A/N: Okay, so the first chapter stinks. I'm going to try and make this story as much like House of Anubis as I possibly can. Some characters may act a bit OOC, but I guess that's okay. I'm really excited. No flames. Please? Btw, yes, I am using "The Hanging Tree" song, and no, the story in no way relates to the Hunger Games. I just think the lyrics of the song relate very well to this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Are you,

are you coming to the tree,

where they hung up a man,

they say murdered three,

strang things did happen here,

no stranger would it be,

if we met up at midnight,

at the Hanging Tree

Darkness isn't confined to one place. It can't be held down by a brick, or pushed away by force. Darkness lives in many regions. It searches for a purpose, somewhere that it can work or destroy something. Sometimes, darkness finds a particular spot it likes, or enjoys, so it lingers there, waiting, and waiting, and waiting before striking an attack.

In the corriders of "Creepy Towers", students lingered. They laughed and smiled, free and alive. But below the long corriders, darkness gathered, evil, sad, and angry.

Above, students rushed through the halls, unaware of the darkness, or why the air felt heavier, why images seemed to be much more murkier, and why happy thoughts were so much harder to summon.

Inside the House of Anubis, things had gotten quiet. Ever since the recent events of the Mask, everything had calmed. Nina was able to fly her Grandmother home, amoung other things. Realationships bloomed, while others fell apart. Mick returned permenantly, bumping the house residents from nine students to ten.

"I already told you, I don't know what I saw."A voice whispered outside the house. A girl around the age of fourteen,with curly brown hair, and a pretty face, hid behind the brick wall, eyes wide. Minutes earlier, she had giddily entered into the House of Anubis and ran into Victor's office, as a dare, only to return frightened and afraid.

Poppy Clarke scrunched her nose. "You do to! You just won't tell me!" She exclaimed.

"It's rubbish, Poppy." The girl said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Jane!" Poppy whined.

Jane sighed. "Alright. I'll tell you, but you can't laugh."

"Promise!"

"Well, Victor was coming down the hall, so I ran into the bathroom." Jane began slowly. She looked back at the house, eye brows scrunched.

"Okay..." Poppy said, gesturing for her to continue.

"And there was a man..."

"There's lots of boys in the house, Jane!" Poppy exclaimed, before slapping a hand over her own mouth, as not to give away her and Jane's hiding spot.

"Poppy, you don't understand. The man, he-."

But Jane never finished her story, for she had fallen backward, over the over-grown roots of a tall tree.

"Woah! You okay?" Poppy asked, helping Jane up.

Jane nodded, before scrunching her nose in confusion. "How long has that tree been there?"

Poppy shrugged. "C'mon. We need to get back to the house. You can tell me what you saw there."

So the two girls left, leaving the tree, the mystery, and everything else in their dust.

And it was because of their absense, that they never were there to see the black fog rise from the tree's roots, and float away into the House of Anubis.