“Hey Sar, how are ya? You gotta come out to the ranch this week some time. I found something you’re gonna wanna get in on. Ok, call me back.”
That was a voicemail I got from my best buddy since high school. I haven’t heard from him since I got it.
He moved out to the country, well, farther into the country, a few years back off his veterans benefits. He always wanted a farm with his family and now he has one. Plus he gave me a gate key so I’m pretty happy about him living there too.
Anyway, when I could finally spare the gas and the time, I drove out there, 4 days after the voicemail. I hadn’t heard from him but like I said I had a key. I hadn’t heard from his wife either. That was worrying. She talked a lot.
When I pulled up to the house, around 4 in the afternoon, I could see the dogs in the windows jumping like crazy. They were mutts but they were well-behaved usually. Seeing them like that worried me. I jumped out of my truck and ran towards the house. Thankfully the door was unlocked. They ran to me and almost knocked me down.
“Guys, guys! Calm down babies!”
They were acting like they hadn’t seen a person in days. Weird. Tracks with the other evidence, though. This ranch was 50 acres, which sounds bigger than it is. There wasn’t any livestock that I could see from the house and that worried me. It was also weirdly quiet.
I went and looked to see if the dogs had eaten. They broke into the food bag and they were clearly full. I walked back towards my truck, the dogs, Romi and Lulu, trailing on my heels. I gave in and let them get in with me. I drove for what felt like hours, I walked through the woods, and I even walked the perimeter of the pond on the property, staring into the water, hoping I could find something, anything, that would give me a clue about my friends’ whereabouts. I yelled their names and called their phones, nothing.
When it was almost dark, I noticed a weird hole in a spot I’d already been by a bunch of times. I woulda sworn it wasn’t there before. I got out and walked over to it, and there was this weird-looking rock? egg? thing next to the hole, which I could now see was full of a steaming, dark, liquid. It looked like oil. I think this was what the voicemail was about. I’m no fool, I knew I’d be in trouble if I stuck around, so I lifted that egg thing into the bed of my truck, went back to the house to grab dog food and bowls, and drove home as fast as I could.
I have a shed, and I decided that was the best place for that egg-rock. Well, now I’m sitting in my room, staring out the window, and watching that shed door shake. I don’t know what to do. Any advice?