Hidden Hallows

I turn to look at Binx and silently glare at him but he remains completely unbothered as he sits and grooms himself. I turn back to his food with a sigh. I really was smiling like an idiot...

I feed Binx and decide to call it a night. I'm not sure why but it's like I feel guilty... guilty for liking Xander. My mother always taught me to hide who I really am and never get too serious with my partners, no matter who they are, and no matter how much they claim to love me.

In a way, she's right. It's kept me alive until now and lately, I've become sloppy. I run my hands through my hair then make a mess of it before falling into bed. After tossing and turning for a full hour, I finally fall asleep.

Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. I groan and lift the blanket over my head, ignoring the damn thing but as soon as it stops ringing, it starts again. I rip the blanket off and sit up to grab the annoying thing.

"Your ass better be dying," I grumble into the phone as a way of greeting but nothing but silence can be heard. I frown and pull the phone back to see that it's Shelly and two in the morning. I instantly wake up and put the phone back to my ear.

"Shelly? I'm sorry I didn't know it was you. Is everything okay?" I ask turning on the lamp next to my bed. "Eris... we have a problem. I just received a call from the local police. Somebody by the name Harris said he needs your help. He said it's an emergency."

I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and ask "What's going on?" She sighs and says "Hard to say... When he called, things sounded like they were exploding in the background. Lots of screaming and yelling."

"I got it. Thanks, Shelly." I say hanging up the phone to quickly get dressed. I slip on some black tights, black shirt, and black boots. I quickly tie my hair up and leave the house. As soon as I approach the police station, I see the road being blocked off with numerous cops.

Is that the SWAT team!? I quickly park my car and jump out. I grab a small black backpack filled with a few nicknacks and slip it on as I lock the car. While walking through the growing crowd, I try my best not to look into all the flashing cop lights. As soon as I walk up to the front, I stop a young-looking cop and ask "Where's Harris?"

He does a double-take on me then asks "What's your name?" I quickly say "Eris Hallows" The guy nods and says "He's still inside with a few others. They're trying to stop ... whatever that thing is but it's fast." I frown at the back of his head as he leads me up the steps leading into the police station.

He allows me to enter with "Enter at your own risk" speech but he doesn't follow me in. Once inside, he shuts the door and locks it from the outside making me arch a dark eyebrow. I look around the empty and destroyed entrance, easily hopping over the counter.

My magic still wasn't working right but I just can't ignore Harries' call for help. I silently land on the other side and look around at all the destroyed computers and desks. Where was everyone? I quietly make my way towards the back, trying my best to avoid all the broken picture frames and paperwork left all over the floor.

As I make my way down the long hall, a trail of blood can be seen in the blinking, broken light. It starts on the floor... but something had clearly dragged down the hall, up the wall and up to the ceiling.

I stop before reaching the bloody point on the ceiling and see that whatever it was... it went through the ceiling and took whatever or whoever it was dragging with it. Greeeeat... I look around the busted walls and doors barely hanging onto their hinges as I continue down the hall.

I peek into all the doors as I pass them but they're all empty until I reach the very last door. I'm careful not to touch the broken door as I slowly walk into the room. No one else seems to be in the room so I slowly move over to the pair of legs sticking out from behind a large desk.

They weren't moving... The small office room was completely dark and the only light coming in was from the police lights outside the small window. I silently walk over to the pair of legs and gently tap the black shoe while looking over my shoulder.

It feels like I'm being watched... The foot doesn't move. Shit. I move closer and step around the desk and instantly freeze. No wonder they weren't moving... they were missing the other half of their body! Nothing but the waist down remained!

I grit my teeth and lean forward, trying to see if I can make out what did this. No teeth marks, no claw marks. This man was ripped apart... I slowly stand back up and look back to the broken door when I see something move out of the corner of my eye. I wait a few seconds before walking back over to the door and looking both ways. I slowly walk back out into the empty hallway and silently keep moving.

I slowly walk to the back of the police station but before I get to the holding cells, I turn to the left. I see more blood on the floor and walls. As I make my way over, I'm careful to walk around the blood splatters and find myself in a small call center.

Headsets hang from the computers while blood can be seen splayed across one of the screens. This is why I can't watch horror movies... I shake my head and look around the empty room with a growing sense of unease. Where the hell was Harris?