A kid could be seen playing with a basketball shooting at the makes.h.i.+ft hoop. He was left to himself as he played in the dark. It was just now six but as it was already mid-December the sun had already set. The cold winter air did little to prevent the boy form his play. As a native of Chicago Illinois, the boy was used to the chill in the air that came from the great lake.

His mom and dad both were at work and the old lady on the third floor flat that was supposed to watch him was already fast asleep. The boy figured he could play outside for another hour before he had to go in since by then his dad would be coming home from the nearby hospital by then. His dad was a surgeon, he renown for his skill in repairing damaged nerves.

The boy's mother was a legal clerk and work for the city hall. The only reason his mom worked was that she hated not having anything to do. Plus she said it would be a waste of her college degree if she never used it. The four tenants that rent from them were both retired couples that mostly stayed home. His mom and dad would always drop off grocery for them so it saves them from having to climb down the stairwell.

In the summer both couples would hang out on the lawn and barbecue all day. h.e.l.l, sometimes they set up a tent and sleep outside. It helped that the property had a tall privacy fence. Both old couples were like two extra pair of grandparents for the boy and he loved them just as much as his real ones. They, of course, adored the boy since his parents charged them little rent to live there.

Shoot hopes were one of the few hobbies the boy had that involved him excusing his body. other than basketball he rather read a good fantasy book or his father medical journals. He had tested out of primary school at a young age and was label a rare genus.

Mathematics, history, science were his favorite subjects but most of what he knew was threw books. He rather spends his day-time hours in the bas.e.m.e.nt which looks like a public library with the thousands of books it held. Most of his family's wealth was probably tied into that book collection. Many of the books found there were first edition prints and many were signed by the authors. It was a hobby he shared with his father. They like to go to book signings and would some times travel abroad to get the book in question signed.

His father told him he should wait till he was older to go to college as it would be beneficial for him and it was also how his father met his mother. The boy had no problems with that so now he just had six years to wait till he could go. He already was offered a diploma by the dean of DePaul University in any field of his choosing. His father berated the man who was his best friend saying that if the boy could just be given a diploma it would defeat the point of him even going to college.

"Kaden" Yelled an old lady from the third-floor deck. "s.h.i.+t," the boy named Kaden said under his berth as he missed his shot. "Come Eat Diner. Haha Nice throw, boy," an old man bellowed. He was Mr. Parker and was the old lady's on the third floors lover as they had not bothered to marry. She was Emma Stone and even though she was old she still liked to dress up nice. She was also an exercise fanatic that would make Kaden work out with her whenever she had a chance.

Kaden swore that Emma was in better shape than his own mother. He would never tell either of them that but he had caught his dad eyeing Miss Emma from time to time. When Dr. Flanagan got caught he just shrug his shoulders and say "what I'm just admiring the view, no harm."

The second floor was home to Mr. and Mrs. Baker he used to be a cobbler and Mrs. Baker a housewife. They had long ago pa.s.sed the old building that was their home and workplace to their son who took up his father's trade. He would still fix some shoe from time to time and Kaden's father loved having him as a tenant. Mr. Baker would fix his fathers shoes for free. Mrs. Baker made the best cookies on the block and always had a jar full ready for Kaden to take with him to the library whenever he stopped by.

A typical day devoid of any other child interaction. Not that he did not have friends just that he would not see them till the weekend. There was Bobby, Jack, Aj, Neil, Conner, Cody, Sandy, Todd, and Tim. His basketball team members. Practice every Sat.u.r.day and Sunday after lunch at the youth hall public gym. His coach Miss Tabatha was a retired pro women league player and had been part of the woman's hall of fame. He was super excited when he met her. She was a strict coach but fare and knew how to motivate twelve-year-olds.

Kaden was really happy with everything in his life. He future plan was to become an NBA Superstar but if that fell through. He knew that it would since he really was too short to be a pro. His had little hope that he'd have a crazy growth spurt like Aj or Sandy. Kaden figures the second best goal in life would be to follow his father as a medical surgeon. Life funny like that sometimes a dream is just that a dream. Kaden was too smart for his own good and knew what dreams were achievable and what was not.

For a twelve-year-old Kaden was grounded and slightly more mature than his peers. He liked to pull pranks and tell jokes which would earn him the ire of his victims but for the most part, he was a realist and took most things serious. It might have been because of the large array of different topics he had read or just that he process things at super high speeds. He once out math the latest computer in the R&D department of Depaul University.

The research team that created the machine were all left speechless. The lead research bagged the Dean to a.s.sign Kaden to his team but Kaden father denied it say his son still was a kid and had plenty of time to join a team when he grew up. Kaden himself thought that maybe he could help during the fall, or springtime, or something since his babysitters would not want to leave the home during the winter months. Forget the summers since the summers were always booked with family travels. He already had a big list of books to get signed and a road map all planned out on how to make that happen.

In the kitchen of the third floor flat Kaden sat with Mr. Parker and Miss Stone as she busied herself to sever to the two some food. She had made roasted chicken with veggies and a side salad filled with different kinds of nuts and dried fruit. "Your father called and said he be running late today. Something about meeting your mom to get her a new dress as they got some party coming up." Mr. Parker said as he started to cut into his chicken breast.

"Kaden can you pa.s.s the gravy," He added. "Yeah, I forgot about that," Kaden responded as he pa.s.sed the small china dish filled with gravy over. "Hmmm, What will you be doing then, Honey," Emma asked. She always called Kaden pet names when she did not have to yell for him. She never had a child of her own but threw him she was able to have some comfort in how raising a child might have been.

"Library" Kaden stated in-between bites as he covered his mouth with his napkin. He always used his manners as his mother had drilled them into him at an early age. Not that ether Mr. Parker or Miss Stone mind if he did not use them. They both like the Bakers had a great time trying to spoil the little genius.

Quickly after saying his good nites to Mr. Parker, Miss Stone, and the Bakers, and not forgetting to grab his jar of freshly baked cookies, Kaden quickly downstairs to check out the newly arrived books. Most of the books came directly from the publishers as Kaden father had written a bunch of medical books and had them publish threw different companies. one of the perks of being an author.

All different types of books would be sent. Kaden would read them all one by one. If he felt like it was a keeper it would go on his list of must-have signed and be added to his ever-growing library. The collection was something that his grandfather had started and some of the books in it could not be priced. It was something he hoped to pa.s.s to his own son one day. They just might have to buy another building by then to store it all. A joke that his father always hinted to his mother. It would end with his mother stomping on his father's foot.

Mr. Parker must have stacked them inside Kaden thought to himself as he looked at the six boxes worth of books. Twenty-six books this month he counted. He quickly divided the books by type. He then went to his desktop that he used to catalog each book and enter them in. The program he had design would sort the book for him giving him a row and number to place each book at. He and his family could check on the book like if they were at a public library.

Kaden could speed read a book at 25,000 words per minute and write more than 100 words per minute. He would have an almost comprehension of what he read. His comprehension depends on the subject. Fantasy and doc.u.mentary were easy for him to read and fully understand were as clinical studies might require him to do some cross-referencing to get the whole picture. This ability of his was what made him a genius. He retains about eighty-five percent of what he read on average using a recall skill he had developed by using keywords to jog his memory.

It took Kaden two and a half days to finish all twenty-six books. Out of the twenty-six, only three made the cut. He would add a flag to the twenty-three books in his system and put them on the first book shelve that was used a spot for books that would either be donated to local schools or Public Libraries. Kaden also kept track of where each book went via his system. If his mom and dad like a book he cut out they could always add it back into the system.

Kaden was like a professional librarian. A joke his mother like to tease him with. The three books he decided to keep was one science journal on the Higgs boson, the fourth book of an epic fantasy novel he liked, and a book on the scientific impact the occult had on history. HIstory books and journals were always keepers in Kaden's mind. He was surprised that his system had put the occult history book to a deep section of the library that he rarely ever visits.

"Section AAA, row A264, third shelf, spot 92," was where the book was a.s.signed. The spot was almost at the front of the house. With a grin on his face Kaden march to that place. He rarely reads occult books or anything related to it but his grandfather was in an occult freak. Most of the books stored in this back section were from his grandfather's collection. All of those books still in mint condition. It was after all a family tradition his library.

He was glad the cleaning lady had dusted this area. Sometimes they would miss a spot or two and Kaden would have to point it out to them. He was sure those ladies did not like him. Kaden did not care so long as they did a proper job cleaning the place. He found it funny that a whole crew of six ladies would come to the library once a week to give it a good cleaning. The first floor flat never got that treatment.

Kaden had to help his mother and father clean their place themselves. As for Kaden's bedroom, he rarely slept in it as it was more of a glorified study. A place to store his clothing other odd ends. He pretty much lived in the bas.e.m.e.nt. He long goes talked his father into buying him a cot so he could just sleep with his favorite books.

As he made his way back to his desk so he could check the books as stored he noticed a dim glowing light from one of the bookshelves that belong to his grandfather's collection on the occult. He neared the glowing book and slowly the glow dissipated as it was never there in the first place. in its place was a book no bigger than six inches tall and four inches wide. It was about two inches thick.

The book seemed to be made of bronze and he felt it was calling out to him. Kaden could not help himself from wanting to pick it up. As he touched the blank spine he felt a refres.h.i.+ng feeling wash over him. It was like if he had just drunk a gla.s.s of OJ after an intense workout. His whole body tingle with energy. Kaden felt the best he ever had. He quickly picked the book up and to his surprise, the book along with his whole body glowed with a bright golden light.

Pain shot through his head before a spell of dizziness struck him along with a feeling of weakness he never felt before. First was ecstasy followed swiftly by agony as Kaden fell down unconscious on the floor. It happened so fast that he did not even get to make out a sound.