This story was a writing assignment and my teacher really liked it….my friend told me I should put it on Fanfiction so here it is!! Enjoy

I sat in the car, grumbling to myself and staring up at the house. Its white paint (or what was left of it) was peeling off the walls, revealing ugly, brown wood underneath. "Come on Joey! Erik, you too. Get out of that car! Go choose your room!" my mom said excitedly. Erik, my twin brother, muttered something unintelligible and got out of the car, slamming the door angrily. I followed close behind and we trudged up the walkway.

A month ago, our apartment building was turned into an office building and we only had thirty days to find a new home. So we had to say goodbye to our nice city apartment in Manhattan, and hello to Bound Brook, New Jersey. My parents also thought that Erik and I should be raised in "a better place than the city." I mean, we're already thirteen! More than halfway through being raised anyway. My friend Aiden moved to Somerset a year ago, and that town is pretty close. So I wouldn't be totally friendless, at least outside of school.

I walked into the house with Erik, and we looked in awe at the high ceilings, beautiful wood finishes, and grand spiral staircase. For a moment, I forgot how ticked off I was and walked around, admiring the house. Erik and I went upstairs to choose our rooms. I followed a long hallway down to the very last room. I peeked into the room and walked in. I was greeted with a noticeable drop in temperature and a spider skittering across the floor. The room was pretty big, with oak flooring and a huge closet. There was a glass door on the other end of the room, leading out to a balcony. I walked over and pulled the doors open, taking a deep breath of air. Stepping out, I sat in the plastic deck chair that was out there and took in the view. It was the backyard, a small section of forest spread out, with a large green lawn. Not bad. I went back inside and closed the doors. "This room is going to be mine," I decided. Then I heard a truck pull up to the front of the house; the moving truck with all our boxes and furniture. I walked downstairs to get my stuff.

I hauled a few boxes up the stairs. They were labeled "clothes", "shoes", and "corks". The "corks" box holds my collection of corks; over 316 and growing. Yeah, don't ask about how that started. I don't really remember. I trudged up the stairs, boxes stacked in front of me, and walked down the hall to my new room. Dropping the boxes in the doorway, I went down again to get the rest.

It was about 4:00 when all of my boxes were in my room and the movers had brought up my bed and side table. Well, I had nothing better to do so I started unpacking.

I put my corks on the side table, where they were at the apartment. Then I put my sheets on my bed and my three pairs of shoes underneath it. Next, I moved to unpacking my clothes. Opening the closet door, I pushed in the box my foot and turned on the light. As I put my hand on the switch to turn the light on, I felt something push against my fingers. After I flicked the switch, I looked at the object that I felt. Barley noticeable, there was a tiny lever that I could easily flip with my index finger. So that's what I did. And I'll regret it forever. As I pushed the lever down, a panel on the wall (that I didn't see before) slid open noiselessly. I peeked in and could faintly make out a stone stairway, moss growing in between the blocks. There was a strange, cold breeze that came from behind me. Funny, because the door to my balcony was closed, and so was my door. I looked behind me and the closet door slammed shut. I tried to turn the handle. Locked. Great, just great. Now I'm trapped in my closet, with no way out, and this weird staircase. There was only one thing to do.

I stepped onto the first step. Luckily, I had my sneakers on so I didn't have to worry about stepping on anything sharp. I walked down about 20 steps and ended up in a small room with a concrete floor and brick walls. There were other things but they were unimportant. What really caught my eye was the wooden door to my left. It looked like it was centuries old. Splintering, rotting, I put my hand on it. Something told me that opening it here and now was a bad idea. I thought for a moment and decided that I would call Aiden and we'd check it out tomorrow. I would not tell anyone until I found out what it was. I turned and went back up the stairs. Once I was back in my closet I pushed the lever down and the panel slid shut. I heard my closet door click and it popped open. I stepped out and took a deep breath. Then I took out my cell phone and texted Aiden: U busy 2 Moro? Gotta show u sumthin. Then I called him.

"Hello?"

"Hey Aiden" I said into the phone "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Nope. I got your text. You're in Bound Brook at your new house?"

"Yeah. It's cool, I guess. But I'm still really mad that we had to leave NYC. But that's not what I need to talk to you about." I sat on my bed playing with my watch and told him the story about the panel in my closet and the stairway, and the door.

"Wow' he said. 'Well I'm not busy tomorrow and I can ask my Mom to drive me."

"Okay. So you can come at like 11, all right? Okay, cool. See you. Bye." I slid my phone shut and got up.

For now I would just ignore the door. I began to put my clothes in the closet, after I turned on my radio. When I was done, I went downstairs to get a snack and tell my Mom that Aiden was coming the next day.

I hope you like it so far!! Please review---no rude reviews though please!! If anyone has any ideas to make it better, I am more than happy to hear them!!