Chapter 1

"Did you hear about that art exhibition?" "Oh, yeah! Isn't that today?" "Are you guys going?" "I'll go if you go." "I have to work today." "You can go tomorrow... we're going now."

"What are you guys talking about?" The chattering group of teens turned to find a younger boy 11 years old with large blue eyes and smooth blonde hair. "What art exhibition?"

One of the girls spoke up. "Oh, hey, Adam, when did you get here?" Adam looked up at her with a completely innocent look on his face.

"I just got here. What art exhibition are you guys talking about?" A small chorus of replies met his question.

"It's an art exhibition presenting the works of Guertena." "I can't believe it's actually coming to our city though!" "Yeah, to think that such a big art exhibition would come to our small town." But one remark stood out above the rest.

"Did you guys hear the rumor about it?"

The group immediately grew quiet and interested in this little development.

One of the girls looked a little nervous. "What is it?"

"Well..." The speaker straightened out his jacket. "From what I've heard…" He looked around as if he was making sure he had everybody's attention. "It appeared in some other city several years ago... and was suddenly shut down in the middle of it." He paused for dramatic effect. The group waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Annnd?" The whole group seemed to be leaning in towards him.

A cheesy grin grew on the boy's face. "... That's it."

The group deadpanned. "You're an idiot." "Getting us worked up over something stupid." "Jeez... no wonder he has no friends."

"I have friends! I mean you guys are my friends, right?"

The group exchanged glances. "Oh, well look at the time..." "I think my mother is calling me!" "I ain't your friend." "Define 'friends'..."

Sarcasm filled the boy's voice. "Well, I love you guys too."

"Well, we really do have to get going." One of the girls took Adam's hand. "See you guys later."

"Bye, Sherri! Bye, Adam!"

"See you guys later! I'll go to the gallery tomorrow." The two siblings started to walk away, and Adam looked up at her hopefully.

"Can I go?"

"No." Sherri's reply was firm. Adam resorted to whining.

"But I wanna go!"

"No means no. C'mon, you know we're gonna get in trouble if we're late for supper."

Adam peered around the corner. She still had her back to him. Good. He smiled to himself, proud that he's been able to pull this off. Last night, his mother refused to make Sherri let him go with her and her friend to the gallery, so this morning, he decided that he would announce that he was going to his friend's house for a bit. But when he left, he waited outside his house until Sherri left for the gallery, and started following her, since he didn't know the way himself. After several minutes of stalking Sherri, she came to a stop in front of a house, then went up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, another teenage girl came out, around the same age as Sherri; it was her best friend. Adam couldn't hear what they were saying, but they seemed like they were laughing. After they talked for what felt like forever, the two girls finally began to move. Adam sighed as he waited for the two girls to get a head start. After he had decided that they had moved ahead far enough he took off after them again.

"Welcome to the Guertena exhibit." A greeter said as Adam walked into the gallery. "Hey, hold on a second there." Adam stopped, realizing he was caught without supervision and without money. "Where are your parents?"

"Oh... Uhm..." Adam nervously glanced around the gallery. He spotted a couple by the reception desk and pointed to them. "They're over there." The greeter turned to look, and when he did, Adam seized the opportunity and took off running into the gallery, ignoring shouts behind him ordering him to stop. He ran down various hallways littered with works of art, dodging through the crowds, and ducked behind a sculpture, where he froze, not even allowing himself to breathe too loud. He peeked out from behind it to see the greeter walking hurriedly through the crowded hall, looking for him. He ducked back behind the sculpture and waited until the noise in the hall died down and he couldn't hear anybody, then peeked out again. There wasn't a soul in sight. Perfect. Now he could explore in peace.

He emerged from hiding and proceeded to wander around the gallery, looking at various pieces, oohing and aahing at all of the various colors and pictures. As he looked around, he realized he had wandered back to the lobby. But something was wrong. There was nobody around, not even behind the desk. Did the gallery close? He tried to look out of the windows, but they were all fogged up. Unable to keep his nervousness from building, he decided he needed to leave and hurriedly opened the entrance door to gallery. Or at least tried to. It didn't budge. He pushed against it as hard as he could, and when that didn't work, he tried pulling. Nothing. It was locked. Great. He was stuck here until somebody came back the next morning and found him. He couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the punishment he would get when he finally got home. Sherri would never let him hear the end of it. He turned around. Since he was here all night he might as well explore some more.

As he walked through the halls, a certain painting caught his eye. It caught his eye because of its placement: it was on the floor, as if it had fallen off of the wall, but it was still propped up. It was as tall as he was, and it showed a dark red hallway with various paintings on the walls. There was something strange about it. It looked... real. But it was just a painting… Right? Out of curiosity, he stuck his hand towards the painting, then gasped when it went in. A secret passage! He pulled his hand back out and contemplated whether he should go in or not. Then again, he was here all night. He shrugged and walked in.