The Foreign Gates

Chapter:1- It Begins

"Lucy! Come down here right now! Don't you dare make me come up there young lady."

Seriously. Mom needs to relax. So what if I am late by a few minutes to school. It's not like it's going to cause World War III. I come out of my bedroom in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, my standard combo for school and any place, actually. My reddish-brown hair was in its usual ponytail. My crystal green eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses. All in all, I was just the type of person who finished her homework the moment she reached home and having no friends, confined herself to reading complex books children her age would never understand. My twin brothers, Mark and John were squabbling about yet another pointless topic.

"Boys! Stop it, I said stop.", they still ignored Mom. I knew they were gonna get it. "Fine then, you're grounded for two weeks. Good. Now come have breakfast with your sister."

Mom had brownish hair with the same eyes as me though without glasses. Years of frustration from raising us as well as her teaching career had turned most of her hair grey. Though her smile was still as radiant as when she was young. For such a cheerful person, I have only seen her cry once- when my Dad disappeared. But that's something I'd rather not think about right now. Mom served me my eggs and bacon and like every morning, asked me if I had a dream. I'd usually think of it as silly and say the truth, no. But today, the question wasn't welcoming. It reminded me of the nightmare with the bodiless voice, making me cringe away from the truth.

"No, not really. Anyway, I think I'm getting late for school. I should move", I replied. Mom didn't seem fully convinced but let it go with a sigh. With a 'Have a great day', Mom sent us out of the house. I grabbed our things and herded my siblings all the way to their secondary school. As I was beginning the three block walk to my school, I saw, no, somehow sensed a shadow around the corner. But upon a closer look, it turned out to just be a tree. I turned the corner headed to school. As I entered the main gates, a girl with polished auburn hair with stylish clothes and a similarly stylish hairstyle made her way towards me. Ashley was the typical snobby bully whose only joy was making other people feel like dirt.

Since I am the most unpopular and overlooked person in the whole school, I am her regular customer. As she approached me for my special treatment, I felt a sudden wave of dizziness and for a brief moment, Ashley's cheetah print top and pink miniskirt changed into a tangle of red fur and her high heel shoes turned into long black claws. Her brown hair turned into a fiery red whose heat I could feel even from a distance. Her face distorted to that of a bear with long tusks. And then, just as it had appeared, the beast vanished and in front of her stood Ashley Grace, the richest man in the whole town of Gatewood.

"So, you still have the nerve to show your rat-like face in front of my flawless one. If I didn't have to change my lunch and fire that incompetent chef, I'd spend more time pointing out your ever present mistakes." And with that, she pushed past me and went on her way.

The day soon passed like a blur and it seemed like not only five minutes had passed when I was back at home, homework done and in the backyard. Mom kept bugging me to clean the yard and at last, I finally gave in. So there I was, trying to get the ancient weed-whacker to work when there was a sudden sound of bells. This sound was nothing like the ones you hear at the church but as the most gentle fairy softly striking a really small bell.

I was one of the many kids who didn't really believe in magic, faeries, witches and such nonsense. But this bell sound persistent enough to steal my attention. I followed the sound all the way to the very rear end of my garden. Our garden was only slightly larger than all of our neighbours individually though this never created any kind of conflict, I'm grateful. The huge oak tree where I once built my tree house with Dad cast long shadows. The sound seemed to be coming from here but the tree looked the same- its bark a tree brown, its leaves turning yellow from the oncoming Autumn, the tree house at the top mostly in shambles, and the strange glowing door at the foot of the tree.

Wait a minute! There wasn't a glowing purple door here yesterday. I thought of going back and telling Mom but something in me denied the action and subconsciously I began contemplating whether or not I should go inside and check it out. At the end, my curiosity got the better of me and I grasped the floral handle that almost camouflaged with the rest of the door's design. I pulled with all my might but it wouldn't open. Then I pushed with all my might but it wouldn't budge either way. "All that thought for nothing", I thought aloud, "Maybe it has a password or something- Alzac Razac....Open Sesame....Abra Cadabra....nothing". Having given up, I simply waved my hand in front of it and to my surprise, a ball of green and blue burst from my hand and struck the door. Before I could even react, the door began sucking all the air out of the world and me with it. As I span around the inside of the the door, I only had time to make out a big white light ahead of me before I blacked out.