Lost In Depth

    I had become a police officer with high hopes, plans to arrive to a position in which to involve myself to a degree that would serve the people at a noble and respectable level. All I really got years into my dedication was a parole car, a cheap desk, and a salary to pay the bills. My work had become like a tedious and every day job, maybe worse, I felt lost in a daily grind which was a depth below extraordinary. It hadn't been this way before, I had been fueled with motivation and persistence, because I believed I could make happen for myself and the community I served whatever it was that was deemed right, to bring forth victory in our stride. Perhaps this place had something of a problem that for unknown reasons would attach itself to the unsuspecting, un-involved law enforcement officer that I had become.
    It was a fatal accident that threw the course of my focus off the rails of the track I thought was to be my life's path. I had married to a girl in town that was for certain the sweetest, and most caring around, keeping me more than just happy. At the time I was advancing towards a lateral role when me and my Wife had our child, a baby girl. It made me feel as if I had a new calling in life, to raise this child as if it were to be my last, unfortunately that came to be true.
    On a gloomy day in May, we packed baskets with fresh baked bread, cheeses, meats, and sparkling drinks, then we drove to a park to pass the Sunday in pleasure & peace. It was in a moment of distraction, my Wife and I argued jokingly, that our 18-month old daughter wandered towards the road that stretched out not far from where we sat under the shade of a tree. I remember hearing the vehicle approaching when my Wife's expression turned from joy to horror as she burst into shout, "Lexi!" she screamed. I turned, jumping to my feet with not a second to think, but it was too late, she was a foot away from the pavement. I lunged myself forward, running towards her while shouting her name as if it were to bring her to a halt, "Lexi! Lexi!" I shouted. The last thing I remember was the shadow of a man from the corner of my eye as I dove into the street after her. The car slammed it's brakes, and the screeching was the last I heard.
    I awoke from a coma two weeks after the accident, my daughter died shortly after we were rushed to the hospital, the details of her condition are too gruesome to say, and so grueling for me to explain. Everything went down hill from there, I was no longer proving efficient at work, and our lives felt entrenched in a shadow that seemed to swallow us. In my Wife's eyes reflected the same cold, sorrow look I had on mine, our lives a tragedy, a dream sought but lost. Most nights I dreamed of a dark place, nothing was visible, but I could hear my daughter screaming for me, "Daddy! Daddy I'm here!", but I could never find her. A feeling began to grow on me, a feeling that she was still out there, existing in a place somewhere between now and the after, a place from which there was no return.
    It was a late night, lightning rang above, it lit the dark sky, and rain poured heavily, clinking when it hit the roof of my patrol car. I was simply driving a routine route, an older industrial area of town when I came across a lot that had been empty for some time. Young teens staying out too late have been known to break into these lots, hoping to have fun getting intoxicated in the dark sheltered space away from public. As I drove around the property, I could see a light somewhere inside glow dimly, just as I simultaneously saw out of the corner of my eye a door which gave entrance inside swing shut.
    I stepped out of the cruiser into the rain, and then through the door. It was dark inside, a darkness that was strangely thick like fog, insomuch that my flashlight only carried for a couple feet in front of me. There was an odor that smelt like engine grime, and there was an echo to my step as if the walls were a mile apart. It felt like my dream, and a part of me began to question whether or not it was.
    I saw a light once more, so I walked towards the faint glow. "Daddy!", my daughter's scream came to me now in this dark place, then a confusion came over me like a haze. Again I could hear her, "Daddy! Daddy I'm here!", it came from the dim glow of light. I called her name, "Lexi!" I shouted, but then the light disappeared. I could hear muffled steps somewhere behind me, but when I turned my light could not shine forth far enough to reveal who approached.
    From the depth of the dark it came, and it whispered "I will have you, I will have you like the child.", then it snarled "Before the end I will have you.". Standing now in silence, my hand shook with fright, and sweat rolled down my temples. What I saw were teeth, a drooling mouth hung wide open as the Phantom lunged forward.
    I awoke in my patrol car, an other officer was knocking on my window, and after a brief search of the place we never did find anyone. I still continue to have the dream in which my daughter cries out to me from a dark place, but now I dream of the Phantom too. "Closer I am to having you, so close to being mine." it will say to me, and I feel there is nothing I can do to stop it. My Wife doesn't speak much anymore, she has become like a zombie, but then again so have I. When I look into her eyes I see darkness, lost in a depth that goes deep down, as if something has her from the inside.