Chapter 1: Amber is Summoned

OOC: I'm sorry about this chapter being lengthy and overly descriptive, but I have to explain some things.

It was getting dark when Amber and Brittany got back to Amber's house from the park. This time, though, they took the regular route since Gary and Jerry weren't there to bug them, like they had on the way over to the park. Why were Jerry and Gary so mean to Brittany? The only time they ever see her is at school, today being an exception. They have no reason to treat her that way, Amber thought.

"Amber? What's wrong?" Brittany asked, noticing that Amber had suddenly gone quiet, 'cause before then they were talking about Sailor Moon, Nintendo, & stuff like that.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about earlier this afternoon, with Gary and Jerry.Are they like that at school during the school year?"

"Sometimes, but they only tease me & never get into physical combat, like they did today. The only time I've ever seen Gary hurt someone physically was to another boy named Tom."

"Wow, really?"

"Yep, it's true," Brittany replied as they stepped through the doorway. They took off their shoes and went to Amber's room.

"Hey Crystal, what are you doing?" she said, seeing her 18-month old baby sister on her bedroom floor, playing with Amber's Winx Club dolls. Crystal stood up, ran to Amber, and hugged her legs. "Oh, you're so cute," Amber said, picking her up and hugging her. She set Crystal back on the floor. Crystal then ran down the hall to the kitchen.

"You're lucky to have a little sister. I only have an older brother, and he can be annoying at times," Brittany said to Amber.

"Hey, I have an older brother, too," Amber replied. They talked about lots of things, like siblings, TV shows, and Nintendo games until they decided to play Super Smash Bros. Melee. They were in the middle of a battle when Amber's mom called her upstairs. "What is it, Mom?" Amber asked.

"I just got a call from Mrs. Anderson. She said you scratched Gary really hard on his arm," Amber's mom replied.

"I only defended myself, and I didn't mean to scratch him that hard," Amber responded, spinning the pink rose quartz ball on her dolphin necklace (remember the necklace, it'll be important later). She then told her mom what happened on the way to the park and how she wouldn't have had to do that if they weren't mean to Brittany. "Maybe he didn't tell her the whole story."

"Hmm…I'll call Mrs. Anderson, as well as Mrs. Blake, to see what Gary and Jerry's side of the story is. Thanks for telling me, Amber."

"You're welcome! Can I go and play now?"

"Yes, that's all I needed." After Amber's mom said that, Amber ran downstairs to where Brittany was waiting.

"What did your mom want?" Brittany asked.

"Oh, Gary's mom called my mom about what happened earlier, and my mom's calling both Gary's and Jerry's moms," Amber replied.

"They probably blamed it all on us."

"Maybe, but we have to wait until later to find out. Let's continue our game!" Amber un-paused the game, and they played for a half hour, when they decided to play a board game. They played various games and talked about stuff until Brittany's mom came to get her at 9 pm. "See ya later, Brittany! Maybe next time we can have a sleepover!" Amber said to Brittany.

"I hope so! Bye!" Brittany replied. After Brittany left, Amber asked her mom what Mrs. James and Mrs. Blake said about Gary and Jerry.

"They both said that you started the fight, but I know that you're honest, while those two don't always tell the truth. If anything else happens, I'll tell you," she replied.

"Thanks, Mom!"

"As usual, Amber uses her nails as her 'secret weapon'," a voice said from the door of her parents' bedroom. Amber turned and saw her 9-year old brother, John, standing in the doorway. "You should really cut them."

"Hey, if Gary hadn't pulled my hair, I wouldn't have used my nails on him," Amber retorted. "And I'm not cutting my nails for another few months."

"Oh, whatever," Josh replied, and then turned to their mom and asked her, "Mom, Lance wants to spend the night either this week or next week. Is that OK with you?"

She thought about it. "This week you haven't finished you schoolwork, but next week you can if you get it all done."

"Fine," Josh replied, walking down the hall with a frown on his face. Amber was glad she had gotten her schoolwork done so Brittany could come over, even if she couldn't sleepover.

"Mom, do you need me to help you with anything, or can I go use the computer?" Amber asked.

"Just go make sure Jacob is watching Crystal, and then you can," her mom replied.

"Ok!" Amber ran downstairs to see if Crystal was there, and then checked outside. Jacob, her 11-year old brother, was swinging Crystal on her rocket swing. Amber smiled, then ran back downstairs and turned on her user on the computer her 15-year old brother, Kirk had built. She was on the computer for about 15 minutes when her dad called for her. "What is it, Dad?" she asked.

"Can you watch Crystal until bedtime? Jacob has been watching her since your friend got here," he said.

"Ok, I can do that. Just let me close my Internet page real quick." Amber quickly went back downstairs, closed her Internet page and her user, and went outside. Crystal and James were on the trampoline. "Dad said it's my turn to watch the Munchkin," she said (The Munchkin was her nickname for Crystal).

"Yes! Thank you, my very wonderful sister, the best older sister in the world," Jacob replied.

"Your welcome, but please don't do that."

"OK!" Jacob went back to the house and Amber crawled through the doorway in the net surrounding the trampoline. She sat and watched Crystal bounce, sometimes bouncing with her, until it was dark. Amber carried Crystal inside, who was squirming and crying because she didn't want to come inside.

"I'm sorry, Crystal, but there are bugs out there, and it's too dark," Amber explained to her. After a while, Crystal calmed down, and they both went to their bedroom. Amber put Crystal's pink nightgown on her, then put on her own PJs, a long, loose white T-shirt and a pair of pink PJ pants. Her mom rocked Crystal while Amber got ready for bed. By the time Amber was in bed, at 9:45 pm, her mom had just put Crystal in her crib, which was next to Amber's bed. They both fell asleep almost instantly. At midnight, a black-purple portal formed in her closet. It made a swishing, wind-like sound, which woke Amber up. What's that? Amber thought, seeing the portal. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake up Crystal, she got out of bed and tiptoed to the portal. She stopped right in front of it, and slowly stretched her hand forward. Seeing that her fingers had disappeared, she gasped and pulled her hand away. Looking back and seeing that Crystal was still asleep, she reached her hand into the portal again. This time, the portal pulled her into it, and she fell into darkness.

OOC: I love cliffhangers, don't you?