Chapter 1
Author's Note: I really need to edit this some more but I have been holding onto this novel for years so I am taking the leap as they say. I am also working on illustrations for the characters. Message mE if you want illustrations for your own characters. I can see what I can do. If I got the time. I am about to graduate college so I am a bit busy. Also just know this first chapter is my least favorite because the good fantasy shit doesn't start until the very end of the chapter. Exposition and all that. :)
Please comment but no bullying please... And I am cool with grammar comments I am a creative writer so I know my grammar is bad. I may or may not listen to constructive input. Thanks
CHAPTER 1
Loui
I was tired. Half alive. Miraculously I sat up and managed and to rub my eyes. With a strained arm I reached over to the bed table for my boxy glasses. I thrust them on myself, blinked a few times and saw the horrid result of my room. Oh god, I do not remember it being this bad.
My clothes covered the hardwood floor as a ridiculous carpet. My dresser was upturned as if we'd been robbed and the fish tank looked remarkably like the dentist's tank in Nemo. My room was a mess; in my defense it had character. Likely too much character. There was my magic set that I got when I was about seven and the ugly troll dolls my aunt gets us every Christmas. I would never forgive myself if I'd left out the lava lamp collection or the giant bobble heads. The only thing normal on any of the shelves would likely be the rows of books. If I had it my way I would ditch school and let C.s. Lewis or Tolkien do the teaching. Being that I've never even been late for a class I doubt that'll happen any time soon. One can hope.
It was another incredibly unimportant day in my life. School will consist entirely of work, that or awkward conversations with people I've known my whole life, yet I still know nothing about. I don't want to use the word strangers, but that's what it seems like they have become. Oh, the joys of freshman year at Trudrow.
I reached over to the bed stand for my phone. As I sat up a bit more, turned it on. Because the world hated me, it was 6:32AM. School started at 7:00 and my bus leaves at 6:40. SHIT
With probably an unhealthy amount of difficulty I got up from my bed and ran my hand through my shaggy hair. I Jumped to my dresser threw out a pair of jeans. Without any grace, I stripped off my shorts and threw on the jeans. I pulled myself out of my stained tee shirt and ran to the closet. Shuffling through my ridiculous clothes I somehow found a Black Keys tee shirt that by some chance may help me look like less of a dork. I put on my lucky red converse and ran over to the mirror to get a quick look at myself.
The Black Keys shirt wasn't bad by some miracle. My hair of course looked as if I'd brushed it through with a rake. I ran my hand through my blackish curls in some attempt to make it look as if I hadn't been attacked by a beaver. My brown eyes were hidden behind my boxy glasses. I've looked worse.
So being that I only looked half dead, I rushed out of my room with my iPhone in hand. I checked the time once again. It was 6:38. So I ran down the hallway and skeeted down the old creaky stairs. Mom was on the phone in the kitchen making rice crispes for Lucy. The chocolate kind because that is the best.
Lucy being a princess was sitting happily at our dining table, playing with a pair of old forks. I smiled at her and kissed her on the head, as I went for my monstrosity of a backpack. I laid my phone on the table in the process. She smiled back at me with her crooked teeth. Her blonde hair was untamable as usual. She had mom's color and Dad's curls like me. She was wearing some adorable Hello Kitty get up. Very pink very Lucy. Lucy was the kind of kid that harnessed an impossible magnitude of gravity, that forced you to love her. I won't say she is not annoying as hell from time to time tho. But she seriously made everyone love her. She practically distorts the laws of emotional physics at her whim.
I backed into the kitchen and that's when I spotted mom's delectable chocolate macadamia cookies. I lunged for one but mom swatted my hand away just in time. She lifted the phone from her ear. And
She shook her head at me and whispered gently, "Those are for the new neighbors that are moving in today." The neighbors. I forgot anyone was moving in. I like neighbors, that is until they stand between me and food. It isn't like I was asking for much. There must've been at least twenty of them all huddled against each other on the tray. I doubted anyone would care if I took just one. Anyone, but mom that is.
"I'm in a hurry, if I don't eat anything now I'll have to wait till lunch." I complained easily. She shook her head and smiled at me. With that soft all perfect smile. It was all knowing. I know everyone says their mom knows
"Make a sandwich. It'll only take two minutes," she retorted thinking I was only exaggerating. I was late enough already.
"I was supposed to leave two minutes ago," I muttered quickly as I moved back and forth paranoid. Mom shook her head likely folding.
"Fine, but only one." I smiled brightly as I grabbed a cookie and slipped around her past the kitchen. I ran towards the front door. Before I skidded from our old porch, Mom yelled from the other room, "Louis, I'm not coming home till eight. Lucy has a play date. I need you to bring the neighbors the rest of the batch." I nodded, forgetting that she can't see me due to the wall. Being that I didn't have enough time six minutes ago I rushed out the door without giving my mom an answer of any sort. While I did this I stuffed the cookie in my face with far too much difficulty.
I sprinted down the crooked steps and nearly tripped over myself as I barreled to the corner. The bus had just gotten there from the looks of it, Sabrina and Justin hadn't yet made it on just yet. By some impossibility I had time, but seeing that I wasn't awake I hadn't realized that and nearly toppled over Sabrina as I reached the corner. Thankfully I only managed to slightly brush her shoulder. She smiled at me. Even with the unintentional assault. God her smile had me whipped. Sabrina was the kind of girl who did not act like she knew how pretty she was. I'm sure she was aware if she could look in the mirror. She had pretty dark skin, and was kinda curvy.
"Late again?" she asked sarcastically as she hurried up the black steps and politely smiled at our seemingly mute bus driver. Sabrina knew how truly punctual I was. I was always the first to the bus stop. The first to every class. The first to turn in an assignment. Procrastination was alien to me. I am chronically early to everything. I was an uncoordinated goody two shoes with a shit load of anxiety.
"I've had an off day," I answered as I slid into an unoccupied seat. Sabrina continued down the dark isle passing adolescent zombies. As always we had that wonderful sweaty aroma that filled our long yellowed bus. I ignored it. I glanced back attempting to be casual to find Sabrina falling into a seat next to her demonic boyfriend. Sabrina was a freshmen like me and the only freshmen I knew to ever date a senior. Evidently, a senior who's a football player . Which I honestly found kinda creepy. But I understand why he liked her, Sabrina was beautiful and hilarious and had 100s of boys helplessly smitten. I was no exception.
Other than her ridiculously tall boyfriend she was perfect. Her hair was a shiny black. Those dark almost black owl eyes were practically flawless. She could star in a live action Tim Burton movie. And she was so freakin nice for no reason. Since I was seven, I've had a monstrosity of a crush on Sabrina. Even then I was a man-child and as sociable as a deaf parrot. And now I am merely a skinny dork of a boy. She was the kind of girl that you only had a chance with in an 80s coming of age movie.
Chad leaned over to her and whispered something in her ear. Yes, his name was Chad. He lived up to the name. He is a dick. Nice with the people he likes; just pray to some God that he likes you. I think that says it all. She smiled. A completely perfect smile. The kind of smile you'd completely make a fool out of yourself for. I turned back and stared straight ahead. Hating my life.
Because I'd been a complete idiot this morning, I'd left my phone at home so I sat through the entire 15 minute tedious bus ride wanting nothing more than for it to actually be a hallucination. I was out of luck, because as the bus pulled up to the school I hadn't jolted awake. This wasn't one of those hazy dreams. It was just hell. Hell acting as High school. A cruel and helpless joke.
Slinging my backpack over my shoulder I made my way off the bus making a run for the front doors.
—————-
School was as I'd suspected, repulsive. My classes each gave me enough homework to fry out my brain one useless worksheet after the next. Thomas was the only not entirely shitty part of the day. We've been best friends since we're were three so we know how to make high school feel just a bit less like a mental hospital. But, we only had lunch together. That made the rest of my day royally shitty.
Walking from the bus stop, I trotted up the hill hearing Sabrina's soft footsteps trailing behind me. Even when she caught up to me neither of us said anything. There was just that long unknowing silence. It was stupid. The two of us grew up together. We were inseparable before we could crawl. Middle school changed everything. Now, we just walked through the cold breeze. Silent as a autumn funeral. Once she made it to her house she turned.
"Bye Louis," she called out. I smiled at her probably awkwardly. It felt damn awkward. Turning towards my old house I made it up the side walk and then to the old porch. I walked just up the steps; I nearly fell on top of my face. My house made in the 19th century. It was here before Colorado was anything more than a territory. Because it's so old it's gigantic, the winters are freezing and the summers are blistering without air conditioning. The porch is also a death trap for my enemies and my own self when I'm not paying any sort of attention, whilst me almost falling on my face. Before I'd shoved my way through the front door I heard the loud roar of a metal contraption pulling from across the street. Turning out of curiosity I witnessed an alien Volkswagen likely from the 80s pull up into the Walton's old driveway. The navy time machine came to a steep and questioning stop. Nothing was keeping it together.
Apparently these were my new neighbors.
Two Asian guys each jumped out of the car both wearing the same face. They were twins. And they were both tall. From twenty feet away they looked like lanky giants. Their doors shut behind them. After a second or two a girl a whole foot shorter than the two of them stormed from the car. Being that she was running straight for the house I hadn't seen her face, but she walked with the sass of someone who wouldn't know I existed. She was beautiful, and I only got a glimpse of her.
With some sanity I finally made my way into the house heading from the hallway to the living room. I fell to the couch like a dead blob sitting there.
I should've probably started my homework. I ignored my brain. I got up, detached my backpack from myself and dropped it none too delicately on the black futon. I left the living room for the kitchen and immediately darted to the fridge. There was nothing. My mom had a philosophy that if you want to eat something that will make you fat then you're required to start from scratch. Ingredient household and all that. So we only had the basics milk, eggs, fruit, and far too many vegetables. There was really more than that really, but that was all that my adolescent mind could see with my binge hungry goggles. Closing my pathetic excuse of a fridge I leaned back on the granite counter top. That's when my eyes caught the silver tray of cookies. I'd never wanted to eat something more in my entire life, the hunger was likely something psychotic.
But Mom wanted me to bring them to the neighbors. Deviously I hovered over to the tray admiring the evil goodness. I could always eat one and just bring the rest over to the neighbors. Because it was an ingenious idea I picked up the chocolate chip cookie and not too neatly stuffed it into my mouth. The perk of being alone, was the simple fact that there was no witnesses. As I picked up the entire tray I broke from the kitchen to the hallway door and out the house.
I probably looked like a moron, a 14 year old carring cookies over to his neighbors—-but my mom would be pissed if I didn't do this after she asked me explicitly yesterday. I'm not too embarrassed. I wouldn't be on this girls radar no matter what I tried. I crossed over the street and walked along the short sidewalk to the red houses' door. Finding a free hand I knocked against the dark mahogany. After a good awkward 3 seconds of just standing there the door opened to reveal one of the twins from before and the girl standing directly in front of a spirally staircase.
She was gorgeous. Not even gorgeous. She was the kind of beautiful you couldn't even believe. This goddess had long curly hair winding down to her waist almost black like a dark choclate crunch bar. Not that it matters, I don't think she would be called skinny in the conventional kind of way, mostly cause American beauty standards are fucked up. But in my experience that is not the most important thing to most guys. Her eyes were glowing and they were a fresh color of blue; impossibly big. Sabrina would look like a trash bag next to this girl. There was a bored look in her eyes though, as she stared at me in confusion. Her brother towering behind her must've been 6' 5". She was shorter than me by half a foot she looked around 5' 3", beautiful and petite. The brother had an energetic look about him. That is if it was her brother. She looked white which I guess surprised me cause of the brothers. Her skin was porcelain the type you gotta wear sunscreen for. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans. She had on just a regular black tank top and a pair of teal converse covered in doodles. Not store bought doodles though the kind that she herself only could've done. I had mad respect for this girl.
"Can we help you?" asked the twin from behind her with a friendly enough smile. The girl did not smile. She just looking at me with arms crossed. She just stood there unnervingly beautiful. Looking at her was like being hit by a bus repeatedly. Like Means Girls or something.
"Um ya, my mom wanted me to bring these over," As a group they acknowledged the tray of cookies stuck in my hands. The twin went around and reached for the cookies I handed them over. It felt like some awkward hostage negotiation. She still wasn't smiling. It was almost painful to see her so unhappy. I didn't understand quite why. I didn't know her. She would never remember my name. Or see beyond my invisibility. I will always be a blind spot with people like her. People that were not scrawny and cursed with acne.
"Thanks. Without these we likely would've resorted to cannibalism." he muttered with a nice dry sarcasm. "You've saved lives. Congrats." He had a faint accent somewhat west coast. This followed after. My shoulders relaxed a bit. At least I knew the brother wasn't some spiteful douche. "I'm Timothy and this thing is Hope." He gestured to the beautiful girl behind him. Hope. She glared back at her brother with unhidden malice. If she didn't look so ready to stab someone the name would fit her. I nodded and gave a short smile. It was stupid. I could feel it. I could feel the plain stupidity of my smile.
"And I'm Louis." Timothy nodded. He was probably 18 maybe 17. He had that senior look about him. He was tall.
"Cool, hey do you want to come inside or something? We don't have much food or well furniture, but um-" Timothy paused as if deep in thought. Hope turned from around him and she started her way up the steps. She must've finally gotten bored. Her beautiful face was still dull with emotion. Timothy turned and looked curiously up at her. "Hope where are you going?" The superior one stopped and even rolled her eyes.
"Narnia," she retorted within seconds. She sighed seemingly giving in. "Cleaning out my new room." She muttered in a soft quiet voice. It was perfect. God I was done for. "That is if you could call it that," She slipped the words under her breath like some secret message. "The last people left a few billion boxes," she explained no longer staring at her brother, but me. And it wasn't a glare anymore, just a look. She was looking at me. So, I looked back at her and somehow found the confidence to form words.
"I could always help," I offered just waiting to be put down by this person. I don't even know why I said that. She'd likely rather stick a nail through her skull. The one called Hope stared at me with those big blue eyes maybe thinking. There was a tint of curiosity hidden behind the looking devices. She merely shrugged and continued up the stairs. I guess that was a yes? Completely astonished, I moved around her brother, and started up the stairs.
——-
And Then Hope
The boys looked back at me with reassuring smiles. Tim-nation and Eli expected me to smile, but I saw no reason to. We left everything. My friends, the house we've all grown up in. The house where mom was. Josh won't even get to remember anything about the stuffy apartment above the Indian restaurant. He won't remember the curry. Or the coffee shop down the street. Sure the scones were stale and the coffee was completely terrible, but the coffee people were always there for us——In an open even on Christmas sort of way.
Dad didn't even seem to care that we were going. Neither did Timothy or Eli. The traitors. But, why should they worry, everyone likes them. It's some unspoken law or something. Plus, if this Fort Collins is fucked they only have to live through a year of it. I'm going to waste the next four years of my life at Trudrow. And I have to start class in the middle of the year. Only freaks do that. And I try so hard not to come off as a freak. I am an oddball, but no one needs to know that.
I am honestly just not in a good mood today. I mean all my friends are a few thousand miles away. My brothers won't side with me and my bitter self. No one even cares that we're moving. No one else wanted to stay. Everyone is happy and I'm left classified as the ungrateful twit. I don't like being an ungrateful twit. No one wants to be an ungrateful twit.
I sat up a bit and stared out the window just trying to imagine the wonderfully claustrophobic buildings of New York City. It was a bit difficult we were driving through some 50s suburb. The kind with tacky blue paint and ranch styled houses. The sort that made anyone with commonsense nauseous. We got out of the neighborhood and headed back onto the highway. It took long enough. That's the last time we take directions from Google Maps. We might as well follow the constellations. Both are mutually primitive.
"Only 10 minutes to go," Eli stated as he looked back at me from the front seat.
"Thanks," I muttered not even barely meaning it. We've been driving in this car without stopping for the last 1,781 miles. In the last two days I've gotten nothing of any kind of sleep. And I'd rather Eli keep driving for this eternity, then stop in some Fort Collins for the next four years. Its name even rolled unnaturally across my tongue. Fort Collins. Why did it sound so medical? It didn't even sound like a real town.
The next thirty minutes passed by in a complete blur. We got off the highway passed by a rather depressing Walmart, and made our way down Prospect. At first, it was a few houses, then some random fields of grass with some feeble ponds. The farther we went down this Prospect the more dwellings pulled up. Most of them were a bit gag worthy, but some weren't so bad I guess. Maybe I am just feeling extra bitter today with everything going on. Then there were some flower and sandwich shops a few gas stations.We were the suburbs—this shit is scary. I think there is a Greenday Song about that.
After leaving Prospect we got into this huge house kind of neighborhood. The kind of houses that looked ancient, but had some charm. I will admit. That was when the Volkswagen started slowing down. Before I could understand anything, Timothy pulled into some drive way and brought the car to a stop. With a small ounce of curiosity I theived a look out the car window. The house was a dark red and something of a small monstrosity. There was a porch in the front with a little white swing. There were an abundance of windows and it looked to be three stories tall. It was old and not ugly specifically, but it didn't make up for the rest of the town. Or the move. Or leaving my whole life behind.
Timothy took the keys from the ignition and sighed. "This'll be it then," he muttered emotionally ambigious. Tim-nation and E removed themselves from the front seat and exited the car. I went next following after them simultaneously slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I jumped just a few feet behind the two. Once inside the house I wasn't too impressed. The boys were too busy running up the rugged stairs to come to any conclusion. I ignored the two and made my way past the staircase. I trudged through the living room and turned on the first light. There wasn't anything more than an old fireplace and some nice hardwood floors. The room was big.
I would've continued the inspection, but Tim and Eli barreled down the staircase so I'd become a bit distracted. They both came into the living room with devious smiles. They'd done something horrid already.
And it was something, something practically evil. The sort of thing that made me want to kick the wall, a punching bag, even their faces would do. It turned out that there were only four bedrooms. This would've been fine if there weren't five of us. But, as it turned out, as it had always been, there were. I looked to my two infernal demon sort of brothers and they explained that there was an attic. An attic for none other than my most unlucky self.
I trudged up to my new hell hole. The room was big, the ceiling was low, and the walls curved. There was a window at the end of the room. It was circleish and gave some light. But my new room was inhabited with clustered boxes. They were everywhere filled with pointless knickknacks. The people who used to live here must've left them. That or they magically came in on their own just to disappoint the rest of my day.
Then the doorbell rang. It was a surprise, if anything. I started down the attic steps. Dad and Josh weren't supposed to get here till tomorrow. Dad didn't want to put Josh through a whole day of driving without sleep. He was just a kid. Must be nice.
I went down the hall. Eli had moved to his room listening to music. I could hear Metallica blasting through the walls from his phone. I guess he was already at home. That must be nice. I stopped at the top of the stairs and saw Timothy stare at me expecting the bitch fit. He knew I'd be mad. Granted I was I was pissed I wanted to scream. But, just as I was readying myself to blow out his conceited eardrums I realized how much it didn't matter and how much it wouldn't change things. The high road and all that. So, instead I made my way down the imprudent stairs attempting to suppress my boiling rage.
Smugly, Tim opened the front door expecting Dad, but it wasn't Dad. It was a boy. I backed up a few steps nearly falling off the staircase.
The boy was cute with shaggy brown hobbit hair. He was tall, but still shorter than my towering brother. He was in a pair of loose jeans and a Black Keys tee shirt. It was a nice band. The stranger goggled at me. Most boys tend to do that and at most times it's sordid, but now it was kind of sweet I guess. He wasn't hot or anything just a nice sort of nerdy. He had these big horn rimmed glasses covering his face. It was a wonderful sort of awkward. He reminded me of a little kid even if he was half a foot taller. It was hard to explain. He had a natural innocence. The baby face.
"Can we help you?" Timothy asked just as surprised. The boy's eyebrows shuffled for a second or two. His dorky charisma was comforting.
"Um ya, my mom just wanted me to bring these over?" He gestured to the tray of cookies in his hands. They looked fattening and beautiful. Tim caught them from him and gave him one of his I'm not pissed like my sister smiles. It always made glaring at him much easier.
"Thanks, without these we likely would've resorted to cannibalism." Timothy explained in his own people person way. "You've saved lives. Congrats." The boy relaxed immediately. Tim always seemed to do that with people. Lucky bastard. "I'm Timothy and this thing is Hope." Thing? wow thanks. I wanted to hit him. I didn't—-but I thought about it. Really? Of all the things he had to call me some sort of inanimate object. He acts like he's some angel or something. Complete ass more like.
"And I'm Louis," The boy explained. Louis looked around my age maybe a bit older. Tim nodded with another classic smile. I felt like an invisible thing of space so I started my way up the steps, they didn't seem to need me.
"Cool, hey do you want to come inside or something we don't have much food or well furniture, but um" Timothy stopped in mid-sentence he must've noticed me leaving or something. Took a while. "Hope, where are you going?" I stopped and looked down at him with a well-planned roll of my eyes. I played a very convincing bitch when I wanted to. Siblings made it easy. Tim made it natural.
"Narnia," I muttered not planning to hide any malice. The boy- Louis looked up at me with confused eyes. Big and brown. "Cleaning out my room," This time I explained it all with less hatred. I'm sure he already thought I was a bitch. "That is if you could call it that." I slurred under my breath. "The last people left a few billion boxes." I explained some more. Tim didn't seem too intrigued. The Hobbit was the tho. It was funny the way he was looking at me. You'd think he was stuck in a post apocalyptic-Twilight Zone.
"I could always help." Louis offered. I shrugged. He could do what he wanted. I continued up the steps. His pondered after me. Once I made it to the top hall, Louis hurried to my side. We passed the room and made it to my already pulled out staircase.
"They're making me sleep in the attic." I clarified just before I started up the steps. He didn't say anything so I continued even as I made it to the top of the floor. "That's why I'm acting so bitter. Typically I'm not so dreadful." By now he'd made it to the top. His head was just an inch from hitting the ceiling. He really was tall. Tall with hobbit hair. He was quiet. I liked that. I used to be quiet until it became pretty isolating.
The hobbit looked so lost, and yet he knew just where he was. Louis was nervous that seemed clear. Why the nerves?? I was a mess. My Irish curls were a mess. I was wearing the getup of a professional couch potato. My eyes were yelling at me to close. I was as intimidating as a pair of slippers.
"There really are a billion boxes," The Hobbit muttered as if he thought I'd been kidding. He's probably rethinking coming up the stairs. There are enough boxes up here to likely break any point on my vertebrae. His as well, I suppose. It would fall under cruel and unusual punishment if we took it to trial.
"That's why I'm currently so dreadful." I explained some more. We both hovered over the boxes. Perhaps there weren't a billion, but at least 20 boxes lined the wall. Most of them were still open. I bent down and inspected the finds. There were tapes and records in this one box at least a hundred of them. Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, i.e. I wanted to keep everything. I'd just have to find a tape player first.
"The Waltons left so much." Louis exclaimed. I turned my head to see him standing just behind me.
"The Waltons?" I asked curious.
"They were this old couple that used to live here. They moved a week or two ago." It was weird. I'd never known my neighbors back in New York. They lived down the hall, that made it a different zip code. We've never been neighborly people. Unless you count mama. I nodded and peered into another box filled with old pictures and a few scrapbooks. A nice picture slipped into my hands. It was this family picture black and white. It looked like it was from the 60s. It was picture perfect two parents, two kids: One girl. One boy. To the side there was another box full of books. My hands just went for them. The first I'd picked was something Tolkien.
"Ever read Tolkein?" I asked handing him the book. He just shook his dopey head.
"Where are you from?" he asked quietly. His voice wasn't too high, but it wasn't low either. He'd found an in-between.
Distracted, I really only mumbled. "New York,"
"Your grade?" he asked with an ounce of curiosity. I found another book, Catcher in the Rye it looked barely touched. I'd only read part of it before. It was like these people only owned the classics. Everything likely hadn't been gratified since the sixties.
"Freshman," I answered in a daze. Then I saw this one book with a golden bind. I picked it up as delicately as I could. It looked old almost ancient. I turned it over and there was the title Niek. That's when I sat crisscross. I looked up at Louis he was admiring Tolkein. We could become friends. I had a thing for the socially awkward.
"Hey look at this," he stopped. I gestured to the space next to me. Making it look as if I wanted him to sit. It took a second for him to realize I wasn't talking to the wall or the box of Christmas ordainments. He was hesitant. Cautious almost, like he was nervous or something. By some miracle he made parting with Tolkein and joined me on the ground while somehow tripping on air. This did not better his confidence. His cheeks turned a bubble gum pink.He avoided all possible eye contact. I showed him Niek in all his awkward paranoid glory. Louis was a goldfish. Graceless in his own sort of not-an-ass-hole way. It was refreshing.
"Niek," he uttered in question. I nodded also not having even a slight idea of what was in my hand. It could've been a cook book.
"Ever heard of it?" It could be some famous book here in the suburbs how could I know? I'm from New York. He shakes his head. "Me either," I paused confused completely. These people had all the classics and in the midst of them was Niek. A book no one's ever heard of. Weird. "Doesn't have an author." There were engraved lines in the book, a drawing of a small girl behind a couch of trees. She looked around our age. Had big eyes. Looked, well scared. There was just this look in her eyes. Something like terror. She was wearing a dress; it was probably medieval. With short reluctance I opened the book.
It didn't take anything more than a second. Everything went black. I fell back in a painful lump. That was fun. My fingers ran cold. That was scary. I couldn't feel anything or see anything. That was just terrifying.
I wasn't sure how long I'd been sitting there with nothing, but I just shot up awake anyhow, surrounded by the boxes and Louis, but we weren't in the attic.
——
Thanks for reading!
