Awakened: The Story of Maxwell Cain

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                     An Unexpected Event

        Six years went by, and the dreams were beginning to become more frequent and more detailed.  It was always the same dream.  Max did not consider himself to be a violent person and could not understand it.

        “How could I kill all those people?” he wondered to himself.

        Resolutely, he banished the melancholy thoughts from his mind.  He might be a prisoner to his nightmares at night, but today was his birthday.  Max quickly jumped out of bed and reached for his favorite pair of torn jeans.  Every year, his foster parents made him his favorite breakfast of chocolate waffles.  He could smell the aroma of melting heaven in his nostrils as he came stumbling down the stairs.

        “Good morning, sleepyhead,” his foster mother said, with a warm smile on her face.  “Looks like you missed breakfast.”

        She laughed when she saw the look of shocked dismay on his face, and then slid him the plate she was hiding, stacked high with waffles.

        “Eat up.  Will is going to pick you up in a few minutes for school,” she said with a smile as she turned back to the half-washed pile of morning dishes.

        Will and Max had been friends ever since he moved in with his foster parents many years ago.  Will had moved in next door with his family, barely a week after Max came.  It didn’t take long for the two boys to hit it off.  Max had a tendency to get himself into trouble, and Will had the wits to get him out of it.  For as long as he could remember, everywhere he went, Will was always there by his side.

        Max could remember the first day they met as if it was yesterday.  It was a warm summer afternoon, and Max went off to play by himself in the backyard.  His foster parents had always been amazing, and welcomed him into their home the very first day he joined their family.  Max was always depressed though.  He missed his family more than anything in the world, and worse than that, he had no friends.

        Later on that day, Max saw a moving truck pull into the driveway next door.  The house had been for sale only a few days.  Max saw a family of three pull up behind the moving truck, and the parents began directing the movers as to where to put their belongings.  A young boy around Max’s age came over to him in the backyard and introduced himself as Will.  After a simple conversation about the best cartoons, action figures, and that the best food to eat was pizza, the two were inseparable.

        A few years later, Chloe moved onto the street as well.  She was a petite, doe-eyed girl.  Her long chestnut hair down to the center of her back spent most of the time tied back in a no frills pony tail.  She had a smattering of freckles over her pixie-like face that she complained her mother had cursed her with.  Chloe was the exact opposite of Will and Max.  She was a straight “A” student and followed the rules to the letter.  She said she grew up in a military family and was raised with the lifestyle of discipline.  Every time Will and Max did something mischievous, Chloe was there to be the first one to scold them.

        Max had a wonderful life that he enjoyed with his friends for many years.  Nothing ever happened out of the ordinary, and Max was able to enjoy his teen years by acting as any rebellious teenager would.

Max wolfed down his breakfast and ran outside just as Will was pulling up in his car.  Max was jealous of Will.  Being two years older, he was already able to drive.  Not only that, he was able to convince his parents to buy him a brand new, red Mustang as his first car.  Max, being only fifteen, still had one more year left until he could drive, and had been promised the hand-me-down 1992 family work truck.