[WIZARD24: Chapter One]

We were moving along well through the first level, and I had already collected enough XP to become a level 3 apprentice, when I heard a noise in the other room. It sounded like something hitting the floor, and suddenly I noticed that Shane's character was not moving anymore. I ran into the other room to find Shane on the floor as if he was dead. I nudged him and said his name a few times hoping he would come to, but nothing worked. I yelled at my brother, Bobby, to come help me. He decided to load Shane up in his truck so he wouldn't get accused of killing him or something, and started driving. "Our parents won't be back until 3 or 4 this afternoon, so we have a lot of time to plan this out. I think we should just drive an hour or so and drop him off at a park or somewhere where someone might find him and help him," Bobby said. "But what if he needs medical attention?" I asked. "Maybe a doctor will find him," said Bobby as he took out a pack of cigarettes. "Want one?" he asked me teasingly. As Bobby got out his lighter and light up the first cigarette, I realized that Shane was probably just knocked out and that it would have been almost impossible to kill him, since there was no one else in the room and no obvious bleeding wounds. I decided to just go along with Bobby's plan. "Oh, and just to make it clear, DON'T SAY ANYTHING." Bobby stared at me until I nodded my head. "I'll give you 10 bucks or whatever if you don't tell them, okay?" he said as he pulled out his wallet. I was scared we would crash because of all the distractions, but luckily there weren't any cars around. Bobby handed me a ten-dollar bill, which was the most money I had ever had, since my allowance hadn't started until a few weeks ago on my 12th birthday.

We kept on driving, and eventually reached the Arlington city limits. Bobby said that the first empty park we found, we would put Shane's body on a bench or something. It didn't take long, and we left him at a rest stop with a McDonald's hamburger and Coke in case he woke up. Bobby took this opportunity to smoke some more, and I asked him why he smoked so much. "Why do you ask so many questions?" he asked threateningly, and I dropped the subject. When he was finished, we started driving back home. Bobby decided that since the freeway was almost completely empty, that he would try to go as fast as possible. We got going, and ended up at around 95 miles per hour. I was terrified the whole time, but it was actually pretty fun. When we got back home, I asked Bobby what we would say when our parents got home and Shane wasn't there. "They were never here when he was, so they don't know that your little dweeb-friend was here, and we should keep it that way. If anyone asks you anything, deny that you know anything. Got it?" "I…I got it," I said, hesitating, but not wanting to get on his bad side. I decided to go back up to my room and play some Wizard's Quest, even though it would remind me of Shane.

***

"We're going to Dallas!" my overexcited brother yelled repeatedly. "Graham, you do realize that Dallas isn't that special, right? It's only like 2 hours away, and we're just going so we can visit the American Airlines Center gift shop and go to a park around there. It's not like we're doing anything big in Dallas." My brother ignored my comments and kept screaming in excitement, "We're going to Dallas!" Finally, we got in the car; my dad was driving, I was shotgun in the front seat, and Graham was in the back seat, still singing that we were going to Dallas. We buckled up and started driving. About an hour and a half into the drive, my dad got a little tired and we decided to stop for a rest break. My dad pulled off of the highway into an empty rest area. I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye as we pulled into a space, but I didn't pay any attention to it. When we got into the space, I stepped out of the car and stretched. I saw something again. I wonder what that is…it almost looks like a person, but it couldn't be. There's no one else around… I shook the thought and started to get back in the car, but then I realized - it was definitely a person, and they were definitely hurt or something. "Dad, start the car. We need to get this kid to the hospital quickly. He looks like he passed out or something." The kid seemed to be knocked out completely from whatever had happened to him, and I carried him to the car. He only had on some underwear, but luckily I had an extra pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt, and even though they were a few sizes too big for him, I still put them on him.

We changed course and headed for the hospital district, ending up at Parkland Memorial Hospital. What had happened to the kid, we didn't know; nor did we know his name. These, apparently, were both major problems. The hospital workers managed to work around it, but they seemed a little frustrated. They took the body into a room in the ER, as they thought he may have had a seizure or something. We waited for a little while and then they called us in. "Do you know anything about this person?" the nurse asked. "Not really…we stopped at a rest stop and I found the body laying there, with no one else around. We decided to take him to a hospital, and that's how we ended up here," I told her. "Oh, okay. We have been able to figure out that the boy may have suffered a concussion, as he woke up briefly but didn't remember anything," said the nurse. "He woke up?!?" we all asked, mad that they hadn't told us, but also glad that at least he had shown some signs of life. "Yes, he woke up for about a minute or two. We asked if he knew his name, and he didn't say anything. He kept mumbling something about a wizard, though." "Well, just keep us posted if he wakes up again or anything."

We went out to the waiting area and sat down on a bench. Only a couple of minutes passed until the nurse called us back in. "He woke up," she said. "We were able to figure out that he was mumbling 'wizard 24' the whole time, but none of us know what that means. Do you?" None of us knew what "wizard 24" meant. We saw the kid moving around a little, and trying to say something. "He's trying to tell you something, I think," I told the nurse. She went over and listened to him. "His memory's starting to come back. He just said that he was playing a computer game, and he passed out when he was playing. He doesn't remember anything else yet," she said. We went back out to the waiting room and had a little discussion. I suggested that we take the kid home when he was released from the hospital, and take care of him until we could get him to his original family. Graham and my dad both agreed reluctantly, and we went in the room to talk to the nurse and the doctor who was examining the kid. The nurse said she thought it was a good plan, and that they would probably release the kid from the hospital if he showed enough progress, such as ability to walk and move around, and if he stayed awake for an hour or so. We told her that we would go out and get something to eat, and left her my dad's cell phone number just in case. The nurse told us that there was a place called UFood Grill inside of the hospital, and we decided to go there.

We checked out a map to figure out where the UFood Grill was. We found out where it was and went down there. All of us ordered a cheeseburger, and it actually tasted pretty good. When we finished, my dad checked his phone and he had no messages. We went back to the hospital room that the kid was in, and the doctor told us good news. "He got up and wanted to start walking. We took him out to the halls, and he's still out there walking. He never did say anything about who he was, though." A minute or so later, we saw him walking past us, flanked by two nurses. The doctor asked him how he was feeling and he said, "Fine." It was the first time that me, Graham, or my dad had heard him talk. His voice made it sound like he was just starting to go through puberty, but his tone when he said "fine" was very defiant, as if he was trying to say, "I don't want to be here."

The doctor kept him awake for the next half-hour or so with us in the room, asking him questions about himself and about what had happened. He said that he only remembered some of what had happened, and he remembered his first name. He repeated the same thing he had said earlier - that he was playing a computer game and must have passed out. He also told us that his name was Shane, and that he was in 8th grade, but he didn't remember his last name or where he lived. The doctor turned toward us after a few minutes and started whispering. "Okay, so he seems fine, but I wouldn't be 100% sure. You can go ahead and take him home after we release him, but take good care of him. He shouldn't be exposed to anything like music or television quite yet. Your dad here left us his cell number, and we'll call him every day for a week or so to check up on him. Just keep notes somewhere in case he does something that seems unusual to you, alright?" We nodded and shook his hand. "Shane?" the doctor said to get his attention. The kid- er, Shane- sat up and waited for the rest of his sentence. "We're going to release you from the hospital." His arms shot up in celebration. "This nice family over here is going to take you home with them until we can find a better solution. Have a good day," he said as Shane walked over to us, still in my spare clothes. I hugged him with one arm like I would to my real brother, and told him, "Welcome to the family."

We walked out to the car. I offered to let Graham sit up front so I could sit in the back with Shane and keep my eye on him. Graham seemed excited, but my dad only gave in when I told him my reasoning. "You know, the visor says 'kids under 13 should sit in the back seat' and Graham is 10," he stated, but I told him why and he relaxed. We got going again, headed back home this time. When we got back home, it was already after 5 and time for my dad to make dinner. I helped Shane get comfortable on the couch in our living room, turned the lights down, and then saw my brother sulking up to his room. I followed him up the stairs but pretended to go to the bathroom which was between my room and his. When I saw Graham turn around for a second, I slid into the room behind him so I could hear better. Graham threw off all of his clothes - his Mavs jersey, Mavs shorts - the only Mavericks thing he didn't have on was underwear! I thought of what to say to him as I watched him pound his pillow, getting his anger out. I walked around the corner and said "Hey". Graham freaked out and dove under the covers. "Sorry, I didn't know you were naked in here. I just wanted to talk to you," I said. "Give me a minute to put something on," he said. I stepped out of the room, and when he said he was ready I walked back in. Graham, I guess, didn't like clothes, because he only had on his red boxer briefs. "Listen, I know you're disappointed. I know how big of a Mavericks fan you are and how much you were looking forward to today, and I'm sorry for that. I promise I'll try to make it up to you somehow, but for now we need to settle down and focus on taking care of Shane." "Okay," he said with a sigh. "What's the matter? Is it something else?" "Well, I just don't like the idea of having him here," Graham said. "None of us know him and he could just be pretending." I told Graham that he needed to trust the doctor and all of us.

After we ate dinner, we realized that Shane would need new clothes at some point. "The only thing he had was those boxer briefs," I said. "I know I have some extra clothes to donate if maybe he could try those on," I told my dad. "Yes, they might be a little big on him but they're better than nothing." I went upstairs to my room and pulled out the box for donation. I sorted everything by size, and found a plain white T-shirt and two pairs of jeans that were what I assumed Shane's size was. I went quietly down to the living room and saw my spare clothes laying on the floor next to the couch Shane was on. He was asleep, and apparently only wearing his underwear, so I put the clothes I had found on top of the others he had worn earlier.

We had to keep the house quiet and dark for Shane, so the evening was pretty boring. Graham came into my room with me and we played NBA 2K14 on my PlayStation 4. Even though it had to be on mute, we still had fun, and I let him beat me to try and cheer him up a bit. It was about 8 when we finished, so Graham ran to take his shower so he wouldn't get in trouble for not being in bed by 8:30. I decided to take my shower too, and I laid out some Jockey boxers, a white T-shirt, and a pair of red plaid lounge pants to change into. I took a quick shower, then put on the clothes I had laid out. I put on deodorant, brushed my teeth, and went to Graham's room to say good-night. Graham liked to sleep in his underwear, so he was only wearing a pair of green boxer briefs. "Is it national don't wear clothes day?" I teased as I gave him a hug and told him good-night. I thought I heard him laugh, but I couldn't tell for sure because I was already halfway down the stairs to go check on Shane. When I got downstairs, he was sitting up on the couch, also just in his underwear. "It must be national don't wear clothes day, like I told Graham," I told him quietly. He seemed a little scared, so I patted him on the back and reassured him that it was okay. He asked if he could go take a shower and get ready for bed, and I told him that I would help him get upstairs. Once I got him into the bathroom, I pointed everything out. "I'll be in the room next door, to your left. Just tell me if you need anything," I told Shane. Five or so minutes later, Shane came out of the shower. "Where do I get to sleep?" he asked. I thought for a minute. "I should ask my dad, but I would let you sleep in my room if you want to," I said. "Just put on your underwear or something, and I'll go downstairs and ask him." I left him upstairs in the bathroom, and went back to the living room to find my dad. He was in the kitchen, emptying the dishwasher, so I told him I needed to talk to him for a minute. "Yes?" he asked. "Shane doesn't know where he's supposed to sleep. I offered to let him sleep in my room, and I guess with the bunk bed in my room that would work best," I said. "Yeah, I think that's the best idea. We'll figure this all out more tomorrow. I'll be up to say good night to Graham in a few minutes, and I'll come into your room after I do that." I went back upstairs to my room - I seemed to do a lot of walking up and down those stairs - and told Shane what my dad had said. He seemed okay with the idea, and said he wanted the bottom bunk. I said okay and took one of the pillows from the bottom bunk to use as my pillow on the top bunk. "Did you see the clothes I set by the couch downstairs?" I asked him. "No, I remember I put the ones I had on by the couch but I didn't remember other clothes," Shane said. "I'll run down and get them for you," I said as I started down the stairs AGAIN.

I got downstairs and picked up the pile of clothes - the white T-shirt and two pairs of jeans I had picked out of my donation box, and the extra T-shirt and basketball shorts that Shane had been wearing earlier. I brought them upstairs and into my room, and showed them to Shane. I also asked him what size of clothes he had on. He went into the bathroom quickly, and when he came out he said his boxer briefs were a boys' large. I looked at all the clothes I had picked out for him - the T-shirt and shorts were an adult large, which was my size, and the white shirt and jeans were an adult small. "None of this will really fit you that well, but these jeans and the white T-shirt are closest to your size. We'll probably go shopping tomorrow, if you're up to it." Shane told me "We'll see," and got into bed. I climbed up to the top bunk and waited for my dad. I could hear him telling Graham good night, so I figured he was coming in sooner or later. Sure enough, he walked in after a minute of waiting. We talked for a few minutes, and decided that we would go shopping at Target tomorrow, since Shane not only needed clothes, but also basic toiletries like a toothbrush. We both agreed, and my dad said that since it was 9 and Shane seemed tired, we should probably both go to sleep. I agreed, and when my dad closed the door, I fell asleep, as did Shane.