The road continued to spiral upward, never seeming to end.  I could feel the pressure increasing as we kept ascending the mountain.   The clouds loomed overhead, challenging us with the heavy buckets of rain they were holding within.  I looked out my window, trees stretched in every direction around our car, the dirt road cutting right through them.  Their height reminded me of the tall buildings of my old home in New York City.  Being up here in the middle of the forest, away from everything, I was definitely out of my comfort zone.  I loved the constant flow of people from building to building in New York, the loud, low hum of busy bodies bustling through the streets. “Colorful Colorado” was the exact opposite. Even driving through one of their “cities”, like Creede, it seemed so dead to me.  
Boredom is going to be the death of me.  I thought as I slumped over in my seat.

“Isn’t it beautiful out here?” My mom asked as she turned around in her seat to face my siblings and I.
“Very pretty. I love all of the really tall trees!” Sammy, my four-year-old sister said.
“We could build a super sick fort in one of them.” Added 11-year-old Carson.
“If we built one you’d end up falling off of it and breaking your arm.” I told him.
“Nah uhhh. You’d fall off and your brain would explode.” Carson retorted
“That’s not even possible, you dork!”
“That’s enough, We are all going to love it here whether you like it or not. Look on the bright side of things and not the negative Luke.” Dad said to me, looking at me through the mirror. I fell back into my seat, arms crossed. 
Why did we have to move?  There was no rhyme or reason behind it.  It was just ruining everyone’s lives. I looked over to my siblings.  Sammy held her wand, waving it around and singing “Bippity Boppity Boo”, Carson was drumming on the seat in front of him, to who knows what beat.  My parents were happily carrying out a conversation. I guess it really wasn’t ruining everyone’s lives.  Just mine. I pulled my hoodie over my face and closed my eyes, in an attempt to block all the happy people out. 
My eyes opened to see an enormous, white, broken down house through the trees.  The paint was peeling, dead vines slithered up the side of the house, and the shingles were sliding off the roof.
What a dump.
“Oh my gosh!” Squealed my mother, “It is beautiful!”
“It is soooo biiiiiiiiiiig!” Sammy said, looking the house up and down.
“Whoa. We are going to live in a mansion. Sick.” Carson said wide-eyed.
My dad pulled up to the house, parking in what looked like was meant to be the driveway.  “Luke, let’s start moving the furniture inside.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened my door.  The fresh, cool wind hit me, I don’t think I have ever breathed in such clean air.  It was somewhat mind clearing. I walked behind our car to the trailer we were towing, and undid the latch.  Climbing in, I grabbed the smallest thing I could find.  I hopped down and made my way over to the front porch, where the door was hanging wide open.
“Dad?” I called, “Did you open the front door?”
His muffled voice came from inside the trailer, “Nope!”
Weird. I shrugged.  Stepping through the doorway, a strange, tingling sensation came over me, like the feeling of electricity going through me.  I felt like several pairs of eyes were watching me. Looking around I saw no one.
“This place gives me the creeps.” I whispered to myself, my voice bouncing off the empty walls.  As if my voice triggered something, the lights began to turn on and off rapidly, but then slowly die off. In a hurry, I set down the box in the living room I went out to gather more.  

            ???
After bringing everything in, my family all sat in the musty kitchen around the table.  We were all eating sandwiches from our cooler my mom had made.
“So,” my mom started, taking another bite of her sandwich. “ Because we got everything into the house, and a lot of it out of the boxes, I think this calls for a celebration. What do you say Pop?”
“I think you are very right my dear.  Let’s go into town tonight, explore around and find a grocery store so we can stock up our pantry and fridge!”
“I will only come, If we can get fishy crackers.” Sammy said, shoving the remainder of her Pb&J into her mouth.
“Of course we can sweetie.” My dad said.
“Sounds rad.” Carson said.
“Then it’s settled! We’ll clean up here and head out. How does that sound Luke?” My mom said as she grabbed my shoulders. I shook her off.
“I’m not really feeling it.  I’d rather stay here and get some rest. Is that ok?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said “As long as you promise you finish unpacking your room. Deal?”
“Deal.”
She grinned. “Off to the automobile!” She grabbed the keys and kissed my head, “Stay safe and don’t do anything stupid.”
“See ya sport.” My dad rubbed my back, and that was that. They all went out the door one by one. And I was alone, or, so I thought.
???
I walked over to our couch and plopped down on my back.  Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I unlocked the screen. I had two messages: One from Jake, my best friend back at home, and one from Kelli, my old girlfriend.  Surprised we even had service up here, I responded to their texts of “I miss you”s.  Being so far away from them was the worst.  We had so much planned for our senior year; dances, parties, road trips, adventures, and all attending the same college.  But all those plans went down the drain when my dad had the amazing idea to start fresh. On the spot, we packed up and left out home, leaving behind everything, and never turning back.  Since then,  I have been everything but nice to my father.  I felt so bitter towards him and his snappy decision.  All sorts of feelings boiled inside of me: hate, anger, sadness, and loneliness.  It would take me a while to get to this move. My phone buzzed, I looked down at the screen; it was a message from an unknown number.
HELP US.
My phone then flicked and shut off. 

Who was that from, how did they get my number, and how was I supposed to help them?
This was definitely out of the ordinary. 
I set my phone down and went into the front room, searching for any boxes with my name written on them. I found three boxes with “Luke” scribbled on them in pink sharpie; Sammy had been in charge of labeling things.  The boxes being too big for me to carry all at once, I knew I had to take a few trips. I bent over and picked the box up.  Trudging around the corner, I made my way up the old spiraling staircase.  Each step I took made the floorboards creek under my pressure.
This cannot be safe.
Once at the top I was exposed to a long hallway, with rooms on both sides. As I made my way down, I started to hear a low, humming sound, like voices jumbling together. It seemed to be coming from inside of the walls.  Stopping, I strained to focus in on the noise, but I heard nothing. I continued walking, and the voices rose again. Slowly growing louder and more intense. On the back of my neck, hair began to stand.  Goosebumps covered my arms.  I quickened my pace, and more noises added to the humming.  Footsteps began to beat rhythmically in my ears.  Going from my fast walk to a sprint, I finally made it to the end of the hall.  I faced a tall, thick, wood door. Carved into the door were vines, crawling across the surface of it, there seemed to be a missing piece to it.  Kicking the door eagerly, it swung open, creaking. Something caught the corner of my eye--not one, but several tall dark figures darted from one corner of the room to the other. 
“Whoa!” I dropped the box on my toe, “Owwwwwe” I held my foot and hopped around. Something giggled from within my room.  “H--he--helllo?” I said nervously. No response.  Just silence. Looking around the room, I only saw walls and a dresser.  Shaken up, I knew I needed to get out of this insane asylum of a house.
I ran down the stairs and went out the front door, not planning on bringing my other boxes up.  Walking around the house, I found a dirt path leading into the forest. Thinking this was better than being in the house, I set out on a mini adventure. Tall dying aspens towered over me. Following the path lead me to what looked like a cemetery. Scattered around the path were various tombstones.  Each with the name “Eddington” inscribed in them.  Stone angels looked down on me, they made me feel anything but peaceful.
What is this place?
The wind howled and I heard owls hooting above.  The sun was setting and it became chillier out. I yanked my hood on over my head.  Being out here was much better than being cooped up inside in that mad house.  The sounds of nature were much more relaxing.  Lost in deep thought, I came across a rusty shed, tucked neatly within the trees.  Coming closer, I noticed bugs crawling in and out of shattered windows, there were weird tools scattered around the shed, two human-like skulls nailed into the door, and animal carcasses strewn about.  The wind made the trees rustle, giving this place an even more eerie feel.   I went to the door and pulled it open, creaking sounds came from within.   The smell of urine and body odor hit me hard, almost knocking me out.  I pulled my shirt over my nose, debating to step in.  A scratching noise made me grind my teeth in pain.  Something then jumped in front of me--screeching. 
“AHHH.” I screamed back.
“What are ya doin here kid??” There was an old skinny man standing in front of me with a pipe in his hand.
“Whoa! Sorry sir. I was just exploring.” I scanned the man up and down, he looked like he hadn’t eaten anything in years. “Who are you?”
“I am Jack.  I used to work in that house up yonder.  I was the gardener for the Eddington family. Until that night” The man scratched his head awkwardly.  He then began to pace back and forth, biting his nails.
“What night? What do you mean? What happened?”
“It started with the wind. Then the ground began to shake, heavy rain fell, and lightning lit the whole sky up.” He walked farther into the shed.  He continued to pace. “No good. No good. No good” he repeated like a broken record.
“Then what happened?” 
“Then it hit the house and the sky went BOOM!! Then they were gone. I couldn’t find them. I couldn’t find. I can’t find them.”
“Where could they have gone?
“I dunno.  Me thinks they are in limbo.  Not able to leave the house. The storm reappears every night, just like the first.”
Everything then made sense; the door, the message, the lights going out, they just wanted help.
“How can I help them?”
“Well there’s a door on the top floor with a piece missing. I think it blew off when the lightning struck. If you put it back in place before the storm, it will complete house, setting them free!”
“I know what door that is! Where can I find the piece?” I asked eagerly.
“It should be in the basement somewhere. But I ain’t going back there.  Too dangerous, too dangerous.”
“I will!” I turned away from Jack, running up the path I came from, “Thank you for your help!”
“Good luck!” He called back. “Hopefully you can find ‘em.”

 
???
It was now getting darker, and the storm had begun.  The floor was vibrating, and rain beat on the windows.  Running towards the basement, I made my way down the stairs.  I knew what I had to do to make everything right. 

Once in the basement I frantically searched for the missing piece to my door.  Old papers littered the floor.  Various boxes were strewn about, containing old artifacts I guessed were once possessions of the Eddingtons.  Left to right I scanned the room.  Finding nothing.
Where could it be?  I frantically kept searching. Then I felt a hand contact me.
“Ahhhh.”  Hissing, I doubled over, grabbing my chest.  My body was filled with immense heat, emanating from my wound.  Lifting my shirt up, I saw a handprint, glowing red on my pale skin.  Jolts of electricity pulsed through my body. 
“I am trying to help you!!” I yelled, “Why are you doing this to me?”  Something then caught my eye.  It was the missing slice of door lying on the floor in front of me!  They were only trying to hand it to me.  Grabbing it, I booked it up the stairs. 
I was now hiding behind the couch, the door chunk still in my hand, my knuckles turning pale from clenching it so tightly.  Pressing my free hand against the wound, my body began to rattle in tremendous fear that I had absolutely no control over. The ground was no longer vibrating, the whole house was rattling. I held unto the couch in effort to stabilize me. Pictures flew from the wall, darting towards me, ducking three crashed into the wall behind me.  The ceiling began to crack; debris fell on me.   Every breath I took was shaky.
In, out, in, out, in, out.
I heard their voices all around me; their deep, low whispering filled the room, slowly getting louder.
“Help us. Help us.”
I crawled away from the once safe, now deadly place behind the couch.  I made my way towards the ascending staircase, moving as quickly as I could. Scaling them with great speed, I made it into the hallway.  The low hum of electricity filled the walls.  I felt static in the air.  Running, I made it to my doorway. Trying to gain balance, I grabbed the wall with my free hand. Slowly, I lifted my shaking arm with the door piece in my hand; I set it in the gaping slot.  Something clicked into place-- a bolt of energy shot itself from the door, hurling me across the hall and down the stairs. All my breath seemed to be squeezed from my lungs, I wheezed and all went black.  The last thing I heard,
“Thank you.”

I work up with my family standing over me. My mother was shaking my shoulders.
“Luke?” She said, “Are you alright?” She helped me up to a sitting position.  My dad handed me a glass of water.  Taking a long swig, I looked around at my family, they all looked so confused.  But I was so relieved to have them back.  Setting the cup down, I wrapped my arms around all of them.
“Yes, I am alright.  And I am so happy you guys are back.”
And that was that.  We lived everyday after like nothing happened, and I never told my family how I became a hero to a dead people that night.