The Last of the Twenty: The Setting of the Board

Chapter 41

Chris Sproles, the nighttime officer at the Conway Police Station, popped a second batch of headache killers into his mouth. It had been a long day for him. He monitored the security cameras throughout the department and it was his responsibility overnight to make sure nothing happened, and call for help if something did. The night before, he failed at that task, and one trip to the bathroom was all it took. He was gone no more than five minutes, and in that small amount of time someone, some seemingly inhuman freak of nature, had managed to rip steel fencing off a concrete wall, break into the evidence room, and make off with evidence for an ongoing investigation.

Needless to say he spent most of that day filling out paperwork and answering very loud, and sometimes angry, questions from his superiors. Now, here he was less than eight hours after he had left the longest shift of his life working the same job he had almost lost over a bathroom break. In his mind he ran through the checklist he had made himself to avoid that happening again.

Coffee pot was moved out of his room, he would only allow himself one cup a night. Bathroom break was already taken care of, and if need be he would call one of the girls away from the front desk to take over. It was also going to be a very long time before he brought a magazine in to read on the job. If this happened once, it could happen again, and there was no way he was going to get caught with his pants down, again.

It was just after one in the morning. Chris picked up his now cold cup of coffee and took a small sip, looking from one screen to the next. So far the night had been quiet, a drunk or two brought in, normal shift changes, but all in all not much activity around the building.

A flickering screen caught the corner of his eye, he looked over to notice the entryway cameras were showing nothing but static, suddenly they went black. A second later the cameras in the hallways started to show static, and as they went black the cameras in the entryway came back to life. Curious, he tapped in a few commands to try to bring the cameras back, nothing happened. He tapped the button for the intercom at the front desk.

“Hello? Jess” He called out, there was no answer.

The next set of cameras in the hallway just outside of the security room started to show nothing but static while the cameras at the front desk came back to life. He looked at the screens and got a shock, Jessica, the nighttime girl, was unconscious and half hanging out of her chair. In a panic, he picked up the phone to call for help, but when he put it to his ear there was no dial tone, the phone was dead. Footsteps were coming closer to the security room, echoing loudly on the tiled floors. His heart racing, Chris jumped out of his chair, reaching for his sidearm just as the lights in the room and all the screens went black. Breathing heavy in the darkness, he heard the sound of the door handle being turned, then the slow creak of the hinges as the door swung open. He took a stand in front of the sound and held his gun out in front of him, using the slow sound of the door opening as an aiming point.

“Who’s there!? I have a weapon drawn” he yelled. The door creaked open slowly until it came to a stop, gently tapping against the wall.

The room was dark enough so that the tiny bit of light still in the hallways silhouetted the figure standing in the doorway. He was taller than Chris but not by much, and it stood in the middle of the doorway not moving.

“I said I have a weapon drawn! Put your hands in the air and get down to your knees!”

The figure took a step forward, Chris could feel his hands start to shake. He had never been in a situation like this before. He was starting to panic.

“This is your last warning! Put your hands in the air and get down to your knees! I will open fire” as he yelled, the figure stepped forward again, only this time two tiny points of yellow light started to glow where it’s eyes would be. In the faint light Chris could see the figure’s arm start to move. He pulled the trigger.