Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Insightful Promise ❯ Chapter One - Cujo ( Chapter 1 )

Cujo sighed; sometimes flying was great, but others it was just plain boring. He looked around; nobody was near him, he was completely alone for what was probably the first time in his life. The slight flap of wings told him that someone was coming up behind him; he barrel-rolled to see who was behind him. As he was on his back in the air he stopped flapping, dropping several feet.

 

“Hey Cujo,” Razor called as he caught up with Cujo; he looked angry.

 

“Hey. What's going on?” Cujo raised his eyebrows, wondering what could bother Razor; he was one of the most care-free guys Cujo knew. They both banked to the left and descended towards the ground.

 

They both were running in mid-air before their feet struck the ground and they were actually running along the empty field. Cujo sat beneath an old Weeping Willow tree, out of the sun. Razor followed him slowly, his steps slow and agonized.

 

As Razor dropped down next to Cujo he sighed, making strands of his honey blonde hair float away from his face momentarily. Cujo watched Razor run his hand through the gritty dirt, making small trenches where his hand had been. “Come on, tell me what's bugging you,” Cujo said, scowling at Razor in frustration. They had never kept things from each other; when one of them was upset, they'd find the other (which Razor had done) and together they would find a quiet spot and talk.

 

“Creek's gone,” Razor said, turning his head away from Cujo. His hand balled into a fist around a rock, and he threw it as far as he could, and the stone broke off a few of the strands of the Willow's leaves that hung down as it passed through the canopy.

 

“Creek's gone? She can't be! I saw her yesterday,” Cujo said, confusion replacing the near-permanent scowl on his face. Creek was Razor's younger sister; she had always followed Cujo and Razor around when they hung out at Razor's house, begging to play with them. “There's no way she's gone; she probably just went to one of her friend's houses without telling anyone,” Cujo said. He knew that wasn't true; they both did. Creek never went anywhere without telling her parents what she was doing.

 

The two boys sat there until the sun began to set, neither speaking. “We have to go find her,” Razor whispered just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, letting darkness settle over the world like a thick blanket. “We can't just leave her out there on her own.”

 

Cujo nodded and stood, stretching his sore muscles as he did so. “Well then, let's get going. Which way do you think she went?”

 

“I don't know. She never said that she wanted to leave home; my guess is that she got captured or forced to leave by someone.”

 

After the two considered this for a few minutes, they both said, “Jaydn.” Jaydn was one guy that neither of them would mess with. He was strange; he never liked to go outside and mess around or go swimming. He preferred to sit inside his house and practice his aim . . . by throwing knives at the wall. He always seemed angry at someone; as if they had made it so he didn't like to do things with the other people his age. Creek had always gone over to his house when a bunch of them were going down to the pond to swim or were going to go flying. He always said no to everyone but her; it was odd. She seemed to be the only person that he would let get close to him without making himself seem hostile.

 

“It had to be him. Where do you think he'd take her?” Cujo watched rage and fear dance through Razor's eyes, though his mouth was still set in a scowl.

 

“I don't know; before we do anything, we should go to Jaydn's house and see if he's there,” Cujo said, taking a running start and leaping into the air, making it easier for him to take off. After a few seconds, Razor followed him.

 

For the ten minutes it took for them to get to Jaydn's house and land, Cujo felt better. Flying had always calmed him down, though he knew the same didn't apply for Razor. When they walked up to the front door of Jaydn's house, Razor lifted the knocker and slammed it down with a lot more force than was really necessary.

 

A woman that Cujo only knew by sight answered the door; Jaydn's mom. She was tall and her skin was tan, like Jaydn's was. She had dark, almond-colored eyes; this was a difference from her son, whose eyes were a deep navy blue. “Yes?” Her voice sounded upset and strained, like she'd been crying.

 

“Is Jaydn here?” Cujo asked, silently hoping that Razor wouldn't open his mouth. When he got mad, everybody knew it. Jaydn's mother stifled a sob and shook her head no.

 

“I don't know where he is; I was hoping he was out with you,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears for what couldn't be the first time that day. She stood back and gestured for them to enter the house, and they both entered the house.

 

Cujo and Razor sat down at the small dining room table while Jaydn's mother leaned against the wall, hugging her arms around her torso. After a moment or two, the silence was unbearable for Cujo. “Razor's sister has gone missing as well, and we were wondering if, maybe, Jaydn was out with her. I'm not accusing him of kidnapping her or anything, I'm just asking if he was doing anything with her today,” he said, keeping his voice even so he didn't upset Jaydn's mother even more.

 

“He said something about meeting someone by the pond today, but he left before I could ask him anything about it.” Jaydn's mother turned her back to the boys, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

 

Razor glared at her back, angry that the woman didn't know more about what had happened to Creek. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cujo kicked him under the table. “Thank-you for telling us that. Razor and I were going to go and look for Creek, and we can search for Jaydn as well, if you like. But, before we go, I'd like to know if there was anywhere that Jaydn wanted to go,” Cujo said, not sure what reaction he would get.

 

“He probably went to search for his father,” Jaydn's mother whispered, and Cujo's mouth nearly dropped. Neither he nor Razor (and anyone else, for that matter) had known that Jaydn's father had left. “When he was five, his father said he was going to go and live in the mountains to the east. That's probably where he went.”

 

Razor nodded stiffly. “That's where we're going, then,” he said, determination in his voice. His hands clenched into fists under the table; he was ready to get out of here. “Let's go, Cujo.” Razor stood and walked back towards the door without glancing back to see if Cujo followed him.

 

“Thanks,” Cujo said quickly before dashing out of the house after Razor. “Hey, Razor, wait up, will you? We need to get food and extra clothes before we go, and we should probably tell our parents something so they don't think we vanished like Creek did.”

 

Razor sighed and nodded, looking angry at having to wait to leave. “Fine. Let's hurry; Creek might be in trouble.”

 

[A/N: All right, I know I spelled `Jaydn' weird. That's just how I want to spell it, ok? So don't complain, please. Oh, and, just so there isn't confusion on this: Cujo has bat-like wings, and Razor's are sort of dragonfly/moth-ish.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One