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Living Under Lies by 12 as SonicHowler Originally published April 27, 2008

Jaden Bryant read the old note from his father for the millionth time since he first received it more than eighteen years ago. It had been on his mind all that time.

Jaden:

These two husky pups are yours to do as you please with. Their names are Timba (left) and Yama (right). You may want to keep those names just to irk the fool that tried to keep me from getting them. I trust you know our goal. Make me proud. I'll see you when I'm out of prison.

_ _

Love,

Daddy

_ _

P.S. - There was a third pup, but the aforementioned fool somehow hid him from me. I did not have time to search for him. He should look like the other two. If you find him, his name is Dewey. You may want to look for him.

That note had been in between the two pups that his father had hurriedly lay on the ground, wrapped snugly in his coat, as he ran from the police eighteen years ago. Jaden had kept it since then. He had no clue how his father planned to get out of prison; the older wolf had received a life sentence. He was pretty sure, however, that Logan Bryant would have something up his sleeve. He usually did.

Whether or not Jaden's father would escape from prison was no matter of importance to the thirty-three-year-old wolf. At the moment, he made residence not in Danford or Trentbriar, but in the mountain ranges that surrounded the two cities. His home's location and structure was pure genius. A line of mountains separated Trentbriar and Danford from a vast land which was actually full of beautiful mountains of all sizes. The point at which the first mountain started was where the cities ended and uncharted land began. Few homes were in this area; those that were had no cable, and their inhabitants had to get P.O. Boxes just to get the mail. Furs climbed to the top of the mountain all the time, but rarely did they try to go down the other side. Nobody ever noticed that between several of the mountains, just outside each city, narrow and curving dirt roads formed, passing the mountains and petering out into lush green grass as they reached a huge valley. On the ground in the center of that valley, invisible to the naked eye, was a large mechanical door, covered with soil that was a source of life for the grass on top of it. A similar door was next to it, but this one was round and several times larger. These were entrances to what could be called an underground fortress. Helicopters and cars were there in a massive garage. The rest of the fortress somewhat resembled a hotel. There were places for Jaden's followers to eat and sleep and relax, rooms for all of Jaden's crew, and, of course, a home for Jaden himself and his two "sons," Timba and Yama.

Nobody understood the workings of Jaden's mind. Like his father, his number one goal was to exterminate the huskies, and the two that lived with him were kept oblivious to his true reasoning. Those who followed Jaden also shared that goal. Jaden was cunning and clever, and, like Logan had been, always had something up his sleeve. What nobody could understand was the way he was raising Timba and Yama.

From Jaden's followers' point of view, the twin huskies were both great to have around. They were helpful when they could be and always very kind. For some reason, they allowed Jaden to use them in any way he chose. When they weren't in class and Jaden didn't have them acting as spies in Trentbriar, he was forcing them to work around the base. They were not to complain or make a fuss about it either. This had been going on from the time they hit puberty to now. If they didn't satisfy Jaden, or they did something wrong, they would be punished, forced to do highly unreasonable amounts of work. Quite understandably, Timba and Yama found it very unpleasant.

Nobody could understand the way the two had grown up. They had always hated having to serve their "father." However, something Jaden did or said to them made them get used to it. Jaden's twisted mind had broken the two huskies to bend to his will.

They had been homeschooled by several members of Jaden's crew that had recently been teachers. Jaden had instructed these teachers to teach them things just above their grade level. They were very bright, which made some of Jaden's crew wonder why they, two huskies, would be okay with serving someone like Jaden.

Maybe it was because Timba and Yama were learning out of Jaden's book. Their teachers, upon Jaden's request, had altered the story of how the feud between Trentbriar and Danford began to make it seem like the huskies had done something awful.

They were only ten years old when they came into Jaden's home one evening with stunned looks on their faces. They had gone up to the wolf, ears laid back, and whimpered, "Jaden, Mr. Cronleft told us a horrible story about huskies! Is it true?"

Jaden had sighed and laid back his own ears, holding them close. "I was afraid of the day when you would find this out.... Yes, it's all true. Trenton Waltfern and Brian Coy had murdered Stanford Willis and Daniel Peterson because they thought the two wolves had taken the money they were going to use for food. They didn't even bother to find out for sure. After that, they went for Trenton's family, then Brian's, and they and every husky in the area began... a sort of mini-holocaust, killing off every wolf they could see. The residents of Trentbriar actually support that. That's why huskies are so awful, and that's why we're out to get rid of them: so that they don't get rid of us."

The two pups had shed many tears that night, but it was working out for Jaden. The cunning wolf had promised that if Timba and Yama did all they were asked to do, he would do all he possibly could to end the feud. They didn't know how awful his plans were for doing so.

Now, as Yama parked the Navigator in the garage with the helicopters, there was excitement all over their faces. The second Yama pulled the key out of the ignition, both dogs leapt out of the car and ran home full-speed.

Jaden's home was located one floor below the entrance. It was like a full-sized, three-bedroom house. The bedrooms were big, perfect for two eighteen-year-old huskies. The house had a dining room to the left as one would enter, and the living room on the right. In the living room were comfortable leather sofas and armchairs, and a fifty-inch plasma TV. Across from the front door was a wall. Turn right at the wall, and one would find himself staring at a set of double doors that concealed Jaden's bedroom. Turn left, and, after looking past the kitchen on the right, one would find himself staring at a hallway which held a bedroom and a bathroom belonging to Timba and Yama.

Timba knocked on one of the doors to Jaden's room and burst in before the wolf could answer.

"Jaden, Jaden! Guess what!"

Jaden was surprised. "Wow,someone's hyper today. What?"

"I spoke to our brother! We found him!"

"Really? Well, that's sure great. Was he nice?"

Timba smiled. "He sure seemed it! We didn't get to talk much because Yama came for me before we could get too far. He was so awesome though! He looks just like us, and he has a cool car, and friends, and--"

"Now, Timba, come on, you can't say you don't have friends here!"

"Friends his age, Jaden. They were cool!"

"Well, we'll talk about that later. Right now, you both need to get to work. I want this entire base spotless before you two go to bed tonight. Don't worry about the crew's rooms. They're to clean them on their own."

"Aw, Jaden, do we have to?" whined Yama. "We just... we just met our brother! We never met him before, and he's..."

"...our brother!" finished Timba. "Can... we please just talk for a bit?"

Jaden heaved a sigh. "Alright, but I'm going to go check on the crew, and I'd better see you two working when I get back.

The brothers smiled and went off to their room. As soon as they set footpaw inside, Yama became a fountain of questions.

"So, what was he like? Was he nice? Did he sound like us? C'mon, talk already!"

Timba grinned and shoved his brother onto their bed. "Chill, Yama!Someone came honking for me in a Navigator before I could have a full minute with him!"

Yama whimpered. "I'm sorry... Jaden told me to get you a bit too early, and you know how he hates to be disobeyed...."

"Eh, it's okay. He looks exactly like us! Yes, he sounds a lot like us, and... well, he didn't really get to say much. His rabbit friend, Jerlon, was comparing us. He's the one who noticed we looked alike!"

"Well, we've gotta thank that bunny. Now all we have to do is find out how to get Dewey to come with us...."

"Well, first we've gotta figure out how we're gonna figure_that_ out! He looked very happy right where he was."

"But we're his brothers, right? He'd be happy to come with us!"

"True, but what if we freak him out? Maybe he's never heard of us or something, and suddenly learning that he has two eighteen-year-old brothers would stun him into staying right where he is."

"Yeah... should we just grab him and force him to come? He'd get used to things after awhile."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. It's pretty risky.

"Well, it seems to be all we've got. Jaden wants all three of us together, so we can help him fix this feud.

"Yeah," sighed Timba. "I guess we'll have to worry about that later, though. We've got a giant underground base to clean."

"Yeah. Let's go." They both sighed and stood up to get their supplies.

Meanwhile, in the city of Trentbriar, Dewey's mind was traveling as he headed home with Kanei to pick up some equipment. DAZE was going to have an impromptu band practice at Ace's house. His mind just couldn't get off of the unknown husky he had met earlier that day. The husky had looked so much like him. He just knew, somewhere in his mind, that this husky would be of some significance to him. Unfortunately, he just couldn't think of how....

To Be Continued...