Prelude

(sigh) So… how do I even begin to explain what is going on here at this very moment? You may be asking me about what led me here… well, let me try to explain… 

My name is Benedict; Benedict Archibald, and I live in Poughkeepsie (puh-KIP-see) with my family; I am 17 years old and my birthday is on January 25. To specify, the past 7 years of my life have been a rollercoaster… in a good way! My dad’s side of the family originates from Bordeaux, France; my mother’s side is of Dutch descent because her maiden name is Jansen. Enough about my family’s history; this is not time to get sidetracked! Now where was I… AHA!

Chapter 1

The whole situation started when a girl named Avery came by. Her parents were killed in a bombing incident at the Gateway Mall in Yonkers. Her other siblings had fled to live with their uncle and aunt, but Avery was left to fend for herself, taking on the two bombers and defeating them . When police arrived, they asked her where her family went. She was already traumatized by the sight of her parents getting blown to smithereens, and them asking only made her break down in tears.

She even forgot what happened to her other siblings, being so fixated on the trauma of her parents’ untimely doom. She was considered an orphan, despite having an uncle and aunt that the rest of her siblings were living with. Nevertheless, this was where she would sort of recover; yes, she does have PTSD, but it only affects her if she sees a person that looks even vaguely familiar to her ill-fated parents or when similar terrorist incidents take place. These don’t happen here on the regular, just that one time. Another year passed, and that was when I finally met her. I gazed, she gazed back.

Right then and there, an already doused flame was reignited in my heart. One way or another, I knew she had some sort of interest in me. I didn’t think too much about it, though. She never even told me directly for over 3 weeks. She was always wandering around my block, and I felt no discomfort from it. I should’ve because what if my parents called the cops on her and put her in the slammer, or work for the city? Finally, I asked her, “Why are you always on my block?”.

She answered by writing down something in a journal, supposedly hers. Here is what she wrote:

Dear Benedict ,

I must introduce myself before I answer that question: my name is Avery Moldenhauer. I went through a tragic incident at the Gateway Mall last year, and I couldn’t find my siblings. I know what happened to my parents; they were blown to smithereens by the suspects, who were sentenced to death. Serves the bombers right. I live at an orphanage a few blocks away from your place, and the caretakers there let me go wherever as long as I’m back by 9 PM.

Anyways, back to the question: ever since I bumped into you, I have grown a strong attraction towards you. I have also heard that your family owns a burger restaurant down at Spackenkill. I have been there before… well, prior to the incident, of course. Your family seems awesome, and I’d like to get to know more about you.

Sincerely, Avery

“How sweet of you!”, I responded after reading carefully. This was the first time that I showed her that I genuinely cared for her. I wanted to be there for her, even in the darkest of times and the harshest of weather. Nightfall was just kicking in, and it was 8 PM. “You better hurry! It’s almost 9!”, I said to her. She nodded, and she rolled off to the orphanage. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she has a strong passion for roller skating. I was supposed to be in bed by 10 PM, so I got myself ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and washed my mouth. I’d sleep great, hoping to hear from Avery the next day.

Chapter 2

I woke up on Saturday morning to start my day. For breakfast, I made some scrambled eggs and fried up some potatoes. They were pretty good, especially with ketchup. After that, I went outside for a walk. Of course, I let my parents know beforehand so that they know where I am, and funny timing because Avery was right there. As soon as she saw me, I could tell that she felt overjoyed to see me again, judging by the look on her face, along with her body language.

“Good morning, Benedict!”, she said. That was the first time I heard her speak. I couldn’t believe it… she sounded so young , yet she was 16 at the time. I was 16, too, so it evens out. I couldn’t help but observe her outfit today. A burgundy dress paired with black leggings. Her hair was as blue as the night sky. “Wow… you look great today, Avery!”, I bravely said to her. She blushed, “Ohhh… yeah… I wrote that in my journal last night because I usually don’t like talking to people I don’t know closely. I am, however, glad you like my dress~”, she said with an intimate tone. At this point, I was nervous. I had that gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach again. A feeling that makes me wanna use the bathroom so badly, but I responded, “You’re welcome!”. The more I was in her presence, the more she blushed and used that intimate tone.

Judging by this, it did sort of make me feel uncomfortable, so I eventually told her that it was a little too soon to be intimately attracted to me, not that she even was, but it almost happened. After all, Avery and I can’t be breaking the law. When I did tell her, she stopped using the intimate voice for a while. There were times of intimacy, but they were pretty much playful because… again, the law; can’t break it.

Despite that whole spiel, we did eventually go out to eat some dinner at my family’s restaurant in Spackenkill. Little did we know, Avery would almost lose her eye…

Chapter 3

I walked up to the counter to greet my dad. “Hi, Dad! This is Avery, my new girlfriend!”, I said to him. Avery waved at him, blushing even more. Immediately, I could tell my dad was pretty skeptical about it. “So that was the kid who was just pacing around our block for the past few weeks, huh?”, my dad said. I was thrown off guard by him saying that. “You knew that this whole time?!”, I replied. “Well, duh! We have cameras around the house!”, my dad replied back. I was dead silent . “Can I just have chicken and waffles?”, I asked. “Yep, on the house for my favorite son,” my dad answered, “and what would you like for your dinner… Avery?”, he added. “I’ll take a bacon cheeseburger with fries, please.”, she answered. She’s living like a full on American while I’m here living like the Pennsylvania Dutch. I didn’t bother; we eventually got our food. My chicken was awesome, and Avery was enjoying her food, too. We thought all was well, and oh how wrong we were.

These 2 kids wearing black beanies slam open the door. I could tell off the bat that they looked furious . Avery turned around, and almost immediately she froze in a mix of sadness and terror. That was when I remembered: these kids have had a really bad history of picking on her and beating her up like a ragdoll ; I had no clue why briefly, until they said something about their fathers. Eureka ! It turns out that the two men responsible for the bombing incident that killed Avery’s parents were these kids’ fathers. Their mothers? Again, I have zero clue, and that’s none of my concern right now.

Just as Avery and I feared, they gradually came up to us with an involuntary urge to interrogate Avery. At this point, she was on the verge of crying, and these kids had already put her through so much physical and mental torture. That moment was when my dad stepped in and got my uncle to call the cops. Meanwhile, before Avery could even answer, one of the kids punched Avery in the right eye with full force , knocking her out unconscious and leaving her with a bad black eye. It definitely bled, but not a lot. And just before they could do any further damage… BOOM, the police and the ambulance arrive at the scene, and Avery was taken to the hospital to recover from the events. As for the two kids, they got arrested and were sentenced to three years of community service. Serves them right; let the punishment fit the crime.

Chapter 4

Many weeks have gone by, and all I’m hoping for now is for Avery to return safely. She finally returned to school one Thursday, all healed up. Of course there was a mark on her right eye, but I was just thankful that she’s safe now. The mothers of the 2 kids were also in the classroom; they had sincerely apologized for their kids’ behaviors. Avery wasn’t mad at me, nor was she mad at the mothers. She was, however, livid at the two kids, and swore to get revenge on them for what they’ve done to her. She’d make sure it was way more brutal for them than it was for her and that they’d have no more peace , no more safety, the list goes on.

At the end of the day, however, Avery said, “Benedict, I’m not mad at you, really, I’m not,” as she began to shed a few tears, “but I want to have some time to myself,’ she continued, “and I want to focus on my revenge plan for the two kids.”, she finished. It became pretty evident that Avery was about to break down in tears, go berserk, and kill everybody around her in the process, not that she actually would, but it felt as if it was going to happen. As soon as I heard it, I immediately went back home and tried not to think about her too much. It’s great that she’s gonna get revenge on those kids, but I think that, considering her mental state right now, she might be going too far. Despite that, I had a wonderful lasagna and slept peacefully.

However, I was abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by a sudden ruckus . Raccoons, and they were rabid . As soon as I saw their foamy mouths, I ran back inside and locked the door. I called pest control; they showed up pretty quickly. My parents were alerted by the sounds to which they consequently came downstairs. “WHAT THE HELL IS ANIMAL CONTROL DOING AT OUR HOUSE, BEN?!”, my mom shouted. I explained to her about the rabid raccoons; eventually, my parents were pretty understanding about it, but they were still somewhat skeptical about it. “Son, it’s great that you saved one of us from getting rabies, but the next time rabid raccoons show up at our house, please let us know ASAP !”, my dad said to me, “Got it?”, he added. I nodded in response. I went back to sleep until my alarm woke me up, which after that I got ready for school. Soon, things were gonna hit the fan.

Chapter 5

It was finally Friday, and I knew things were gonna be awesome. I did expect Avery to be there; unsurprisingly, she was. Some additional info: Avery’s siblings had posted missing posters across their neighborhood, and when the police arrived, they took Avery to their house where they reunited. The police told the orphanage that Avery was reunited with her siblings, and now she lives with her uncle and aunt. She didn’t have to switch schools, though, so thankfully that was the brighter side. Enough with that tangent, but she did seem somewhat happier than last time. Her uncle and aunt were very lenient on her, but the 9 PM rule still applied. They were nice enough to finally let her go to my place. They were not that far away, in fact, they were just a block to my right. The orphanage she went to prior was 3 blocks down.

“I found my siblings again,” Avery said, “and I’ve got my revenge plans sorted out in the process!”, she added. “Good for you!”, I responded. I knew deep down that she was gonna go too far, but I’m not telling her. Avery did show me the plan when it was lunch time.

Stage 1: Wait for when the two kids are vulnerable

Stage 2: Throw a penny on the street, NOT THE SIDEWALK

Stage 3: All the while, make sure a car is about to be going to the area

Stage 4: Car hits them and possibly injures them

Stage 5 (save for later): Stage an incident so that the kids get thrown in jail.

THIS. CANNOT. FAIL!!!

After reading that, it was definitely extreme , but at least she’s not killing them so soon.

“I hope the school doesn’t find out.”, I said. “Oh, don’t worry; they got expelled, too!”, Avery replied. I sighed in relief, “But seriously, I hope the principals don’t find out.”, I continued. “They won’t.”, she replied back. For the rest of the day, I just tried to cancel out the thought of Avery getting revenge; I knew it was bound to happen.

Just as I expected, the two kids landed on the news again (they were there when Avery got her black eye), and they were taken to the hospital to be treated. When Avery saw this, she didn’t smirk yet until she went back to her room, so as not to arouse suspicion. She called me and said to me, “Benedict! Benedict!! It worked!! All I need to do now is to-”, and she paused, realizing that her siblings might hear and tattle on her. “Hmmmm… kill one of them off, and the other will be thrown in jail for good!”, she whispered. Almost immediately, I knew this was a bad idea because what if she gets caught? “Before you ask: I’m going to make the kid strangle the other to death.”, she continued. “How are you NOT gonna get cau- oh… well that’s still insane!”, I responded.

“Of course, I’m gonna save this plan for later… I don’t want to give myself away.”, she said. I sighed in relief. Avery then asked, “Do you wanna go for a date on the Hudson, tomorrow?”; I was taken by surprise, but I accepted. “Great! I might get my uncle to get some fast food so that we’re not hungry on the river,” Avery said, “after all, I’m just making sure that we are fed”. I have rarely ever sailed the Hudson because I have feared of the Hudson Pi- I’ll get to that later, but what’s important is that even gangster clans are sailing in the Hudson.

Chapter 6

That morning, I made sure to get dressed and make sure I was squeaky clean. After all, you don’t want to smell like a pile of garbage in front of the girl of your dreams. I’m not surprised that Avery’s uncle said yes; they were lenient. We did get the food, and we approached the riverbank. We got on a canoe of some sorts, and we set ourselves up. At first, it was going decently well.

“Weather’s pretty nice out… the trees are changing color already!”, Avery pointed out. I looked around, and the trees were a mix of scarlet red, golden yellow, and orange. She was right, there was good scenery. Before things really went south, we were able to finish our food. “So… what now? Do you wanna sail up the river or down?”, Avery asked me. I said, “Down is the way… I’d want to see the NYC skyline!”

But Avery said, ‘That’s like 70 miles south. How would we ever get there before 9 PM?!”, “Watch me…”, I said, as I opened a portal to the Edgewater area of the Hudson. Yeah… I clearly forgot to mention I have that ability to open portals to wherever I wish. I hardly ever think of using it, but for this time, yes I did. Avery blushed in surprise, “I come with a bunch of surprises.”, I said. She giggled as we sailed into the area, boosting the trek to NYC.

The view was more magnificent than ever. It was practically a concrete jungle, bustling with cars, trains, and people. Lots of people. The only ambience available was cars beeping and people getting into arguments on the road. Police sirens, ambulance wails, firetruck wails. This is what ambience in the Big Apple is like, huh? Unpleasing to Poughkeepsie residents, but completely normal for regular citizens.

After an hour and a half, I teleported us back. Here was the problem when we got back: River pirates, most notably the Hudson Pirates. We were lucky to have ended up right next to the riverbank because we bolted out of there. Of course there was nothing valuable in the canoe, for we had our phones back at our house. Grave mistake , I thought. The pirates got out of their yachts and started chasing us all the way to Main Street. Crap!

Chapter 7

Although we were back in Poughkeepsie, the pirates were still chasing us on land. What should I do , I thought. We weren’t armed; we weren’t expecting there to be pirates on the Hudson River. Aha , I thought. Perhaps I can distract them with a smoke bomb so we can get home. Big problem: I had no money. I knew where smoke bombs were sold, despite being very dangerous to use. The store wasn’t open on weekends, and it just happened to be Saturday. Even better, the door wasn’t locked. Taking advantage of this, I sneaked in and got some smoke bombs and a lighter. As I shouted, “Tally ho, lads!”, the pirates had no time to react to the lit smoke bomb. And this brings us back to the prelude. Where we started. “What happened next?”, you might ask. Well, after that, Avery and I ran back to her uncle’s home, but we dared not speak of the incident that happened. Nobody suspected us, not even the smoke bomb store owner, despite having some missing items on his shelf. Not even the news stepped in, but there were many confused drivers on the road.

As for the pirates… they had to retreat back to the river. Get out and STAY OUT!