In over your head

I breathed a sigh of relief as the last hayride of the night was finally over. I helped untack and clean up the horses before finally cleaning myself up of all the makeup and grime from the day. Tonight's rounds had been especially grueling with at least two people complaining it wasn't scary enough, and one woman's water broke on the last scare of the hayride so an ambulance had to be called for her and all events temporarily paused until the paramedics and the pregnant woman left with her family. Between that and some kids trying to stay past closing by hiding in the barn and away from their parents, I was just done for the night. I wiped the water from my face with a rag before hanging it over the side of the sink. Turning to grab my bag I noticed the door to the old half bathroom I was in had opened. I could have swore I had closed it when I came in. Shrugging off the oddity as I had just forgotten to and it was an old barn in need of repairs so a shift in the foundation or a strong breeze could have opened it, I carefully shouldered my backpack and left. I yawned tiredly as I followed the old signs back to the main part of the barn's antiqued souvenir shop when I stopped. I saw what looked like a person in the corner of the shop where the farm's few refrigerated goods are kept. It was dark and hard to tell, and I was hoping it was just a leftover mannequin someone had moved and forgotten about, but I was almost certain someone was messing with something. Silently cursing my broken left hand as it was my dominant hand, especially when fighting so if this person had any skill I'd be at a disadvantage. I grabbed a nearby shovel and slowly approached the figure.

"Oi. The farm is closing down for the evening. I'm going to have to ask you to either show some identification or you will have to leave now please." I called out firmly, standing my ground as I approached. The figure shifted, as if trying to hide a little better in the darkness so they could sneak away but I quickly foiled that attempt by using the rusty shovel to block their immediate path. They then fell away from the shovel and quickly tried to scurry away from me. I rushed to follow them and awkwardly adjusted the shovel to sharply drop in front of them once more.

"I said to identify yourself! You've been caught, now speak up or I'm calling the cops!" I growled out, doing my best to try and herd them towards the wall so as to alleviate any ways for them to escape.

"You said 'or leave'! So just let me leave!" the figure replied in a very effeminate voice as they tried once more to sneak around me to just get away only to have the shovel be thrown in their face again.

"That was before you tried to just sneak away without a word. That's awfully suspicious if you ask me. Now who are you and what were you doing over there in the dark?" I explained bluntly, continuing to block the woman as best I could at every turn.

"Nothing! Just let me go and it will be like I was never here!" she snapped, giving a last ditch shove to try and get me out of her way but I was able to stand my ground. Using her movements against her I dropped the shovel and shifted as if giving in to her shove whilst grabbing ahold of her shoulder to push her to the ground and pin her. I sat my knees on her legs and kept my good hand weighted heavily between her shoulder blades once she was on the ground. I carefully held my head to angle down to her eye level and raised an eyebrow.

"I won't ask again before I bring you to the owners and call the police. Who are you, and what were you doing?" I asked, looking at her decisively. She glared at me in the dim lighting. Even this close I could hardly make out any features aside from their angry dark eyes. They continued to struggle and curse as I tried to figure a way to keep them pinned with just one arm. With next to no options and I was running out of time before the struggling sneak discovered I only had one hand and they wouldn't have to try too hard to disarm me.

"Would you just get off of me already?! I wasn't doing anything wrong so just let me go or I'll scream!" she demanded, continuing her struggle and very nearly winning once or twice. That then gave me the idea.

"You weren't doing anything wrong, yet you won't tell me what you were doing? And you're tried escaping several times from the get go. That will look really good when staff come through wondering what the ruckus is. And you better tell me quickly or we can just sit here till someone comes along. Should be anytime now really, pretty sure the owners do rounds at night with the hayride going on, you know, to avoid any riff-raff hanging about." I taunted, hoping she took the bait. I actually had no idea if anyone was still here besides the owners and they lived towards the back of the orchard and weren't likely to actually hear anything. At first it seemed they were considering their odds as they stopped struggling. This very much turned out to be incorrect as suddenly they reared back and turned to the left to throw me completely off balance and off them completely. Making sure I didn't drop my head, they took the advantage to scramble to their feet and start running away again. I cursed loudly and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, running as fast as I could after her. I should have called the police like I threatened, like a SANE person, but for some reason my fingers dialed out Topher's number. The second he picked up I had to rush to explain as it was hard enough trying to keep the creep I was following in my sights, it was twice as hard while trying to balance my head and talk on the phone.

"Topher I don't have time, I found some creep in the barn shop by the pumpkin patch, fuck they're fast! Get over here and help me catch them! They're running towards the orchard, probably trying to lose me in the trees!" I hurriedly explained before hanging up and pocketing my phone so I could focus on following as fast as I could. Whoever and whatever they were, they were fast although not very agile as they kept barely avoiding pumpkins in time to go around them and make a sharp right to head down by the orchard. Grateful I had predicted they were trying to lose me. I tried to focus more on their appearance now that they were out in the moonlight but it wasn't much good. All I could really make out any better was the fact they were wearing all dark clothes except for some frilly pink socks. I tried my best to pick up some speed but my forte was more in defensive fighting and maneuvers not chasing creeps through pumpkin patches at night. I just hoped Topher arrived soon, I wasn't sure how long I could keep up the chase. Especially as we neared the orchard, they turned again! This time doubling back towards the barn shop where I found them. I had to think quickly. If I called the police at this point, it would be a whole search after who knows how long it would take for them to get here and the owners would get involved. The Hackett's were nice people but I really didn't want to explain my unusual lack of sanity and not involving them or the police before this point. Topher was expecting them near the orchard and it would take time and focus to call him again and possibly lose the creep now trying to get away among the stables. It wasn't like I saw them in the cash drawer or anything, for all I know they were trying to plug in a dead phone and found the most obvious ones by the refrigerators in the barn shop and thought they'd get in trouble for messing with the outlet. I honestly liked NONE of these options. Getting in trouble over calling the cops for a dumbass that got spooked, or not calling the cops and they were doing something sinister I couldn't think of yet because I hadn't had the chance to investigate properly. As I quickly followed them as they curved around the horse stables trying to dodge and weave like in a shitty action movie I realized I had no real time to think on this I had to just do something. I had to either let them go, or find a way to pin them down and worry about consequences later. Cursing again I cradled my head like a football and put everything I had into a final sprint to try and catch up with them when they were suddenly gone. I nearly fell over myself trying to stop and look around then, and had to restrain from cheering at what I saw. Topher had barreled in from my blind spot and tackled them to the stable wall before I could even register he came in.

"Bro, please tell me this is about to be something rad as hell for how fast I had to smell around the damn orchard to catch your scent to follow you two here." Topher begged, still keeping the dark figure pretty tightly pinned down. I really didn't want to tell him I didn't know anything but our frilly sock wearing sneak had apparently had enough of being silent.

"You fucking hair brained, muscle bound, stanky ass DOG! Get the hell off me right the fuck now! Seriously I should not have to go to this much godamn trouble for fucking paint!!" she colorfully shrieked, making Topher and I both become very confused.

"Paint?" Topher asked, looking at me as if to clarify before removing the black hat from the strange woman to reveal a very fluffy looking afro. I was completely at a loss even as Topher lightened his grip on the woman and she turned to us with fury in her dark eyes.

"Yes fucking paint. A lot of old barns like this have lead based paint because they're so old. It's expensive to strip so a lot of places will just either paint over it or ignore it and pretend they did something about it. With how much the Hackett farm makes in profits especially over their cider I wouldn't be shocked if they did the latter. So I wanted proof. It's not exactly illegal to just scrape a little paint, but I didn't want questions or assholes like you two getting the wrong idea so I came in with the tourists and hid until it got quiet to take my samples." she growled out, thankfully no longer running when Topher let her go.

"Then why didn't you just say so? Or better yet identify yourself and leave or play dumb? How could you NOT realize running and hiding was your literal worst option?" I asked, feeling suddenly very grateful I didn't call the police.

"Not my brightest moment, but I…" in that moment all her anger went away and even in the dark night I could tell she was embarrassed as hell. "I kinda panicked and just hoped I could run and hide somewhere till the coast was clear." she admitted, her hands going through her wild and fluffy hair. "Look, can I just go now? I have been tackled and pinned enough for one night and I still need to hit up the BB for some dinner." She whined, taking her hat back from Topher and stuffing it into her pocket.

"The BB?" I asked, before it dawned on me. "Wait, why does a vampire want to check lead samples on old farm paint?!" I asked, more lost than before.

"Does my species matter when lives can be on the line? Seriously with how many people work here, let alone all the tourists year round there could be any number of cover ups, and if a baby were to get ahold of any of it and end up eating any of it?!" she asked, looking appalled we could possibly bring her species into questioning her. Topher and I shared a look of confusion and shrugged.

"I guess. But please don't come back to creep around miss…" I began, pausing for her to fill in the blanks and giving her a look of question when she took a bit longer than is typically polite.

"Cassy. Cassandra Blair." she supplied finally, rummaging through her pockets and pulling out a crumpled up business card from her front left pocket. "I usually leave these after I've found out if they're an honest business that I wouldn't mind working with." She beamed in the moonlight then looking very proud of herself. I pulled out my phone and handed Topher the card to hold as I shined my flashlight on the card to read it.

"You go to all this trouble to find if businesses are honest so you can leave them a business card offering to make and help them sell yarn?" Topher asked her incredulously. I had to agree. This was quite a leap for someone to go. But Cassandra seemed to have no shame in this matter and just continued to beam proudly at us.

"Duh!! I won't do business with just anyone! And I only want to trade with farms that follow basic protocol at least and don't keep old world hazards around just to save a buck. Besides, my angora and chinchilla wool is all from pedigree animals and ethically harvested from them. I offer special deals as well to mix with normal sheep wool to increase the quality and softness to help them sell faster. Oh! And I'm looking into adding Alpacas to my list of personal ethical wool collecting but don't quite have the land or necessities yet. And I still need to research more on if they would be a good fit for me to care for." she animatedly explained as if that cleared her of all the chaos she caused tonight because she had a cause. I had to pause and take a deep breath so I didn't end up yelling at her over the insanity of all of this.

"Just take the paint, we'll give your card to the Hackett's because I highly doubt you'll find any lead there. And just go, next time actually ask or something instead of just trying to play super spy because honestly you suck at it and just running is going to get you arrested one of these days." I warned tiredly, honestly having no idea how a woman could be such a pain in the ass doing dumb things for humanitarian reasons. In the end she smiled proudly and nodded and went off to prance about her merry way. I couldn't help but share a look of disbelief with Topher as she left.

"Did that seriously just happen?" I asked, pinching the bride of my nose as we doubled around to the parking lot to meet up with Adrian and go home.

"I think it did, though I can't say I wish it didn't. She was pretty damn cute." He laughed, looking over her card again. "Maybe I'll give her a call." he snickered, nudging my arm carefully in teasing. I rolled my eyes and groaned in utter disgust.

"No. Bro for my sanity please leave the crazy humanitarian vampire and wannabe super spy alone. You should be more selective than just a pretty face in your 'free love' ways man. Pretty sure even your dad would tell you not to stick your dick in crazy too." I easily taunted, shoving him back as we slowly neared the parking lot to find Adrian on his phone leaning against my old van waiting for us.

"What took you guys so long? Didn't this place shut down like an hour ago? Pretty sure we're the only ones left." Adrian griped, his tired eyes never leaving his phone.

"Yeah but we ran into a humanitarian vampire and shit got weird." I explained vaguely, reaching for my keys on my belt loop. Utilizing your belt loops and old chain wallets comes in handy when you usually only have one hand truly free so I try to keep at least a few odds and ends either on my keys or on my wallet chain and belt loops. Once my keys were retrieved I unlocked the van and started situating myself in the driver's seat whilst Adrian slowly got into the passenger seat.

"You coming over Topher or you headed right home bro?" I asked, having rolled down my window to talk before we left as he parked about a spot or two over from me.

"Nah, I think I'm just gonna head home tonight. I have way too many tests incoming and my study group likes to meet in the mornings. Fucking awful man, can't they at least do early afternoons? But I gotta get home and crash so I can have any hope of making it on time and learning how to pass my classes. Maybe next week dude." Topher yawned out, waving to us as he got into his own car. His car was a metallic titanium gray special edition 2002 Mazda MX-5 and he was proud of it. Not a very common car and he found one beaten down on Scraigslist and busted his ass for the last three years to save and scavenge for all the parts, paint, and tools to restore it to its current glory. It was nowhere near done and it wasn't looking quite fabulous yet since Topher was far from a mechanic and wasn't usually rich on time or the funds to just take it in. But every year it looks a little better than the last and at least this year the paint was redone and looked much better than the spotty junk yard paint job it had prior. I shrugged and waved him off, adjusting my head rest to start looking to back out of the parking lot.

"Fair enough man. I'll see you tomorrow night!" I called, urging my old van into backing up and straightening out to leave the dirt lot and head home.

As I turned on the radio I noticed Adrian still hadn't really looked up from his phone. He wasn't ever the most talkative guy but usually when it was just us in the car he would immediately turn on the radio and quietly sing or hum along to just about every song he could recognize. So it was very odd to me that he hadn't done so as usual and just looked at his phone and I realized he had been much the same this morning and again when we were on our way to the farm for the night.

"Find a cool new game or something? You've hardly taken your eyes off your phone since this morning." I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Nothing really. Just making friends like you said I guess." he replied, eyes still glued to the phone as he clearly shrugged me off. I couldn't help but frown and think for a moment when the last time I told him that was. I tried to be accepting of his introverted tendencies despite trying to keep him socialized by bringing him to work the hayride events and sometimes to hang out with old friends here and there. I did this not to try and change him, but so he didn't just waste away alone because especially after a breakup he tended to try and close himself off and do little else but wallow in self pity. All I could think of was the week before I had been really tired from work and Adrian had wanted to hang out but I didn't really want to go out and mentioned him asking Topher if he had wanted to do something or ask his social media friends. Confused but I tried to play it off and hummed in agreement.

"Oh yeah. That's good then, I'm happy for you. So you make some cool friends to chat with?" I asked, not quite knowing what else to say even as I felt like a senile old man trying to bond with his grandson. Adrian shrugged again, putting the phone to sleep and looking out the window.

"Yeah I guess. They're kind of obsessed with videos of this lady showing how she makes different yarns and threads. It's kind of relaxing I guess but I still don't really see the big deal." He explained passively as he watched the scenery go by out the window. I wanted to press for more but as I opened my mouth to do so I remembered Topher and Heather telling me to give him his space and make his own decisions. So instead of pushing I just took a deep breath and smiled.

"I hope it works out then. Weird friends can sometimes be the best friends. I mean, look at Topher and Heather." I laughed, feeling even better when he laughed along with me and nodded. It was good to see him smiling again after seeing him so dreary for so long.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Those two are their own kind of weird though. I mean who the hell plans out rules for truces and shit like they do?" He jovially teased as he laughed. For once it made everything feel normal again and I was honestly pleased it looked like he was finally starting to heal for real.