2.

Coming close to midday and all was quiet with there being just three on duty police officers down by and within the Castletown police station. There are other officers of course, though just not either at the precinct in this moment or on duty. Two of those at home base were partners and were working on putting a particular case together and the other officer, a rookie, had only just arrived to come on duty. The police chief comes off his phone just before coming out into the main office area.

'Guys I need you two to go out to that old Westwood house on the edge of town ...' says the chief to the team of partners.

'Sorry captain, we are due in court this afternoon on a case we had been on together.'

'Right fine, I'll just wait until a few of the others get back.'

'I'll go boss' spoke the other officer.

'Officer Orlando, where is your partner?'

'I have no idea to be honest, though I am a little early sir.'

'Alright then, give it ten minutes; if and when he arrives, I want you guys to head over to that old, abandoned house. A group of teens went over there on a dare the other night; one went inside and didn't come back out so check it out and don't take all day.'

'Right sure.'

The chief had gone back into his office and his door had closed shut before Orlando could get the words 'right sure' out. Orlando didn't hang around for those ten minutes, he got together what he needed and made his way out to where he was told to go but not before receiving the comments of the other two, ... better you than us and thankfully we're not the rookie.

Even during the daytime, the whole area around by that abandoned house is still quite dark, most probably some sort of optical illusion with the place being so dull, dreary, and run down. Officer Orlando went around by the back and could see where the campfire had been. He moved over to the house and called out an 'hello' to which he got no response. He peered in through an opening shining his torch and could see nothing but the inside floor being covered with excess wood and carpet and the likes, so he made his way around to the front of the house.

He had a key to the front door but being not quite so much a bright spark, he gave a knock. Why? Who knows? Maybe he was expecting a response, despite the fact that the place had been abandoned for such a long time. His knock to the door did however tell him that he did not need the key that he had brought for with that knock, the door opened slightly.

Orlando began to make his way inside to the darkness within the house, once more calling out an 'hello' and still getting no reply. He turns his torch back on, though, its light lasts no more than two or three seconds. He taps the torch against his free hand though that doesn't do any good. Most likely the batteries are dead. 'Dead', not a word that Orlando wants to think about at this moment in time.

Even though the house hasn't had power going to it for quite some time Orlando still reaches for a light switch. He finds one and switches it on and oddly enough light begins to illuminate the immediate area to where Orlando has entered. A large chandelier hanging from a high-rise ceiling is what provides the bulk of the light while a number of small lamp like lights darted all around on the walls also provide some illumination.

The fact that there is lighting doesn't initially strike Orlando as being odd for he has his attention distracted by what he sees. The inside of this house is mansion like and is in perfect condition almost as if everything within is brand new. Fully furnished, nothing is covered, no signs of dirt or dust, it is as if there is someone still living in this building and he, she or they are more than taking care of it, a very different sight to what he had observed from round back.

Orlando takes a few steps from the hallway into the main living room and notices something else quite strange, he can see out the windows. This should not be so for what once were windows ... have long since been smashed and boarded up though at this very moment, there was no boarding but windows which are most definitely perfectly intact. The view through the windows showed an evening time darkness though this should not be so as it still was early afternoon, or at least it was supposed to be. It hadn't taken Orlando much more than a half hour to get from the station to where he is now so what exactly is it that he is experiencing?

To say that something is not right is a big-time understatement. Up to this point there had been no sound whatsoever apart from what Orlando had been making. That was about to change. A low sounding murmur was coming from another room, a nearby room. Orlando slowly began to make a move from where he was to where that sound was coming from but before he could get close to that room that low level murmur had grown louder.

Ring-a-ring- a Rosie, a pocket full of posies. A tishoo! A tishoo! We all fall down.

The sound of children, possibly mostly or all girls, playing a child's game was what Orlando could hear. That sound was happening without Orlando being able to see anything or anyone, though that too was also about to change. There was movement coming from the room that Orlando had been in only a moment or two ago and when he had been in there and as far as he thought or knew, he had been alone.

A little girl with long dark hair tied in pigtails and wearing a dark dress came skipping out of that room and moved to circle Orlando twice before coming to a halt at his left. She just stood there next to him and facing the same direction as he was facing. Orlando was frozen to the spot he stood in, for he most definitely felt as if he has stepped into to some sort of alternate reality or something to that effect and to say it unnerved him would also be an understatement.

He had managed to turn his head slightly to his left and down a little to look at who or what was standing next to him. From what he had already noticed of this girl ... was that she looked as normal and healthy as any other little girl he has ever seen, but now as she looked back up at him, the whole left hand side of her face looked to have been badly burnt, the left side of her hair singed, and the left hand side of her clothing were pyjama's while her right side remained completely normal and still wore the dress she had been when Orlando had first seen her.

This is not how she looked when she came skipping out to the hallway that Orlando stands in. what the heck is going on? As she looked up at him, she would simply speak one word.

'Hi.'

Orlando's jaw dropped and his heart was thumping so hard that he thought he might just collapse. He turned to his right and in doing this, it felt like it was taking a much longer amount of time for it to occur than what it was actually taking. He made his way to the door where he had entered the building not all that long ago and he done this as quickly as he could then made his way out to then into his car. His hands were shaking as he tried to start the car. It wouldn't start on the first or second attempt, but it did start upon the third attempt.

Within two hours, Orlando was back at the building in question with two other officers and nothing was like what it had been when he last was here. The windows were boarded up as they should have been. The front door was locked. There would be no power going to the house at all. Orlando's own torch worked perfectly, and he hadn't changed the batteries. Inside the house was a mess and on further inspection a body had indeed been found. This body would soon be identified as the missing teen, Steve.

Orlando would be given time off and would need to visit the precinct psychologist. The sight of that girl and the sound of that children's rhyme would lead him to need a lot more help than what a psychologist could provide and before very long he willingly signed himself into an institution.