G.U.A.R.D. Book #1: Clandestine

-4-

    The next day, Christmas break started. We would be free of the tortuous walls of high school for the next two weeks. All of this was good and grand until I woke up and found whipped cream thoroughly mixed in my hair, and face paint decorating my face. The same could be said for Winter. And if I knew anything about the Hunters... this was Conner's doing. Today was the nineteenth. His birthday.

This kid was bad enough as a ten-year-old. I didn't want to know how much worse he'd be as an eleven-year-old.

But at least Winter and I were better off than Max. Dustin had left early in the morning to shovel snow for our elderly neighbor, Miss Sanderson, which he did every winter for a few extra cents. Lucky.

Max was in the shower at the time his little brother decided to strike. Conner, being an expert at picking locks, snuck in the bathroom and grabbed all the towels and clothes, running out the bathroom again. Bad part? Max didn't have his own bathroom. He used the one in the hallway.

... Details are not needed.

I'm not exactly keen on noting anything else that happened that day. Let's just say there were a lot of fifth-grade boys over, and with them, there was a lot of chaos. And we'll keep it at that. However, the next day turned out to be much better. It was sunny, unlike the cloudy and very cold winter we'd been experiencing so far. The driveway and grass were full of dirty white sludge mixed with newly-formed mud. I saw it all from Winter's window, once again staring out at the road and waiting for my parents to come home. I guess it was kind of pointless, but I just wished that maybe this time it would be different—this they would come home, apologizing for going out without an explanation, and finally tell us why they went on these business trips. It was a vain hope, but that at least kept me going.

Finally getting bored, I reached down to the ground, where one of my favorite books lay: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I had had it for only two years, but it was already torn and worn from reading it so much. Just as I turned the page, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Conner yelled, dashing to the door.

I ignored it and continued reading. After a little shiver, I wrapped a blanket around my legs, cuddling my jacket closer. The front door opened, creaking loudly. A familiar, rich voice filled the hallway.

"Conner!"

I gasped and looked to the bedroom door.

"Hi, Mr. Billy!" the eleven-year-old answered back happily.

I lunged towards the door. Unfortunately, my legs got tangled up in my blanket, and I ended up crashing onto the floor. With a wince and a hand to my head, I muttered, "Ouch." However, I just kicked the blanket off, then swung open the door. There, wrapped in coats and long jeans, stood my parents.

"Mom!" I grinned. "Dad!"

"Alex!" my father exclaimed, his face sporting a smile as broad as mine. He entered the house, wrapping his arms around me. His Old Spice cologne tingled my nostrils, and I smiled, stuffing my face in the crook of his neck and shoulder. His strong arms grasped me tightly.

"Hey," Dustin greeted from the end of the hallway.

"Hi, Dustin," Mom's calm voice said as she, too, stepped inside the house. She wrapped her arms around Dustin's neck.

Dad finally let me go, and I looked up to his five foot ten figure. Over the years of sitting at a desk, he had put on a few pounds around the stomach area. Brown hair covered his hair, small, grey strands just beginning to show at the edges. Tanned wrinkles lined the area around his brown eyes as he smiled brightly down at me.