Later that evening Stuart threw a few things in his backpack making a mental checklist of things he might possibly need for the babysitting gig. A couple pens in case the kid wants to color? No that's stupid. He probably has crayons and stuff. A change of clothes though? Couldn't hurt. The job could go late. A flask of cheap whiskey just in case Kyle does wanna show up after hours? For sure. He texted Kyle again to confirm he could he come over and didn't need a lift before flinging himself on his bed and falling to sleep, the excitement to make some easy money fading.
The next day sped past uneventfully. His normal Friday routine of breakfast, a quick workout at the apartment complex gym and then an afternoon spent reading for classes. Soon it was 4pm, and Stuart tossed his bag in the back seat of his Honda and pulled up google maps ready to navigate to his sitting job. Strangely the address didn't come up exactly. There was a similar road, and a house at the end of it, but not the same one. Maybe he wrote it down wrong? He decided to find out in person, this wouldn't be the first time google had led him astray with a new house that just wasnt in the database yet. He drove for about 30 minutes outside of town, in the green thick forest areas with vines creeping up the taller trees. Kudzu was on everything, it was almost impossible to see from the road to the houses on various neighborhood streets. The sparse homes and gas stations began to disappear as he got further out in to the "BFE" as his mom liked to call it.
There it was, the street sign. He came to a slow halt, swung left and drove smoothly up the road looking for the address he was to meet his job for the evening. Nothing for about a mile really stood out, the occasional wrecked barn through a clearing, but otherwise trees so thick it was already getting dark down on the shadowed road he drove. Then it came in to sight. A monster of a house.
The front had old fashioned columns, painted white, with a massive double door behind a wrought iron gate set about 4 feet in front of it to form a very unwelcoming appearance. The windows too had decorative iron bars over them with Fleur-De-Lis tips that looked dangerously spear like. Stuart parked in the circular driveway, his car looked small next to the house, and he felt smaller as he stared up at what appeared to be three stories of solid rock that turned to brick and then wood as it went up. This place looked more like something out of a British movie than a house.
He approached the door but couldnt reach it through the iron gates. Looking to the left and right he saw no door bell, and trying the gate he found it locked. Should he go around back, or maybe just call and announce himself? He rattled the gate one more time then fumbled for his phone in his jeans pocket. Pressing the button he unlocked it with his facial recognition and then frowned. No bars. Of course there wouldn't be way out here. The place probably had no electricity either, he thought with a mental shrug.
"Can I help you" the voice startled him so badly he almost dropped his phone, whipping his gaze to the man who stood behind the gate. He had approached so silently Stuart never even heard him.
"Oh uh. Sorry. You startled me. Haha. I'm uh... Stuart. You called me to come out and sit tonight? Mister Forester right?" He slapped on a smile regaining his composure quickly. The man regarded him silently for a moment.