Shadow Zone

"He can't stay."

I heard a raspy voice from somewhere in the darkness.

"If he turns against us, we're doomed!"

Another deeper voice came from my right side. I couldn't see anything and all I smelled was dirt and stale air.

"But if he joins us, there's no way we can fail."

A womanly voice came from straight ahead of me. The voices seemed to bounce off the walls, like I was in a tunnel.

"Do you really think it's worth the risk, Echo?"

The deeper voice waited for a reply. The woman sighed.

"No. Take him far away."

I felt someone breathing very close to my face and a cold, hard hand ran down my cheek. I felt them lean close to my ear and whisper.

"Be careful. They're everywhere."

* * *

We ran over a bump and I woke up, startled. Forgetting where I was, I blinked a few times and quickly glanced around. Mom, Dad, and Emily, all sitting in the car with me. On our way to Roseburg, Oregon.

Right.

"About time you woke up. We're here." My dad said as he pulled into the driveway of the new house. The house was old and worn, with chipping red paint and a porch that was falling apart. The window frames were splintering and the pathway up to the door was cracked and brittle. It was pretty big though, so at least it wasn't all that bad.

"It needs a little work, but, I think it's got character." My mom chimed in optimistically as we climbed out of the car.

"August, come help grab some boxes." I walked over to the other side of the car with my dad and grabbed the few boxes we were actually able to fit in our car. We would have to pick up the rest of our stuff from storage later.

Emily came over to me and grabbed the smaller box on top. I gave her a confused look and she raised her eyebrow. "Like I'd really trust you to carry my stuff." She rolled her eyes and carefully walked up the path towards the door. Thirteen-year-old girls can be extremely snobby sometimes.

I couldn't really blame her though. I wasn't nearly as coordinated as her, and had a hard time maneuvering up the path without breaking my ankle, let alone keeping all the boxes balanced.

After clumsily making my way up to the door, I walked in and was shocked. The inside was completely different from the outside. Everything was pristine and new. The spiral staircase that led up to the second floor was shining with polish and the walls were all freshly painted with a pearly white color. A fancy chandelier hung from the high ceiling and lit up the whole entry way. It smelled fresh and new and looked like one of those houses you'd see rich kids living in on TV shows.

I caught Emily staring up into the house too. "Wow." she mumbled softly. I couldn't have said it better myself. The place looked amazing.

I walked into the gigantic kitchen and set the boxes down onto the granite counter top. The wooden floors shined just as much as the staircase and all the appliances were new. I smiled to myself. I could definitely get used to this.

I looked out the window over the sink to see the dense forest we had in our backyard. You could barely see four feet into the woods before the view was blocked off by branches, leaves and darkness. It was gorgeous in a kind of creepy way.

"I call the biggest bedroom!" Emily shouted from the bottom of the staircase. I laughed and chased after her. "Not if I get there first!" I called as I bolted towards her, but she had already sprinted up the staircase and ran into a room by the time I was halfway up the steps.