Zor: Kidnapping - Part One

      A bang at the door alerted the young Wocky that someone was standing outside the door. Suspiciously, she walked through the dark corridors, illuminated by flashes of lightning and filled with echoes of deafening thunder. From one of the front windows, she could see a rather tall shape standing with his hands in his pockets and his back facing towards the window. "Fred..." she sighed and scurried to the door and unlatched and unlocked it.

     Then, she gasped and screamed, running back into the house. A figure followed her, yelling and adding more noise of the chaos. The figure caught up with her quickly and snatched her by the fur. The Wocky continued to scream as the tall shadowy figure pulled her along...

     A knock on the door awoke Zor from her daydreaming. "Come in," she quickly muttered and removed her feet off the desk just in time to see a boy with dark hair and green eyes walk into the room, a terrified look on his face.

     He attempted to speak but only stuttered, staring straight ahead at the Faerie Zafara. Finally, he managed to get a few simple words out. "My pet has been kidnapped."

     Those words made Zors' brain start to come up with innumerable questions. She could obviously see that the owner was scared out of his wits and he had no idea what to do. He certainly wasn't able to answer questions about the event. "Where to you live? I'll come back and check the house."

     Some more silence and some more stuttering. Then, he blurted out a slur of numbers and words. "112443113 Aisha Avenue."

     Zor quickly nodded and gave a small encouraging smile. "Here, you want to lay down here for a bit while I go over to your house?" she pointed to a green couch to the left wall of the office.

     The owner quickly agreed by nodding his head and walked slowly and carefully over there, as if his legs wouldn't hold him. "Th-th-thank you..." he said in a kind tone and then his eyes drifted off to the ceiling.

     Zor smiled yet again and got up from her seat, pushed it in, and walked out of the room, looking back at the flabbergasted owner. After signing herself out of the building, she made her way to Aisha Avenue. From Neopia Avenue (where the detective agency was established and run) she took a quick shortcut through Market Square, up Guild Street which ran out onto Main Street. From Main she took a sharp left on Winding Wood Drive, though Chia Close, and out onto the beginnings of the long and vast Aisha Avenue.

     After searching for the house for a good twenty minutes, she stepped up on the front porch to find the door wide open. The Faerie Zafara carefully stepped over shards of broken glass and noticed the mess the house was in. Chairs were strewn across the floor, small end tables were dangling down from the stairs and pieces of broken vases dumped on the floor carelessly. A breeze came in through a broken window in the front of the house. There were obvious signs of a struggle.

     Bending down onto the floor, Zor examined several claw marks digging deep into the wood of the living room floor. "She was dragged..." the detective muttered and ran her finger through the gashing lines. The living room was just as much of a mess as the hallway and entrance way. A couch was upside down and some stuffing torn out of it and scattered on the floor. Several picture frames had fallen off the walls during the struggle and a few shelves were dangling off a bookcase, books scattered across the floor.

     Zor made her way out of the disastrous living room and stepped carefully over shards of broken glass and headed up the stairs, avoiding end tables and other various items. She noticed that the claw marks followed up the stairs and into the hallway. "Follow the claws." Zor muttered to herself as she continued to look down at her feet, pointing with her finger as she followed the trace of the claws.

     And the claw marks ended abruptly. Right in the middle of the long upstairs hallway. Zor also saw something else there besides debris...a small piece of paper. She bent down slowly and picked it up, and unfolded it. And scrawled on the yellowed paper in black ink was a message...

      Dear Diary,

     I have a strange feeling that something is going to happen. Yes, another feeling. I wonder where I get these...could...could I be able to tell the future? Am I some sort of psychic? I wish. Anyway, nothing happened today. I didn't feel well so Fred let me stay home from school but actually once he was gone I felt better and read a bunch and played a few games. I heard a noise. What was

     The paper then had another few words on it, written in messy handwriting. Zor stared at it and almost threw the paper down onto the ground in pure shock. In large black letters were "HELP ME" scrawled across the paper. And Zor then followed the claw marks back down the stairs and into the living room.

     Zor then looked at the cabinets and saw a tall dark figure standing with his back turned, rummaging through a series of books and throwing them down in frustration. The Faerie Zafara slowly back out of the room and leaned her body against the wall. Someone was in there... The kidnapper? Could it be? Would the culprit be stupid enough to return to a crime scene? Or...was it a robber who saw the door wide open and decided to see if he could get lucky? Then...footsteps. Zor gulped and stopped her heavy panting. She saw a large shadow creep out into the hallway.

     "What're you doing here?" a gruff voice said. "You ain't supposed to be here..." His face looked puzzled as he stepped out into the hallway and faced Zor. "Why you here?"

     Zor quickly stood up straight and reached into her coat pocket, pulling out a shiny badge. "Neopian Detective Agency. I'm investigating a recent kidnapping that took place in this house."

     The expression on the tall Krawk who was standing before her turned from sly to frightened. And then he bolted. Out the door and onto the lawn. Zor hastily reacted, shoving her badge back inside her coat and started to run out after him, keeping a close pace. The Krawk dodged garbage cans and hedges and Zor followed suit, chasing him around twists and turns in the road. "Stop!" she bellowed and her voice echoed in the desolate street. The Krawk didn't listen and continued to run, taking a sharp left and jumping over some hedges. Zor saw the Krawk lose his footing in the air and fall to the ground. Zor pummeled him back on the ground before he had a chance to get in a upright position. She quickly got handcuffs out of her pocket and forcefully put them on his wrists and jerked him into a standing posture, slowly leading him to the detective headquarters.

     ***

     "Why were you there?" Zor asked again. After arriving at the headquarters, she had thrown him into an interrogation room and started questioning him. He wouldn't answer and now it was the fourth time that Zor had asked the question. "Why were you there?" She asked and gave the Krawk a cold and stern look. Zor searched his eyes. Was he hiding something? Was he just a robber or did he have an involvement in the case? "Why were you there?" she repeated. Still, no answer. Just a face she couldn't read. Couldn't tell if he was scared or sarcastic.

     Zor slammed her hands down on the metal table and looked the Krawk straight in the eye. "Why were you there?" The Krawk gulped and stared back at Zor, frightened. "I'll be back in ten minutes. Be ready to answer." Zor slowly walked out of the room and felt the gazing stare of the Krawk as she closed the door and headed to her office.

     She arrived in her office and saw Fred sleeping on the couch. Quietly, she walked back out and shut the door behind her, trying not to make a noise. It wasn't nice to wake a sleeping person. That's what her owner had told Zor when she was little. And Zor stayed by that, only waking someone up if they were in danger or needed badly. Sleep was your one safe haven from the world and if you entered that haven, you shouldn't be disturbed.

     Zor bided time by walking up and down the long corridor, greeting a few people she knew and glancing at the interrogation door every time she passed it. She took a short stop at the restroom to wash her face and after she felt the Krawk had enough time to think his options over, she pushed open the door and gasped. The Krawk had disappeared from the room. And the case was back at square one.

To be continued...