened there. The occasional shoplift or someone speeding was not considered high news. But Kurogane more or less liked his job. He was a police officer for the City Police. But what he could have done without was his deputy, Syaoran. This is why Kurogane hated night shifts. He had to work all night with the kid. Syaoran had just joined up that spring. There was nothing wrong with him, actually. He was just a bit clumsy at times. And he had waaaaay too much determination when the town's biggest emergency was someone stealing a potato from the store.

Kurogane found it pointless to even have a night shift. The only valuable item he had was half of a red stone of some sort embedded in a necklace. It was his mother's before she died. Kurogane had known his mother for most of his lie, but had never known his father. According to his mom, he died of some sort of cancer before he was born.

Syaoran, on the other hand was just a deputy that joined for lack of something better to do. But he did know that police officers were respected and admired. This was an important factor as he had a bit of a crush on one of the employees that worked at the coffee shop. Her name was Sakura. Kurogane, of course, knew about this. Syaoran had been finding any excuse possible to go to the coffee shop. So, one day Kurogane followed him there. And stayed for a good 90 minutes listening to the conversation between his worthless deputy and his 'girlfriend.'

That's the basics. Now here is where the story starts…

"Ugh, another night shift." Came a grumbled voice from the dark sidewalk. "More time too spend with Deputy Romeo and a night of doing nothing but staring at a wall. I hope SOMETHING happens tonight. Someone get murdered or something." Kurogane had just gotten a notice that he and Syaoran were to work the night shift that night. The guy who was supposed to do it called in sick with 'West Nile Virus.' So, he trudged onward. It was about 8 at night. The police station was about a half-kilometer walk from Kurogane's house. So it wasn't a very long walk. He just wanted to make it so.

When Kurogane entered the door, Syaoran stood up and did a half salute-thing. For some reason he found this necessary. Kurogane just ignored it.

"Hello Kurogane! I'm sorry we have to work tonight. But it really is a shame that the other guy came down with West Nile Virus. I hope he's ok!"

At this, Kurogane just grunted and stomped over to his desk. 'West Nile Virus my ass' he thought. But leave it to Syaoran to believe even that crap. "Hey kid, why don't you go get me a coffee. I didn't get that much sleep last night." In truth, he did. But he thought he could be alone for a bit if he sent Syaoran to see his girlfriend.

"Yes sir!" Syaoran replied, a little too eagerly.

Syaoran walked through the little shop with the giant coffee mug on it's roof instead of a sign. "Good evening, Saku…ra?" It wasn't Sakura behind the counter though. Instead, it was a woman that reminded him of a crow. Her hair was tied in a perfect bun and she had the expression that read "Order now or leave."

Peering at her nametag, Syaoran read the name. Betsey! It read. Well, Kurogane would still want his coffee. He might as well just give Betsey! His order. "Um, where is Sakura-chan?" Asked Syaoran.

"She's out sick. Are you going to order? No? NEXT!" Betsey! Replied.

"Wait! Uhm, I'll have 2 doughnuts and 2 cups of coffee, please!" the Deputy said in a haste.

"That all? I got a bunch of customers here and I don't need you clogging up the line with your stuttering and questions about your girlfriend. I'm telling you, she's fine! Nothing is wrong!" Apparently, Betsey! Needed meds. Big time.

"Well, I believed you the first time. Yeah, that's all. Um, I'll just wait here…" Replied Syaoran, trying not to point out that he was the only customer in the entire shop, save for an old man sitting at one of the counters. His face wasn't visible because of the cloak, but Syaoran could tell he was old because of the large grey beard peeking out from under his hood.

So, he just decided to look at some of the different blends while Betsey! Worked on his order. Then he heard the crash, then a large number of screams. The old man at the table stood up and just barely loud enough for Syaoran to hear, he mumbled "It's happened."

When he looked back, Betsey! Was gone.

A few minutes after Syaoran had left, Kurogane decided to clean out some of the (empty) prison cells. They hadn't been cleaned or used in a long time. He suspected some had dead animals in them even. And, to his prediction, he found a large, dead possum under one of the cell beds.

"what the hell is taking the damn brat so long! It doesn't usually take this long for him to order, chat with his girlfriend, and get back. Maybe they decided to elope. It would do me good if they did. I could be alone." Kurogane discovered he was talking to himself…again.

It was about quarter to nine and Syaoran still wasn't back. So he did what any sane person would. Go kid searching.

But for some reason, he was drawn in the opposite direction of the coffee shop. He was heading towards his house. He was halfway there when he heard a huge crash from a window and glass was flying everywhere. A woman and her 2 kids screamed and ran for cover. But Kurogane was still puzzled as to why he had an almost magical urge to go to his house. It turns out, someone else was drawn there too. But it wasn't known to Kurogane until he realized something…

The broken window and crash had come from his apartment.

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Okay, well there is the first chapter. It's nothing special yet, but trust me this story does have a plot! A good one at that in my opinion. But you know it's only the first chapter. It has to develop. AND GOD DAMMIT KID, QUIT LOOKING! Ahaha that got him to look away. And wow, this was 5 pages on MS Word. Niiiice.