Spoiler
Author's note: There is a prologue for this story - please read it before continuing with Chapter 1!
Chapter 1
PRESENT DAY
Maddox Blayfur woke up from a peaceful nap into the hot, muggy interior of the family Jetta. He groaned, not wanting to leave his perfect dream world. Looking to his right he saw his brother, Grant, still sleeping peacefully, his head leaned up against the window. Groaning again, he pulled out a small black DSi and began screwing around with the camera and the sound recorder. While he was playing around, he neglected to notice that his brother Grant had woken up. Grant debated whether or not to steal the DSi from his brother and play the Sudoku game they owned – he decided not to, and instead contented himself with enjoying the countryside streaming by.
For the most part, he only saw empty fields with the occasional house or barn to break up the monotony. This wasn’t much of a shock to Grant, who enjoyed the peaceful country life he had read about in so many of his books. He turned to Maddox who, as usual, was buried in his game.
Sigh, Grant thought. Some people just have no respect for a good scenic view. He resumed watching the rolling fields.
“Hey mom?” Maddox said to the lean golden retriever – his mother, Joyce – in the passenger-side seat. “Where are we going again?”
“For Pete’s sake, Maddox, we’ve told you a dozen times! It’s a nice little town called Silverton…”
“…and…well…that’s about all we know.” Her husband Mark blushed. “This is going to be a fun, new life; I’m sure we’ll all have a great time! Oh, that reminds me…school starts in a week!”
A loud groan sounded from Maddox and a loud cheer erupted from Grant, followed by a stream of cusses from Maddox. Grant looked hopelessly at his brother, wondering why anyone couldn’t enjoy school –
Oh. Right. P.E. Physical Education was the only class Grant had any trouble with – being a book-freak, he didn’t have time to build rock-hard abs and lean, toned legs. Instead, all of his strength was in his head, where he believed it belonged.
Anyway, this year can’t be as bad as last year…maybe the P.E. teacher at our new school is a wonderful person. Maybe he’s funny, and charming, and believes everyone’s a winner…that’s it. At their last school, the P.E. teacher was, as Maddox put it, ‘a bitchy devil who ate babies’. While this was obviously not true, the teacher had a tendency to chase the class as they ran around the track, constantly yelling that if anyone stopped they would be pounced and eaten on the spot. Maddox enjoyed staying just out of the teacher’s reach, although he could easily have lapped her multiple times. Grant, however, had to come up with some injury or ailment every time the teacher ran the class (his legs were as strong as two twigs).
The soft calling of his mother brought him back to the present. She was talking to Maddox about how it was important to get an education; that brawn doesn’t always get you as far as brains would. Grant had heard her give him the same exact speech every year before school started, and every year he failed to listen. Even though his mother was respected by almost all of her friends, coworkers, and everyone else, she failed to gain the same lofty respect from her eldest son!
Joyce and Mark were a lawyer tag-team: hopeless alone, deadly together. In the courtroom, they were a sight to behold – he never gave up till the gavel came down, and she never stopped analyzing every situation and turning it to their advantage. Grant had always admired his parents, even when the occasional impossible case popped up. They were so in-synch, he thought, that he could not even imagine a time before they met. Whenever he tried to bring their pasts’ up, however, they would always change the subject before he could ask a single question. Odd, he continued, but normal – everyone had a cross to bear; maybe his parents’ were a little more embarrassing or tragic.
Once again, his mother’s voice beckoned him. She had told him something, but he couldn’t hear what: he responded as best as he could –
“Dahwha?”
“I said,” she began, “that we’re going to be arriving in Silverton soon and I want you two to get ready and look presentable – you never know who’s watching!”
Little did she know how true her word’s were – as they drove into town, a tiny camera mounted on a light post watched as the car housing the family rolled on.
“Welcome,” said a mysterious figure as he watched the car through the camera. “Welcome, fresh meat. Don’t worry, I’ll be keeping tabs on you…”
***
Maddox was fast asleep again by the time the Blayfur’s drove up to their new house. Not wanting to disturb their already-grumpy son, the rest of the family quietly got out of the car and began unpacking from the trailer. While Mark and Joyce worked on the master bedroom cabinets, Grant took the time to sneak off and check out the interior of their new home.
It was large and quite spacious, with a high ceiling looking down upon him. To his left, ornate columns created an archway into what he presumed to be the kitchen, and beyond that the dining room. To the right, an empty fireplace stared back at him through the family room. A set of glass doors opened up to the patio and backyard. Taking the stairs two at a time, Grant rushed up to the second floor, where he was faced with a hallway with five doors to choose from. Pushing each door open carefully, he saw that three were bedrooms, one was a bathroom, and the last one a closet.
“Hey mooooooooooom!!” He called.
“Grant, we’re down here! Don’t yell or you’ll wake your brother up!” His mother replied.
Grant tumbled down the stairs, where his parents were chatting at the entrance to the kitchen.
“Can I choose which room is mine?” He hastily asked, hoping for the room with the view of the backyard.
“Sure, honey, just make sure you let your brother know that that’s your room…” His mother responded.
“YES! Thanks mom!” Grant yelled as he ran back up the stairs to claim his sanctuary, excited with the prospect of his own room rather than bunking with Maddox.
On second thought, Grant said to himself, stopping in the middle of the hall, let’s have a little fun…
***
Meanwhile, out in the car, a snoozing Maddox was dreaming of video games and girls, when he was shaken awake by an arm on his shoulder.
“Mmfpwhthck?” He mumbled through the roll of duct tape covering his muzzle. A bandana had been wrapped around his eyes.
“You make one peep, you try to get away, and you’ll be as good as whacked.” A deep voice said from next to him.
***
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