The Brownings

If anyone has read 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever', then they are likely familiar with the Herdmans. You wouldn't think such kids existed in real life, but they do, and they have a name, Browning. If any word could be used to describe the Browning clan, trouble was the best fitting word. They lied, cheated, stole, drank, smoked, gambled, fought, cussed and tormented any kid that crossed them that ranged from manipulation to blackmail.

There were eight of us, Sebastian, Kathryn, Kelly, Dallas, Brittany, Reuben, Eli and me. All of us troublemakers each with his or her own flavour of mischief. Hardly surprising given their origins. We either came from broken homes, orphanages or even the streets. Some like Dallas and Reuben were such trouble that the orphanages some of us came from all but handed them over and forged the paperwork.

It's funny since none of us are siblings. Our adoptive Parents, Walter Jones Browning and Mary Ellen Browning had taken most of us in. Walter lost his wife ten years ago and later wedded Mary who had just divorced her deadbeat husband. Of the eight of us, only the two eldest were legitimately theirs, with Kathryn being Walter's daughter and Sebastian being Mary's son. They were never home much; Walter is a roustabout on an oil rig and Mary is a nurse at Stony Brook University Hospital. So, they hardly have time to discipling us for the trouble we cause.

I can't say that I've done anything that serious, I didn't manipulate people like Kathryn, or blackmail them like Kelly, I wasn't a womanizer like Sebastian, a brawler like Dallas or an arsonist like Reuben. But I've done my share of bad being the clan's foremost burglar and yet I only got in trouble for things that weren't my fault. For some reason I always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now you're probably wondering why we haven't been kicked out, suspended or thrown in a JD center. Well, there were several reasons, one was that they can't prove most of the major things we did and what wasn't covered was minor enough to warrant less severe punishments. This led to the second reason. We were very good at covering our tracks. For all that the police tried nobody could figure out how they were doing it. I should know, I've been helping them do it. Though they do a good job by themselves they sometimes make the occasional slip up.

One time a teacher had confiscated a multi-tool Dallas brought to school and told him he could have it back at the end of the year. I came in under the guise of bringing Dallas his lunch. I then went to the bathroom and from there shadow traveled to the Teacher's classroom and stole it from the teacher's locked desk. When she learned about it, Dallas was questioned thoroughly about it but since he was seen at lunch fighting with another student at the time of the theft, she had no choice but to let him go.

The third and final reason was that many kids learned that troublemakers could be useful. They ask us to do 'favours' for them and if we consider it worth out time, we do it and in exchange they keep quiet if they happen to spot us doing something. Thanks to Brittany we usually keep recordings of our 'backroom deals' as collateral.

Outside of School, we made money through illegal activity from selling moonshine and smuggling. Sebastian even worked for the Genovese Family on the latter. One of our common activities was raiding Junkyard Joel's. Every town has a hoarder and theirs was Joel Engler. He collected everything and even raided other people's trash cans. The stuff he got had turned his house into a maze, that even me as skinny as I am had trouble navigating. As a result, the place was infested with rats and smelled like a sewer. Recently the junk had overflowed his house and was now strewn across his yard. The neighbors were complaining, and some even filed suits while Joel would call the police. Accusing them of trespassing and theft, though he soon figured out that we were guilty of both. Last time they got a set of diodes that they used to fix up an old TV. According to Eli he recently got something new an iron bedframe. At first, he tried lawsuits but these fell flat since he had a very hard time proving that the stuff, we had legally belonged to him. So he tried to steal back some of the stuff we had taken but got well acquainted a local skunk before being chased away by the dogs.

We lived in an old estate at the edge of Brooklyn. It was a big two-story Victorian style house with bars on the windows. It was a hair away from being condemned and rumoured to be haunted. The place had such a reputation that the owners were desperate to get rid of it. So, they decided that anyone willing to live there would be given the house at a cut price. Walter and Mary bought the house 4 years ago and they have been living there since. Inside was a complete cluster of assorted furniture, appliances, and nick nacks, all acquired through garage sales, charities or like in the case of Junkyard Joel, stolen. Though unlike him Our house was still livable.

The yard was large and overrun with weeds and surrounded by a large wooden fence reinforced with iron bars in the inner part. It was often populated with stray dogs that happened to find their way there. The Brownings took to unofficially adopting the ones that would be useful guards like Dobermans, Rottweilers, and Retrievers making them as vicious as they were obedient. We used to have a few pit bulls but after Reuben got bit and they almost went after Kelly, they set the record straight with a baseball bat. They made an excellent deterrent against the bullies at school as well as invasive pests such as racoons and skunks. Many joked that the Brownings were so much trouble that the ghosts supposedly haunting the manor simply gave up and left.

The next few days were typical for me, I went to my classes, and did my best to not draw attention, not only because I wanted to avoid getting in trouble but also because it helped me go unnoticed should I need to cause trouble or pull a prank.

Surprisingly Cassidy and his friends had not bothered me since that first day, it seems that Silena had a bigger influence has a bigger influence over them than I thought. Glancing over to where she was seated, I saw that she was chatting away with some friends. The kids she was with were among the nicer bunch, so I had made a mental note to leave them be.

The peace lasted a whole week when at lunchtime a crash was heard John saw Silena getting her tray knocked out of her hand by Felicity Buckman flanked by her troupe of friends who were laughing maliciously. Felicity Buckman was the richest girl in school and in John's mind, the most spoiled and condescending queen bitch in the state. The daughter of a lawyer and the Commissioner, she got away with just about everything. She was also the girlfriend of Aaron Repperton, John's former tormenter. Ever since Aaron left, she had made it her life mission to get John kicked out. With Aaron gone, Felicity took up the leadership role of their gang.

Along with her three compatriots Regina, Harriet and Marianne all but ran the school backed by their boyfriends. The school had become a battleground between the Brownings and Aaron's gang. The Brownings would pull pranks on them while Aaron's gang did what they could to get the Brownings expelled.

"Stay away from my boyfriend," Regina sneered at the younger girl. "And If I hear that you've bee talking to her again I'll make sure to ruin that pretty little face of yours."

My eyes narrowed, 'looks like he won't be having a peaceful day today,' he thought. Part of him wanted to get up and confront them but that would be too obvious. Getting back at Regina would require a more subtle approach. John saw a couple of kids come to help her up as she wiped her tear-streaked eyes. Beside him Brittany glared, "spiteful whore," she snarled before turning to John. "So how would we get her this time?"

John cocked an eyebrow, "why Brittany, I didn't know you cared so much."

Brittany shrugged," I heard what happened with Cassidy, so defending her is the least we could do." She studied her brother and smirked, though you seem more upset about it than usual.

John nodded, "I have a few ideas in mind, but I'll need the day to choose which one to go with." Later that day Regina screamed that her shoes went missing during P.E. They were found later on the rooftop burned to a crisp.

Of course, John was called to the principal's office for questioning. As usual they couldn't find anything solid, and John had been in the boy's locker room at the time of the theft. So with no evidence aside from Regina's accusation, they had no choice but to let him go.

After school, John was walking towards his usual bench outside when something caught his eye. Silena was once again surrounded by girls, but it wasn't Falicity and her cronies this time it was just a pair of them. They were standing over her laughing while she cowered against a row of lockers.

Must be some of Felicities minions then, I thought as I looked around and found no one else around. Making a decision, I walked towards them. But as I got closer a familiar scent reached his nostrils. it was something he hadn't smelled in four years. As I inhaled the aroma, I looked at the girls again and saw that their appearance had changed. Their hair took on a fiery gleam. 'Must be the light.' Looking down he saw that one leg now looked hairier and the shoe resembled a hoof. 'Odd.' Looking at the other leg he noticed that it had a metallic gleam, like the whole thing was encased in metal. Then he caught one of their faces in a side glance, her eye was glowing red, and when she opened her mouth a very long fang could be seen.

My eyes widened 'those were no mere brats, they were monsters. Some kind of vampire.' Raged boiled in him and his right-hand dove into his coat pocket, his fingers clutching the fountain pen inside. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly. I swore that he wouldn't cause trouble or make a scene, the last thing he wanted was to make too much trouble for his adoptive mother. So cool but steadily, I walked towards them, pulling out the pen and twirling it. once I was in earshot I spoke out.

"Is there a problem here ladies?"

The two girls over Silena turned to me with smirks on their faces, but those smirks dies when they set eyes on me, and their eyes widened when they noticed my pen.

"W-what do you want?" One of them asked.

"You can leave her alone for starters," I said, and since I'm feeling generous today, I'll let you go with a warning. I'd hate to tell Dracula that I hurt his brides.

"Dracula's...wha...I don't know..." one of them stammered but I cut her off.

"DON'T PLAY COY WITH ME WITCH," I snapped, "You can't hide it from me, I see you as you are." I raised them pen and pointed it at them "so what's it going to be."

The pair of vampires looked at each other then turned and scampered away, I smirked and pocketed my pen before turning to Silena, "Are you alright?" I asked holding out my hand.

Silena nodded as she took my hand gratefully as I helped her up. Feeling her soft hand holding mine caused a tingle to run up his arm and down his spine. Besides my adoptive sisters I rarely interacted with other girls, the last time he felt a sensation like this was with HER, and that... John shook his head as Silena picked up her backpack. "Thank you," she said softly.

I nodded, "so why were they harassing you?" I asked as we walked outside.

She shrugged, "I don't know, I've never seen them before. At first I thought they were with that girl from lunch, but they said they wanted to send a message to my mother."

I decided not to press the issue for now and walked with her outside to her usual bench, as he strode off to his own seat, Silena spoke up.

"You can sit here if you want," Silena offered.

"I doubt you would enjoy my company," I told her eager to get to my own bench.

"Please," She locked eyes with him, "it would be nice to have some company."

I paused for a moment, every impulse inside told me to refuse and walk away, But... I looked off into the distance, those girls may very well come back and likely when he wasn't looking. Looking at her again and suddenly he felt a tug to accept her offer and the longer his eyes fixed on hers, the stronger that tug became.

I pondered it for a moment, Brittany was sent home early after she started throwing up, so I would be alone as well. So, against my judgement, I walked back to her and cautiously sat down beside her. She gave me a smile. 'Just this once,' I thought, 'what harm could it do?'

Now sitting side by side, Silena turned to me, "thanks again... for earlier."

I shrugged, "it was the least I could do after what you did for me earlier." Pausing I decided to bring up the earlier issue, "so what does your mother have to do with those girls earlier?"

Silena frowned, "I don't know that either, I've never met her. For as long as I can remember I've lived with my father. All he would tell me about her was that she was very beautiful."

My eyebrows raised, 'that was a familiar concept, albeit slightly different. "I've never known my father and I only have a few small memories of my mother."

"What do you remember?" Silena asked curiously.

I rubbed my chin, "she had brown hair and brown eyes, a kind face but sad."

"Aren't the Brownings your parents?"

I shook my head, "no they took me in like most of us besides Sebastian and Kathryn."

"That was kind of them," she acknowledged.

I nodded and my face turned solemn, "more than you know," I said as I looked down at my arms, 'more than you know.'

Silena regarded me for a moment before saying, "you know, you don't seem that bad,"

I smirked, "that's because you've only met me and I tend to go for the subtle approach."

Silena frowned, "they say you and your siblings are liars, cheaters and thieves, but so far I haven't seen you do anything."

I grinned and wagged a finger, "guilty on all counts, and just because you haven't seen me do anything doesn't mean nothing is happening."

Silena paused as if remembering something, "Regina was yelling up a storm because her new shoes were missing, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

I gave her a half smile, "hypothetically, if i did have something to do with that, I'd say her shoes will soon have better owners."

Silena's eyes widened, "seriously? That was you? How did you manage that?"

I gave her a wink, "A magician never reveals their secrets."

"But why risk getting in trouble to do it?"

I shrugged, "Regina is a bully, nobody likes a bully."

"Aren't you and your siblings' bullies in your own right?"

"We're not sadists, we don't go pushing around random people for no reason, That's just obscene."

"Is that what you meant earlier, when you said associating with you would be bad for me.?"

I nodded, "a girl like you looks like she came make friends with anyone if the past week is anything to go by. Though I suspect that's the real reason Felicity's gang is after you. It' won't be long before you steal the spotlight entirely from them."

Silena sighed heavily, "yes that always seems to be the case."

I cocked an eyebrow, "you don't like the attention?"

"It gets suffocating, it would be nice to not have every boy in school gawking at me."

I was surprised, 'lovely, kind, modest, this girl was truly starting to grow on him.'

A familiar pickup pulled up and Sebastian poked his head out expecting John to get in. I walked over and shook his head, "Go on ahead and pick up the others, I'm going to stay here for a bit longer." I reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of fancy shoes, though before coming back do you mind dropping these off at Make a Wish."

Sebastian's eyes widened and took the shoes. He then looked between him and the pretty girl next to him gave John a wry smile before nodding and driving off.

Looking around and seeing no cars coming anytime soon I asked, "is your father always this late?"

"He often works long hours, so it usually takes a while."

I frowned, 'that seems a bit negligent,' "That does he do?"

"He owns a Chocolate Store."

Hearing this, the song 'Ballad of a Teenage Queen,' began playing in his head and he started to chuckle.

Silena was confused, "what's so funny?"

"It just reminds me of this song by Johnny Cash, about a town beauty who is in love with a boy that works at a Candy Store." He replied.

Silena giggled, "I've never heard of that song, but it sounds adorable."

So, they sat there merely enjoying each other's company and talking about simple things until finally an hour after school had ended a car pulled up and a man who John could only guess was Silena's father opened the passenger door.

Silena picked up her things and got up heading towards the car before getting in she turned to John with a smile, "thanks for keeping me company today," she called out.

"Don't get used to it," I called back, this is just a one-time thing."

Her smile broadened, 'if you say so," she said as she got in. Mr. Beauregard regarded John for a moment and John returned his gaze and didn't look away. After a moment. the door closed and the Car drove away just as the pickup returned to for him.

"Where to?" Sebastian asked.

"Brittany is ill so we'll have to go shopping for medicine."