[ WP ] Gather up the posse

Sheriff Briggs was an old timer. He'd been watching over his small town of Suburbicania for fifteen years. He'd seen everything that could have happened in a small town - hell, he had almost single-handedly helped remove a drug ring from the nearby Suburbicania High. Some hailed him as a local hero, but to most he was just Hank Briggs. 
 
 He was patrolling one of the neighborhoods on a Friday night when he got the call: 
 
 `` *chh* Sheriff Briggs? We just got an anonymous tip about something down on 2^nd and Eaton. Not a lot of detail, does n't seem like much. Can you handle it?'' 
 
 `` 10-4 I'm on my way.'' 
 
 Eaton Rd was about 2 blocks away, he expected to be there in 5 minutes. It seemed like a pretty standard call, probably a scuffle between some teenagers that were out too late, or some middle aged idiots who had a bit too much to drink. 
 
 When he arrived on scene, a crowd had started to form around *something*, he could n't way what. He rolled down his window but between the noise of their chatter and their less-than-transparent bodies, it was impossible to tell what was going on. He parked his car and stepped out; a few noticed him and made way so he could get closer. Each and every person who made eye contact with him had the same puzzled and panicked look on his or her face, and no one said a word. 
 
 At the center of the group was a crack in the asphalt that cut deep into the earth. It was not a large split, but rather something out of a sci-fi horror in which the crust of the earth could no longer bear the brunt of some horrible force preparing to burst from the inside. Sheriff Briggs was just as confused as everyone else in the area, but he needed to do something to help calm nerves. `` Alright, everyone, please stay calm, this just looks like a pothole. Did anyone see what happened when it... uh... opened?'' he said shakily. 
 
 His question was greeted with silence. People glanced at each other with uncertainty... then everything happened so fast. 
 
 The ground shook and the crowd slowly began backing away. Sheriff Briggs stood, frozen, staring at the crack that was slowly widening. An eerie glow shone from the crack and a tentacle reached up, snagged his ankle and tugged, knocking him off his feet. His ass hit the ground, hard, and the group of people dispersed immediately, shouting and screaming and creating all manner of chaos in the streets of Suburbicania. The tentcacle unwrapped briefly and pulled back into the crack as a piercing shriek emanated from the ever widening split in the earth. Briggs half ran, half crawled back to his car as a larger arm of the beast reached out, pressed firmly on the ground, and began to pull the body to which is was attached out of the abyss. Sheriff Briggs grabbed the radio in his car and muttered one word as another arm was wrapping around his waist: 
 
 `` Help.''
