Seth Hamilton had always known his family was different. They weren’t quite right, what the rest of the world would call ‘dysfunctional’. He knew, he’d always known. He was teased mercilessly about it: his father was a drunk and his mother was a whore. He and his sister might as well have been orphans.
He knew they were right. They probably would have been better off without Connor Hamilton.
But the first time Seth had ever heard one of these remarks, he swung his fist madly at the boy who’d said it, beating him until he cried.
He remembered all right. He remember every detail of his unusually childhood. At nine years old he could take care of himself and his sister better than his father ever had. He tired to remember where it had started, when he had realized that he was their only hope, their chance at survival.
“Seff! Where’s my doll?” Two-year-old Denise cried.
“Seth! Get me a beer!” Connor bellowed after her.
“Seff! I’m hungry!”
“Seth! Where’s that beer?”
“Seff!”
“Seth!”
“SEFF!”
“SETH!!!!”
Seth was all turned around by the time he’d found his father a beer and picked up Denise’s doll from under the stove.
He brushed it off before he gave it to her and continued on through to the living room.
All the lights were out, and the TV blared, casting eerie blue light over the room. He was covered in potato chips and beer and all sorts of filth. Seth looked at his father and his disgusting habitat, but he felt no malice towards him. He just felt pity; he felt sorry for him and his lack of goals.
At only ten years old, Seth was mature enough to understand that his father would never change, and he had accepted it.
”Here dad,” Seth said as he handed his father the can. Connor said nothing as he took it and popped it open.
“Seff! I’m hungry!” Denise wailed again.
“Ach, go tell that brat to shut up.” Connor said to Seth without even looking at him. Seth sighed and walked back into the kitchen. He dug through the cupboards, looking for something to feed his sister. They had almost nothing. “Looks like it’s grilled cheese again.”
Seth had limited cooking skills, being only ten, but he knew enough to keep them fed, and he had a Chinese and a pizza place on speed dial.
Once he’d fed his sister, himself and his father, he crawled up to his room and turned on his old computer and occupied himself by pounding on the keys.
This way of life continued on for years. His father only ever left his chair to collect his welfare check. Seth was thirteen when he decided it was finally time to take action.
He stepped into the living room and the commercial playing caught his attention. It was an ad to join the Preventors.
“Become a member of the Preventor organization and make our world a better place. Take action now!”
It was a bad commercial, but the words stood out to him. Take action…that’s what I need to do. Seth thought. He looked at his father and decided. He would have to do something about their situation. He wanted to join the Preventors and make a difference.
He was tired of waited for the check every month so they could eat, sick and tired. That night he packed his bags and approached his father.
”Dad…” He said tentatively.
”What do you want, boy?” Connor slurred.
“Um, dad, I’m gonna go out and find a job.”
“Huh?” Connor finally looked at him, and it seemed like he finally realized that his son was growing up. It was like he’d never seen him before. “You can’t leave. I get money fer you.”
“I’ll send you money.” Seth promised him. “But I want to take Denise with me.”
“Oh hell no! Denise ain’t gonna be able to get me any money. She’ll stay here, right here!”
Seth frowned, “Dad, I’ll send enough…”
“No!” Connor snapped. “She’ll stay here, so when you fail I’ll still have something.”
“You have to take care of her.” Seth growled.
“I take care of her just fine!”
“You’ve never taken care of her, dad!”
“Ach! You just get outta here boy! And get me some money fast! I can’t stop you, but yer sister’s stayin’ here!”
Seth glared at him, but decided it was a lost cause. If he wanted to take Denise he’d have to kidnap her, and that was not likely to turn out very well. He sighed and told Connor he was leaving in the morning.
“Why do you have to go?” Denise whined, clamping onto her brother’s leg.
“I have to, I’ll send you something when I get my first pay. I promise.”
“Swear it on your life!” Denise spat at him, kicking his shin.
“Ow! OK, I swear it. On my very life.” He gave her a hug. “Don’t forget to get dad to feed you.” He whispered. Denise nodded and wiped away her tears. “Bye Seth.” She sniffled.
Seth gave her one last hug and left. Connor was still inside, watching TV.
“You wanna what?”
“I want to join the circus.” Seth repeated slowly.
The ringmaster eyes him suspiciously. “You look a little young. What can you do?”
”Well I uh…”
“Figures,” He snorted, “Come back when you’ve got an act.”
“Oh there you are, Manager!” A woman in her thirties hurried up to them. “Rufus is having trouble with the lions again, he really needs some help.” She glanced at Seth.
“Huh? Oh no Catherine? Were you listening in on my conversations again?” The ringmaster cried.
“So what if I am?”
”Catherine! Last time you convinced me to hire someone he nearly got someone killed! Janice still has emotional damage…”
“Oh please Manager, she’s just putting on a show like she always does.” Catherine rolled her eyes. “Besides, Rufus isn’t the only one who needs some help. And if the kid is my partner, he’ll be the only one with emotional scars.”
The Manager looked over Seth and he gulped loudly. “Are you fearless, kid?”
Seth thought back to all of the terrors of taking care of his sister since he was eight. Nothing could be scarier than that. “Yes, sir.” He said it with confidence.
“Alright, we’ll give you a two week trial. You get paid by the show and at minimum wage. If you pass the trial, we’ll up your pay. But only if you pass. How old are you?”
“Thirteen.” He answered breathlessly. He couldn’t believe it! He had actually run away and joined the circus!
“Alright, Catherine, show him around.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Denise was ecstatic when she received her first letter from Seth a few weeks later. Connor only cared about the check of course, but Denise grabbed at the photo of Seth and a lion and pinned it up on her wall.
“Read it!” She begged to her father.
“Ach, go play somewhere, lass.” He told her, waving his arm to dismiss her.
“Please daddy!” She continued until finally he complied. Seth told them he would be traveling around with the circus, but before he left he would come and visit them for a week. Connor just smiled at the end of the letter when Seth said he would be sending them more money since he’d gotten a raise after his two-week trial.
“Yay! Seth is coming back!” Denise cheered, and she ran off to her room.
Seth returned home for a week, and he was reminded of why he’d left in the first place. He felt so guilty about leaving Denise behind, and he was tempted to steal her away from him. But Catherine’s brother was a Preventor, and as soon as he got in contact with them he would have a real job, the job he wanted. Then he would take her with him.
He had been back for three days when they got a phone call.
“Hello?”
“Um, yes hello? I’m looking for Connor Hamilton?” It was a girl on the other end.
“Yeah sure, just a second.” Seth said uncertainly.
“Dad…you gotta call. Some girl,”
”A girl huh?” He chuckled, “I still got it. Hello?”
He frowned for a moment. “Who? Oh yeah her…she had a kid?”
Seth listened with curiosity.
“I suppose, don’t expect no warm welcome though.” He snorted before he hung up the phone.
“Who was that?” Seth wondered.
“Your sister.”
“Denise?”
“Nah! Your other sister.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I dunno,” Connor said dismissively. “Some other kid I’ve got. She’s coming down here tomorrow.”
Seth stood there, stunned. Another sister? What did all these women see in him?!
The doorbell rang, and Seth looked over at his father to see if he would get up. He didn’t. Sighing, Seth walked over to it and opened the door.
Standing in front of him was a pretty girl with auburn hair and soft eyes. She was dressed well, as if she had been brought up in a good home. He felt embarrassed for even letting her in. He wished he had thought to dress nicer for her.
“Who…who are you?” She asked.
“I’m Seth,” He told her. “You must be Brittney, right?”
“Yeah,” She replied. “Are you…my brother?”
“You bet I am,” He smiled, “Come on in.” He could almost see her wince as she looked around their poor excuse for a home. He was so ashamed.
He showed her to Connor, and she started talking to him. Connor ignored her, just like he did them.
She was getting upset; she didn’t understand him.
“The only thing she was good for was in bed…” Connor was saying.
Seth winced; he didn’t have to be so rude. He saw tears spring to Brittney’s eyes. He cursed and followed her
“Brittney! Brittney wait up!” He called, chasing after her as she ran from the house. ”How can you stand it in there?” Brittney sobbed as sat down on a swing in the park down the street.
“I grew up with it,” He shrugged. “He…he doesn’t mean it, really. He’s just a little drunk.
“God! Why do you defend him?” Brittney snapped. “He’s not worth it!”
Seth frowned, he’s asked himself that same question many times before. The truth was, his father and sister were all he had. But he couldn’t tell her this. He kept quiet.
Brittney too, said nothing until he could no longer bear the silence. “So what happened to your mother?” He wondered.
“She was killed.”
”What? How?”
“The Preventors thought she was an enemy spy.” She said bitterly, “They raided our camp when I was five and shot her dead.”
He saw her hands clench into fists. “I was hoping what I’d heard about my father wasn’t the truth, but I guess it was. I don’t know why I came here. I’m going back to the Yukon, with Armand.”
”Armand?”
“My real father,” She explained, “He’s got the title now. He got me a job with his organization. When I’m strong enough I’m going to come back and punish everyone who’s ever hurt me, especially the Preventors.”
Seth was shocked. Could she really be serious? “I’m very sorry about him,” Seth said, ignoring her hatred of the Preventors. “But at least it wasn’t a total loss.” He smiled.
“What are you talking about?” Brittney sniffled, wiping the burning tears from her eyes.
“Well, you’ve got me, right? I’m nothing like my father. Denise and I would love to see you again, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Brittney smiled, “Thanks, Seth, but I can’t bear to think of coming back here.”
“Hey, no problem! I’ve got a job with traveling circus, I’ll stop by to see you if we ever go your way.”
”Seriously?” Brittney said in surprise. “You’d do that?”
“Of course, I’m your brother.”
Brittney didn’t know what to say, so she just stood up and gave him a huge hug.
A black car pulled up and honked at them. “That’s Armand.” Brittney explained. “I’ll see you again, Seth.” And with that, she was gone.
Seth returned to the circus a few days later, and was soon leaving the colony. He promised his dad that he would keep sending money. And then, just in case, he set up a separate account for his sister, which he secretly deposited money into whenever he could. He knew Connor wouldn’t spend much of what he got on Denise.
Seth stayed with the circus for another three years, and during that time he got to see hundreds of different countries and colonies.
Just as he’d promised, he kept in touch with Brittney until he was about fifteen, when she disappeared completely. He worried about her on occasion, but she was tough and he knew he could handle herself.
He’d become very close to his circus coworkers, which included the freaks and tamers.
His first girlfriend was the daughter in the trapeze family. They were both young and immature, and they decided not to keep it going when she and her family moved away.
Catherine was his greatest mentor, and he trusted her with everything. Trust came with the job; after all, she did throw knives at him for a living.
It was just after he’d turned sixteen when he’d first heard Catherine talking to the Manager about a war that was going on.
“That’s ridiculous, Catherine! If there were a war going on we would have heard about it. Stop with all this stupid gossip!” He shook his head.
“I’m telling you, Manager! My brother is part of it, he told me all about it! We should stay away from those colonies for now, they at a great risk of attack.” The Preventors were fighting a war? Since when? Seth though to himself. He was still pondering when Catherine ran into him. “Oh there you are Seth! Are you ready to start practicing our new routine?”
Seth jumped out of his reverie and looked at her. He had no idea what she’d said.
“Seth, are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah, just fine.” Seth said, shaking his head free of thoughts of war.
“Hm,” Catherine suddenly grinned. “Well hey, Seth, I have a great idea. My niece was injured in a battle and I’m going down to see her at Preventor Headquarters. You wanna tag along?”
“To see your injured niece?” Seth asked. “I’m not sure that’s…”
“Oh come on Seth! It’ll be a great way to get you in! Besides, I’m sure she’s not hurt that badly.”
Seth scratched his chin thoughtfully. True if he met some top Preventors like Catherine’s brother he might have a better chance, but it hardly seemed ethical…”
“This is your last chance,” Catherine warned teasingly. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Do you want to come or not?”
Seth sighed, defeated, “OK Cathy, you win.” But he grinned happily.
“Great!” Catherine cheered. “Now hurry up and pack! We leave tonight!”
Seth stood there, stunned, as he watched Catherine’s retreating form. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to see the Preventor Headquarters! He would finally be able to achieve his dreams, and help his family. Things were going to be looking up from there.
