Human Feathers: Black and White

Chapter 1: An Unknown Fate

The drive to Benlington had been exhausting, not to mention having to stack boxes that had just been packed a few hours earlier. Yet, the time had already come to unpack them in their designated rooms.

It was an early fall morning that the Jude family had decided to move. It would be a ‘wonderful new start to a brand new life,’ yet there was one member of the family that just wasn’t as enthusiastic as his parents were, unfortunately.

After having stacked boxes in rooms all night long, only to have been met with four meager hours of sleep, it was no wonder that the boy was laying completely asleep on his bare mattress, almost too short for his tall, skinny body to fit on.

But it was seven in the morning, which was totally unacceptable to his mother who happened to be standing in the doorway, scolding him for being lazy.

“Danny!” Hannah Jude yelled into the room at her son. “I told you six o’clock! Mr. Kuris will be here any minute!”

Damien grunted and turned onto his belly. “I wish you’d stop calling me that…”

“Wake up and get dressed!” His comment sailed right over her panicked head. Hannah turned down the hall, then she called out behind her, “I want you to at least appear decent for a teenage boy! And you need to help! I won’t let you get away without unpacking!”

Watch me, Damien thought to himself angrily. He was beginning to fall back asleep when he heard his mom walk past his open door again.

“Seriously, Dan! If you aren’t out of bed with fresh clothes on in five minutes, I’ll throw a glass of ice-water on you!”

Begrudgingly, Damien lifted his head. He looked up pitifully and groggily at his mother. The threat in her words was even more obvious in her eyes as she stared at him like she wanted to strangle him. Dropping his head in defeat, he stared down at the floor. “Fine,” he grunted menacingly.

Hannah glared at him. “You’re too stubborn for your own good! Don’t think I won’t be back up here!” she yelled as she headed downstairs.

Damien blinked a few times as he tried to give himself the will to stand. After two minutes of fighting it, he finally decided to get up. It just seemed better than a face full of freezing water. Stepping off of his small, twin-sized mattress, his foot hit the sharp corner of a tightly-taped cardboard box and he flinched. He kicked it away impatiently.

Some ‘wonderful new start.’ Now not only was his head aching, but also the soft, sensitive sole of his foot.

Dodging all the other carelessly stacked towers of boxes that had been placed in his room solely for the intention to bother him, it seemed, Damien managed to reach his door and shut it just before he heard the doorbell ring downstairs. He sighed, irritated.

Well, at least he had a reason not to dig through his boxes trying to find some clean clothes now. The guests were already there.

“Good morning, Mr. Kuris,” Hannah’s greetings echoed up the stairs in the empty house loud enough for Damien to be able to eavesdrop on her conversation. The man she was talking to had so graciously decided to help them move up into the mountains while Damien’s dad, John, had to leave a few days earlier to get straight to work.

Thank goodness John would be back later tonight when everything was unpacked. Damien wasn’t too fond of Mr. Kuris, or being alone with his mom, either, for that matter.

Mr. Kuris was a strongly built, blond man that had helped load the truck down in Dereen and had driven it all the way up the mountains. He had also unloaded it just a few hours ago with Damien’s ‘help.’ Every chance he got, Mr. Kuris examined Damien like a piece of meat that had to prove something to him. This had made Damien downright cranky, just as any sixteen-year-old would get if deprived from so much sleep and stared at like a dog stares at his favorite chew-toy, waiting for an opportunity to tear it up, or something of that nature. Basically, saying that Damien was in a bad mood was an understatement.