The next morning, many police cars pull into Jonathan's driveway as him and Branden stand on the porch, watching as they remove search dogs from the backseat of each vehicle. One officer walks up to the two and explains what they will be doing, and after they confirm that Jonathan consents, they begin to search his backyard.
Jonathan asks if he can come with the officers while they search, and they allow him to, as long as he doesn't interfere with them. As the police reach the property line, they inform Jonathan that he can't continue with them as it isn't his land. He begrudgingly agrees to go back, constantly turning over to watch them as he goes back to the porch.
He stands over next to Branden, who is leaned over on the porch railing. They begin conversing about anything other than what's happening, until the distant sound of a dog barking alerts them back to reality.
"Guess they found something," Branden says, looking into the forest beyond.
A half hour passes and the police appear from the forest, with something in hand. The same officer from before walks back up to them, this time with a bag that contains a piece of what looks like material from blue jeans. Jonathan is asked if he recognizes the material as belonging to him or someone he knows, and he anxiously denies knowing anything about it.
The officer looks at him glaringly once more before thanking him and walking away.
"Looks like somebody doesn't like you," Branden jokes, nudging Jonathan on the shoulder and chuckling.
Jonathan smiles awkwardly back at him, staring off into the forest again.
"You seem a bit tense lately. Is everything alright?" Branden asks, crossing his arms and looking at Jonathan concernedly.
"Oh, yea, I'm fine. Just thinking about work, is all. Nothing much," he replies, lightly smiling. "I'm gonna get started on some work now, come out when you're ready."
"Alright, I'll get a bite to eat and be out in a bit."
Branden grabs a granola bar and heads outside, eating it on the way to the chicken coop. He shoves the wrapper in his pocket and starts collecting eggs when a scream from far away alerts him and Jonathan. It was clearly far away, but Branden instantly wonders if it was from the girl that ran away.
He tells Jonathan that he's going to go investigate and gets into his car. It's the first time he leaves the farm in about a week. He turns in the opposite direction of the farm, doing a turn around the property and ending up on the other side of the woods, where an ambulance and some police cars have gathered around a vehicle. They wheel a girl that looks strangely familiar to the one he saw before into an ambulance and soon drive off. Traffic has started to build up and Jonathan is stuck in between two cars, so he must sit and wait for the road to be cleared before he can go back.
A tow truck arrives and pulls away the dented vehicle that Branden assumes hit the girl, and a man is escorted into a police car that drives away after he enters. It doesn't take long for Branden to get back and recount what he saw to Jonathan, who was taking a short break and leaning against the barn. He seemed surprised by this information and asked for further details that Branden didn't have, which disappointed him.
He started working again shortly after the conversation, and so did Branden. They worked a few more hours until it was 12:00PM and they had lunch, and started working again soon after, stopping at around 4. Leftovers didn't seem appealing and neither felt like cooking, so they ordered pizza and Jonathan left to go pick it up. He said it would probably take him a bit to get back so Branden had to entertain himself with television and the dogs, like he normally would.
Branden went out to feed the dogs at around 4:15, and soon after a police car pulled into the driveway. Two officers stood at the door, neither of which Branden had seen before. He invited them inside and they all sat in the living room.
One of the officers asks if Jonathan is home and Branden says he isn't.
"He went out to get pizza, but he should be back soon. Do you need to question him?"
"Actually, we were hoping he wouldn't be. We need to ask you a few questions. How long have you been here for?"
"A little over a week. I'm helping Jonathan with the farm for three weeks."
"And have you noticed anything strange happening?"
"Well, there were some screams happening for a little while when I first got here. They've stopped now though."
"And that's it?"
"Yea, pretty sure. But there is a bit of white space from when I got sick."
"You got sick?"
"Yea, it was terrible. I had a headache, nausea, and I couldn't remember very much from the day before either. It's all gone away now."
The two officers stare at each other for a couple seconds, until the second one says, "Well, that's all for now. Thank you, Branden. If you could, can you not tell Jonathan about this? We'd rather him not know about us being here. If you have any more information, please call us at this number."
The first officer hands Branden a card, and he puts it in his pocket. They leave the house and Jonathan arrives a few minutes after, food in hand.
YOU ARE READING
The Harvesting (ON HOLD)
Mystery / Thriller** Huge thanks to @fairsair6 for editing! ** Branden, who is soon to be married to his fiancé, Maria, receives a letter from her father, Jonathan, that invites him to stay at his home and assist him with the harvest. Wanting to get to know him bette...
