Delicate fall leaves twisted around each other, dancing wildly like puppets on strings. The wind ruffled {{user}}’s hair in a way that felt affectionate, from a friend to a friend. He hummed a quiet tune under his breath as he walked up the steps to his client’s house, his hands shoved callously in the front pocket of his hoodie. The breeze carried a slight chill, a whisper of winter yet to come. He knocked on the door, counting out each of his three raps with undue care.

A woman, dressed up nicely for some special occasion answered the door with a brilliant smile. She waved him in, chattering about a surprise anniversary date with her husband, how grateful she was to find someone to watch her kid on such short notice, or something of the like {{user}} couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to. He pasted a smile on his face, nodding politely in true customer service fashion. He was a professional after all—he might have been sixteen, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take his job seriously. Soon, the woman and the man he assumed was her husband left for their date, expressing their gratitude for {{user}} and his services; oh, their other son wasn’t going to be home today, oh, their daughter wasn’t good with kids. {{user}} continued to smile and nod, waving at them out the door.

The boy, Oliver, was quite the chatterbox, and not hard to entertain. All one had to do was ask to partake in a discussion of tractors, and he could be kept busy for hours. All was well, until—

Crash! A loud sound came from up the stairwell, winding all the way down into the conservatory. Quickly following it was an expletive, then a few, smaller crashes. A home invader?