"Jake? Hey, Jake?"
Jake broke out of his thoughts and looked over at Jeffrey, who was staring out the window. Jake had been musing to himself at that moment, having just finished the plans with Jeffrey a few minutes ago. They were taking a brief break to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the task ahead, which Jake had spent thinking about the neighbor and nonchalantly stroking Jo-Jo all the while.
"What's up?" Jake asked. "I thought you were preparing to execute today's plan."
"I was, but then I looked out the window and saw...that." Jeffrey said, pointing out the window. "It's another upgrade."
Jake sighed. "Oh, boy. What did the neighbor add this time?"
"See for yourself. Come over here."
Jake stroked Jo-Jo one last time and left the cat to his own devices, heading over to the window to take a look at the new installations that the neighbor had set up.
Yep, it was bad.
Through the window, Jake could see that barbed wire had been added on top of the bulletproof glass, which made it hard for anyone to climb over the fence without getting pricked by the barbs. This certainly wasn't good.
"Holy heck. You weren't kidding, Jeffrey." Jake voiced. "The fence got upgraded again."
Jeffrey nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't lying. The constant upgrades to the fence are definitely going to be a problem for when we need to get into his house."
Outside, Jake saw the neighbor come out of his house and walk over to the fence, pacing back and forth as he inspected the barbed wire. It was clear that he wanted to check to make sure it would stay in place and keep any invaders out.
Jake opened the window a crack so he could hear if the neighbor was saying anything. Sure enough, the neighbor was talking to himself again.
"Yes, this will do. This has to do." The neighbor muttered to himself, looking somewhat satisfied with his new additions. "Now nobody will ever be able to get inside, this time for sure. Those neighbors won't be able to interfere with my house anymore."
As he voiced this, Jake turned to Jeffrey.
"Alright, this is definitely getting harder on us. Let's go over the plan for today. The grave." Jake reminded Jeffrey.
Jeffrey nodded again. "Right, the grave. That's our main goal at the time. Hmm...the neighbor's additions won't affect things much in this department, right? He only put them around his fence."
"While that may be true, it seems like he knows that we're alive again at this point. Now that he knows that we're still around, he'll be on guard more than ever before, so if we want to get this done, we'll have to be smart about it. Most of all, we should avoid using brute-force methods."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's be careful here. If we take the shovel, sneak over to the grave, and dig it up without being spotted, we'll be able to find out what's inside it without the neighbor knowing that we were ever there."
"Then we agree on that being the plan, then?"
"Yes. But before we do that...can I use the restroom real quick? Just for a couple minutes, then I'll be back and we can get started."
"If you have to, then. Go ahead."
"Thanks." Jeffrey turned and left the room. Finding himself alone now (except for Jo-Jo, who was munching on cat treats nearby), Jake decided to keep looking out the window and see what else the neighbor was doing out there while he waited for Jeffrey to come back.
The neighbor was still inspecting the fence. He had his hammer in his hand as he paced back and forth, looking up and down the fence and inspecting every part of it. It was clear that he wanted to be absolutely sure that nobody could breach the defenses.
Jake had to admit that the neighbor certainly did work hard in order to stop them. Back when Jake had first moved, the neighbor didn't have an extremely tall, secure fence to block out intruders or cameras to spot anyone sneaking in. But after nearly two weeks of unsuccessful attempts, the neighbor had improved his security to a level far greater than it had been in the beginning. Jake knew that he and Jeffrey would have to rise to meet the ever-increasing demands that were upon them now that the neighbor was making things more difficult. If the neighbor was learning from Jake and Jeffrey's mistakes, then they would have to make less mistakes and exploit the loopholes they could find in the neighbor's defense systems.
And it wasn't just him, either. Jake's mind lingered back to the rabbits in the neighborhood for a bit. They were certainly odd; when was the last time he had seen ordinary animals attempt to sabotage somebody? It was pretty strange to hear about, but Jake wasn't complaining. If both he and the rabbits were seeking the same thing, then they were technically allies. He'd have to work with them to undermine the neighbor, and with their help, he might even have a better chance of doing all this.
There were still those rabbits trapped in the neighbor's lab, too. Jake decided that at some point, he would have to concoct a plan to get them out of there. Right now, doing so wasn't his main priority, but he'd have to do it at some point.
It was at this point that Jake heard some odd noises somewhere next to him. It sounded like Jeffrey was groaning. What, had the bathroom trip been rough on him or something? Whatever it was, Jake didn't look away from the window. He was still interested in examining the neighbor, trying to see anything more.
But when he heard the groaning several more times, Jake found himself getting slightly agitated. Was it really that bad?
"Alright, Jeffrey, could you please explain why-" Jake began, turning around to face his friend.
"RAAGH!" Came the cry of a sallow-skinned monster, its eyes white and empty, its face in a perpetual snarl, its nose stubby and its head missing of any hair. A zombie. It got right in Jake's face as it came, making a guttural cry of undead agony.
Jake yelled out louder than he ever had before. Quick as a wink, his reflexes kicked in and he nailed the zombie in the face with his right fist. He expected the zombie to groan again as it was knocked down. What he didn't expect was for it to yell out in a completely normal, familiar voice.
"Ouch! Man, that really hurt!" The zombie winced as it stumbled backwards.
"Wait...Jeffrey?!" Jake exclaimed. "That's actually you?"
"Heck yeah, it's me!" The zombie grabbed its head and lifted it off, revealing that it was a costume head. Beneath the head was Jeffrey's completely normal head.
"It really is you. Jeffrey, what in the hell were you just doing?! You scared me so bad, I almost knocked you out cold!"
"I was playing a trick on you, okay? This is actually a zombie costume. I was looking through your storage crates and I found a couple of them."
"It's just a costume? Yeesh, you could've fooled me. You acted and even looked just a like a zombie would. And the smell matches, too."
"Pretty convincing, right? Wait, but, it smells too?" Jeffrey paused. "Aw, I must've forgotten to take a shower. Crap. Well, anyway, forget about the smell. Point is, these costumes are super convincing. That's why I've decided that we're going to use these zombie costumes as part of today's plan."
"How so?"
"We're going to go near the neighbor's house and use them to get the neighbor all paranoid. If we do that, he'll become so focused on looking around his house that we'll be able to slip over to the grave without being seen."
"Oh, I see! So that's why you asked yourself to be excused to the bathroom. Could've just told me that you wanted to put a zombie costume on."
"I could've, but I decided to surprise you instead."
"And, fortunately and unfortunately for me, the surprise worked. In other words, yes, let's do your plan. Where's the other zombie costume?"
"Laying on the floor of your bathroom. You can just go over there right now and put it on before we get started."
"Then I'll be right back."
Jake left the living room and went into the bathroom, spotting the zombie costume laying on the floor. He quickly stepped into the pant legs and zipped it on, and then putting on the mask to cover his head. Looking in the mirror through the mask's eyeholes, Jake could see just how convincing of a zombie he really was. Now he looked just like Jeffrey's zombie costume. The only question was, would the neighbor fall for it?
Well, they'd find that out in time. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
He exited the bathroom and went back over to Jeffrey, who nodded.
"Hey, looking good. All set to get this plan underway?" He asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Jake responded. "So we just need to scare the neighbor, right?"
"Right on the money. After all, nobody like the neighbor is ever prepared for a zombie apocalypse, because they're convinced that zombies aren't real and are meant to stay in the realm of fiction. Of course, that's not wrong, but with these costumes, we can make them think that they actually are wrong."
"He may not be prepared for zombies specifically, but he's definitely prepared for anything in general. I mean, look at that fence of his and tell me I'm wrong!"
"Hmm...you're correct, but the neighbor's still outside. As long as we do this while he's outside his house, we should be fine. Once we scare him and get his attention on only his house, we can run to the grave without him chasing after us."
"Then, no more stalling. Let's do this."
The neighbor hammered another nail as part of the framework of his fence, keeping at it until it was all the way. He was working busily to keep his fence as secure as possible, any hopefully, this would do.
He had his fingers crossed this time that those neighbors wouldn't be able to get in. What were their names again? Jake, and...Jeffrey? Well, it didn't matter much to him.
He was honestly tired of both of them. Why wouldn't they just go away and stop trying to get into his house? They were just as bad as the previous people who had tried to thwart him, if not worse.
If only he hadn't forced him into this. He was getting tired of doing this.
When could he put down the façade of an evil tyrant who captures people and just go back to living a normal ho-hum life? Even if he had to deal with those he captured, he wanted to do so without everyone on the outside constantly trying to bust into his house to discover the supposed 'secret' hidden inside.
As much as he wanted to cool down, though, there was no time for rest. He had warned him that he would need to be on the lookout for the neighbors, so that's what he planned to do. He'd continue delivering the sacrifices just as long as he continued to fulfill the neighbor's requirements.
It was stressful and sometimes painful, but...he had to.
For his sake. For their sake.
It was then that he heard some noises behind him, as well as a smell. A certain smell.
He froze, stopping in the middle of his work. What was that? What was he hearing and smelling? No...
He turned around, and he saw them. Two of what were unmistakably zombies were lurching towards him. They reeked of death, their skin was grey and rotten, their eyes were vacant of an expression, and their arms were outstretched as if to grab him.
Against all of his will, something came to his memory.
Something lying on its side...loud noises...a shoe...
"No...it can't be..." He muttered, backing away. He held his hammer up as if to protect himself, but the zombies continued to advance. He was afraid. The zombies couldn't be them...but it had to be. They were back. They were back to taunt him for his failings as a person. He wasn't ready to see them again.
He would never be ready. He had assured the neighbor that he would never have to see them again, so why were they here?
No, he couldn't face them! Not now! He had to run. He had to go back to the safety of his home, where he would never have to look into their eyes again.
Reacting as fast as he could, he threw his hammer half-heartedly at the direction of the zombies. It missed them entirely and cluttered to the ground. Now he had no protection but his house.
Then his feet kicked in. He stood up and bolted away, bolting back to the other side of the fence. He slammed the gate shut, locked it, then ran into his house, slammed the door shut, and put both deadbolts in place. He slumped down with his back against the door, putting his face into his hands.
Finally. He was safe.
...
...
I'm so sorry. I never wanted to see you both again.
Not after...
Not after what I did.
Not after what became of you.
Not after everything that happened before he came to me.
I'm so sorry.
"Did it work?" Jake asked when the neighbor had retreated into his house.
"Yeah, it did. Phase one complete." Jeffrey confirmed. "In all honesty, I wasn't expecting that to work so well. We got lucky."
"Well, glad we had luck on our side. Come on, it's time we take this chance while we can. Jeffrey, I'll run to the grave and make sure it's secure over there. Can you go back to the house, grab the shovel, and bring it over?"
"On it. See you in a minute."
Jeffrey ran across the street back towards Jake's house. Jake turned and noticed that the neighbor's hammer was sitting on the ground, where it had been left after the neighbor tried to throw it at them. Jake went and over and picked it up.
This should be useful. He thought. Might as well keep this. He attached the hammer to his belt and moved on from there. Jake went down Sunset Avenue, heading in the direction of the area where he and Jeffrey had found the grave.
As he ran, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't told the others about the plan. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the walkie-talkie, then pressed the button to turn it on.
"You guys there?" He asked, keeping his pace all the while. "This is Jake. If you're there, please respond."
It only took a few seconds delay before he got a response.
"I'm here. What's up, Jake?" Nicky replied.
"Good thing you're here, Nicky. Where's Aaron?"
"He's busy at the moment. He's talking to some other person down here with us. Figured I'd respond for him until he's ready to tune in."
"Well, hope that doesn't take too long. Got a bit of an urgent situation here."
"Really? What happened outside?"
"Jeffrey and I are executing our latest plan. We just used zombie costumes to scare him, and now he's focusing his attention on his house. I'm heading to the grave now so we can dig it up and see what's inside. Jeffrey ran back to my house to grab the shovel."
"You managed to scare the neighbor with...zombie costumes? What?"
"Sounds weird, right? I wasn't really expecting it to work, and neither was Jeffrey, but we had to try. But, against all odds, it worked. The neighbor actually looked pretty startled to see us. He gave us this weird look and then ran off. Don't know what's up, but as long as he's out of the way, then we can dig up the grave."
"Clever thinking. I never knew he was afraid of zombies, myself. Kind of an odd fear to have for a guy who's normal pretty...well, fearless."
"I agree, but if it works, it works."
"Fair enough. Hope your plan goes without a hitch."
"Thanks. Be right back."
Jake went silent for the time being as he got to the intersection between Sunset and Cooper and crossed to the other side of Cooper, then headed left until he went around to the back of the house that had the grave behind it. Sure enough, the grave was still there.
Once he arrived, he stood behind the corner of the house, waiting for Jeffrey to arrive. A few minutes later, he did, lugging the shovel in his arms.
"You're here. Great." Jeffrey said as he ran over to Jake. "Looked back at the neighbor's house, and he's still inside, by the looks of it. We're good to go."
"I'm here! I made it!" Aaron's voice came from the walkie-talkie. "I can't believe I was busy in some conversation while this was happening. Why didn't you guys let us know earlier that you were finally going to dig up the grave? I would've loved to have been there for the planning stages!"
"Oh, hey, Aaron. Sorry, should've got you in on the whole deal." Jake replied. "But we made it."
"Then don't wait for me! Dig it up! Although...be careful, alright? Knowing the neighbor, I just...I just hope he didn't put anything he shouldn't have put down there."
"We're about to find out." Jeffrey responded. "Ready? Then I'll get digging."
Jeffrey took the shovel and began digging. He shoveled dirt, dirt, and more dirt and tossed it aside, creating a hole that went deeper and deeper. Jake laid in wait, waiting for the moment where Jeffrey's shovel would hit the casket of whatever was dug inside the grave.
After around three minutes of digging, that moment finally came.
"I've hit something. Let me clear it up." Jeffrey said. He pushed the dirt aside with the shovel, revealing an oddly-shaped box. "Huh. What's this?"
"It's a box." Jake reported. "The neighbor put a box in this grave?"
"Seems like it. And it's too small to be coffin, so it's definitely not a dead body that's in here."
A sigh of relief came from the walkie-talkie. "Phew. I'm so glad it wasn't."
Jake laughed. "What's up? Freaked out that we might've found an actual body?"
"Something like that, I guess."
"Well, we didn't. Hope you're happy to hear that."
"So if it's not a body, then what is it?" Nicky questioned, right as Jeffrey opened the box up. It was hidden from view from where Jake was standing, but when the box came open, Jeffrey made a noise.
"Whoa." He said. "Jake...you'd better see this."
"What did you find?!" Jake badgered, the whole situation getting him slightly on edge. He went over and saw what was sitting in the box. "What the hell? That's what he put in here?"
"What is it?" Aaron exclaimed. "What's inside the box? Come on, tell us!"
"It's a gun."
"...a gun?"
"Yeah. And a piece of paper, too."
Specifically, the gun that was sitting inside the box looked like a rifle of some kind, like something somebody would use for hunting. Tucked in the box with it was a piece of paper, slightly crumpled and dusty from ages of sitting inside the box. Jake grabbed it instinctively and held it up so he could read it.
Journal Entry No. 2
At the time of writing this, I have chosen to hide this underground. With the memories it carries, I'm not sure I ever want to hold it again.
I'm going to put this gun in a place where nobody can find it, so nobody can try and use it against me. I'm not sure what would happen if that came about.
My grandfather would have been a bit disappointed in me, but...he's not around anymore. Hopefully, wherever he is now, he can forgive me for this.
I don't have a choice anymore. Things came to this, and things are going to be like this.
Everything I do now, I do for him.
"It's another journal entry. I recognize the neighbor's handwriting." Jake said to the others. "So this was his gun. And he mentions his grandfather for some reason."
"Wait, his grandfather? And if that's a gun he owns, then...it all makes sense now."
Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "What does?"
"That gun...that gun used to belong to the neighbor's grandfather."
"What?! Really?" Jake exclaimed. "How'd you know that?"
"Uh...well, I-"
"We read it on a journal entry that we found down here!" Nicky answered a bit rapidly. "It told us how he inherited a hunting rifle from his deceased grandfather. But for some reason, he was too ashamed to use it, so he said he was going to do something about. I guess putting it in the grave was that 'something'."
"Too ashamed to use it?" Jeffrey repeated. "But why? Honestly, knowing him, he could get a lot of use out of a weapon like this."
"Well, this journal entry I did found said that the gun carried some series of 'memories' that made him not want to use the gun." Jake brought up. "So...maybe he used the gun in the past to do something he regretted, and then hid the gun because of that?"
"Er...maybe, yeah. We can't be sure as of now." Nicky commented.
"...so that's what he did with the gun. I always wondered why I never saw it again after..." Aaron muttered. "...well, there's the gun. What do we use that for?"
"I dunno. Maybe in case we need to bring some heavy firepower." Jake joked. He picked up the gun to test it. It had a nice weight to it. Something about it made Jake feel competent. He pointed it in random directions, as if he was attempting to target something. It felt right.
"Woah, woah, woah! Jake, don't point that everywhere!" Jeffrey cried, a bit alarmed. "What if you accidentally fire the gun? You could damage something. Or create a hell of a lot of noise. One of the two."
"Eh, there's probably no ammo in it. It must be old if it goes down a couple generations of the neighbor's family, so it might not even work anymore."
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT?!"
From out of complete nowhere, the neighbor's voice rang from behind Jake. Jake yelled, completely caught off guard. The neighbor was here?! Was he going to attack them for taking the gun?!
His mind immediately jumped to protecting himself, and without thinking of what would happen next, Jake whipped around and pulled the gun's trigger.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
A bullet made its mark.
A body fell onto the ground.
Jake froze. The world seemed to stop existing. Time stopped moving. Nothing went anywhere anymore.
From across him, the neighbor was lying there. A bullet wound was on his chest. His mouth was agape, his eyes were wide open. One hand was clutching his chest, the other was laying at his side.
No.
No, he hadn't just...there no way he just...
Jake's hands felt weak. They lost their grip, and then he dropped the weapon. It fell to the floor, landing at Jake's feet with a thump and sitting there motionlessly.
He couldn't move anymore. He couldn't feel, or think, or breath, or exist. Everything was gone.
He had just...
"JAKE! JAKE!"
The world snapped back into place. Jeffrey was shaking Jake, and Jake's consciousness finally came back to the real world. The neighbor was lying in the grass, breathing heavily, still clutching his chest. Hurried voices were coming from the walkie-talkie, but Jake couldn't really hear them.
"I...I..." Jake stuttered.
"Jake, come on! Stay with me here!" Jeffrey urged. "Don't lose focus!"
Jake shook his head, but not because of Jeffrey. "Jeffrey, I just...did I just...do that?"
Jeffrey gritted his teeth. "I don't know, but I told you to be careful with the gun! Why didn't you listen?!"
"I..."
"...it's alright, okay? I'm not mad, but...I knew this would happen." Jeffrey turned and looked towards the neighbor. "Neighbor?"
The neighbor was still gasping for breath. He gave them one last look...and then slumped over and went still, saying no more and doing no more.
As soon as this happened, Jake finally righted himself. He felt more urgent, more clear.
"Is he dead?" Jake asked, not stuttering this time.
"What do you mean, is he dead?! What's going on?!" Aaron shouted as Jake became aware of his voice.
"Jake accidentally shot the neighbor. The neighbor passed out, but we're not sure if he's alive." Jeffrey reported.
"Say what?! You just killed him?" Nicky exclaimed. "Just like that?"
"...no. No, there's no way he's really dead. It's never that simple." Aaron mumbled.
"Maybe he is, though." Jake muttered. "Maybe we really did kill him."
"Jake, don't jump to conclusions." Jeffrey warned. "Last time we did, we thought our sleeping pills killed him and we buried him without checking first."
Jake nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're right. Let's check."
They got to their feet and went over to the neighbor's body. Jeffrey examined him all over, including the bullet wound. Jeffrey looked into his eyes, then put his fingers at the neighbor's wrist, and then put an ear to the neighbor's chest (albeit a little unwillingly). Finally, Jeffrey straightened and faced Jake, a grim expression on his face.
"...there's no pulse." He answered. "He's dead. For real."
"Wow. I just...went and killed him. In an instant." Jake murmured. "Guys, I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"It's fine. I know I said we shouldn't resort to killing him, but...what's done is done. We have to move forwards from here." Jeffrey replied.
"I agree. It's a shock that you managed to actually kill him, I've got to say. Despite that, if he's dead, then he's dead." Nicky added. "And dead people stay dead forever. We'll just have to work with it."
"...I can't believe you managed it. I can't believe that he's...he's..." Aaron whispered, his voice getting lower. "...was this what she would have wanted...?"
"Who?" Jake said.
"Forget it. Well...he's down. This time for good. Uh...what are you guys going to do with the gun? And the body?"
"I say we take the gun with us." Jeffrey answered. "Despite how lethal it is, it is useful enough to warrant us keeping it in our possession."
Jake sighed. "I don't agree fully with that. But if you think it's best...then I'll accept that. Also, we should make sure to fill the grave back up again." Jake looked to the grave and the pile of dirt near it. "We may have done it for a good cause, but grave robbing is still illegal. The least we can do is make it look like we weren't here."
Jeffrey nodded and took the shovel. He began to fill the hole back up with dirt, putting his arms into it as he lifted and lowered the shovel, tossing piles and piles of dirt into the grave.
"And the body?" Nicky questioned.
Jake was silent at first. He looked down at the neighbor's corpse. "...looks like Jeffrey and I are going to have to bury him again."
"A second time, huh? Man." Aaron muttered. "That was that time where you guys told us that you thought he was dead, but he was actually out cold?"
"Yeah." Jake responded. "We were kind of stupid during that, and we didn't bother to check his pulse to see if he was still alive. This time, we have, and we're sure that he's dead."
"At least you're improving. Counts for something, y'know." Nicky commented.
"I guess so."
"Alright, done." Jeffrey reported. Jake looked to see the grave covered up as it had been before, and Jeffrey was lugging the shovel in his arms. "And I heard that Jake wanted to bury him again. I don't like this, but I'll help. He's kind of heavy, though, so we're going to need to work together on this one."
"I'll lift the heavier side this time." Jake said. "Once we bury him, we can get into the basement. The neighbor will have secured his door again, but we can get through. We still have the basement key, so we can use that. We don't have the keycard, but we can go into the neighbor's bathroom and grab it again. As for the boards, I picked up this hammer that the neighbor threw at us." Jake tapped the hammer, still attached to his belt. "There's a claw on the back of the hammer that we can use to remove the boards, so we won't need a crowbar this time."
"That's all three items. Good." Nicky said. "If you have everything you need, it shouldn't be hard to get into the basement."
"Let's get moving. You grab that side, I'll grab this side." Jeffrey told Jake, and the two of them began to lift the neighbor's body upwards...
It took a bit of work, but the two of them managed to get the body back to the same place they had dug him the first time: his backyard. The coffin was still inside the grave, open and empty, so they were able to use it again. They got the neighbor's body into the coffin and shut it again. Once they were finished, they gathered around the hole and looked down at the coffin below. Seeing the neighbor back in there, Jake could feel an incredible sense of Deja vu from this.
"Alright, he's in. So...do we say a few words again, or...?" Jake asked.
Jeffrey shook his head. "Everything we said last time applies to this. We don't need to repeat it."
"Then let's keep this short. Sorry, Neighbor. Hope the afterlife suits you better." Jake took the shovel and filled the grave back up over the course of a couple of minutes.
"Is it done?" Aaron asked.
"It's done. Now for the basement."
"So you're finally going to get us out of the basement? Phew. I'm glad." Nicky sighed. "How long will it take you?"
"Don't expect us for another half-hour or so. We need to grab the items and go down the basement corridors to get to you guys." Jeffrey assessed. "But we'll be down there by today if all goes well."
"Got it."
"So it's over. At least, I hope it is." Aaron said. "Can't wait to get rescued. Seeing daylight will be nice, I guess."
"Just wait for a bit, okay? We're going to sign off. We'll see you guys soon." Jake said. "Bye for now."
"Bye."
"See you soon."
Jake turned off the walkie-talkie, and the signal between him and the other two was cut. "Okay, back to the house we go. I've got the hammer, so let's grab the basement key and battery. Then we can nab the keycard from the bathroom, get the door open, and finally end this."
"Let's not waste time." Jeffrey ordered. "Come on." He ran around the side of the house. Jake took one last look at the neighbor's grave. He hadn't meant to kill him, but maybe things would turn out alright anyway. Once the townsfolk were out of the basement, the town could finally be normal again.
Well, that wouldn't happen on its own. It was time to act.
He followed Jeffrey around the side of the house. The two of them headed for home, their minds both focused on their end goals...
"WHAT'S THIS? DYING SO EASILY? I THINK NOT."
An entity was stirring. It had been made aware of the situation.
"TIME FOR ME TO FIX THIS. AFTER ALL...OUR DEAL ISN'T FINISHED."