The Park (Evenstad Media Presents Book 1) (15 page)

TO: Evenstad Media

FROM: Natalie Klein

SUBJECT: Manfred

SENT 5/27/2074 AT 4:47 p.m. EST

I have seen the latest episode of your program, only to
watch my husband, not to support you. And yes, I have written to beg you. My
Manfred is unwell. More unwell than I've ever seen him. So unwell that I am
unsure that he could pull back out of it, even with the finest medical care.
But he deserves a chance, and you will give it to him. You have to. Have him
forfeit. Have him buy out his contract somehow. We will find the money we need
for it. But please, let him come home, while there's still something of him
left to send home.

Natalie Klein

—

TO: Natalie Klein

FROM: Evenstad Media

SUBJECT: RE: Manfred

SENT 5/27/2074 AT 4:52 p.m. EST

Mrs. Klein,

As we have told you before, your husband has signed a
contract, and he knew full well the possible risks when he did so. We apologize
for your hardship, but the contract is legally binding.

Regards,

Evenstad Media

JOURNAL 03BLAKE

ENTRY 010

DATE: 5/27/2074

Well, we're staying here with the old man. I'm kind of okay
with it. I mean, I never thought I'd be okay, putting myself into potential
danger like this, but I am. Yeah, Manfred's pretty harmless. And he looks like
hell. But that Craig guy just isn't sitting right with me for whatever reason.
He makes Manfred happy, though, and keeps the old guy comfortable. Which is
okay. You shouldn't die alone. Grandpa told me that before he passed. It was
hard for him. He didn’t have people the whole time, for days. That's when I
started sticking around there, once I found out. It just wasn't right in my
heart. It sounds so mushy. I've never admitted that to anyone. Well, anyone but
Grandpa. The day before he went, he told me that, in the end, all that's
important in life is having people around you that don't want anything. No
money, nothing in the will, no life secrets from an old man or anything like
that. Just someone who wants to be with you because they know that this is
going to be the last time they might see you.

So yeah. I'm okay sticking around. If Rita changes her mind
and decides we need to leave, I'll go. I may not be happy, but I'll go. I just
hope that doesn't happen. Not if he's dying.

Dying. I think he really is dying, though. Not fake. Really,
really dying. And Evenstad is just letting it happen. I really don't want to
think this is real, that I actually… and I don't want to think that Rita lied
to me. But this Manfred guy? He's like… I don't really know what to think
anymore.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 02CHRISTINA

ENTRY 016

DATE: 5/28/2074

I found lights on in a house. It's the first time I've seen
that so far, so I can only assume there's actually some people. I could be
wrong, but what the hell? Even if I am, it doesn't put me in any worse of a
situation than I'm in at this exact second.

I'm not going to head over there yet, though. Yeah, I can
pretty much handle anyone in there with that golden light thing I found in the
house, but I'd still rather try to get a count, if I can. It doesn't really
matter how long it takes to ferret out the information I need. What do I have
to live for, other than seeing Evenstad burn?

ENTRY END

Obituary of Kathleen Marie Horstmann (2034-2074)

Kathy Horstmann (2034-2074) was found dead in her home in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania late last night. She is survived by her son, Damian
Horstmann. Funeral services at Terry Funeral Home on Wednesday, May 30
^th
starting at 9 a.m.

JOURNAL 10MANFRED

ENTRY 014

DATE: 5/28/2074

This will not last long. I am weak. I can barely type, and I
do not even bother pretending to eat. I cannot hide this any longer, not even
from David's murderers. At least Craig does not leave my side. None of them do,
actually. It is particularly odd, but I welcome the company. It is not my
Natalie, and it is not my children, but it is some comfort, at least.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 05CRAIG

ENTRY 015

DATE: 5/29/2074

Rita's brought something up to me, and I really have to
agree with her. I'm damn sure not happy about it, but it's the right thing to
do. Manfred is miserable and I just can't watch it any longer. It's time to
fulfill my promise. I'm going to help Manfred the best way I know how to. I
have to end his suffering. Well, we do.

In the end, it's going to be Rita. We've worked it all out.
I know I can't pull the trigger. It sickens me, but I know it wouldn't happen,
and Manfred deserves to be out of pain. So I'm giving her Susan's old medallion
to do it. It's the only one in the house that can afford him any level of
dignity. It should be painless. Just a simple shot through the head. That's
painless, isn't it? He deserves painless. I just hope my part is enough in
this. I promised I'd help.

ENTRY END

Obituary of Natalie Lorraine Klein (nee Harrison)
(1990-2074)

Natalie Klein (1990-2074) was found dead in her home in London,
England late last night. The autopsy has revealed a drug overdose as the cause
of death. She is survived by Damon Klein and Katherine Thomson. The wake will
be held at her home Saturday, June 2
^nd
, at 1 p.m.

Valued Evenstad Enterprises contributor,

You may have heard of Evenstad's newest project, Evenstad
Farms. Our work in Egypt is off to a wonderful start, and we have high hopes
for the end results, both for the world food crisis as well as the farmers in
Egypt.

Now is your chance to get in on this. You have, in the past,
been very generous in support of our projects. We want to extend the chance to
you again. For a small injection of funds, you can be a part of this exciting
new initiative. If you are interested, please call our toll free number 1-888-003-8000
A representative will be happy to help you and provide any information you may
need.

We look forward to working with you on this and future
projects,

Evenstad Enterprises

JOURNAL 05CRAIG

ENTRY 016

DATE: 5/29/2074

We buried Manfred today. Rita and Blake offered to help me,
and I was okay with that. I wish we could have done more for him. He deserved
more than that. So much more than that. He was a much better man than I ever
would have guessed I could meet in a place like this. He never once wanted to
hurt anyone. Not that I could tell, anyway. He was so sweet, and he didn't let
this evil damn competition get to him. He stayed pure as ever, and I admire
that. I couldn't do it. I killed Susan. Even if it was in self-defense, I ended
her life. She might have been innocent before all of this. It could have just
been this that made her break like that. I don't know anything about her other
than what I saw in here.

But this isn't about me. I'm too self-centered anyway. This
is about Manfred. He's dead. To his family, even though you'll never know, I'm
sorry. I had a hand in killing him. Even though it was to put him out of this
misery Evenstad tossed him into, I'm so unbelievably sorry for your loss. For
the world's loss. You've got to believe me.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 02CHRISTINA

ENTRY 017

DATE: 5/29/2074

Those idiots over at the house with the lights must want to
die. They all came out. Three of them, carrying a body. I watched the whole
thing. They dug the grave, buried it, and then hung around outside, waiting for
me to just come along and take them all out of the picture. Dumbasses. They
might think that everything's okay. We're still playing, and we're still in god
damn danger. Even me. I know that. If I go over there and things don't go right,
I'm done. Dead. But I've always taken risks, and they've gotten me this far.
Before all this stupid Evenstad bullshit went down, I had a pretty damn good
life. Even if I couldn’t cook.

And I didn't make it happen by waiting around. I made it
happen with action. So that's exactly what I'm doing next. I'm taking action.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 06RITA

ENTRY 012

DATE: 5/31/2074

Well, Evenstad, we got out alive. I'm not totally unscathed,
but I'm breathing. You can't get rid of us quite so easily. But kudos to that
psycho business suit bitch. Someone else is finally concerned enough with your
ratings to give a damn. She's sure as hell good at it, too. So nice choice on
her.

Craig let us all come back here. I don’t know where you
found him, but this house is pretty well-protected. He even managed to take
apart your medallions and wire them up to make booby traps. I mean, that's
pretty fucking cool. Even you have to admit that. Maybe you can keep him alive
somehow. At least long enough to pick his brain and figure out what the flaws
are with your design. It would sure as hell make my job here a lot easier if I
didn't have to kill him. It's not something I'm looking forward to. Not that I
can't make it happen, but I really don't want to, if it's at all avoidable.
He's another good guy and he definitely doesn't deserve this. Not that anyone
does, really.

Blake's been nursing my injury. He's a sweet kid. I… damn,
Evenstad, you're getting some juicy shit on me here, aren't you? Yeah, well
fuck it. I can make this confession. I might be seeing Blake as more than just
a pawn lately. Maybe. I don't know for sure. Which sucks, and I'm sure whatever
psychiatrists and psychologists and other eggheads you hired knew it would
suck. Two people thrown together like this for long enough have to form some
kind of bond. It seems pretty fucking inevitable to me.

I still have to kill him. I know that. You know that. When
it comes time, I bet the viewers will know that, too. I'm just hoping I can. I
mean it. You might have actually beaten me at this by bringing Blake in. As
much as I've complained about him to you, maybe you did know better, you slimy
little assholes.

Ciao.

ENTRY END

TO: Niels Evenstad

FROM: Marta Evenstad

SUBJECT: Profits

SENT 6/1/2074 AT 12:18 p.m. EST

Brother,

Accounting has given me the projected profits, based upon
our current work and our initial investments. I've had them send a copy to your
financial department, as well as to your secretary, but I could hardly contain
my excitement when I saw the numbers. Assuming that everything goes as planned,
we will be clearing 15 million dollars profit within the first three months of
this. And that's based only on the farms we've set up in Egypt.

This is wonderful, Brother. I think this might even be
better than you'd intended when you first presented the plan. I will, of
course, continue to work. I only wish to make you and the family happy.

Marta Evenstad

Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Farms

—

TO: Marta Evenstad

FROM: Niels Evenstad

SUBJECT: RE: Profits

SENT 6/1/2074 AT 1:46 p.m. EST

Marta, this is fabulous news. You are doing so much for the
family, so much that neither you nor I can truly see the end of the ripples
this will cause. All good things, of course. And yes, it is far better than I
ever imagined. Carry on with things as you are. I have complete faith in you,
and I'm proud to call you my sister. I knew I made the right choice when I
suggested you to run this business.

Niels Evenstad

Chief Operating Officer, Evenstad Media

JOURNAL 05CRAIG

ENTRY 017

DATE: 6/1/2074

It's all gone. Every last one of the CESUs is gone. Which
means that somebody got in here and took them. They left the ones I had hooked
up, thank God, but that means somebody has the laser I use to work on them.
Even worse, they have that golden light one. I'm pretty sure that's what burned
down the other trailer. Just thinking about that is what's keeping me from
falling asleep now. I don't want to be around if someone else has that damn
thing.

I haven't mentioned anything to the others. As far as they
know, I only have what I had on me, and the two I wired up for defense. I want
to keep it that way, too. If they found out I lost two CESUs, especially the
one that took us down, that could put me in danger. I mean, the only reason
Susan kept me around as long as she did was my brain. If I was stupid enough to
lose them… well, it might not be good for my continued health and well-being.

I just can't believe someone got through here like that. I
thought I was well-protected. I thought I fixed it up well enough after Susan
got through. Apparently I was wrong. Go figure. One more thing I can't do in
this stupid-ass game.

ENTRY END

JOURNAL 03BLAKE

ENTRY 011

DATE: 6/5/2074

Rita's better, finally. Her injury wasn't as bad as I
thought. I figure that burn on her leg did some serious work on her, but it
must have just been at the surface. I hope the stuff I did was helping and not
just getting in the way. I mean, I'm not a doctor or anything. I just tried to
make her comfortable. I guess it's not that important. She's good to go now.

When I think about it, I still can't believe I doubted her.
She was the one who told us about the fire so we could get out in time. Sure,
I'm not thrilled we still have Craig here with us, but I'll take it over dead
any day.

Rita's still being awesome. Even more awesome than usual.
And she's getting kind of… handsy? I guess there's no other way to put it. I
mean, we always sleep next to each other, for safety if nothing else, I
suppose. But she's been touching and grabbing and… yeah. I don’t know what it
means, exactly, but I'm okay with it. Like really, really okay with it. Sticky
sheets kind of okay with it. And she always makes me breakfast. Not Craig, just
me.

When it comes around to time, I'll get Craig out of the way.
I hope I don’t have to, but it's all got to be fake, right? No matter what
happened with Manfred. He was old. A fluke, that's all. God, I'm rambling. And
I'm trying to talk myself out of this.

But once Craig is out of the picture, we can finally have
some real alone time. No worries. Just the two of us.

ENTRY END