Talon's Hollow

Chapter 1

              Thanks for reading my book in progress! I appreciate any constructive criticism! I will update at least once a month but if my time allows more then ill post more! Please feel free to suggest edits!

Summer camp, one person's living hell and another's paradise. Justin Easton was never particularly fond of the outdoors he enjoyed a warm summer day outside as much as the next guy, but he never considered himself an enthusiast of the wilderness. So, when he asked his dad to sign his permission slip for Camp Wolf Stone he never dreamed his dad would sign it no questions asked. Justin figured his dad would have been suspicious and would want to know why he suddenly had an interest in camping. The real reason Justin wanted to go to camp wasn't to enjoy the outdoors or the various activities they offered, but to get away. Justin's entire freshman year was anything but enjoyable. He had struggled all year but not academically, at home. His home life was terrible and had been terrible for some time, but this year was the worst yet.

Justin's dad wasn't a mean man despite his intimidating appearance he was actually kind and easy to talk to. So, Justin had no idea how his dad could have fallen in love with such an awful woman. When Justin was young his mom got really sick and passed away. For a time, it was just Justin and his dad and things were hard, Justin struggled to handle his grief, but his dad had it even harder. His mom and dad had been high school sweethearts and his dad was still really young when his mom passed. Justin knew it couldn't have been easy raising him and piecing his life back together, but his dad was always there for him and they managed. Then Justin's dad met Vicky and from the first moment they met he had a weird feeling about her. After a few short months Joey married Vicky and they all moved in together and that was when Vicky showed her true colors. Every night after his dad had remarried Justin went to bed trying to ignore the shouting coming from his parents' bedroom.

Things at home went from bad to worse, Vicky refused to work and treated Justin like a slave forcing him to do every household chore while she drank in her bedroom. It wasn't uncommon for his parents to get into a fight three times a week. He tried to drown out their shouting by listening to audio books and music, but they could only mask out so much. Justin could handle his step mother's hatred and her constant abuse, but he couldn't handle how his dad was acting towards him. His dad was his best friend for years but suddenly his dad had no time or patience for him. It was this home life that led him to love going to school every day and as each month passed he dreaded the impending summer. So, when Justin's best friend Peter offered to bring him to camp with him for the entire summer, he jumped at the opportunity.

Peter's family was very well off, but you wouldn't know it looking at him, Peter always wore the same collection of old worn out clothing. Justin's clothes were mostly goodwill buys but even he had more style than Peter's holey T-shirts and grease stained jeans. Justin met Peter his second day at school in gym class, he was struggling to run the pacer test his body was built for strength not speed or endurance. While he was trying not to pass out on the gym floor he met Peter. Peter had asthma and was also struggling on the gym floor trying to catch his breath. They quickly bonded over their near death from the pacer test and had been best friends ever since. Peter seemed normal at first but as the weeks went on Justin noticed that Peter had a habit of dragging him into trouble. More than once Peter had landed both of them in the principal's office.

THWACK. Justin's head smacked against the glass window of the bus, he rubbed his throbbing head and looked out the window. It was almost sunset, he could see the sun flickering through the trees as the bus drove deeper into the Montana wilderness. Justin stretched in the cramped bus seat, Peter was sleeping in the seat across the aisle from him. He sat up and looked around the bus, Justin noticed that like Peter, all the other campers were asleep as well. They had been driving all day and the excitement and fervor everyone had early in the day had long since been worn down by the the sway of the bus as it traversed the back roads of Montana.