CHAPTER 2.

Fredrick was making breakfast for his family as he had been accustomed to. He was a very interactive and fun dad. Aiden, Philip and Penelope all loved him. Although Aiden often quarrelled with him, he always had and will have a soft spot for him. The nanny, Linda, was in the laundry room folding clothes. Peter, Fredrick's brother, was very interesting. He lost all his kin via a fatal road accident. He was the only lucky survivor. He had nothing at all to call his. At the time, he was still a young man figuring himself out. His big brother came to his rescue and gave him a place to call home. He had not really gotten his shit together. Ever since he was in the university, he was often shunned from everyone else. Honestly, his paedophilic behaviours were unacceptable. In university, he was arrested twice for assaulting minors. His dad was very abusive to his mother. This impacted him more then he thought. In the Preston's household, his behaviours did not come to a halt. He had a particular liking towards Penelope. He would constantly visit her room at night and read her stories as he takes advantage of her. Peter threatened Penelope that he would destroy her life if she dared tell a soul. She became a very quiet person mostly because of him. Phillip was a sportsman. He constantly won medals and trophies being the best in basketball and rugby. Some of his schoolmates referred to him as the ladies' man. He has had over ten girlfriends in less than one year. He was the most affected by the mother's death. He was extremely close to her. On the day she died, Philip was merely six years old. She was caught up in a fatal road accident and died on the spot. The family as a whole was grief-stricken. They had the Prester family holding their hand every step of the way. Aiden, the oldest child, was very notorious. He goes to community college in the neighbourhood. He was expelled when he was in year II. Let's just say he wasn't God's best friend. Especially after his mother's demise, his way of grieving was going to the club every single day. He was taken to rehab but he is more or less the same. The household always has some sort of drama. Being a Saturday, they were making preparations for their weekly picnic with the Presters. Their history goes way back to when Rowland and Fredrick were best mates in highschool. They did almost everything together and vowed to remain friends for the rest of their lives. Philip was looking forward to this the most as he just wanted to converse with Greg. They have been best friends ever since kindergarten. Since all the kids were on summer break, they had planned to spend as much time as they would with the Presters.

Back when Philip was in Kindergarten, he enjoyed spending time with Greg. Although he never quite understood because at the time, she was Grace. Philip never really cared about it as much. He always looked forward to meeting him on the weekends. He was pushing everyone in the house to make haste as it was already noon. They used to go to the famous Andersite Reserve. It had a tranquil and serene atmosphere for picnics, outdoor games and what not. They all boarded the family Jeep as they patiently waited for Aiden, who was God knows where. He walked up to the card, cigar in his hand phone on hand and putting on some peachy earphones. His attitude wasn't really the best per se. He filled the whole car with smoke and Fredrick had honestly washed his hands. Penelope couldn't keep her mouth shut throughout the whole ride. She was anticipating to see Martha, the Prester's nanny. They had a sort of bond. They were inseparable whenever they were in each other's company. The vicinity changed drastically from buildings and roads to trees and animals. They could spot the Prester's car parked by the gigantic tree next to some green grass. The kids ran out of the car all smiles, apart from Aiden of course, towards them. They exchanged warm greetings and had a much of some things. The grownups were left in the tent. Greg and Philip set up as the kids went for a stroll in the woods. "How's Madelyn…." Philip constantly teased Greg on the matter. At this point and time, there were alone as Aiden was off elsewhere and Penelope was with Martha. This recurrent question kept being asked by Phillip. Greg was in no position to answer that. This was the first big thing that had happened to him that he hadn't told Philip. They were basically brothers from another mother. Greg rummaged through his thoughts constantly debating whether he should let Philip in on his previous endeavours. ''Phillip I..I… have something I need to tell you.'' "Yesterday I was in a party with Madelyn at your place. Let's just say things went a little overboard.'' ''Greg! Your scaring me! What did you do?'' he said with a condescending frown on his face. "I think she's pregnant. ''Greg's hear jerked after uttering these words. Phillip could not believe that what he just heard. Philip always knew Greg to be such a reserved and chill dude. ''what did you say!?'' Philip exclaimed. ''I promised it wasn't my intention. Philip what do I do?'' Greg broke out into tears. He went down on his knees and slammed his head constantly in one log. This was his first time talking to someone about this stressful scenario. Philip did not really know what to tell him. ''Umm…. Let's get back to camp Greg. ''Little did they know they were in the middle of nowhere. It was in the middle of the night and the only thing they could see was a poorly lit mansion on the east. I mean, as much as Greg insisted not heading there, Philip was already knocking on the humongous black gate. It opened by itself and it led to a massive courtyard. The typical persona would turn and get the hell away from there but nooo. They walked into a pit of doom. A silhouette was projected from the top left window. It looked like a middle-aged woman dancing to something intimate or something of the sort. Up the stairs they went for the sole purpose of asking for assistance. Philip being the daredevil that he is, led the way and opened the door without thinking twice. When they walked in...