(2 years later)

Iris found herself gloomy staring out the car window.

The bridge the car was crossing over was overall rocky and not exact comfortable as if shifted from side to side. With her window all the way down and her dark hair flying in the wind, daydreaming about nonsense. Trying to distract herself from the real world.

Everyday seemed to be going by slowly than it was supposed. But she felt glad for getting away from her old school, but she was going to miss her ballet group. Though she'd quit about a year ago, she was going to miss practicing any move.

Outside the leaves were turning hues of dark orange and light brown. Gliding to the ground slowly and into the river below them. Her eyes locked onto three pairs of birds flying above the water.

But her attention was immediately kicked back to reality when she noticed a grumpy look on Emily's face etched with deep annoyance. Iris knew the immediate cause of this. Looking over at Navin in the front seat only to see him, pulling down the bottom of his eyelids and showing the redness of skin underneath, grossing her out almost instantly.

"If you keep making that face, your face will be stuck like that," Karen looked over at Navin.

"I'm just trying to cheer up, Em. She's making the mopey face again," Navin explained.

"Hey!" Emily said, grudgingly, "Don't listen to him, Mom. I'm doing fine."

"Grow up, Navin," Iris whispered under her breath.

"Just as long a you three can find some sort of entertainment, I don't care about faces. Anyways, I think you kids are going to love living out here. They have miniature golf as well. I heard they even have  small ballet studio around here," Karen told them.

Iris knew Karen was trying to cheer her up, but honestly she didn't feel like smiling. She hadn't smiled a lot for the past two years. But instead she decided to be kind enough and at least speak up for once in the trip.

"Um.....thanks," Iris urged out of her mouth.

"The only catch is that this house is going to require a lot of love," Karen added.

"Why did we leave our old place?" Navin questioned, "Everything there was brand new."

"Unfortunately, new stuff costs a lot of money. Since your father passed away, I haven't been able to afford the house. At least out here, we won't be under much finical stress. This house has been in the family for years," Karen tried to explain.

"We are literally in the middle of nowhere," Iris commented.

Looking out Emily's window to see the large sign pasted with big white letters: NOW ENTERING NORLEN. She felt relieved, but at the same time bummed she as leaving the city for good. She had always loved taking strolls around the many parks and bridges. Something her father enjoyed doing with her.

"There are plenty of places out here in this country that are 'in the middle of nowhere.' None are quite as populous as Norlen. It's......a fairly sizable city," Karen tried to defend, "You'll see it's not that different from anywhere else."

Karen slowly hit the brakes, looking out the window. Everyone immediately turned their heads to get a good look at the house. One thing was for sure it looked ancient and taller than their old one had been.

"Well, here we are," Karen said, taking a sniff at the air, smelling of a crackling bonfire coming form somewhere, "And smell that fresh air! Isn't it great?"

Iris rolled her eyes as she and Emily opened the car door to get a look at the house. Crisp leaves of golden hues crunched underneath their feet. Navin followed close behind, marveling at the sight of the old house.

Karen grabbed her keys out of her left pocket and walked to the door. Looking at every single one, muttering and wondering which one it was to open the house. Wondering if they still even worked.

"Do you think an exorcism happened here?" Navin smiled, wildly.

"No!" Iris immediately said, "And if there was, why would kar....Mom want to us to live here?"

"MY GOODNESS!" Karen's voice came from the doorway that was newly opened.

The three quickly ran over to where she was standing. Much to their dismay, it pretty much looked like a haunted house. Maybe an exorcism did indeed happen here. 

The windows were barred shut by large pieces of wood. The floor was creaking all around them as soon as they took even a tiny step. Another disappointment, no electricity seemed to be working,

"Watch your step," Karen warned to Navin as everyone made their way to take a look upstairs.

Iris cringed at every loud creak the steps made, piercing sounds hurting her ears immensely. The four took a look around of the upstairs, seeing large glass window at the end of the hall. Nothing really much, but the string scent of dust covered the air.

She looked inside each room til the second one caught her attention. It wasn't big or too small, it had a two big bookshelves, but it looked like it would have room for her books, jewelry, and black beanbag chair. One thing was for sure she called dips on this room.

A large black stairwell led up to the third floor as if this house wasn't already big enough. It felt like a creepy small mansion that would be in a horror film. Everything in here felt out of place and rotting.

"There is no way we can sleep under these conditions!" Karen sighed, "We'll have to attack it!

Iris  pulled another huge box upstairs while the others cleaned up the downstairs. She let out an exhausted pang, pulling with her oats bit of strength to but the box on the old table of what soon would be Emily's room.

She carefully eyed inside the box, putting out the stuff they may need later tonight. A flashlight, blanket, and pillows. But she left the other stuff like coloring stuff, books, and picture frames inside. Knowing she should let Emily decide where to hang those.

Turning to the doorway, she picked up the next box, labeled with her name. Her fingers gripping the sides tightly as she heaved the box onto the floor of her room. Without hesitation, she ripped off the tape of the box like a wolverine.

Her eyes immediately landed on the neatly pile of stacked books. Titles like: The Secret Garden, Harry Potter, The Land Of Stories, and The Wizard of Oz  were found amongst them. Carefully she stacked them onto one shelf before digging deeper into the box.

Her heart immediately shattered as soon as she picked out her pink old ballet pointe shoes. Had it really been almost a year since she'd stopped wearing them? When she'd give up and not continue on her dream of being a ballerina........man.......that just sucked.

But the only thing that made her heart sink more was that these were one of last gifts her father had given her. Her birthday was always October 21, but nowadays she didn't care about birthdays. But this gift meant everything to her in that moment. 

She hugged the shoes close to her chest like it was her father hugging her back instead. But she knew he wasn't there to give her those tight bear hugs after school. Tears welled up in her eyes until a voice yelled from somewhere upstairs. 

"HEY GUYS!!!" Navin yelled, "Come look what, Em found!!!"

Immediately, Iris picked up the pace, running up the metal stairs, only to stop at the foot of the floor. The door way to a large unexplored room right in front of her. And for the first time, she felt amazed by the sight of something in this old house.

The room was crowded with large towering wooden book cases filled to the brim with journals and books. Birds head that were now just skeletons sat off the far wall to her right. Another metal staircase leading up to a small loft area with inventions.

And on the wall hung a portrait of a young man with a bar of big glasses. Emily was reading whatever book there was at a podium looking area. All that went through her head was this man must've been a genius.

"Oh. Wow." Karen came from behind, realizing immediately what this room was, "This is my grandpa, Silas's library."

"So that's great grandpa?" Emily asked, walking over to the portrait as Iris and Karen made their way into the room.

"Yup," Karen answered,

"Is he still alive?" Emily asked.

"He's probably dead," Iris told her, examining the portrait that looked almost ancient.

"Still," Karen looked at her sternly, "That's a good question. Nobody knows what happened to him when he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Emily asked.

"After your Great Grandmother Isabel passed away, Silas looked himself in his house and was never seen again. This is why the locals think this place is haunted."

"No wonder why," Iris commented.

"Is it though?" Emily asked.

"Of course not," Karen assured her only to turn around and see Navin was upstairs on the loft, angrily turning around to shout, "NAVIN!!"

The young boy almost jumped out of his skin at her sudden yell. Turning around, nervously smiling as to play off how he'd gotten scared. To listen to what his mother had to say now.

"Get down there!" Karen ordered.

"C'mon MOM!" Navin groaned, "I'll be alright! There's nothing up here, but junk!"

"Just be careful!" Iris shouted up to him, looking to see Emily had found various mapping of blueprints.

"That's a lot of blueprints," Iris commented, looking at Karen, "Was he an architect?"

"No," Karen shook her head, "Silas was a puzzle maker. I know he was very proud of that. Although, I always thought his puzzles looked more like toys or machines."

"I'm surprised you've taken an interest in this," Emily commented

"Why?" Iris asked

"It could come in handy for a school report," Karen told her.

"Do I have to go to school?" Iris groaned, "I could probably learn more things here than anything else, plus what's the use of going to this high school if it's only going to be for two years!"

"I know you hate having to go to school, but there's no way around it," Karen told her, "I'm sure you won't have trouble making friends."

Iris felt like Karen had purposely said that after happened between her and her co called friend, Raina. They'd met in ballet and had gone to the same school for years, but when she quit they had a falling out,

Lots of big fights, even one at school that got Iris suspended for punching her. Put in her defense, Raina was practically mocking her family and their troubles at the moment. And that's what ultimately ticked her off.

"It's not that......it's why do I need to learn Calculus if I'm never going to use it in the real world?" Iris asked.

"And when did you know everything about the real world?" Karen tilted her head a bit.

"It's true though....isn't it?" Emily cut in, hoping Iris was write that the type of math was hopeless.

"Well......that's besides the point." Karen tried again.

"But Silas didn't go to school, right?" Emily argued, "Look how he turned out!"

"Emily, I don't want you taking after him," Karen told her, "And he's not someone you should look up to."

"Why?" Emily asked as Iris gave Karen gave her the same.

"Just trust me girls," Karen insisted, "It's better to live a normal life, like everybody else. Now let's go downstairs and fusing cleaning. Oh! And Iris?"

"Yeah?" Iris answered.

"Could you get the food ready?" Karen asked, kindly.

"Sure thing," Iris's grumbled.

Iris ripped open a small package of tuna, tearing off the top seal. Bits of the meat stuck to the top of the seam. Gently setting the bag down beside her left foot as she ripped the seam of a cup of noodles before handing it to Navin.

Night had dawned across the house half an hour ago. Using two candles to keep them light while they crowded in what would've been the living room. Sitting on their gray and used sleeping bags that would've been for camping trips.

Hungrily, Navin began chowing down on his small and lean meal for the night. It wasn't even much better than what Iris had packed for herself, just the tuna with a few saltine crackers. Scooping some tuna onto cracker before quickly stiffing the small cracker in her mouth.

Noticing, Emily and Karen had already finished their cup of noodles, but Karen went to check out the breaker box. Her younger sister was all huddled up in her sweater, protecting herself from the chill of the night air. Then, she spotted something around her neck, a red gem looking kind of like....

"Where'd you find that?" Iris asked after finishing swallowing down the last bits of her first cracker cover with tuna.

"Me and Navin found it upstairs......but it kind of looks like yours," Emily explained, holding it out for Iris to examine closely.

"Fascinating......it has the same markings and everything.........maybe this is form an antique store or something," Iris held her necklace up.

That just made her feel pained even more and sick to her stomach with grief. What if it was just an old antique item that her birth mother had kept her with? Making her think if even her mother had cared enough to leave her something important.

"The power should come back in a few days," Karen announced to them as she sat down on her gray sleeping bag, "Until then, it'll be like we're out camping."

But her cheerful attitude turned down in a few seconds to see both sisters were gloomy and sorrowfully looking down at the floor. While she finished off the last bits of tuna, Iris felt like she was in a new world. Like an alien that had just landed on a new planet.

"What's wrong, Emily?" Karen asked.

"Why.....why did we move out here? Honestly." Emily inquired to her.

"I thought you guys would like all this nature. You always loved Summer Camp."

"Yeah, but that was for what? A month! Not a whole year," Iris spoke up, noticing that Navin

"Yeah, not like forever." Emily said.

"Look, I just wanted us to start a new life and leave behind the old one behind. I wanted a fresh start. There's nothing wrong with that, RIGHT?" Karen asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"But we didn't have to come all the way out here," Emily argued, "Dad wouldn't have done that."

Causing Navin to nervously gulp and look at his mother, making a shocked Iris feel speechless. That had been the most selfish thing Emily had said in days. She was purposely being rude and taking it out on Karen.

"EM!" Iris finally said, angrily.

"Why do you say things like that, Emily?" Karen's voice wavered.

"But it's the truth," Emily insisted.

"No, it's not." Iris snarled.

Iris felt like she had known her father her whole life. He was her role model and hero she always looked up to and asked for help. He'd been the parent that stayed for her and took care of her when her birth mother decided not to. Just hearing those words struck a hard chord in her emotions.

"Look, I just......." But Karen trailed off, "I don't...." Burying her face in one hand. A sound of a starting to cry came form her.

"Mom. Mom. I'm sorry," Emily realized and tried to apologize. Walking up to comfort her mother.

"I miss your father as much as you do. I wish he was here. I wish I could talk to him. But more than that, I wish I knew what to do. I wish I wasn't alone," Karen said through tears

Iris let a sad smile cross her lips before standing up and walking over to her. They were all the family she had left. Kneeling down in front of her before she opened her mouth, careful and gentle with what she was about to say.

"You're not alone. You never have been. We're a family......we can get through this together......somehow we always do," Iris told her.

And before Iris knew it, after Karen gave her a smile, she pulled her, Navin, and Emily into a group hug. At first she was surprised, but allowed herself to be comfortable in her stepmothers grasp. The only person who had tried to be a mother to her.

"I love you guys so much. I don't know what I would do if I lost you," Karen tightened her grasp a bit.

"You won't," Emily assured her.

The hug only lasted a few seconds before they pulled away. Noticing that Navin looked incredibly tired by the looks of it. The last candle was practically almost a puddle now on its holder.

Iris lifted up the cover for Navin, watching as he sleepily trudged into bed, hugging his stuffed animal close to him. Before she even put the blanket back on him, he was out quicker than expected. 'Poor little guy,' Iris thought with a hint of smile on her face.

"Get some sleep," Karen patted her shoulder, giving Iris her cue to go to bed.

Iris carefully took the rubberband out of her hair, placing it right beside her head. Looking at her nicely folded robe before flinging the blanket over her shivering body.

"You warm enough sweetie?" Karen asked Emily.

"I'm good, thanks mom," Emily told her.

"We have another long week of cleaning, girls. So get some rest," Karen explained before adding, "And hey, if things don't work out here...,..we can go back to the city."

"Don't worry mom," Emily told her, but her voice didn't sound like it as she snuggled into her pillow, "I think I just need adjusting."

"Night girls," Karen blew out the candle.

"Night......I guess," Iris sighed as she closed her eyes, the feeling of a headache slightly tingled on her. But hopefully sleep would grant her some comfort.