Swirling Abyss of Time and Chance

Prologue

A wolf somewhere howled into the night, the breeze touched their young necks as they struggled with the window, it was stuck. Freddie was sure that it was not the cold night breeze that gave her goose bumps all over her arms but the sense of nagging doom.

"Come on Jack, let's get out of here" she said, tugging his shirt tail.

Jack ignored her "I feel it budging it could come off any second now" he grunted as he put in more effort.

Freddie blew air through her teeth, if Uncle Marsh found out, she'd be grounded for the entire school year for sure. This was typical of Freddie and Jack, making rash decisions and getting into trouble. Whose idea was this anyway? What were they thinking breaking into Caesar Michael's house? Freddie thought, she rubbed her arms in a futile attempt to chase the cold away.

"It's taking too long already. The dance could be over by now" Freddie looked down at the dress she wore, feeling ridiculous.

She opened her mouth to speak again when the window popped open, with a sound that Freddie was sure could be heard from miles away.

"Ah ha!" Jack said with a large smile.

He picked up his backpack from the ground "Lets go, you first" he said.

Freddie looked at him incredulously, "I told you what I saw in there, I'm not going in first. This was your idea asshole".

Jack shrugged in reply then he pulled himself up, threw a leg over and paused "If I don't make it out alive" he said, being dramatic as always, "Delete my browser history" he finished with a smirk.

Jack then slid the upper half of his body in before the other leg disappeared into the dark house.

"Come on" Jack urged Freddie, popping his head out the window.

Freddie crossed herself and said a prayer as Jack helped her up. Once in, she was panting so hard from the little exertion.

Jack eyed her "You need to start working out" she ribbed him.

It looked to be a dining room they had just broken into, Freddie observed as she looked around.

"What are you doing?" Freddie asked as Jack went about feeling the wall.

"Looking for a switch dude, its so dark in here" Jack said.

"You want to make it obvious the house has been broken into? dude. Just follow me" Freddie said as they used their battery powered torches to make their way through the house.

The house was even bigger and creepier on the inside than it was on the outside especially in the dark.

"This is it" Freddie said, once they reached a door. Freddie tried it and it was locked, of course it was she thought, mentally smacking her head.

"Locked" she said, jiggling the knob.

"Let me try" Jack said and the door slid open once he turned it. He turned to Freddie "Told you, you need to work out" and Freddie rolled her eyes at him.

Once inside, Jack found the light switch and the room came to life. It seemed to be a store room, nothing out of the ordinary except for its lack of windows and a sheet on the left side of the wall. Freddie could hear it swirling and tinkling behind the sheet just as she had yesterday.

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Back at the school gym, the music was overloud and obvious, the teenagers all moped around. Most of them, heads bent and engrossed in their phones. The rest circled the spiked punch bowl. The chaperones had given up on making the students have a good time and several of them were in groups talking loudly and laughing while the others danced off beat or just stood staring into nothing. Much like the way Cassia and her brother, Caesar were doing. They sat on the bleachers and watched the others. Callias had gone off to find the girl, Freddie. He would use the Tohlor Stone and everything would be fine. Then the feeling of the world tipping off balance came and Cassia felt the hair at the back of her neck rise.

"Someone's at the veil" she suddenly declared, turning a worried glance to Caesar who sat up immediately, alarmed. Just then Callias returned, Cassia absently noticed the girls gawking at him as he did. Tall with thick curly brown hair much like hers and blue eyes. Callias moved like a soldier, for years Cassia had been afraid that he would be the one to give them away with his uncanny strength and abruptness but the trio had managed to keep their secrets.

"She's gone" was all he said, when he reached them.

Cassia sat up "Her car?"

"Gone" he replied.

Caesar and Cassia exchanged a look and then the threesome hurried out of the gym and went straight to their black pickup truck. Caesar, always the driver, settled himself behind the wheel, while Cassia joined him in the passenger seat. Callias did an amazing acrobatic flip into the back of the truck just as the car rolled out of the school parking lot. As they got close to their eerie mansion on the hill, Cassia pulled out a gun from the glove box and loaded it.

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"What in the world!" Jack exclaimed as he saw the thing.

"Now do you believe me?" Freddie said smugly, folding her arms across her chest. Jack stepped closer to it, his mouth agape in wonder.

"Where does it go?" he thought aloud. There was something so familiar about it.

Jack raised his hand to touch it and Freddie slapped his hand down, "What was that for?" He asked his eyes still fixed on the swirling dark portal.

"It could...suck you in. I don't know" Freddie said in a reproving tone.

Snapping back to life, Jack shook his head. "Quick, we need to get this on camera" he went down on his knee, gently brought down his backpack and removed the camera, "You know I knew those triplets were up to something" he said.

Freddie turned her back to the dark veil, "No you didn't. You thought they were so cool and you wouldn't shut up about how hot Cassia is" Freddie contradicted.

Jack looked up at her with a smile on his face that turned to stark fear immediately, "Freddie!" He called, but it was too late, the shadowy claw he saw reach out from the thing had already pulled Freddie in, so fast that she hadn't even been able to get a scream out.

"Freddie!" Jack kept screaming, "Freddie!" He ran his hand through his hair, repeating frantically "What do I do, what do I do?"

"You step away" came Caesar's voice from behind him.

Jack whirled around to find the triplets standing in the doorway, looking awesome in their school dance get up and weapons. Is that a bow and arrow? Jack did not understand what was happening.

"Your thing just swallowed my friend!" he yelled like a crazed person. Caesar exchanged a look with Cassia and she shot him. As the blackness enveloped him, Jack thought of how stupid the whole thing was.