Kyla barely slept. The warning note kept replaying in her mind, and every small sound in her apartment made her jump. When her alarm finally went off at five AM, she was almost relieved. At least now she could do something instead of just lying there worrying.
She met Josh in the station parking lot at five forty-five. He looked as tired as she felt, with dark circles under his eyes and his hair sticking up in weird directions.
"Nice hair," she said.
"Nice eyebags," he shot back, handing her a coffee. "I figured we both needed the extra caffeine today."
"You're not wrong." Kyla took a grateful sip. "Did you get any sleep?"
"Maybe two hours. Kept thinking about that note. Someone knows we're investigating, knows where we live, knows what we drive." Josh's jaw tightened. "I don't like being watched."
"Me neither. But maybe after today we'll have some answers."
The team assembled in the briefing room. Besides Josh and Kyla, there were six other officers including Stevens, Chen, and two detectives from major crimes. Chen stood at the front with a map of the warehouse district projected on the screen.
"Alright, listen up," Chen began. "We have reason to believe the warehouse at 1847 Industrial Way is being used for illegal activities connected to our burglary ring. Reeves and Martinez observed suspicious activity during surveillance. We're going in to clear the building and search for evidence."
He pointed to different areas on the map. "Stevens, you take the north entrance with Martinez. Reeves, you're with me on the south side. Detectives Morgan and Park, you secure the perimeter. Nobody goes in alone, nobody plays hero. We go in, we clear it room by room, we get out. Questions?"
"What kind of suspicious activity are we expecting?" Detective Morgan asked.
Chen glanced at Josh and Kyla. "Possible trespassing, stolen goods, maybe drug manufacturing. Stay alert for anything unusual."
If only he knew how unusual, Kyla thought.
They loaded into three patrol cars and drove through the quiet morning streets. The sun was just starting to rise, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. It would have been beautiful if Kyla's stomach wasn't tied in knots.
"You okay?" Josh asked quietly as they geared up outside the warehouse.
"Just nervous. You?"
"Terrified," he admitted with a small smile. "But at least we're terrified together."
Chen gave the signal, and they moved in. The warehouse door wasn't even locked—it swung open with a loud creak that echoed through the empty space. Inside, it was dark and dusty, with shafts of early morning light cutting through the broken windows. The place looked like it had been abandoned for years, with old machinery covered in tarps and scattered debris everywhere.
"Police! Anyone here, identify yourself!" Chen's voice boomed through the space.
Silence.
They split up according to plan. Kyla and Stevens took the stairs to the upper levels while Josh and Chen cleared the ground floor. Each step Kyla took echoed loudly in the stillness. The second floor was mostly empty offices with broken furniture and peeling wallpaper.
"Nothing up here," Stevens reported into his radio.
"Third floor clear," came another officer's voice.
They were about to head back down when Kyla heard it. That humming sound, so faint she almost missed it. She held up a hand, stopping Stevens.
"You hear that?"
Stevens tilted his head. "Hear what?"
The humming grew slightly louder. It was coming from somewhere above them. Kyla looked up and noticed a ladder attached to the wall, leading to what looked like an access hatch in the ceiling.
"There's a fourth floor," she said into her radio. "Or maybe an attic space. I'm checking it out."
"Wait for backup," Chen ordered.
But Kyla was already climbing. She couldn't explain it, but something was pulling her toward that sound. At the top of the ladder, she pushed open the hatch and pulled herself through.
The attic space was smaller than the other floors, with a low ceiling and exposed beams. But it wasn't empty. In the center of the room sat a table covered in papers, maps, and three glowing blue fragments arranged in a triangle pattern. The humming was coming from the stones, and the air around them seemed to shimmer like heat waves on hot pavement.
"Holy..." Kyla breathed.
"Martinez, what's your status?" Josh's voice crackled through the radio.
"You need to see this. Fourth floor attic. Bring everyone."
Footsteps pounded on the stairs below. Within minutes, the entire team had climbed up to join her. Everyone stared at the glowing stones in stunned silence.
"What the hell are those?" Chen said finally.
"The fragments," Josh said, moving closer. "The ones from the burglaries."
Detective Morgan pulled out her phone and started taking pictures. "This is evidence of... what exactly? I've never seen anything like this."
Kyla was examining the papers on the table. Most were covered in symbols she didn't recognize, but one document was in English. It looked like a journal entry, handwritten in messy script.
"Listen to this," she said, reading aloud. "Day forty-seven. The alignment is nearly complete. Three fragments are not enough to stabilize the gateway, but they have provided valuable data. The creatures on the other side grow restless. The King demands we accelerate the timeline. We must find the remaining fragments before the lunar cycle ends, or the opportunity will be lost for another century."
"Lunar cycle? Gateway? This sounds like something from a fantasy novel," Stevens said.
"Look at the date," Josh pointed out. "This was written three days ago. Whoever wrote this was just here."
Chen pulled out his radio. "Dispatch, we need a crime scene unit at our location immediately. And get me someone from the university science department. We need these stones analyzed."
While they waited for backup, Kyla continued exploring the attic. In the corner, hidden behind a stack of old crates, she found something that made her blood run cold. A map of Tides with twelve locations marked. Seven had been crossed off with red X's. One of the remaining five was circled in black marker with an address: 2847 Rosewood Lane.
"Josh," she called. "I think I found their next target."
Before Josh could respond, Kyla's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: "2847 Rosewood. Tonight. Come alone if you want answers."
She showed Josh, who immediately frowned. "That's a trap."
"Maybe. But it's also our only lead on who's behind this."
"We're not going alone."
"I know. But we are going."
Chen called them over to look at something Detective Morgan had found—a laptop hidden under the table, still plugged in and running. On the screen was the same encrypted messaging app they'd seen before, with a conversation that had happened just hours ago.
Unknown User (Messenger): The police found the warehouse. Move everything to the primary location.
MWebb: How did they find it?
Messenger: Your incompetence. It doesn't matter now. Is the portal prepared?
MWebb: Almost. We need one more fragment for minimal stability. The one at Rosewood Lane.
Messenger: Then get it tonight. The alignment begins in three days. We cannot fail the King.
"They're planning to hit Rosewood Lane tonight," Chen said, reading over their shoulders. "We need to set up a sting operation. Catch them in the act."
"Sir, I think Martinez and I should go," Josh said. "They know us. If they see a bunch of patrol cars, they'll run."
Chen considered this. "Fine. But you wear wires, you check in every fifteen minutes, and at the first sign of trouble, you call for backup. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The rest of the day passed in a blur of planning and preparation. The stones were carefully packed up and sent to the university lab, though Kyla doubted any scientist would be able to explain them. The address on Rosewood Lane belonged to an elderly woman named Margaret Chen—no relation to the sergeant. She'd lived there for forty years and had no idea why anyone would target her house.
"I do have a strange rock in my garden," she told them when they interviewed her. "Found it years ago while planting roses. It's quite pretty, glows a bit at night. I always thought it was some kind of phosphorescent mineral."
Of course it was.
They convinced Mrs. Chen to stay with her daughter for a few days and set up surveillance equipment around the house. By eight PM, Josh and Kyla were positioned inside, lights off, waiting in the dark.
"This feels wrong," Kyla whispered. "Like we're bait."
"We kind of are," Josh admitted. "But at least we're armed bait with backup three blocks away."
An hour passed. Then two. Kyla was starting to think maybe nobody would show when she heard it—the soft sound of a window sliding open in the back of the house.
She and Josh exchanged glances and slowly made their way toward the sound, weapons drawn. In the kitchen, a figure dressed in black was climbing through the window. In the dim light, Kyla recognized him—Marcus Webb.
"Police! Don't move!" Josh shouted.
Webb froze, hands raised, but his expression wasn't fear. It was desperation. "Please, you don't understand. I have to get that stone. If I don't—"
"You're under arrest," Kyla said. "Again."
"No, you're not listening!" Webb's voice cracked. "They have my sister! The Messenger, he took her. Said if I don't bring him the stone tonight, he'll push her through the portal. I'll never see her again!"
Josh kept his weapon trained on Webb but asked, "What portal? Where?"
"The house. The main house. 5621 Oakwood Drive. That's where they're keeping everything—the portal, the other fragments, my sister. Please, I know I messed up, but I can't let them hurt her."
Kyla's mind was racing. This could be another trap. Or it could be the break they needed. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
Webb slowly reached into his pocket—Josh tensed—and pulled out his phone. He held it up, showing them a photo. A young woman, maybe nineteen, tied to a chair with tears streaming down her face. The timestamp showed it was taken just hours ago.
"Her name is Emma," Webb said, his voice breaking. "She's all I have. Please."
Josh lowered his weapon slightly. "We need to call this in."
"No! The Messenger said if he sees police, he'll kill her immediately. I was supposed to come alone with the stone."
"Then that's what we'll do," Kyla said suddenly.
Josh stared at her. "Kyla—"
"You said you wanted to come alone with the stone. Fine. But we're coming with you. Undercover. You get your sister out, we get the evidence to shut this whole operation down."
"That's insane," Josh said.
"You have a better idea?"
He didn't.
Ten minutes later, after a heated radio conversation with Chen—who definitely did not approve but couldn't stop them fast enough—they were in Webb's car with the fragment from Mrs. Chen's garden, heading toward Oakwood Drive.
The house was in an older part of town, a three-story Victorian that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Dark windows, overgrown yard, paint peeling from the wooden siding. All the lights were off except for one on the top floor.
"They're expecting me in ten minutes," Webb said, his hands shaking on the steering wheel. "The Messenger said to bring the stone to the basement."
"We'll go in through the back," Josh said. "You go to the basement, create a distraction. We'll find your sister and get her out."
"And the portal?" Kyla asked.
"We document it, call in backup, and get the hell out before anything crazy happens."
They parked a block away and approached the house on foot. The back door was unlocked—never a good sign. Inside, the house was eerily quiet and smelled like dust and something else, something chemical that made Kyla's eyes water.
Webb went toward the basement stairs while Josh and Kyla crept through the first floor. They found Emma in what used to be a living room, still tied to the chair from the photo. She looked terrified but unharmed.
Josh cut her free while Kyla kept watch. "Can you walk?"
Emma nodded, tears of relief streaming down her face.
"We need to go," Kyla urged. "Now."
But before they could move, they heard Marcus yelling from the basement. "No! What are you doing? You said you'd let her go!"
Then came another voice, old and cold: "I lied."
Josh grabbed the radio. "We need backup now! 5621 Oakwood Drive!"
"Already on the way," Chen's voice crackled back. "Two minutes out."
"Get her outside," Josh told Kyla. Then he looked at the basement door. "I'm going down."
"Not alone you're not."
They moved down the stairs together, weapons ready. The basement was huge, much larger than the footprint of the house should have allowed. And at the far end, bathed in blue light, was something impossible.
A portal.
It looked exactly like Webb had described—a rip in reality, edges glowing and shifting like liquid. Through it, Kyla could see another place. Dark sky, purple landscape, and shapes moving in the distance. Large shapes. Creature-sized shapes.
Standing in front of the portal were three figures. Marcus Webb, holding the glowing stone. The old man with white hair they'd seen outside the bookstore. And someone else—a younger man in expensive clothes who must have been the Messenger.
"Officers," the old man said pleasantly. "How good of you to join us. Though I'm afraid you're just in time for the demonstration."
"Step away from the portal," Josh ordered.
"Or what? You'll shoot us? The King would find that amusing." The old man gestured to the portal. "In three days, when all twelve fragments are united, this gateway will stabilize. And an army will march through. Your world will fall, and a new age will begin."
"Yeah, we're not going to let that happen," Kyla said.
The Messenger smiled. "You can't stop what's already in motion."
He nodded to the old man, who raised his hands. The fragments on a nearby table—nine of them now—began to glow brighter. The portal expanded, and the humming grew to a roar.
Josh grabbed Kyla's arm. "We need to go. Now."
They started backing toward the stairs, but Marcus Webb suddenly ran at the old man, screaming. "You lied about my sister!"
The old man waved his hand almost casually, and Marcus flew backward, hitting the wall hard and slumping to the ground.
That's when everything went wrong.
Someone grabbed Kyla from behind—she hadn't heard them coming. She struggled, trying to break free, but felt something hard crack against the back of her skull. Pain exploded through her head, and the world tilted sideways.
She saw Josh turn toward her, saw his eyes widen in alarm, saw him start to run. Then something hit him too, and he went down hard.
The last thing Kyla saw before darkness took her was that portal, pulsing with blue light, and the shapes on the other side pressing closer, as if trying to push through.
Then nothing.
When Kyla woke up, her head was pounding like a drum solo. She was lying on something soft—a bed? She tried to open her eyes, but the light was too bright. Voices murmured nearby.
"...concussion protocol..."
"...lucky they found them when they did..."
"...what the hell happened down there..."
She managed to crack one eye open. Hospital room. White walls, beeping monitors, the smell of antiseptic. A nurse was checking an IV bag.
"Josh," Kyla croaked. Her throat felt like sandpaper.
The nurse turned, smiling gently. "You're awake. Good. Your partner is fine—he's in the next room. You both took some hard hits to the head, but you're going to be okay."
"The portal... the basement..."
"Shh, don't worry about that now. Just rest. The doctor will be in soon."
But Kyla's mind was racing despite the pounding in her skull. Had she really seen a portal to another world? Creatures pressing against it, trying to break through? Or had it all been some kind of hallucination?
An hour later, after the doctor had checked her over and declared her fit to have visitors, Josh appeared in her doorway. He had a white bandage wrapped around his head and walked like everything hurt, but he was grinning.
"Hey, partner. Nice nap?"
"Did that really happen?" Kyla asked. "The portal, the old man, all of it?"
Josh's grin faded. "That's the thing. When Chen and the team stormed the house, the basement was empty. No portal, no old man, no Messenger. Just Marcus Webb unconscious on the floor and us knocked out nearby."
"That's impossible. We both saw it."
"I know. But Chen thinks we were drugged or hit our heads first and hallucinated the rest. The fragments on the table were gone. No evidence of anything supernatural." Josh sat down in the chair beside her bed. "But I know what I saw. And I know you saw it too."
"So what do we do?"
"We get out of this hospital, and we go back to that house. Because whatever happened, whatever that portal was—it's real. And if what the old man said is true, we've got three days to figure out how to stop an invasion."
Kyla should have been scared. Should have wanted to run far away from glowing stones and mysterious portals. But instead, she felt something else—determination.
"Okay," she said. "But first, I need about a thousand painkillers and maybe another coffee."
Josh laughed, then winced and touched his bandage. "Deal. Though maybe we stick to decaf for a while. I think we've had enough excitement for one day."
Outside the hospital window, the city of Tides carried on, oblivious to the danger lurking beneath its streets. A portal to another world had opened, if only for a moment. And two young police officers had seen something that would change everything.
The real investigation was just beginning.
End of Chapter 5