Hawk Point *ON HOLD*

Chapter Two: Sweet Insanity

"This place is weird mom." Cif, her phone jammed harshly against her ear, maneuvers herself cautiously through the maze of boxes littering the room. Lose articles of clothing and stray books are scattered across her bed, concealing the old ratty blanket from sight. "Is it too late for us to go with you to Montreal?"

Her mom makes a noncommittal noise at the back of her throat; something between a groan and a cough that Cif knows means no. Her mom sounds tired, worn down; the type of bone-deep tired that makes it obvious that she isn't feeling as cheerful as she sounds.

"Look Honey," Her mom says finally, "It may seem weird at first but you just need to adjust. Chris and I both grew up in Hawk Point. It's a wonderful town."

"Then why did you leave if it's so damn wonderful?" Cif says is retort, struggling to control her increasing frustration as she begins to pace the length of the room. "It's weird mom! I'm not kidding! There was this crazy guy and---"

"Cif sweetheart, listen to me." Her mom says softly, "Trust me. This will be the summer of your lives. You can explore, make new friends, and do new things."

"We can do that in Montreal." Cif mutters. Her mom sighs.

"Montreal isn't Missouri." She says, "And Hawk Point is one of the most interesting places in Missouri. It won't be the same."

"It won't be weird. Mom please! I like staying with Christopher and I'm sure Luke does too, but I hate it here! We both hate it!" Cif stops pacing and shoves aside a couple of sweaters so that she could plop herself onto the bed. The wooden frame creaks and the mattress dips from the added weight. She switches the phone to her other ear. "Mom, who's Joe Klinsey?"

Cif can hear the air hissing past her mom's teeth as she inhales sharply. When she speaks, her voice holds tints of frantic worry.

"Isn't he a character from Twilight or something?" Her Mom asks before beginning to speak at a more rapid pace, "Look, I have to go. Tell Luke that I love him. Love ya Cif and don't get into any trouble. Bye." Cif opens her mouth to respond but is left with the dull buzz of the dial tone ringing into her ear.

"Dammit Mom." Cif hits the re-dial button but is instantly lead to voice mail. With an irritated huff, she tosses her phone onto the bed and lifts herself to her feet, wincing when her joints snap into place with a horrifying crack. Luke glances up at her from his position on the bed across the room, his emerald eyes wide with curiosity.

"She said no, didn't she?" A exasperated sigh escapes through Cif's slightly parted lips as she throws a wary glance at the discarded phone.

"She said no." she mummers unhappily.

"What did she say about Joe?" Luke inquires, rubbing his eyes with the hem of his madras shirt. He looks almost as tired as Cif feels.

"She thought he was from Twilight." Cif replies. Luke stares at her dubiously from behind thick strands of blonde hair.

"But he doesn't sparkle." He says matter-of-factly and Cif chokes back a laugh.

"You wanna know something Luke?" She asks, and continues before her brother could respond. "All this: the dreams, that crazy guy at the cafe, the name Joe Klinsey appearing all over the place...it all makes me feel like I'm going crazy. And you want to know something else?" The silence that follows is so tense that Cif can feel the pressure in her ears.

"What?" Luke asks cautiously. Cif breaks into a grin, her pink lips pulling back to expose her teeth.

"I think I'm going to try to find out why this place is so weird." She says.

~~~~~~~

Aven Winters hates humans. It's not that they annoy him with their constant chatting and rushing about; that, he doesn't mind. What really vexes him off is their habit of not minding their own businesses. Humans always want answers---logical answers---and their quest to find them never ends well. A really good example of that is that Joe Klinsey; poor kid, having to end up the way he did. And let's not forget about Christian Hansen...

Why he went up to that girl and boy at the Judgment Day cafe is a mystery to him. If they want to learn the truth about Hawk Point and it's inhabitants, it's their own graves they're digging, not his. He just hopes that they're smart enough to get the hell out of here. 

But why? He had seen humans go insane trying to unravel the secrets and they only got so far before they lost whatever bit of sanity they had left. He had watched people go insane yet he did nothing. So why did he try to warn those two?

Little sharp needle-points jab at the back of his head and he can feel a headache forming. There is too many people wandering the streets, too many cars coughing up carbon gases, too much talking, laughing, yelling...

"Stay away from them." A second pair of feet fall in sync with his and Aven can smell the man's fear beneath the scent of salt and sweat.

"Nice to see you too Hansen." He replies, not helping but notice how Christopher tenses when he hears his name. "How ya doing?"

"I was fine until I saw you talking to the kids." Christopher replies, venom  dripping from his voice. Even his tone holds a hint of hatred. Aven shoots the older man a sidelong glance, his lips pulling back to reveal his pearly teeth.

"Ouch." Aven says, coating his voice with sarcasm, "You know, I actually thought we were friends." Chris  jerks back at the use of the word 'friends' almost as if it were a slap to the face. Even though he may not show it, Aven can easily tell that Christopher is frightened of him.

"If you think we're friends then you must be crazier than I thought." Aven glares at Christopher.

"It's called sarcasm. Maybe you've heard of it."  He snaps, all patience he had earlier dissipating like smoke in the wind. "Listen Hansen," he stops and jabs a finger in Christopher's direction, watching with dark glee as the man cowers away.  "I can talk to whomever I want, whenever I want. Have a problem with that, go die in a hole. Easy as that."  Without waiting for a response Aven spins on his heels and stalks away, weaving through the crowd of oblivious people. How blind are they, that they can't see the obvious.

Another reason why Aven hates humans: they are so ignorant and those that aren't act like they know everything...which they do not.

"Just stay away from them." Christopher's voice is a mere echo, slowly ebbing through the noise around them. Aven scoffs.

This man can't tell me what to do.

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 hope you guys like the new cover; I made it myself using pics I found on the internet :)

The pic on the side is Aven played by (the younger) Kevin Zegers.

Hey guys :) sorry for updating two days late but there was an incident in gym involving a hockey stick that rendered me incapable of writing for a few days because of x-rays and such. I hope you like this chapter.  Also, thanks to ElsaForever for being so awesome! Check out her stories too!

Also, sorry if the beginning is kinda slow and boring but I promise once things start getting interesting, I'll be intense! And sorry if it's pretty short. I'll try to increase the length of my chapters. Comment / vote and tell me what you guys think. I welcome any theories about my characters :)  Oh and please like my Facebook page for Hawk Point. It'll have sneak peaks and such :)

ZuzannaMiron