Chapter 1

Ilene switched her bundle of books to her other arm and glanced down at her wristwatch; 3:26. She grunted impatiently. Almost the entire student body had already left, but she stood next to the main doors waiting for her brother. Most days it wouldn't irritate her so much, waiting for him while he chatted with his friends, but it was the last day of school and she would rather head home than stand around like an idiot.

A sharp shove interrupted her thoughts, causing her to stumble and drop her books. She quickly spotted the culprit; Alecia, the school's head cheerleader, and her pack of vicious prairie dogs had come from inside and had either not seen her there or hadn't bothered to care. She was about to murmur an apology when Alecia, not bothering to help her as she fumbled to retrieve her books, spat a rude comment about dweebs belonging 'in the library' not 'in the way'. Ilene stifled her apology and picked up her books. Another cheerleader, Mia, sent her an apologetic look, wanting to help but also not wanting to incur the wrath of Alecia. Standing, she nearly dropped a few books again but managed to keep a hold of them. She then spotted her brother and his two best friends, Carter and Riley, coming out of the cafeteria entrance.

"Jaden!" She hollered. He didn't seem to hear her and continued talking to his friends. They were making extravagant gestures and laughing wildly as they spoke, probably about one of the many video games they were obsessed with. Ilene jogged toward them and Jaden finally noticed her.

Seeing her expression, his features turned guilty. "Sorry, Sis…" He apologized.

"Can we go?" He nodded and they all headed to the student parking lot where her old Subaru was waiting. After dropping off both Carter and Riley at their homes they finally headed to their own. Once they arrived, Jaden hurried inside for a snack. Ilene shook her head and grinned. Teenage boys ate a LOT. Jaden ate more. Even before he'd hit puberty he'd been a tall kid. He had passed her in height when he was 10. This wasn't a difficult feat, of course. At 5'2 and with a young face, people often believed that Ilene was younger than Jaden and often mentioned the bitter irony that your 'little' brother was bigger than she was.

After putting her book bag and her pile of books in her room, Ilene headed into the kitchen to do her chores. Jaden had already put a thick sandwich together and took it into his room, clearly intending to do his own chores "later". When she finished, Ilene went back up to her room and decided to read one of her many nonfiction books. At around 5:34 she heard the familiar jingle of keys as someone unlocked the front door and hopped back down the stairs.

"Hey, Mom!" She greeted.

"Hey, how was your last day?" Diane asked.

"It was fine." Ilene shrugged. "I finally got the rest of my books out of my locker." Diane chuckled.

"That's good, considering that school won't be open again until summer school starts. You wouldn't have anything to read!"

"Well, I still had the rest of my books upstairs, but some of my favorites were at school. So, what are we making for dinner?" Ilene inquired.

"I was thinking Alfredo."

"A commendable suggestion." Ilene grinned. She helped Diane prepare dinner then set the table before heading upstairs to tell Jaden. She softly rapped on the door, then again a little louder when he didn't respond. Through the door she could hear his T.V. playing whatever game he was engrossed in.

"Jaden, dinner's done." She called. Still no answer. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door to find Jaden face down on the floor in front of the television. "Jaden?" She rolled him over attempting to wake him up but nothing happened.

"Mom!" She cried, running to the stairs. "Mom, something's wrong with Jaden!"

"What?" Diane hurried out of the kitchen. Her worry stricken expression changed to panic when she saw Jaden on the floor. Ilene ran back downstairs to call for an ambulance while Diane checked on him.


Jaden was in a coma.

The doctors hadn't given them a definite reason as to what had caused it and Ilene took this to mean that they didn't know. Diane paced in both frantic worry and impatience at the foot of Jaden's hospital bed, Ilene curled up silently in a chair. It had grown late by now and Ilene's eyes drooped, but she forced them to stay open. The ringing of Diane's cell phone caused both of them to jump.

"It's your father." Diane explained. She then retreated into the hall to answer it. Ilene glanced over at Jaden. His thick blond hair, which usually had a personality of its own, lay flat and his features looked too still, empty of the expressiveness he usually showed. Was he dreaming? If so, she hoped it was a happier dream than his reality.

Only when Diane gently shook her did she realize she'd fallen asleep. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, forcing herself to wake back up. "Why don't you go home and get some sleep?" Diane recommended.

"It's okay, I can stay." Ilene answered.

"Go home. There's nothing for you to do here, and you're clearly tired." Diane offered a hesitant smile. Ilene surrendered and gave Diane a hug and then headed home. Before going to sleep, she stepped into the bathroom and looked at her disheveled appearance in the mirror. Her hair was unkempt from the grim night they'd had and her ivory skin somehow seemed even paler. She ran a brush through her dark hair then washed off what remained of what little makeup she wore and fell asleep on the couch in the living room. Her hopes that Diane would accidentally wake her when she came home were denied when she awoke the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the window behind the couch. Ilene had driven the car home last night, but her father could have given Diane a lift later. A quick glance into her mom's room proved this idea false. Diane must have stayed at the hospital all night.

Ilene stopped herself before heading out to the car when she realized that Carter and Riley didn't know about Jaden's condition yet. She sprinted up to Jaden's room and searched for his cell phone, finding it beneath his bed. She briefly called both of them, letting them know where he was, and put Jaden's phone on his computer desk. A soft 'psst' startled her. Turning, she realized that in the emergency of the situation they had forgotten to turn off his T.V. and console last night.

On the screen, a character with a striking resemblance to Mickey Mouse bounced up and down, waving frantically at the screen. He then held a finger to his lips in a silent 'shh' and stepped back from the screen, gesturing for the audience to follow quietly. It seemed a little cheesy to have a character break the 'fourth wall' by addressing the audience, but Ilene just shook her head and turned to leave. Another soft 'psst' made her pause and when she looked back at the screen Mickey was looking in her new direction gesturing for her to come back. That definitely seemed odd. Ilene's brows furrowed together as she stepped in front of the T.V. again, his eyes still following her. This sent a shiver down her spine.

She'd never been into games, but they had definitely advanced if they could make a character follow some kind of movement. She was about to leave when Mickey raised his hand and snapped. Odd swirls of colors flicked from his fingers as if the sound had become visible. When the color swirled out of the television, however, she stumbled back with a shriek of surprise. She hadn't even hit the ground before everything went black.