There was no doubt that it was going to be a long night and John was already exhausted. Having served and protected long enough to know that Halloween night could be a doozy of a shift for an on-duty member of law enforcement, he thought he was prepared for the antics the evening would bring. He had anticipated prank calls and maybe some complaints of vandalism, in the form of toilet papers on houses or desecration of artfully-carved pumpkins. At most, he might have heard reports of mailboxes being smashed up by neighborhood hooligans.
Thinking back on that now, he realized it was a laughably naive notion. Not with all the weird things happening more and more lately in his town. John missed the days when Beacon Hills hadn't been a hotbed on strange activity and mysterious unsolved crimes. Tonight only added another to the ever growing list. What happened tonight was possibly the most devastating event the town bore witness to in over a decade. He could have never expected the scene of destruction he came across in the Preserve that night.
When he dragged his tired self into the hospital, following after the line of ambulances, he told himself he was doing his job. Making the rounds to check on survivors of the evacuation. Really, he was out of his mind with worry about his son who hadn't answered his text yet. He was worried about Scott and Melissa, wondering how they had spent their Halloween. He was sick with the tragic loss of nearly an entirely family.