A Journal of My Thoughts (Part 4)

November 8, 2019November 7, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 2 Comments

Good morning! It’s finally Friday! I cannot wait to finish work today so I can have the weekend off! Just think of all the writing I can get done!

We are picking up where we left of in the case. What do you guys think will happen to Mr. Neavelle? I honestly hope he goes free, that just seems like the right thing. Especially with that new evidence that was found from a couple witnesses. If you want to see what happens, you will have to continue reading this Adventure. Enjoy!

A Journal of My Thoughts

December 14, 20—

Last night was a rough night of sleep. I kept tossing and turning, thinking about all of the information for our case. I think I woke up more exhausted than when I went to sleep.

Also, I drank three cups of coffee before I left for work which is something I never do.

When I arrived at work, James was already there. I didn’t even get a chance to ask him how long he was there because when I walked into his office I knew. He was sound asleep in his chair, his head resting on the desk in front of him. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how he was able to sleep with his music pounding. I was able to turn down the music without waking James up and left him where he was. Thankfully, our meeting wasn’t until 11 am.

I walked into my office and started prepping for our meeting with Mr. Neasvelle. We had all the new information for the case and the first day of trial is tomorrow. Let me be the first to say that I am really not looking forward to the trial. It is going to be a lot harder than we are hoping for.

I sat in my office for a while preparing stuff when James walked in. He asked how long I had been working for and I told him not long. He apologized to me for staying overnight, but he was just so worked up in the case trying to find a way to win. I feel bad for him. He’s been spending so much extra time on this case. He hasn’t been spending as much time off as he normally would.

He sat down in front of me and we went over the notes that we had accumulated for Mr. Neavelle’s case. We were hoping that we could get him out on the idea that there were no fingerprints and the fact that he couldn’t get to the store in less than 30 minutes. Both of those facts along with a witness telling me that he saw Mr. Neavelle in his apartment at 2 am helped to solidify that Mr. Neavelle was innocent.

We worked in our separate offices for a while when it finally became time for our meeting with Mr. Neavelle. We set up the small conference room on our floor to make sure that we were prepared. My phone rang from our secretary Alicia calling to tell us Mr. Neavelle was here for his meeting. I told her to bring him back and James and I waited.

Let me say that I was absolutely shocked to see Mr. Neavelle.

He looked like he had been through 10 wars. His eyes were sunk in and dark from many sleepless nights. His clothes were clean but they were tattered from overwearing them. There were a couple holes in his jeans and a large rip in the side of his shirt. I haven’t seen a client in this bad of condition for a while but it made me feel even worse for him. It made me kind of want to ask if he had clothes that were appropriate for court, but I held my tongue.

He looked exhausted and stressed beyond all belief. I have seen James endure a lot of stress with this case but I never expected to see double the stress on Mr. Neasvelle’s face. I asked him if he would like a cup of water or a cup of coffee and I saw tears forming in his eyes. He told me he hadn’t had coffee since he divorced his wife and he didn’t buy it because it was too expensive. He used his coffee money to pay for his child support. I immediately made him a cup of coffee and handed it to him.

We sat down at the table and discussed what was going to happen in court tomorrow. He told us he was borrowing a suit from his father to make sure he looked presentable. That made me feel a little bit better. I told him what evidence we had gotten from his neighbors and how it didn’t match up with the time frame of the break in. He nodded, taking in all of the information that we were putting in front of him. James kept asking him if this was all making sense and he would say yes.

After everything was presented we gave Mr. Neavelle a game plan of how everything would happen. We told him that we would do everything we could to get him off the hook, especially since the evidence was clear that he was an innocent man.

I will never forget what Mr. Neavelle told us. He told us that the whole time this has been happening, he hasn’t felt any hope. He felt like he had lost the moment he was unfairly arrested. But now that he saw all of the evidence in front of him, he finally saw a glimmer of hope. He finally saw the chance to continue to be a free man and not have to spend the rest of his life in jail for something he didn’t do. He told us he had been preparing to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Mr. Neavelle thanked us for our time and stood up. He had to get back to work but he was looking forward to what was going to happen in the coming days.

James and I walked him to the front door and shook his hand. We both wished him well before heading back to our offices and continuing to work. James told me before we left for the day that he actually slipped Mr. Neavelle a $20 bill when they shook hands, more of a ‘this is to help you’ hand shake. That made me smile.

And now we are at the end of the day. I need to get a good night’s rest for the case tomorrow. James and I are meeting at the office early to make sure we have everything. I know we can win this case. I know Mr. Neavelle will be a free man. I just know it. Either way, that is up to the judge to finally decide. G’night.

WW-Revealing the Truth

November 6, 2019November 5, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! I hope everyone’s week is going well. Mine’s going well but I cannot wait for the weekend. This is the first full weekend I have had off in a while so I am ready!

We continue with Winchester. I hope you are liking this case because it’s different than what Winchester normally helps with. But it has been fun to write and I hope that it’s fun to read! We continue on our Adventure and I hope you enjoy!

Revealing the Truth

“So tell me again why we couldn’t take a patrol car to get their faster?”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “I don’t think us going to Tranton in a patrol car would get us through the traffic faster.”

“Dad…we could’ve used the lights on the top of the patrol car to get us out of the traffic cause everyone would have to move out of the way. I wouldn’t ask you to use a patrol car for no good reason.” He snickered. “Thanks for thinking logically and ruining my obviously well thought out plan.”

His father shook his head and smirked. “That’s what dads are for right?” He pulled into the small parking lot of a bar. He parked in one of the few empty spaces and turned off the engine. “This is the spot. Now…we might have to talk to Marcel outside since you aren’t 21. I don’t know if they will let you in the bar. Sorry…”

West shrugged. “I don’t really care. As long as we can ask him questions.” They stepped out of the car and made their way to the front door.

There was pounding music coming from inside. It sounded like a form of country and rock music, but Winchester couldn’t hear any of the words from outside. All he could hear was a pounding bass and muffled words. They walked up to the door when the bouncer stopped them. “Sorry gents. I’m gonna need to see some ID.”

Anthony and West both pulled out their badges. “Officer West and my partner Officer West. We are here to talk to Brad and Marcel.”

The man looked at their badges and pressed a button on his ear. “Brad we have a…uh…situation out here with two officers from the police department. Do you know anything about this?” There was a slight pause as he listened. “Okay right away.” He pressed the button again. “Okay, step on inside and Brad will meet you right inside the door.” He stepped to the side and motioned for them to enter the bar.

It was dark inside the bar. The music was even louder than outside but Winchester was right, it was a country rock kind of song. There were quite a few patrons inside the bar, most of them holding a bear in their hand while conversing with the other people inside. Near the back of the room were two pool tables, both occupied with people. There was also a strange smell, but West couldn’t quite place what was.

A door off to the side opened and a man walked out, looked around, and made a straight beeline for them. He reached out his hand. “Good evening gentlemen. My name is Brad. I’m the owner of this establishment.”

Anthony shook his hand first. “Officer Anthony West. This is my son and partner, Officer Winchester West. Thank you so much for letting us come by and talk to your employee.”

Brad nodded. “Of course. Please follow me.”

The West’s followed Brad back to the door that he had originally come out of. Winchester stepped into the office right behind Brad and looked up to see a large man sitting in a chair off to the side. The man stood up. “Evening. My name is Marcel.”

Winchester cautiously shook his hand. “Hello…you aren’t what I was expecting you to look like.”

Marcel’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I don’t really know how to respond to that.”

West waved it off. “No problem. We just wanted to ask you a couple questions if that’s okay.”

Marcel nodded before sitting down. “Sure. What can I help you with?”

West looked over at his dad who gave him a reassuring nod. “Are you dating a woman by the name of Shelly Whittenberg?”

Marcel shifted in his chair. “Uh…I was…is that what this is about?”

“Yeah, she came to us saying that you were missing. Do you know why she would say something like that when you are definitely fine?”

“Uh…” Marcel looked down at his hands and sighed. “So…uh…we were only dating online. We never met in person. And…uh…I didn’t use my real picture because I’m not the most attractive guy in the world.” He shook his head. “I wanted to break up with her because I wasn’t into her anymore. I tried to tell her but she wouldn’t listen. No matter how many times I tried to tell her she wouldn’t listen to me. So I finally just stopped talking to her and deleted her from Facebook.”

“So would you say you were Catfishing her?”

Marcel nodded. “Yeah because I totally was. I didn’t use my picture but everything I told her was real. But she’s totally crazy. Like, I didn’t know a girl could be so insane. Especially after what she did here.”

Anthony and Winchester looked at each other. “What did she do?”

Marcel rolled his eyes and furiously shook his head. “I had told Shelly where I worked. And one night I get this message from her saying she’s going to come by with some friends so she could meet me. I told her that was fine. And when I actually introduced myself she didn’t believe it was me. The bartender said she kept yelling for Marcel and when he would tell her that I was the bouncer she would yell at him. It’s not my fault she didn’t believe me. But then she took her shirt off and started swinging it around before we had to throw her out. She continued to yell at me afterwards saying that I was covering for the real Marcel because he was too chicken to actually talk to her. Later that night I got tons of messages from her saying that I was an idiot and that she couldn’t believe I stood her up that night. That was the moment I decided that I didn’t want to deal with her anymore.”

Brad nodded. “Marcel has talked to me about this girl and I remember that night. I haven’t banned someone from the bar in a long time…”

Anthony leaned forward in his chair. “Do you think that Shelly will be dangerous if she finds out what happened tonight?”

Marcel shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really know. But what I do know is that I really dodged a bullet by stopping all contact with her.”

Haunted Hunters

November 4, 2019November 3, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 8 Comments

Good morning! How was everyone’s weekend? I had to work all weekend but I did get to do a Paint and Pour Fundraiser which was a lot of fun. I, unfortunately, didn’t take many photos because we were so busy having fun! But it was a lot of fun to do with my mom and some of our friends.

This week I bring to you a new story for Grammy’s Grid. The last story I posted for Grammy’s Grid was The Retelling, and it was her featured post! So if you want to go back and read it, click here. This time, instead of having a story based off of an opening sentence, we are getting inspiration from a photograph. I had a little difficulty deciding how I wanted to go about this story, but it all came together nicely. I hope you enjoy this Adventure!

Haunted Hunters

“This is making me feel worse than it did before.”

Luis rolled his eyes. “Serious Janay. We’ve been hiking for the past couple days to get to the most haunted cave this side of the Mississippi. Now you think you have a bad feeling?”

She shrugged. “No…But we’re now here and of course I’m getting more nervous. What if we see an actual ghost?”

Luis wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him. “Babe..we’ll be fine. We won’t go into the cave until tomorrow when it’s light outside. So tonight we can relax and stay in the tent and tomorrow we’ll go inside the cave. When it’s light outside.” He kissed her on the side of her head. “Does that make you feel better?”

Janay giggled and snuggled closer to him. “Yeah, I feel a little better. I don’t know how well I’ll sleep tonight with the cave being like, 500 yards away.”

Luis stood up and grabbed another log for the campfire. He walked toward the flames before pausing and setting it down next to the fire. He sighed. “I know what you mean. I’m pretty nervous as well. But I was afraid that if we camped too far away we wouldn’t find the cave again in the morning.”

He heard a sigh behind him. “I don’t know about you, but I am getting kinda tired. What about you?”

“Did you just ask me the same question twice?”

Janay groaned. “You know what I meant! I’m tired okay…”

With a chuckle, Luis walked over to Janay and kissed her. “I know babe, I’m tired too. How about you get ready and I’ll get the fire to die down.” Janay slowly stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Luis watched her walk into their small tent and zip up the entry shut.

He sat down on the mildly uncomfortable camping chair and looked toward the cave entrance. It was huge, the top of the entrance was almost at the top of the mountain. They had looked into the cave entrance when they arrived, but decided to set up camp and settle in for the night instead. It was probably better to go in during the day anyway.

Luis turned toward the tent to see if Janay was ready but he couldn’t tell. “How’s it going in there?”

“How about I just give you your pajamas and a fresh pair of boxers and you can change outside?”

Luis laughed. “You’re crazy. I ain’t changing out here when there is a haunted cave not too far away. Nice try.”

There was a giggle inside the tent. “What? You don’t want to change near a haunted cave? That seems like something you would do.”

“Oh heck no. Let me in to change.” Luis unzipped the tent and quickly stepped in their tiny traveling home. He grabbed his suitcase and unzipped it to change his clothes. There was low growl coming from outside the tent. Luis froze. “What was that?”

Janay sat on the air matress and pulled the blanket closer to her. “I don’t know, but you should go look.”

Luis slowly stood up and peeked out of the tent entrance. He scanned the area but didn’t see anything that they should be worried about. “I don’t see anything babe. That was weird.”

“It’s probably because we are staying near the haunted cave.”

He ducked back into the tent and zipped the tent closed. “Maybe. But…we’ve encountered spookier things than just a low growl coming from outside the tent.” He took his shirt off and threw it into his suitcase. “Do you remember that supposedly haunted bridge in Arizona that we went to?”

Janay giggled and snuggled into the blankets. “Yeah. According to the legend, if you mocked the bridge it would throw you off into the river below. But no matter how much we mocked it we never got thrown in the river. I think that one is safe to say it wasn’t haunted.”

“And what about the Henrick’s Haunted House?”

“Pfft. Please. That was a mistake on our part thinking that we were going to encounter a house that was haunted. Not a legitimate haunted house attraction.”

Luis laid down on the air mattress and covered his body with the blankets. “Yeah that was definitely a mistake on our part. But it was a fun thing to do.” He kissed Janay. “Let’s try to relax a little tonight so we are well prepared for tomorrow.”

In one swift motion, Janay flung her arm off the bed and hit the switch on their solar lamp. The tent went dark and it was quiet. The only sound that filled the air was the crickets that flew around the solo tent. There was a slight breeze but it wasn’t strong enough to cause any issues with the tent blowing away.

The two began to finally relax when that low growl sounded again. Janay’s eyes flew open. “Do you think there’s wolves out here?”

Luis rolled over to face her. “I don’t think that wolves would be interested in us. But a mountain lion might.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “But there isn’t anything in this part of the woods. I checked with the ranger station before we left.”

Janay sighed a sigh of relief. “Well that makes me feel better. Though I am still concerned what that growl is.”

“Maybe it’s the ghost’s dog. Maybe the dog is trying to warn us to not go in.” He snickered. “Unfortunately that’s not going to work.”

And with that the two of them were finally able to relax. The low growl never returned to disturb them yet again. The crickets continued to chirp and the breeze kept the tent cool throughout the night. Luis drifted off to sleep first and Janay followed shortly after, dreaming of what they would experience the next day.

A Journal of My Thoughts (Part 3)

November 1, 2019October 30, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful and fun Halloween! I unfortunately had to work all day, but I was able to dress up a little for work. And I had my fun Molly McIntire costume! That costume was fun to put together and wear around to take photos in. So my Halloween wasn’t too bad after all.

We continue on the journey of the court case. I hope that James and Daniel can figure it how to win the case. This Adventure will continue on and I hope you enjoy!

A Journal of My Thoughts

December 13, 20–

Today was interesting to say the least. James and I spent the entire day working on Mr. Neasvelle’s case. I didn’t want to waste any time on the case and I wanted to make sure we had the best chance at winning. I remember looking at the case file to see what the police had said.

There were no fingerprints on the safe except for our client’s ex-wife. It was suspected that the intruder was wearing gloves while he worked, but there still wasn’t any evidence that it was Mr. Neasvelle. The problem with the case is the money. Mr. Neasvelle says that he had paid his ex-wife in cash that he had received as tips from his waiter job. There was no way to prove that the money wasn’t stolen from the store.

I remember James telling me something that he thought was interesting. He told me that the police had talked to Mr. Neavelle’s neighbors about if they heard anything that night. One of them wasn’t home the night that everything happened and the other works nights so he wasn’t home. Everything seemed to not be in our favor.

But I wanted to check on that again. We ended up going to Mr. Neavelle’s apartment to talk to his neighbors. Was it against the law? Probably. I should probably brush up on that to make sure I wasn’t breaking the law. But either way we had to check to see what was true.

I knocked on the first door and a woman answered the door. I asked if they knew Mr. Neasvelle and she confirmed that she knew of Mr. Neasvelle but didn’t know too much about him. The woman, I think her name was Julie (?), was very sweet and said that Mr. Neasvelle just kept to himself all the time. I asked her if she knew anything about his jobs and she said no but she did see him wearing two different kinds of uniforms. Then I asked her about the night of the break in and she said she heard him come home around 10 pm but she fell asleep shortly after she heard her grandfather clock strike 10.

How a person can sleep with a grandfather clock chiming every hour I will never know.

So I pressed her harder to see if she knew anything else. She assured me that no, she didn’t know anything else. But then she stopped and told me that she suddenly remembered getting ready in the morning around 8 am and hearing some pounding outside her apartment. She looked out the window to see Mr. Neasvelle rushing down the stairs and toward his car. I thanked Julie for her time and gave her my card.

As I walked to the other apartment I realized that Julie’s story matched up perfectly with the police story. Mrs. Neasvelle arrived at her store around 8 am and Mr. Neasvelle showed up around 8:30 to give her his portion of the child support. I couldn’t be 100% sure, but I am almost positive that it is a 30 minute drive across town to her store.

I knocked on the second apartment to a very unhappy young man. He looked exhausted. I introduced myself and the man, Austin, asked me how long it was going to take because he wanted to get another nap in before he went to work. I apologized and told him I forgot that he worked nights. I promised him I would make it quick if he helped me out. He asked if I was here regarding Mr. Neasvelle and when I said yes he told me what happened that night.

According to Austin, he left for work around 10 pm and saw Mr. Neasvelle coming home from work. They exchanged hellos and went their separate ways. Austin told me that he came home during his lunch period, arriving at home at 2 am, and saw all of Mr. Neavelle’s lights off except for one. He told me it peaked his curiosity and he peered into the window to see Mr. Neasvelle counting out some money. He didn’t look too far into the subject because that was an invasion of privacy. I asked him if he remembered anything else which he said no to. I gave him my card and thanked him for his time.

On my way back to my car, I had to take a moment to think. I had to ask James about the time that was posted on the security tapes from Mrs. Neasvelle’s shop. I could’ve sworn that the breakin was at 2 am. And if it was, then Austin’s story would’ve proven that Mr. Neasvelle was at home during the time of the break in.

My butt barely hit the driver’s seat when I hit the call button on my phone. I had to ask James before I forgot. Thankfully he answered right away and I asked my important question. When was the break in? I heard some papers shuffle when James told me the awesome news.

The break in was at 2:13 am.

This meant that there was no way for Mr. Neasvelle to leave his apartment at 2 am and get all the way to his ex-wife’s store in 13 minutes without breaking every traffic law in the book. I told James what I found out and he cheered. We finally found a small piece of information that actually made our case winnable.

Does this mean that the case it cut and dry in our favor? Absolutely not. The police still think that our client did this and was very careful about the whole thing. Do I think this gives us a little more leverage into the winning the case? Absolutely.

Am I exhausted after finding all of this information? Yes. So I’m hitting the sack. G’night.

WW-Catfish

October 30, 2019October 29, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! It’s Halloween tomorrow! Keep your eyes on my Instagram (@2catsandalaptop) to see my Halloween costume! It’s not super crazy wild, but I really enjoyed putting it all together.

And we continue with Winchester. This part of the story is developing very nicely. I am excited for you guys to see the ending so keep reading! Enjoy the Adventure!

Catfish

“I think I’m more confused now then when Shelly appeared on our doorstep this morning…” Winchester ran his hands through his hair as his dad laid out the case in front of him. “So according to Shelly, her and Marcel have been online dating for almost two years but they haven’t met in person. And recently Marcel just disappeared from the internet. And now she’s convinced that he is in trouble and we need to go find him?”

Anthony nodded. “Yep.”

“He probably just deleted his Facebook because he didn’t want to talk to her. Or, maybe this is his way of showing that he is breaking up with her. There are a ton of other solutions to this than he disappeared.”

Anthony leaned back in his chair. “That’s what I tried to tell her. But she is absolutely convinced that something bad has happened to her internet boyfriend. So we have to treat this like an actual case until told otherwise.”

West grabbed the file folder in front of him and started flipping through it. “So Marcel supposedly lives in the next town over yet they have never met. Why wouldn’t she just drive over there to talk to him. Or his family.”

“According to her, he lives with his family and they have no idea about her.”

West threw his arms in the air. “This is ridiculous! You know what this sounds like?”

“No…what?”

“You that TV show Catfish? That’s what it sounds like. I have a feeling that this person isn’t real.”

Anthony shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he is very real.”

“But!” West pointed at his father. “That’s what he wants you to believe. And that’s what he wants Shelly to believe. I can almost guarantee that she has never talked to him on the phone or video chatted with him because he is not real! She has convinced herself that he is real because that’s what he wants her to believe. So she thinks that the relationship is totally real even though it’s just people talking online. I am very sceptical that this person is even real.”

“Well way to ruin the magical moments.” Anthony snickered. “Why are you so convinced that this guy isn’t real?”

“I have watched way too many episodes of Catfish to know when someone is lying.”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “So it’s not because of you working at the police force huh?”

West laughed. “It’s a little of both. Detective work and watching TV.” He started looking through the papers again. “So she has never spoken to this guy but she is convinced that he is real. Okay…I guess we need to look at this like a regular case, right?”

Anthony took the file from his son. “Yeah. You know, there was something that kind of stuck out to me. Shelly had mentioned something about them trying to meet at a restaurant in Tranton about a week ago. He didn’t show which is why she thought something bad happened to him. She said that he has given him the apartment complex that he lives at. She said she has gone to the complex but never saw him come out of an apartment. I guess management told her to leave because she was getting creepy. Her words not mine.”

“Are you saying that we should go to the apartment for a stake out? We haven’t done that before so that has potential to be fun.”

“No…I’m saying tomorrow we call the apartments to see if they have anyone who lives there with the name Marcel. Much simpler and we don’t have to just sit in a car doing nothing.”

“Fine then…I guess we will just wait and see.” West sighed. “Did Shelly say anything about Marcel having a job or anything?”

Anthony started flipping through the papers again. “Uh…yeah…apparently he works at a bar as a bouncer. So the reason that Shelly hasn’t been able to meet up with Marcel is because their schedules are so different.”

“Give me the number. I’ll call them and see if they have someone that works there named Marcel. It won’t be that difficult.” West watched his father look through the papers to find the name of the bar and he quickly searched the name of the bar on his phone to find the number. His finger pressed the call button and he put the phone up to his ear. He tapped his finger nervously as the phone rang.

“Good evening, Samson’s Bar how I can help you?”

West immediately sat up, almost as if someone had walked into the room for an interview. “Hi. My name is Winchester and I was wondering if you had someone that worked there by the name of Marcel.”

There was a moment of silence. “May I ask what this is regarding?”

West bobbed his head from side to side, trying to decide how to go about this. “Uh, yes. I work with the Northridge Police Department as a consultant and we are currently investigating the disappearance of a man named Marcel. There was information at he worked as a bouncer for your establishment and I was wondering if I could get confirmation about his employment.”

There was another pause. “Let me get my manager on the phone.”

The phone was put on a hold and a jazzy song came. It threw West a little off guard, he wasn’t expecting that sort of music on the phone. There was a brief pause before a new voice came on the line. “Hello this is Brad. I understand you are looking for employment confirmation?

“Yes sir that would be fantastic.”

“We do have a bouncer by the name of Marcel who has worked with us for about a year. He’s a very nice kid but why is the Northridge Police Department looking to get information on him?”

“We had someone report him missing. When was the last time he was at work?”

“He’s here right now. Would you like to talk to him?”

West’s eyes widened. “Don’t let him leave for the evening. I am on my way to ask him some questions in person.”

Ghost Stories (Part 2)

October 28, 2019October 27, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! It is the spookiest week of the year and it is time to celebrate with the last spooky story! Or at least, the second part of last weeks story.

So we continue with our spooky story. I hope that you enjoy the Adventure story. Enjoy!

Ghost Stories

The only sound that filled the quiet woods was the pounding footsteps of everyone running. The 7 teenagers ran as fast as they could to the solo cabin in between all of the trees. All of their hearts were pounding but they didn’t want to stop running. Whatever they had encountered, they didn’t want to accidentally run into again. It had scared them enough and they didn’t want to see it again.

As they approached the cabin, the group started to race up the stairs to the main door. Samuel reached the door first and fumbled around for the keys to unlock the door. “Hurry up!” Emma nervous looked over her shoulder at the woods behind them. “Hurry up Samuel!”

“I can only go as fast as my fingers will let me!” Samuel finally shoved the key into the lock and turned it. The lock made a small click as it unlocked and the group rushed through the door to the safety of the living room. Samuel slammed the door shut and locked it again. He leaned against the door and looked at the group who were now spread around the living room trying to catch their breath. “What…what was that?”

Bella took a deep breath before looking up at him. “I don’t know. All I know is that there were large yellow eyes in the middle of the woods. I don’t know what they were, but it was scary.”

Miranda slowly sat up on the couch that she had been sprawled across. “What if it was Joey trying to tell us to go inside to safety?”

Brad stood up straight. “I thought that was just a ghost story? I didn’t think it was real.”

Miranda shrugged. “As far as I know it’s just a ghost story. But maybe Joey does actually haunt the woods and he was trying to warn us of something.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “I thought you said Joey didn’t want people to be in the woods alone. We were out there as a group, so why would he be trying to warn us of something?”

“All I know is this door is locked.” The group all looked at Samuel who was still leaning against the door. “As far as I am concerned, we are all safe and sound here in the cabin.”

Suddenly there was the sound of glass crashing. Everyone in the group shielded their eyes from the glass when they heard the same scream from outside. But there was another scream as well. Bella looked up to see Samuel was gone. “Samuel!” She rushed over to the broken window on the door and looked out.

But Samuel was gone.

“Where did he go?” Brad was now directly behind Bella and they peered through the window. There wasn’t a single trace that anyone had left the cabin except for the broken glass. “We have to go look for him.”

“Brad are you crazy?” Everyone looked at Emma who was in tears. “Our friend was just kidnapped and you want to go look for him? Are you trying to go missing too? What if whatever took Samuel is out for all of us?”

“Then that’s a risk I’m willing to take. Samuel is my friend and I’m not going to let him just disappear on me like that.” Brad swung the door open and marched out the door. The door slammed shut and the group watched him walk into the forest.

“Maybe someone should go after him?”

“Are you kidding? What if that thing takes him too? Then all of us will be wandering through the forest looking for our friend who isn’t alive anymore. I don’t think that would be very smart.” Joshua was standing to the side of the group, looking out the windows that faced toward the forest. He sighed. “I think we all need to stay inside, in our rooms, and not leave until the morning.”

The entire cabin went pitch black as the wind picked up outside. All of the girls screamed and held onto each other. “What…what was that? What is happening?” Emma had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I wanna go home.”

There was another crash and a large shadowy figure leapt through the window. Bella fell to the floor and covered her face. A high pitched scream filled the room and Bella peaked out from between her fingers. Emma was being dragged out of the broken window into the darkness of the forest. Her screams started to become more distance as she was dragged away.

“What is happening?” Bella looked around the room to see everyone panicking. Miranda and Jessica were both sitting in the fetal position next to her. Joshua sat next to the now broken window, covering his head with his arms. Everyone slowly looked up to see if the coast was clear.

Jessica sniffled. “Can we just go home? I don’t care if I leave my stuff here. I just want to leave.”

Joshua nodded. “I am down for that. I’ll grab my keys and we can leave.”

“Are you sure you want to go out there? All of our cars are in the open which means that we have to go outside and be exposed to whatever is out there until we can get in the car. Plus…” Miranda shrugged. “What says it can’t get us in the car? We are probably still accessible even when driving.”

“We might just have to if we want to go home.” Joshua got on his hands and knees and started crawling toward the kitchen. The girls all watched him, holding their breath and praying that the monster didn’t come back. Joshua slowly reached up and felt around the counter for his keys, finally finding them near the coffee pot. “Okay. I’ve got my wallet in my pocket. Let’s go.” He crawled toward the girls who were still sitting by the front door. “You ready?” The girls all nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

The group slowly stood up in unison. Joshua gently gripped the doorknob and pointed toward his Jeep Cherokee. The girls nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. They took a step back and Joshua threw the door open. Everyone booked it toward the car when a loud roar sounded through the forest.

The lights on the Jeep flashed as Joshua unlocked it and the whole group got into the seats as quickly as they could. Joshua shoved the key into the ignition and the engine fired on. He threw the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway as quickly and safely as he could. Bella looked out the windshield to see a large black shadowy man starting to follow the car. Joshua stopped the car, threw it into drive, and sped away from the house.

Bella looked behind them to see the shadowy man start to follow them. The wind picked up and screamed through the forest as they drove away. The shadowy man got his way: he was telling them that they needed to leave. She felt her eyes starting to fill up with tears. 3 of their friends were gone and they wouldn’t be able to get them back. They would come back during the day to collect all of their things.

At least they were safe. For now.

A Journal of My Thought (Part 2)

October 25, 2019October 24, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! How has everyone’s week gone so far? Mine’s been pretty slow, but nothing too serious. But I am ready for the weekend! I am taking photos in my Halloween costume (which is awesome if I do say so myself) so that will be a lot of fun!

We are continuing on our story. I really like how this story is turning out especially because it isn’t my typical writing style. This has been a really fun story to explore a new writing style and a new form of storytelling. It’s been challenging but it’s been fun as well. I hope you enjoy this Adventure story!

December 12, 20–

I’m writing this at 3:27 am. I couldn’t sleep because I have been so caught up in James’ case. I think I just need to write it all out and see if I notice any inconsistencies. So here goes nothing.

His client, Mr. Neasvelle, is being charged for robbery at his ex-wife’s store. She owned one of those DIY stores where she basically took furniture and repainted it and changed it up to resell. She also taught classes there. Actually, come to think of it, I think Rose went to one of her classes to paint that cool shadowbox in our hallway. That’s off topic.

Mrs. Neasvelle is claiming that her husband broke into her store in the very early hours of the morning to take the money that he still owed her for child support, and then pay it to her the next day. She claims that when they were married that he lied and he cheated her out of money and wasn’t the best dad, which is why she left him. She filed for divorce and got full custody of their children because he wasn’t deemed as a safe and good father.

Shortly after the divorce papers were served, Mr. Neasvelle lost his job at the local factory where he had been employed for 10 years. They claimed he wasn’t able to work at the same capacity he had when he started and they let him go. His friends said he was very down and didn’t leave his apartment very often. He got a job at the local Taco Bell and McDonald’s just to make ends meet. Mr. Neasvelle was trying to stay in his apartment along with pay for the child support for his 3 kids. It was tough for him.

He lost his job at McDonald’s for threatening another employee and his manager at Taco Bell made him go to anger management classes just to be safe. But, according to the new evidence, he went but never got the therapist to sign the form saying he completed the class. And even though he was taking those classes, Mrs. Neasvelle said she still didn’t feel safe from him. He would drive by their house and sit across the street for a long time before leaving. She never figured out why, but according to her she changed all the locks on the house just to be safe.

In a statement from the prosecuting side, one of Mr. Neasvelle’s friends noticed that he had collected many different kinds of locks and seemed to be practicing picking them. He asked Mr. Neasvelle about it and Mr. Neasvelle shrugged it off and said not to worry about it. It was just a random fun hobby he liked to do, but his friend wasn’t so sure about it.

According to Mrs. Neavelle, she had left her store at 5:13 pm, 13 minutes after closing. In those 13 minutes she made sure all the doors and windows were locked and counted up her cash drawer which sat at $500 altogether: 1 $50 bill, 12 $20 bills, 13 $10 bills, 12 $5 bills, and 20 $1 bills. She said this was what her cash drawer looked like every night and she had extra cash stored in a safe in case she needed it. She locked up her cash drawer in the safe in her office before locking her office and setting the alarm near the back door. Once she left she went home to her kids for the night and didn’t worry about the store.

When she came in the next day, she noticed that the alarm wasn’t set. She thought maybe she had accidentally forgot to turn it on, but that was unlikely. Then she walked into her office and saw the safe was open ajar and that’s when she called 911.

When the police came she gave them the security camera footage which showed a man break into the back door and turn off the alarm. He was about 6 feet tall and a thin build. He was wearing all black and had a black mask over his face. The burglar walked over to the office and picked the lock before swiftly entering and going to the safe. They broke into the safe without any problems and grabbed the cash out of the safe before running out of the store.

The first person who was questioned was Mr. Neasvelle who showed up at the crime scene almost an hour after the police showed up. They questioned him on why he was there and he told them that he was there to pay Mrs. Neasvelle the child support he owed her, $500. The police immediately arrested him and took him to the precinct to question him.

Now this is where I get a bit confused. The police said that $500 was taken from the safe and they arrested Mr. Neasvelle because that’s how much he paid his ex-wife for child support. But, the police never said how the money was given to Mrs. Neavelle. Yes, the $500 was the same amount as the cash drawer, but it was never stated that she was given the same bills. According to James’ client, he paid her in all small bills which is why it seemed suspicious to the police.

Also, there weren’t any fingerprints at the crime scene. So how did all of this get pinned on James’ client? The prosecuting side is trying to claim that Mr. Neasvelle did this is a fit of anger against his ex-wife for doing this to him. He broke in, stole her money, and gave it right back to her.

But according to Mr. Neasvelle he didn’t leave his apartment all night. He was at home and went to bed around midnight because he had to be at work at 10 am. But he had to be up early enough to go to his ex-wife’s store to pay his child support before going to work. He told us over and over again that he would never do anything like this to his ex-wife. He told us that he was mad at her, but he wouldn’t break into her store to steal money just to give it back to her. According to him, he paid her with all cash tips from his newest waiter job. He collected all of the tips to pay her child support. Unfortunately, there’s not really a way to support that.

I’m still very confused. I still don’t really know what to make of this. But for now, I’m going to try to get a couple more hours of sleep before having to go to work. So for now, g’ night.

WW-House Call

October 23, 2019October 22, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! Has everyone had a good week so far? My week got a little bit better because I have almost everything for my Halloween costume! I am missing two items that have been ordered, but I’m just waiting for them to arrive. I’m so excited!

And we move on to a new Winchester case. I hope Winchester will be able to balance school and helping the police force. I guess we will have to find out on this new Adventure. Enjoy!

House Call

Winchester sat at his desk, typing out an essay for a scholarship that he was applying for. The scholarship was for kids of police officers, something that he definitely qualified for. But he was possibly over qualified since he worked on the force as well. It didn’t matter, he was still going to apply for it.

He fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed out why he deserved to win this scholarship. He had to explain how his life had changed for the better since his father was an officer. But, he also had to try to stay away from saying that he was in the police force as well and how it had taught him so many things. Being a consultant on the force had so far taught him that he was a stronger individual than he thought and that he could really do something if he put his mind to it. Winchester had figured out that he was smarter than he gave himself credit for and that his father always had his back when it came down to a case. He had a stronger bond with his father now than ever before. So that was cool.

As he sat there typing, he paused when the sound of the doorbell rang through the house. He stood up and made his way down the stairs and looked through the small peephole to see a random lady standing outside his front door. West didn’t recognize her and slowly turned around. He needed to finish the essay because there was a deadline that he needed to keep an eye on.

He barely reached the bottom of the staircase when the doorbell rang again. West rolled his eyes, this lady needed to leave, she probably had the wrong house. He walked up two stairs when he heard something from the other side of the front door. “Mr. West? I need your help please. I know how amazing of a detective you are and I really could use your help. Please?”

West’s immediately became interested. Was this woman looking for him? Or was she looking for his dad? He quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

The lady was standing on the doorstep and was holding a frame close to her chest. Her eyes widened as she saw West open the door. “Oh…I’m sorry. I must be at the wrong house…I was looking for Officer Winchester West. You don’t happen to know where he lives do you?”

“Uh…I’m Winchester. Can I help you with something?”

West could see the wheels in her brain turning. He was obviously not who she was expecting to see. She swallowed and nodded. “Uh…okay…so I was wondering if you could help me. I’m looking for someone.” She turned the photo around and showed West a photo of a man.

The man was well dressed and sitting on a couch. He wasn’t looking at the camera but he seemed to be deep in thought. West wasn’t really sure how to react. “Is…is this your husband?”

The woman shook her head. “Uh…no. He’s my boyfriend. But he’s been missing for a couple days and I don’t know what to do. I could use your help.”

Winchester shook his head. “Ma’am. I am only a consultant with the police force and I cannot do anything without the permission of the chief of police. If you are concerned, I suggest that you go to the police precinct and file a missing persons report. Once that has happened, I might be able to help search for your missing boyfriend. I’m sorry.” He turned back into the house and started to close the door.

“Wait!” He stopped to see the woman had stuck her hand in the doorway. West pulled the door open to see her standing there with tears in her eyes. “I can’t go to the police. You see…Marcel’s family doesn’t know we are dating. And if they find out that he’s missing, then I will be done for. Marcel says that they won’t appreciate me and that I wouldn’t be accepted in his family. He wants to wait until we have been together for a while before I meet his family. I can’t meet them like this. I don’t want them to know their son is missing. But if I go to the police, then they will find out for sure. Please. Please Officer West.” She stopped with tears in her eyes. She obviously cared about her boyfriend but West couldn’t just pick up a case without permission. Or maybe he could just help her on the side.

West let out a long sigh. “Look. I know you’re concerned. I would be too if my girlfriend went missing. But, like I said before, I cannot take a case without talking to my supervisor. So, let me make a phone call and see what I can do okay?”

She smiled. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

West nodded. “Okay, give me one second. Just wait right here.” He started to close the door again. “Oh…what’s your name?”

“Shelly Whittenborg.” She smiled. “Sorry…I should’ve introduced myself a while again. I’m just a mess.”

West slowly closed the door and walked into the kitchen, hoping it was far enough away that she couldn’t hear him talking. He quickly dialed his dad’s number and held the phone up to his ear. It rang once before his dad’s distinctive voice answered the phone. “Hey dad. I have a question.”

“Shoot partner. What can I help you with?”

“I have someone outside the house that is looking to get some help for her missing boyfriend. I told her she has to file a missing person’s report but she doesn’t want to because she doesn’t want his family to catch wind that he’s missing. Is there anyway I can send her straight to you at the precinct and I’ll come down later to get the info? I’m working on some school things right now?”

There was a slight pause and the sound of shuffling papers on the other end of the phone. “Uh…yeah. Send her over and tell her to ask for me. I’ll bring the info home tonight when I’m off.”

“Thanks dad. I appreciate it.” West hung up the phone and made his way back to the front door to relay the message to Shelly. At least this way, the case would go through all the proper channels.

Ghost Stories

October 21, 2019October 20, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 2 Comments

Good morning! How is everyone today? I went on a day trip on Saturday and I am still tired from the driving. Why is it that you take a trip for a day to try to relax and you are tired? Isn’t the point of going out of town to rejuvenate?

We are getting closer to Halloween which means we are continuing our spooky stories. I hope you are ready for a new Adventure story. Enjoy!

Ghost Stories

The woods were dark at this time of night. Every living creature had gone to sleep except for the occasion hoot of an owl and the chirping of crickets. There was a slight breeze in the air but not enough to cause any issues. But there was one small patch of light from a campfire that was blazing in the middle of the woodland.

Bella pulled her flannel closer to chest, trying to stay warm next to the fire. She looked around the campfire at all of her friends, 7 of them to be exact. She had been invited to her friend Samuel’s family cabin for the weekend so they could party with no adults, but they all enjoyed just sitting by the fire and swimming in a nearby creek. It wasn’t the kind of weekend she was expecting but she enjoyed it all the same.

Her friend Brad stretched his arms out and wrapped one around her. “You cold?”

She shook her head. “Not really. I just got a random chill.”

“Guys!” Everyone looked up to see Miranda standing up, her arms outstretched to the sides in excitement. “We should tell ghost stories! We are out in the middle of the woods and there is no one here. It would be fun!”

Emma shook her head. “No way! I don’t think I would be able to sleep tonight if we told ghost stories.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “Come on Emma. They aren’t real stories. I’m sure it won’t be that scary. I’ll start.” She fell back into her camp chair and leaned forward. “It was a crazy windy night and a boy named Joey was walking home through the woods.”

“I don’t like this already.” Emma shuddered and leaned back in her chair pouting.

“Anyway. Joey was walking home through the woods when he heard a noise. He looked around to see what it was, but there was nothing. So he kept walking. But something blocked his path. A large rock was blocking the path that he traveled everyday. He wasn’t sure how the rock had gotten there but he knew he had to either get over it or go around it to get home. But…when he started to climb over the rock he heard that noise again. It was a whining noise, high pitch and loud. When Joey turned around he saw an old man wearing all black. He had a large black hat on his head and walked with a black cane. Joey tried to climb faster but the old man grabbed him instead. Joey was thrown on the ground and the old man’s cane pierced his chest. The wind that we hear tonight is actually Joey’s screams. He haunts these woods every night, trying to tell people to not be out here alone.” Miranda smirked while everyone started clapping at her story.

Joshua laughed. “That’s a good one. Where did you hear that story?”

Miranda shrugged. “My dad told me about it the first time we went camping. That’s why I refuse to go out to the woods by myself.”

Jessica grabbed a marshmellow of the table next to her and speared it with a roasting stick. “I don’t know if anyone can top your story Miranda. I know I don’t know any ghost stories.”

The group started talking about their ghost stories when Brad leaned over and whispered in Bella’s ear. “I hope you aren’t too scared. Ghost stories can be a little spooky sometimes.”

Bella giggled. “No I’m not scared. Thanks for looking out for me.”

The group continued to talk as the night grew later and later. The moon was starting to rise higher in the sky, peeping up over the trees. The fire continued to roar as the night seemed to be coming to a close.

Samuel stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “Well. I think we should start heading back to the cabin. These woods can get dangerous if we stay out too long.”

Everyone snickered. Miranda leaned back in her chair. “It’s the woods. There’s nothing out here that could really kill us.”

Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream that made everyone jolt. Emma’s eyes widened as big as saucers. “What was that?”

Brad stood up. “I think Samuel is right, we should head back to the cabin.”

Everyone stood up and started packing up their things. Bella scanned the woods around them to see if she could see anything. The trees didn’t move but the leaves rustled with the wind. But in the distance there was a set of eyes. They were yellow and round but seemed so far away. “Hey guys, do you see this?”

The group moved toward Bella to see what she was looking at. Brad wrapped his arm around her. “I don’t like this. We all need to head back to the cabin.”

“What is it though?” Miranda took a couple steps forward to get a closer look. Suddenly, there was another scream and every person in the group turned and ran toward the cabin. They weren’t planning on staying to find out what was out there. But what they didn’t know was that the thing in the woods would continue to haunt them.

To be Continued…

A Journal of My Thoughts (Part 1)

October 18, 2019October 16, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! Is everyone ready for the weekend? I am excited for the weekend because I have some exciting plans! But I can’t tell you about them just yet, just keep an eye on my Instagram.

We are starting a new series! I just started this one recently and I am excited to share this with you. This one is a little bit different from what I normally write, but it has been fun to try something different. So I hope you enjoy this Adventure!

A Journal of My Thoughts

December 10, 20–

Today was a very long day. I was woken up at 2 am by the sound of my work phone ringing. It was blaring in my ear and I quickly grabbed it off the table so my wife didn’t wake up. I walked as quickly and quietly out of the room before answering.

It was my partner telling me there was a case that he wasn’t too sure about. It seemed rather odd and he definitely wanted a second opinion on it. I remember asking him if it could wait until morning and he told me no. I had to go down to the office right away to see what was going on.

I sighed and asked him why he was still at the office at 2 am. I could hear him let out an exasperated breath and say that he didn’t realize it was 2 am. He apologized and said that it could wait until morning if I didn’t want to come, but he was going to stay. I shook my head, knowing that he couldn’t hear me, and told him that I would be down as soon as I could. As long as he didn’t mind that I came to the office in sweatpants and a tee shirt.

We hung up the phone and I tried to sneak into my bedroom as quietly as possible. It didn’t work. Rose asked me what was going on and I told her. I didn’t like keeping secrets from my wife, especially ones about work. She was almost like a third partner at the firm. I told her that James needed help at the office and I was going to help him. She agreed before rolling over and going back to sleep.

I got dressed and grabbed a couple of items for work in case I didn’t end up coming home before going back to work. I kissed Rose goodbye before walking out the door and unlocking the car. I placed my clothes and briefcase in the passenger seat before moving over to the driver’s side and sliding in. And with a turn of the key in the ignition, I was on my way to the law firm.

James had been working hard on this case for a while and I could understand why he was having some difficulty trying to find a way for our client to win. It seemed obvious that we were defending the guilty party, but we had to find some way to say different. Our client has said from the beginning that he didn’t do it, but the evidence kept stacking up against him. Unfortunately James was stuck with the case and the trial was happening in a matter of days. I wanted to do everything that I could to help him out.

I saw the lights still on in the third story office of our law firm. Poor James was there through all hours of the night by himself. He had done it on more than one occasion but he always said that he was married to his work. I pulled into my assigned parking space and quickly got out of my car to head inside.

When I stepped out of the elevator onto the third floor I could hear very loud music blaring from James’ office. It wasn’t my forte of music, but it was what James liked to listen to to decompress. I turned the corner into his office to see his head banging on the table. I knocked on the doorframe and he looked up. There was a giant red mark on his forehead from hitting his head on the table so many times. James smiled a goofy smile before saying hi and turning down his pounding music.

I sat down in one of his client chairs and asked him what the problem was. He showed me the file that was almost 3 inches thick from paperwork regarding the case. He told me he was ruined. According to a new piece of evidence that was just brought up from the prosecuting attorney, there was absolutely no way that James was going to win the case. The evidence showed that his client had attended therapy for his anger and didn’t get the signature saying that he passed. James looked like he was about ready to cry knowing that this was going to be one of the few cases that he didn’t win. But this just put a nail in the coffin.

We worked through the night to see if there was anything that was missed. Every time that one of us found something, the other would find something to contradict it. We worked until the sun came up and ordered some UberEats breakfast before we started our actual work day. I wasn’t sure what he was going to, but I was going to help him as much as I could.

The rest of the day went on like any other day. I don’t remember what else happened except for the fact that I was exhausted. We both left the office right on time because we were so tired. I think I had 5 cups of coffee in total for the day. But when I left I went directly home to see Rose. The rest of the night was uneventful. But now I’m going to bed. G’night.