The two children were walking along the quiet country road as the sunset cast a gold hue over them. The girl seemed a tad concerned as the boy beside her had grown very solemn. He had hardly said a word most of the way home. His eyes slowly drifted to the ground as his steps grew heavy. The girl slowed down as well to match his pace and brushed aside a strand of blond hair as she gazed on ahead at his house. It was such a quaint little place from a distance. White washed walls, a garden, and the little picket fence… It was practically picture perfect. However, she had been there often enough to note its flaws even now. The garden had grown unruly with neglect some ages ago and its small walking path was hidden under weeds and thorns from the nearby rose trees. Colorful specks of over ripened berries that had dropped off on their own littered the ground. A few pinwheels in the front yard playfully danced in the breeze and made a nice distraction. Except, she noted, there was one still lazily trying to twirl with only three blades still intact. The window shutter to the right of the door seemed slightly slanted now that she looked at it. Its hinges had probably weakened like everything else in the place. Shaking herself out of her quiet, judgmental observations, she turned to her companion now lagging behind her as they stopped at the gate.
"It doesn't look like anyone's home." She began softly.
He didn't look at her, but instead wrapped his hands around the top points on the gate and stared at the dark windows. "It's alright. I wasn't expecting they'd be home anyway."
The girl took a moment debating if she should say anything or not on the matter. Instead she gave her friend a bit of a nudge and smiled at him. "You know, the professor wouldn't mind if you stayed with him. It'd be better than being alone out here."
"I work better when it's like this." There was a bit of hesitation before he added, "Besides, you remember what happened last time." The girl pursed her lips as she glanced away. "I'll be fine, I'm used to this. I have a lot of work to catch up on anyway."
The girl gave a nod and went to wrap an arm around him before he moved away. She lowered her hand, and forced a smile as she started to back off. "I guess you know best. But I'll see you next weekend right?"
Again, he hesitated, but managed a wry grin. "I suppose, yes. But I'll meet you at the lab, alright?"
"Alright… I'll see you then." She called as she started to head back down the road. She gave a bit of a final wave to him before turning to trot home.
The boy continued in his heavy tread as he made his way inside, dropped off his backpack near the door, and took off his shoes. The lights remained off as he made his way through shadowed corridors to his room where the sunset's glow passed in through the window. A sudden hush fell over the building, more so than he was used to, and his ears began to prick at the silence. He ignored it though for the moment and made his way over to the desk where the stack of books sat exactly where he had left them. The boy stared at them as if half expecting he could make them disappear under his glare. Instead, each of the four subject titles remained unmoved as their golden lettering glistened back at him. After running a finger down each thick spine, memorizing the familiar engravings, he went to turn on the lamp. He clicked it a second time, and then a third time, each turn more rapidly as he glared at the darkened shade. Frustrated, the boy heaved a sigh and started back for the door when suddenly the entire room darkened. It wasn't because the sun was gone. In fact, the room wasn't dark but had changed from the rosy glow to a stark, sickly green. "What the…. What is this?"
He bolted for the window, more curious than concerned, and glanced over the yard with confusion and wonder. Nothing was moving. The pinwheels had all come to a halt, the grass and trees no longer swayed in the wind, and just barely, he could see where a Starly had stalled in mid-flight from the garden. It was about that point that dread began to set in, as the boy started to look around the room warily. He could hear something. Something faint, something distant, something that he could vaguely make out to be some sort of otherworldly screech.
It came like static, like the lowest of bass notes, and almost like metal sliding against glass. As the noise grew, he placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. When that didn't work, he pressed his hands harder and lowered his head as he could feel the pressure forming with each wave. Instinctively he began to back away from the window and pressed against the wall by the door. The screech came again like it was screaming at him. Some powerful invisible force calling to him from the beyond. Each time growing louder, fiercer, and stronger with each passing pulse. Rhythmically tolling like a bell as it came and faded and came again.
The sound began to hurt as it seemed to tear through him. The vibrations of from the sheer magnitude of the nightmarish sound driving him numb as he slid down to the floor. The whole house seemed to be filled with this surge as it coursed through him and he curled up where his chin rested on his knees. His hands did nothing to make the enraged cries stop but he couldn't bring himself to remove them for fear of making it worse. The boy couldn't think, couldn't breath as he tried to brace against it. His mind was swimming, body wracked, but he found he couldn't move as the pressure came from all around. Everything in sight started to warp and meld together in the intensifying green light that encompassed the building. The last thing he would remember, the only thing left as the world seemed to disintegrate all around him, was that overpowering scream.