Chapter 1
I fall, a never ending black darkness, swallowing me. No walls, it almost seems like being inside of a shadow. Only just a few seconds did I fall through my grandma’s mysterious door at the top floor, seemingly locked up and never opened. It seemed like the strange disappearance of my parents folded me all into this peculiar nonsense. I had been “carried” off by my grandma. Now when I say carried off, I don’t really mean carried off. I highly doubt my grandma could pick me up, anyway. She hadn’t seemed too worried, though, which in all truth worried me. My grandma lives in the middle of nowhere, bright grassy plains, warm sun and deserted describes it all. I had visited my grandma with my parents before, but it was never as cheery as when I arrived, almost a little TOO cheery for my liking. As my grandma drove in her car, which always looked like it had been ransacked, I had plenty of time to think, most of all what I call WHY questions. Why had my parents disappeared? Why had my grandma come so suddenly? Questions I don’t have answers to, bubbling and bursting inside of me. I wanted to cry in frustration. I never asked for this anyways…
“Grandma?”
“Yes, dear?”
Why…. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, I had so many questions that I couldn’t bring myself to ask. As I look back from this moment, I wish I asked my grandma those questions, but I didn’t know what I was going to get into.
A few days after I arrived, I went exploring the house. When I was five, I thought there was secret treasure hidden somewhere. I never found it. Until right then, I suppose. As I explored the top floor I found my treasure. I guess when I was younger, the door had never been there to me. I might have been just too excited and ran past it, my height ignoring the door, which now even seemed to have grown into the house, being a part of it. As I looked at it now, it seems deserted, like the amount of people surrounding us, but quite the opposite of the setting I was deserted in. Lonely, it seemed to beckon me. I hoped I wasn’t going to be like Pandora from my Greek myth book, but now I understand what she felt. I only hoped the door wasn’t bad as her fate, unleashing terrors around the world. All the things we wish were never in this world. But yet, at this moment it seemed to be staring at me. It seemed the cottage was holding its breath, the door included, everything staring, everything waiting, watching, a never ending silence. The door was beckoning me, “a quick peek won’t hurt anyone, Phoenix.” Shutting my eyes I shook my head, hearing a voice say that, hoping I was just unconscious or something, hoping I was somewhat ill, but not life threatening. I ran down the stairs, back to the second floor, as a ran into the hallway, I could swear my grandma’s marble dragon that was on the shelf blinked at me. I shivered and kept running, finally approaching my new room. I slammed the door behind me and locked it, plopping down onto the bed. I felt myself breathing hard, my heart beating uncontrollably. Laying down, I tried to control myself, my breathing, and my heart.
“DINNER TIME!” I heard my grandma from the first floor. Carefully, I opened my door and peered outside. Nothing. Quickly I raced down into the kitchen, the smell of pizza entering my nostrils. Then I noticed the spicy smell and grinned. Good, my grandma knows me. I entered the kitchen , eyeing the cup of buffalo sauce.
“Look at you, you look like a starving wolf that’s found some prey, licking your chops.”
“Ha. I’m hungry!”
“Starving, that is.“ My grandma handed me a plate with two slices of pizza with a cup of hot sauce, which I dunked over my pizza. I picked up a slice and bit into it, crust first.
“Crust first? Why?” asked my grandma.
“Because I don’t especially like the crust, which most would call ‘saving the best for last.’”
“Ok. So now I know.”
“Grandma, has anything…strange ever happened here, or is here?”
“….. Strange?? No……..! How’s the pizza?” My grandma started to fidget in her chair, tapping her fingers on the table.
My grandma was trying to avoid the question, but I left it.
“Good.”
That was how that day ended, but my grandma knew something, I knew it.
The next morning, my curiosity got ahold of me. I climbed up the staircase cautiously. As I approached the door I held my breath. It seemed even more grown into the house, like by tomorrow it would disappear. “What’s in the door?” I wondered aloud.
“Your destiny, Phoenix.” I screamed and turned around.
Behind me was… the marble dragon… flying?
“WHAT THE… ?!”
“Shh… do not be so loud.” The tiny dragon floated around my head.
“Don’t be so scared, things approach faster than you think.”
“W-who ARE YOU?!”
“Aurora.”
Well that covers SOO much…
“Wait, so did you blink at me yesterday??”
The dragon nodded, “Yes. I wanted to call to you but your grandma was approaching and told me-” the marble dragon stopped short.
“My grandma knows what’s going on?!” I exclaimed.
“Yes. It was just a matter of time. But you have to go in the door.”
“But why?”
“Because you’re needed.”
Needed. I’ve never been truly needed… My parents were independent people… But do I trust this… dragon? No I don’t. Nonsense.
“No.”
“Fine. just open the door and you’ll see how much you’re needed.”
What’s the harm in that, I guess… I opened the door and saw nothing, then felt something shoving me. Hastily, I turned around and saw the dragon pushing me, which I was surprised it could. But it did its job and pushed me through the door…
I fell, a never ending black darkness, swallowing me. No walls, it almost seemed like being inside of a shadow. Closing my eyes tight, I screamed. Hugging my knees to my chest, I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness. No source of light whatsoever. I looked up, trying to find the attic door.
Nothing. I’m afraid. Very, very afraid. But this time there’s no one to say it too. What did this dragon do? Had it been trying to kill me? Why why why…
Soon I began to see light… Now I must have been falling for about an hour and a half. I closed my eyes, once again, completely unprepared, when pain spread through my back, and going into another silent, strange darkness. Where was I now? There was a ground there, but it was also darkness… I wanted to walk away from this nightmare, I wanted to be back home, with my parents, I wanted to be able to close my eyes and be back with my grandma. I stand up, very annoyed with my life. I started to walk forward, then hearing a large swish noise behind me, I turned around. This time I was just too fed up to scream. “BOOOOOOO!” Not expecting a ghost, but I had the feeling I was going to see a stranger, maybe because of the marble dragon situation.
“Why aren’t you scared?” the ghost started to cry, tears going through her and leaking onto the floor. “Hey it’s ok!” I didn’t want to hug her or anything, because I would probably go right through her and make her feel even worse.
“Noooo it’s noooot! Noooobody is ever scared by me!! I doooon’t have any friends!!!!”
Question- what do you say to a crying ghost that has many problems? Well you can only say one thing, I suppose…
“I’ll be your friend.” What are you going to say to a crying ghost that wants a friend?
“Really?!” The ghost immediately stopped crying.
“Yeah.”
“Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!” The ghost started to circle around my head, chanting, “I have a friend, I have a friend! I haaavvveee aaa ffrrriiieeennd!!!!!!!”
“Okkk… What’s your name?” I asked.
“Ululate!”
“Doesn’t that mean-”
“Doooon’t say it! I know!!!!” Ululate means to howl or wail, which this ghost clearly does a lot.
“Ok Ululate, how do we get out of here?” I REALLY hoped she had the answer…
“Doooon’t wooooory, you’re waking up!” Huh?? I felt myself falling, for the THIRD time today!
Blinking I opened my eyes, and saw LIGHT!!! Then opening my eyes, I saw Ululate…
“Ululate??”
“Hii friend!!!” Ughhh…
“Hi…” moaning and groaning, I sat up.
“HIIII!”
“Where are we?”
“We’re in the land of Surda!”
“Whaaa… Is Surda…..”
“You don’t know what Surda is? Surda’s divided into two, one part where the humans and mythical creatures are, which is Surda, and the other half is elven territory!”
“Anything else I need to know?” I wasn’t really paying attention, but maybe if Ululate talked too much she would get bored.
“Well….This world is divided into twooo, unlike your Earth. The goooood part is Surda, and the oooother half is what we call the Evil dooomain…Which you shouldn’t gooo in! And in case you ever see them, the leaders oooof Surda are Sabrina and Alex Bell!”
My parents!