Chapter One

It was another bright and beautiful day in Fixham. The sun rose slowly over the top of the water making it a dark blue. The sky began filling with light. The tall buildings stood out like grey, jagged teeth reflecting the long beams of light. A blonde haired women had just gotten out of bed. Her nightmare still lingering in her head. She gave a small sigh. "It's just a dream Wendy. You'll be okay." she smiles to herself. "You're not going to let a silly dream hold you down now are ya?" she questions. She began getting ready for the day. She put on her white tank top, green cargo pants, her orange jumper, and her work vest. She grabbed her helmet off of the wall. She made sure she had her phone and tablet as well as her toolbox. She was greeted by the crisp autumn air. The sunlight felt warm on her back. She had forgotten all about why she was scared or worried for that matter. The walk from her house to the yard wasn't far. She enjoyed the autumn air. It helped cleared her head a bit before she had to focus on what job she had for the day.

When she arrived, the machines were just stirring from their sheds. Lofty was the first to greet her. The blue crane cracked a smile seeing her. "Good morning Wendy." he greeted stifling a yawn. She smiled back. "Good morning Lofty. I trust you slept well?" she asks. He gives a nod of his cab. "Well for the most part. Scoop did keep me up a little bit last night." she giggles. Scoop heard his name being mentioned. "For the record, I wasn't the one who agreed to play a round of tag before bedtime." Lofty snorted. "You practically begged me too." Wendy laughs shaking her head. Bob walked up to them. "Good morning team." he greeted. The machines stopped their bickering and put their gaze on them. "The yard is a mess so I figured we'd take the day to clean it. We really haven't been able to between the repairs and jobs that we've had. Wendy, I want you to take inventory with Leo when he arrives. He called me a few moments ago saying that he's going to be a bit late." Wendy nodded. "I'll keep an eye on the machines until then."

The machines got to work cleaning up the loose materials. Wendy went about the yard keeping an eye on them. She also did her checks to make sure everything was working correctly. She heard panting behind her. "hey...Wendy.." panted a voice. She turned around to see Bob's Apprentice, Leo standing behind her. "Morning Leo. Are you alright?" She put her EMF detector down. "yeah...I'm fine...yew. What jobs does Bob have for us today?" Wendy smiles at him. "Me and you have to do inventory. We have to make sure that our stocks are okay." Leo nods. He manages to stand upright. "Can you check how much lumber we have, Leo?" she asks. "Of course Leo. I'll do that right away." Just then an orange blur appeared. "Oh I'll help too!" chirps Dizzy. Wendy laughs softly. "Alright Dizzy. You can go with Leo." Dizzy smiles. "Come on Leo!" she shouts excitedly before dashing off ahead of him.

Wendy decided to check how many bags of cement mix they had. She frowns finding only one bag of cement mix left in the shed. She makes note that they would have to buy more. "Everything okay Wendy?" Wendy turns around. Bob was standing behind her. "No not really. We're out of cement mix. We'll have to order more." She puts her tablet back on her belt. "I'll make a call to the supplier and see if they can't ship more out to us before our next job." he noticed that Wendy seemed a little bit more quiet than normal. He knelt down in front of her. "I have a feeling that's not what you're upset about." She sighs. "It's nothing Bob. Just some nightmares is all." He puts his hand on his shoulder. "If you need a day off to rest, I can give you one." he offers. She smiles slightly. "And leave you and Leo to pick up the slack?" she chuckles. "I appreciate the offer Bob but it's really nothing." she walks out of the shed. She sees a red haired women standing outside of the yards looking in. Wendy turns to Bob. "were we expecting anyone today?" she asks. Bob laughs. "Oh I totally forgot. We were suppose to have a new team member arrive." Bob readjusts his hardhat. "Wendy, I want you to meet Amber. She'll be training alongside you as well as handle any wielding jobs we may need her for." Wendy walks over to Amber. "It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Amber." Amber smiles at her. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm sorry for being late." Wendy shakes her hand gently. "You're not the only one we've had running late. Leo was too." Amber takes in a large breathe. "So what will you have me doing today?" Wendy checks her tablet. "Let's see..oh yeah. You'll be checking inventory with me. You'll have your first training lesson later in the the afternoon." Amber nods. "Of course. I'll get to work then."

The yard was soon cleaned up. Wendy hands the written list of supplies that needed to be ordered to Bob. "thanks Wendy." he takes a glance at it. "I'll be doing basic safety training with Amber." Bob nods. "You may want to make the lesson short Wendy. It will start to get dark soon." Bob had a few incidents happen while his employees were out during the night hours. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to get hurt. Wendy smiles at him. "Of course Bob. I'll keep track of the time." Amber was with Leo. Leo was showing her how each one of the tools worked. Amber took notes on her tablet. "I see. These tools aren't like the ones I use for blacksmithing." She comments. Wendy walks up to them. Amber glances up at Wendy. "Oh hey Wendy. Leo was just showing me how different construction tools are from blacksmithing." Amber gets up from the barrel she was sitting on top of. "I'll see you later Leo." she calls over her shoulder. Wendy and Amber go over to the sheds. Wendy holds up her tablet. Her tablet displayed a safety presentation. Wendy went over how to do basic safety checks as well as what equipment to use in order to keep her safe.

The night hours soon settle in. The machines were nestled in their sheds for the night. Wendy was doing her final paperwork. Bob rubbed her shoulders gently. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk home with you?" he asks. She shakes her head. "No I'll be fine." She gets up from the desk. "Today's log has been done Bob. I'll see you tomorrow." Bob nods. "Alright. Good night Wendy." Wendy stepped out of the portable. She could hear Muck's faint snore coming from the sheds. She giggles softly. The walk out of the yard was rather quiet. She pulled her jacket tighter around her. Her spine started prickling from the cold. She continues her walk down the path to her house. A shadow crept up behind her. "Hello my sweet." the voice sent a shiver down her spine. Her world went black before she even had a chance to scream for help.