The Hunt

Chapter One

"This little piggy went to the market,
This this little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went, 'WEE! WEE! WEE!' All the way home."

I made a show of tickling Amanda up her shin as I laughed along with her adorable giggling.

"Sammy," she gasped for breath, squirming under my relentless tickles, on top of the plain couch, "Sammy stop!"

She weakly threw a pillow my way, but I easily dodged and pulled up her shirt to give her a quick raspberry on her belly button.

"Do you surrender yet?" I asked, amused by the little girl's happy laughter.

She let out the cutest hiccup I've ever heard and threw her hands above her head, as she yelled, "I surrender!"

I leaned back and wiped my hands together with a smug smirk, "Too. Easy." I teased.

She giggled a little before her eyes turned sad, "I'm gonna miss you Sammy," she pouted and I could see her beautiful blue eyes start to water, making my heart break.

"Aw, Mandy," I pulled the girl in for a hug, soothing her back with my hand as she cried harder. "I'll miss you too," I whispered into her hair, not caring that my shoulder was getting soaked with snot and tears.

"Yo- you'll c-call right?" She pleaded, holding me tighter.

I squeezed my eyes shut to fight back the tears that were threatening to break loose.

"Of course," I felt myself say, "I'll call every night."

I leaned back from the hug and wiped the wetness on Amanda's cheek with a sad smile.

"I-I l-love you sa-ammy," she hiccuped and ran a small hand under her wet nose.

I tucked a piece of her wild red hair behind her tiny ear and looked her in the eyes, "I love you too, Mandy."

Amanda looked like she was about to say something but was interrupted by a loud knock from the front door. My head snapped towards the noise and I stood up carefully while grabbing Mandy's hand.

As we walked out of the sun filled living-room and into the golden hallway, I wondered what my grandma'a house would be like. My mom hadn't told me much about my grandmother, so I had no idea what to expect when I got there.

We reached the large oak door and I hesitantly opened it with my free hand, to reveal a tall man in an expensive looking suit with his hands folded behind his back. I spotted a slick, black limo parked behind him on my aunt's brick driveway and put two and two together.

This must be the driver grandma sent to pick me up, I thought, wow, she really did go all out.

He smiled up at me with extremely white teeth, and held out his hand, "Samantha Avery?" He questioned. His eyebrows quirked the smallest bit, and I took in his dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. I couldn't help but notice how good looking the man really was.

Feeling slightly embarrassed about how out of my league he probably was, I returned the grin with warm cheeks and shook his hand with a nod.

His smile widened and he spoke again, "Hi," he said, letting go of my hand, "I'm Felix, I'll be your chauffeur today."

"Hi," I replied shyly, when I felt a tug on my t-shirt.

I crouched down to find Mandy's reddish brown eyebrows folded in question, "what's a 'chauffeur'?" She asked me, glancing over at the handsome young man in her doorway.

"Well, I guess you could say it's someone who drives people places," I looked up at the man, "would you agree Felix?"

Felix chuckled a little and nodded, "yes, I think that about sums it up."