I had just looked at my clock and saw that it was 1:45am, when Hugo ran into my room, signing madly. Normally I had an average grasp on sign language, but today I just couldn't register what was happening. He was signing too fast for me to get a clear view of his hands. Being this early in the morning and in a hushed tone, I told him to slow down and start over; I thought he would do as I said but no. He was signing just as quickly in an actual panic. Rubbing my eyes so I could get a clear view of his hands, I sat up although I was too exhausted to move; it was probably the wind or just his imagination about this old house.

Too tired to register what was happening at this point, I said 'Just sleep with me until the morning', pulling him into bed and covering him with the blanket. Looking at his face in the dimmed light, I saw the reflection of sadness as well as anxiousness; I closed the door and turned the rusted key, locking us in. Knowing deep down this would do nothing, I decided to go back to bed, and this seemed to ultimately calm Hugo down. Still staring anxiously at the door, I decided to sit with Hugo until he eventually fell asleep and then curled up on the foot of the bed, hoping this would all be over when we woke up.

'Don't let your fears define you,' I said. Never have I ever seen the kid so frightened.

'I'll tell you what, how about I keep the lights on?' I said, nodding towards the old lantern in the corner of the room. At this point I figured nothing else would work so why not?

It didn't seem like I had been asleep for long when I was awakened to the sound of my doorknob rattling. Looking through the window, all I could see was the sun beaming. It was morning.

'Avery! Open the dam door, why is it locked?' It was my father, and boy did he sound annoyed.

Jumping up and not trying to disturb my brother as he slept somewhat peacefully, I unlocked the door. He looked in with furrowed brows, trying to figure out what in the heck I was doing, raised them in surprise at the sight of Hugo.

'He was really, really scared last night so I let him sleep with me,' I yawned as I passed him to go into the bathroom.

'Let him sleep for a while and follow me downstairs'. This didn't seem like anything unusual when he said it at first, but then I noticed his expression and this determined that it was.

'Poor kid. Out of all the houses I get the pick of, I find the creepiest and isolated,' Dad said while shaking his head and making me breakfast.

'It wasn't that bad, really.' I said, trying to make my response as normal as I could without trying to sound like a tired, aggravated teenager. 'I think it was just his imagination or something. He was making all kinds of different signs when he ran into my room, but I was too tired for them to actually register or make sense'.

'Do you remember any of them?' He had asked with a confused expression along his face.

'Not really, although there was one that sort of looked like this.' I said, trying to sign the motion that I thought I had seen. I held my hand partly under my chin, moving downwards to form a fist. My father's expression remained motionless. Although his stature seemed fine, I noticed that his fingers were tapping nervously on the countertop.

'Are you sure?' He asked sceptically.

"Yeah, I don't know it was dark. Maybe," I said, stuffing a spoonful of cereal into my mouth.

Pausing for a few moments, he looked up at the stairs as if he had heard Hugo stirring and then back at me. "What?" I said while trying to chew.

"That sign you just made means man,'" he said thoughtfully.

"He was dreaming," I said dismissively.

"It's just—" my father began to say.

"It was just his imagination or a nightmare, Dad," I said, as I put my bowl in the sink and left for my room to get changed into my school clothes. I was in no mood for his weird superstitions.

You see, I haven't told you the background of our current situation. The situation as to why our family is living in an abandoned house.

It all started when I was 16, Hugo was 14 at the time and in the prime of his school years. Both of us were popular, as popular as you would get by hanging around in our group circles, although I was a rebel. I just didn't like going to school, Hugo was the complete opposite. He was a nerd! Always getting A's on his work, my parents would say 'Why can't you be more like your brother, Avery?' Well, the simple answer was I didn't want to be.

One day, everything was fine when I awoke but checking in on Hugo (his bedroom being next to mine), I noticed he wasn't looking so good. Calling my parents, I told them what I thought but they said he was fine to go to school, we both got dressed, headed downstairs to get a bite to eat and then left.

It was brisk outside, this being completely normal for the fall, Hugo and I were in deep conversation when we both noticed our friends heading towards us. 'We will finish this later', he said. This was unusual as we didn't really talk much, not unless it was something that we both found interesting.

Nothing exciting had happened throughout the first of my classes and it was starting to seem like any other day. That was until third period when I got the announcement to go to the principal's office. This couldn't be good.

My arrival at the office door was not what I was expecting however. The door was open, which was unusual, and my appearance didn't seem surprising to the people inside of the door. Inside was my father, the principle and two other men in police uniform. That was unexpected however, I hadn't done anything wrong, at least not yet anyways.