The car door closes, and his key is inserted in the hole, the engine coming to life. Maria stands next to the car, and Branden puts the window down.

"I'll miss you," she says, smiling at him.

"Me too. I'll call every day, alright?" He puts his hands on the wheel, smiling back at her.

"Okay. Drive safe, honey."

"I will. Love you!"

"Love you!" She says as he drives away from their home, waving at him. He sticks his hand out of the window, waving back. As he drives away from the home, he rolls the window up, the air becoming cold and dry. He looks at the map on his phone, which gives an estimate of an hour drive to Jonathan's home.

As he drives further down the road, he marvels at how quickly the layout can change from apartments and small businesses to vast expanses of green grass and small streams of water. Only a few homes mark the area, most of them large 2-story farmhouses with large barns beside them and animals all around. It was nice, he thought, to get away from the busy life he lived every day for a few weeks and breathe in the fresh country air.

The clouds turned gray, and thunder rumbled outside, promising rain to come. Just as the first few drops fell onto his car, he could see Jonathan's home in the distance, very similar to the few he passed on the way. He goes onto the mile-long driveway, his car bumping over the bits of gravel until he reaches the house and stops the car. The rain is starting to fall more heavily now, and Branden quickly rushes to the front porch, where a roof protects him from getting drenched in rain.

He knocks on the door a few times, before looking around to see Jonathan also rushing up another set of stairs that leads to the porch.

"Hey, Jonathan!" Branden says, turning to face him.

"Hey there! Wasn't expecting you to come this early," Jonathan replies, chuckling. "Well, let's go inside now, before the rain gets too crazy."

"Good idea," he responds, grinning.

As they walk inside, many pictures line the walls of the medium-sized hallway, mostly of what Branden assumes to be family and friends. "This is such a cool house! The pictures Maria showed me don't do it justice, honestly. How long have you lived here?"

"Since I was a baby. My parents and their parents have been living here through the generations and raising their families in it, and so did I. That picture right there-" he points to a framed black and white picture of a large family standing out in a large field, in front of a brand new looking barn, "Is of my grandpa and his wife and kids. That little boy right there is my pa. He passed away a few years back, may he rest in peace. I'm certain he's looking over me in the heavens."

"Sorry to hear that. I'm sure he is."

After they tour the rest of the home, Branden is settled into the guest room, where Jonathan's parents used to sleep. A large painting of a man with a long beard and blank face hangs above the bed, causing a chill to run over Branden's spine as he sees it. It's as if the man was looking deep into his soul, like it wasn't just a painting of a strange old man. He could already tell that this man had a story, that he'd had his heart broken and couldn't repair it. Maybe he had no children, and his parents were disappointed that he wouldn't continue the family tree. They would die in vain, no grandchildren to play with and shower with gifts. The man may have died before his parents did, and only they attended his funeral, and they too died soon after he did. They had no family or friends to attend, so no funeral was held. They were cremated and their ashes were laid around their home, their most valuable possession. The background of the painting was dull, a small section covered in dead trees and the rest a barren wasteland. Even the man seemed dead, like someone had propped his corpse up on a chair to paint his emotionless face.

Branden placed his suitcase on the bed, and as he unzipped it, Jonathan walked into the room.

"I'm starting on dinner now. Hope you like stew," he says.

"That sounds great! Do you need me to help with it at all?"

"No, thanks. I've made this a thousand times, I should be fine. You just make yourself at home." He chuckles, walking out of the room.

Branden begins to take his clothes out of the suitcase, placing them in the large bureau beside the bed. Once he finishes unpacking, he puts the suitcase on the floor beside a window, curtains drawn over it. Opening them up, a large expanse of forest is shown, rain pouring out of large gray clouds. A flock of birds fly out over the many trees, eventually moving out of view from the window.

A large red barn sits next to the forest, the rain spilling off the sides of the slanted roof. Puddles begin to form and the grass becomes a shade darker, and as he continues watching out the window, Jonathan calls him down for dinner. As he walks down the steep steps to the kitchen, a warm, welcoming smell meets him, and as he steps into the kitchen, it becomes even stronger.

"Wow, it smells amazing!" He says, stepping into the large but cozy kitchen. A medium sized pot sits on a stove, where beef and vegetables float over top of a broth.

"Thanks! It was my mom's recipe. I don't do it as well as she did, but it always turns out great."

Jonathan spoons the food into two bowls, placing them on the rustic dining table that sits beside a window. Rain hits on it and the faint outline of a stream is visible on the right side as it nearly overflows with water. They both sit down on opposite sides of the table, and after Jonathan says a short prayer for both of them, they eat their food, talking about their work for tomorrow and negotiating pay. After they finish eating, Branden helps to clean up and they both retire to the living room for dessert and more conversation.

"This pie is great! Did you make it yourself?" Branden asks, taking his second bite of the pecan pie.

"Thanks! I did. I made it yesterday so it would be here for when you come over, I'll have to make another batch for you before you leave. This was Maria's favorite as a little girl, I'm sure she'd love to have it again."

As Branden looks over through the window, he notices no wedding ring on Jonathan's finger. Maria had never brought up a mother, but he thought it was because she had passed before they met and wasn't comfortable mentioning it, but as he thinks about it, it does seem like he was simply never married. After thinking about it for a moment, he decides to ask about it.

"So, were you ever married?"

Looking up at him, Jonathan sadly shakes his head, his eyes becoming low. "Unfortunately not. The longest relationship I ever had lasted eight months, and I only had one other girlfriend before then. The only reason I have Maria now is because her mother was on drugs and not fit to care for her. I haven't spoken to her in ages and after that, I figured I'd give dating a rest and just focus on raising Maria."

"That must have been tough. At least she had a great dad, from what I've heard Maria only has good things to say about your parenting. You must have been great for her." Branden smiles, putting his empty plate on the coffee table.

"That's good to hear. I thought I was an awful dad, actually. Especially during her teen years. I thought she hated me, and we didn't get many personal moments together until she was sixteen. It was difficult to accept her growing up, especially since she thought I was this really strong man as a little girl. I knew I wasn't, but I didn't want to disappoint her."

"Well, you raised her well. I don't think I can imagine being with anyone else but her."

"That's good to know. Well, I'm gonna head to bed now. You can stay up for as long as you'd like as long as you aren't too loud. Good night!"

"Night! See you in the morning!"

Branden stays up for one more hour before going to bed, but is only able to get a few hours of restful sleep before a piercing scream from outside wakes him. He opens his eyes and slowly steps out of bed, creeping to the window to peek outside. While it is too dark to see anything, the scream still echoes through the air, and Branden shivers. He tries to reason that he was simply hearing things, even though it sounds all too real. He gets back in bed, not wanting to disturb Jonathan if it all turns out to be nothing. He'll just ask about it tomorrow.

No other screams were heard during the night, and Branden wakes up the next morning to the smell of sausage and the sun shining on his blanket. He rises from bed, and after putting himself together in the bathroom, heads downstairs where a plate with sausage and eggs sits on the dining table. Jonathan greets him and they talk while they eat, and after they both get ready, they head outside to begin the work.

It was a dreary day, but Jonathan's fun personality and jokes help make it a bit less gray. Brandon started off by picking tomatoes and loading them into buckets, before he went on to collecting the eggs from chickens and putting them into cartons. After a few hours of work, Jonathan prepared them chicken and rice for lunch, and they rested for thirty minutes before getting back to work.

Several more hours of work passed by, and Jonathan let Brandon inside to shower and rest before dinner. Brandon cleaned up and helped Jonathan prepare Chilli for dinner, and as they both ate, Branden decided to bring up the screaming from last night.

"Hey, so you tell me if I'm crazy or not, but I heard some screaming last night that sounded like a woman, and I was just wondering if I should be concerned," he says.

Jonathan places his spoon down, and for a moment he freezes, not knowing what to say, before collecting himself and saying, "Oh, that's just those damn foxes. The female's mating call sounds similar to a woman screaming. I heard it too, but they shouldn't bother you too much. They only come around every once in a while."

"Oh, alright! Hopefully it won't happen again," he replies, chuckling.

"Well, I better go feed the dogs now. Could you put away the leftovers? Containers are in the cabinet over there." Jonathan points to a small cabinet and gets up, carrying a large bag of dog food outside with him and whistling to the dogs. After putting the leftovers in the fridge, Branden heads outside with Jonathan, where his two dogs are on the porch, eating their food. Jonathan sits on a porch swing, gently moving it back and forth with his feet. Branden joins him on it, moving a decorative pillow out of his way.

"Can you remind me of their names? I completely forgot," Branden asks.

"The golden retriever is Bella, and the sheepdog is Archie. They're both about five, I got them as a package deal when they were puppies. They were best friends, you'd never find them by themselves. I just had to take them together." He smiles, petting Archie's back.

"That's cute. I always wanted to have a dog as a kid, but got a cat instead. She was great. Lived a long life."

"Well, I've gotta run a few errands before it gets dark out. You're welcome to come if you want."

"That's fine, I'll just stay here and watch some TV. When should you be back?"

"Around six or seven, probably. You'll manage," he jokes, laughing and hitting his shoulder.

"Alright, sounds good," he says, smiling.

"See you then!" Jonathan says, getting up and walking back to the kitchen.

Branden stays sitting on the swing for a few moments longer, before heading back inside. He watches through the living room window as Jonathan drives away and becomes hidden by the trees lining his property. All is quiet for a long while, but then, another sudden scream comes from outside, nearly identical to the one from before. Branden, wanting to get a glimpse of the supposed fox behind the noises, rushes outside where the noise seems to be coming from... the barn he was told to not go in.

He contemplates whether or not to go inside, but decides that as long as he doesn't touch anything, it should be fine for him to see inside. He opens the large wood door, where two horses are housed in spacious stables, their heads sticking out over the short doors. Hay covers every inch of the ground, but nothing suspicious is visible. As Branden turns around, he sees Jonathan speed walking towards him.

"What are you doing?" He asks urgently.

"I heard another scream and it came from here. I was just checking to see if there was anything, but there wasn't." He steps back from the door, closing it shut.

"Oh, okay. Wasn't expecting the foxes to do it this much. Hopefully they'll quit now. Wanna come inside and watch some movies? I can make some popcorn."

"Sure! What do you have?" He asks, walking back inside with him.