Ominous feelings proving right

Author's notes: If you have a CHYOA account, bookmark this chapter, not the overview chapter already published.
Also, the rate of publishing may slow down as my real life slowly comes back to prevent my writing of new chapters. I still have plenty of ideas, including new characters, they just need to be written into actual stories now.

It was half an hour before midnight and I just couldn't sleep. Something kept me awake, a feeling that something awful was about to happen. I didn't know what it could be, but regardless, I was terrified of this night. I walked around silently in the living room, simply waiting for something to confirm my suspicions. I was terrified when I heard footsteps behind me, but it was just mom.

"Still up, master?"

"Yeah... You can get dressed and stop calling me master for the night."

She immediately went into her bedroom and exited a bit later, dressed.

"C-Can I ask why, James?"

"I can't sleep. Some gut feeling tells me something horrible is about to happen." Mom hugged me.

"Sweetie, things are going to be okay... If you have nightmares, just distract yourself a bit and go back to sleep. If you want, we can sleep together like when you were a child."

"It's... not a nightmare, mom."

"Does this sort of thing happen often?"

"It happened once before, in college. That was the night you called and told me grandma had died."

She began to tear up. "James..."

"I'd like you to stay up with me for the night, is that okay? Just in case..."

"I guess I can sleep in the car, yeah. Tom and Pam will pick me up at 4:30AM, I'm sure they won't be suspicious if I sleep."

"Thanks mom. Sorry for making you do this."

"It's okay. We all need some support in our life sometimes, and I'm your mom. That's part of what I'm here for, right?"

I smiled at her, and walked towards the door. It had some stained glass that let some light in. Neither mom nor I had turned on the light in the living room. I noticed that the light from the small windows in the door was flickering a bit, and the typical yellow of the streetlamps was replaced by flashing blue lights that got stronger over time. An emergency? I opened the door a bit and could see a police car speedily approaching the house on the long and straight road. I couldn't hear a siren, but that didn't matter. The car was definitely above speed limit. And not alone. Now I realized why the color was flickering, other police cars were there as well, seemingly chasing it.

Before I had finished that thought, I could already hear the engine of the first car, then it happened. The road was icy, and the car slipped, the car's tail crashing into the old oak tree that sat next to my house. I rushed out immediately in my underwear, opening the door. The airbags had popped, but it was immediately obvious who this was and why I had a bad feeling. It was Jane, she was **** in the driver seat. I unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her, to get her out of the car. A small flash drive fell out of her pocket, I put it into my pocket. I saw a handbag in the distance, so I grabbed that one too, before finally legging it.

I turned back, while mom held the door open in shock. As I approached the door, the house suddenly got brighter, and a big 'whoosh' sound announced the car had caught on fire. The oak was far enough from my house that we should be fine. "Mom put her in Laura's room and take care of her." We went to Laura's room and mom tried her best to take care of the still **** Jane. I went to the kitchen to get some ice packs, when I heard some knocking. I froze immediately.

"Open up, police."

"Terry, I told you nobody would be here. This is a rich guy's apartment. He's probably in the Caribbean all winter long."

"John, we got orders. Straight from the mayor. And Officer Miller is nowhere to be found. If she's here, we have to get her."

"Aren't you a bit suspicious? Why did we get an order from the mayor, in the middle of the night, and not from the PD? Against an officer of ours, no less?"

"John, you and your conspiracies. Listen, we do this well and we'll get a promotion. I'm just here to do my job and feed my kids and wife."

A muffled voice interrupted their conversation, presumably some communication with another officer.

"See Terry, I told you. The neighbor down the street said the owner is away."

"Guess we're going to leave then..."

THANK YOU KLARA! Saved my ass there. I quietly grabbed some ice packs when I heard a siren. However the commotion soon made it clear that that was the fire department. I went back to Jane and put the ice packs on her with mom's help. Jane slowly woke up.

"H-Huh where am I?" She quickly patted down the top of her uniform. "Where's the flash drive?" I pulled it out of my pockets and showed it to her. She sighed in relief. "Thanks James. Get it... to the press."

"Should we bring you to a hospital, Jane?"

"No... they're gonna find me there and..." She fainted again.

I went back to the living room, quietly. I could hear some conversations from outside, as I opened a window while keeping the blinds down.

"Well, officers, the car is completely burnt out. Nothing in here is still recognizable. We'll collect what's left but on first glance, none of these are human ashes. Whatever was in the car is destroyed, however. We'll give you a call if we ever find any evidence."

"Alright."

Then I could hear some police cars drive away, and after a minute, the fire truck left as well. I still had a call to make this evening. She was groaning.

"Mr. Goodman, at this late hour, why are you calling me?"

"I might have your next scoop. Come to my house asap."

"Ugh, alright I'll come. Seems like you're convinced." Megan +3SP (+7SP)

Perfect. I had one other problem though... Jane clearly needed medical help, maybe a check up. I had only one choice, really. In desperation, I texted Christine. 'Have you ever dated a guy with some political office? Where would you hide from him if injured?' 'Uhhh... weird question, but I'd go to the women's shelter I sent Emily to yesterday. Why do you ask?' 'I'll answer that later, please just give me the address.' And Christine obliged.

I sent a quick text to Em. 'Need your truck services for one emergency tomorrow early in the morning (5am-ish) and for another move in the late morning. Sorry for this being so spontaneous, but everything is a mess right now.' No response, I assume she's asleep.

At around half past midnight, I heard the doorbell ring. I slowly opened the door, and it was Megan. She was a bit grumpy, because of the time.

"What happened in your front yard, Mr. Goodman? The tree is burnt out..."

"That's the least of my worries now, come in."

"So what's the scoop?"

"We'll see, Ms. Dapy."

She rolled her eyes, presumably annoyed at me being unprepared. I plugged the flash drive into my computer and began playing the video recording on it. The two people weren't clearly visible at first. The first voice was my father's.

"So, Mr. Anderson, that's what I... arranged with your predecessor. Can we come to a similar arrangement?"

"That's my father", I interjected. The other person began speaking.

"Well, after the last election, I can't possibly accept money..." Megan's eyes lit up. "But... If you were to give me access to these recordings, maybe we can come to an arrangement?"

"I'm sure we can, Mr. Anderson. I'll give you access to a new account with the same camera feed that I already have. Then you can view them as well. They're all young and picked based on my tastes, but in the future, I might be willing to take yours into consideration as well..."

"Excellent, Mr. Goodman. I have a feeling we'll get along great."

The two men shook hands and the recording ended. "You weren't lying, this is my next big scoop. What's bringing down one mayor compared to bringing down two mayors?"

"That Mr. Anderson is the mayor?"

"Yeah, and we just saw him ask for access to the recordings your father made. His career is ruined once I'm done with this article." She began pulling out her laptop and started writing. "Where'd you get this recording though?"

"Come with me..."

"Fine..." She - longingly - closed her laptop and followed me to Laura's bedroom. Megan +2SP (+9SP)

"The tree burned because Officer Miller took the evidence and was chased by cops for it - under mayor's orders, as I heard some police officers say. I got her out of the car before the other police arrived and pretended not to be at home, I overheard a conversation they had on the doorstep. Seems like some were suspicious. Officer Miller asked me to get the flash drive to the press and I couldn't think of a better investigative journalist to call than you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Mr. Goodman."

"Oh, this isn't flattery. You're good and I don't have the contacts of any other investigative reporter of your caliber."

"W-Well that made me feel worse. In any case, thanks for verifying the accuracy of your source. I'll have the article published in the morning magazine."

We went back to the living room and Megan was furiously typing away at the article. I occasionally checked up on Jane, mom had gone to sleep for now, maybe she needed the rest. At about 3AM, Megan was finished.

"May I look over the article? Just to give you some feedback, I'll leave the content alone."

"F-Fine..." Megan +10SP (+19SP)

I read her article. Very detailed description, which makes sense. She has an eye for detail and needs it in her job at virtually every occasion. I pointed out one typo, which she fixed immediately. I suggested some changes in tone and she accepted about half of them.

"Sorry for rushing you so much, Mr. Goodman, but I want this article released for today's issue. And the printers have a deadline."

"No worries, Ms. Dapy. I was just curious how you write. I was out of town for the last six years, so I didn't read your earlier articles. I was... professionally interested. I have won a prize for my journalistic abilities already and you seem to be famous in your niche as well."

"No worries, Mr. Goodman. In some sense we are distant colleagues. I'm glad to get some feedback, it's just very time sensitive right now."

"I understand that, don't worry."