Daniel Sullivan, a boy about seven years old, sat carelessly on the back porch of a small gray house. His blue eyes followed the small bouncy-ball as he picked it up in midair and then dropped it again. His short black hair rustled a bit as he shook his head in the amusement. The grass below him, swaying in the light breeze, was golden in the reflection of the sunset. Surprisingly, he had one of the many lucky houses with a back lawn. As he continued to bounce the ball, he looked behind him to see if anyone was there, but all he saw was the dark concrete road and the houses up ahead. He groaned as he dropped the ball one last time. "Why ain't she here yet...?" the boy grumbled. The ball rolled off the dark wooden porch and rolled in the grass. His twin sister, Naomi, promised him that she would be out to play with him as soon as she finished eating dinner. Normally, she would finish eating before he did, but it's been ten minutes since he finished his meal. Daniel sighed and took a leap off the porch to retrieve the ball.
As he leaned of to pick it up, he checked his surroundings for any other entertainment. He glanced at the tree in front of him, thinking to climb it; but risking another pair of pants would not be worth an angry mother. Next to the tree was the old shed, however, Daniel twitched when he saw it. According to mother, no one was allowed in there; he learned it the hard way. Last time he was caught in there, he couldn't sit down for a good week. Although he never understood why his mother was so adamant about not letting anyone in there. There was nothing in there except maybe an old shovel or something. The only thing he found slightly unusual was a circular line of chalk on the floor. Breaking his concentration over the small shed, a door from the front of the house could be heard creaking open. Naomi must have finished supper now. Grinning, he pumped his fist into the air and rushed towards the picket fence separating the backyard from the front.
Naomi stood at the small gate; her little fingers struggled to unlock the latch of the door. She was a petite girl for her age. Her black hair slightly touched her extremely pale shoulders. Kids would tease her about her skin color, asking if she haunts people at night or throw white sheets over her. Even her friends would poke fun at her about it from time to time; so the spot she felt most comfortable with is being home with her brother, even though he was slightly darker than she was. Though they had no problems with the way they looked, they could never figure why they looked the way they did. Their pale skin and black hair compared nothing to their mother, as she had brown wavy hair and an average skin tone. Not even the eye colors matched. Naomi waved at her brother as she finally opened the gate and headed towards him.
Trying to make a scene, Daniel lifted his head high and
began tapping his foot, "What took you so long?" the boy
pouted; but about anyone could tell it was a fake pout.
Naomi
giggled, she proceeded to scratch the back of her head, "Sorry I
was late, Danny. Mom had to talk with me about something."
Her
brother sighed, "You were whining about the broccoli again,
weren't you?"
Naomi stopped scratching and stalled
"...Actually, no."
Daniel tilted his head back to
regular position, in wonder. "Really? What the heck were you
talking about then?"
The girl looked up at the orange-pink
sky "She was asking me if I would like to have a daddy."
Daniel
paused; he had never actually thought of that before. Now that she
mentioned it, they never did meet their father. Some kids would tease
them about it when Naomi mentioned it in school a long time ago, but
those were the bullies of the school, so it really didn't matter to
them. Out of curiosity, Daniel asked, "So, whaddya say to
her?"
She placed her hands on her little waist, "I said
it would be cool to have a dad."
Her brother crossed his arms
in ponder, when she popped in the question, "What about you,
Danny? Don't you think it'd be cool if we had a dad?"
He
shrugged carelessly, "Eh, I don't think it'd make a
difference."
Naomi placed her hands under her elbows and
tilted her head, "You really think so?" Her brother
nodded.
That's when their mother called Daniel through the
window. He looked at his mother with surprise. She was calling him in
for a bath... at a surprisingly early hour. Normally, he would go in
for a bath when it was dark out, but the sun was still setting this
time. Daniel groaned, "Aw maa," he pleaded, "Couldn't
I wait for dark as usual?"
His mother took a low tone, "I
want you in that tub in five minutes, or you'll be going to bed
early. Is that understood?"
He sighed; he was used to these
lectures, his mother formally in the state military as a second
lieutenant. "Yes, ma." he murmured.
As he began to sulk
his way to the door, his sister began to plead with her mother, "But
mom, I just got out here and it's still light out! Can't we stay for
five more minutes?"
Their mother shook her head, her brown
locks drifted over her shoulders. She looked at Naomi and stated "You
stay by the shed, am I understood? I'll be there to let you in right
away."
Naomi shuddered "Y-yes, mom." They have
always known that the shed was strictly off limits. They did not
understand their mother's sudden change of behavior at all, but they
obeyed her orders immediately.
Daniel, reaching the front porch, saw his mother open the door for him as he, actually pouty, stumbled in. She glanced at him and growled "Don't you give me that look, Daniel Sullivan!" He pursed his lips as he looked at his mother, but her immediate death glare told him to run upstairs for his life to the tub. He listened as she shut the door tightly behind her.
Closing the door, the seven-year-old mumbled to himself, "Sheesh. What's her problem?" He threw his orange t-shirt on the wooden bathroom floor. The bathtub was ready with warm water, so he proceeded to pull off his dirt stained jeans, but stopped when he noticed something from outside the window above him. Pushing himself onto his toes, the curious boy peered out of the window to see his mother out with Naomi. What surprised him most is that his mother opened the door to the rusty shed, letting his sister in. As a seven year old, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Daniel could only remember the last time he went into that shed. He remembered his mother nearly blowing her face off, yelling at him. The only thing he did, however, was remove a little bit of white chalk from the floor. After the hard paddling he got, he could not sit down at all without brewing up some tears.
His mother followed Naomi, looking all directions. Daniel, almost being spotted, immediately threw his back against the white wall next to the window. He would have had his hide tomato red if he were not in the tub. However, he could only ponder, "What the heck did Naomi do to be allowed to go in there?"
He immediately
began to precede taking off his pants. Rushing to get into the tub,
he immediately dipped his feet into the water. Thinking that the
water was scalding, he immediately jerked his feet out of the water.
"Geez, that's hot!" the boy whined; droplets of water fell
from the top of his feet onto the wood floor. Struggling to open the
window, he tried to complain to his mother. He poked his head out of
whatever he could open, "Ma! The water's too hot!"
There
was no answer from the shed.
He waited about ten seconds before
calling out again,"...Hey ma...?"
There was still no
answer. Daniel continued to stare at the shed, hoping for the door to
open... Nothing happened. He looked back at the bathtub, and slowly
attempted to put his foot back in the water. To him, the water was
still far too hot. He immediately recalled his foot out of the water.
Getting impatient, he poke his head out of the window once more.
"Ma!
The water's still hot!"
That's when he noticed the pale glow coming from behind those wooden doors of the shed. It was bright and eerie, yet calm at the same time. Seeming hypnotized, Daniel gazed at the radiance. "What is that?" his mouth was agape at the sight. Wanting to get a closer view, he immediately threw his pants back on. As the curious boy he was, he checked the window to see if that radiant glow still lingered. However, something was different. In fact, it didn't even seem right. The pale glow began to darken to what seemed like a violent red glow. Daniel's eyes were abducted by the view; he couldn't keep his eyes off it, despite that it sent chills down his little spine.
That's when he heard a scream.
It sounded like his sister, screaming from the shed. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. She was usually a chicken about everything and would scream over anything if she were in the dark; however, something felt different though, this sounding something more like anguish or excruciating pain. Out of brotherly instincts, the only thing he could do was run down the stairs immediately. He called out for his sister, "Sis!" as he rushed out the front door. He could hear the wood pound under him as he raced down the front porch, but the pounding of his heart was louder as frightening thoughts about his sister raced through his mind. Was their mother injured behind those doors and Naomi was crying for help? Or was it that mother was possibly hurting Naomi? What if something else was in there, ready to annihilate them both? He had no time to ponder; as the only 'man' of the family, he had to do something about this.
Daniel immediately headed for the backyard. As he continued over towards the shed, he felt like some force of wind was sucking him in. He felt his hair bangs flicker over his icy blue eyes. He called for his sister once more, "Naomi!" The only response he could hear was more of her screaming. Fighting back fear, her brother immediately responded, "Hang in their sis!" Finally reaching the door to the shed, he could feel the energetic winds coming from behind the door, wanting to devour him. His hair was blinding him at this point, covering his face. He kept brushing his hair out of his face as he used whatever force he could to pull the doors open. His bare feet slipped across the grass as he failed continuously to get that door open.
It was no use; the force of the wind was preventing him to pull the doors open. Now scared for the lives of his sister and his mother, he pounded on the doors, wailing. "Somebody open the door!" he pleaded, "Sis! Ma! Open the door!" The wind whipped against his bare back. The only thing he could think of was breaking the door down. He was worried, however, that his little body would not be able to break the wood door down, but that couldn't stop him from trying. Struggling to back up a bit, Daniel crawled a few feet back from the door, the knees of his jeans muddied and stained from the grass. His nails dug into the ground as he pulled himself up. Finally standing, he braced himself as he charged towards the door. Splintering bits of his shoulders, the seven-year-old was able to break down a large portion of the door, which happened to be rotting. He fell to the ground, scraping his sides. He desperately got back up, wiping any chips of wood away from his eyes.
The winds were even stronger, and that red glow from before was now a blinding light at the center of the shed floors. He struggled not to be sucked in to the center. He tossed his head around, in search of his sister. Daniel cried out once more to Naomi, but suddenly froze as he turned towards a heart-striking feature.
Naomi was kneeling at the light, as her arms were both deteriorating. She was screaming from the burning of her arms leaving her body.
Panicked, Daniel screamed as he raced towards his sister. He couldn't spot his mother anywhere near the sight, but she was not important at the moment. He had to get his sister away from that light; there was no other option. Gripping at her waist, he used all strength he could muster. "Sis," he cried out, "Use you legs and push yourself!" Naomi only could respond with a weak wail. The winds shrieked in their ears as they tried to pull away from the light. As Daniel struggled with all his strength, he could feel small portions of his sides being torn away. Whatever was taking his sister's arms was now trying to take a part of him. His fear was reaching to maximum limits; he thrashed about to pull away from the twisted force. His sides were now exploding in pain. Daniel could hardly hear himself scream as the winds were pounding in his ears. His body was becoming cold with sweat and his back numb from the cruel winds. Trying not to lose hope, he gave another pull away from the extreme force.
What came over him, no one knows aside from the assumption of adrenaline; he toppled over, his sister in his arms. He was able to pull her out of the light. Her arms were completely gone. Blood stained Daniel's jeans as it gushed out of what was left of Naomi's arms, that not even being the shoulders. At the same moment the light faded and the winds died. However a shock was still in the air as a haze covered the whole shed. Daniel could hear the electrical waves as he tried to gain back his ground. The only thing on his mind was his sister's condition. She was unconscious and bleeding everywhere. He choked from his fear, looking at the scenery...
"Oh my god..." He whimpered, clinging to his sister. "Sis!"
She slumped motionless, Daniel could smell the blood.
Mom, where was mom? Daniel struggled as he picked up his sister to search for his mother in the thick haze. More blood gushed from his sides as his sister's weight forced him down.
"Ma!" Daniel wailed.
There was no answer. The only thing he heard was the electrical current in the air.
"Ma! Where are you!?"
Still no answer. Daniel coughed as he swayed the haze out of his way. Panicking, he toppled over something. He clung to his sister to defend her from the fall. The soil stuck to the bloody stains of his jeans; he slowly got up. The sweat and the dirt stung his sides. Looking to see what it was, he froze, his breath stopped at the sight, as the haze slightly cleared up.
His mother laid face down in a lake of red. Her brown hair was soaked in the blood. She was motionless. Daniel's eyes widened as his fear-struck heart came to a sudden stop.
"Oh my god!" He set his sister down immediately, racing to his mother. He shook her by her shoulders.
"Ma! Wake up!"
Aside from his violent shaking, the woman showed no signs of life. Choking sobs, the boy grabbed his mother's hands.
"Ma!"
The boy began to tremble as he could slowly feel the warmth of his mother's hands leave. Within a few moments, she was cold, no longer a part of this earth.
Knowing there was nothing he could do, streaming tears, Daniel stumbled towards his sister. He broke down crying, clinging to his sister. Even the remaining shock waves could not beat the wails of anguish. He had to rest; he had lost all strength within him now. He rested his sister's head on his bruised shoulders. She was now his only family left. She was still warm, but it probably wouldn't last for long. Scared and helpless, Daniel put his hand over his sister's head. "Everything's gonna be okay, sis." He stammered. Even he had a hard time believing himself. Mother was dead, and his sister could possibly be dying in his arms. Everything was going wrong. "Dammit..." he whimpered, "It can't be like this!"
The haze was fading and the scene more gruesome. As the shock waves quieted down, Daniel could hear gasping breathing not too far behind him. His eyes flickered; could it possibly be that mother was still alive? Daniel turned his head, but to his sudden surprise it was not mother. She still laid in her pool of blood. He shuddered looking at her, more tears dwelling in his eyes, "My god..." he tried to cover his eyes with his other arm, but something else caught his eye. In the dying haze he could see a pale arm stretching out into the clearer air. "Is that..." Daniel squinted as the thoughts ran through his head, "Could those be Naomi's arms?" He continues squinting for a clearer view. "That can't be... Those seem too masculine for her arms..." the fog was slowly clearing up, he could slowly catch a better view as he trailed the anatomy of the arm.
What he was seeing was more than he could take.
Rib cage split open;
Heart pounding;
Massive violet eyes glowing;
Pitch-black hair resting in blood;
The pale skeletal figure laid on it's back, partially deteriorated and gasping for air.
It couldn't possibly be human.
Daniel's eyes widen, not being able to keep his eyes off the thing. He screamed for mercy, to shield his eyes from such a horrific sight. Blood rushing to his head, his sight began to fade as he blacked out. It was more than his body could take.
This was the moment his story would unfold into an adventure.