3.00 AM

The sky was dark and cloudy, hiding the moon and the stars. There was a heavy thunderstorm raging in that area - an unusual one on a summer night. Without moonlight the place was pitch black, no way to see what's in front of us.

There was a rustling noise of leaves as a silhouette of a man was running in fear, without knowing where he was going. He ran as if he was being chased by something horrifying. But.. there was nobody behind him. No one was chasing him.

As he was running, his foot got twisted and he fell on the ground. He somehow got up, trembling with fear. His foot was hurt yet he limped and tried to run. Suddenly he felt like something grabbed his one leg. Before he could figure out what was happening, his silhouette was nowhere to be found.

He opened his eyes slowly. Only to find himself trapped inside a box. He tried to look around and it seemed like a... coffin. He was being buried alive! He knocked hardly on the coffin and started screaming for help.

Seconds passed. It was getting harder to breathe. Suddenly a hand came approaching his face from behind. The hand was merely bones covered by skin. It was dark with long finger nails that had blood on its tips. His eyes widened with terror, he screamed louder as the hand closed his mouth and tightened its grip.

Above the ground.

The scream slowly got reduced into a muffled voice and vanished into thin air. Eventually the sound of knocking on a wood stopped too.

A few months ago.

It was a bright day. The sky was as clear as a crystal. The sunshine was giving away a warm feeling.

"Turn left on the 24 hwy road", said the voice navigation.

"Do we really need to move here?", William frowned.

"Well there's no point in talking about this now. We are gonna reach there soon! ", Dawn replied casually.

"I know you are happy because you had no friends back there. It's not the same for me."

"You don't know anything. I.. I had friends too.", Dawn stammered.

"Ha ha really?",Will asked in a mocking tone.

"No one could be your friend for long because you are creepy.", He added

"Just because I like spooky things doesn't mean that I'm creepy!"

"Well you are creepy. At least you are weird. You don't even like pink like other girls do."

"What does liking pink have anything to do with being weird?"

Dawn continued,"You know what? It's sad that your girlfriend broke up with you because we're moving but you must stop frowning about it."

"You just shu-" Before he could finish the sentence Sara shouted,"Enough!"

She continued,"Why do you kids keep quarrelling about everything? "

"But mom he started it!"

"No. She did"

"I don't wanna know who started it. Just stop fighting for everything.",Sara said in a worried tone.

"Listen Will, I know it is hard.. moving from New York and all.. but you must understand our family's situation too. Your Dad is going through lots of problems and returning back to his home town might actually make a difference. Just look at the bright side. You'll get to meet new people.. it's a new beginning!", Sara said with a smile.

"But mom..", William dragged.

"Alright alright that's enough kids. We have arrived!", interrupted Ross.

"Welcome to Buena Vista", Dawn read out loud.

"Here we are!", Ross said as he stopped the car in front of a house whose name plate read "Miller's".

"Let's do this! Let me make some good memories here... Also some real friends maybe..", Dawn said to herself as she took a deep breath.

"Okay! So this is a new beginning! Hope I could move on..", William thought.

Dawn looked around the streets and asked, "Whoa! Dad you grew up here?".

"Yup! Home sweet home! this place just needs a little work and it'll become alive again!"

"Actually it's kind of spooky and I like it!", Dawn smiled excitedly.

"And that's why you don't have any friends. Who on the Earth likes spooky things? You are weird.", William mocked her.

"What's wrong with liking spooky things? I like being weird and I don't care if people don't want to be my friend because of it. And yeah I.. I did have a friend who accepted me for who I am. ",Dawn stuttered and went silent.

"Hey! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry buddy I was just teasing you! Come on..", William tried to cheer her up.

"If the war is over now come help us with the cleaning", Sara called the both kids.

The house was not so big but spacious enough. Back in New York they used to live in  an apartment so, compared to that, this house was rather cozy. The house belonged to Ross's parents and his mom lived there until she died the previous month. Both the kids never got to know their grandparents that much as they visited only a few times in New York.  After her death Ross felt that they might have a fresh start if they moved to his home town. He was having some issues back there in New York lately.

"Mom I'll take care of the basement and the attic.", Dawn said eagerly.

"Again with the spooky things!", frowned William.

"Okay Dawn. Ask your brother to help you."

Dawn sneered at William and said,"Let's go to the basement first."

"Alrighty!"

The basement door opened with a creak noise. "It's so dark in here.", Said Dawn.

"How do you expect a basement to be?"

William waved his flashlight around as he looked for a light switch.

"Here it is!", Dawn was reaching for the switch and suddenly something fell on her.

"Ahhh", Dawn screamed.

"What is it?", William shined the flashlight on her and saw a rat running behind.

"Looks like we have a rat situation here!"

They cleaned up the basement and went to clean the attic.

The both climbed up and looked around the confined attic. Something hit William's head. It was a bulb. William switched it on. It lightened up a bit and then went off. He switched it off and on again and again but it didn't turn on.

"Dawn the bulb's not working..", Will said turning towards Dawn, who was looking beside him in horror. Her eyes were widened.

"Dawn? What's wrong?"

"There's something beside you."

"What?"

"A.. a shadow. It ran that way",she pointed behind him.

"Wh.. where??", Will was shivering as he looked behind to find nothing but the wall.

All of a sudden Dawn screamed"boo!!" And started laughing.

"What the hell Dawn! You scared the shi-", as he was going to finish the sentence, a shadow ran beside Dawn.

William froze with fear and said, "There's a.."

Dawn stopped laughing and asked,"What?"

"Nevermind. It's nothing. Hurry up let's clean this place and get down soon."

"Okay!"

"What was that?", the thoughts itself gave him chills.

"Get down kids. The breakfast is ready!", called Sara.

"Coming mom!", The both replied.

"So how's the neighborhood? Did you meet the neighbors?", Ross asked without taking his eyes from the newspaper he was holding.

"I met the Connors.. they seemed nice!", Sara replied as she poured the orange juice in a glass.

"That's good. What about the ones next door? Umm Jones right? ",Ross questioned curiously.

"Well I didn't get an answer when I rang the doorbell. I guess no one was home yesterday."

By then William and Dawn had finished their cereals and were about to leave.

"Best of luck for your first day at school both of you!",Sara said with a smile.

"Yeah! Have fun and don't forget to learn new things!",Ross cheered them up.

"Yeah we will!", The both replied with a smile and headed out.

As they went past the house next door, Dawn felt like she saw something. She felt like someone was watching her. She stopped walking and turned back to take a look and saw a pair of eyes staring at her from the window. She was a little startled yet calmed herself to take a closer look at the window. It was actually a boy! She took a deep breath of relief. Maybe he's around her age, she assumed. All of a sudden the boy pulled back the curtains. William turned back, realising that his sister has stopped walking and asked in a loud voice"Hey Dawn what is it?" His voice brought Dawn back to reality.

"Huh? No. Nothing let's go.",Dawn rushed to keep up with him.

"Are you nervous?", William asked with concern.

"Oh no I'm not. I'm perfectly alright!", Dawn chuckled.

"It's okay! There's nothing wrong with being nervous."

"Really?", Dawn looked at his brother.

"Of course! You know what? You are stronger than you think you are. Don't let your own thoughts ruin the fun."

"Honestly I was nervous before, but now I feel confident. Thanks.", Dawn smiled at him.

"That's like my sis!", William said as he stroked her chestnut brown hair.

------------------------

Buena Vista highschool, sophomore class.

"Silence!",the loud yell from Mrs. Lance made a pause to the chattering noise in the class.

"We have a new transfer student! ", Mrs. Lance said as she looked at Dawn and added, "Introduce yourself ."

"Hey everyone! I'm Dawn Miller. I hope we will have a good time together!", Dawn said with a smile, her eyes were glowing.

No one seemed to be interested in her introduction except for a chubby red haired girl. Her hazel eyes and the freckles on her cheeks made her look cute. She was the only one who gave Dawn a warm smile. Dawn sat on the empty seat next to her.

"Hey! I'm Anna Mathew.",said the red hair.

"Hey Anna! Nice to meet you!", Dawn smiled and thought,"Not bad so far."

"Ok let's get to the lessons..",Mrs. Lance started taking class.

Dawn looked around her to take a good look at her classmates. As she was looking, a pair of familiar eyes, caught her attention - The boy from her next door. Now that she saw him clearly, he was wearing a black hoodie and black jeans. He had ocean blue eyes and a perfect pair of eyebrows. His wavy chocolate brown hair was trimmed on the sides. He had a sharp jawline. His facial features were great but his eyes reflected coldness. He seemed like he was unapproachable by people. Dawn realized that she was staring at him when he lifted his eyebrows at her as if he was asking,"What?", in a cold tone. It gave her chills. "Creepy.",she thought as she moved her eyes in the other direction.

"Excuse me Mrs. Lance!",Dawn looked at the classroom entrance, where the sound came from.

A tall blonde guy was standing there. His bright brown eyes were attractive. He was wearing a light blue shirt and navy pants. The colour suited him very well. He was charming. It seemed as if the place became brighter as soon as he entered.

"You are late again Mr.Brown",Mrs. Lance sighed.

"I'm sorry." said the blonde guy with an awkward smile and looked at Dawn.

"Wh.. why is he looking this way?",she thought and became nervous as he walked towards her.