Chapter 1: The Beginning Part 1/3 (Chase's POV)
I don't know where to start. This whole turn of events felt like a nightmare. A nightmare that I…no… all of us couldn't wake up from. It happened so fast, neither of us expect it. Now everything is just… different. Let's see. Give me some time to think…
My name is Chase. I was born at Pine Rest animal shelter in Roseville, New York, and I… I've been through a lot. This all started about seven months ago. It was a Tuesday morning. Everything seemed casual like it has been for the past 5 years. Todd, my family's owner, took care of me while my brothers, Brian and Sutter, along with my parents, Annie and Cooper were away. I always wondered where they went every day but I never asked until the day before my birthday. My father had told me that there was a slight possibility that we wouldn't have enough time to celebrate my birthday the next day so they promised to celebrate whenever they weren't busy, I got so angry that I just stormed off. So Todd decided to tell me about our current situation. He talked about his past when he was 14 years old and how he used to work in a corrupt part of the world where the only way you could survive was by working along with what is called a mafia. I didn't know what exactly a mafia was until he explained it. They were a group of organized criminals controlling a distorted society in a forgotten town miles away from Roseville.
Every day, he would witness innocent lives taken away by these criminals. The thought terrified me. And to make this worse, his father was in charge of it all. To me, it made no sense. How could the father of such a great person be in charge of a criminal organization like that? That's when he confessed everything. He knew what they were doing was wrong. But he couldn't do anything about it. He was forced to ignore it... That's until he met my father covered with bruises in an alley. My dad was 12 at the time. Todd realized that if he wanted his father to change, he would have to change first. So Todd secretly took care of him for the next two years. Eventually, my dad started to recover. But that's when things took a turn for Todd.
One night while he was wandering around the streets, he overheard his father talking to the other criminals explaining how in a few days, they'll begin training him to become the next boss whether he wanted to or not. That was the spark that led to his rebellion. Quickly, he ran back to his family's safe house and panicked. He could barely handle living with and partaking in a mafia but leading one was too much for him. He never wanted to hurt anyone, to begin with. So without a second thought, he stole a few items from some other members of the group, went to the alley, and left the city with my father. Within weeks, they were able to distance themselves from the group and eventually ended up here in Roseville. But just when things were calming down, another tension grew…
Besides robbing people of their lives in the forgotten city, the mafia also had control over cities further away. Roseville happened to be one of those cities. Over the past 13 years, the town was under surveillance by the group. Even though police had information about Todd's father, finding his location seemed impossible. After spending two days living off what they had, Dad started becoming ill. At first, he requested that Todd should leave him, but Todd instantly declined and carried him to the nearest animal care which happened to be Pine Rest.
Todd was able to convince the worker at the front desk to get my dad checked out, however, the people around him grew suspicious. It wasn't long until they realized who he was, then silently notified the authorities. Todd ended up falling asleep for a while as he waited for my dad to recover. Eventually, police cars began to show up. The sirens woke him up. Slowly, he began to realize what was going on, so he surrendered and the police took him into custody.
Despite everything that happened, Todd never stopped thinking about my father. After the mug shot, he was taken into confinement for the next few weeks. During that time, he was called in for questioning in an interrogation room. After my father had recovered, he was transferred to the nearest pound while Todd was away. Eventually, they were reunited after Todd had agreed to help the investigation unit track down the mafia. Sometime during the investigation, my dad met my mother. She was ten years old at the time and was a part of the investigation. That's when they both began training to become part of the official K-9 unit and got to know each other a little more.
The investigation took about 35 hours until everything started to wrap up. In the end, casualties were kept to a minimum and Todd's father surrendered. But even after that, getting the appreciation of the town was still an issue. So, Todd decided to continue helping the people of Roseville recover from the damage done by his father's group. Repairing the city and getting the community's trust took about 8 years. Once everything started calming down and the city began to thrive once again, my parents were ready to get married. 4 years later, they retired and had Brian then Sutter three months apart from each other. Retiring wasn't an easy choice, but they had to do what's best for us.
I admired Todd's story but something didn't make sense to me. If the city is already thriving, why do they still need help? I honestly regret thinking like that in the past. He told me how some families have financial issues that affect food, medical attention, and mental behavior. I stood still for a moment. Never had that thought crossed my mind until then. It seemed unfair for me to be asking for a birthday party when others aren't as fortunate. So I told him that I understood.
Ever since that day, my whole view of the world changed. Some people are born in a wealthy family while others struggle in poverty. Although other families can become wealthy, it's not always easy. So that's when I decided that I would become a helper too. If I celebrated my birthday while others were starving the next day, let alone do nothing, I would have kept that guilt with me for the rest of my life. Todd later explained how he and my parents have been running the food bank for over 11 years that uses food donated by the community to give to the poor. But this month's donations were shorter than usual so there was a possibility that some families won't be getting their monthly food. So I made my decision. I requested that instead of celebrating on a later day, they should let me come with them to help out at the food bank. I'll never forget the smile Todd had on his face at that moment…