House 1
It all started while I was walking home from school. I was thinking about math, trying to figure out the complex equations we were dealing with. Then I saw a flash coming from my right. I looked in the direction of the light but there was only a wall. That’s strange. There was never a brick wall here before. I reached out to touch it but my hand went right through. Something was definitely not right. I was trying to decide if I should try and step through or just keep walking home. Finally, I sent a text message to my mom and told her that I might be late. I then stepped through the wall.

Sorry, I almost forgot to tell you my name. My name is Joseph, but everyone calls me Joey. I am fourteen and have light brown hair and blue eyes with tight amber circle around the pupils. My only sibling is a little sister named Jessica, but we call her Jess. She is only six.
As I was saying, when I came out of the wall, I saw the weirdest thing. There was a house right behind the wall but I didn’t remember it. I decided to check the house number to see if I knew who lived there. House number...1. Wait a minute. There wasn’t a house one in this neighborhood. Maybe I just didn’t notice it before. It didn't matter anyway, I was done there. I walked back to the wall, thinking I could go through again, but instead I just smacked into it. “Well, guess that way’s out, better find another exit.” I muttered to myself as I stood up.

***********************

I had walked around the back of the house by the time I realized there was no visible exit. That leaves only two options. 1. Attempt to climb the wall. 2. Knock on the door. Both of these were pretty bad choices, and so I decided to try and climb the wall first.

As I walked up to the wall, I realized that it was much taller than I had made it out to be. Instead of a couple feet high it looked like it was 20 feet high. Who would need such a tall wall? There were indentations and small sections missing from the wall, serving as perfect foot holes. I put my foot in the closest one to the ground, and put my hand in one above my head. I then proceeded to climb it like a rock wall.
It took me about a minute to realize that I wasn’t getting anywhere. It seemed like I had climbed at least 2 feet but the top didn’t look any closer and my foot still seemed like it was in the same place. I abandoned this idea and jumped off of the wall. The fall seemed much longer than it should have been. It didn’t matter anymore, as I had made up my mind. I was going to knock on the door.
At this moment I realized that I hadn’t actually stopped to look at the house. It was made of wood and looked very old. There was an open air porch on the front with steps leading up to it. You had to cross it to get to the door.
As I walked up the steps, they creaked and groaned. I broke out into a cold sweat, and started to rethink my decision. I turned around and started back down, but I didn’t seem to be making any progress again. Well, that settles it. I’m going to have to knock on the door now. I turned around and started the treacherous journey back up the steps.
I reached the top after what seemed like an eternity. I creaked my way across the porch and right up to the door. I inhaled a deep breath and balled my hand into a fist. I slowly reached out so that it was right in front of the door. I then knocked once.
As I knocked on the door carefully, it creaked open slowly. “Hello?” I asked to no one in particular. No Reply. I slowly stepped into the house, making sure not to break anything.

The foyer was a little hallway with rooms branching off to the side and stairs at the end. I slowly walked down the hallway. I could hear whispering inside of the first room that I came to. I knocked lightly on the door and the noise ceased immediately. I tried the handle and to my surprise it was open. I turned it then waited a few seconds before flinging the door open. There was no one in the room.

I kept walking down the hallway and repeating the process. Hear whispering, turn the handle, wait a second, fling the door. Hear whispering, turn the handle, wait a second, fling the door. Every time I got the same result. Nothing. There was only one door left I walked up to it, preparing to try the process again, but this time I pressed my ear against the door ever so carefully.

“They’re talking about getting out again, saying they don’t want to be here.” I heard someone say.

Then someone else joined in saying, “Well, It’s not their choice, they have to stay here.”

“But what if they do manage to escape?” the first person said.

“Hold that thought,” the second person said, “I think we have an eaves dropper.

As soon as he said that I froze. I had been caught! I had to escape! I went the only way I could: up the stairs. The staircase had landings and spiraled upwards. I ran up it taking two steps at a time, pushing myself higher and higher, using my momentum to my advantage. I heard the people chasing after me, their heavy thumps gaining. I knew I didn’t have much time.

I reached the top of the staircase and saw for a brief second another hallway, before I ran into the closest room, slamming the door behind me. The only light came from under the door. I could hear my pursuers’ footsteps on the ground. The heavy thunk, thunk, thunk. I did not want them to see me, so I slid back into the farthest corner of the room, away from the door. Soon, they were right in front of my door, but they didn’t seem to be casting any shadows. Their footsteps were gone soon, though.
I tried to think of happy things and not let my mind wonder too much about what could be in this room with me.
“Have you come to save us?” was whispered in my ear before I passed out.
***********************

When I came to, I saw two people in front of me. One looked to be around my age and was a boy, while the other looked to be around six or seven and was a girl. They were standing in front of me, staring at me. They didn’t seem to realize that I was awake yet.

“So you really think he’s the one?” the boy said.

“I think,” said the girl.

The girl sounded like the one who had whispered into my ear.
“He’s kind of scrawny looking.”

“Patrick! Don’t be mean!”
“It’s not like he can hear me anyway, Jen.”
I then sat up, seemingly startling them both. Then, I said “Can you please tell me why you are here?”
“I think you should be telling us why you are here.” Patrick said.
I thought this was fair enough, as this very well could be their house. I proceeded to tell them how I came into the houses area, got into the house, and ended up in this room. “So how did you get here?”
“Jen and I have been here...a while to put it simply. We were captured by an evil person named Sir Lucifar. He sealed us in this house, trying to preserve us. You see, when we were alive we had special powers that marked us different from the rest of the crowd. We were Protectors. When he tried to seal us here, he made a mistake and killed us; but he didn’t do this without harming himself. We are trapped here and if we leave he will die.”
That was the first time I realized that something was off. I could see through them; they had to be ghosts. “How come you haven't passed on yet?”
“The dead cannot ‘pass on’ as they normally do in this realm. That is why Jen and I are still here. We have tried to escape using our powers before but they can only be used in life, a situation we found out the hard way.”
A million questions were flying through my head. Who is Sir Lucifar? What is a protector? What powers do they have? Why am I here? These were still going through my head when Jen broke the silence.
“Are you a Protector?”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know myself. “I-I don’t think I am.”
“Why would you even be here if you weren’t a Protector?”
I was at a loss for words. He had made a good point. Maybe I was a protector or maybe I just stumbled in on accident. “What kind of powers do protectors have?”
“We don’t really know. We think it’s different between Protectors.” said Patrick.
That leaves tons of holes. I could have any superpower, or just be a normal person.
“Look, there’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Patrick. “Let’s just say you are a protector, would you help us get out of here?”
“Of course.” Just then, there were thumps coming towards the door from down the hallway.
“Jen, hide!” Patrick whispered.

The thumping stopped right outside the door. The handle started turning, ever so slowly. I stood up as fast I could, trying not to make much sound. I ran to the hinges in the door flattening myself against the wall, the door opened, slowly swinging all the way open. I saw a man walk into the room, walking very slowly, taking his time. I tried to get around the door and get to the stairs.

As soon as I got through the doorway, I ran as fast as I could down the stairs. I heard a rustle behind me and then someone yelled my name.
“Joey! Get back here right now! You cannot run away from Sir Lucifar!”

That just made me run even faster. I ran as fast as I could down the steps, taking two at a time. I came out in the hall way downstairs and kept running. I ran out the front door and down the stairs; this time they were normal. I stopped in the middle of the front yard realizing there was nowhere else to go.

Sir Lucifar finally ran off the last step and into the yard. He was an older man with a short white beard and hair. He had green eyes with a small circle of red tightly wrapping around his pupils. He was wearing a black outfit and a black cape with red on the end. He glared at me menacingly before saying, “Joey, did you really think you could escape? I have guards all around and I have the brick wall.”

“Why did you trap them? Why did you do this to them? What could they have possibly done for you?” Even as I said this, I knew the answer.
“I wanted to drain their power to use for my own strength; I am a Protector, you know. Joey, I have made up my mind. You may join me if you wish to succeed and if you wish to fight me I will kill you.”
I began to feel a new feeling, one that I had never felt before. It was like determination mixed with braveness and anger. “I want to fight.”
“If that is your choice...”
Sir Lucifar then stuck out his right hand with the palm facing towards me. A fireball appeared out of nowhere and started bolting towards me. I dodged it, only to see another one coming. I sidestepped again and saw one more coming. This time I didn’t dodge it. That new feeling rose to a climax and I crossed my arms in the shape of an X. The fireball hit my arms but I didn’t feel pain. Instead, it just disappeared.

I then pointed at him with my pointer finger, middle finger and thumb and a shot of lightning came out of them. It hit Sir Lucifar in the arm.

He pointed his palm at me again but this time I was ready. I dodged the attack before it even came, went behind him and shot another bolt of lightning. Sir Lucifar didn’t react quickly enough and it hit him in the back.

Sir Lucifar then turned around and said, “You are such a pain, I’ll show you my true power now!” Then the small red circle in his eyes spread rapidly, eventually turning his whole eyes red. He then rose up his palm and shouted, “Destruction Fireball!” He formed a giant fireball and shot it right at me.

The feeling inside me reached a fortissimo and I almost couldn’t control it. My eyes felt hot as if warming up and Sir Lucifar looked a little stunned. I rose up my three fingers and shouted, “Justice Lightning!” before shooting a giant lightning bolt at his incoming fireball. When the lightning touched the fireball, it disintegrating. The lightning continued on and hit Sir Lucifar in the chest. He dissolved into thin air; never to be seen again.

I heard a noise coming from the house and looked in that direction. I saw Patrick and Jen running towards me.

“You beat Sir Lucifar, Joey! You actually did it!” exclaimed Patrick.

“Thank you so much, Joey,” Jen said as happy as could be.

“Don’t you ever forget us Joey and help out other people in need; that’s what Protectors do.” said Patrick.

“Don’t you worry Patrick, I don’t think I could ever forget you two.”

And then they rose into the sky, finally passing on after centuries of waiting.
***********************

“What happened next Grandpa?”

“I had passed out again and I woke up on the side of the street. Lucky for me, time moves faster behind the brick wall. The End.”
“That was a great story Grandpa, could you tell another?”

“No Patrick, I can’t. It’s bedtime, now go to sleep.” I kissed him on the head and turned off the light. Patrick was only 6 years old, but he already looked so much like me. He even had a tight amber circle wrapping around his pupil....