Chapter 1

Between a Squirrel and a Tree

Hello people of the internet! This is a story written by my wonderful brother for a just-as-wonderful PC game. I hope you enjoy!

I saw Eva Rosalene give me a scathing glare as we stepped out of our car to survey the damage. Smoke was rising from the hood, and the right headlight was shattered.

"Where were you looking, Neil?!" Eva shouted, all the while pushing her long, dark hair back into place.

"Well, excuse me for heroically evading that squirrel coming out of nowhere!" I retorted.

She glanced back towards the road. "You ran over it anyways."

". . . Oh."

"You ran over it and hit a tree. . ."

"Look, don't worry, it's a company car."

"Are you kidding me? The boss is going to kill us!"

"Hm. . ." I said as I scratched my scraggly brown hair. "We'll just say I was saving a puppy. He likes puppies, right?"

"He's more of a cat person," Eva replied.

"Why does the world have to be so complicated? Fine, whatever furball he fancies. Crisis averted."

"Good, go write that on your report later. Let's grab the equipment from the car and move already."

I rolled my eyes as I opened the car door and walked over to the trunk, adjusting my glasses. Of course, she would make me do all the heavy lifting, I muttered silently as I made my way over. I lifted the device and said, "Got the sucker. Let's roll."

As we made our way towards the path, I saw a sign that read: Wyles household ahead. "Putting up a sign when they live in the middle of nowhere is like asking to be robbed," I joked. Like she usually does, Eva simply ignored my hilarious comments. Other times, she just stares irritably at me, as if my ingenious comedic stylings somehow irritate her.

Before we left the road, I told Eva, "Hey wait, don't forget the car!"

"Just wanted to see if you'd remember." She took out the keys and locked it up.

". . .How thoughtful of you."

I followed Eva along the gently sloping path. Suddenly, as we were walking up a set of wooden stairs on the trail, she stopped. After a moment's pause, she said, "Who would put a boulder here?"

Leaning to the right, I saw what blocked our path. "Maybe it's their security system."

"Cucumbers," she muttered, which was one of her. . . interesting substitutes for cursing. "We don't have time for this fluff. Let's try pushing it out of the way."

"Maybe we could find a tree branch to jack it with—Wait. . ." I turned to Eva and stated, raising my eyebrows, "Or, we could just call it a night and blame it on that!"

Ignoring my brilliant suggestion, Eva got in position. "Alright, on three. One. . . Two. . . Three!" She shoved the boulder with all her might, and . . . it bounced. The boulder flew away from the top of the steps, bounced off a part of the cliff, and continued its journey down the trail we just made our way up.

Eva was wide-eyed and speechless. "I. . . I don't even. . ."

I didn't get it either. "What was that?" I asked after a moment, blinking.

"Not a boulder, that's for sure." After another moment, Eva got her bearings. "Uh, we need to get going for now. . . We'll. . . we'll figure that thing out later."

"Riiiight. . ." I continued to follow Eva along the wooded pathway until we came to a wooden bridge. The land evened out, and we saw a fence looming ahead of us. The sound of waves crashing made the night air feel all the more refreshing, but enjoying nature wasn't the task at hand. We continued on until we came to a scattered garden that was in front of a large manor built on the cliff. This was the reason we came all the way out here. Our next client.

Eva knocked on the door, and after a couple of seconds, I heard a child's voice shout, "Ma! They're here!"

As we were waiting, Eva pointed out, "Not a bad place to retire at, huh?"

I turned around and surveyed the landscape. "I could do better." I changed the subject, saying, "Nightshifts; love 'em or hate 'em?"

"You know the answer, you stupid owl."

Eva knocked again. ". . .It's probably gonna be another all-nighter, you know."

"I know."

I glanced aside. "And I doubt they'd have any coffee. . ."

"Shut up."

Eva tapped the door once more as I went on. "And the ocean waves will sing lullabies. . ."

She glared at me through the corner of her eye. "Not through your blathering, they won't."

She turned to face me as I went on, a smile growing on my face, "And your eyelids will—" Suddenly, the door opened, and we went inside. "Don't forget the equipment, moron," Eva shouted over her shoulder.

I blinked, and then turned around to pick up the device. I don't get paid enough for this, I thought, and, inwardly sighing, I made my way through the door.

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