T. Novak [AD-5577-E]
08.14.2024 04:59

Yea.

Dinner ends and I go back up to my room. I’m freaking out, of course. Hesitate to even tell my parents. Maybe I was watching too many science fiction movies but I was convinced this thing was from another planet or something, and then of course there’s a vehicle that’s doing loops around my block and I’m convinced I’m in the middle of some conspiracy.

I guess I was right, sort of.

I don’t sleep at all. My eyes are just glued to this thing. 100% convinced a damn chest burster is going to pop up from it or something.

And then at 3AM I see the same car doing loops. It disappears for a minute and then this guy, who I now know is Pennington, walks into my yard. He’s peeking up at all the windows, peering through the ones on the ground floor.

The next day, I tell my mom I’m doing homework at a friend's house. He’s on the other side of town. I bring it with me and the two of us just stare out the window for hours to see if someone shows up looking. But nothing.

About a week or so later, I can probably count on one hand how many hours of sleep I’ve gotten since. There’s a knock on our door one morning, and it’s this guy again. Pennington. He’s dressed like a guy from Terminix and offers my parents a free inspection. I run back up to my room, go out the window onto my roof, and jump down into a bush.

I see the car. The windows are down. I run as fast as I can towards it and I reach my arm through and unlock the door. I open the glove box and I find his badge.

FC-081-A. Casey Pennington. Field Studies Institute.

I hear a yell. It’s him. I drop everything and run faster than I ever did before or after. But I remembered that name. Field Studies Institute.

You think he got terminated for bad handwriting? No. It's because some kid figured out who he was.

L. Ashford [AD-1069-E]
08.15.2024 08:16

T… I don't know what to say. I’m so sorry that happened to you.

T. Novak [AD-5577-E]
08.20.2024 11:02

Me too. It took a long time to feel safe after that.

L. Ashford [AD-1069-E]
08.22.2024 08:09

Can I ask you a question, though?

What was it that you found? And do you still have it?

T. Novak [AD-5577-E]
08.26.2024 5:58

What can you tell me about The Garden?