As i helped dad put the boxes inside, i looked around. Inside the house was wooden, with a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. To the right was a massive kitchen, and the living room. 

The furniture was already there, surprisingly. Happy we didn't need to buy furniture, I put down the last box, rubbing my hands together to get the dust off. It was time to explore. 

I decided to go up the stairs to look at the rooms before Rosalyn did. She was a few steps behind me, and so i rushed up and quickly ran around to look at each room.

Rosalyn glanced at me with her blue eyes and scoffed. 

"Dan, stop running around. You'll bring the house down." I stopped what i was doing and stared. Rosalyn SPOKE to me? How was this possible? 

I felt the hairs on my arms stand up as i shivered. 

"Rose, " I started, but she had already gone into another room. Sighing, i rubbed my icy arms to keep them from tingling, and entered the large room i was standing outside of.

It was painted bright blue, which was my favorite color. Running my hand along the smooth walls, i noticed a small book sitting on the table. A layer of dust covered the leather cover, and so i approached it. 

I decided the book must be old, so i gently took the pages and turned them. It had beautiful illustrations. I ran my hand over them, and kept turning. Suddenly, there came a knock on glass. 

My head shot around to the window, where a small robin sat. Sighing in relief, i turned to my book. It was all i could do to keep from screaming.

The pages were blackened as if burnt, and tinted with red. The beautiful illustrations were gone. I tasted iron in my mouth, and suddenly, smoke started to swirl out of the pages. Black, choking smoke, like in the city.

I dropped the book on the floor in alarm, and ran out of the room as quickly as my legs could carry me. 

And that is where the story begins.