Author's Note: Hello guys (and possibly females). How are you all? Listen, I'm sorry for not uploading when I was supposed to, but between job loss, family members having strokes, and taking care of said family members, I've been pretty busy. I've tried to make it up to you guys with the chapter, though. Please read, review, and enjoy.

August 2, 2013 9:08 AM

Sheriff's Car heading to Lakeview

Seth's POV

I hopped into the front seat of the car, eager to talk to my cousin for the first time in months. The seats behind us were screened off, obviously to hold those who had been arrested and keep them in line. The car's interior was grey, with a special computer hooked to the dashboard to provide real-time updates with what was happening. Drake also had his gun stowed in his car, since he probably didn't need it to chat with us. Speaking of which, Drake got behind the wheel and drove off. We pulled onto the main drag of road that connected Athens to the highways. I soon realized that we had almost an hour's drive ahead of us, and that I should probably make some sort of small talk.

"So when did you get promoted, Drake?"

"Aww, it wadn't too long ago. Say about 6 months. People say that I'm a good sheriff, so I don't need anythin' else. But that don't matter to me. I wanna know what happened to you over on the battlefront."

"Umm, sure. Well, did I ever tell you 'bout Allen?"

"Nah."

"Well, he decided to slink off during basic training and go get wasted at a nearby bar. So, in the midst of the night, he comes out of nowhere, so drunk that he can't even tell where he is and passes out right on the floor. Then, it just so happened that our Drill Sergeant walked in and saw him vomiting on the floor. So the Drill Sergeant forces him to clean up the vomit, somehow making him come to his senses enough to do it. Then, and this is the best part, he vomits more and passes out in a puddle of his own vomit and saliva! The Drill Sergeant never, ever let him hear the end of that one."

I looked back, and while Drake seemed to find this story extremely humorous, Sam seemed unimpressed. Whatever, different strokes for different folks. Drake had taught me that phrase.

"Hey Seth. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What? I can't think of anything."

Instead of saying anything, Sam drew a triangle in the air and right under it, a shape that looked somewhat like a square.

'What does that mean? Triangle, then square? Like a house? Wait. OHHHHHHHH.' I thought.

"Drake, do you know of anywhere that we could live for cheap? Neither of us have very much money, nor anywhere that we know of to stay."

"Sure, plenty of places. Probably your best bet would be talking to Mrs. Jensen about the old house she has on her property. You remember her? "

I took a second to reminisce. Mrs. Jensen was a kind lady who was there for Drake and myself all through our childhood. She was always there for us and even helped us through the loss of our parents. God, that's a painful memory, even now.

I pushed the thought out of my head and turned back to Drake.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"She has an old house on her property that is in disrepair. If you ask her, I'm sure she'll let you live there, provided you do something for her."

"Oh, that sounds perfect!" I turned back to Sam. "See, I told you I had it covered!"

"Yeah, after you decided to call in someone who was busy actually doing real work and bothering him enough."

"I will straight up punch you in the face." I turned back to Drake.

"While we're at it, d'ya know where we can find a car or truck?"

"Sorry, but no. I don't really keep up wi' much outside my own cars, in terms of that stuff. Sorry."

"That's a'ight. One more thing?"

"What?"

"You know where the old gang is?"

"The old gang? You mean those kids to you used to go hang with sometimes down by the creek? No idea."

I'd been with Drake long enough to know when something was up. And something was definitely up.

Most of the rest of the ride was spent in silence, with just an occasional question or two. Another twenty minutes, and we were starting to pull onto lanes with signs marked 'Lakeview' over them.

The radio suddenly started to buzz and the computer went haywire with noises. Drake looked at us apologetically for some reason, then muttered something into the radio receiver. We sat in silence for a little while, until Drake spoke up again.

"Listen, you guys. I'm gonna have to take y'all to the station. I don't know what you should do from there on out, but I have work to do. Sorry, Seth. I'll see ya when you get set into a house, okay?"

I smiled at him. "It's fine, Drake. Thanks for coming and getting us." Sam remained silent.

Sam's POV

August 2, 2013 10:23 AM

Lakeview Sheriff's Office

We pulled into the sheriff's office, which is where I assumed Drake was called. He pulled into a special space marked 'Sheriff Only' and got out of the car. Seth and I followed suit.

I looked at the building in front of the car. It was brick, with small, white columns holding up a slab of marble saying 'Lakeview Sheriff's Office'. There was an automatic, sliding glass door as an entrance. The building was two stories tall, and had a deputy out front waiting for Drake to enter. There were rows of windows on each wall, some of which sported bars over them. I guessed that those were the prison cells. Drake spoke up, ending my inspection.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for a while, Seth. Sorry we couldn't spend a little time together before I was called back in to work." He shook Seth's hand, then gave him a quick hug. Then, he turned to me.

"And as for you, I don't know you very well, but you seem nice enough, and Seth trusts you. So I guess I will too. Take care of yourself." He shook my hand as well.

Drake went to enter the building, but right as he was approaching the door, he turned around and shouted at us.

"Hey, how 'bout you come back around 6 and I'll treat you returning veterans to drinks!"

Before Seth could even respond, I shouted back, "Sounds good. See ya then!"

Judging from his look, he wasn't quite happy with the way that I hadn't even let him voice his opinion. I shrugged it off.

"So where are we off to now?" I asked.

"Well, we need to find somewhere to live, so let's go and ask Mrs. Jensen about the house."

Seth turned down to the main street, and I followed. I looked up and down the business district, seeing what kind of stores were in this small town.

The sheriff's station, and across from it, an old armory, sat on one end of the street, nearest to the road that entered the town. Next were a theater and a courthouse, followed by some sort of curiosity shop and a bar with the name 'Theodore's' on a sign over it. Next came a some sort of card shop and a dry cleaners. Following that was a diner with a sign that read 'Ray's' overhead and a fire station. Next was a gas station that had nothing of interest and what looked to be a small hospital or clinic across from it. Next, we walked across a pretty large bridge that spanned a nice looking river. I would've loved to fish there sometime. Surprisingly, there was more across the bridge. To my right there was a fast food place called "Sloppy Joe's Grab N' Go" and a clear space. Across the road was a general store type place called "Richard's Goods" and what looked to be some sort of coroners office or morgue. We walked to the clear part of land, and to my surprise, Seth turned.

"Where are we going?"

"Mrs. Jensen's."

I continued to follow him, even though I could almost assure him he was wrong. To have two houses meant that you must have a lot of land. There could have been no way that so much land was here.

Seth continued to walk, holding onto his stuff and led me to an old-fashioned style two story home with a porch. The entire house was painted white and had a sort of regal air surrounding it that I couldn't explain. On the porch, there were rocking chairs and tables. Seth walked right up to the door and rang the doorbell. To my surprise, a pretty healthy looking lady answered the door. Sure, her hair had whitened in places and she had wrinkles, but she still stood at least 5' 6" and had her hands on her hips in a manner that spoke to her annoyance to be bothered.

"What do you two want? I'm very busy, and I..."

She stopped upon seeing Seth and gasped.

"Oh my God. You're here." With that, she threw herself at Seth and hugged him tightly. Seth returned the hug gingerly. It seemed that he was afraid of hurting her.

"When did you get back?"

"Yesterday."

She broke off the hug and looked at me.

"Who's your friend?"

I stepped up and saluted to her.

"I am Sergeant Sam Reed, ma'am."

"Well then, how about you boys come in for some tea?"

Seth accepted before I could react, and we went in. Mrs. Jensen brought us some tea that smelled faintly of mint, and she and Seth sat down and started talking about the past. By that point, I had heard enough about Seth's past and just completely ignored them both. Instead, I took a look around her home. She had a large grandfather clock that dominated one wall of the room we were in. The others were covered in pictures of what looked to be her and her husband, as well as some miscellaneous photographs. The walls were painted about as white as the exterior.

"Let's get to the problem at hand." Seth seemed to have moved on to something I cared about. "Mrs. Jensen, we have nowhere to live, nor can we find an apartment anywhere close to here. Drake told us that other house on your property isn't being used. Is there any way we could buy it from you?"

"Oh, there's no need to buy it. I'll let you have it for free."

"Really?! Are you sure?"

"Sure. Right now, it isn't worth anything to me anyway. As long as you pay for repairs and utilities."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Jensen!" Seth quickly got up and gave her another hug.

"Now, now. The house is in really poor repair. Most of the internal stuff is alright and works fine, but the roof is bad and the outside will take a while to fix up." Noticing Seth's dejected look, she added, "Now, don't look so down. Y'all can stay here until you have it fixed up."

I was flabbergasted. She was so nice! I could see if it was just Seth, but she accepted me too! A complete stranger!

She got up and hugged Seth once again. Then she turned to me.

"You've gotta hug me too, now."

I gingerly wrapped my arms around her. To my surprise, she felt way more solid than she looked. She looked at the clock.

"Now, I hear y'all have a meeting with Drake in a little while. Y'all better get going."

We both thanked her one more time and left.

August 2, 2013 5:47 PM

In front of Sheriff's Office

We arrived at the sheriff's office with about fifteen minutes to spare. Rather than waiting outside, Seth and I agreed to go in and see if we could find Drake. The inside of the building was pretty drab, with bleak, grey walls and filing cabinets everywhere. We were told that Drake's desk was in the very back, so we headed back in that direction. When we arrived, we could hear Drake arguing with someone.

"I don't care! One of my deputies got attacked, and we need to figure out who attacked him!" Drake's voice somehow echoed down through the entire room.

"Yes, sir." We saw a thin man in a deputy's uniform scurry out and run for his desk.

We walked in and greeted Drake. He looked tired, but still happy to see us.

His office was grey. That was very prevalent throughout the entire room. He had a wooden desk in the center of the room, but that was covered in grey files and surrounded by grey filing cabinets. There was a grey and black chair in front of his desk for visitors and a black one behind it for him. He had two windows, one on either side of him, that streamed in light for the otherwise drab room.

"What was that all about?" Seth asked.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Honestly, yes."

He sighed.

"Alright."

Drake's POV

August 2, 2013 10:24 AM

Inside the Sheriff's Office

I walked into the building after saying goodbye to Seth and Sam. I wore a scowl on my face in an attempt to make my feelings of being called in, especially when I specifically requested not to, known. I muttered a greeting to the worker at the front desk, a woman that one of my deputies must have hired. I wasn't concerned with that at the moment. I marched straight to my office and slammed the door closed.

I scowled at the three people in the room. These were the ones that called me in. Two deputies were standing, with their backs to my desk. Another was sitting in the chair in front of my desk, cradling his head in his hands. The two deputies standing up were Fightmaster and Briggs. They both were hard workers, and had been with me at the station through thick and thin. That didn't mean that they wouldn't call me in for something stupid, however. The deputy in the chair, however, was a new guy. I vaguely remembered hiring him just a few weeks ago. His name was Palmer.

"What is it? I swear to God, if it's some kind of cat in a tree I will strangle all three of you!"

Judging by the look on their faces, this was no laughing matter.

"The best way to explain it is to show you, Chief." Fightmaster gestured towards the deputy that was in the chair. "Just try talking to him."

"Deputy, what's wrong with you?"

He just stared up at me. His eyes were unfocused and he was really pale. I was taken aback. This could end up being serious.

"Palmer, are you sick?"

The stare continued.

"Did someone do this to you?"

To my surprise, he actually spoke. Well, more like stammered.

"I-i-i-i-it s-s-said t-that i-it would c-come back if I told a-anyone."

"Who's he?"

It seemed that was all I was going to get out of him. Anytime I asked him anything from that point onward was met with groans and him shaking his head.

I turned to the other two deputies.

"When and where was he found?"

"He was found on the road into town if you're coming from the Coban ruins." Briggs said.

I sighed at the mention of the ruins. They were an eerie reminder of the first people to inhabit this area. For some reason, they had a huge amount of strange occurrences attributed to them, even when the town was first established. It was said that many people were murdered, went insane, or committed suicide right in front of those ruins. And with that kind of stuff happening, urban legends started to spring up and people were more and more uncomfortable with the ruins existing.

"Listen, until we know more, don't tell anyone about this. You guys are going to work with me on this case privately. We don't want this getting out and causing a panic. Investigation starts first thing in the morning."

They both nodded their understanding, then they both left, taking Palmer with them.

MOAR Author's Note: I don't really have anything much to say down here. Umm, four AM upload party is so much fun. It fills me with love. (Damn you, Seth!)

Also, I have a new idea for a Fire Emblem fic that might be put in motion pretty soon, so keep an eye on that if you want to. Alright readers, please read and review, and next time I'll try to be less morose when I decide to write.