Pre-story Author's Note:

This took me forever to write, as you can see, and I was really tired when I did it, so if there are any mistakes (typos or otherwise) please let me know. Politely. If you are rude, I will fix them anyway, but I will send you no note of thanks.

"Are there any candles whatsoever in this house?"

Sitting at the computer, Charlie Bone rolled his eyes. As if it wasn't enough of a nightmare having the ex-head boy of his school staying at his house during summer holiday, and if it wasn't maddening enough that nobody would tell him why, every few minutes (more like seconds, really) there was something else to deal with over Manfred. Where was the hairbrush? Didn't they have anything to eat? Where was Manfred supposed to put his things.. and so on and on.

Charlie suspected he was doing it just to make him crazy.

"I don't know," he yelled back, turning back to the Internet screen.

"You don't know? How pathetic is that! This is your own house and you don't know whether you have candles or not?"

Jerk! "It's not like I use candles on a daily basis!" Charlie snapped. "What do you want with them in the middle of a hot day, anyway? Practising sorcery?"

Manfred Bloor appeared in the doorway, a popsicle in his mouth. The contrast between the young man's surly attitude and the cheerfulness usually associated with ice pops was staggering, not to mention ridiculous. Charlie stifled a snicker as Manfred entered the room.

"It's none (slurp) of your business (slurp) brat," Manfred retorted, an action hard to pull off with an orange creamsicle between your teeth. "What do you care about it, anyway? Jealous of my skills?"

"You wish! I'm just worrying about you blowing up my bedroom!"

On the couch, Benjamin Brown groaned. Summer break was not proving as enjoyable as he'd hoped. True, he got to spend a lot more time at his best friend's, but with Charlie and Manfred sniping at each other all day, it was very distracting. Besides, Manfred gave him the creeps. The guy looked like a vampire with his indoor pallor, jet-black eyes and hair, and tall anorexical frame. He was mean, too.

"I could murder a creamsicle myself," Benjamin interjected, desperate to change the subject. "Charlie, why don't you get us both one?"

Charlie stopped in midsentence. "That sounds good. All this arguing is heating me up." He rose and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Benjamin alone with Manfred.

Oops.

Manfred thumped himself down on the other side of the couch, still slurping. There was a silence thick enough to taste.

"Er... aren't you hot?" Benjamin offered timidly at last. Manfred looked at him as if he'd dropped out of the sky. "I mean," he continued lamely, "you've got a suit on.. and it's black..."

"Boiling," Manfred growled. "Why d'you think I'm eating this?" flourishing the popsicle stick. "It's not as if I have anything else to wear."

"Gawd, Manfred," said Charlie, entering with two packages. "I just noticed. Why are you wearing all that clothing?" He tossed Ben one of the wrapped ice creams.

"Not you, too!" It's just what I wear, all right?" Manfred was at it again. Benjamin just sighed and ate his ice cream.

"Not all right. You'll get heatstroke, and I don't want to get in trouble with your father because you can't take care of yourself. Besides, you make me hot just looking at you," Charlie muttered.

Manfred's face cracked into a malevolent grin. "Is that so? Well, Bone, why don't I help make you even hotter!"

He reached out and smacked Charlie on the backside. There was a flash of light, and Charlie yelped. "Hey, that was dirty! I thought you agreed not to burn me?!"

Manfred smirked. "Did I? Must've had my fingers crossed. Well," he added as Charlie stormed away, "you deserved it. By the way, your pants are smoking. Maybe you should lay off the burritos."

"What?! Why, you... you..."

As Charlie spluttered in helpless rage, Benjamin sighed again. Suddenly the summer seemed so long. And not in a good way.

"What?!" Tancred said loudly. "Manfred's staying at your house?!"

"Tanc, keep your voice down! Yes, and I don't know why."

Charlie and his endowed friends Tancred Torsson, Gabriel Silk, and Lysander Sage were sitting by the window of the Pets' Cafe. The sun beat down down on them, threatening to melt their chocolate-covered Green Heavenly cookies. At least there was air conditioning.

"Ugh," Gabriel said, licking green icing off his fingers. "Should've got a Nut-Pom stick. So, what's he been doing there?"

"Besides driving me nuts? He's been holed up in my room-- that's where he's sleeping-- a lot, and I hear a lot of swearing coming from behind the door, but nothing else. He keeps asking for weird stuff like candles and herbs, too."

"Sounds like he's up to something odd in your room, Charlie," Lysander remarked. "Like casting spells, probably. I hope he doesn't cover your carpet in pig's blood or something gruesome."

Charlie shuddered. "I wouldn't put it past him. So, do you guys think you can let the others know? I haven't had the time to talk to Emma or Olivia lately."

"What about Billy?" Tancred queried, muffled by the ginger ring in his mouth. "We should tell him too, shouldn't we?"

Charlie nodded. "I've been thinking about that. Billy would probably want to know, but he's such an anxious person. I don't want him to worry himself into trouble."

Lysander chuckled. "Not wrong there. Well, I ran into him yesterday, and he said he was planning to visit you.. didn't I mention that?" He trailed off as Charlie gaped.

"Today? Like, now?" Charlie leaped to his feet. "Oh, no! He'll miss me. And I can just see it now-- Manfred'll open the door and Billy'll freak out! I've gotta get back home..."

"Well, well." Manfred leaned against the door and sucked on his third popsicle of the day. "If it isn't Billy Raven. What are you doing here, may I ask?"

Billy stared in complete shock. With his round magnifying glasses and open mouth, he looked like a white goldfish.

"...Visiting," he stammered at last. "What are you doing here, Manfred?"

"Plenty. Nothing that I can tell you about." Manfred made no move away from the door. "If you've come to see Charlie, he's not here. Probably won't be for a- oh. Never mind."

Billy turned to see Charlie racing toward him. "Sorry!" he was panting. "Lysander just told me-- good thing I didn't miss you!" He stopped short when he saw Manfred.

"What are you wearing?" he demanded for the second time in as many days. Manfred looked down at his clothing in mock surprise as if he hadn't noticed he had any. "What's the matter with my clothes now? You said I should dress for hot weather."

"For one thing," retorted Charlie, "they're mine, not yours."

"Manfred can wear your clothes?" said Billy in fascination, eying the blue shorts and red cotton T Manfred wore. "He's thinner than I thought. Is that healthy?"

"Yes, he is," Manfred said dryly, stepping aside to let the younger boys inside. "I"m going out. I'll try not to destroy your clothes, Bone." And he walked through the door, still eating his popsicle.

"Well, that was weird," Charlie muttered, leading Billy into the kitchen. "Sorry about that, Billy. He's been a real pain."

Billy shrugged. "I know how you feel. I lived with him for years, remember? Looks like you've been pretty busy."

"Yup. Dealing with Manfred is a full-time job. I wonder how you ever managed it. I'm always worrying that he'll blow the house up. And he's taken over my bedroom for suspicious purposes. I only wish I knew what he was doing in there..." Charlie paused.

"Billy.. why don't we go upstairs?"

Rattle. Rattle. Rattlerattlerattle.

"It's sticking! Or is it locked?"

"Can't be. It sounds different when it's locked. Here, let me try for a second.."

The door shook for a moment, then exploded open, hitting the wall. Charlie and Billy peered inside nervously.

What they saw took their breath away: an heavy-looking wooden arch stood in the middle of Charlie's room, the rest of which had been draped in dark cloth. The the curtains were drawn, adding to the utter blackness that was only relieved by lit candles in the sconces that covered every spare inch of the arch that wasn't ornately carved in spirals. A smudgy red ring compassed the base of the arch.

"Ugh.." Billy swallowed noisily. "Is that blood?"

"I don't think I want to find out." Charlie didn't blame Billy for looking green. "I guess we'd better check it out anyway.."

With Billy whimpering behind him, Charlie advanced on the sinisterly glowing arch. From straight on, it resembled nothing more than a disembodied doorway, leading to nowhere. The sight sent a chill down Charlie's spine, but he managed to steel himself. After all, it was only his room done up in black drapery.

"What do you suppose it's for?" His voice fell flat and muffled in the velvet inkyness. Billy said nothing. The arch whispered.. or was it only the sense of power that radiated from it?

Charlie reached out a half-hidden hand.

Again the door burst open, splashing light against the scene as Manfred dodged in, clutching Charlie by the shoulders and inadvertently scalding him.

"You idiot!" he roared. "It's not finished, don't you know better than to..."

His voice died as he realized he'd thrown them both off balance and was about to follow Charlie through the gateway, which seemingly contained nothing but blackness. They tumbled into the arch--

and failed to fall out the other side.

Billy's fragile nerve snapped. He ran shrieking from the room, leaving the doorless door behind to hush in the wake of its glittering, guttering candlelight.

Author's Note:

Whew! What a first chapter. Please have patience with the longness of the chapters in this fic, as I'm writing it down in a notebook first and therefore have no idea how it looks onscreen. Let's hear those reviews, people! You don't want me to sing the 'Reviews Please!' song, do you? Didn't think so. Constructive criticism welcome, as always . Chapter Two coming soon!