It all started one day while I was cleaning out my attic. But, let’s go back to 3 days ago; the day I first moved here. In a week I will be starting 8th grade at my new middle school; Lockwood Village Middle School. My name is Sage and I am 13 years old. I have deep green eyes and chestnut-brown hair a little longer than shoulder-length that I usually wear in a braid. My parents and I moved into the old, worn-down house on the end of Oak Tree Path just 3 days ago. The only other buildings on Oak Tree Path are an old run-down post office, general store, and a small house that were built around the same time as my house. Now, they are covered in ivy, the paint is faded and peeling and they are in ruins and abandoned. My house was built over a hundred years ago and it has peeling, faded gray paint, small, narrow, windows with black shutters, a porch with creaky and loose floorboards, and a patched-up roof. There is an intricate, black metal fence with tall posts that goes from our front yard all around our large, sprawling, backyard except for a gate leading into the woods. There are large hedges that block most of the sunlight from the house. This place feels creepy. I don’t like it, but it feels sort of enchanting as well. Some of the windows are cracked, the curtains are black velvet, and there is a gargoyle knocker on the door with 2 gargoyles facing each other on opposite sides of the porch. There is an old, dark brown, rocking chair on the porch. There is even a strange black cat wandering around. As we step out of the car it hisses, and scampers away, almost immediately vanishing. “This is it, home sweet home.” my dad says optimistically as we step out. He pulls the house key out of his pocket, and as he turns the key in the lock the door slowly opens with a creeeaaaakk sound. I hear a c-reeeaakk c-reeeeeeaaakkkk sound, and as I turn around I see that the rocking chair is rocking, all by itself. “Mom,” I whispered, “Do you see that?” “See what?” Mom replied. “Um, turn around, the rocking chair is rocking all by itself.” I turn around too to show her. “What are you talking about hon? Are you feeling ok?” Mom asks. I replied. “Never mind, I’m fine.” “If you say so.” Mom says. We step into the entrance to a long arched hallway with lots of doors. To the left of the hallway is the living room. I step into the living room with my parents. There are sheets covering the furniture and parts of the walls and other objects.The furniture is black, and other dark colors like dark purple, and deep sea navy. It’s also freezing in the house even though it’s only October 1st and I was wearing a warm sweatshirt. I shuddered partly from the cold, and partly from the odd objects everywhere. There are also a lot of candles and other strange objects lying around. “Oooookaaaay. This is uhh… normal.” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Sage, honey, why don’t you find something to do while your father and I try to find out when the moving van will be here?” my mom replies. I decided to take a walk. There are trees, and other plants; some that I’ve never even heard of winding their way all around our yard. I stopped to peer at a large thornbush and I saw something sticking out of the ground in front of it; a small post with old, yellowing parchment nailed on it that read in curly, neat, handwritten cursive: Raven thistle. What is this place?, I thought. I kept walking and looking at all the plants. I saw a big black flower called darknoxia, and a huge vine called viniagiganticus. It was like a jungle; the plants were wild and took up pretty much the whole yard. I walked along the fence running my hands along it. Then I came to the gate. I stopped in my tracks, trying to decide if I should go out or not. The woods were dark, and towering and a chill ran up my spine. I decided to go out. My hands were shaking as I pulled open the gate. I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans and then started walking. The wind started blowing and making an eerie howling sound. I shivered. There were a lot of creepy noises in the woods. For whatever stupid reason, I kept walking. Oh, if I knew what a big mistake that was, I would have turned back then. Chapter 2: Up ahead, I saw a faint, pulsing light. “Saaaaayygge,”it said. I kept walking in the direction of the light. The source of the light was a glowing orb floating in midair. I heard an old woman’s voice saying “Aaaassssk and yoooou will fiiiind answers. But be warrrned, therrrrre willllll beeee a prrrrice to paaaay.” “What is wrong with this house?” I asked. The wind suddenly spun wildly around in circles. It was as if there was a tornado. “Ancient magic resides in this house. Residing in this house is ancient magic. It’s really rather tragic. Tragic is what has happened to the many generations of your ancestors who have lived in this house. Now it’s your turn.” The orb vanished, leaving the woods quiet except for the whirling wind.
