“Iʼm going back-to-school shopping,” I said as Jase polished off the last of my banana split,

“and Iʼm going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a D&D manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitorʼs uniform, a kidney off the black market, a loincloth, and...medieval weaponry.”

“Medieval weaponry?”

I gave a smug smile. Mom introduced us to the alphabet game when we were little with the purpose of keeping us entertained on long road trips. Over the years it evolved from a simple memory game to a contest to see who could come up with the most ridiculous items.

“Okay, then Iʼm going back-to-school shopping and Iʼm going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a Dungeons & Dragons manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish named Gabe, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitorʼs uniform, kidney, loincloth, medieval weaponry for with which to slay, and...” He recited the alphabet under his breath. “N. Nude photos of Betty White.” It was obvious who was winning this round.

“Thatʼs just gross.”

He threw a hand over his heart and squeezed his eyes shut as if he was trying to hold back tears. “How can you say that about my Betty? Sheʼs such a beautiful woman.” He may have gone on, extolling the virtues of naked senior citizens, but I wasnʼt listening.

The guy from the bench -- the big, scary one -- was leaning against a tree about twenty-five yards away.

“Ground Control to Major Spazz. Can you hear me, Major Spazz?”

“Huh? What?” Jase was standing in front of me. I wasnʼt quite sure when that happened.

“You okay?”

“Heʼs back,” I said, my voice a whisper for no good reason.

“Who?”

“The guy with a staring problem.” I nodded towards the small cropping of trees.

I knew by the way he called, “Iʼll be right back,” over his shoulder as he took off down the beach that he intended for me to stay where I was. I gave the idea some serious consideration before taking off after him.

“I know the rules,” Jase was saying as I approached. “This is our territory. You either fight me now or leave.”

Was he insane? This guy could have passed as the Jolly Green Giantʼs considerably less green and jolly brother. It was entirely possible he could bench press a Volkswagen. Jase would get broken into a million little pieces.

“Iʼm not leaving.”

Jase pulled himself up to his full five feet and nine inches, which was less than impressive.

“Then we fight.”

“Like Hades you will,” I said, stepping up beside my brother. “Did you wake up on the stupid side of the bed this morning?”

Jase didnʼt even look at me. “Go away, Scout. This is none of your business.”

“Iʼm not leaving until you do.”

“I think you should go, Scout.” I made the mistake of looking up when he said my name. His eyes were an unusual shade of grey, no trace of blue, green, or yellow visible.

“No, thank you.”

He stepped over to me and someone made a strange whimpering sound. Oddly enough, I felt certain it had originated from Jaseʼs throat instead of my own. The other guy was less than a foot away from me, and I had to crane my neck to meet his steel colored eyes. Being in such a close proximity caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.

He leaned in so close I could feel his warm breath on my neck. I thought he was going to whisper something in my ear, but instead he quickly inhaled twice through his nose.

Well, I certainly had never been sniffed before.

“What is she?”

The question was aimed at Jase, but I took the liberty of answering. “What she is, is offended and quickly becoming angry.”

“Leave my sister out of it,” Jase said, sounding like a kid telling the bully to give his lunch money back.

Our new friendʼs eyes flickered quizzically between Jase and me. “Do they know about her?”

Jase didnʼt say anything, which apparently qualified as an answer. He finally backed away, giving me room to breathe.

“Iʼm staying,” he told Jase is a quiet, controlled voice. “I suggest your people stay out of my way. Iʼll take out anyone who crosses me.” He shot a pointed glance in my direction. “Even her.”

Once he was out of earshot, Jase wheeled on me. “Why couldnʼt you have stayed out of this? What am I supposed to do now?” He yelled out a stream of profanities and kicked a nearby tree hard enough to dislodge some bark and possibly a toe.

“Who was that? Whatʼs going on?” My anger matched, if not surpassed, his. “Were you seriously going to fight that guy? Heʼs like three times bigger than you!”

“Heʼs not that big.”

“It would have been like The Rock versus Seth Green. Now, tell me who he is.”

“I donʼt know.”

Liar.

We glared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Jase stalked off, whipping out his cell phone along the way. I waited until he finished his call to strike again.

“Are you in a gang?” It was the most logical conclusion I could reach. I overheard just enough of his conversation to know he had called Toby, a cop. Convincing his naive young cousin to infiltrate a local gang sounded like the kind of idiotic plan Toby would have.

“Does this look like inner-city Chicago to you?” Jase gestured at the tiny town nestled in the forest. “Do you think the Bloods are doing drive-bys in pick-ups and mini-vans?”

“I think that something very weird just happened. Something about ʻterritoryʼ. Something that ended with Jean-Claude van Crazy threatening to snuff me out and sent you running to Toby. Did your idiot cousin put you up to something?”

“Canʼt you just drop it?”

“Not likely.”

Jase growled in agitation. “Please, Scout? Just this once? I promise, I wonʼt let him hurt you.”

“Can you promise that you wonʼt get hurt?”

“You donʼt have to worry about me,” he said, assuming what must have passed as a tough guy expression in Jaseʼs mind. “Iʼm made of 100% awesome, totally untouchable.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Then Iʼll drop it,” I said as I began plotting ways to uncover the truth.

Chapter 2