1 Chapter One: Jon Winters.

To many, Jon Winters would, at first glance, appear to be an ordinary teenager. He liked to watch movies, play video games, read a good book, and so on and so forth. He was a young man of approximately fifteen, he had blonde hair, blue eyes, a somewhat pale complexion and was of a rather average height, his exact height he prefers not to say since he wishes that he were taller.

At this time, Jon could be seen leaning against a wall, a plastic cup filled with soda in one hand and a half-eaten sugar cookie in the other.

He stared absently at the window, ignoring the hustle and bustle around him, trying to tune out the noise that filled his home. For today was the annual Christmas family reunion and all of his mother's relatives were in attendance since she was hosting the reunion for this year. However, Jon had no interest in interacting with or speaking to the people who are supposed to be his relatives, the Coker Family.

Jon's father was the strong and silent type of person, 'Silent Sam Winters' some people called him. Like father, like son, they both enjoyed the great outdoors, shooting their guns for target practice or hunting. While they didn't always catch anything, they still enjoyed each other's quiet company.

The Coker family? They were the complete opposite. They were loud and obnoxious, always talking about things like politics or complaining about something or other. Currently Jon could hear somebody complaining about how more and more stores were using self-checkouts instead of people which made Jon roll his eyes since he was a 'whatever works' type of person. He was further annoyed by the fact that they made it sound like it was some type of world ending event as well.

They were all complete strangers to him and he could only vaguely remember perhaps three or four names and the faces they belonged to. Honestly, he hated these gatherings, he felt as though he were trapped in his own home with complete strangers, a feeling he did not enjoy in the slightest. On the plus side, no one seemed particularly interested in speaking to him either, which was fine.

Today, his mood was soured further by the fact that his mother had recently told him that they were moving to a new home in New York City, much to her delight. Not only did she land a pretty cushy job position at some big bank, neither of which he could remember the names of, but this also meant that they would be much closer to her family as well, most of whom lived in the Big Apple themselves.

Jon hated New York, he hated the busy streets and the crowds, it always felt like he was either being trapped and/or suffocated whenever he visited New York. He much preferred the open spaces, the quiet solitude and the untamed wilderness of the mountains where he currently lived.

Though mostly, he didn't like the idea of leaving what he considered his family home. He had many fond memories here, most of which pertained to his late father.

He and his father would frequently hike in the mountains, or quietly observe the local wildlife, or they would hunt for deer together. His father also taught him how to handle firearms both for hunting and for protection. Sadly, this all came to an end about three years ago when his father passed away. According to his mother, his father had died in a car accident after being hit by a drunk driver. An unlucky accident.

He was broken from his thoughts and musings by the sounds of raucous laughter, which caught the attention of everyone amidst the party. Jon recognized the source of the laughter being his cousin Judas, who was perhaps one of the few relatives that he easily recognized.

Of course, the only reason he recognized Judas was due in no small part to the man's heavy drinking. Every year, at every reunion, Judas would bring excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages, only to end up drinking much of it himself and, as a result, get completely drunk out of his mind.

On one occasion, he got so drunk that he was convinced that he was having an active conversation with a full-body bear trophy that Jon's father had collected years prior. Suffice it to say, Judas always ended up making a spectacle of himself.

At this moment, cousin Judas was dancing around and singing a song that Jon couldn't recognize due to the heavy slurring, though from the sound of the tune, it was likely some kind of Christmas song. While his antics were tamer than usual, the noise was still quite annoying for Jon.

Sighing, he finished his cookie and gulped down the last of his soda, deciding that he had mingled long enough amidst the reunion party. He slipped away and went up the stairs to his room, no one really seemed to notice him, and that was just fine. Jon preferred to fade into the background and be forgotten about, which meant he was less likely to talk to anyone.

Once he reached his room, he sighed deeply as a dull ache seemed to throb in his chest, he was sorely going to miss this room and his home in the mountains. "Miss you dad." Jon muttered towards one of several pictures of his father, this one showing the two happily smiling while cleaning their disassembled firearms before going on one of their many hunting trips.

Sighing again to himself, Jon grabbed his favorite jacket from the closet, a dark brown leather bomber jacket that was a gift from his late father, and from the shoe rack below, his favored hiking boots that had seen much use over his many trips into the mountains.

Once he was dressed and ready, he approached his bedside nightstand and opened the drawer, taking out his preferred sidearm, a 9mm, another gift from his father, along with a stiletto knife. One of the first things his father taught him was to never venture into the woods without protection.

Animals are wild, dangerous and oftentimes unpredictable. It was always best to carry a weapon or two on hand in case one was attacked.

Jon slipped on his holster onto his belt and placed the sidearm inside after pocketing two extra magazines in his jacket, and then he slipped the stiletto up his sleeve in a little pocket that was hidden inside to conceal it, in the event of an emergency, all he had to do was slip the knife into his hand, push the button and he would have a weapon at the ready, quick as a flash.

Once he was dressed, readied and prepared, he headed downstairs and towards the back door, casually slipping by his mother's relatives who paid him no attention as per usual, which made it easy for him to ditch the reunion party and begin his hike up the mountain.

He relished in the sounds of snow crunching beneath his boots as he made his way up a trail that he and his father had used for countless times before. He breathed deeply as his hot breath made a fine mist in the cold air, the sounds of the reunion party becoming quieter and quieter with each step as he made the climb up the mountain.

One of his favorite spots was an old hunting stand that his father had built long ago, while Jon rarely hunted without his father, he still enjoyed sitting inside there, basking in the calmness and the silence of the woods, sometimes he would be able to observe a deer or some other animal wandering about as well if he was lucky.

The only sounds to be heard now was the crunching of snow as Jon approached the hunting stand, it was old and weathered but still sturdy and strong as ever. Undoubtedly it had been built to last.

He reached up towards the latch to slide it over so that the door may be opened, then stopped as he heard the sounds of footsteps. He looked over to the side and caught the sight of a pack of wolves, bouncing around and play fighting in the snow. Some members of the pack kept a silent vigil.

One member, far bigger than the rest with an all white coat stood by, presumably, this one must have been the Alpha, the leader. The white wolf stared at Jon with its icy blue eyes, making him lick his lips a little nervously since wolf packs could be exceptionally dangerous.

He knew that some lived in these mountains, but this had been the first time he had ever actually seen them. Most likely they were expanding their hunting grounds in search of good. Luckily, these wolves were showing no signs of aggression and they seemed pretty well fed.

Some members of the pack looked towards him and acknowledged his presence, but otherwise paid him little interest. After a few more moments of playing, the Alpha let out a quick bark and began padding off further up the mountain with the rest of the pack as they disappeared out of sight.

"Never know what you may see in the woods and the mountains." Jon whispered to himself with a satisfied smile. Just as he was about to finally take shelter in the old hunting stand… he heard the sounds of a familiar drunken singing.

He frowned deeply as he muttered in annoyance "Peace was never an option, was it?" He turned around slowly, and as expected spotted the form of Cousin Judas, stumbling around singing a heavily slurred rendition of 'Jingle Bells' while wearing a puffy orange jacket.

From the looks of it, Judas hadn't really taken notice of him, meaning Jon could easily slip inside the hunting stand and silently wait for him to leave… but in good conscience, he couldn't sit by and let the man wander around lost and drunk in the mountains. Sighing to himself, Jon decided it would be for the best to escort his cousin back to the house so he could rejoin the festivities ans then once his cousin was safe, he could come back again in a bit to enjoy the quiet.