Chapter 1: Origins

Reese Garrick and Sameer Khan had been best friends since they were six years old. In 2000, Sameer had moved to the town of Banville with his mother, Mandira, and his stepfather, Rizwan. Reese thought Rizwan seemed strange, but he knew that the man had a disability. Sameer later told him it was Asperger's syndrome. Reese thought that Rizwan was funny at times. Mandira was best friends with Reese's mother, Sarah. Reese's father, Mark, was a news reporter.

Reese and Sameer had the time of their lives. They had fun like all children should. They would go over to each other's houses to play video games and spend time together. It truly seemed like the most ideal friendship, with no difficulty or arguments. Until the day that would change everything, the two friends rarely argued. They both loved watching Manchester United in their games, even if the team lost. Playing soccer was something that both boys had a passion for.

Reese and Sameer would often be driven to their school, Banville Junior High School. It seemed like everything was fine at first. Decent work at school, fun times on the school's soccer team, a satisfying social life for the two friends. No one seemed to have an issue with the fact that Sameer was an Indian and that his stepfather was a Muslim.

Of course, nothing was permanent. Despite everything that had been done to make themselves acceptable to society, something was bound to destroy all of that credibility. Reese only hoped that wouldn't happen. Sameer was his closest friend. He couldn't imagine that changing.

Then came September 10, 2001.

Reese went to bed, just like he did every other night, without a clue about what would occur the following day. What happened the following day was unprecedented and would stick with him the rest of his life.

On September 11, 2001, Reese woke up to loud noises and confusion. He went to the dining room and saw that Mark was on the phone.

"New York City?", Mark asked. "The World Trade Center? How is that possible?"

Mark seemed worried.

Sarah turned on the television. She gasped and covered her mouth with shock when she saw the smoke in the Twin Towers.

"Apparently the World Trade Center has been attacked. This seems to be a diabolical act of terrorism."

"I need to call Mandira", Sarah said.

Reese had a feeling that things would be downhill from that point.