"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."
I looked back at Amanda, "so he's going to take you away?" She sniffled a little and I felt completely devestated.
"Hey, hey, you don't have to cry," I told her and pulled her in for another hug, "I'll call every night remember? And come visit on the weekends," I pulled back from her and motioned my head towards the kitchen, "come on, you can help me get my bags."
I turned to Felix and told him, "I'll be right back."
"No hurry," he replied with a warm smile.
Mandy looked unbearably sad as she walked through the hallway with me. I stopped next to my uncle's office and and knocked on the door. He gave me a quick, "come in," and I found him at his desk with a stack of papers as usual.
"Hey," I said, sticking my head in his office, "the driver's here."
He looked up over his glasses towards me, then back at his papers quickly, before looking back at me, "I'll be right there."
I gave him a small smile, "ok."
I closed the door and started to the kitchen again, Amanda's hand in mine. I grabbed my bags that had been resting on the island stools, and we made our way back to the front room.
I dropped the luggage on the ground and knelt down to Mandy's height, hugging her for what seemed like the 100th time that day. I could feel her crying under me and held her even tighter, forcing back my own tears. I only let go when I heard my Uncle Rich making his way down the hall.
I looked into Mandy's eyes and smoothed her fiery curls, "I love you," I told her once more, and got up to hug her father.
"Bye Uncle Richard," I said after the embrace.
He held onto my shoulder and reached for his daughter's hand, "We'll miss ya, kid." I looked between the two, still in awe of how much Mandy resembled her father. If her hair was shorter she could probably pass for a miniature Rich.
"I'll miss you too."
I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and Felix grabbed my other suitcases and hauled them to the trunk of the car. I kissed Amanda on the cheek and waved goodbye, stepping out of the house.
On the way to the car I heard Uncle Rich call, "good luck in Silver Springs!" and gave him a big thumbs up with a grin.
The car ride to my grandmother's house was quiet. Felix sat in the front and had the divider down, so I spent my time staring out the window. I watched as the Illinois farmlands started to dwindle and were replaced by tall dark trees surrounding the road.
I felt myself start to drift off into sleep as the long car made it's way to my new home.
•••••
I was awoken to a sudden jerk and was thrown face first into the aisle.
I sat up clutching my elbow that had been at a strange angle during my 'graceful' wakening.
I could hear thunder crack outside of the car and rain pounding on the roof.
"Felix?" I called out to the limo driver and walked to the divider, "Felix are you alright?" I asked fumbling with the black sheet of plastic.
I felt the divider slide up and came face to face with Felix.
"What happened?" I asked him, and stuck my head further into the front seat.
I saw him unbuckle and unlock the doors hastily, "I think I hit a dog!" His voice was panicked and didn't waste any time scrambling out of the car door.
I copied him, moving clumsily towards the back door. When I got outside I was instantly soaked by the never ending downpour.
"Felix!" I called his name hoping for a response, but got nothing but water in my face. It was hard to see anything with the raindrops hitting my eyes but I could make out a figure on the road ahead of me, illuminated by the dimmed headlights of the limo, it looked like a big lump and as I neared I could see a man standing a few feet away, with his head in his hands.
"FELIX!" I yelled his name hoping to gain his attention as I jogged up to him. My eyes widened when I saw the lump in the road up close. It looked like a giant dog, curled up in the middle of the street. The fur was a dark black, made shiny and wet by the rain.
I looked to Felix, who was just standing there doing nothing. Realizing he wasn't about to take action any time soon I took steps toward the humongous dog and carefully bent down to get a better look at it.
Once I was right next to the thing I realized my mistake. It was most definitely not a dog, but a large wolf. I inched forward and was more than relieved to see the wolf's rib cage move slowly up and down.
The rain seemed to let up quite a bit and I found it much easier to check the animal for any injuries. I placed my fingers on the neck of the wolf and felt a slight heart beat. I pulled my hand back and gagged when I saw the dark red color on my skin.
I looked back at Felix and found him where I left him, staring at the wolf in fear, "Felix, I need your help."
He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in and scurried to a kneeling position next to me, "is he ok," he asked frantically, his eyes searching the big wolf for any sign of hurt.
I nodded, "I think he'll be alright."
I ripped a piece of my wet, plain, red t-shirt and placed it on the place where most of the blood seemed to be coming out.
"Felix do you think you could carry him to the car?" I glanced over at him, careful to keep pressing on the wounded neck.
The man looked taken aback for a moment before nodding, "yeah, I can do that."
He got up and squatted so he could get his hands under the animal's vast body. He lifted the wolf easier than I would've expected, swiftly walking towards the limo. I had to walk fast to keep up, and reach high to keep pressure on the wound.
I opened the back door with with my free hand and went in before Felix with the wolf. Felix guided the creature's body into the aisle between the seats and left, quickly slamming the door and ran to the front seat. I stayed in the back with the animal and prayed to god that he would live.
Felix started the car and sped off down the road, "we'll be there in about two minutes!" He called back to me, anxiety apparent in his voice.
I leaned toward the midnight wolf and traced my hand along his head, "hear that?" I asked the animal, "just a few minutes."
The wolf's eyes opened slowly at my voice, and I found myself staring into two, never ending orbs of green. I wasn't scared when the animal woke up, no part of me thought that this animal would harm me. He let out a whimper and his eyes squeezed shut again.
I kept stroking his fur, and whispering things like, "it's going to be ok," or, "not much longer, we're almost there," to the wolf, hoping my words of encouragement weren't false.
I saw Felix take out a cell phone in the front of the car but didn't pay much attention to it as I cared for the animal.
The few minutes it took to get to the house felt like an eternity. I couldn't stop worrying for the poor animal and the blood-soaked t-shirt shred in my hand, did not help with my uncontrollable nerves.
Felix stopped the car on a crisp, asphalt driveway decorated with shrubs and flowers along the edges. He shot to the back seat and scoot his hands under the large animal once again.
"I called the pa-um, house doctor," he told me. I nodded and helped him lift the big, black animal and we got out of the limo.
I kept my eyes focused on the wolf, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked up to find a handful of teenage boys running out of what looked like the biggest house I'd ever seen.
They jogged towards us and took the wolf from me, one of their hands switching places with mine on the wolf's neck.
I stayed close to the group, following them into what looked like a front room and then a living room. The place was draped in exotic looking carpets and large-squishy chairs.
An older man, who looked to be in his forties with light blonde hair turning grey on the sides rushed in through a door to my left and towards the wolf who had been placed on a large ottoman in between the couches.
"What happened?" He asked taking out a stethoscope and what looked like a needle and thread.
One of the boys who had helped with bringing the injured animal inside stepped forward with his arms crossed. "Your genius son over there hit him on his way home," his words were laced with disgust and it wasn't hard to tell there was history between the two.
So Felix is the doctor's son? I thought to myself. I sat in the corner of the room, biting my nails quietly.
I looked the boy who had spoke over, staring at his dark black hair, bright green eyes, and lean build.
"Felix," the doctor spoke again, "is that true?" Felix looked like he was about to cry, standing next to his father, running his hands through his hair.
"Yes," his voice was hoarse and full of regret.
"Doctor?" I piped in taking a step towards Felix's father.
He looked up startled at first, but recognition soon took over his features, "Samantha? Samantha Avery?"
I nodded nervously a little surprised that he knew who I was, but I let it go and looked to the wolf before asking, "will he be alright?"
"Yes, I believe so," he told me, his gaze traveling back to the wolf in front of him, " but I think it would be best for you all to leave." he glanced at the group of boys hovering over the animal and made a gesture with his hand as if to say 'shoo'.
A few of them rolled their eyes, but they all left without a word leaving me, Felix, and Cole.
"Cole, come over here and keep pressing on the wound," the doctor let Cole place his hand on the neck, "Felix, please take Samantha to her grandmother, and get cleaned up."
Felix nodded stiffly and led me along a dark hallway lined with old portraits and windows draped with dark red curtains.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we passed and closed doors.
"You're grandma lives on the top floor," he told me grabbing my hand and walking to a fancy looking flight of stairs. I looked up and couldn't find an end
"So do you and those other boys live here?" I asked, confused about the living arrangement.
"Some of them," he said casually, even though he still looked a little on edge from the accident, "some live in the surrounding houses and others like me and my dad stay in the main house, but we all live on the Silver Creek property, yes."
Becoming even more curious I stopped him on the stairwell and looked him in the eyes. "How many people live here then?"
Felix gave me a look I couldn't quite figure out and tilted his head the tiniest bit, "the whole Silver Creek property houses about 70 families, 30 surrounding houses are situated from the main house all the way into the forest."
"So this house has, what? 40 families living here right now?" Geez Louise "Why do you all live together?" Maybe it's like a townhouse, or the owner rents out the rooms, I inquired.
"I think you're grandma should explain that to you," he flashed me a smile and continued to walk up the seemingly unending stairs.
•••••
A/N- Hello, and thank you for reading this first chapter:) Ik it's not the greatest writing and I apologize for any typos or mistakes. This is my first book on WattPad and criticism would be helpful, so feel free to point anything out, I won't be offended.
-Moth3rTruck3r