I reclined in the stained chair, stretching my arms above my head, letting out a small groan.

I rubbed my eyes aggressively with my fists, and then returned to the window with my binoculars

for surveillance. A fair distance away, in the forest outside the town of Springfield,

was a structure they could only be described as a castle. It had old Victorian style architecture,

and was made almost entirely of stone. It overlooked the modernized town,

standing as a grim relic of a long forgotten past. There were stories about the owners of the

mansion. Some said that it was home to a cult of deranged lunatics who would creep into town to

collect human sacrifices. Others said that it was long abandoned, except for the ghosts of

the original tenants who haunted the halls at night. But in every story, it was clear that there

was a host of wealth hidden in the old castle. That wealth is what had drawn my partner,

Bill, and I to Springfield. We had been conducting reconnaissance for the last two months,

and now we were perhaps the only people who knew the truth about the mansion. There was no cult,

and the building wasn't abandoned. As far as we could tell, only two people lived in the mansion,

a woman and her young son. They were incredibly reclusive and had an odd schedule.

What we knew for certain was that they never came out during the day. It was difficult to see what

they were doing inside the house, but their activity seemed quiet and reserved. When they did leave

the house, it was always night time, and they always headed into the forest behind their home.

Never once did they enter the town of Springfield, which explained why no one knew about them.

Some nights, the woman and her son would disappear only for a couple of hours.

Some nights, they were gone almost until the morning, and twice they disappeared for an entire week.

Bill only ever laughed at this eccentric schedule, but I was becoming increasingly unsettled.

So today seems as good a day as any. Bill said from behind me,

...