The Elmer Chronicles

Chapter 1 The Who & What

I remember as a child; my parents often told me that there were no such things as vampires and werewolves. "hah." Looking back at it now they couldn't have been any more wrong. My name is Elmer Smith, and I'm 19 years old. I have amber-colored eyes and scarlet red hair. I'm also pretty tall standing at 6'2. I have a slim but muscular frame, yet I was never interested in sports. Guess you can call me "genetically gifted." I suppose, or so I've read. I enjoy reading and exploring. Bookshelves at home had a bunch of fantasy novels about wizards and warlocks. That's where my obsession began. I always broke night to indulge myself in the mysteries of the fantasy world. My parents often became concerned since I would spend countless hours reading old books and searching on the web for the origins of these fantastic creatures. I graduated from high school two years ago, and although I was pushed to go to college, they completely understood why I decided against it. Luckily for us, we inherited money from our great grandfather, which allows us to live comfortably without having to work. Father would always tell me never to speak about our wealth and to find ways to contribute to society. I still found it odd when my parents spoke this way as if we had to blend in or something. I mean, we live a few miles away from my high school, and our location is remote, Yet the lights in our home would be dim. Let alone that my classes were during the evening since that's what my parents suggested. I trust them, but I can't shake the feeling that they're hiding something from me.  *Elmer Daydreaming* The time is 8:42 PM!". "Waaah! stupid mechanical clock." I swear things sound so damn loud when It's quiet in this house. As Elmer turns off the clock, a loud thump is heard coming from the hallway. *Elmer scurries to the window that has a few of the parking lot*. Wait, if mom and dad aren't home then..  My blood turned cold, what the hell is out there?. As I slowly walk to the door to turn the doorknob, I feel a quick jolt of pain coursing through my left arm. Trying to ignore the pain I carry on and open the door while thinking to myself. "Where did that pain come from?!". I close the door gently so it won't make noise and now I'm standing in my hallway. Pitch black as if the light never ventured here. I look around while walking real slow a bit puzzled that my eyes adjusted so fast to the darkness. As I approach the steps near the railing, I see two shadowy figures scurry past, which appears to be on the first floor. "damn it!" I thought to myself.  It looks like those novels are starting to affect my brain. I freeze for a minute to see if I can hear anything unusual. I cup my hand around my ear to listen better... Suddenly, I hear something loud and heavy moving. It sounds like it's coming from the living room. I don't recall having anything that would make that type of noise. I begin to move again, slowly going down the steps. Luckily, these steps were remodeled, so they don't creak. Upon approaching the final step, I walk into the living room and what I saw left me in shock. The bookcase is turned wide open like a door. Looks like "someone" or "something." knows more about this house than I do. Approaching the open bookcase I spot a stairwell that looks old as if it had been there for years. "Mom and Dad definitely has some explaining to do". I start to descend down the dark old steps and again, a random surge of pain courses through my left arm. Something strange is definitely going on here. Upon reaching the final step I see a dark corridor with faint light shining through. I hesitate a little but end up walking towards it. Weird marking are engraved into the door but I can't seem to understand what they mean. I give it a push but fail the first time. "wow this door is much heavier than i expected". I try again, putting my whole bodyweight against it and it slides right open. "What is this place?"