The MPS: You? Not You (Part 1)

in Scholar and Scribe2 months ago

Hello there! It's been forever since we wrote for these idiots hasn't it? Well here we are, a new adventure! I got motivated! Yay! But anyway, I hope you have a good day and enjoy!

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Logan POV

Marina had told me that we needed more books, so down to the library I went. David called me by the time I had found the first book on Marina’s list.

“You’re still not at full strength, what if something happens and you get hurt again? Like last time with Vitan?” I rolled my eyes and put the phone in the crook of my neck, taking out another book.

“Listen David, you can’t keep me on bed rest forever. I’m fine. Just because I’m not at throwing someone across the room level doesn’t mean I’m useless.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” David said. I chuckled lightly, putting the book back. “I know David. Now, I am perfectly capable of getting some books and then driving back to Marina’s. Is that alright with you?”

David seemed to be thinking for a minute before he sighed, which was how I knew I got him. “Fine. Just be careful. I’d rather not get another call from Elliot about you being in the hospital.”

I nodded before remembering he couldn’t see me. “If something happens I’ll call, I promise.” That seemed to satisfy David. “Okay. See you later.” He hung up and I smiled, putting my phone away.

It was nice to have someone care about me like that. I always had Marina of course, but with David it was different. He knew me in a way no one else ever had, no friend, no lover, not even Marina. I enjoyed that feeling. It was new, probably dangerous, but enjoyable all the same.

I grabbed another book when I heard a small voice. “Excuse me, can you reach that book right there?” I turned to face the person speaking. It was a kid, no more than 8 no doubt. He was pointing to a book at a shelf right in front of my face, so I grabbed it and hesitantly gave it to him. He smiled a toothy grin, despite the fact one of his front teeth was missing.

“Thank you! I’ve been wanting to read this since forever!” He looked me up and down, as if trying to figure who and what I was. It almost made me self conscious, but the kid wasn’t judging. At least not yet. “What’s your name,” he asked.

For some reason I was at a loss for words, but finally I found the right thing to say. “Uh, Logan. What’s yours?” He was rocking on his feet. “Lucas!”

I looked at the book I had given him. “I’ve read that,” I admitted. “It was good. Pretty big book for someone your age though.” I was pretty sure it was meant for 5th graders at least.

Lucas shrugged. “I’m a good reader! My mom says so!” I put my hands up. “Okay, okay, I believe you,” I said with a laugh. Lucas looked at the book in his hands as if admiring it. “Anyway, thank you Logan! Have a good day!” And then the kid was gone.

I smiled to myself and continued looking for the books Marina wanted. I had always been more fond of kids than adults, because while kids could be brutally honest they also didn’t have the prejudices adults did. Adults saw me and knew something was wrong, so they stayed away. Fair considering I wasn’t even human. Kids didn’t care. They could go up to a monster and ask for help without problems, without caring. Maybe they’d ask why I had a scar on the side of my face, and I’d tell the truth, I got it running away from a hungry werewolf after my parents died. Actually, probably not the dead parents bit. Or the part about the monster underworld that was a little less under than most would like to think. The fact that monsters could be anywhere and everywhere. Your neighbor, your coworker, hell, who’s to say your lover isn’t if you haven’t looked at their teeth thoroughly.

Huh, a dentist is probably one of the safest occupations from monsters. Especially one who knows they exist.

After I found the books and checked them out is when I heard the scream.

Now here’s the thing, in a city it’s not crazy to hear screams. Usually it’s some kids playing, nothing serious. Still, scares me every time. Marina used to poke fun at me for it, being how I’d jump every time I heard something. She stopped after about a month, though I never got an explanation as to why. Maybe she thought of the reason I freaked out every time. She should’ve told me that if she had though, I’d like answers myself.

But this scream didn’t sound like some kids playing. It sounded like a scream of fear. Worst part? It sounded like that kid, Lucas.

I stuffed the books in my bag before running outside, hoping to see the kid safe and sound, maybe playing some stupid game with his friends. Instead I saw a small hand reaching out behind a dumpster and another scream, muffled this time. I ran to it, but when I made it no one was there except for some bugs.

“Logan!”

I didn’t know where that came from, but I heard it clear as day. It was Lucas, I knew it. But he was gone, nowhere to be seen. Like he had disappeared.

He was gone, and David and I had a case.


David’s POV

“Logan, I need you to breathe, or I’m never gonna understand what you’re actually trying to tell me,” I said, trying to touch his shoulder. Usually touching him would calm him down, at least it did when Marina did it. But when I tried Logan just pushed my hand away.

“Sorry, I just, this is-” He couldn’t even get a sentence out. Great. I sighed. “Logan, it’s okay. I’m right here, ready to hear whatever it is you want to say. Do you need a drink or something? Maybe that would help?” Logan tried to breathe and nodded.

I knew what he liked, lemonade or alcohol. But we were fresh out of beer (no need to fact check me on that) so he got a glass of lemonade.

When I got back to him, he seemed a little more calm. He was sitting down at least. Marina was there now which helped. She probably just got my call after her last psychic client. I handed Logan the lemonade and he took a deep breath.

“I was at the library, like I said, but then I met this kid. He was little David, couldn’t have been more than 10. And I heard him scream. Something happened, I don’t know what, but I think something got him.”

I sat down. A kidnapping was serious, and for Logan to have witnessed it...it wasn't a nice thought. But we weren't the police. “Logan, I understand you want to help, but how do you know this is our kind of thing? We should call Elliot, he'd know what to do.” Logan shook his head. “No, this is our thing David, I can feel it. Elliot won’t know what to do, but we can do things he can’t. We know things he doesn't.” He took a sip of lemonade and I slowly put a hand on his arm. This time he didn't pull away.

“Logan, we have nothing to go on. If this is a normal kind of case then Elliot should know about it, if the kid’s parents haven’t called it in already.” I understood he wanted to help, but we couldn’t just do anything. We weren’t police officers. We went after the things the police couldn’t understand. A normal case wasn’t something we needed to look into.

Logan’s face showed he didn’t agree with me, but Marina seemed to know just what to say. She turned around so she was facing him. “Look, how about you two just go to the library again? Maybe if you see the scene of the crime you can determine if it’s our kind of thing. If it’s not, we'll let the officials handle it, okay?” Logan hesitated but he eventually nodded.

I sighed and stood up. “Fine. Let’s go then,” I said, putting on a smile. To be honest I was exhausted out of my mind. Ever since moving in with Logan and Marina my sleep schedule had been all wrong. Blame Logan being a morning person, or me now sleeping with a gun under my pillow in case something tried to break in, but I just wasn’t used to it. I wasn’t used to being part of this. But a case was nice if we got one. I didn’t do much other than try to learn about supernatural beings at this point so I was ready. If Logan had found a case, then we should do it.

Logan smiled and went to the door. I was about to follow when Marina grabbed my arm. “David, be careful. Logan…he cares about this case.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “He always cares.” Marina tried to find the words. “Well, of course he does. But…you know what Logan went through. He doesn’t want others to go through that if you know what I mean. If there’s a case you have to solve, please just let it be this one.”

I looked at Logan, who was looking back at me expectantly. I knew what he had gone through, but I hadn’t ever thought about…who likes thinking about your closest friend’s trauma am I right?

“Okay Marina,” I said, nodding. “We’ll solve it.” She gave me a smile that seemed like she believed me. I didn’t understand why she should, considering we didn’t have any leads on this case at all, but I couldn’t let her down. Not if I could help it.


Logan’s POV

Back at the library like I never left, except there was a police car outside. I didn’t see any officers though, so they were probably inside the library. I grabbed David’s arm to get his attention. “That’s where I saw the kid last,” I said, pointing to the dumpsters. David gave me a look, not exactly that I was crazy, but definitely not that I was sane. He followed me anyway though.

Behind the dumpsters there was nothing but bugs, just like before. I knew this is where he had to disappear, but there was no sign he had ever been here. Like he never existed.

David squinted his eyes as he went behind the dumpster, taking a closer look, but what was there to look at? Nothing. The kid was gone, and I was powerless, again. I never wanted to be weak again, it was the worst feeling I had ever felt.

David knelt down, hands grazing the ground. “Logan, am I crazy or do you see that,” he asked. I tilted my head and knelt down next to him. He motioned to where he had been looking and I realized what he was talking about.

“David, you’re a genius,” I said with a grin, moving some of the dirt out of the crevices. It was a door, covered with moss and dirt and rocks, but still, a working door with working hinges.

David smiled to himself. “No, just more observant than you,” he said, before prying the door open with a loud creak. It was dark, but I could see a staircase leading down. How far down I couldn’t tell, but I wasn’t waiting if I could help it. So I began the descent, David definitely worried for my sanity and safety, but he was right behind me anyway if something went wrong. Not that I couldn’t defend myself if it was really necessary.

I was running down the stairs so fast I expected to fall and slip, but David’s hand gripping my shirt definitely stopped that. I will admit I was a little annoyed he was slowing me down, but looking back it was probably for the best. Logan Wright, died running down a flight of stairs; it doesn't have that good of a ring to it.

But when we finally got to the ground floor it was empty. It looked more like storage, but for what I couldn’t tell you. I cursed and kicked the nearest box. This had to be it, why couldn’t this just be it? No case can be easy but I had hope-

“Hello?”

What?

I looked around for whoever said that, considering it was the sound of a young girl and definitely not David.

“Over here. Please.”

David was the one who found her. She was behind a pile of boxes, hands tied together and to a pipe. Me and David made eye contact. I didn’t think about other children having been taken, but now it made complete sense that was the case. Of course no monster could stop at one.

David began to cut the rope. The young girl flinched as he got close but she let him do it. I wondered what happened to her. She was paler than she should’ve been, but she didn’t look like she’d been starved or hurt physically. She just looked like she was going to bolt up the stairs the minute she was free. I wanted her to be able to go, but the worst part was she couldn’t. She was our first lead, and as of now our only lead.

When David finally cut her free the girl jumped up and looked around like a wild animal, trying to find an escape. I put my hands up. “We’re going to help you,” I said as the girl stared at me with wide eyes. “But you need to explain what happened here first.” She nodded slowly. “Okay. Just…get me out of this place first, please.” I looked at David and we nodded at each other.

Get out. Get answers. Simple as that.

I helped her walk and we began the climb.

Is this an MPS case? Who is the kidnapper, and what? Stay tuned! Hopefully the next part will be out next Tuesday, maybe sooner if I get a lot of motivation! It's summer, no one can stop me! ...Except my own brain obviously. If I don't finish this when I say I will I am sorry, but let's hope we don't get to that! Bye bye!

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an intriguing section.

a few suggestions, if you don't mind.

a lot of paragraphs are very similar length. if you write some longer passages of description, inner thought, or dialogue, that will help add variety. also for me, I'd like to see some deeper description of surroundings to help anchor the setting.

'I' is used a lot and this is understandable for a 1st person POV. but, for me, it becomes distracting. it might be worth thinking of different ways to construct the sentence to avoid so many 'I'

eg >> I grabbed another book when I heard a small voice. “Excuse me, can you reach that book right there?” I turned to face the person speaking. It was a kid, no more than 8 no doubt. He was pointing to a book at a shelf right in front of my face, so I grabbed it and hesitantly gave it to him. He smiled a toothy grin, despite the fact one of his front teeth was missing.

could be something like: I'd just grabbed another book when a small voice behind me said, 'Excuse me, can you reach that book right there?'. On turning I was faced with a young boy, no more than eight at a guess. He pointed earnestly at a book just level with my face. The book was (description of subject - eg, all about dinosaurs) and he must have been worried I was going to refuse him. 'Please,' he implored. Handing it down to him rewarded me with a large toothy grin, with a gap where a front tooth was missing.

anyway, just my thoughts, use or ignore as desired, and I look forward to seeing where we go next

I definitely agree. I admit this was sort of a trial run to get back into these stories and it's certainly not the best written thing I've done. I've been trying to use less "I" but I obviously can tell there are way too many of them still.
Thank you for reading and for the feedback, it really helps!