Hush

Chapter One

Passing by that house always made Hush nervous. The lights were always off, vines grew across the windows and over the balcony. There were never any cars in the gravel-filled driveway. The house itself looked old and decrepit. The gargoyles perched on the balcony seemed to watch him as he walked by, following him with their piercing gaze that made him feel as if they were ripping his very soul from his body.

Of course, if he really felt threatened, he could simply hold his protection charm and he would be safe. It never failed him, and it worked on everything, even simple things like rocks, which his brother had enjoyed throwing at him to test the charm out.

On one of the days that Hush walked by the house, he noticed a sign on the iron-bound gates, which- as far as he could tell -were only used as decoration. The gates were closed this time, which was unusual and useless, as he could just jump over the wall; prompting him to read the sign.

It was a simple piece of paper, laminated and attached to the rods of the gates by black twist ties. It had a picture of... something. Hush couldn't tell what it was, but it was mildly disturbing. Under the picture the sign read:

Danger. DO NOT ENTER DU-

Hush couldn't read the rest. It had been hastily scrawled, which was obvious, due to the jumble of black letters and the drops of ink.

It was close to Halloween, though. It could be a decoration, pardoning the fact that Hush had never seen a single glimpse of life in the decrepit building, and there were no other decorations.

Sighing, Hush walked away, goosebumps starting to form on his exposed hands, and the hair on his neck rising with the feeling of being watched.

Hush could feel it, though. Despite there being no noticeable traces of life, there was something inside the house. Dead or alive- Hush couldn't tell from the distance -something was making the back of his mind hum, wanting to figure out what it was.

Hush pushed the feeling out of his mind, though. It could be anything. A bird living in the roof, a squirrel that had climbed into the gutter and couldn't get out. Hush didn't know, but he wanted to. Even though the house made him nervous, and the gargoyles were glaring at him with hatred, he wanted to know if there was anything inside the house, or if his mind was playing tricks on him. He shook his head. Not this month, though. With Halloween just around the corner, spirits- both black and red- were starting to get excited with the prospect of being able to spook- and possibly kill -many people during the night. That made using magic dangerous. It would attract the reds in swarms, which would give the Magi away to mortals.

And they definitely couldn't have that happening. It happened before- once -and twenty Magi died, bound to wooden stakes with sailor's rope and burned alive.

That was so long ago that Hush could barely remember it, though. He doubted it would happen again, but they couldn't be too careful. Humans were unpredictable, and the Magi had a hard enough time taking care of their own. Humans didn't need to be added to the equation. The Magi didn't want to alter the humans' memories again, either. It was time consuming and tiring.

Hush could remember the first time he tried to alter someone's memories. It didn't work properly and...

Hush cast his thoughts away. His father said that he thought too much and spoke too little.

He decided to practice his balance by walking along the curve of the road. Soon, the house was behind him, though not forgotten.