Chapter 1
Stepping into the World
Max ran down the stairs, jumping the last couple of steps to the bottom, and quickly dashing into the kitchen, where his mother stood packing a lunch for him. "Better hurry Max, or you will be late for your first day of school," his mother said. Rachel stood about five foot seven inches, with long, burgundy hair, startling green eyes and a slim frame. "Okay mommy." Max said with excitement. "Is daddy still here?" "No Max, he left already, now hurry up and get your shoes on, your going to miss the bus." Max ran out into the living room, hoping up onto the couch and quickly putting on his Velcro sneakers. Max was five years old now, with amazingly dark hair, and brown eyes. He was very excited about his first day of school, meeting new kids, and learning new things. He was very different from any other five year old, being very smart for his age. He quickly got back up off of the couch and ran back out to his mother, who handed him his lunch box, and took a hold of his hand, walking him out to the bus stop. "Okay, Remember what I told you, be nice to the other kids, and stay out of trouble, alright?" "Okay mommy, I will." His mom bent over, giving him a kiss on the cheek and sending him onto the bus. As he stepped onto the bus, the bus driver looked at him and smiled brightly. "First day of school young man?" "Yes sir, it is." "Please, call me Keith...what is your name?" "Max." "Okay Max, go ahead and take a seat." Max went all the way onto the bus, looking at each seat, before sitting down next to a thin kid, who was pushing glasses up onto his head. "Hello, my name is Max" Max said. The kid looked at Max and smiled. "Hello. My name is Robert." "Can I sit here?" "Sure." Max climbed up onto the seat, and the bus started to roll along down the road, heading towards the school.
Rachel stood on the sidewalk until she saw the bus disappear around the corner, before walking back into the house and to the kitchen, wondering if she was going to be alright without Max to keep her company. Rachel had no job, her husband brought home the salary and supported them all. As she was walking back to the kitchen, she stopped in the hallway, looking at the many photos they had of Max and them, smiling softly at the memories she had, before she moved on into the kitchen. She went to the freezer, opening it up and taking out some hamburger, setting it in a bowl on the counter. Then went into the living room and turned on the television set, sitting down on the couch to watch her Soaps when the doorbell rang. Sighing heavily, she got back up and went to answer the door. She opened the door to see a man in a three piece suit, holding a briefcase. He had short blond hair, a slightly muscular body, and dark blue eyes. "Yes, may I help you?" She said to the man. "Yes you can madam, we at the City Hall are conducting a survey of the house hold, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions, may I come in?" Rachel watched the man as he spoke, then nodded, letting him into the house. "Sure, what kind of questions?" "Just a few questions about your house hold, how many people live here, things like that." "Oh, alright, would you like to have a seat?" "Yes, I would." They walked out into the dining room, pulling out chairs opposite of each other, the man putting the briefcase on the table and opening it up. "Alright, what we first need to know his yours and your husbands age." He moved the briefcase to the side, holding a small bottle in his hands and spraying it into her face. Rachel looked around a bit, then collapsed onto the table, still awake enough to see several other guys come into her home before drifting off into unconsciousness.
Max got through half the day just fine, listening to his teacher attentively, and joining in on the games and fun during class. The bell rang for lunch to begin. Max stood up and went to get his lunch, heading out into the hall and towards the lunchroom. On his way, a couple second graders stopped him. "Hey guys, look at what we have here, a little dork." The biggest one of them said, the others laughing with him, Max, trying to avoid getting in trouble with anyone, tried to step around them, one of them stepping in his way to stop him, reaching down and grabbing his lunch out of his hand, passing it to the big kid, who opened it up and started going through it. "Hey, stop that, my mommy made that for me." Everyone started laughing again. "Aw, poor baby wants his lunch back." The big one mocked him, pulling out the sandwich that Max's mom made, pulling it out of the bag and taking a bite out of it. "Well, tell your mommy to make better food." He dropped the sandwich on the ground, along with the rest of the lunch box, spilling its contents all over the ground, walking away from Max, laughing with all of his friends. Max got down on his knees and started to pick up his food. Reaching for his apple, his hand ran into that of a slender girls, with long brunette hair. "Don't mind them, they are always mean like that, to everyone." She said, handing the apple to Max. "Hi, I'm Caitlin." Max, took the apple from her, putting it back into his lunch box and closing it. "I'm Max, today is my first day." He stood up, as did Caitlin. "Well, how do you like your first day at school?" "It was alright, until now." He said. "Why do they have to be so mean?" "I don't know why, I guess its just natural for them, probably got picked on a lot when they were your age." They both started walking to the lunch room, talking the entire way about school. As they reached the lunchroom, Max was waved over by Robert, and Caitlin said goodbye to him, and went to sit with her friends. Max walked over to Robert, sitting down next to him. "What took you so long to get here?" "I met some new people." Max said, leaving it at that as he opened up his lunch box, taking the sandwich out and putting it to the side, and picking up his apple, cleaning it off and taking a bite out of it.
The rest of the day went uneventful for Max, but he loved every minute of it. He still listened to every word his teacher said, and met some more kids in the class. As the bell rang for school to let out, Max hurriedly grabbed his stuff, hoping not to meet those one kids again, and ran out to the bus, climbing onto it and getting back into the seat he was in earlier, Robert joining him. All in all, Max had a great first day of school.
John walked into his house later that day, he stood easily six feet tall, with short brown hair, well groomed, wearing a dress shirt, a tie, and a pair of black dress pants. His son was on his way home from school, and he wanted to be there when he got home. As he walked through the door, he looked around, wondering where his wife was. "Rachel, are you home?" He called out, walking into the living room, seeing the television was on. He walked out into the kitchen, seeing the hamburger that was taken out of the freezer. "Rachel?" He called out. Setting his things down on the counter, he started searching the house. He walked up the stairs and into his wife's and his bedroom, finding her lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Shaking his head, he walked over to her, sitting down on the bed and gently shaking her. "Rachel, wake up." She stirred slightly, opening her eyes slowly, then jumping up out of bed and looking around quickly. "Where are they!" She screamed. "Where are who, hun?" "The men, they came in, I know they did, I saw them before I passed out." "You probably having a bad dream, that's all." She calmed down a little bit, looking at her husband, moving over to him and sitting in his lap. "Then it was a terrible dream." She looked at the alarm clock at the side of the bed, jumping up again. "Oh my, is Max home yet?!" "Nope, not yet, why don't you get dressed, and I will meet you downstairs, he should be home any minute now." "Alright, give me five minutes." "I'll be waiting." He gave his wife a kiss, and went downstairs to wait for her, and his son.
Max stepped off of the bus, turning to the bus driver. "See you tomorrow." Then turned and ran up to his house, opening the door and running inside, dropping his things as he did, running into the living room and jumping up onto his dad's lap. "Daddy! Your home!" "I been home Max, I wanted to be here when you came home." Rachel walked into the room, sitting down next to John and Max. "So, how was your first day of school, Max?" She said. "It was good, a couple of kids took my lunch, but they didn't like it, and gave it back, and I met some new kids." John looked at Rachel, shaking his head and smiling. "Well, don't let those kids take your lunch, that isn't very nice, now is it Rachel?" She just smiled and laid her head on John's shoulder. "What else did you do today Max?" She asked. "Well, first, we sat down and met everyone in the class, and then we played some games, and the teacher read us a story and..." he stopped to catch his breath. "and we had lunch, and, this one girl helped me pick up my lunch off of the ground." "Well, looks like you had an exciting day, now, run upstairs and wash your hands, dinner will be done shortly." His mother said. Max hoped off of his fathers lap and ran upstairs to the bathroom to wash his hands for dinner.
"Did you do as I asked you to do?" A deep voice asked "Yes, I did, the house is ready, and the mother will be fine, for now." The man standing in the middle of the dark room said. "Very good, now we can watch him closely. You did very well, you may go." The man turned and walked out of the room. "All is set, soon, we will act on our plan, little Max will not know what hit him." "What of the parents, and the Green Meadow Coven near by, what shall we do with them?" A second voice said from a different part of the room. "When the time is right, they will be dealt with accordingly, not before. They must not know our intentions before our plan is unleashed. If they were to find out, it would ruin everything." The deep voice said. "Yes my lord, your will shall be done, as the will of the elders." There was a bright flash of red light, and the room fell silent.
Stepping into the World
Max ran down the stairs, jumping the last couple of steps to the bottom, and quickly dashing into the kitchen, where his mother stood packing a lunch for him. "Better hurry Max, or you will be late for your first day of school," his mother said. Rachel stood about five foot seven inches, with long, burgundy hair, startling green eyes and a slim frame. "Okay mommy." Max said with excitement. "Is daddy still here?" "No Max, he left already, now hurry up and get your shoes on, your going to miss the bus." Max ran out into the living room, hoping up onto the couch and quickly putting on his Velcro sneakers. Max was five years old now, with amazingly dark hair, and brown eyes. He was very excited about his first day of school, meeting new kids, and learning new things. He was very different from any other five year old, being very smart for his age. He quickly got back up off of the couch and ran back out to his mother, who handed him his lunch box, and took a hold of his hand, walking him out to the bus stop. "Okay, Remember what I told you, be nice to the other kids, and stay out of trouble, alright?" "Okay mommy, I will." His mom bent over, giving him a kiss on the cheek and sending him onto the bus. As he stepped onto the bus, the bus driver looked at him and smiled brightly. "First day of school young man?" "Yes sir, it is." "Please, call me Keith...what is your name?" "Max." "Okay Max, go ahead and take a seat." Max went all the way onto the bus, looking at each seat, before sitting down next to a thin kid, who was pushing glasses up onto his head. "Hello, my name is Max" Max said. The kid looked at Max and smiled. "Hello. My name is Robert." "Can I sit here?" "Sure." Max climbed up onto the seat, and the bus started to roll along down the road, heading towards the school.
Rachel stood on the sidewalk until she saw the bus disappear around the corner, before walking back into the house and to the kitchen, wondering if she was going to be alright without Max to keep her company. Rachel had no job, her husband brought home the salary and supported them all. As she was walking back to the kitchen, she stopped in the hallway, looking at the many photos they had of Max and them, smiling softly at the memories she had, before she moved on into the kitchen. She went to the freezer, opening it up and taking out some hamburger, setting it in a bowl on the counter. Then went into the living room and turned on the television set, sitting down on the couch to watch her Soaps when the doorbell rang. Sighing heavily, she got back up and went to answer the door. She opened the door to see a man in a three piece suit, holding a briefcase. He had short blond hair, a slightly muscular body, and dark blue eyes. "Yes, may I help you?" She said to the man. "Yes you can madam, we at the City Hall are conducting a survey of the house hold, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions, may I come in?" Rachel watched the man as he spoke, then nodded, letting him into the house. "Sure, what kind of questions?" "Just a few questions about your house hold, how many people live here, things like that." "Oh, alright, would you like to have a seat?" "Yes, I would." They walked out into the dining room, pulling out chairs opposite of each other, the man putting the briefcase on the table and opening it up. "Alright, what we first need to know his yours and your husbands age." He moved the briefcase to the side, holding a small bottle in his hands and spraying it into her face. Rachel looked around a bit, then collapsed onto the table, still awake enough to see several other guys come into her home before drifting off into unconsciousness.
Max got through half the day just fine, listening to his teacher attentively, and joining in on the games and fun during class. The bell rang for lunch to begin. Max stood up and went to get his lunch, heading out into the hall and towards the lunchroom. On his way, a couple second graders stopped him. "Hey guys, look at what we have here, a little dork." The biggest one of them said, the others laughing with him, Max, trying to avoid getting in trouble with anyone, tried to step around them, one of them stepping in his way to stop him, reaching down and grabbing his lunch out of his hand, passing it to the big kid, who opened it up and started going through it. "Hey, stop that, my mommy made that for me." Everyone started laughing again. "Aw, poor baby wants his lunch back." The big one mocked him, pulling out the sandwich that Max's mom made, pulling it out of the bag and taking a bite out of it. "Well, tell your mommy to make better food." He dropped the sandwich on the ground, along with the rest of the lunch box, spilling its contents all over the ground, walking away from Max, laughing with all of his friends. Max got down on his knees and started to pick up his food. Reaching for his apple, his hand ran into that of a slender girls, with long brunette hair. "Don't mind them, they are always mean like that, to everyone." She said, handing the apple to Max. "Hi, I'm Caitlin." Max, took the apple from her, putting it back into his lunch box and closing it. "I'm Max, today is my first day." He stood up, as did Caitlin. "Well, how do you like your first day at school?" "It was alright, until now." He said. "Why do they have to be so mean?" "I don't know why, I guess its just natural for them, probably got picked on a lot when they were your age." They both started walking to the lunch room, talking the entire way about school. As they reached the lunchroom, Max was waved over by Robert, and Caitlin said goodbye to him, and went to sit with her friends. Max walked over to Robert, sitting down next to him. "What took you so long to get here?" "I met some new people." Max said, leaving it at that as he opened up his lunch box, taking the sandwich out and putting it to the side, and picking up his apple, cleaning it off and taking a bite out of it.
The rest of the day went uneventful for Max, but he loved every minute of it. He still listened to every word his teacher said, and met some more kids in the class. As the bell rang for school to let out, Max hurriedly grabbed his stuff, hoping not to meet those one kids again, and ran out to the bus, climbing onto it and getting back into the seat he was in earlier, Robert joining him. All in all, Max had a great first day of school.
John walked into his house later that day, he stood easily six feet tall, with short brown hair, well groomed, wearing a dress shirt, a tie, and a pair of black dress pants. His son was on his way home from school, and he wanted to be there when he got home. As he walked through the door, he looked around, wondering where his wife was. "Rachel, are you home?" He called out, walking into the living room, seeing the television was on. He walked out into the kitchen, seeing the hamburger that was taken out of the freezer. "Rachel?" He called out. Setting his things down on the counter, he started searching the house. He walked up the stairs and into his wife's and his bedroom, finding her lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Shaking his head, he walked over to her, sitting down on the bed and gently shaking her. "Rachel, wake up." She stirred slightly, opening her eyes slowly, then jumping up out of bed and looking around quickly. "Where are they!" She screamed. "Where are who, hun?" "The men, they came in, I know they did, I saw them before I passed out." "You probably having a bad dream, that's all." She calmed down a little bit, looking at her husband, moving over to him and sitting in his lap. "Then it was a terrible dream." She looked at the alarm clock at the side of the bed, jumping up again. "Oh my, is Max home yet?!" "Nope, not yet, why don't you get dressed, and I will meet you downstairs, he should be home any minute now." "Alright, give me five minutes." "I'll be waiting." He gave his wife a kiss, and went downstairs to wait for her, and his son.
Max stepped off of the bus, turning to the bus driver. "See you tomorrow." Then turned and ran up to his house, opening the door and running inside, dropping his things as he did, running into the living room and jumping up onto his dad's lap. "Daddy! Your home!" "I been home Max, I wanted to be here when you came home." Rachel walked into the room, sitting down next to John and Max. "So, how was your first day of school, Max?" She said. "It was good, a couple of kids took my lunch, but they didn't like it, and gave it back, and I met some new kids." John looked at Rachel, shaking his head and smiling. "Well, don't let those kids take your lunch, that isn't very nice, now is it Rachel?" She just smiled and laid her head on John's shoulder. "What else did you do today Max?" She asked. "Well, first, we sat down and met everyone in the class, and then we played some games, and the teacher read us a story and..." he stopped to catch his breath. "and we had lunch, and, this one girl helped me pick up my lunch off of the ground." "Well, looks like you had an exciting day, now, run upstairs and wash your hands, dinner will be done shortly." His mother said. Max hoped off of his fathers lap and ran upstairs to the bathroom to wash his hands for dinner.
"Did you do as I asked you to do?" A deep voice asked "Yes, I did, the house is ready, and the mother will be fine, for now." The man standing in the middle of the dark room said. "Very good, now we can watch him closely. You did very well, you may go." The man turned and walked out of the room. "All is set, soon, we will act on our plan, little Max will not know what hit him." "What of the parents, and the Green Meadow Coven near by, what shall we do with them?" A second voice said from a different part of the room. "When the time is right, they will be dealt with accordingly, not before. They must not know our intentions before our plan is unleashed. If they were to find out, it would ruin everything." The deep voice said. "Yes my lord, your will shall be done, as the will of the elders." There was a bright flash of red light, and the room fell silent.
