Call of the Eagle

Prologue

It was a daydream afternoon in midsummer. Bees and butterfly's buzzed lazily from flower to flower. And fluffy white clouds chased after each other in the brilliant sky. The breeze brought fresh scents of green growing things. It was such a beautiful day that it would be a sin not to go outside.

Samantha was practically bouncing with excitement of the prospect of going outside to soak up the day's beauty.

She hopped off her perch by the window and ran into her mother's office, "Mummy you've gotta take me outside!"

Her mother sighed. A sigh that hinted great stress, "not not Sam, maybe later when I finish this up...." she trailed off as she scanned the immense piles of paper littering her desk space. It was quite clear that she wasn't going to finish anytime soon.

Samantha looked crestfallen. Her mother paused and then said, "you know what Sam? Why don't you go get Griffin to take you outside?"

Samantha's face lifted, "yeah!"

She turned and ran out of the room and down the hall into Griffin's room.

She left onto the bed, Griffin jumped, scattering papers.

Samantha took no notice of this and immediately started speaking, "C'mon Griff! You gotta take me outside!"

Griffin was down on the floor at that point starting to pick up the scattered remains of her once organized homework. She paused, as she reached out to grab another paper, "I have to, huh?" She asked playfully.

"Yes! You have to," Samantha nodded seriously.

Amused by Samantha's seriousness Griffin replied, "Ok, ok! I'll take you out in a little bit. I've gotta finish my math homework right now. But as soon as it is humanly possible, I will take you out to play, ok?"

"Ok," she whined as she moped out of the room.

Griffin was in the middle of finishing up a hard math problem when she suddenly got the urge to go and find Samantha.

As soon as she stepped out of her room she's smelled the fragrance of green growing things, mom must be burning essential oils again, she thought as she turned and walked to Samantha's room.

"Sam?" No response, it was the same for al the other rooms in the house.

The house, without a doubt, was eerily empty.

"Hey mom have you seen Sam anywhere? I can't seem to find her anywhere!" Griffin asked from the doorway of her mother's office.

"No I thought she went outside with you," her mother said pointedly swinging her chair around to face Griffin.

"Uh, no she didn't. I had to do algebra!" Griffin said defensively.

"She's probably hiding somewhere, that little stinker!" Her mother gave an amused giggle, "she's always been a troublemaker that one. Takes after her father I'm sure." She turned back to her computer.

"Mom I'm telling you I searched the whole house top to bottom, left to right, she isn't here!" Griffin hissed trying to keep her anger together. How could her mother be so dismissive, and so stupid?

"Don't get smart with me Griffin. I told you, she must be hiding. Go look for her again, and while your at it close that window, you know it triggers my sinuses!"

Griffin felt surprised at the second demand, "mom there is no window open! I just checked the whole house, do you really think that there is even room he slightest chance that I would miss an open window?"

"Then what's that smell? Are you calling me stupid? Are you saying that I can't identify spring smells when I smell it?" Her mother was angry now as she swung her chair around to face Griffin.

"Mom I checked this whole house! Except for the...." she trailed off, "entrance hall!"

Suddenly it made sense, Samantha had gone outside by herself, and the entrance hall had two sets of doors, one right before the outside, and one to block off the hall from the rest of the house. Now that Griffin thought of it, the door on the inside was slightly open. Griffin pivoted and sprinted towards the entrance hall, swinging the door all the way open she realized with dread that she was right: the door leading outside was wide open.

"Samantha!" She shrieked. She thought she was going to be sick. The sight that greeted her made her heart stop: Samantha in the middle of the road with a car rocketing towards her with no signs of slowing down.

Without giving herself time to think she pelted across the lawn leaping to shove Samantha out of the way. Samantha fell unharmed on the opposite side of the road, while Griffin fell, face first, where Samantha had just been standing. She's caught herself with her hands, and turned her face towards the truck that would soon take her life. She closed her eyes and waited for the blow to come, and the darkness that would soon follow.