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So this is the first chapter of a book of mine (AGAIN) and I just want to know what everyone thinks. Yeah, it's REALLY long, but I think it's well worth the read!! ^__^

The door creaked as she pushed it open, the groan echoing about her in the empty house like a chorus of badly tuned violins. Tingles danced down her spine, and her hands shook with nervous energy as the jeers sounded from behind her. Tossing back her brown ponytail, she held her head high as she took a tentative step onto the dusty floor of the old house. Something sticky struck her on the neck—spider web—and she scrunched up her face as she tried to brush it off. The door opened a bit wider as she put her weight into it, then ground to a halt as its rusty hinges refused to give anymore. Pale moonlight shone through the door about her, illuminating the old mansion and giving it the appearance of a ghostly manor. She smiled to herself as she took another silent step inside. Am I glad that Halloween is my favorite holiday, she thought, glancing around at the moth-eaten old curtains and the dusty hardwood floor.

“You’ll never survive a night in there!” called Jack from the sidewalk. He’d been her archrival since the fifth grade when she’d proved to him, as the new kid, that she wasn’t afraid to take dares and jumped of the swing set when it was as high as it could go and managed to jump further than him and stay upright besides. He’d pushed her down, and then she’d leaped up and punched him in the nose, bloodying his favorite shirt. Ever since then it had been one dare after another. She’d never given up on one yet and neither had he. And neither has he. Smiling wickedly, she turned around, the silver light from the crescent moon flashing across her hazel eyes.

“Yeah? Neither would you!” she shouted back, her arms crossed, a daring look on her face. The crowd of teenagers around him oohed, nearly telling him that if he didn’t accept he would face utter humiliation and serious ego deflation. He glowered back at her, his honey-brown eyes all but glowing red in the night. She bit her lower lip to hide the triumphant smile as he tromped up the front path toward the open door, his crowd of friends whistling and making rude suggestions.

“I hope you’re not afraid of the dark,” she challenged as the group behind them started to giggle at an obviously sexual statement. Jack rolled his eyes and curled his lip in disgust.

“I hate you,” he growled, glaring daggers at her. She merely batted her eyes and smiled sweetly at him as he too walked into a spider web. He brushed at it ferociously, rumpling his sweater as he did so. Ellen somehow managed to choke down her laugher and brushed the spider off his back. He whirled around at her light touch, a glimpse of fear in his eyes. It died within a second, the defiance back and burning. The wind pushed at him as he ran a hand through his tousled blonde curls; the curtains by the broken windows swayed in a ghoulish waltz.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, taking a step back, her sandals squeaking slightly on the hardwood floor. He straightened his sweater and closed the door partially, still allowing the moonbeams to penetrate the dusty hallway. Looking around, she sighed. If the signs of age hadn’t been there, it might have actually been livable; it was still fully furnished from the first owner. The house hadn’t been lived in for nearly thirty years, but was a town treasure, so it hadn’t been torn down yet. A rich eccentric had built it back in the nineteenth century and disappeared soon after. Ever since then, it was the talk of the town—the biggest house on Elata Avenue. No family was able to live in it for more than a year without moving out of town. Some said that it was haunted, but the realists stated that it simply was too expensive for any family to own. It wasn’t until another rich eccentric disappeared that the house had been deemed condemned and the town refused to sell it to anyone. They’d used it for a haunted house for a few years, but after a third disappearance, it had been truly abandoned.

Jeeze, Ellen said to herself, clearing a few cobwebs out of the way so she could stumble into the dining room, this place sure has a funny feel to it. She noticed that Jack followed her, keeping his distance, but never out of eyesight. It almost felt as though a thousand back massagers were going off at once underneath the floorboards. The rooms seemed to buzz with an indescribable energy. She cleared a few more cobwebs out of the way, and nearly fell against the dining room table. The cool wood underneath her hands was made of some dark wood, felt gorgeously smooth, and stretched to at least fifteen feet. She dragged her fingers across the surface, drawing in the dust and revealing the still shiny finish. She smiled at the intricate chandelier above the table and at the candlesticks that sat on a faded blue runner with gold tassels on the end. It was almost out of a fairy tale, like Beauty and the Beast. Then her eyes caught hold of a mirror that could have been the evil queen’s from Snow White. She picked up a dusty cloth napkin from the serving tray and shook it out, showering the air with the fine powder. As she wiped the huge oval mirror as clean as she could get it, she noticed that Jack had a funny look on his face. It was almost as if he’d felt the strangeness too. It wasn’t scary, but a feeling a familiarity, like going to a place she’d been to before in a dream.

Smiling and feeling childish, Ellen dropped the napkin and struck a pose in front of the mirror, trying to look like a supermodel. She heard a snort of laughter from Jack but ignored him anyway. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?” she inquired with a phony British accent. Jack rolled his eyes behind her reflection.

“Certainly not you,” he replied, baiting her. She whirled around, her hazel eyes flashing with anger and embarrassment. He crossed his arms and smiled smugly at her.

“What?” she demanded, feeling her temper rise. Why was it that he could make her blood boil without even trying? He’s so arrogant, she thought, glaring at him. He thinks he’s so cool and perfect. God I can’t stand him!

“You heard me,” he said, walking around to circle her. In the pale light he looked ominous, and she took a tiny step back. “Not you.”

“What? I’m pretty . . .” she said, sounding completely unconvinced.

“Look, Ellie, I don’t want to break it down for you, but if I have to . . .”

“Please do,” she retorted, wondering why she cared what he thought at all. He sighed, walking around her and inspecting her. She felt like she’d been turned into a mannequin and put in a store window.

“Well, first of all, I like girls with blonde hair and blue eyes.” He paused, cocking his head to look at her. She bit her tongue to stop herself from responding with a witty blonde comment. “You might not look half bad as a blonde,” he continued, “but you’re too tall and . . . your nose is too big.” She wrinkled the feature, and set her jaw with determination.

“You want to know why I don’t like you?” she asked, and not waiting for him to reply, continued. “I like guys who are smart and sensitive, of which you are neither. I also go for black hair and light eyes, and guys who don’t try to make me look like a fool. You’re the one who’s too tall, and you’re way too skinny for my tastes.” He had an impatient look on his face as he stood there, taking her insults. “So how does it feel to have someone criticize you for your looks?” she demanded, balling her hands into fists. As he took a step closer to her, a muscle in his jaw twitching, she realized that he was nearly half a head taller than she was and probably much stronger. If they got into a fight now, he’d probably win. Some emotion flickered across his face so fast she had no time to guess what it was, and he backed off.

“Forget it,” he mumbled, appearing a bit more deflated than his normal cocky self. She flung herself against the wall and crossed her arms, glaring at a spot on the carpet. Jack stood next to the table, his hands in his pockets, glaring at the same spot. It was only when they heard the creaking sound of the front door opening that they jumped and looked at each other. The sound of footsteps along the front hallway made them move closer to each other.

“This place is supposed to be haunted, right?” she asked, a tinge of anxiety in her voice. He nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. Both froze as the footsteps stopped, then started again. “Would your dumb friends play a joke on us?” she whispered fiercely, tugging him into a darkened corner.

“No, they’re all too scared of this place,” he whispered back, pressing himself against the cool wall. “Do you believe in ghosts?” he asked, fear making his voice quaver a bit. He gnawed on his tongue in punishment, unwilling to make the mistake of letting her see him afraid. Trepidation permeated Ellen too much for her to even notice his voice; instead, she concentrated on not letting her hands shake so he wouldn’t see how frightened she was.

“No,” she lied, glancing at his shadowy form in the darkness. “Do you?”

“Yes,” he replied, unsure if he was telling the truth or not. There was probably a perfectly rational explanation for this . . . yeah, like some hundred-year-old whacko walking around in her own house, he thought, scaring himself.

“Okay . . . anyway, let’s circle around and go up from behind. It’s probably just one of your stupid groupies trying to scare me.” She realized that her hand was clutching his sweater and she let go to pull on his sleeve. For some reason, she knew that a small hallway connected the dining room to the kitchen, and it was in the same general direction that the voices were coming from. Jack shadowed her, glancing around, looking for any signs of humans. Ellen stopped so suddenly that he nearly knocked her over. She elbowed him in the arm and tugged on his sweater to make him notice something that had appeared on the tile of the kitchen. There on the floor, were two sets of footprints, neither one theirs. Jack felt his heartbeat speed up and Ellen’s throat constricted.

Soft whispers came from ahead of them, startling the two and making them disappear around the corner for a moment before Ellen, more in an attempt to show off, walked as quietly as her squeaky sandals would allow and trailed the barely visible footprints down the hall. Jack followed, unwilling to let her get the best of him, but mostly so that he wouldn’t be left alone. The soft whispers stopped and started again, this time a bit louder and more angry-sounding. Ellen held her hand out in front of her to avoid running into a table or a spider web. When she bumped into a slightly cool moving object that said, “Oof,” she let out a shriek and stumbled back into Jack, who gave a muffled yell as he crashed over a table in the hallway. Someone else screamed and jumped. A flashlight’s beam shot through the darkness and caught sight of Ellen groping to help Jack stand up. The yells of surprise echoed off the walls around them, sounding like calls of the undead.

“Ellie?” asked a familiar voice as Jack got up and dusted himself up. “And Jack. I figured he’d be in on this.” Ellen held her spider webby hand at her eye level to block out the glare from the flashlight.

“Rick?” Jack asked, squinting in the bright light as well. Ellen felt her other hand fly to her waist and make sure that her shirt was still decent—an unfortunate force of habit. Her older brother had, on too many occasions, walked in on her after she’d gone on a make-out date.
“Richard Ewan Spencer! You scared me half to death!” cried the young woman, panting slightly with the adrenaline rush. Richard squinted at the two teenagers in disbelief.

“What are you two doing here?” he demanded, grabbing his younger sister with his free hand and pulling her into the barely moonlit den. She crossed her arms and gave him a don’t-treat-me-like-I’m-two look.

“I think the more appropriate question is, what are you doing here?” she asked, trying to turn the tables on him. He sighed, gazing heavenward, just like their mother used to do when they were younger and being difficult.

“I went to The Café and overheard that you and Jack were spending the night in the old Wriggley House. We came to take you home.” He threw a glance to someone behind Ellen, and she turned to see who it was.

“We?” she asked, noticing the shorter young woman behind herself. Richard sighed in his exasperated older brother way and held out his hand, smiling a little, looking like a mix between Dopey and Bashful.

“Kelly Livingston,” the young woman cut him off, flipping her shoulder length blonde hair. “I told Rick about you two and decided to come along for a few laughs.” Ellen made a face at her and all but stuck out her tongue.

“I know who you are,” said Ellen, her tone disgusted. She knew that Kelly and Jack were related somehow, and the huge ego obviously ran in the family. Kelly had been in Richard’s class during high school, and was no less mean to him than Jack was to Ellen. She also knew that her brother had had a crush on the young woman for most of his high school career, and she wouldn’t even give him the time of day, even though both had been popular.

“Kelly tried to sneak up on me and scare me as I was looking for you, but I knew that she was following me.” Richard said, clearly a bit flattered that she would follow him no matter what the circumstances. Kelly rolled her pretty dark grey eyes and crossed her arms. Ellen gave her brother a sickened look.

“Just because Mom and Dad are on a cruise for two weeks doesn’t give you permission to act like them,” Ellen spat, angry that her brother had caught her here—not that he wouldn't have if she hadn’t come home that night. “I’m twenty for crying out loud—and I’m going to college.”

“So stop acting like a five year old,” Richard retorted a bit more venomously than he intended, “and quit taking dares from Jack.” Ellen pouted for a moment, wishing her brother would stop telling her to grow up. But inwardly she knew that he was right. Jack appeared behind Kelly, causing her to start and breath a sigh of relief when she realized that it was only her relative.

“Well if she’d stop giving me dares I’d stop too,” Jack replied, to which Ellen snorted. “Shut up,” he said, glaring at her. She raised her chin defiantly.

“No, you,” she replied.

“Why does everything always have to be a competition?” Richard demanded, frustrated. Ellen and Jack glared at each other, both equally aggravated. Kelly stood beside Richard, examining her nails in the moonlight, visibly bored. “Okay, Ellen, say goodnight, we’re going home.”

“No! Rick, I have to stay here! If I don’t, I’ll never be able to show my face in public again!” pleaded Ellen, clutching her older brother’s arm. He shook her off, staring coldly at her.

“That’s not my fault,” he said, his honey-brown eyes unsympathetic. She made a face at him and stamped her foot like a two-year-old having a temper tantrum at Macys. He was only doing this to try to impress Kelly, and she knew that. It infuriated her.

“I’m not going,” she replied, stomping again. “No freaking way!” She jumped up and down with each word, feeling the floorboards shudder underneath her. Suddenly the old timber groaned with the pressure it hadn’t felt in years and collapsed beneath her, swallowing her. Richard, Jack and Kelly let out surprised yells, but none was more stunned than Ellen, who suddenly saw her brother’s face, then feet, and then she was beneath the floor, deep in the forgotten bowels of the house.

“Ellen!” called Richard frantically, leaning over the hole with a firm grip on the wall. She coughed on the dust that was floating around her, and squinted up at him. He looked closer than she thought she’d fell, and she stood, dusting her jeans off, her feet stinging from the hard landing. Nothing was broken, but she was sure to have some killer bruises the next day. “Can you reach my hand?”

As she stretched up to try, she caught sight of something glowing from a crack in the wall. Richard groped for her hand, but hers fell a good six inches short. “Jack, go down and lift her up and we’ll pull you out,” Kelly ordered, giving Jack a hard shove. He stumbled a bit and regained his balance before jumping into the large hole in the floorboards.

Mesmerized by the green glowing, Ellen reached for it, feeling out the crack in the wall. Jack groped around for her, and managed to get a good solid handful of . . .. She reached out and smacked him, the sound bouncing off the walls around them. “Excuse me!” she shouted, noting the slight grin on his face and wishing she could pound it off. He did that on purpose, she thought, angry that she’d liked it even for a millisecond.

“C’mon, Ellen, let’s go,” he said, trying to pull her away. The glow caught him by surprise and his jaw dropped. “What the heck is that?” he asked, watching her trying to figure out the straight crack in the wall. Ellen shrugged, feeling around for a door handle or something. Jack turned around and stumbled back under the hole. He felt around the wall, and discovered a badly frayed a rope ladder hanging from one of the floor beams above him.

“I found a ladder,” he announced, proud of his accomplishment, but Ellen ignored, him, squinting through the crack to try to see what was behind it.
“Richard, you’ve got to come here and see this,” she called, working her fingers in to pry it open. She could hear Richard and Kelly arguing about whether or not they should investigate, and Richard finally conceded, knowing that Ellen would never leave unless she’d shown him what she found. Kelly dropped down next, followed by Richard. Both of them saw the green glow and gazed at it in puzzlement.

“What the heck is that?” Kelly asked, incredulous, repeating the words of Jack, who was now also helping Ellen to work the door open. “Is it something radioactive?”

“Duh, that’s only in the movies. If it was, we’d be dead by now,” Jack retorted, as he and the young woman at his side finally managed to get a loud rusty squeal from the stubborn door.

“Ellen,” protested Richard, but the door suddenly flew open with a loud squeal and cut him off. All four of them stared in wonder at a human-sized fireplace, which dominated one large wall of the basement. The glass doors stood wide open, and the chain screen hung to one side, revealing a space full of some sort of green glowing substance. Jack took a step toward the fireplace, his head cocked in wonderment.

“What is it?” Richard asked, his voice echoing off the high walls. Ellen stared at the thing, unable to move. She’d been here before in a dream or something of the sort. All of this was so familiar . . . almost like déjà vu. She shivered as a tingle trickled down her spine.

“I dunno,” she replied, gazing at it as though hypnotized. I wish I knew what it truly was, she thought, gnawing on her lower lip. “Do any of you get this . . . maybe weird magical feeling about it?” she asked, her voice almost monotone. She could see out of the corner of her eye, that Jack nodded.
“No way, that’s only make-believe,” Kelly said, laughing a bit nervously.
“Only to the closed minded,” replied Jack, equally hypnotized. Ellen broke her gaze away and looked at him. She hadn’t known that he believed in the paranormal. He turned to look at her, and again she felt a shiver travel the length of her spine.

“Magic doesn’t really exist,” insisted Kelly, looking at the rest of them like they were crazy. She took a step forward and tripped over Ellen’s sandals, which caused her to go flying toward the fireplace. With a dull thud, she was stopped only by the brick step that was the hearth. One hand went through the green curtain, which rippled like jiggled Jell-O. When she pulled it out, on her hand sat two very expensive and heavy looking rings, and around her wrist shone a diamond bracelet. Everyone’s jaws dropped and ricocheted back up as they stared at her hand. Kelly jumped up excitedly, disregarding the pain of the scrape and bruises, and spun around to show them off.

“I wonder if this thing covers the person in jewels?” she said, looking at it with a greedy eye. “No wonder the old bat who built this place was so wealthy.” Before anyone could stop her, she stepped through the curtain and stood, her arms outstretched, practically like she were begging. Almost instantly she was transformed into a princess, complete with a sparkling tiara and a fancy ball gown. All three of them gaped at her. Richard had to rub his eyes to convince himself that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Hey,” Kelly said after a moment, her voice sounding far away, “I feel funny . . .” and she started to rotate, faster and faster until she disappeared with a spark of light.

“What?” all three of them cried, jostling each other as they dashed forward, but careful not to push any of the others into the fireplace.

“I don’t believe it . . . wow . . .” Ellen whispered to herself, an amazed look on her face.

“Well whaddaya know?” Jack murmured, staring in wonder.

“How do we get her back?” asked Richard, frantically, wanting to chase after her but afraid to go in himself. Ellen simply shook her head and shrugged, torn between going in herself and shoving Jack in. Richard took a hesitating step forward, then before Ellen or Jack could stop him, he leaped into the fireplace. His younger sister gasped as he turned into a finely dressed prince and then spun around so that he too disappeared.

“Rick!” she cried, reaching after him. Jack held her back, unwilling to chase after her. “Let me go!” she cried, stomping on his foot. He let go for the briefest moment, and she took a step forward. He gave her a pleading look, and she gnawed her lower lip, looking between him and the fireplace. She finally sucked in a deep breath and stepped in, feeling strange warmth penetrate her whole core. She closed her eyes as a funny vibrating feeling emerged from her bones and then she disappeared as well.

Jack cursed, looking between the door he’d come through and the one he was about to. He’d seen three people disappear tonight. Maybe if he went to the police . . . but he’d get in trouble for trespassing and they’d probably send him to some asylum out in the mountains. He swore and took a step back before running at full speed and jumping into the green Jell-O like substance. He closed his eyes and smelled the slightest hint of a fresh breeze in the forest before he was rendered unconscious.

And the room stood as it had for over twenty years before the four who had just departed—silent, glowing and resonating with magical energy.