When Trevor, Sabrina, and Derek, who was using Max as a human taxi service, arrived back at the mysterious house that Tuesday morning, they looked around for aliens, or zombies, or black vans filled with government agents. There were none. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
Before dawn, Aubrey had sent them everything she could find on the occupants of the house on short notice. It housed a typical family of four. The husband was a realtor, the wife was a stay at home mom, and they had two kids that attended a local school. If anything, their lives seemed boring. There had to be something they were missing, something hidden. But that was why they had come, to explore the unknown thing that stalked the premises. In this, there seemed an element of risk, but with Nevyn wreaking havoc all over the world, they all agreed that it was a necessary one.
The three continued to stare at the house from the car, trying to gain a hint of any possible threats they might encounter. When they found none, they did the only thing that seemed reasonable when facing a potential life altering, world changing, terror inducing, hope giving thing. They knocked on the front door.
Several muffled sounds happened that let them know the house was occupied. A man seemed to be yelling something, followed by stomping, and a woman, no, a girl's voice saying something back. The man said something even louder then, followed by sudden silence.
Trevor smiled. "I think they're trying to make us think nobody's home."
"Not how I thought this was going to go down," Derek's voice stated from Max's lips.
"Should we knock again?" Sabrina asked. Before anyone could voice their opinion, she did. Silence remained the only response, so she knocked a third time, and then called out, "We're not leaving."
They heard muffled voices again, and then finally, a middle aged man opened the door. He stared at them warily, then adopted a stern expression, as if they had interrupted something very important. Trevor closed his eyes and focused on the thread that connected him to whoever was in the house.
"I'm afraid this is a bad time for solicitors," the man said.
"Is there ever a good time?" Bekka quipped silently to Derek.
"What do you see, Trevor?" Derek asked.
"I don't..." Trevor started, then scrunched his eyes even tighter. He didn't understand what he was seeing. At last he opened them and stared at the man in wonder. "There's definitely something attached to him, but... not to me. He's not why we came here."
Derek nodded Max's head. "Definitely different. I hate it when it's different."
"Are you people high?" the man asked. He stole a glance back into the house, wondering if he should call the police, but knowing that he could not as long as that damned object was on his kitchen table.
"Uh... we've gotten off on the wrong foot, sir," Derek began. "My name is... Max, and this is Sabrina and, uh..." Derek looked at Trevor, but did not offer his name.
Instead of giving it, Trevor gaped and asked, "Who are you? And why are you attached to a thread that isn't attached to me?"
Nobody said anything for several seconds as Trevor and the man stared at each other. The man seemed to have drawn some conclusion as he asked a question of his own. "You're here for it, aren't you?" When he saw the trio share a secretive glance with each other, he knew he was right. "You are! You're the reason it escaped its hiding place this morning. It's only done that when I've tried to get rid of it or leave it behind somewhere. It knew you were coming."
Derek tried to reign the conversation in again. "Sir, we know someone or something is here, and yes, maybe we are here for it, but... we've also got a lot of questions. And since you don't appear to want to murder us, we'd appreciate it if we could come in for a cup of coffee."
"Are you kidding?" the man laughed loudly, then seemed to relax a little. "If you take it with you when you leave, you can have the whole pot!"
The visitors grinned nervously and nodded their heads.
"But first," he continued, "I need to get my kids out of here. You understand." They did not, but didn't stop him as he yelled for his kids to grab their school supplies and get out. At first they argued about not getting breakfast, but they stopped when he gave them each a twenty dollar bill and told them to get breakfast wherever they wanted, they obliged, and left together in the boy's car. Trevor verified that none of them had a thread as they drove away.
"Okay, you can come in now," the man said. "Oh, my name is Brian by the way. Brian Patterson."
Bekka giggled inside Derek's head. "Brian Patterson. Yeah, totally sounds like a villain's name."
As they followed them into his house, Derek resisted the urge to simply hop Brian and find the answers without needing to sit across from him at a coffee table. He didn't dare though. If this man was connected to whatever source had led them here, it could be very dangerous. Brian offered them seats in the living room, and they sat, taking in the simple decor. A few minutes later, a striking brunette walked in and began serving them coffee. When everyone had it how they liked, the woman sat down next to Brian and looked at him with adoration, as if he were the only person in the room. Trevor noted the absence of a thread on this woman, but there was an ethereal glow around her.
