into-each-generation:

This week’s plot of the week is: Spot Remover.

As children, we’re taught to believe that there is no fortress so strong as the one we live in.  Home is the place you run to when there are shadows on the sidewalk — where your flimsy door locks are Fort Knox grade and there is never, ever a monster under your bed.  The demons in the Cleveland spotlight can’t creep in through your window unless you give them permission.  So we’re safe, right? We can pull the blankets over our heads? If we can’t see the bad guys, the bad guys can’t see us.

Wrong.  A Slayer isn’t just a Vampire Slayer.  Some things that go bump in the night aren’t so fond of the stage; they prefer the quiet entry, the creeping silence.  Some things out there don’t respect your Danger: Guard Dog sign.  And there’s one in particular that just reads it and laughs.

Birchview apartment complex was recently re-modeled with all the comforts of home.  The renovators are happy, the residents are happy, and the project president is happy.  So when pets started disappearing last week, everyone stuck their fingers in their ears.  The CAB has overreacted before, after all.  Some cats just run away.  But now, a girl’s gone missing.  A real, flesh-and-blood, human girl, gone without a trace.  Just like her neighbors’ furry friends.  We can’t ignore her, can we?

Welcome to Birchview, where some of the windows have gone dark.  Look in the ones still lit, and maybe you’ll catch a resident watching vampires on television.  Look in the basement, and maybe you’ll catch… something else.  It’s not enough to hold the flashlight in the center of the room.  You’ve got to check your corners.  You’ve got to make sure you’re safe.  

And if you’re not?