All is Fair

CHAPTER ONE

"You ready?" his uncle grunted, shouldering open the door to his bedroom and regarding Dan with an annoyed look. He reeked of cigarettes, the smell permeating the room. Dan nodded.

He'd been ready for the past three days, seeing as his uncle had promised to drive him to camp three days ago. Maybe it shouldn't have come as such a surprise when his uncle had made excuses as to why it had to be postponed—his paycheck had yet to come in and they had no gas money; he got called into work last minute; his favorite sports team was about to come on. He could manage to find an endless array of excuses if he so wished and Dan just sighed and left the room when he heard them. There was no point arguing—it would get him nowhere but in trouble.

"I'm ready," Dan said quickly, sliding off the bed and scooping his bag from the floor before his uncle could change his mind. He'd been getting antsy these last few days, afraid a monster would soon sense his presence and come to attack him. He had a couple weapons around, a celestial bronze dagger shoved into his bedside drawer, but nothing like the weapons he usually preferred at camp. He liked to fight with a giant, celestial bronze hammer, usually—yes it wasn't the most common of weapons, but it was what Dan was most comfortable with.

While everyone else darted around a monster, slicing at soft spots and stabbing at chinks in their armor, Dan simply waited for the right moment and smashed their head in with his warhammer—most creatures' brains tended to be a soft spot, Dan had learned.

He sighed after settling into the passenger seat of the car, hugging his bag to his chest and looking out the window. His uncle grumbled under his breath as he started the engine, the car making a horrible churning noise for a few seconds before it kicked into life, loud and wheezing.

Going to camp was always the best part of the year. Sometimes Dan wished monsters bothered him more often so he'd have an excuse to have to stay there all year long. Instead, he always returned home at the end of the summer, his high spirits effectively crushed by the presence of his uncle and all the idiots in school. Still, he was grateful nonetheless. Any amount of time spent away from his home was good and he would take whatever he could get.

He'd lived with his uncle for most of his life. A few sparse memories of his father remained: afternoons spent watching tv with him on the couch, sitting on his shoulders as they walked through the city, playing hide and seek in their small apartment. It'd always been just him and his dad, and that was the way Dan had liked it.

It all changed when his dad had had a heart attack when Dan was six. He'd been shipped off to live with his uncle, who'd been less than pleased to have to take care of him. Dan had always done his best to stay out of his uncle's way.

Whereas other kids vied for their parents' attention, bugged them to play with them and buy them toys and let them eat ice cream, Dan learned that it was in his best interest to avoid his uncle. He would find himself his own meals most days, had packed his own lunches for school and forged his uncle's signature on stupid forms sent home. The only reason he'd ever actively engaged his uncle was to ask about his parents.

One day when he was nine, after having worked up the courage all afternoon, he went to his uncle and asked, "Who was my mother?" It was something that had always bothered him a lot. He never had a mom around, couldn't even imagine what she looked like, and he hadn't ever thought to bug his dad about it. He was perfectly happy with that one person in his life, why should he need any other?

It was only after his dad had passed away that he began to wonder. He hadn't even known who his mother was, much less whether she was even alive or not! A small, useless, hopeful part of him had briefly entertained the thought of his mom being out there somewhere and learning of Dan living with his horrible uncle. And once she did she would come save him and take him away to her mansion where he would have lots of toys and friends and stories of his father.