Lost and Found

Suspicion

Neighbor Pov

“Damn”

I was on my way to the store. As much as I hated leaving the house, my kitchen was almost empty, and I was getting tired of takeout, so I had no choice. However, when I was just a few streets away, I realized I’d forgotten my wallet. With another curse, I turned the car around and returned home.

As I parked and walked to my front door, I was struck suddenly by a sense that something was wrong. I threw the door open and looked around, trying to find what was giving me this feeling. I checked every room on the ground floor, but I couldn’t find a single thing out of place. As I was about to check upstairs, I noticed a window open in the kitchen.

“Huh...” I could’ve sworn I had all the windows closed, but I suppose I forgot to close this one after burning breakfast. I go ahead and slam the window shut, making sure to lock it, before grabbing my wallet from the living room and getting back in my car.

———

Player POV

I hold my breath until I hear the door shut, letting out a sigh of relief as the sound of the car fades away.

“Cheeses fuck that was close”

I hop out of the wardrobe that I was hiding in, thanking whatever god was listening that he didn’t check it. I didn’t even bother questioning why the hell he had an empty wardrobe pretty much in the kitchen, it saved my panicked ass when I needed a quick place to hide.

Sneaking back to the counter, I peek out the window just to be sure he was really gone before I turn my attention back to my main objective: Food.

—————

After what was probably an hour, I decided it was time to get out of my neighbor’s house. Checking the rest of the kitchen didn’t turn up much: there was a stale box of crackers and an almost empty cereal box, but otherwise there wasn’t really much in there. Either the guy really was struggling for money (not nearly as much as me if he still has a car and a house) or he doesn’t leave the house much. I’m guessing it’s the latter, and he left for the store.

Before I left, I tried checking out some of the other rooms. Maybe I could grab some other, not food things. Sadly, most of the doors were locked, save the few rooms I’m sure he spends time in, and the stairs were blocked off by some gate thing. I was tempted to try finding a way passed it, but I’ve spent enough time here this trip. Who knows how much longer the neighbor would stay out, and one close call today is enough for me. I left through the front door, making sure to lock it behind me. (Maybe next time I’ll look for a spare key so I can get in easier)

There are a handful of cabinets back ‘home’ that aren’t completely ruined, and I find one that’s in good enough shape to store the stolen food in. It didn’t look like much when it was all in there, but it was more than enough to last until the next time I venture across the street.

I had just shrugged my overshirt back on when that familiar car engine grew close. I take a look outside, a lot less nervous now that I wasn’t (technically) trespassing. Turns out I was right in my guess that he went to the store, as he grabbed bags of what I could only assume were groceries out of his car. I couldn’t tell what was in the bags, but there were enough to feed a whole family for a week or two, or one person for over a month. Definitely enough that he shouldn’t notice a day or two’s worth go missing in a week.

I watch him lock his car and bring the last of the bags in, already plotting my next break in. There’s no way I can wait until the next time he goes shopping, I doubt my stolen supply will last that long, and the result will probably be the same if he always waits until the kitchen is empty to stock up. I’d rather not starve waiting just to get a few bites to eat. Maybe I’ll have some luck if I dig through his garbage sometimes, but hopefully that won’t happen too often. Restaurants may throw out tons of edible food a day, but from my experience regular people tend to wait until something is nearly rotten to toss.

Future me will probably kick myself for relying on a single target for survival, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to care about being efficient this time. Maybe I’ve just grown lazy from the short time I was able to live like a normal person, but I don’t want to leave this place that I found. Plus, I’m too curious about my neighbor’s house now that I’ve finally been in it. Why is it so big if he’s living alone, and why the hell is so much of it blocked off? 

It’s decided: I’ll keep watching him to figure out his pattern. Once I get a good idea of when it’s safe to intrude, I’ll break in again.