Chapter One: Introductions

Samantha

Samantha McClure is a young girl who is as normal as you and any friend you may have. Her friends call her Sam for short. She likes to read books and listen to rock music (if given the choice between classic G’n’R or Ozzie, she’d pick Ozzie.). Her favorite outfits consist of a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Most of her days when she’s not at class or at work, she sits on her bed reading a book. Her room has a computer for research and writing. The bed is a single bed with a small nightstand next to it. On it is a lamp and 7 candles (she found that 7 candles gave her enough light to read by without wasting money.) She looks normal enough; though her intelligence is high, her confidence is low.

Sam has a passion. She loves to read about time gone by. She dreams of strange animals and people from long ago. One night, in blissful dream she was in a cold place. She had never dreamed of a cold place. In the dream, Sam opened her eyes to the flicker of a fire and a tall man standing beside it. She could see every breath he took in the cold night air. She placed her hands on her arms to rub some warmth into her body. Oddly enough she was wearing a coat, a pelt coat so soft her fingers melted in it. She was chilled to the bone.

“ Kee Ta Shun! Cog!”, the man called out. She rose to her feet and looked at this man. He was much larger than any person she had ever seen before. Sam was looking at his broad, strong back. His hair glistened in the fire and she could see it ended at his low back. She noticed that the man was holding something in his hand. It was an animal; a large animal. He held it with ease in one hand by its two back paws and its front paws were not even touching the ground.

“Nak te tah!” He said, slightly turning his head. Sam turned to meet his eyes. They were warm and hard. They showed brown in the fire. The wind whistled through the cave and the fire flickered. Sam stepped closer to better see this huge man. She felt a stream of fear run through her body and any warmth she felt, left. She began to smile mist her uncomfortable ness. The man also began to smile. As his warm smile began to show his teeth, she woke up.

The alarm had gone off and it was time to begin another day.

She sat on the corner of her bed in her favorite pajamas, the ones with the moons on them, and took a deep sigh, wiped her eyes and set off for the shower. She left on time and arrived at English a little early. Sam only went because she enjoyed the reading assignments. Next were Biology, which she didn’t mind because anything was better than Botany (her only other option for the time slot), then Trig and a lab to follow. After lunch was her favorite class: History. Sam liked the course and it was the first class she signed up for. Although it was recent history, it was good enough for now.

After history, she went directly to the library, the only other place besides her bedroom she liked to read. She finished all her given assignments and went as fast as she could to the Ancient History section. There were only a handful of books there she hadn’t read. She picked up an old familiar book and sat down to read it again. Just as she got into it, her friend Brooke (one of three people she felt the need to talk to) sat down across from her at the table.

“Sam, don’t you have a date tonight?” asked Brooke.

“Oh, my God!” she gasped, “ I’m going to be late! Thanks C.B., You know as well as I do that Trio doesn’t like tardiness.”

She picked up all her stuff and ran home to get ready. Tonight Demetrio had something planned, something he had been planning for quite some time. Being late would only make him angry, so she skipped the shower and put on her favorite “dress up” clothes: new jeans and a new white button up shirt. She brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, and threw on some shoes. Finally, she was ready and all she had to do was wait for the knock at the door. As she waited, she thought about the day they first met.

Brooke

She was late for the third day in a row. Class began five minutes ago and if she ran, Brooke would make it to Trig ten minutes late. She had a black over-the-shoulder bag that held all her needs. Books, notebooks, pencils, pens, letters, bills, checkbook, school identification, driver’s license, library books, reports, lunch and most importantly, her eye glasses case. She adjusted it accordingly, and began to run.

People were moving out of her way left and right as she ran on the sidewalk. She tripped on a piece of concrete that had been moved by a tree root and a few people snickered. Brooke didn’t fall, and kept hauling ass. She skipped the stairs going up to Madison Hall (commonly known as ‘Math hall’) and took the ramp for wheelchairs. She bolted down the hall and saw the turn she needed to take. She turned the corner to the hallway, which her class was, and BANG! Brooke had run into a girl and almost knocked herself out. All the things that the other person was holding were now on the floor.

After getting a sense of what just happened, Brooke looked at the girl and recognized her.

“Hey, aren’t you in my class?”

“Yeah, my name is Samantha and you’d be, let me guess, ‘Runs – Like – Bull’?”

Brooke giggled a little bit “No, I’m Brooke and I need to get to class on time today.”

“You’re in luck, class is cancelled till tomorrow.”

After checking to make sure that her glasses weren’t broken by checking the case inside her bag, she looked at Sam. Brooke noticed a knot forming on the side of Sam’s head and felt awful.

“We’d better get some ice for that. It’s gonna make a nasty bruise.”

“Well” said Sam with a bit of mistrust “I was going to the library. If you’d like to come with me, you can.”

Brooke was grateful for the offer and accepted. As they walked to the library, they made small talk but by the time they got to the library Brooke was volunteering her life story.

“I’m the first one in my family to go to college. I was raised on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a small town in Ohio named Spring. The main street hasn’t changed in thirty years. I was born at home, the fourth of five children. I suppose that competing for my parent’s attention made me want to excel to greater things. I knew when I was four that I wasn’t going to be there forever.
My older siblings aspired to greater things but got caught up in life. My eldest brother, Mark, is married with two kids and works at the local garage. Not much of a life if you ask me. My older sister, Marie, went to college for a year, got pregnant and dropped out, now she’s a single mom living with our parents. Now, I don’t date. I want my education before I even think of having kids. My older brother, John, is a farmer and bought some land about a mile from my parents. He struggles with the bills and is constantly asking for help. My younger sister, Janice, is in high school.
I never wanted to be like any of them. I remember always trying to get some sort of attention from my folks. Everyone else seemed to know how to get a hug or a ‘Good job!’ out of my parents. I just didn’t know how, I suppose. I wanted to be the best kid they had. I achieved perfect grades all through school. Now I’m here, and glad to be. On my graduation day, mom and dad told me they were proud of me and that was it. One week later, I was here. Now I’m just going through this place with the same diligence. I still haven’t figured out a major yet, though. How about you?”

Sam listened because she knew she needed a friend and Brooke just happened to hit her in the head.

“Yeah,” said Sam, “History.”

They sat at a table across from each other and Brooke saw the welt on Sam’s head turning blue.

“Samantha” began Brooke, “I’m sorry about your head. I really..”

“Just call me Sam.” Sam interrupted, “Just look where you’re going next time. I’ll be fine. Who knows, maybe some cute guy will ask me what happened.”

Sam’s awareness of a much-needed friend in her life, gave her the willingness to listen to Brooke. She realized that their meeting wasn’t the greater of first impressions. She also knew that friends are sometimes made in such ways.

Demertrio

“Excuse me, ladies,” said Demertrio, “I noticed that your head is forming quite a welt. Here’s some ice from the water I had, it’ll help the swelling.”

He had seen the girls enter the library and noticed that one was talking and the other was listening as she touched her head. He saw a slight moment of pain flash across her face and then saw the welt on the side of her head. He had never seen these girls before.

The one jabbering way looked as though she had wakened up and ran out the door. The other girl, the quiet one, was most intriguing to him. He had gazed at a painting in his home and this girl had a striking similarity. He couldn’t believe that he just offered her ice from water he was drinking.

Demetrio was an only child of a wealthy family. He liked to be called “Trio”. His grand father had built a major company from the ground up. Growing up he was told over and over about how his grandfather had noting and built a world of luxury for his family. Granted that everyone soon or a later had to eat, Trio was an heir to a restaurant chain (Granger Gardens after the family’s last name). Trio’s mother was their second daughter. He, however, was their first grandson.

As a child he was showered with lavish gifts and got everything he wanted for Christmas and his birthday. All he had to do was ask. When he was about ten years old he stopped asking for lavish things. He began to ask his family to donate money to various charities. He knew his family was concerned about his state of mind. They figured that if a child stopped asking for gifts, even for Christmas, something was wrong. He figured that what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Trio had made a friend in school. Even though he went to private school, (were he got his dislike of tardiness), there were kids there on scholarship. He had befriended one of these kids and saw the awful state of living that his friend was in. His friend mentioned that sometimes there wasn’t enough to eat. All Trio really wanted to do was help. At dinner there were mounds of leftovers, food that he knew was just going to be thrown away. He also knew that the butler would take of it before he left for the night. So Trio would sneak out of his room to the kitchen. There, he would carefully wrap the leftover food in napkins and put it in plastic lunch bags. He would then take the food to his friend at school the next day. The only other person who knew about it was the butler. The butler had to know because he was the one who took care of the garbage and he also took food home as well. After three weeks of sneaking around, it had to stop. His mother noticed him one night and asked why he didn’t eat enough at dinner. He shrugged his shoulders and went into his room as fast as he could. After that, Trio always made sure the butler took food to him in his room after everyone was gone to bed. After about a year his friend had to move away. Trio felt better for helping a friend in need and never forgot the feeling.

He wanted his family to have the same feeling and that’s why he wanted them to give money to charity.

Before Trio’s grandparents died, they gave him one lavish gift. Death is always unexpected. Even if someone is sick for a longtime, loved ones still hold out hope that the sickness will leave and their loved one will be o.k. For his grandparents, it was an auto accident. About three months before the tragedy, Trio was given a gift.

“This is the last one, Trio.” Said his grandfather. “It’s all you’ll ever need and you showed such a giving spirit so young and now we’re giving you something. We know you didn’t ask for it. You can’t turn it down, it’s a gift.”

Then his grandfather handed him a key ring with lots of keys on it and opened the door to the car for him. His grandfather followed him into the car and shut the door.

“You know where to go, Smithy?”

“Yes, sir.” Said the driver.

They were on their way and after about half an hour the scenery began to look familiar. The rolling hills, the tress and of all things, mailboxes. They pulled into the long drive way and Trio knew where he was, his grandparent’s summer home. It was an eight-bedroom mansion on two hundred and eighty acres of land. There was a pool, a green house, and an arboretum. They had given the house and all the things in it and around it to him. He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was all his and then his grandfather handed him a piece of paper.

“It’s the deed.” He said, “It’s all yours. Take care of it.”

Trio moved in that weekend and was surprised to feel not so at home. He had been there often with his family, but never alone.

First it was drafty. At night the wind would blow through the house and whistle and cause the drapes to fly open. It gave Trio an eerie feeling; as though he was being watched. He would then get up and walk around the house. The wait staff had all gone and there was nobody there. Just the paintings his grandparents bought years ago and the pool glistening in the moonlight. He always found himself in the same place after walking the house. He was standing in front of a painting. It was always the same painting. It was a beautiful painting that made him feel joy and disgrace all at the same time.

It was though he was standing on a hill, overlooking a place of vast vegetation.On the painting there was a small fire in the distance. The moon glowed down and they’re about a million stars in the sky. One night, he noticed the stars actually made constellations and saw the Big Dipper. Another night he noticed a person in the distance, by the fire. It was just a head (or part of one really). He thought to himself that the painter had taken great pain in putting in such detail.He could see a nose and brown hair, the shape of the cheek and part of a shoulder.

The wind howled and the trees shook their branches in anger. About fifty feet from the house in all directions, were trees. They were planted years ago to give the house shade. The first row was Oak, fifteen feet apart in each direction for an acre. In the middle of the squares that the Oaks created, there was planed birch. It wasn’t thick by any means. It was done on purpose so that the children could play in the ‘forest’ and not get lost. Aside from giving the house shade, they also discouraged thieves. At this moment it was Trio who was scared and all the hair on his body stood on end.

He thought he was losing his mind. He asked his cousin Hector to move in. He moved two days later.

After Hector moved in, he never thought about the painting again.

Hector

“You did what?” asked Hector. He then began to laugh so hard he almost wet himself.

“I told you,” said Demetrio “I offered the ice from the water I was drinking.”

Hector couldn’t stop laughing. He couldn’t believe that his cousin had done something so stupid and practically vile.

Hector was the second child to his parents. His mother was the first daughter of his grandparents. Hector was the third grandchild and was about two years younger than Trio. His life was just as full as Trio’s, though his parents wanted him be a regular child.

There was a part of Hector that was never going to be normal. He had lived in a dark shadow all his life, the shadow of someone he never knew.

Hector had an older sister, however she died when she was just a few weeks old. His parents had spent thousands of dollars on the best health care for his mother. She had a feeling that something was wrong with the baby. After all the test came back indicating there was nothing wrong, she gave up trying to convince anyone that something was wrong. His mother delivered a week late and everything went well. The doctor noticed something unusual about the baby girl; she had two teeth growing in and they were her canine teeth. It wasn’t abnormal for a baby to be born with teeth, but it was if they were canines. About two hours after the birth, the baby began to weaken. Her heart began to slow and her fingernails and toenails began to turn blue. The doctors ran test after test and found the baby had a genetic disorder. Her heart was beginning to fail and the oxygen in her body was not sufficient to support her life. His parents never forgot. In fact, they constantly reminded him of the child they lost.

They celebrated her birthday every year, and got her a gift for Christmas. Hector was forced to buy her something and put in her room. His mom and dad had turned a room in the house into a nursery and when the baby died, they turned it into a memorial (there were five bedrooms in his house, so there was room to have a spare one.) There were about 25 years worth of gifts in that room (even though Hector himself was just 20). After about 7 years, the entire family resorted to buying a single rose from each of them and putting it on the wall. At Christmas it was red roses, white roses for Easter, yellow roses for her birthday and pink roses for the day she died. After a while, it became known as the “Rose Room”.

That’s the only thing in Hector’s life that was somewhat abnormal.