The Eden Series: The Complete Collection by Janelle Stalder Read Free Book Online Page A

they expect in the beginning, and that I hope they are ready for quite a challenge. Anyone can achieve great things, as long as they are given the time and encouragement one needs to reach it. They must be great teachers now, and great leaders if this warrior is to bring any sort of help to the army of Eden. Go now, and be back at the next full moon. He will be waiting.”

CHAPTER THREE
    It was the last day of his suspension, and to Aiden it felt like he had been home for two months. His mother was driving him nuts, and the confines of the house felt like a prison. Since he was suspended from school for fighting, his mother had decided that he should also be grounded from going out anywhere. That left the house and the yard as the only places he was allowed to roam. It was insane. Keeping a fifteen-year-old boy locked up like this was cruel and unusual punishment.
    “Aiden!” his mother yelled up the stairs at him. Looking over at his clock, he saw it was only seven in the morning. That was another thing that was driving him mad. Originally, he had viewed his suspension as the perfect vacation away from school, and the chance for him to sleep in. His mother, on the other hand, did not see it that way. She woke him up at the same time as usual, and gave him a list of chores to do in order to keep him busy. Groaning, he swung himself out of bed and looked for a decently clean pair of pants to put on, amongst the mess covering his floor. “Aiden!” she yelled again.
    “I’m up!” he yelled back. “I’m up.” Running his hands through his hair, he actually thought it would be nice when he could go back to school. There was a thought he had never imagined having.
    He climbed down the stairs to the upper floor, and saw Eddie standing in her crib from the outside hall. “Good morning,” he said, smiling at her. She reached out for him, so he obliged and went in to pick her up. As they were going down the stairs to the main floor, Eddie giggled as he pretended to be a horse, running her down the hall to the kitchen. His mother was in there making breakfast for the baby. She smiled when she saw the two together.
    “Good morning, my beautiful children.” She smiled, tickling Eddie’s belly. It would be better, he thought, if he were allowed to sleep in past seven. “I want you to clean up that room today, Aid,” she started right away. “When you’re done that, you can go outside and cut the grass in the back. Your dad is working late tonight, so he won’t have time to do it himself.” Sure, he thought. She’s just looking to torture me as much as she can.
    “Yes, Mom,” he mumbled. She set down a bowl of cereal in front of him and kissed the top of his head, before sitting beside the high chair to feed Eddie.
    “And how is my little angel this morning ? ” she started cooing. Eddie responded in indiscernible words. Aiden sat there miserably as he ate his cereal, wondering what else she would throw at him once he got the first two things on his list done.
    That afternoon, he found himself pushing the mower across the long grass in the unbearable heat of the sun. The air was unseasonably warm, and sweat poured down his face. Cursing the whole time, he walked the length of the backyard back and forth until the whole area was short and manicured. His mother walked out with a glass of water, taking a look at his work.
    “You’ll need to rake up the grass when you’re done,” she pointed out. He rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he drank the whole glass of water in one shot, feeling dehydrated from sweating so much. “There are garbage bags in the garage.”
    “Okay,” he replied, walking back over to where he had left the lawnmower.
    “Isn’t being suspended fun?” his mother called out, before turning to go back inside. He looked over at her retreating form in anger.
    “Someone, kill me,” he breathed out loud.
    After cleaning up the grass, Aiden had the bright idea to stay in the