Taste of Melanin

Equalizer

*Not romance*
Trigger Warning⚠️ mentions of sexual assault, murder, and description of gore
——

"Officer Dell!" Mark snatched his head up at his name, the room blurring for a moment before sharpening.

"Yeah. Yeah?" He rubbed his tired eyes once more, feeling the sting of dryness and irritation from being wake for the last 48 hours.

The dulled hum of the white lights above them echoed in his head before congregating to form the headache above his brow.

They sat in the same seats they'd been in for the last 6 hours. A pair of brown haired, black eyed investigators sitting just opposite him- their gazes filled with narcissism.

"Can you run through the night once again? Starting with when you first got the call." The woman spoke coldly, her manicured hands picking up her pen to begin taking notes once more.

"Yeah," he blew a heavy sigh as he straightened his back in the plastic chair, "we got the call around 8pm..."

—
October 31st, 2020 | 7:48 PM | Grey Hills, Ohio
—

"You really think Diego's gonna let that go?" Mark shook his head in disbelief, a jolly rancher tucked in his mouth.

"Diego's got a lot bigger fish to fry than me." His partner, Rico, laughed as he turned their patrol car onto a residential street.

Kids and parents littered the sidewalks as they went door to door. Halloween in Grey Hills was an even bigger holiday than Christmas. Every house on the block seemed to be covered with some form of themed decorations from simple cobwebs to full out haunted houses.

"Happy Halloween! Stay safe everyone." Mark rolled down his window to speak to a group along the sidewalk. The kids all had extravagant costumes ranging from super heroes to zombies.

"Car 989, be advised, there's a call of a disturbance on 681 MacKenzie Drive. No other details." The radio muttered.

"We're on it." Rico spoke before flashing his lights on. The address was only 3 blocks from where they were so there was no need for sirens.

"Probably some more of those fuckin idiots causing trouble with trick or treaters." Mark spit out the jolly rancher before turning his body camera on as they pulled to the side of the road.

Like the other blocks, people hustled up and down the sidewalks with bags full of candy. A large group stood at the end of a driveway, spilling into the street alongside a large black truck.

"You called it." Rico laughed as they climbed from their car.

"Good evening, everyone!" Mark spoke over the bickering of the crowd. All voices went silent as he wedged himself between the group.

"What's going on this Halloween?" Rico asked.

A jumbled mix of words was tossed at them from every direction as each person tried to tell their own side of the event.

"Hey! Hey! One at a time!"

"Officer Dell, these guys were harassing us again!" One of the children yelled just as the group went silent again.