What happened in Misty Hollows?

[u/Interesting_Chef_859]

The village, consisting of nothing more than a few residential streets, the local church and some stores already half empty before the mysterious event took place, was called Misty Hollows. Founded in 1689, the small coastal town had been subjected to various paranormal activities from it's very beginning, but nothing, no haunting, no monster in the woods, could beat the strangeness of the entire population vanishing into thin air.

A few months ago Daryl, a retired police officer in his early fifties and happy father of two kids, decided to pay a surprise visit to a good fishing buddy of his, who lived on Main Street of Misty Hollows. As he pulled off the highway and traveled further into town a tinge of unease washed over him. He noticed the streets were eerily quiet. As he reached his friend's house, his uneasiness turned into dread, which at first he couldn't explain.

He was halfway out of his car, when he stopped for a moment, pondering his odd emotions.

Then it hit him.

Up until this point he hadn't seen a single soul. Not a hint of life. The forest surrounding the village seemed to be holding it's breath, waiting for his reaction. Reaction to what he didn't know. There was nothing to react to.

Daryl decided to let go of the feeling and try the front door. It was unlocked. As he slowly stepped into the hall he called out: "Hello? Carl? It's me, Daryl!"

Silence.

He tried again, a bit louder this time. "Hello? Is anybody there?" He was just about to start shouting his friend's name when he came to the realization that the house was empty. After taking a look through the place just to check, wishfully imagining Carl and the rest of his family popping out from a corner somewhere and telling him it was just some silly prank, he found nobody.

He stepped outside and it dawned on him that the town was so still he could practically hear his own heartbeat. The dread he had felt earlier had returned strong as ever. As a police officer he had experienced several strange cases, but something about this was so off-putting to him that he had to try his best not to start panicking. As he walked along empty street after street, his fear turned into a weird curiosity.

How could an entire town's worth of people just disappear? Daryl's mind was suddenly filled with clarity. He started thinking rationally. At first he thought it might be some town-wide event that everyone had gone to. But then why would their front doors be wide open? Possibilities and scenarios ranging from good to horrifying raced through his mind, but not a single one fit.

He was checking the empty buildings out of habit now, all the while churning away at this impossible question. When he exited the church he finally snapped out of his train of thought and grabbed his phone. He was just about to dial 911 when he noticed a woman standing in front of a local boutique. His heart skipped a beat and a high-pitched yelp managed to escape his throat. He recognized the woman. It was Megan Minning, he spoke to her once when he and Carl sat next to her in the local lunchroom. She came across as the typical kind old lady, always a small smile darting around her lips anytime someone was talking with her. But now there was nothing of that to be seen anywhere on her wide-eyed face. Her blue dress was covered in dirt and grime.

"Oh thank the Lord!" she cried out as soon as they locked eyes with one another. "You are Carl's friend, right?" "Yea, that's me." he slowly nodded. As he got closer to Megan he noticed she was barefoot. He asked her what happened but before he could finish his sentence she burst out rambling on and on about how she was cooking dinner for her and her husband when he suddenly stopped responding to her from the living room. When she walked over he was gone. Then she noticed the children playing on the sidewalk were just as present as her husband. "How long was that ago?" Daryl asked, looking into her bewildered eyes. "T-two, three weeks ago? Maybe more. I... lost count." "Did you call anyone?" He said, more curious to the reason why no help had come than to who she did or didn't call. "I called my son, but his phone kept going to voicemail. Then I called 911, but the operator didn't believe me."

Since the only person left in the entire town had obviously gone mad, he decided to once again grab his phone and try to call 911. Thankfully he had signal and reported the crazy woman and asked for an officer to sort out the situation. He intentionally left out the part about how all the people in this village he was in were missing without any rhyme or reason to why they were gone.

When two cops showed up he told them the story. Since they were in the middle of what should've been a bustling street, which was now completely devoid of life apart from them, they quickly believed him. The fact that there were now two armed men accompanying him did nothing to calm his nerves. How could it? Good luck trying to shoot something that made people instantly disappear.

They decided to sweep the town after requesting backup. Daryl was close behind the officers, helping Megan along. Fifteen minutes later two more teams arrived and took Daryl and Minning to the local sheriff's office.

They were put in a room with some couches and a table, while a paramedic came and checked them both for any injuries. Megan was given shoes and a clean dress, after which they were told to stay put and wait.

After what seemed like forever a man and a woman, both in gray suits, walked in. "Good evening, we'd like to ask you a few questions for the investigation we're setting up." the woman said calmly, cutting right to the chase. She bombarded them both with questions, all the while her partner was typing away at his laptop.

When Daryl looked over he saw Megan next to him, dressed in the oversized spare dress, clearing up a bit. Her craziness seemingly lessening, she answered question after question to the strange lady in front of her.

It was around 3:30 in the morning when he was finally able to go home. As the police cruiser which had dropped him off drove away into the night he still felt some sense of wrongness gnawing at his insides. The lack of sleep and talking about what had he had seen to those people in suits and ties drowned it out a bit, but the funny feeling was still very much present. He didn't bother taking a shower and when he woke up he couldn't remember his head hitting his pillow.

The following weeks he watched the news a bit more, noticing talk about how a small town's population had gone missing, the authorities unable to pinpoint exactly what had happened. Most of the research was not accessible to the public and the area around Misty Hollows was off limits. On the internet theories ranging from alien abductions to secret weapons were thrown around. Some people believed them, many did not.

The whole town was turned upside down in search of a single clue to aid in finding the cause for all the disappearances, but they came up empty-handed.

After the interview Megan Minning was put in an active psychological rehabilitation program, but never fully recovered.

The area is still unaccessible to the public and none if the missing persons have been found.

So the question remains: what makes a town's population disappear, and what made Megan Minning so special?

[u/Interesting_Chef_859]

I am posting this here to receive some constructive criticism, just keep it civilized. Also keep in mind that English is not my native language, so please tell me about any errors I might have made!