There was a loud bang on the door, followed by more equally loud bangs. The woman stood up from her couch and walked towards the door. She was watching the news which was reporting recent kidnappings in her area and was wondering when her husband would return home from work. As the woman walked to the door, she wondered who it could be at this hour. It was almost 10 o’clock at night. Could it be her husband? No. He would have come through the garage. Or even the back door. The woman reached the door and cautiously unlocked it, then slowly opened it just large enough so she could peek though. When she realized who it was she quickly opened the door. The woman welcomed the police officer and asked him what she could do for him at this time of night. The officer glanced into the woman’s eyes and slowly said,

“Ma’am, you need to come with me. Your husband went off road and crashed into the nearby forest.” The woman stared back at the police officer for what seemed like many minutes before replying,

“Take me to him.”

She followed the officer back to his vehicle and told the officer to get her there as fast as he could. She was in shock.

“How could this have happened?” the woman asked.

“Well ma’am, we believe your husband either swerved out of the way of something, or he lost control of the vehicle. When we found his car, he was inside and unconscious. There should be paramedics on the seen taking care of him now. I was told to come and get you.”

The woman was trying to comprehend this. She needed to see her husband now. She needed to talk to him before it was too late. The police vehicle pulled onto the highway and started to gain speed.

“Not much farther now.” The officer said.

After a couple minutes of silence, the car pulled onto the side of the highway. About 10 feet up ahead, the woman could see a busted guard rail and tire tracks that aimed towards the forest. There were lights shining from somewhere in the forest.

“How long?” The woman asked.

“Excuse me?” answered the officer.

“How long has it been since he crashed?”

“Almost an hour ma’am.”

The woman turned away and started running towards the lights. The officer was right behind her. The woman was fast for her age. The officer could barely keep up. The first thing the woman saw was the ruined car slammed into a tree. She ran to it. She searched through the car’s front and back seats. She did not see her husband. She turned around to see if they had pulled him onto a stretcher. But there was no one else around. Only two powerful head lights from one other vehicle were illuminating the forest. There was no sign of her husband or any other police anywhere.

Suddenly a voice came from behind her,

“Where is he?”

She turned around to see the face of the police officer that had brought her here. His side arm aimed at her head.

“What are you doing officer?” replied the woman in a slightly horrified tone.

“Do not bullshit me.” The officer said very coldly. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about officer.” answered the woman. Now starting to cry, “You’re the one who brought me here. Please, put the gun down.”

“Do not make me ask you again.” said the officer, his voice becoming more and more hostile. “Where the hell is he?”

The woman, now pleading with a petrified tone, replied, “I don’t know where my husband i–“

“I’m not talking about your husband!” screamed the officer. “I want to know where my son is!”

The woman stopped crying. She stared at the officer, stunned.

“What?”

“Tell me where my god damn son is! You kidnapped him! You have him! Give him back to me!”

The woman kept staring at him. She started to laugh.

“Is this what this is about? Your son? Heh…”

The officer took a step back. He didn’t expect this reaction from her. The woman continued,

“Which one was he again? Black hair and blue eyes? Or was it red hair and green eyes? Heh. No matter. HE did not care much for the details of the lamb. HE just needed more. So I gave him more. More pigs for the slaughter. Heh heh… I have to admit, at first I was against it. All the stealing, all the unhappy families , and all the death. But soon I realized that it was fun. I was rewarded with my life. And being on the news…heh…I always wanted to be on television.”

The officer was shaking. He didn’t understand.

“What are you talking about? Who is “He”? Your husband? But he was the one who told me it was you who stole my child! He told me where to find you and to bring you here. So he could talk to you.”

“Oh.” Replied the woman, “So that’s what this is about.” “Honey! Could you come out here?”

One of the car doors opened. A silhouetted man stepped out. He walked into the beam of lights.

“Darling!” The woman called out towards the man. “I thought he had killed you!”

“No dear.” said the man, “Not today.”

The officer couldn’t move. He had no idea what was going on.

“You…but you told me to bring her here so you could talk. “ The officer said. “You lied to me. You said she would tell me where my son is!”

The man stopped next to his wife. “Yes. I did lie to you about talking to my wife. But I didn’t lie about your son. Do not worry officer. You will be reunited with him soon.”

The officer dropped his gun. He started getting a splitting head ache and his ears were ringing. The officer dropped to his knees and started coughing.

“Ah. He is here.” said the man, “Honey, could you grab his gun please?”

“Of course sweetie.” She walked to the officer. She picked up his gun and then looked at the policeman.

“If it means anything,” whispered the woman, “Your son was very handsome.”

She walked back to her husband and handed him the weapon.

“Thank you honey.” The man turned to look at the officer once more, still coughing on the forest floor. “Now, I just want you to know. This isn’t personal.” The man aimed the weapon, and pulled the trigger.

The man’s wife fell to the ground, the back of her head blown open by a bullet.

“I didn’t ask for this. HE did.” said the man to his wife’s corpse. He then walked over to the officer, who was now coughing up blood. The officer looked up at the man.

“Why?” the officer asked.

“Why?” responded the man, “Because HE asked me to.”

“But who-“The officer was cut short by another blood soaked cough, “But who IS HE?”

“Gorr’Rylaehotep.” Replied the man, “But I assume that you would be more familiar with, The Tall Man.”

The officer blacked out.