The Renegade's

1. The Case That Started It All

Do you believe in fate or that people are meant to be placed in each others lives on purpose? Is it fate that decides who we are, the people we meet, those we love or the we walk in life? Or is life like a forge that tempers us and we are molded by our challenges? Personally I like the latter, although sometimes the former sounds right too. Maybe life is on a balance and you can forge your fate. I guess time will only tell...

The dinner barely had any business tonight as my brothers Jason and Jaxon sat with me as we ate our usual breakfast for dinner meals. There was a nasty thunderstorm outside but the weather wasn't going to hinder tradition. I sat reading articles on my laptop sipping on coffee while Jason ate his burger with a fried egg that had obviously burst as the yok had started to ooze out the back as he bit into it.

"Damn it! Not again with this messy ass burger." Jason says as he starts to wipe his hands clean with a napkin.

"I don't see why you are surprised brother," Rebuttals Jaxon "you routinely do this every time you get that burger." he chuckles as he sees the frustration on Jason's face.

"You know he is right Jason, at least you got your food bubba I'm still waiting on my waffle and hashbrowns." I state

"Your right Jayden, your right." He replies

"Always" I say as I wink at him and chuckle.

I continue to read the news on my laptop as I wait for my meal. The waitress brings out Jaxon's Pancakes and my waffle at the same time. I tuck my laptop away and Jaxon and I look and stare at Jason grinning.

"Why are y'all staring at me?" he says confused.

I take a sip of my sweet tea as I explain "You should know by now, taking a bite before grace means you say grace." We all chuckle as he begins to pray.

Jason always hated when I pick on him to say grace but he knows I do it out of love. He being the youngest of the three of us he was always the quiet one. Although he may speak a lot when its just us three, its not the same for everyone else. He may not be my blood, in fact none of us are, we are still family to each other. We all met in a foster home and stayed in the same room. That is how we all began to become close. Jaxon is the oldest and he always was the smart one who liked to tutor us in out classwork, he being a year ahead of me and two years ahead of Jason he already knew the subjects we were being taught and could assist us where needed. As for my i became the muscle. i played a lot of sports in school and spent the time I wasn't at practice or with my brothers in the gym working out. That became my sanctuary away from the stress.

We made a promise to each other that no matter what we stuck by each others side. We swore that we were the family we needed, may not be by blood but that our loyalty to each other is stronger than any family bonds we had. We were never adopted because we refused to leave each other. We told any family trying to adopt us that they had to adopt our brothers too because we refused to be separated. So the day Jaxon turned 18 he got us out adopting us as his brothers and we hit the road.

We finished our meals and continued to sit and talk for awhile about life as i went and started up some classic rock on the jukebox.

"Y'all are staying awhile I see." Says the waitress behind the counter. "Its a good thing we are 24 hours huh?"

"Yes ma'am" I reply with a smirk.

Bon Jovi begins to play in the dinner as strange man entered the dinner and sat in the booth adjacent to ours. He looked disgruntled and angry and he was drenched from the storm. the man seemed to be in his late 30's or early 40's with shaggy black hair with a clean shaved face. he was wearing faded and worn out jeans with a black dress shirt and a light brown trench coat. He clearly wasn't from around here.

"You weren't just walking in that ugly weather were you darling," says the waitress

"No choice, I don't have a ride. But a mans got to eat." replies the stranger.

"Can I start you off with some coffee or hot tea to warm you up then dear?" she asked

"Coffee please?" he says as the waitress walks to the back to start a fresh batch.

"You aren't from around here are you brother?" asks Jaxon.

"No I'm here for work, I have a case about a death in this town. There was something strange so I came to investigate."

I sit back at the table and push aside my plate as I open up my laptop and reopen the windows I had looking at the news. Jaxon and the stranger continued to chat as I scrolled through reading the articles and I stumble on the body of a teenage girl who had just recently died of unknown causes in he bedroom. I spin the laptop around to Jason and nod for him to look at as I turn the man.

"Are you referring to the body that was discovered? What's so strange about that case?" I asked.

He smirked and leaned toward us and spoke in a low tone. "I've been at this a long time boys. The question you should be asking in my line of work is what are they not telling you and why? If you want the answers I could use the extra hands."

"You want our help?" we asked puzzled.

"Like I said, I could use the extra help in this case. My gut tells me that there is something dark in this case. If you want to help I can teach you boys a thing or two."

We all agreed to help as this man peaked our curiosity. Little did we know how much this man would change our lives for better or for worse. What happens next would lead to a life time of stories and journeys traveling across the country and the world. Pain and joy, tears and laughter, good and evil. There is never one or the other but a balance between the two. We are the balance. We are the Renegades, and these are our stories.