Chapter Text
'Well this wasn't how my summer vacation was supposed to start.'
Grace sighed looked at the washed out gravel road. He had only gotten here earlier this morning when a flash flood struck the valley.
That was his one and only way back to civilization.
And it was completely unusable until the municipality came to fix it.
This wasn't what Holland had promised when he had asked Grace to take care of the farm over the summer, while he went off traveling with his daughter and Healey.
Then again its not like Grace had anything better to do over the summer, school was out for the year and he didn't have another job to keep him busy.
Sure he could use the time away from the city and get some fresh air, but this all just felt awfully inconvenient. Grace turned on his heel and headed back up the road towards Hail Mary farm. It had been in their family for generations, there was even a time were Grace lived here when he was younger.
But that was a long time ago.
Before life got in the way.
Grace heard a soft huff off to the side. It was his childhood dog Rocky, a border collie mix. He trotted up to Grace, toung hanging out of his mouth as he headbutted the back of Grace's knees like he was nudging him back to the farm.
"Ha, your probably hungry, knowing Holland he probably left all the chores for me to do." Grace chuckled as he walked up the driveway.
The farm wasn't huge. Actually calling it a farm was generous. It was more like an acreage. The house sat at the top of the hill the garage sat adjacent to it. And as you went down there was a few small outbuildings, one being a chicken coop. At the bottom of the hill sat a big red barn and a pull shed.
There wasn't very many animals either. Just some chickens, two horses, two cows and a few bunnies.
Then again this place had never really been much of a functioning farm, but at least it had a huge garden. It was his mother's pride and joy, to take care of and nurture. It made Grace awfully nostalgic.
Grace went into the garage were they kept the dog food and filled up two bowls and carried them back outside. Adrian the great pryenees had joined Rocky in pitifuly looking up at him for food.
Grace set the bowls down and the boys immediately started to scarf it down. Grace turned his attention to the other animals making sure they all had food and water. He took his time with the chickens they were always his favorite when he was younger.
By the time he finished the sun was already starting to dip below the horizon, casting the farm in a orangish glow.
Grace took a deep breath, it was very cathartic. He had been so stressed as the school year came to a close. Between all the grading and tests to proctor, Grace had barely gotten a moment to himself.
Yeah he definitely needed a well deserved vacation.
Supper consisted of random things Grace could find in the basement cellar.
'Seriously Holland left him with next to nothing when it came to actual food.'
Grace set himself up in the living room in front of the fire place. He was sorely behind on all the books he had been meaning to read. He picked the first one at the top of his bag 'Microbiology for Dummies', and sunk into the couch with a cup of hot tea and flipped the book open.
It was nice to have some time to himself were he could sit back, relax and enjoy a good book and tea.
Grace let the hours pass by as he lost himself in the pages of a book.
When he looked up he realized that the fire had almost completely burned out and the sun had set completely, leaving the living room almost completely dark aside for a few glowing embers. Grace set the book down and stood. Stretching his body after sitting for so long, his bones giving him a satisfying crack.
"Guess I should get more fire wood before I head in for the night." Grace said to no one as he shuffled through the quiet house. He slipped a pair of slippers on and went outside.
On the side of the house sat the wood pile. Grace absentmindedly threw pieces into the basket, already half asleep after his long drive out here.
The basket was mostly full when Grace picked it up and went to go back inside and finally go to bed. He made it to the front porch when he heard the dogs bark.
That wasn't out of the ordinary, the farm bordered a huge forest that was protected for wildlife. And there was plenty of wildlife that would wander out looking for food. Thats why they had dogs, they acted as a deterrent against any wildlife getting to close to the farm and getting to the animals.
'They're probably just barking at a coyote.'
They barked again this time low and threatening. They didn't sound very far away, it was hard to tell in the darkness. The moon was hiding behind the clouds offering no extra light.
Fear pricked at the base of Grace’s spine. Something felt very wrong.
It was to quiet even the crickets and frogs had gone silent.
Grace set the basket of wood down and slowly walked off the porch.
'This was so dumb, it was probably just some critters. Your being dramatic Ryland.'
But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, and he didn't want the dogs to get hurt.
"Rocky? Adrian?" Grace called out as he moved farther away from the house towards were he last heard the dogs.
He heard another low growl.
Grace could finally see them. Their hackles were raised as they stood ready to attack. He looked ahead of them.
There was someone out there.