23rd May, 2008:
The quiet rustle of their feet moved forward as the soldiers crept upon the metallic walls of the structure looming ahead. Their hands tightly gripped their weapons, as their minds wandered, exploring the different possibilities of the monster they could face inside. They were all awaiting the order from their commander; then they would enter.

The commander, officer James O'Reilly, slowly made his way up to the bushes that lined the fence facing the entrance to the building; a large metal door, with the words "Craig Research Facilities" etched into the top. He was flanked by his two assistants, Wade Chambers and Roy Davenport.

Roy looked up at the gigantic structure, wondering how it had remained concealed from the eyes of the law for so long. He shook his head. It hadn't, really. It was just that nobody knew the depth of the monstrous activities that went on inside those cold walls. Under the tag of research, that man as doing things far more sinister than anyone had ever imagined. An investigation which had dragged on for three months and led them on way too many wild goose chases had finally opened the door on his cruelties.

"Charlie Craig," O'Reilly whispered, grunting.

"Seventy-five kids, sir. That man has seventy-five kids in there. Do you think all of them are even-" Roy was cut off by a sharp look from the leader.

"Alive?" he asked, "I don't know, Davenport. I don't know what that monster's done to those kids. But he and his men are capable of kidnapping seventy-five kids in a single day, so we know what that means for us. One false move, and this mission goes to hell. Follow my orders, and don't do anything to endanger the kids. I want every kid in there back with their families. Something happens to even one of 'em, and this mission is a failure."

Roy and Wade gave crisp nods. Roy was the youngest in the lot, being only twenty-eight. Wade wasn't too much older, but this was O'Reilly's last mission. He had planned his retirement after this.

"Alpha unit in position. Bravo, Charlie, Delta- do you copy?" he asked into his communication device. A static word of assent came from the three units. O'Reilly sighed. "Here goes," he muttered, as he crept up slowly, inching his way towards the door. Roy and Wade followed. O'Reilly gave a quick nod to Wade, as the man stepped forward, and immediately started working with the security mechanism on the gate. The technical equipment expert's hands flew across the tiny screen, and within a minute, the gate swung open.

The three of them walked through, their guns trained ahead, their fingers on the triggers.

"That's weird," Roy observed, "There aint a guard in sight."

O'Reilly nodded warily. "We can't linger on that. We need to get inside the building, then let the others in."

As Wade got to working on the mechanism on the door to the building, Roy couldn't shake the terrible feeling in his heart. He trusted O'Reilly, and the man knew hat he was doing, but even the mere thought of meeting Craig made his stomach twist. That guy was a psychopath. He'd kidnapped seventy-five kids on a single day, by sabotaging kids' parties. Around fifty of those kids had come from a school event, where they'd gassed the party-goers into unconsciousness.

A loud BEEP jarred Roy from his thoughts. The door was open. O'Reilly carefully took a step; for being such a big man, he had almost a soundless tread. Wade and Roy positioned themselves, looking into the pitch-black interior of the lab. The fact that they were executing this mission in the lightless hours of dusk meant no support of the sun, either.

"Chambers, get the frickin' flashlight out, will ya'? I can't see nothin'" O'Reilly barked.

"Oh, there's no need for that," a raspy voice called out, somewhere ahead of them. The three officers immediately swept their weapons to point in the direction of the voice, and before they could react any further, the electric hum of the lights greeted their ears as their surroundings became illuminated for the first time. Looking ahead, Roy's grip on his weapon tightened.

Ahead of them were at least fifty soldiers, spread out in a lobby, all their weapons pointed at the three intruders. In front of this arrangement stood one man, cloaked in a white overcoat. His short stature would've made him look like a friendly everyday doctor, had it not been for the manic gleam in his eyes.

"Charlie Craig," O'Reilly sneered.

Craig burst into a smile. "Ah, yes. And you must be officer James O'Reilly? I've heard a bit about you, snooping around my business. Have you no respect for privacy?"

"Dude, you kidnapped seventy-five kids. The last person to talk about privacy, if I can," Roy muttered. Craig turned his eerie smile onto him. "Roy Davenport, is it not? Let the big boys talk here, will you?" he turned back to O'Reilly. "Yes, now. How may I help you, officer? Oh, and do forgive this uncharacteristic welcome," he gestured to his soldiers, "It's just that when people come marching in with guns, I can't very well return that by asking them to tea, can I now?"

"What have you done with the kids?" O'Reilly asked, his voice not wavering for a second.

"The kids? Oh, they're safe. Of course, they're just safe now. They'll be safer when I'm done with all of them."

"Let them go, you monster," the leader spat out.

"Oh, officer, you don't really think I'm harming the kids, do you?" Craig laughed, "I'm a scientist, not a serial killer. I'm merely giving the kids the ability to protect themselves. To protect us, this whole town."

"Protect us from what?" Roy knew O'Reilly was just stalling. He could see Wade slyly pressing a button on his transmitter, sending the message to the other units.

"You'll know when it comes, James. The darkness is an old friend of mine, although our interactions haven't been too pleasant, if I can say so myself."

What in the world is this guy going on about, Roy wondered, not easing off his weapon. There was no saying what the psychopath had in mind.

"Now, officers. Take your boys and make the way out, or we will have to use rather violent means, which is really not my taste," Craig smirked.

"You really thought I didn't know you knew I was coming? You really thought I didn't know the positions of your cameras in the forest?" It was O'Reilly's turn to smirk, as the footsteps of their men filled the lobby, and within moments, the enemy soldiers were surrounded by their forces on all sides.

"What-"

"NOW, WADE!"

Wade slammed a button on a device he held, and the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Chaos ensued.

Gunshots filled the air, as Roy heard the startled screams of the insane scientist.

"FIND THE CHILDREN!" his leader ordered. Roy knew the map of this place like the back of his hand; the police force had done their homework well.

"This way," Roy called out, as they turned right, Roy's flashlight illuminating the way ahead. This lab was a maze of hallways, but that didn't deter the young officer. Gunshots followed them, letting them know they were being chased. They picked up their pace.

They thudded to a halt as a staircase led down into the heart of the lab, where the rooms were.

"GO GO GO!" O'Reilly urged. They hurried down and found themselves standing in the middle of a long hallway, with doors cramming both sides.

"Hurry up, Chambers. Disable the locks," the leader called.

"I'm working on it!" Wade yelled back, is fingers flying across the screen of his tablet.

Suddenly, the crack of a gunshot filled the air, and Wade's scream followed, as he dropped his tablet and fell to the floor, clutching his shoulder. Their bullet-proof jackets covered most of their torso, so he wasn't fatally wounded. But this shot wasn't meant to kill him, it was to put him out of action.

"Why are you ruining my research, officers?" Craig stood behind them as they whirled around to face him. Roy and O'Reilly pointed their guns at the scientist, as their injured companion backed up against the far wall, his blood leaving a trail on the floor. Roy's heart thudded in his chest. He didn't know what their soldiers were facing, but one thing that calmed him was that they had the advantage of numbers and both sides knew it.

"You're outnumbered, and out-skilled, Craig. Give up now and let the kids go, before I put two bullets through that evil brain of yours," O'Reilly's grip tightened.

"Officer, why in the world would I want to keep the kids forever? I'll let them go, just let me finish my research. I can't build an army without the army, now can I?"

"Have you completely lost your mind? They're kids, Craig, not guinea pigs! And what the hell do you mean by an army?" Roy inquired, disgusted by every word that came out of their adversary's mouth.

"An army against the darkness, you silly little boy. The most powerful evil the world will ever know. And you'll thank me, officers. The whole town will. When their children protect them from the darkness, you will all thank me."

"I'm not going to let you experiment on innocent little children, you son of a- "

"Fine!" Craig cut him off, "Fine. You can take the ones that are ready. And better yet, I'll make a deal. As soon as the kid is done with, I'll let them go. Now, get your men and yourself off my premises, and let me finish my work."

"Chief!" the strained voice of Wade called out from behind them. All three of them looked at him as he gave a hard look.

"Be careful," he got out, before slamming his hand onto his tablet. Craig's expression morphed into one of horror, as the sounds of locks opening filled the air.

All through the hallway, the doors burst open, and terrified kids poured into the hallways.

Taking advantage of his momentary element of surprise, Roy rammed the butt of his gun onto Craig's head, downing the madman.

"QUIET!" O'Reilly screamed, trying to get the children's attention. It wasn't of much use. Terrified little beings ran helter-skelter, their fear only aroused by the sound of gunshots. There were seventy-five kids running around horror-stricken in the small, dimly-lit hallway, and it wasn't remotely possible to keep track of them all.

"No, no, stop!" Roy yelled, grabbing a kid who tried to scurry past him. "We're trying to help! WE'RE HERE TO GET YOU ALL OUT!"

In the distance, they could hear the gunshots dying down. Roy knew their soldiers would be coming soon.

As if on cue, the opening of the hall way was filled with the men who wore Roy's uniform, each of them grabbing a kid or two in their hands.

"Get the kids out!" O'Reilly ordered. Albeit reluctantly, their soldiers began dragging the kids away, seeing no other method of bringing them out.

The hallway had just begun to empty out, when a loud "HEY!" pulled the two officers' attention away.

Roy's eyes widened in horror as he saw Craig holding a pistol to the head of a barely conscious Wade Chambers.

"Back off, officers. I don't want to end this young man here."

"We've already rescued the kids, Craig. It's over. Whatever monstrosity you were planning of doing, it's not going to happen," Roy snarled, cocking his gun in the scientist's direction.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" he yelled, tears brimming his eyes.

"I'm doing this for the good! I'm one of the good guys! I can't experiment without the kids. I'm trying to protect them, protect this town," his gaze hardened, "you officers don't know what's coming. You will never understand the importance of what I'm doing here."

"Fine. Then why don't you explain that importance in court, along with all your research," O'Reilly spit out, the rage in his voice not being concealed in the slightest. "Because I'm taking you in, along with all of this." He gestured around him with his free hand, while keeping one finger trained on the trigger.

Craig's eyes widened. Roy was beginning to sweat. Not out of fear, but concern. Wade had lost a lot of blood. They needed to get him to a hospital.

"No. No, this research, it's all mine. It's my research. I'm not going to share it with anyone," tears were now streaming down his face. "You'll regret doing this, officer. When you realize how correct I was. You'll regret it."

He pushed Wade away from him as the assistant feel to the ground. Roy's blood started running cold as it hit him. What Craig was about to do. They needed Craig to be able to help those kids. His mind went blank and his body acted on its own.

Craig bought the tip of the gun to his temple and closed his eyes.

The crack of the gunshot echoed throughout the room, accompanied by a loud cry of anguish from O'Reilly.

Roy opened his eyes, to be greeted by Craig's wide, blue ones. His hand was gripping Craig's, which was holding the gun.

The gun that Roy had forcefully pointed away from the madman at the very last second.

He brought his face closer to the other's repulsive one. "You're not getting away that easily, you monster. You did this to those kids, you're going to make it better, even if I have to puppet you myself," Roy's voice surprised even him. He had force in his words, which made even the scientist falter. Before he could do anything else, in one swift move, a dart was in the latter's neck. Craig's eyes rolled back as he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Roy looked back to see O'Reilly holding out a tranquilizer dart gun. He grinned.

"That was a good job done, Davenport," he praised. Roy grinned back.

"Now, let's get our techie into a hospital," he ordered, as Roy picked Wade up, and slung one arm around his neck.

"Sir, were we able to round up all the kids?" he asked.

"No," O'Reilly replied, "Some escaped in the whole chaos. But this is a big forest, and I'm bringing in search teams. They're kids, Davenport. We'll find them soon enough."

Roy was about to continue on, when he stopped. "And sir," he began, "what about what Craig was saying? About the danger that would come?"

O'Reilly sighed.

"Well, like he said," he turned to look at the man's unconscious body.

"We'll find out soon enough."

~.~.~.~.~.

A/N: Hey guys! The prologue is here! I'll be posting chapters as fast as I can, and do forgive me if I have delays. Please tell me what you thought of this! I know its not much to judge, but I promise I'll put out the first chapter asap.

Oh and that up there is the scientist, Charlie Craig.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Wizard.