take me away, asher !

[faythe saunders]

I can't handle this confusion
I'm unable come and take me away

Faythe sighed as lay on sand. She had come to this place, Arden Falls’s version of a park and such. It was a little ways out of the way, but Faythe kind of liked it. She had never really been one for the beach setting, and this was simply sand by a lake, but it was pretty peaceful here, and she was still procrastinating with her unpacking. Faythe couldn’t help but think that this would have been an excellent place to ride horses through. She remembered staying with her aunt and uncle in the countryside a couple summers back. Her cousins were big on the horses, and they loved to take them out on all the many trails that surrounded their property. Faythe had to admit that it had been pretty fun, but after the first day she’d been so sore that she couldn’t even move. She had gotten used to it by the end of the summer. You’d think that after spending your whole life with a navy seal, you’d have seen it all as far as physical things went, but she’d been no where near. Thankfully she’d never had the kind of father that tried to make her believe in the military way of life and ran it that way. She’d been pretty much a free spirit all her life, and it was one of the few things her father had done right.

Faythe still wasn’t totally sure why she’d chosen to move to Arden Falls. She was eighteen and finally allowed to leave her father’s constant moving, but why had she picked such a run down stick in the mud town like Arden Falls? She figured it was because her whole life had been spent in big cities on the coast. She hated big cities… to a point at least, and this was something different for her. Faythe, like her father, always liked new challenges. She loved to go out and try new things. Seeing the world was something she’d always wanted as a kid, but since the start of her father’s military life, that had changed. Now she just wanted solid foundation under her feet. She was working wherever she could get a job, trying to support herself, but she was very much grateful for her father’s help. He was saving her from struggling, and that was what was important, at least to Faythe. She’d never really had to do anything for herself in all her years of living. This was going to be an interesting challenge for her, and she just couldn’t wait.

Faythe lay there, trying to forget all the stuff that she had yet to do still. She had to unpack, she had to put away, she had to find herself some food. She had to clean, she had to feed her puppy, she had to play with him… whoops. She sat up quickly, realizing that she no longer felt the soft fur of the young German shepherd pup that her dad had given her as a graduation gift. Apparently he thought that she would get lonely. In Faythe’s opinion, he was insane. She didn’t know if she’d even be able to take care of herself. How could he possibly think she could take care of a dog too! So far she’d proved that she couldn’t. “Titan! Titan!” She looked around her frantically, trying to find the little pooch that had gotten away from her while she was completely zoned out. She had to stop doing that. Just as she was ready to hyperventilate, she heard his bark from down shore, next to the water. Crap. “Titan! Titan get back here!” And it was then that she realized that he wasn’t alone. Somewhere along the line he had met up with two younger kids, and looked like he was having a great time. Well. Faythe stood up and walked closer, not realizing that she had stopped right next to someone else sitting on the beach. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching her little pup run around with the younger kids. “Huh.” She didn’t realize that she’d said it out loud, but at that moment she didn’t really care. She was just confused a little. She hadn’t felt him leave her side, and the fact that he hadn’t gone far kind of surprised her. She was a little amazed.

[asher hayes]

Today was already turning out to be one hell of a day. Asher had woken up to the normal static on the TV channel that his younger brother, Miles, was watching. Ash couldn’t figure out when Miles actually slept, seeing as the kid was always up later than Asher himself was, and was also the first one up in the mornings. Vampirism seemed to be the only logical explanation for it, but Asher knew better. Anyway, he had gotten up that morning, got himself cleaned up and dressed, and then had gone to wake Olivia and Penny up. While they got up and moving, Asher took to the chore of preparing a breakfast for all of them. It was usually some kind of eggs with toast, or cereal. Poptarts were also a common meal for the family, but Asher hadn’t even gotten around to thinking about what he was going to make. World War III had broken out between Penny and Miles because Miles wouldn’t let his younger sister change the TV channel. My God, Asher had thought. It’s not even ten o’clock and they’re already starting. Penny and Miles fought constantly, them being the youngest of the four Hayes siblings. Miles was twelve, Penny eight. One would think that Miles was old enough to know that Penny was younger and that he should be more understanding, but Miles never saw it that way.

The two were rolling around on the ground, fighting over the already fragile looking remote control to the TV. Olivia stepped in and helped Asher separate the two. Oli was sixteen, and frequently stepped in as a substitute mother to her younger siblings as Asher was constantly the substitute father. After that, no one had really done much of anything. Ash had sat the two young ones on separate ends of the living room while they all ate their breakfast of cereal. Then it was just boring. Asher was content to sit there all day and read while the rest chilled out and watched stuff on TV. Olivia would have probably been happy with that as well, but again, Penny and Miles were causing problems. Miles found something to throw at Penny, and from then on they were in an all out war once again. Asher had half a mind to let them fight it out, but Olivia hated it. She hated their fighting, and she hated their crying afterward. She looked at Asher with pleading in her eyes, and what did Asher do? He gave in. He should have just turned away and ignored his sister and let the other two deal with their problems. But, Olivia thought that it was being cooped up in their tiny apartment that had the younger ones at each others’ throats. “Let’s get them out and go somewhere,” she had said. “Maybe that’ll make it better.”

Asher hadn’t loved the idea, but he hadn’t thought that it could hurt anything. Why should it? They went out and did things as a family all the time. Why was today any different? Because today was one hell of a day. Miles and Penny were wild, and everywhere that Asher and Olivia tried to take them, they just made a mess of things. There were many times when Asher just had to take a few steps back and regain what little was left of his patience and remember that he loved these kids very much and that if he snapped, they’d be taken away from him. Finally, Olivia suggested the park. Turn the wild animals loose? Was she joking? Ash thought about it for a moment, and then decided to just go with it. Maybe they’d run around so much that they would be beat by the time he went to load them back into the car and take them home. The drive seemed like it took forever, Penny complaining the whole way that Miles was looking at her funny. Oli tried to settle the two, not wanting Asher to get overly pissed and just slam on the brakes and take care of it himself. She did get them to settle somewhat, and they finally made it to the park. They turned the kids free, and then it was up to Asher and Olivia to keep up with them. It wasn’t all that hard, really. It was more like Ash and Oli following behind them as they ripped their way through the place, hitting the playground and climbing on trees and doing everything that they could.

Eventually, though, Olivia did get sidetracked. Some boys her age, wondered up to her and started talking, and of course she switched from protective older sister mode to totally flirt in a second. Asher eyed the boys, deciding that they were a minimal threat. Oli was a pretty, prissy little thing, but she could handle them if she needed to. Asher had taught her well. So, then it was just Asher following the two hellions, who had found their way to the sandy area by the lake at that time. Neither were great swimmers, so they knew to stay out of the water. They seemed to be having fun, running through the sand, and quite content there. Asher knew that they missed the beach from their old home, and that this was probably the closest that they would get to it for a while. Arden Falls didn’t have a lot going for it, but it was their home now. A refuge. Miles and Penny were laughing now, playing nicely with each other instead of acting like they might kill the other if they got the chance. Asher took advantage of it and sat himself down on the sand, his dark eyes watching the two incase they decided to turn evil on him again. A small dog joined them in their playing, a puppy that was playful and delighted to have some company. The two looked to their older brother, as if asking if it were all right to play with the animal, and Asher just nodded his head once. There was no harm in that. It wasn’t foaming at the mouth, nor did it seem violent. It was just a pup.

About fifteen minutes after the dog had joined his siblings, Asher heard what he knew was the owner’s voice, calling the dog’s name. It was female, and he could hear her approaching from behind where he sat. She came to a standstill beside of him, and Asher heard the little, “Huh,” that was emitted from her lips. He didn’t look up at her right away, though. He was still watching Miles and Penny play with the dog that was apparently named Titan. Good. At least it wasn’t a stray that they would beg and plead to take home with them. He had an owner, and there was no way that they would ask then. Though, now they’d probably want a puppy of their own, which wasn’t something that they could afford by any means. There was just no way. It was a few minutes before Asher realized that this chick that had parked herself beside of him wasn’t moving or going to say anything. He might as well. ”So that’s your dog, then?” he asked, his accent showing on his deep voice. Australian. It was then that his dark eyes finally broke away from his brother, sister, and the dog to look up at the owner. ”Might want to keep a closer watch on him. It’s hard to tell who he’ll end up with next time.” He didn’t mean to come off as arrogant or rude, and he wasn’t sure if he did, but it wasn’t like he cared.

[faythe saunders]

I can't handle this confusion
I'm unable come and take me away

Faythe couldn’t say that she’d ever really had that many friends growing up. In her hometown she’d had several, but then she’d moved and she’d practically lost touch with them. Ever since then, she’d been moving from one school to another, never staying in one place longer than a year. Faythe had always wanted to just forget public school and get home schooled instead. Her father wouldn’t allow that, though. He didn’t want her to cut herself off from the world, and instead she’d been forced to move from place to place, and start over every single time. Faythe was an outgoing person, and very friendly, but losing people you grew close to was never easy, and she hated every move she made. Faythe didn’t understand her father’s decision to give her a dog. She was seeing clearly here, though, that man’s best friend wasn’t hers. Titan had wandered off for a more exciting and playful environment. Faythe didn’t even begin to know how to handle that. She’d never even thought of having a dog before. Her father had them moving so frequently that the moment they seemed to get settled they were on the move again. Faythe had hated it, and that was precisely why she’d left the moment she had a chance. You’d think after all her time alone she’d be okay with the change, but in truth it scared the living hell out of her. She constantly worried about messing everything up, and the last thing she wanted was to end up running home to her father because she couldn’t hack it.

Faythe was watching her dog somewhat intently, making sure neither party was going to get hurt. That was when she heard the person on the ground next to her start talking. She glanced down to see if he was talking to her, though his words should have made it obvious that he was. ”So that’s your dog, then?” He had an accent, and she couldn’t help but notice that he was pretty much gorgeous. It was his accent that caught her attention, though. She’d heard a couple in her lifetime, but had never really taken a whole lot of notice. She did know, though that accents were very sexy, and she was fairly certain that his was from Australia, a place she’d always wanted to visit, but would probably never get the chance. And then he looked at her with dark eyes. There was only one word: wow. ”Might want to keep a closer watch on him. It’s hard to tell who he’ll end up with next time.” Yeah, she knew that. He didn’t have to tell it to her. She wasn’t sure what she heard there in his voice. In a way, it was kind of rude, but it was still very much the truth. She sighed, letting her gaze drift back to the two kids and her pup. “I know. I just kind of keep forgetting I have him.” She felt terrible about it, but it was hard to get used to the fact that she now had this little dog that she had to look after. It was new to her.

She uncrossed her arms from across her chest and let them rest on her hips, but then they fell to her sides. “Who are the kids?” she asked him, unsure if he was interested in talking to her, but not caring enough to just walk away. She didn’t want to leave her dog with someone she didn’t know at all, and she figured it was important for her to know. Besides that, Titan looked like he was having so much fun. She didn’t want to take him away from that, because she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be able to give him the same entertainment. She cared about the pup, and she wanted to give him at least a small bit of happiness.