Forlot - Books 1-3 {Completed}

Chapter Nineteen

It was morning. I woke up and stretched, moaning as I did so.

Ah. It feels good to stretch after sleeping or taking a nap.

I stood up, the floor creaking from beneath my feet.

What? The floor was creaking? The floor in my room had never creaked before.

I glanced down and noticed that the floor was made entirely out of wood.

That is strange. My floor is covered with a blue carpet.

I felt something brush against my left arm. I jumped and spun around.

"Is someone there?" I said with a hint of bravery. "If it is the shadow that I met last night, the one with the green eyes, then you are going to have to be patient for a while. I might be heading to school today."

I heard a noise, and without checking to see what - or who - made the noise, I screamed like a little girl.

"Ah!"

Hey, you would scream like a little girl too! Especially if you knew that shadows wanted to kill you!

"Nigel?" Dad called. "Did you scream? Did you have another shadow dream?"

I did not answer him. I was too petrified to speak.

"Is everything okay, Nigel?"

I looked at my surroundings and realized that I was in the attic.

Did I sleep in here overnight?

Purple light from the sky poured in through the attic window and swept over every object and dark corner. The room was no longer in darkness.

I heard another sound. It sounded familiar to the first one, like something fell.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a box falling to the wooden ground. I breathed heavily.

I did not cause that box to fall.

Who did then?

I was not about to find out.

I began tiptoeing towards the stairs. Each step that I took, the creaking from the floor grew louder and louder.

"Nigel, could you please come to the kitchen?" Dad ordered. "You are making me worried."

Well, guess what? I am also worried. And scared!

I was almost to the staircase, when I heard a voice.

Calling for me.

"Nigel...Nigel..."

I could feel my hair standing up. My palms were sweaty.

That is it! I am out!

Without putting much thought in the idea, I raced like a race car from The Kart Game down the stairs and into the kitchen. As soon as I was in the kitchen, I stopped running and rubbed my hands together, catching my breath in the process.

Dad was by the counter, preparing breakfast for me and him. He turned his head to me and slightly smiled.

"You are here," he said, pouring milk into a bowl. "Breakfast is almost ready." He examined me and raised an eyebrow. "You look...not-so-good." He placed a hand on my forehead to feel for my temperature. "Oh, man. You are burning up. I hope that you are not coming down with a fever."

I tried to stay still to keep my body from shaking. "I hope not," I replied, trying my best to not stammer. "I hate having a fever."

"I know that you do. Nobody likes to be sick. Even if they have to miss out on school."

I hugged myself, rubbing my arms. "Speaking of which...are you making me go to school?"

My dad shook his head. "Not today. Possibly not tomorrow either. I want you to rest. You went through a lot yesterday. I know that a few of the other kids' parents whose kids were in the wreck are bent on keeping their children home for a couple of days, so I am doing the same thing."

I brushed my hair back. I did know whether I should have been happy that my dad was letting me stay at home or not.

Especially what I encountered with last night.

Dad set two bowls on the table, and each bowl was filled with milk and cereal. "Eat up," he said. "I got a call from the doctor this morning. He is coming over to our house for your appointment."

"The doctor? At our house?" I questioned. "Why is he coming here?"

He shrugged. "Maybe because I mentioned about the bus crash to him. He is probably being considerate of you."

"Oh. Well, that is nice of him."

My dad pointed at my cereal. "You had better start eating your breakfast. The doctor will be here in—"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a knock at the door. Dad hurried out of the kitchen, and I followed. We came up to the front door, and Dad twisted the doorknob and opened the door.

"Hello," Dad said. "Are you the doctor?"

The man grinned and nodded. "Yes," he answered. "I am Dr. Maxwell. Dr. Hugo Maxwell."