Chapter 1:

The sound of rain beat down onto his window with the beat that sounded similar to one that a two year old would make on a pot with a wooden spoon. Thunder clapping every now and then and making the little humble abode of the Babcock family. It was just a passing thunder storm but he could tell from the way the air was changing that the rain would remain.

"Happy birthday, Norman!" Neil cheered as he gave Norman a pat on the back. Norman smiled as thanked him softly before looking at the cake that had brightly colored candles burning. He wasn't one who was much of an attention hoarder. It made him sometimes pretty uneasy... He blamed it on the years of growing up with no positive attention.

"Fifteen candles..." his mother spoke as she sat down in the seat beside him. "Too many more and I think we may have to call the fire department." This made Norman chuckle. It was true that obtaining fifteen years of age was something that he wasn't completely ready for. That was a number that seemed strange to him. He was only a few months into his freshman year which had gone pretty smoothly so far with the help of Courtney who was now a senior. It was even stranger that he could start learning to drive. That thought was something that made him smile... Not because he was only a year shy from getting to actually drive a car by himself- freedom. No, he smiled because he could only imagine his father right now in the passenger seat with knuckles white from the grip on anything in his reach as Norman went through town.

"Come on, Norman," Courtney huffed. "If you don't blow out the candles soon, we might be calling the fire department earlier than we want." Norman nodded and heaved a breath.

Before he could let it out, he felt the hand of his grandmother's spirit on his shoulder. "Hold it! Don't you wanna make a wish?" she asked. He looked up at her floating form and shrugged. He wasn't much for wishes.

"What did your grandmother tell you?" his father asked as he wore quite an annoyed expression. He didn't quite like that his mother could communicate to his son and he couldn't censor anything that she would fill his mind with.

"She told me to make a wish, Dad," Norman turned slightly to look at his father. Perry let out a sigh and waved a hand to gesture for him to continue.

"Do what you want... This family has learned to live with the paranormal. I guess we can live with magic..."

Norman heaved his another breath and this time let it out as he extinguished each of the little flames that danced off of the wicks. He wasn't sure what had gone through his mind but when he made his wish, he ended up asking for something new.

Life had been a little bleak since his "life changing" adventure about four years before and now he was just hoping for something beyond the norm. He loved seeing his friends at school and he loved going to school. Not to mention, he was really enjoying his popularity around town. Some residents even paid him to ghost whisper if they had any sense of a strange presence or prankster poltergeists. Still... He felt that he was missing on something and that there was something that he could do to deviate from his everyday schedule.

"What did you ask for, Norman?!" Neil asked when the candles were no longer lit and Norman just looked at them contently.

"Doesn't that make the wish void, Neil?" Norman inquired. Neil shrugged and only leaned back a little in his seat.

"I dunno... You are the one who fought a witch. Wasn't that enough proof of magic?" Neil asked as Mrs. Babcock reached over Norman to get the cake to begin cutting.

"Well... I did. But I- I don't think that was really magic that we are talking about," Norman shook his head. "No... In fact. I think that Agatha's gift was one that made her a Tesla Coil when her emotions were switched too quickly." Neil nodded and accepted his cake- dropping the conversation. Norman was proud of his description of Agatha's "power". He felt that she had been more energy than she had been magic. Perhaps that was what people believed magic to be but he just felt that her gift was such a special case that she appeared to use witchcraft and magic.

Courtney then announced that she was going to go outside to make a call. Those who remained ate their cake and ice cream with idle chit-chat to pass the time. When Norman had finished off his strawberry ice cream, he cleaned off his spoon and looked into the convex side to see his reflection.

He had changed no doubt. It was almost as if he had shot up a good few inches but still was pretty skinny. He was surprised that his complexion remained quite the same as if he had no problems. He was growing into his voice well and had noticed that he little to no cracks anymore. Some girls at school had sent him valentines last year telling him that he was quite the cutie. He however never found any interest in any of the girls around the school and if any of them were "cute", they were older than him and he knew that they wouldn't even think about it...

He laid the spoon down and in the process, almost dropped it when the front door slammed and startled him. Everybody stopped what they were doing to find Courtney with her fuzzy bath robe. She walked through the kitchen to get to the back door and seemed troubled.

"Courtney, dear... What is wrong?" her mother asked as she watched her daughter turn the knob. A clap of thunder sounded out and made them all gasp because the tension in the room had already met the level to make everybody nervous.

"Nothing... Nothing, Mom," she said shakily. "Just... Going outside. Be back in a bit!" She left while everybody stared. Norman frowned and felt his father's hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe she-"

"No, Norman. She is just having a moment. All women have moments like these..." Perry assured his son.

"Perry!"

"Sandra!" he huffed back. Norman let out a groan and looked out the window to find Courtney marching off to town. The rain was pouring and it seemed that she was trying her best to keep the robe dry.

Neil looked at Norman to reveal an expression of confusion but Norman only gave him a look to convey that he had no idea what was going on. Though he really wished he knew.

"Sweetheart..." his grandmother's voice came from behind him. He turned in his seat. "Don't you think that you should go find out what your sister is up to? I think that she may have something that she is trying to hide... Just so your father can't over ride me, I give you permission to go and investigate..." She gave him that smile that made him almost cry he missed her so much. That inspirational smile that makes him feel like he can do anything. He just grinned back.

"Hey, Dad?" he began. "Neil and I are going to see what Courtney is doing... And Grandma gave me permission by the way..." Before Perry could argue, Sandra grabbed his arm and nodded to her son.

"Since Grandma gave you permission, you may go. Make sure you and Neil don't get hit by lightning."

"Alright... We will be careful," he told them. He then motioned for Neil to get up and hurried to the door.

As he and Neil walked into the backyard, the rain beating down on their faces. It made Norman hesitate for a second before he looked at Neil. "Why are we going after your sister?"

"I don't know... I just have this feeling," Norman told him.

"What do you mean?"

"Just a feeling... I don't know. Maybe we might have our own little adventure," he grinned. "After all. When was the last time your parents let you play in a thunder storm?" With that, he continued on through the rain.