The tree-lined road leading to Annabelle’s neighborhood delved so deeply into the woods that it evoked memories of the movie Deliverance. Just as Agent Ross pulled over to the side of the road to check his gps, certain he was completely lost, his eyes caught the light of the small security shack, and made out the wide gate that closed off the road. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, with the help of the guard light’s yellow haze, he made out the figure of the sentry, quietly reading a novel in the shack, either unaware of Agent Ross’ car, or disinterested by it. Ross sighed in relief, and drove a few feet forward, pulling a U turn to drive up to the gate.
“Can I help you?” The guard responded to Agent Ross’s arrival before he looked up from his book. Agent Ross let the car idle in park as he held up his FBI badge “I’m looking into suspicious activity in the vicinity and I need to cross through, please.”
The guard remained nonplussed, his book still in his hands “Appointment or warrant?”
“Excuse me?” Agent Ross blinked, the hand holding his badge twitching slightly, as though subconsciously reiterating his credentials to the security guard.
“I need to see your warrant. There are no appointments tonight, so unless you’ve got a warrant I’ve got to ask you to move along.” The guard waited approximately 3 seconds for Agent Ross to produce said warrant before leaning back in his chair and opening up his book again.
“Look, I’m under orders from the US Government to investigate suspicious phenomena in the area – “
“And they didn’t give you any paperwork that proves that?” The guard lifted one eye briefly from his book, but didn’t seem too impressed by Agent Ross’s insistence. “Look, if something weird is going on in there, I’m sure one of our residents will bring it to the attention of the homeowners association, and they’ll call the proper authorities. But I haven’t heard about it, so unless you’ve got a warrant, I’m going to have to ask you to move along.”
The guard flipped a page, and Agent Ross grumbled. He looked around his rental car, and blinked, grabbing the folded rental agreement and insurance papers. “Okay, here’s my –“
The guard interrupted him, not looking up from his book. “And don’t think I don’t know what a real warrant looks like, because I do.”
Agent Ross grumbled, setting the papers back down on the seat, and put the car in reverse, pulling away from the gate. Pulling back onto the road, he looked over the high privacy fence into the dense woodlands, unbroken except for the occasional, elegant punctuation of high roof peaks topping out over the trees.
“How far out does this fence go,” he wondered aloud, and drove his car further down the dark forest road, far from the contemptuous flicker of the security light.
