Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Arks: Over Heaven

Chapter 26: Detective on the Scene

Original Post Date: Feb 17, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Dragon, next chapter in Desmodus.

~

“So what in the world happened here?”

Thick sheriff boots pounded on the blacktop concrete, and the snapping of cameras reverberated throughout the air. Yellow caution tape surrounded the perimeter of Terran High and dozens of police officers were on the scene inspecting the area.

Detective Darren was inspecting a drop of blood with his trusty sidekick, Sam. Detective Darren was a tired-looking fellow who always looked like he was going through crazy hair days. It was as if he was so busy with his work that he couldn’t even be bothered to brush his hair. But he always smelled nice and all the old ladies at the restaurant fawned over him as if he were Adonis himself.

Sam, on the other hand, was a young, bright, and clever lady who was the butter to Detective Darren’s bread. Sparkly blonde hair like Goldilocks that was braided in a ponytail, Sam was always by Detective Darren’s side. It always felt like they were together at all times. A lot of officers at the station speculated that the two had something secret going on. Lovers? Or maybe they were secretly siblings. Many hoped it wasn’t the latter, because then that’d just make things weirder.

“Well hello… Deputy Warren,” Sam sneered as a sheriff approached the two, “What are you doing here? What is a lowly sheriff doing here on the officers’ turf?”

Detective Darren looked at the two of them, then stepped away.

“Should I give you two some space?”

“No. I think you should stay here while I berate this pathetic excuse of a man,” Sam answered while staring at Warren’s face. But Sam’s words made Warren’s heart sting. Warren had ALWAYS wanted to be an officer. But he never passed the bar exam, and he was forced to become a sheriff.

It didn’t really help that the words were coming from his ex-wife.

“Sammy, please-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sam. I’m not trying to intrude on anything, okay?! I know you blame me for our son’s death, but I just don’t want our other son to be hurt!” Warren cried, “This is my responsibility just like it is yours-”

“You don’t DESERVE to be Samuel’s father,” Sam shouted back, “Ever since his poor sister passed away he’s never been the same. You changed him, Warren. You can never redeem yourself.”

Warren was silent, and he rubbed his face violently, feeling his heart pump loudly and a clump in his throat.

“Please, Samantha. I just want our son to be safe. I want to find out where he is. I don’t want him to end up the same way. Please, let’s just put our differences aside. You can hate me all you want, but I just want to get to the bottom of this.”

Darren looked at the two of them, then shrugged.

“Well I could help with that.”

Sam looked at Darren and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Of course, Detective. This can be another crime we solve. Why don’t we start by counting up the numbers, how many disappeared?”

“The numbers are pretty high, ma’am. All of the seniors who were set to graduate Terran High disappeared in a flash, including some of the faculty members such as the principal. We could start with the camera evidence, how about that?”

“Of course, Detective. Let’s get to it.”

The two of them walked off, and Warren followed closely behind like some third wheel chump. Warren couldn’t help but feel regret for the whole situation. Two of the sons he had raised, gone, one because of him and the other because of some mysterious circumstance. He hated it.

“I would like to save at least one of my children,” Warren thought as he rubbed his whiskers.

The three made it to the principal’s office, where all of the footage was stored. The door creaked open, making a loud, creepy noise. It was dark and gloomy in there, as if nobody had been in there for a while.

“Turn on the lights, would you, Warren?” Darren said while nodding his head toward the light switch. Warren flicked the switch and an old light bulb flickered on, a buzzing noise radiating throughout the room. It looked like a typical principal’s office.

The only thing that really set it apart from any other school was the fact that there were scratches and markings all over the wooden walls.

“Oh my,” Sam said, gulping at the sight. The markings consisted of strange lines and sketches, some had dinosaurs and others had weird diamond-shaped artifacts that had scribbles all over them. Desperate messages were plastered all over the wall.

“DON’T BRING ME BACK THERE!”

“THE CYCLES.”

“THE PAIN.”

“LET ME OUT.”

“I HAVE TO PREPARE.”

“PREPARE.”

“ALL JUST A GAME!”

“So the principal was off his rocker,” Darren concluded immediately, “You reckon he was responsible for the disappearances?”

“Most likely. But we need more concrete evidence before we can deem him a suspect,” Sam replied. Sam walked up to the desk and turned the computer on. It buzzed as loud as the light bulb, and she plopped down on the office chair. She turned the computer on, and the screen flickered to life.

“I’m going to check the cameras. We’ll get a clue on where they went,” Sam decided.

“But if the principal wanted to get away with it, wouldn’t he clear out any of the evidence? Clearly he didn’t,” Warren pointed out, nodding at the wall, “He left more behind than any serial kidnapper would. Besides, Where would any man hide four hundred soon-to-be adults?”

“No idea, but we’re about to find out. I’m going to request a file for the principal of the school. See if he has any suspicious background,” Darren said. He reached for his walkie-talkie and began to speak some instructions into it, and while he was doing that Warren took his time to walk around the office and take a look at any of the clues that the principal could have left them.

Warren had always been a stickler for details.

“Hmm. These books are dusty and old, as if they hadn’t been touched in ages,” Warren thought as he brushed his fingers along the worn books on a bookshelf. Most had titles that had faded away. But one book stuck out from the others. Clean and smooth, it had a title that made Warren’s eyes squint.

“Tales of Evolution and Survival.”

Warren reached for the book and grabbed it, trying to figure out why this one was foreign from the others, but Sam reached forward and snatched it out of his hands.

“You fool, do you know nothing of the law?” Sam sneered at him, “Don’t mess with anything here. It could be evidence.”

Warren muttered an apology, and put the book back on the shelf. Warren had always loved to read, but he had never heard of any book named “Tales of Evolution and Survival”.

“I’m going to search that name up when I get home,” Warren decided in his thoughts, “Maybe I can figure out the author. Perhaps the principal was engrossed in this book or fellow.”

A ding came from the computer, and all eyes turned to Sam.

“I’ve managed to find an application which records 24/7 footage of everything on campus. Let’s scroll back to the date of the disappearances. When was the date of the disappearances, Darren?”

“May 23rd, so two days ago.”

“Thank you.”

Sam clicked a few buttons on the keyboard, and soon a few videos showed up on the screen.

“Time?”

“9:03 AM, I believe.”

Sam scrolled forward a little bit, and soon a bunch of people showed up on the camera. Hundreds of scholars dressed in graduation robes were counting down. The footage was a little fuzzy, and the audio sounded somewhat corrupted, but as the soon-to-be graduates reached “ONE!”, the principal standing atop the stage let out an ear-piercing scream.

He collapsed to the ground, clutching his left wrist, and soon everyone else followed. Streaks of red, blue, and green burst into a beam upon the blacktop, and then they disappeared.

Darren’s jaw dropped at the sight, and Sam and Warren followed suit.

“What the- Is this really what-”

“Aliens,” Darren whispered with fear in his voice, “I knew they were real!”

“We can’t confirm for sure if they’re aliens. And there’s still some questions hanging in the air. Why did they scream out in pain before getting transported? And what does the beam of light have to do with this?” Sam asked.

Warren was silent at the moment, but he wanted to look over the footage some more before coming to a conclusion.

“Sam, can you forward me the footage? Not just on that camera, but for all of them. I want to see what else I can pick up,” Warren requested. Sam looked at Warren with a frown the size of Saturn and flipped him off.

“Okay, I guess I’ll take that as a no.”

“Don’t worry, Warren,” Darren reassured him, “I’ll give them to you. Just check your email sometime, I’ll send it to you there.”

“Okay, well at least ONE person isn’t praying for my downfall,” Warren murmured. He pointed to the door, “I’m going to leave now. Samantha, please, tell me if you find anything.”

“Fine.”

Warren exited the office and sighed, putting his hands in his uniform’s pockets and looking up at the bright sky. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming.

“It’s a beautiful day outside,” Warren muttered to himself.

But Warren couldn’t deny it. His son was missing, and every second wasted was a second that Samuel could die.

Just like his other child.