Chapter 3: Disappearance

The previous person who disappeared was a first year girl who lived in my building. She lived on the 7th floor, two floors above me, and I'd seen her a few times near the apartment and at school. She seemed like an honest person, always dressed neat and tidy and smiled and said hello whenever we passed each other.

I was one of the few people contacted by the police during their investigation that time. It seemed that I was one of the last people to have seen her a few days before she was reported missing, but all I remembered was coming back to the apartment building after class just as she was leaving. I couldn't remember her clothing or anything else, we had just passed by each other normally like always.

Nothing came of that investigation. Police never found her, and they only reported her missing then nothing more. Normally, the family would raise hell if they heard that police were dropping a missing persons investigation after doing the bare minimum, but strangely, her family didn't follow up and in the end, nothing happened. Everyone seems to have forgotten about it until now, for there to be two disappearances within a few months, there really might be a serial killer on the loose.

The doorbell suddenly rang throughout my apartment, a loud, incessant buzzing sound that rings throughout my head.

"Coming!" I yelled back before quickly running to open the door.

I swung the door open, and was greeted by a police badge. The officer holding the badge had a wide, creepy smile on his face.

"Good afternoon ma'am" he took half a step into my doorway, placing his shoe perfectly so that I wouldn't be able to close the door and sized me up, his dark snake-like eyes hovering over my torso.

It's him again. Should I kick his shin so he'd move his shoe? Would it be against the law in any way to refuse being questioned by this officer?

"I'm officer Bor Stephens with the Ellis County Sheriff Department" he leaned towards me "we met previously regarding the disappearance of Miss. Eileen Ladner?"

"Yes?" I stepped back and closed the door slightly.

"I'm not sure if you're aware but there's been another disappearance" he placed his palm on the door "26 year old Mr. Brandon Caron, he lived in this building and was reported missing this morning."

It was someone from this building again?

"Miss, I'd like to ask a few questions regarding this case" he pushed at the door.

"What do you need to ask?" I pushed back. I hated this officer. The last time he was here, he practically barged his way into my apartment even though he didn't need to be inside.

"Do you know Mr. Brandon Caron, miss?" He took out a notepad and a pen and anchored his elbow on my door, leaning his pot-bellied weight onto it.

"No, I'm not familiar with anyone with that name."

"Have you ever seen or interacted with a white male, approximately 6' tall, brown hair, blue eyes in or around this building?" He was almost leaning on the door now while writing.

"Um, yes?" I scowled, there's a lot of people who would fit that description in or around school.

"Miss where were you three nights ago on the night of March 14th between 6pm and 10pm?" he continued without looking at me.

"I was at home -- here with my friend Amy, we were hanging out and watching a movie" I glanced at his shoe in my doorway and legs, calculating the best angle to kick him if he tries to come in any further.

He kept scribbling in his notepad for a moment before looking up at me.

"Thank you for your time miss, please be careful as there has been multiple disappearances of residents of this apartment building. If you have anymore information, please contact the Sheriff Department and ask for me." he slowly withdrew his body, he licked his lips slightly while staring at me.

"Uh, okay. Thank you" I tried to close the door, but his shoe was still in my doorway "are we done? Or is there still something?"

He withdrew his foot, and I slammed the door shut before he could say anything else. I locked the door and slid the chain lock into place. I felt disgusted being looked at like that, and it didn't even seem like he was trying to question me or do an actual investigation. He only asked a few questions that barely seemed relevant to finding the missing person. I shuddered as I walked back to the living room.

That's weird though, the missing person lived in this building. A white, 6ft male with brown eyes in this building? I tried my best to recall the people who fit this description. Didn't I see someone like that hanging around the side of the apartment building after sending Amy off three days ago? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It was impossible to remember the details, there were lots of people who hung out around the apartments on Friday nights, and I was also a little tipsy at the time. Still, I had a feeling of uneasiness. I had my first nightmare a few days after the girl was reported missing last time, and I had another nightmare today.