Ryder's Choice

Chapter 1 Ryder's Beginning

It was a cold winter night in 1994 as Diane Jackson gave birth to her new baby boy Ryder Jackson, he was 8lbs 13 oz and he was perfect. Ryder was born on January 13th 1994 just outside of a town called Mystic Falls. He had lots of brown hair and brown eyes as he looked just like his mom. Ryder's dad Trevor Jackson was not to happy about becoming a father, he loved his wife dearly but he just didn't like kids. Ryder was not your average baby as he seemed to be very intelligent, even as an infant he strived. Ryder was mastering skills faster then expected, and by the time he was 1 he could speak quite well. Ryder was a very easy going baby as he understood what was expected of him he wanted to be perfect in his mother's eyes as it is what she always told him. Just after Ryder's 3rd birthday Diane left him with his father as she went to Mystic Falls to run some errands. Ryder was playing nicely and his father was ignoring him as there was a knock on the door. Sheriff Forbes from Mystic Falls came and explained to Trevor that his wife was killed, she was attacked by something. Trevor didn't pay much attention to Ryder listening but he caught onto every word the Sheriff said. Ryder knew it was going to be hard without his mom and he was worried how is dad would treat him.

It has been a few months since Ryder's mom Diane died and his father started drinking very heavily, he ignored Ryder most of the time. The times that Trevor did remember Ryder was there he tossed food at him. Ryder mostly relied on himself as he was capable of cooking most things and he could already read books. Ryder was only 3 years old but he already knew he was smarter than his dad who just drank all day long. Ryder would cook and leave some food for his dad just in case he ever did end up eating it. Trevor knew he didn't deserve Ryder as he hated him and he felt Ryder knew it. Yet he was grateful as he still cooked for him and he was not sure how a 3 year old could cook. By the time Ryder was 4 Trevor started to resent him more and more as he reminded him of his wife. His drinking was getting worse and Ryder was always in the way, his dad yelled at him. "You are a waste of space! get out of my sight" Trevor said as he back handed Ryder across the face. Ryder had tears in his eyes but he didn't dare show fear to his father as he ran from the room. It was at this moment Ryder knew things were only going to get worse, Ryder had built himself a computer from scrap parts he found in the house. Ryder would try most of the time to stay out of his father's way as he taught himself knew things with his computer. He was able to build gadgets and read in several different languages, Ryder was teaching himself many different things. From history to geography he could name most countries, and he knew history as far back as he could find on the internet. 

Trevor was angry at the world he didn't understand how his wife was attacked by a wild animal, when she went for groceries. It has been a year since she passed and all he really did was drink, he quit going to work and just lived off of his wife's trust fund. Trevor hated his son and he barely remembered he was there. Ryder would sometimes get caught outside his room and Trevor would notice and he would beat him. There were times Ryder didn't really know why he was getting hit. Ryder was responsible for finding his own clothes as he was getting bigger and his dad wasn't helping him. 

Ryder had just turned 8 and he was walking around outside and he came across a german shepard puppy who looked scared in the middle of the road. Ryder walked up to him and helped him and said "you really shouldn't be in the street, you could get hit by a car" Ryder said to the pup. The german shepard looked at him with a sad face, "It is okay, My name is Ryder and I am going to take care of you" Ryder said to the pup knowing that it wasn't going to be able to talk back. Ryder took the pup home with him and hid with him in his room, the german shepard played quietly as he chased his tail. "That's it I am going to call you Chase, now I need you to promise me you will never leave this room Chase. It is very dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt" Ryder said knowing it would be pointless as a dog didn't understand. To Ryder's surprise Chase nodded his head and nuzzled Ryder before licking his face. "Did you understand me?" Ryder asked Chase nodded again, "wow I wish I could understand you" Ryder said as he cuddled Chase and they fell asleep together.