Lazer Tag

Chapter One:

Cousins

Being kicked in the face was sure as hell not my idea of fun.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? Let's start from the beginning of my story, but look; this was not my idea. If you're going to point fingers at someone, follow my lead and point them at Ruby McCain. I didn't want to leave my hometown of Manhattan and come to Violet Lake, the worst back-wash town. No offence, citizens of Violet Lake.

On a cold Monday morning in November, I, Katherine Sydney Hamilton, arrived in Violet Lake with suitcases and a scowl.

Aunt Ruby opened her door with a 500-watt smile that nearly blinded me. Blinking a couple of times, I noticed the difference in her house since I'd last been here.

"You've redecorated since I've been here," I said. Granted, the last time I was here was eleven years ago, when I was five. But I digress.

Aunt Ruby smiled. "Do you like it? I had it redone a couple of times, but your mother told me red and silver are your favorite colors, so I wanted to redecorate with such beautiful colors in your honor! Do you like it?"

No, I wanted to scream as I took in the sleek modern stairs, red walls, white tile flooring, and brick fireplace painted silver, all cold, modern pieces, a far cry from the warm contemporary style I was used to. I fought the urge to dash to the door and beg the taxi driver to take me back to the airport.

"I love it, thanks, Aunt Ruby!" I said out loud.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Walking into the kitchen, her heels clacked on the new stairs, a sharp contrast to the creaky floorboards I was used to. I'm not sure I liked the change.

"Hey, kiddo," my older cousin Nicholas said in his odd lilting accent. He grinned at me, his hazel eyes gleaming. Shyly, I smiled and waved, not having anything to say to my cousin. He clearly didn't either, so we remained in an awkward silence until another similar accent rebounded off of the walls as the owners stomped down the stairs.

"Stop being a stuck up little prat, you-"

"Claire, so help me, God, I'm going to throttle you if you don't-"

"Girls," Ruby called. "Katherine's here."

Lucy and Claire stopped on the stairs and froze when they saw me.

"Hey, Kat," Lucy waved at me, and I grinned and waved back. We haven't seen each other since we were seven, but we still kept in touch and FaceTimed and all that, so we knew each other better than anyone else. Lucy was my age, and we could be sisters. We both had auburn-brown hair and brilliant green eyes and matching scowls.

Claire straightened up when she saw me, the infamous cousin she'd never met before. I was seven when she was born, so I'd met her, but she couldn't remember me. "Hi," she said quietly, tucking a piece of dirty blond hair behind her ear subconsciously, her hazel eyes downcast.

I smiled at her. "Hey, Claire."

Lucy came down the stairs and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me easily. She broke the embrace and beamed at me. "Finally, you're here! I've been waiting all day! Now we can do all those pranks we planned- I mean, bake cookies," she corrected quickly, noticing Nicholas giving her the death glare all children on my mom's side of the family learn at age 1.

Nicholas picked her up easily and held her in a head lock. I was shocked, but Lucy laughed. "Let me go, Nicky!"

"Nope," he teased, and she stomped on one of his feet solidly and darted out of his grip quickly. They smirked at each other.