Chapter 1

"Dillan, time to go!" Dillan's mom yelled from the hallway. Dillan looked around his room one last time. It was now empty and devoid of character now that he had all his things packed up. He let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed his backpack from the floor near the doorway. Moving was the worst thing he could ever imagine happening to him.

"Mom, why can't I just stay with Grandma?" He asked her as she picked up his baby brother.

"Because, honey, Grandma is too old to have to deal with taking care of someone else. Honey, I know you're mad about this move. I promise it won't be as bad as you think. You will make plenty of new friends. You will also get your very own room. Wouldn't that be nice? Not sharing a room with your little brother?"

Dillan rolled his eyes as he followed his mom to the car. There was no way she could understand what it was like for him. He wasn't just leaving and making new friends. He was leaving his old friends behind. How was this new house, this new place, going to be better?

"Stupid. New. Job." He muttered under his breath punctuating each word. He turned and watched his old home disappear from the back window of the car. He had a feeling that things were only going to get worse from here on out. Facing back around in his seat he angrily pulled his backpack to him and took out his Kindle Fire. He decided he would be giving his mom the silent treatment for the whole trip, thinking that might teach her a lesson.

"Wake up sweetie, come on we are here." Dillan's mom spoke softly, gently shaking him awake. Dillan looked around as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. It had been a really long drive and after several pit stops and successfully ignoring his mother's attempts at small talk, he fell asleep watching Minecraft video's on YouTube. His baby brother, who was also asleep, in his car seat next to him, started stirring. Getting out of the car Dillan looked up at his new house. It didn't look like much.

It was an old two-story house that had seen better days, a very, very long time ago. The paint was a faded blue, chipping around the windows and one of the shutters was hanging at an odd angle. The door stood wide open so he decided to walk inside, leaving his mom to deal with his bratty little brother.

The front door led to what looked like a receiving room. Straight ahead of him was the stairway. Deciding the bedrooms where probably upstairs he took them two at a time. If he found a bedroom he really liked the least his mom could do was let him have it.

The first room he found was definitely made for a baby. It had creepy circus wallpaper that was peeling off of the walls, making the circus clowns look deformed. There was also an old abandoned crib sitting in the corner, with a thick layer of dust coating it. Dillan shivered as a chill ran down his back and hurried to the next room. It was a lot bigger than the last and had a bathroom attached to it. Which meant this would definitely be his mom's room. The door at the end of the hall was all that was left.

"Looks like I have no choice. See what you have won behind door number three!" He said with a heavily sarcastic tone. Pushing the door open he groaned in dismay. This room was even worse than the baby room. It had stacks of boxes in it and several of the piles had been knocked over. Dillan eyeballed the huge mess on the floor.

"This has got to be the worst day in history." He said, before he got down on his hands and knees. As he started picking up random papers and books from one tipped over boxes he couldn't help mumbling complaints under his breath. He soon was also picking up more than just book and papers. The items became more random and puzzling as he went.

Some of the items included: a broken compass, whose needle wouldn't move, a small hourglass with liquid instead of sand, and the most intriguing, a chain necklace with a round green orb pendant. The orb was held in place by intricate vines twisted around it.

He put the hourglass and broken compass in his pocket but put the chain around his neck, hiding the orb pendant under his shirt. By the time all the tipped over boxes had been cleaned up Dillan could see the sun setting through the half covered window.

"Dillan?"

Dillan jumped and turned to look at the doorway.

"Jeez mom you scared the crap out of me." Dillan's mom laughed softly and leaned on the door frame looking at the room full of boxes.

"The realtor said that there was a bunch of stuff left behind. I didn't realize she meant this much though. Looks like we have our work cut out for us don't we?" She said. Dillan looked at the boxes around the room too.

"Yeah, This place is kind of a dump mom. It's a little bit creepy too. Why did you have to pick this house?"

Dillan's mom took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled out her mouth before answering.

"Dillan, I know you didn't want to move but you are just going to have to suck it up. It's not just new and scary to you. It is for me too. I don't know anyone here either. As for the house, it maybe be old but it was in the budget and I actually think it has a lot of potential. Just... give it a chance. Please?"

Dillan looked at his mom and felt like a complete jerk. He was being pretty hard on her. He nodded his head and gave her a hug.

"Ok mom. I will try and make it work."

"Good. Now why don't we get some pizza for dinner? Then we can watch a movie on the laptop or something. We can work on your room tomorrow before the U-Haul truck gets here with our things."