Chapter 1
Jacob Fiederman, a 14-year-old orphan, was born and raised at The Barnes school of Precious Children. His parents had died when he was younger, and the state turned him over here. It was rather difficult getting through to Jacob. It's actually rather understandable when you've been in a foster home since you were 3-years-old, and never been adopted. While other children were being shipped out to new homes almost everyday. So...Jacob stayed to himself. Secluded himself from speaking or dealing with any of the other children at the orphanage. Many of them were under his age anyway.
So Jacob remained isolated, by himself, still waiting for the day that a family would come along looking for a teenager to bring into their home. The night air blew in sharply from the outside when the large wooden front door of the church-like home burst open as several of the professors of the Barnes school pulled in a young teenage boy. The boy stood at 5'9, with black spiked hair, dark black circles around his eyes, and a piercing in his eyelash, chin, and tongue. The kid looked much older, about 16 years maybe. His eyes were brush fire red, obviously from all the anger and embarrassment he was feeling from being dragged into this place. Jacob laid eyes on him as the boy stood up straight, and dusted himself off. For a second, he caught eyes with Jacob. The two stared at each other as if they knew each other from different times perhaps. But on that night, the two never crossed eyes again.
The next day was the usual routine for Jacob: he'd make his bed, prepare the food for the younger ones, read a book, or write in a quiet corner until it was time to eat, then retreat back to his corner until bedtime. Although he stayed to himself, he still remained obedient. In the hopes that maybe someone would notice and whisk him away to a new home. However, this night would be a little different. By mid-day, before dinner, as Jacob was cuddled up in the back corner of the broad, tinted living room on a magenta sofa reading the latest Steven King novel, he was suddenly interrupted by a tall young boy in dark clothing with a smug look on his face. The boy sat down next to Jacob on the sofa, and quickly snatched the book from his hands. "Ya know...they say...reading things like this will corrupt your mind." the boy stated. Jacob didn't reply. "Don't speak huh?" the boy inquired further, but still no reply from Jacob. "It's okay, I actually enjoy the sound of my voice." the boy stated, as he tossed the book back into Jacob's lap and turned the other way.
"They also say that you're only one more voice closer to insanity." Jacob stated. The boy turned around with a smile on his face, and chuckled.
"Read that somewhere?" he asked.
"Don't know, guess it just came to mind." Jacob replied. There was a momentary silence, "So...what's your name?" Jacob asked.
"Tyler." he replied. There was another moment of silence. It was obvious that Tyler wasn't big on talking, which was good considering that neither was Jacob. Yet, Jacob continued to ask more about Tyler.
"So...what brings you here?" Jacob asked.
"Pick-pocketing." Tyler replied, but noticed by Jacob's frowned expression that he didn't quite comprehend what he meant. "I was living on the corner. It's like that when you don't have a place to go."
"So what, did these guys kidnap you or something?" Jacob said with a light chuckle.
"Nah, there was no other choice. The police brought me here, but when I saw these guys, I wanted to run like hell." Tyler joked seriously. Jacob nodded respectively when he thought about it. The professors at this school are rather creepy looking. The majority of them are Caucasian males who stand at 6 ft tall or taller, broad shouldered and they each carry the same expression: a smile. None of them have ever shown signs of another emotion on their face as long as Jacob had been there. Up until this point, he really hadn't noticed it. Then Jacob caught himself gazing across the front room looking at the profs. They all wore these long white cloaks where the only skin that showed were their faces, and their hands. And they each wore a pair of black-trimmed bifocal glasses. Every last one of them, in the exact same outfit, wearing the exact same pair of glasses, showing the same sort of smile. Thinking about it, Jacob caught a chill down his spine.
A gong bell resounded across the entire orphanage, signaling dinner time for everyone. Jacob rose from the sofa, and headed into the kitchen, but noticed Tyler still sitting down. "That's the dinner bell." Jacob informed.
"And?" Tyler answered.
"Well, aren't you hungry?" Jacob asked. Tyler only smiled, refusing to answer. He stood up from the sofa, and headed towards the nearby wooden brown stairwell. He nodded at Jacob, and kept walking. Jacob stood there for a moment, pacing on what to do. Temptation was telling him to go follow Tyler, and bend the rules a bit, just this once. So he did. He followed his temptation, and headed up the stairs behind Tyler. His new friend.
