The Wanted

Chapter 2

After a day of constant driving and a stop at another motel, we finally drive by a sign that reads:

WELCOME TO BROWNSVILLE KENTUCKY

POPULATION OF 5,644

"You weren't joking when you said small." I say as we drive past an old, rundown house. It looked like it would collapse if a leaf fell onto it.

"Yeah, well, like I said 'under the shadows''' Miles takes a deep breath while putting on his sunglasses to shield his eyes from the harsh light of the sun. We drive by a public market and past a small preschool.

"Where is the high school down here?" I ask.

"Right there." Miles says. Wow. What a coincidence. It was small and long. Its courtyard was filled with people actively chatting. A group of jocks bully a short, chubby kid. They all were wearing red and gold letterman jackets.

"Nice." I say sarcastically.

"Don't judge your new school based on a bunch of insecure jocks." Miles had a point, but these guys acted like they didn't mess around.

"I won't sweat it anyways, I can snap them in half as if they were twigs."

"Yeah Alex, I know, but you can't draw attention to yourself."

"Because I need to blend in, I know Miles." In about ten minutes, we pull into an old, long gravel driveway. A mailbox read 1456, Harbor Dr.

"Where are we going?" I ask, turning to look at into the happy, bright part of down as we drive in the exact opposite direction. Trees then flood my vision from the sights of happy children playing in the streets. The only sunlight visible was the small creaks of light creeping in.

"Paradise." He answers with a bright smile. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Miles could definitely do better, but I haven't exactly told you why. Before we came here, Miles brought priceless gems worth thousands from our planet. And by gems, I mean gems worth millions to last us for a lifetime. Where is that money? Split up in about seventy different bank accounts so that people don't get suspicious. Miles claims that the money is only to be used for emergencies like clothes and food. Apparently houses aren't considered an emergency. So my reaction to my new house was definitely the exact opposite of "paradise".

"What is this?" I ask.

"Our new home." We pull behind a black SUV. The house was one story with old wooden clapboard, a rundown porch and a few cracks in the windows. It was a light blue color. Our real estate company's sign read Under Contract in bold letters planted right over the words For Sale in neat cursive. A blonde woman walks over to us, her heels hitting the gravel. She held a wooden clipboard and a folder with a BlackBerry clipped to the waist of her skirt. She smiled brightly, her blue eyes gleaming happily.

"Who's that?" I whisper into Miles ear.

"The real estate agent?" He asks just as confused as me.

"Hi, are you Miles Clark?" She asks. Yeah, so I dye my hair and change my name while Miles stays the same. The story of my life.

"Yes I am." Miles says with my smile. The woman holds out her hand and Miles takes it.

"I'm Kathy Samuels, your real estate agent. I tried calling you earlier, but your phone went straight to voicemail."

"Sorry, it died." Miles lies. He actually left it in our old house to burn along with everything else.

"Oh, that explains it a lot, I was afraid you wouldn't show up."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kathy smiles. "Well, I should give you the grand tour, follow me."

"Alrighty."

We carefully walk onto the wooden steps that led to the porch. "So it needs some improving, that's fixable." Miles say while reading my disgusted expression.

Inside was definitely an improvement from outside. The walls were newly painted with a few cracks. The carpet was old with stains and the kitchen was small with old countertops and a white fridge. The living room was small and square with a fireplace in the corner, an old couch with a plastic tarp thrown over it and a recliner with another tarp over it. The tarps were both caked with dust.

At least Miles bought the house fully furnished. The living room even had a small t.v. resting on a small stand in front of the couch! (Sarcasm) There was a dining room with a table and a few chairs.

During the tour, Miles introduced me to Kathy. She said that her son Michael went to Brownsville High and that I should look out for him. She also said she'll tell him to show me around as a friend. Kathy seemed nice.

I soon leave Miles and Kathy to their conversation and walk to my room. I throw my duffle bag of clothes onto the twin size bed and look around. It was a one window bedroom with a dresser in the far corner. I walk to the window and stare out into the backyard. The grass was in desperate need of lawn work along with the front.

"Alex, come down and say goodbye to Mrs. Samuels." Miles yells. I leave the room and walk over to the front door. Mrs. Samuels shakes my hand, then Miles, and leaves the house. "How do you like The Harbor House?" Miles asks after the black SUV leaves the driveway.

I answer with a simple shrug. "It seems pretty cool." I answer.

Miles sighs and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, it needs a bit of fixing up." He assures.

"A bit?" I ask while tearing the tarp from the plain brown couch

"Nothing I can't do Alex." In exhaustion, I throw myself onto the new couch. "Someone's tired."

"Very."

"Well, then I suggest that you have a good night sleep tonight, because you are starting school tomorrow." I hid my sudden emotions as Miles takes the tarp from the recliner and sits. "I wonder if the fireplace works, I just wanted to by an under-profile house so I didn't really pay attention to what they had to say about it." He says quickly to change the subject. Miles begins to look for the remote.

"It looks like you succeeded."

He chuckles at my sarcasm. "Where is that stupid remote?"

I lazily grab the remote from the coffee table and toss it to his lap.

"Oh, thanks." He turns on the t.v. There was a long silence that followed. "What are we going to do about these tarps?" Miles says while swatting away the dust in the air.

"Practice." I answer.

"Sounds good to me." I watch as Mile's sits in his chair, his eyes were hard to read. He acted like he was focused on the football game, but I knew his mind was somewhere else. He seemed confused and hopeless.

Hours past as we watched the football game. I was incredibly tired at the end of it and the darkness consumed me like a warm blanket.