Gallin walked slowly to school that morning all nine blocks to Shadow Hill high school. He was a senior at seventeen; some of the other kids teased him for being that smart. Gallin was a tall kid for his age with reddish brown curls and hazel eyes. He was lanky; he was just over six foot tall but not a muscle on him. It didn't bother him, even though he was a male teenager, he didn't care for sports. He'd watch a game every now and then, but his true passion was art.

Having a true gift for sketching, he had taken several art classes, even summer programs in oils acrylic and sculpting. It was his true joy in life. Lately he had been sketching a few strange symbols he had seen in a few different dreams. He didn't know what they were, if they had any meaning to them. He just liked to draw them from time to time, getting lost in the movement of the pencil, taking him to a different level of being. It took him away from everything, high school antics as well as mind numbing chores at home. When he got lost in his artistic nature, none of that mattered. He could escape to his other world through the sketching and painting which is how he spent most of his free time.

Even though he was used to it by now, the walk to school seemed to take ages. He hurried across the schools parking lot forcing himself for another glorious day of high school, hell for anyone not involved with the football team. One more year he kept reminding himself every morning Monday through Friday. There was nearly a ritual to him now. It was like taking out the garbage just get it over with.

Crossing the parking lot and onto the school grounds, he saw his friend Billy and waved to him. Billy in turn waved right back, waiting for his longtime friend to make his way to the set of double doors. Gallin jogged to meet with him.

"Hey man how's it going?" Billy asked him.

"Good, I guess, how ya doing?"

"I can't complain. I'm ready to get it over with and kick start the weekend."

Gallin laughed kindly at his best friend since the 5th grade. The two of them crowded into the school with the rest of the heard of kids, rushing to lockers getting ready for their first class. Gallin and Billy headed reluctantly to algebra class, neither was great at math, but Gallin was at least decent at it. The two of them followed their classmates into the room. Mr. Hendrickson said pop quiz and over half of the students groaned or rolled their eyes.

After the pop quiz in algebra he headed to the next class, Biology. He didn't hate it as much as algebra but it wasn't Gallin's favorite one either. His favorite was last hour, Art Design. The day took forever it seemed until eventually the last class of the day began. He loved it, half the time he didn't notice anything in the real world when he fell into the trance of his sketching. Lately it had been these strange symbols and intricate designs he had seen only in dreams and nightmares. He kept that part to himself. He didn't want anyone to think he had lost his mind or was just plain weird, again.

Once again as soon as his teacher had given the instruction he began to slowly sketch into a rhythmic motion, just like breathing to him. Each time he got an art assignment, he would lose himself in it. It was the only time being an outcast really didn't bother him. He had gotten into another symbol this one looked to have a horned dragon like vampire beast drawn within a triple braided circle. It was more impressive than his gothic fairies. He couldn't help but admire his own talent. He did begin to wonder exactly what these things were; they were a little too impressive to be from his own imagination. Some of the symbols he would draw had strange markings within them that he had never seen before. He wondered why he kept dreaming of them and remembering them. He usually couldn't remember anything about them when he woke up.

Suddenly the bell rang, jolting him back to reality. He quickly grabbed his book bag and followed behind the other students to rush out of the building to get to the weekend as soon as possible. He wasn't into the social scene, he didn't go to parties or school functions. He was perfectly content just sitting in his room with his sketch books and pencils getting lost in another drawing. It was his little escape, he never questioned why it was like an obsession, and he just loved to do it. Finally able to make his way through the monstrous crowd of teenagers piling out of the school; he breathed a sigh of relief. Then briskly walking the nine blocks home he smiled. He couldn't wait to toss his book bag in the corner, find some good junk food and draw.

Rounding the corner of the block he lived on, there was a large white moving van parked across the street.

His curiosity got the better of him as he jogged a little faster. Someone must have bought the old Jameson place. The large house had been empty for a few years now. It was a nice Victorian style home, painted a nice hue of grey with off white shutters. He admired that house many sleepless nights from his bedroom window. He wanted to get a good look at the new neighbors. He hoped if nothing else they would be nice, possibly friendly. He jogged a little faster then crossed the street from his own house and walked around the moving van.

A tall older woman with dark blonde curls and bright light brown eyes smiled at him.

"Hello there young man, may I help you?" She asked in a nice tone.

"Hello my name is Gallin, I live across the street. I just wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood."

"How sweet of you, I'm Sarah M.C. Cormack. How old are you?" She asked with wheels spinning in her mind.

"I'm seventeen."

"I have a daughter, she's sixteen."

"Where is she? I could help her learn her way around."

"That is sweet of you; she's around here probably putting boxes in her bedroom."

A few minutes later, he saw a very attractive girl walk up to them. She winked at him, suddenly he couldn't breathe.

"Hi I'm Zorrine."

"Hi, I'm Gallin. I live across the street." He couldn't help but stare at her. She had the most goddess like copper eyes he had ever seen in his young life. Her cheeks were bright, her smile soft. Her charming complexion went well with the dark brown curls flowing past her shoulders. There was something else about her that fascinated him nut he just didn't know what it could be. He intended to find out, if she would let him.

"What do you like to do around here for fun? We literally just got here, I start school Monday." She informed him with a flirtatious hint in her voice.

"Most of the kids around here go to the mall or the movies. There's a decent diner not far from here, we could go sometime when you're not busy, if you want."

Zorrine could see the fear in his eyes. She wouldn't have rejected him if someone had paid her. She felt almost compelled to him. It was a strong pull, like instantly she had to be near him. It got her thinking that it would be best to follow her intuition.

"I would love to, anytime. What do you like to do?"

"I'm a bit of a hermit. I spend a lot of time in my room; I like to draw more than anything." Gallin admitted hoping he didn't sound like a dork.

"I'd love to see some of it." She told him, sounding like an angel.

"I'll bring it over later if you're not doing anything."

"Sure, I'd really like that." She replied, just as eager to see his sketching as he was to show it. He open his book bag and grabbed a notebook wrote something down and handed it to her. She looked at it for a moment. It was his cell phone number. She grabbed the pen and wrote hers down on the cover of his notebook.

"Good, well I better let you get settled in; I'll brink one of my sketchbooks over in a while, if that's okay?"

She nodded and told him thank you as she watched him walk back across the street until he went inside and shut the door. Her mother did the best not to notice the obvious attraction, she was glad her daughter had made a friend in less than an hour of arriving to their new home. It was nice to see her in a decent mood.

He tossed his book bag in the corner by the front door. He immediately grabbed her number and added it to his phone. He went to the kitchen for a bag of chips and a soda, with nothing else on his mind but Zorrine and his art work. He wondered how long he should wait before darting back over to see her again. Is an hour too soon, or should he wait a little longer? He was confused, he'd dated before but none seemed to affect him the way that she had. He didn't know what it was about her, but he paced the house and then his room wasting just enough time to not appear desperate. He spent the majority of the time flipping through his sketchbooks trying to find his best two or three. A nervous wreck, he didn't know what to say to her, he wasn't great with the opposite sex. He could manage a conversation with classmates, but with this one it felt different. He'd known her all of five minutes and already felt a strange connection with her. He had never felt like this before, nervous and anxious, fearing he would embarrass himself in front of her. He couldn't figure out what made him worry like this, he had dated Stephanie last summer until her family moved out to California. He wasn't half this goofy with her, but Zorrine was special, just something about being near her made him happy.

Pacing around his cream colored bedroom, he tried to waste as much time as possible as not to appear too eager. He went back and forth staring outside the window and wondering when he should go to her. He tried and couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed three sketchbooks and headed out the front door and across the street. He swiftly walked across the street to the old Victorian house. He was nervous but tried not to act like it, he rang the doorbell. After just a moment the door flew open and Mrs. McCormick stood there giving him a friendly smile.

"Hello young man, do come in please." She led him to a small couch, and then offered to go get Zorrine for him. Moments later she walked down the spiral staircase wearing faded jeans and an old t- shirt. He thought she looked like an angel. His eyes widened as he gazed upon her.

"Hi, I brought a few of my sketchbooks if you have time."

"Of course I have time. Why don't we go in the back yard, there's a huge maple tree we could sit under, if you like." Zorrine suggested batting her eyes at him.

"It sounds good to me." He winked at her.

She led him through the house to the kitchen and out the sliding glass door. He looked around, the yard was a lot bigger than he originally imagined. There was a lot of room to stretch out. The tree was in the center of the yard, with different little purple red and yellow flowers accenting all four corners of the yard. The flower beds were in a triangle design, he thought it looked like something in a dream. It was a nice place. The two of them walked over to the maple tree to sit down. She sat close to him as he handed her the first sketchbook to look through.

She opened it, looking through the intricate detail of the Chinese dragon with its tail wrapped around the top of a great mountain. She flipped to the next a dark looking fairy, the next resembled some kind of a dark underworld creature, and she smiled at it.

"I'm sorry I should have warned you, my drawings are a little dark minded."

"Don't apologies for these they're amazing, they have a morbidly gothic charm." She complimented him as she went looking through more drawings. She couldn't find a single one she didn't like.

"Thank you, I'm glad you like them." He paused a moment before adding, "I'm also glad you moved here."

"I'm glad we moved here too." She replied, looking over the next art book with just as much enthusiasm as the last.

The two of them stayed under the maple tree for hours looking at his art work and getting to know each other. They joked around about everything from their family lives to high school melodrama. After going through two of his sketchbooks she turned and peered into his eyes.

"I was wondering based on your sketching, do you believe in the paranormal or unexplained?"

"I don't know I never really thought about it before." He replied giving her an honest answer.

"I think it's something you may enjoy, it may even inspire you." She informed him.

"Perhaps you're right, I'll look into it."

Zorrine had a peculiar look in her eyes. "I'll be right back I want to show you something."

He nodded and waited a few minutes while she ran inside to get something. She was gone from the gorgeous backyard no less than ten minutes before running back to where he was under the great big maple tree.

When she returned he could see she had a strange flat object that did perk his curiosity. He gave her a puzzled look, she in turn giggled hysterically.

"What do you have there?"

"It's an Ouija board, wanna play?" She winked at him followed by a deviously wicked grin.

"Okay, I've never used one before."

She looked at him as if he were from another planet with one eyebrow raised she spoke to him, "Are you kidding? You've never use one?"

"I have seen them before but never actually played it."

"Would you like to learn? It's easy the hardest part is concentration and keeping still."

"I think I can do that, let's get started." He spoke with enthusiasm, flashing a smile.

Once she explained how the game worked he couldn't wait to play. It looked like a lot of fun, something he didn't have very often. He didn't exactly fill his schedule with a lot of social activities. Spending time getting to know the new girl was a nice change for him. She seemed really nice, even if her beliefs were a little different. He really liked that about her. She had a wonderful and creative imagination and he enjoyed being near it. The two of them sat cross-legged on the ground with the board on their lap. She set the small device on the board, instructing him to place two fingers upon it, as she did the same. For the first ten minutes nothing happened, she told him this required a lot of patience the first few times you play. He took a deep breath, and did as she said when she said it. Then when the two were nearing a transfixed state, she asked it a question.

"Is there someone here from the other side?" Within seconds the Ouija board started to vibrate slightly. She looked at Gallin for a second.

"Are you lost?" He asked, starting to get into the game.

It shot the planchette to the word no.

"Do you need help?" He asked it, eyes widened.

It shot to no once more.

Gallin stared at Zorrine with fear in his eyes, as well as his soul. He was beyond freaked out by this thing. He wasn't sure he wanted to ask anything else but curiosity got the best of him. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you looking for someone?"

Neither one of them made a move or even dared to breathe for a moment. Suddenly as dusk had befallen the small town the board started flipping around as if it were alive. The two of them slowly backed up a few steps. Suddenly the Ouija board shattered into thirteen pieces, then formed a circle in mid-air. Zorrine looked horrified, as the circle began spewing a thick black fog.

"Is this part of the game too?" He asked with apprehension crackling in his voice.

"Not unless I have been doing it wrong."

The two stared at the thick black fog rolling in a circle until suddenly someone stepped through it. Standing before the two was an older gentleman. He was a tall muscular fellow with jet black curls, a goatee and eyes as green as the infamous hills of Ireland.

Gallin was completely bewildered, distracted only by his new friend. She saw the gentleman, then fainted instantly, knocking herself unconscious into the trunk of the maple tree. He ran to help her, as the strange man spoke to him.

"Relax boy she will wake in a few hours with no more than a headache."

"How could you possibly know that?"

The unknown fellow cocked his head back with a fit of hearty laughter. "You would be completely flabber-gausted By the things I could tell you, Gallin."

"How did you know my name?"

"I know a little more than I let on." He winked in a playful and disturbing manner.

"What's your name? Could you solve that mystery for me?"

"Sure, kid how idiotic of me, they call me Lazerus. I'm a warlock if you know of those kind."

"It's good to meet you, now why are you here?"

"I need you to come with me, I shall explain on the way." Then before another split second flew by, Lazerus grabbed him pulling him through the portal. He then put a trance state enchantment on him, keeping his mind and mouth quiet. Gallin turned into something slightly more intelligent than a ghoul, but not by much. He did as the warlock instructed without a fuss. It was as if his free will had fallen ill to a coma.

While he was being taken to a different reality, Zorrine was slowly waking from her fainting spell involving the maple tree. She looked around the back yard, seeing her now shattered Ouija board she remembered seeing the portal. Then suddenly she began to recall the guy stepping through the thick black fog. Looking around for a moment, as if seeing the darkness for the first time she began to call out to him, getting no more than a cricket's response. Taking a deep breath, she thought about it for a moment.

He probably freaked out and went home. She hoped nothing happened to him, but she got a dark sense that something was wrong. She would find out in the morning. She couldn't sleep, her dreams filled with guilt over not looking for him. Over the next few days, no one had seen him, his mother had been devastated, putting his picture across the neighborhood and the internet. Months passed by and still no word, as if he never existed at all.

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