Red Mountain Chronicles: The Illusionist

Chapter 1

    It was a late Tuesday morning in the tail end of July, and just like every other day this entire summer, I was enjoying my time at home and was taking the morning slow. Yawning, I made my way under my bed sheets and rest my feet on the carpet. I was quite aware that there was no rush to get out of bed. However, I knew that it still wasn't healthy to mess up my sleeping patterns because, whether I was ready or not, I was going to begin my junior year of high school in about two weeks. So, body aching from the extra hours in bed, I rocked myself off of the mattress and head to the kitchen.
    When I walked onto the cold tiles, I then stopped next to the stove and noticed the unused state it was in.
    "I guess Mom's not up yet" I thought. Crouching, I ducked under the island to get out a pitcher, then stood up, and turned around to get out some eggs and milk. I then added the ingredients collected into the bowl and grabbing a whisk from the drawer, began to scramble the eggs. Once I was finished, I then turned around behind me to grab some salt and pepper. When I started to add them to the eggs, my Mother walked in.
    "Good morning my sweets," she said. "Making scrambled eggs?"
   "Yes," I replied. I then ducked again to grab a pan.
   "Do you want some bacon with that?" She asked, making her way around the island and opening the fridge.
   "Sure, but only if you want some too" I replied. After all, I wasn't just making breakfast for me.
    "Yeah, why not?" She then slid next to me and crouched to get a skillet.
    "Ok," I shrugged. "But since I am going to start the eggs they will be cold if we wait."
    "That's ok." She replied shaking her head. She then turned to look at me. "Why don't you go put something on for us? I'll do the bacon, and after it's done, you can cook the eggs."
   "Deal," I replied. Making my way to the couch, I picked up the remote. "Netflix?" I asked.
   "Netflix."
   I pressed the power button, and waited for the screen to load. When it did, Good Morning America was on, with some artist singing on a stage in an outdoor concert. The low volume made the song they were singing inaudible. Leaving it alone, I waited for the tv to connect to the internet so I could get to Netflix. "So," I turn my head back to her. "How did you slee--"
   "Shh!" she ordered.
   "What? I was just--"
   "Shh!" She said again, looking past me. "Turn up the volume."
   I turn back to see the words "Breaking News" flash on the screen, then our local news anchor, Anna Scanderez appear. With the remote still in hand, I hold the plus volume button until she is audible. Fortunately we are able to hear her second sentence. "Further investigation has been conducted on the case of the McCall family who went missing about a week ago. They were last been seen in their neighborhood on July 10 at 3:15 in the afternoon. Further investigation has been conducted on their Albuquerque home and we have come to the conclusion they were kidnapped. We will come back as soon as possible with more details."
   "Well, that's unsettling." I said. "This case sounds similar to the what happened in Las Cruces a month ago."
   "They're getting closer." she said. I didn't know what she was talking about. I looked at her. She was still looking at the screen, some of the color had drained from her face.
   Then, right when was about to ask her, the phone rang.
   She then rushed to her room and slammed the door. "Well that's strange," I thought. "She never takes a phone call in private. Why would she? We're both an open book to each other. What is going on?"
  Taking a seat on the sectional, I waited for her to finish their conversation.
   Then, she finally opened the door and slowly walked into the hallway behind me. I looked back to see her looking down, worried. She then looked back at me replacing it with determination.
   "Pack up your bags," she said "You're starting school a little bit early this year."