After hours of driving, we finally made it to the outskirts of the city.

Ah civilization. Though I liked camping, I was a city kid at heart.The city’s skyline started to rise bringing with it a single skyscraper. That was our signature landmark. Everyone who saw it understood where they were. The sign said it.

“Welcome to the city of Beach Shores,

Where the waves of change flow ashore every day.”

After driving past the sign, we continued uphill and the vast city turned into a suburb. On the sidewalks were people walking and kids laughing and playing. Our neighborhood was usually quiet, relaxing, and everyone knew each other by their first names. Now, I haven’t even gotten to the best part about Beach Shores, as the name suggests, yes, we are a coastal city. As we came to the top of the hill, there it was, the everlasting ocean that sparkled in the sun. I could see sails far out to sea. Pure, white clouds sat on the horizon, and a pier stretched out from the shore. I could say that we had it good and I wouldn’t be lying, not even for a second.

I saw our house coming into view. Mack pulled off to the side and parked. It wasn’t a mansion or anything. It was a simple piece of property. Two stories with white paint and a blue trim, a garage, a white picket fence with a cemented path heading up to the porch. If you could see our home, I could point to the room I shared with Sam.

“We’re home. Everyone out!” he stated.

Mack jumped out, made his way to the bed of the truck and started to untie the ropes that held the camping equipment together. This time he was sure to quickly untie it. I saw the front door of our house open and there was my mom and dad. My dad had a rugged frame, wearing glasses. Out of all of us, I was the only one who inherited his eyes. While Sam, Jason and Mack had brown eyes, I had green ones.

My mom had her brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her fair skin was a perfect contrast to my dad. Like my Dad, her eyes were also colored though they were blue as opposed to his green. Obviously, none of us had blue eyes, though if we had a sister there was a good chance she would’ve had blue eyes. At least that’s what I think.

“Hey, fellas,” said Dad.

“Hey,” said Mack as the others unloaded the truck.

“Everything go smoothly?” Mom asked. She always had this hint of worry in her tone. Guess it came with the job of being a mother. Then again, she had four teenage boys who constantly played pranks on each other, so maybe it was just her natural state.

I walked over to the porch to set my luggage down.

“It was fine,” I said, “though you need to tell Sam to lighten up. He’s always talking about school.”

As I walked back to the truck I passed Sam who glared at me intently, carrying his luggage to the porch. Yes, I meant for him to hear that. I jokingly grinned back.

The garage door opened and we all started hauling the camping equipment into there. The garage wasn’t any place to park a car. We mainly used it for storage and was, on occasion, a workspace for my dad. My mom and dad mainly parked in the driveway.

“We really need to choose a day where we can clean this place out,” said Dad.

“Yeah?” Said Sam.

“I don’t know, I think we can fit a lot more in here,” said Jason.

Dad laughed and closed the garage door as they went back to the house. We hugged our mom as she kissed us back. Mack locked the doors to truck as we went inside the house

Once we were inside it was like everything went back to normal. I plopped on the couch and turned on the TV. Sam started upstairs while Mack followed. Meanwhile, Jason headed for the kitchen.

“Hold it!” I knew Dad wouldn’t let us. “You three get back here.”

Mack and Sam dragged themselves downstairs while Jason waltzed out of the kitchen with a bag of chips in hand, a brand I had never seen. It’s like he has a secret stash or something

“What?” Said Jason with a mouthful of chips. “What did we do?”

“Okay, listen up, Dye, turn off the TV.”

I groaned but obeyed. If there was one thing you had to know about my dad it was he didn’t mess around. If he asked you to do something that meant now. I placed the remote on the glass coffee table and looked at him.

“I don’t know where you four get off, just walking into this house and going about your way. You guys have been gone for almost two days, and I want to know every detail of your trip. We are the Haven family, and we do things as a family. Now, sit down.”

Sam and Mack sat on the couch next to me, while Jason, who was crunching on his chips, crinkling the bag as he dug for more, walked over to the reclining chair and sat down, pulling the lever to release the foot rest.

“That’s better,” said Dad.

“So,” started Mrs. Haven “Tell us about your trip.”

There was a time when we took this trip as a family. Me, Mom and Dad, Sam, Jason and Mack. As time went on it was just Dad who tagged along. Later on, Dad realized that it would be better for us boys to take the trip. As we grew up, we started spending less time together so it was fitting that he believed this trip would bring us back together.

He wasn’t wrong.

Though, I think he just wanted some alone time with Mom so they could do whatever it was old people did.

We told them about our trip, though it wasn’t really much to share. Just the usual camping trip, but that wasn’t Dad’s play. The real reason he wanted us to stay was because he wanted to know about our summer. Like I said, we all had our different interests, the same went for Mom and Dad. Before the summer, Dad was promoted to the assistant district attorney for the city. We barely saw him then, and with him becoming the ADA it was near impossible for him to be home for dinner. As for Mom, she was an English teacher at the university. So, her days consisted of long nights reading essays and preparing lesson plans. She barely made dinner anymore, which was fine because since we were older now we could make our own food. Which makes my theory about Jason having a secret stash a lot more plausible.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Well,” said Dad as the conversation was beginning to die down. We must’ve talked and laughed for hours. “It’s getting late. The first day of school is tomorrow. You four better get upstairs and start getting ready.”

We all stood up, stretched, grabbed our luggage, and headed upstairs, saying goodnight to our parents.

“Good night, boys,” said Mom.

We all marched upstairs. Jason and Mack arrived at their room, while Sam and I entered ours. It wasn’t much. Two beds at either side of the room. A closet with the bathroom door next to it. I had a desk next to my bed and so did Sam, and between that was the window that looked out over our front lawn.

I threw my bags at the foot of my bed, not bothering to even unpack. I grabbed a comic book from my desk, removed it from its bag, and flipped open the front page. As usual, Sam was unpacking. Taking his clothes and dispensing them into the dirty clothes hamper he had in the closet.

“Aren’t you going to upack?” he asked me.

“I think we both know the answer to that.” I replied, reading the next cell of my book.

“Warrior Knight, huh?” he said.

“Yep!”

“You still read that?”

“Of course, he’s only the best superhero out there. He’s about to learn what happened to his sister.”

“Sounds exciting…” he said sarcastically. “You should really get your stuff ready for tomorrow.”

“Eh, I think I’ll manage,” I said, turning the page.

Sam shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“Still working on your theory?” I asked him, which was probably a mistake considering I was trying to focus on my story.

“Yes and no,” he replied. “I’m just gonna wait and see what happens.”

“If something happens,” I correct him.

“Sure, if.” he says. “IF something happens, I’ll take note of it.”

He collapsed his bag and slid it under his bed. He sat at his desk and opened up a notebook that sat there, scribbling on the pages.

I ignored him and returned to my issue of Warrior Knight. I was way more interested in what this issue would reveal rather than what Sam was up to.

I had fallen asleep, but my mind was very much awake. Not sure how, though.

It was like I was waking up, but I didn’t wake up in my room.

Everything was dark.

Cold.

The space was empty. There was nothing here except me. Everything else was black. Strangely enough, I could see my arms and legs.

“Hello?” my voice echoed through the expanse.

Suddenly the dark place turned into an ocean of fire. In anticipation of the oncoming heat, I threw my arms over my face, but it took me a second to realize that there wasn’t any heat.

“Okay? Clearly I’m dreaming…”

I took my hands and waved it through the fire.

There was no heat.

There was no pain.

It felt like there wasn’t even anything there.

“Yep, I’m dreaming.”

I heard something approaching me. I turned and saw a fox standing there. It made me think back to the lights. Was this the same creature somehow? It sat down, its bushy tail settling around it.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

There was a flash of red light. The fox’s body shifted and changed. Now standing there was a tall, golden, armored figure with a strange symbol on its face. I attempted to back away, but the golden figure pressed on towards me, the flames blazing around the both of us.

I stumbled and fell backwards. I looked up and saw my face within the reflection of the symbol. I was afraid. I could see it in my own eyes.

“What do you want?”

The figure stood above me, reaching out. Its golden hand stretched out for me and it was at that moment that I realized I was helpless to do anything.

A familiar ringing erupted. The figure disappeared and the flames went out. I opened my eyes and found myself on my bed. The sound of my alarm clock blaring. My issue of Warrior Knight was stuck to my face. I pulled it away and there was a track of drool seeping through its pages.

“Man…” disappointed at the now ruined issue. “Gross. I didn’t even get to finish it.”

I struck my clock, shutting off the annoying sound. When I looked over to see Sam, I noticed his bed was made and he was nowhere to be found.

“SHIT!” I quickly remembered that today was the first day of school. I jumped off my bed and quickly stripped to get into the shower. I bathed as fast and as thoroughly as I could, found whatever clothes I had lying around and bolted from my room, grabbing my backpack hanging on the back of my desk chair.

I came stomping down the stairs and into the kitchen. Our house was unique with the fact that we also had a flight of stairs that led into the kitchen. Dad was sitting at the table holding a cup of coffee and reading the morning’s paper, my brothers eating the rest of their breakfast. He was dressed for work while Mom was finishing the dishes, also dressed for the day.

“If this is the first day of the next four years, I suggest you wake up earlier,” said Sam, sipping his orange juice.

“Dude, you couldn’t wake me?” said Dye.

“You said you’d manage,” he replied. “So I let you manage.”

“You’re a jerk!”

“DYE!” my dad shouted. “None of that, now sit down and eat your breakfast.”

There was a spread of pancakes, bacon and eggs sitting in the center of the table. I took a plate and started filling it.

“So, Dye,” Dad said again, “Ready for your first day of high school?”

I looked at him and nodded, biting into my bacon.

“That’s good,” he said, “just be yourself, and you’ll be okay. I’m sure your brothers will show you around.”

That was a lie. All three of them just looked at me. I knew what they were thinking. They were just going to feed me to the wolves and have me fend for myself.

“Um, I think I’ll be fine,” I replied, grinning uneasily.

“Sweetheart,” Mom called, “Remember, you’re going to have to walk home today. Sam has a science club meeting, Mack has football practice.”

I swallowed a cut of pancakes. “Why can’t Jason just drive us home.”

Jason looked up at me. “What are you? New?” he said. “You already know where I’ll be.”

“Right, of course.” I said, sipping my orange juice. “You beach bum! Fine I guess.”

“Time to go,” said Mack, “I have homeroom in thirty. See ya later.”

We all go up, me scarfing down what little food I could.

“Have a good day,” Mom said, while we made our way out of the kitchen, through the living room and out the front door. We loaded up the truck and drove off as Mom and Dad stood on the porch, waving goodbye. The school wasn’t that far from our house. About a fifteen minute drive. Maybe even less than that because Mack pulled into the parking lot almost immediately. The hordes of people I saw made me immediately tense.

Cheerleaders, jocks, goth kids, the stoners, the nerds, who I believe Sam was their leader, amongst a whole bunch more, converging into the school building that had Beach Shores High School engraved above its doors. Mack parked the truck and everyone got out. Everyone except me, who wanted to stay confined just a bit longer.

“Come on, Dye,” Mack banged on the window. I reluctantly opened my door and got out. Mack closed it behind me, swinging his backpack on his shoulder.

“Ah, high school,” he said. “The great beyond.” He blew past me, giving me a relentless stare that suggested good luck.

“See ya later, Dye,” said Jason as he, Mack and Sam went their separate ways, disappearing into the crowd of students.