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Two police officers and a detective stood in a messy apartment with the muffled sounds of a woman sobbing and another police officer soothingly speaking coming from outside. “Seven disappearances?”  The middle-aged male detective grunted, scatching his stubble.

“Y-- Yes, that’s right, detective…  With the missing individual Jonas reported the other day, that makes four this week, and the first since the explosion.” one of the cops somberly replied, staring at the strange scene.

In the living room, the dark silhouette stained the hardwood floor, as if a standing individual’s shadow was burnt into the very ground.

The detective knelt over, staying outside of the crime scene tape surrounding the strange marking while his beige trenchcoat touched the floor.  “Hmmm,” he grumbled while scratching his short, gray-speckled brown hair.  “Smith.  The missing party is a fourteen year-old girl named Lindsey, correct?  The week leading up to her disappearance was marked by the same symptoms we’ve been seeing, aye seargent?”

The other cop, a man nearing his sixtieth year of life, nodded.  “Unfortunately, it seems so, Greg,” he said with a scowl, his thick white mustache partially obscuring his expression.  “Random bouts of staring into space while unresponsive, unnaturally cold air in her vicinity, reports of seeing shadowy creatures and entities-- the works.”

“Lindsey was in the living room with the lights out while her mother slept.  The mother said goodnight to her daughter at 11:00PM-- she heard strange noises, woke up around 12:47AM, went to check on her daughter, and this was all they found.  Does that sum it up?”

Sgt. Smith nodded, wiping sweat from his bald head as he sighed and crossed his arms.  “All seven cases within a three mile radius of that halted explosion in the sky.”

“Four cases this week in Reddington,” Greg corrected, standing up straight as he looked around the room, noticing books knocked from their shelves and items strewn about.  “A similar explosion went off near a small town adjact to Cleveland, Ohio,” he continued.  “This one was not stopped, but damage was minimal due to it going off on farmland…  Despite that, windows near the town outskirts were shattered, with three dozen admitted to the hospital with hearing loss, concussions, and other related damage.  During the prior two weeks leading up to the incident, there were four disappearances under similar circumstances.  In the week since, this little town has suffered thirty-one disappearances.”

Both cops eyes’ widened in horror.  Sgt. Smith shook his head, his expression dour.  “Thirty-one? This-- is a serious problem,” he stuttered, sliding a hand over his mouth as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Four explosions in two months,” Greg continued.  The rate of disappearances and strange creature sightings are significantly lower.  “Within twenty-four hours of each incident, there were seven to eight disappearances with more victims coming at a slowed pace over the following days.  “In the case of our local contained explosion, there has only been a single victim after the fact.”

“Are you saying there’s a correlation?”  Sgt. Smith inquired.

“It’s too early to say, but it’s quite possible,” Greg shrugged as he turned to face the pair.  He glanced at the younger, quiet officer before looking back at the more experienced peacekeeper.  “The only thing I know for certain is that Jonas has the right idea.”

“Find the girl, huh?”  The older cop grumbled.

“That’s right.  We detected this ‘boom’ earlier than the others, but there still wasn’t enough time for us to evacuate anyone.  Someone with her abilities could prove vital for public safety.”  The detective said softly, a million thoughts flooding his mind.

“D-- Detective!  Come check this out!”  A female cop nearly screamed as she stepped out of a room at the end of a hallway.  “We found something here.”

Greg nodded.  “Coming.”  He quickly approachedw with the other two cops close behind and entered what looked to be a typical young woman’s room.

"As you suggested, we-- well…  Found proof that they were sighted by the victim,” the female cop said quietly, pointing to a desk.

"Greg’s eyes narrowed as he walked to the desk and eyed a sketchbook.  “This?”  After receiving confirmation, he started to flip through the sketch book, passing a few pages of skillful animal renderings before reaching something quite bizarre.  Rough sketches and drawings of dark, shadowy, vaguely shaped fingers.  They were elongated without discernable arms, legs, or features of any kind, almost shaped like worms or tentacles of some kind.  Most notable were the large, deep blue rings drawn near the end of these entities, almost appearing as eyes, but some were off-filter and larger than others.  One of the drawings had two of these eye-like rings while another had three.

“What am I looking at?”  The sergeant asked in disgust as he approached and peered down at the sketchbook.

“I wish I knew…  But, unfortunately, this isn’t something new,” the detective said quietly, frowning deeply as he stared hard at the drawings. ‘Transience, strange explosions, shadowy entities, and disappearances…  They’re definitely connected,’ he mused.  The only thing he knew for sure was that time was of the essence.

Chris had never been in a situation quite like this before.  Should she be gung-ho about her impending lesbian experience?  Her mind and heart raced and she nearly felt overwhelmed.

Gretchen couldn’t help but grin. ‘How cute…’ She mused, leaning in to kiss Chris softly atop the head once more.  “You’re sure this is okay?  I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with,” she said softly, running her fingers soothingly up and down Chris’s back.

Chris briefly paused before taking a deep breath and nodding, her heart racing as adrenaline surged through her veins.  “Y-- Yes…  Just don’t be too cruel, okay?”  She weakly huffed.  Every time Gretchen touched her tail, her lower body tingled and a shiver ran down her spine.  She wasn’t used to this type of deep arousal that permeated her to the very core.

“I’m never cruel!  Mean, maybe, but cruel is a bit excessive,” Gretchen playfully pouted.  She then pulled back from Chris and cupped her chin, leaning in as she lovingly pressed her lips against Chris’s, sliding a hand under the fox girl’s nightgown to stroke her outer thigh.

Chris nearly gasped as she felt Gretchen’s hot lips and warm, silky hand touching her thigh.  How did women deal with such intense arousal?  It was already nearly too much to bear.

















CHAPTER END

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