It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The sun was shining brightly, but a faint and constant breeze offset the heat to create the perfect atmosphere. High above the ground, birds flew gracefully through the air. They seemed to be playing with each other, not worrying about anything else. On the ground, however, things were a bit more somber. A small crowd was gathered around a cemetery plot, mourning the lost lives of Erik and Lauren White. In front of the crowd stood James and Matthew, while Wesley had retreated to the very back; he hated funerals and death. The funeral was nearing its end and the crowd was slowly dispersing as the funeral directors were left to do their job.
"This was good," Matthew said to James. "I'm glad we did it."
"They deserved it," James said. "It's the least we could've done."
"I think we should go now," Matthew suggested. "I don't think they want us around when they put the bodies into the ground."
James and Matthew grabbed Wesley, who had fallen asleep under a tree, and set off back to Oxford College in James' truck, content in their decision to give their parents a formal final farewell. Many things raced through their minds on the way back. They thought about everything that had happened to them in the past day. They thought about everything that had happened to them just now. They thought about what lie ahead of them in the future.
"Frankly," Wesley said, breaking the silence, "I'm scared. I don't wanna be coming to funerals on a regular basis."
"Don't worry," James said. "We'll be on our toes next time."
"Listen to this," Matthew said, reading out of the Book of Light. "It says in here that we're actually descended from the most powerful warlock in history, Matthias White."
"Sounds like a namesake," James said.
"Listen," Matthew continued, ignoring James' comment, "it says that our line started over five hundred years ago. Matthias fell in love with a witch named Patricia Nichols and they had a kid, William. Patricia didn't know that he was evil at first, but she found out when she saw him kill another witch. After that, she tried to vanquish him, but he was too powerful. He lost all his love for her and ended up killing her. He tried to kill the child, but the child was able to protect himself somehow and kill Matthias at the same time."
"Interesting family," Wesley commented. "So that's where I come from."
As Matthew flipped through the pages, a strange wind blew through James' truck. The pages in the Book began moving by themselves, turning to the very last page. Streaks of white light struck the page lightly, etching words into it. As the lights subsided, they revealed a genealogy chart, beginning with Matthias White and ending with James, Matthew, and Wesley. There were hundreds of names in between, each name being one of their ancestors. Just above James and Matthew's names were Lauren and Erik's, connected by a solid line. Above Wesley's, however, was only Lauren's name, connected by a dotted line. Wesley's head fell in disappointment.
"I guess I'll never know," he said.
"You'll find out," Matthew said, "just not now I think."
"Well what a welcome to college, huh?" Wesley asked, suddenly changing the subject. "Looks like we're in it for the long haul, brothers."
"Yeah," James said. "And as the oldest, I think it's only fair that I get to keep the Book in my room."
"Why?" Wesley asked. "There are two of us and one of you! We should keep it! What's your room, the headquarters or something?"
"You're only sixteen," James said. "You're still going through puberty."
"That just means that I'm smarter than you are," Wesley said. "And I went through puberty four years ago, thank you very much!"
"Oh, God," Matthew sighed, closing his eyes, "it begins..."
Thanx so much, guys, for reading my story! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Now, I want to do a series of these three brothers that will cover four "seasons," each season representing a year they're in college. That way, in the end they'll hopefully be graduating from school. Any ideas for following stories are GREATLY appreciated from this point! I seem to have come down with writer's block...