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Chapter 1 - Out of Home, Out of Place, Out of Mind

Aaron ran ahead, gasping and wheezing. He had never been a very good sprinter, he had been born with a mild case of asthma that, despite having eased off into almost non-existence still came around time and again to trip him up. Now was one of those times. At this rate he would never build up the fitness necessary to try out for the athletics team, he was so close too.

Aaron wouldn't care much about getting onto the athletics team very much if it wasn't for the stupid school programs, in Fieldwaters you were required to take part in at least one recreational after school event and all of the good spots in IT and Tech had been taken. If there wasn't a place in the athletics squad with Aaron's name on it by the end of this year then he would be forced to endure pottery with Ms. Banks for yet another term of torture. And if not by the end of that term, yet another. To be honest, Aaron didn't know why the school even bothered to run pottery classes. They never had any materials and no one ever made anything that Ms. Banks deemed worthy enough to actually be fired and painted, so the whole thing was just an hour a week of useless grafting.

Aaron was snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the running boy. The boy was of African origin, or at least spent a lot of time in the sun, and wore jeans with a hoodie. The classic stereotype of a gang member. This wasn't what caught Aaron's attention however, heck, there were more gang members living around Aaron's area than normal people, what caught his attention was the tiny silver chain that had slipped out of the back pocket of his jeans. Aaron collected his breath to tell the boy what he had lost but then realised that it was probably stolen anyway. He turned his back and started to walk away but hesitated. He wasn't sure why but something compelled him to take one last look at the running boy, as if he had some significance, and performed a quick double take when he saw the boy seemingly vanish into nowhere.

Surprised, Aaron jogged over to where he had disappeared and was instantly curious as to where the gang member could have gone. There were no clues and Aaron was anxious to get home, the day was almost up and night was beginning to set in along with the cold, so he started to make his way back home. As an afterthought, Aaron scooped up the stolen chain as he walked by. Unsure what to do with it, he put it in his pocket and began the walk. Maybe he'd turn it in to the police later.

The trip back to Aaron's house was long, he had misjudged how far he had jogged that day, and quickly grew bored. The chain was a distraction as he walked and he examined it closely on the way home. It was circular, and well made. Also, it was expensive, as it was entirely silver, and the links were entirely undamaged. Refusing to believe something could be so perfectly intact, Aaron made a game out of finding just one scratch on its surface. He was to be disappointed, as by the time he had made it home there was still no noticeable blemishes.

Distracted still, he wandered straight into his room and almost missed his mum calling out to him. It pulled him out of his trance and he placed the chain on his desk before going down for dinner.

Aaron's mum was waiting for him when he came downstairs. Anyone else would have seen a slightly worried parent wondering where her son had been all night but Aaron knew better. Sitting down silently he ate his, now cold, dinner as fast as he could and ran back upstairs before his mum could explode-

'AARON SPENCERS!' Or not.

'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL NIGHT!'

'W-well you see I was, um, jogging and...'Aaron mumbled, he knew his mother would be angry but even so he was taken aback by the extent of his mothers rage.

'I sorta, forgot how far I'd gone and... I, yeah' he was never usually this bad at controlling his words but, them again, his mother was never usually this mad. Aaron had no idea what was making his mum so angry today in particular.

'AND DID YOU, I DONT KNOW, FORGET SOMETHING?!' Aaron groaned as his mother held up his school report. He'd completely forgot, today was Parents Evening...

'DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EMBARRASSING IT WAS - TO STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR PEERS, AND TEACHERS, AND WAIT FOR YOU? ALL DAY! ALL DAY I WAS THERE! ... ' she continued along this vein for a long time before Aaron was banished to his bedroom to rest, but he couldn't. All night he lay awake thinking, annoyed, angry thoughts towards mother, the school, even just the very idea of clay at one point. But eventually his mind drifted towards the chain. He could almost feel it's presence in his room. It was strange, not malevolent, but almost... Mournful. As if it missed its owner. This of course was all Aaron, he had often been told that he had an over active imagination. But, it felt very sharp in his mind. Very... vivid.

Finally, Aaron stood up, maybe he was asleep after all, as the chain was now softly glowing. He reached out and picked it up in his- hands? Where were his hands? Or more specifically, his left hand, the one holding the chain.

Aaron dropped the chain. His hand appeared again. Tentatively, he ran the chain through his fingers, no disappearing this time. Just plain old hands, chain, and dust. The dust looked very odd though, it glimmered in the light of the moon in a strange dance of sparkle. The dust grew thicker, and thicker. Before long there was almost a silver fog surrounding Aaron's lower arms. And now it was getting brighter too. Thicker, thicker. brighter, brighter. Aaron staggered backwards 'What did I do to get this?' He thought. Maelstroms of colour now whirled around Aaron and his hair started fluttering like leaves in the wind. The world was bending, bending. Twisting, snapping and 'CRACK!'.

Reality engulfed Aaron in a gentle, yet quick, caress. And Aaron, eyes screwed tight, felt a sensation not far different from being squeezed through a letterbox before-

Nothing. Aaron was standing up, at least he thought so. No, he was lying down. He might have been anywhere. But he knew he was in his bedroom. A light was shining through his eyelids, it must've been about midday, but Aaron couldn't bring himself to face his room just yet. He'd had a very confusing dream and needed to orient himself.

Then he heard calling, and groaned. He'd forgotten all about his mishap with his mother the night before. 'Im getting up ok... Shut up!..' Aaron groaned, stretching and opening his eyes. His blind been opened and the sun was streaming into his eyes. Aaron blinked to clear the white obscuring his vision and gasped. What lay before him was not at all like his bedroom. In fact it was unlike any room he had seen before. Alas, he didn't have time to ponder this as he swiftly passed out onto a young girl who he thought might be around his age, but it was too late now for thinking.