It was a dark and stormy night. This is usually a cliche, but in this instance it was literally true. No moon was shining, and the last hurricane of the season had just blown into town. Our protagonist, who we'll call, I dunno, Larry, was sitting on his sofa, sipping his tea, reading a magazine.
Larry is a fairly normal guy. He has a typical office job, a typical apartment, a typical social life, and typical interests. But something was about to happen that would change the course of his entire future, and maybe not for the best. You see, Larry was about to get an unexpected visitor. Like most people, during the early stages of a storm, he was not prepared for the knock on his door, especially in the howling wind, the pounding rain, the inky darkness, and the relatively late hour. But that is exactly what happened.
Larry flipped the page in his magazine, perusing the popular culture publication with half-hearted interest. He was a subscriber to this particular periodical, which left him as one of the dwindling group of people left to spend their money on paper, instead of online subscription. It wasn't that he didn't like computers, because he did. No, Larry just preferred to browse the articles in the edition printed on dead wood pulp. It felt more satisfying than on his multimedia devices. Besides, he could flip from page to page easier this way, especially when he was in the can. He found an article that struck his fancy, so he bent over to the coffee table to reach for his mug. The steamy vapor coming from the beverage container reminded him of the fall, with cinnamon, cloves, and just a hit of apple. Just as soon as the mug reached his lips, an almost deafening bang came from the door. In this wind and rain, Larry fully expected it to be a downed branch or a neighbor's lawn chair, carelessly left outside, despite his repeated warnings. Unfortunately, the sound had startled him and he had managed to spill some fairly hot tea all over his shirt and magazine. "No worry", he thought, "I'll just have to change. But maybe I should see what that noise was before I do." So, in an all together typically curious fashion, Larry went to his front door. He peered through the peep hole, but, it being a dark and stormy night, he saw nothing. Even the streetlights and outer building lamps seemed to be out. He unlocked the door, first the knob and then the bolt and finally the chain, and opened it.
"About time! I thought I would catch my death out here in this weather!" boomed a voice, as a large figure pushed past Larry into his apartment. In the surprise, he was not able to place the person who had just barged so familiarly into his entranceway. As he turned around, he wondered if this was the end of this excitement for the night, or just the beginning.
There he saw a tall man, well over six foot five, with broad shoulders and a stocky build. The man was covered in water, presumably from the storm. He wore a checked flannel driving cap, a long khaki-colored rain slicker, dark slacks, patent leather boots, and he carried what appeared to be a silver-tipped cane.
"Larry, we don't have much time. We must go, this instant. They'll be here any second." exclaimed the man, as he grabbed a coat from the coat-track and tossed it to Larry. Our hero was just about to respond in the negative, when another boom came from the front door.
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