Chapter 1

Autumn

The autumn leaves swept down the street as an unusually warm breeze blew. The stars high up in the sky filled the night and a light rain started to fall. Every light in every house on the narrow street was turned off. Every window was pitch black all except one. Up, on the top floor of the last house, a window blazed with bright light. And sitting on the floor of that dusty attic was a boy. Shuffling through boxes and other storage items, Aiden Keller quickened his pace. It was 1:00 o'clock in the morning. Hopefully Rachel didn't notice his absence as home. He finally came to the last box. He went over to it and ripped off the brown, dusty tape that held the box closed. He opened the flaps, and looked in. Sitting on the floor of the box was a book. It looked like any other book that you could find at a book store. But as he held it, Aiden had a pelculiar feeling about it. He flipped the book open to the first page. As he started to read the first sentence, he heard a voice.

"Read it all the way, don't stop..." it said. The attic light started to flicker. The rain outside started to hit the window pain, making lound pitter pattering sounds. Lightning flashed outside. Aiden felt cold. The door that he purposely left ajar slammed closed all by itself. Somewhere in the distance he heard a phone ring. He slowly got up. He walked over to the door and opened it. As he walked down the creaky stairs, he felt an urge to look behind him. When he reached the door, he put his hand on the doorknob. He tried to turn it. It was locked. Impossible. You could only lock this door from the inside. And he was inside. He felt something grab his shoulder. He looked back.

"Oh crap!" he yelled. He turned the knob again and this time it turned. Aiden threw open the door and started running. He didn't want to think about what he saw back there. It was horrible. He ran, his feet feeling heavier. The rain stopped and silence took over. The only sound that could be heard that warm night were the foot steps that of Aiden as he ran home. He turned the corner onto the street his house was on. He was starting to hear voices.

"You'll never escape..."

"I've found you..."

"Come back to me..."

Finally, he reached his house. But before he could even stop and catch his breath, the front door opened. A hand slowly reached out and grabbed Aiden. It was too late.