A small town in Ohio. A small family gathering was happening to celebrate the life of a new member of the family. It was the Smith family’s newest baby girl. Her name was Madison her mother and father were both thirty years old and were incredibly happy that their daughter had been born without a hitch.

Now there were at least forty family members or the mother and twenty of the father gathered at their home to celebrate this momentous occasion. Among them were their grandparents, mother’s and father’s as well as cousins. A small group of five young people that were off to the side of the celebration talking amongst themselves. They were happy for them but felt out of place being there.

The older couples were all chatting with the newest parent’s and telling them about what an uphill battle they had ahead of themselves. The grandparent’s either were napping or taking care of their grandkids. That left the small group of five who were the very middle in age among them all to keep each other entertained.

It wasn’t very difficult for four of them to stay somewhat happy. Three of the people in the group were a part of the Smith family thus they had a “reason” to be there where as the other two were dating another of their current group’s members.

The oldest of the group’s name was Matthew but all his family member’s called him Matt. He was a tall six foot seven inches wall of intimidating muscles. He was tan almost Native American tan and had dark brown hair and brown eyes with small flecks of green. To anyone who knew him they knew he was a nice young man who cared deeply for his family.

He was steadfast and strong willed if he made a decision then that was it there would be no way to change his mind. To anyone who didn’t know him they’d either walk as fast as they could past him or if they were drunk enough try and pick a fight which always ended in them getting hurt while Jessica would try to reprimand him for fighting.

Then of course there was his girlfriend Jessica. She was very pretty and nice to anyone who met her. She was five foot four inches tall with white skin not snow white but maybe a shade darker still light enough to contrast her big lug of a boyfriend. She had long bright straw berry blond hair that was naturally straight as well as lush green eyes.

She was a bit of an air head in the way that she couldn’t remember things that had just happened a day ago but she always seemed to have a playful air around her as if she could get anyone to smile no matter what their life was like at the moment.

Then there was Haley she was another of the Smith’s she was five foot six inches tall. She was a cold and amazing beauty to most. To her family she was still a little frosty but when it came to kids she’d melt and giggle like a kid when they’d play with her. She had long light brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. Which also helped to grant her the title of “Ice Queen” some of her past school mates had given her.

Whenever they’d try to ask her out or sometimes even talk to her she’d blow them off almost instantly. If she didn’t think you were worth talking to in the first few seconds then she didn’t bother. Her boyfriend was named Max. He wasn’t as tall as Matt or as muscular but he still had a temper if you tried to mess with him or his girl. He was five foot ten inches tall with red hair almost like someone had tried to light it one fire.

He was also hard for the family to get along with what with his aggressive nature. It normally came down to them just not knowing what to say and just annoying him with terrible questions about nonsense. He could be gentle when the mood struck him but normally he was always burning about something whether it be passion or anger it was always something.

Matt was the oldest at twenty six being Haley’s cousin. Haley right behind at twenty four being the older sister. Then Max just a few months behind her at twenty four as well. Jessica was second to last being twenty three. Then the last member of the group. His name was Logan. He was the youngest brother of Haley and cousin of Matt. He was tall at six foot two inches but he wasn’t a bulky tall or an overweight tall.

More of a lean tall he had some muscle but nothing that would bulge should he stretch or even breathe like Matt. He had short black hair with dark green eyes. He was the loner of the group not having a girlfriend to come with him to this family get together. Not that it’d matter not many girls really looked his way when he’d hang out with friends or family. He was fine with it somewhat. He didn’t love being alone but he’d come to terms with it many years ago. It was almost comforting to know I he was bothered he’d always have time to himself to think about it.

This was there small group. Matt, Haley, and Logan got along the best of all their other cousins and family members being close to one another in age. That had changed after Max and Jessica had joined their group. Max took most of Haley’s attention to keep out of trouble and honestly it was the same way for Haley too. If she ever got in trouble due to her “ice queen” persona then Max would come in scaring off anyone who thought she was being rude or a down right bitch.

As for Matt and Jessica they were a lot tamer than the previous two. While Matt was a strong and stoic figure Jessica was just about the exact opposite. It’s quite funny to see Matt standing quietly while Jessica runs around him and asks a million questions a minute. Logan wasn’t forgotten by Max or Jess though. They knew he was an important family member for Haley and Matt so they’d tried to talk to him to see if they had some common interests.

Turns out they did and hit it off incredibly well much too all their disbelief. Logan was quiet and not very outspoken so they’d all thought Max would scare him away with his aggressive attitude somehow Logan had turned it into a competition of sorts whether it be video games or drinking games they’d always try to one up each other. Jessica also thought she’d have issues getting along with Logan but she’d found out that for every question she’d ask him he’d have an answer for her as if her inquisitive nature had brought out all of the knowledge he’d hidden away after many years of reading alone in some corner of school or a library.

As the festivities were drawing to a close for the night and many of the family members were making their way inside the three story house to wind down with drinks and movies the group stayed out for a few minutes longer as Max and Jess were giving Haley and Matt hugs saying good byes. They stayed for a minute longer doing something somewhat unexpected.

They’d each hugged Logan which shocked him slightly since they had gotten along for a little while but he wasn’t sure he’d made it close enough to them for a hug. As Jess let go of her hug there was a bright glow beneath. As well as a voice was heard by all of them. Each heard a different voice but it carried the same message. “Come chosen you have been selected to save our world from the growing evil that permeates our lands”. After the blinding light fades in a backyard in Ohio it’s left a little colder than before as five youths are taken from their world.