It was late summer in the small town of Podunk, and George was outside working the fields while his lovely wife, Maria, was taking care of the housework and trying to stay out of the blistering sun. Every so often, she would sneak a peek out of the window to see how her beloved was faring and, as if he sensed her gaze, he would turn and wave at her. Despite how simple the lives they led were, they were very happy.

On that day, however, it was abnormally hot. No matter what Maria did, she could not cool herself, and she worried for George’s safety out in the field. She opened the back door and ran to him to tell him to forget the work for the day and come inside, but as she left the house, a shadow crept over the sun. She looked up, expecting to see a large cloud foretelling the coming of rain, but something else was there—something unnatural.

The shadow became bigger and bigger until it blocked out much of the sky from view. The farm was now covered in darkness deeper than the night of a new moon, but the shadow was still noticeably darker than everything else around it. Maria stood still and stared up at it, paralyzed with fear and wonder.

George dropped his hoe and ran toward his wife, unsure of the level of danger they were in. “Maria,” he shouted, “get inside! Maria!” But his words could not reach her.

The shadow continued to grow, and a low humming noise reverberated over the landscape. It seemed to be coming closer to the ground where Maria stood. While she watched it, transfixed with equal amounts of horror and awe, she felt that the shadow had a strange energy about it. It felt… lonely.

For some reason, she felt as if she should comfort it, and she began to sing a song, though George was too far away to hear the words clearly. She reached out toward the shadow, and she disappeared the moment her fingertips touched it.

“MARIA!” George cried out from the depths of his soul. He stopped at the spot where she had been just a moment ago and wept bitterly. Then he, too, disappeared.

Two years later, George returned to Podunk, much to the joy and confusion of the other townsfolk. When they asked him about where he had been and what he was doing, he refused to answer them. However, his wife, Maria, was never seen again.

*

Ninten woke up in his room, daylight streaming in through the window. He was sitting in the armchair in front of his television set, which was displaying nothing but static. It took him a moment to remember that he was watching a movie on a VHS tape when he had dozed off. The last part he remembered seeing was a scene of some weird giant hamster-looking thing standing in the rain with two girls.

He recalled the vision he had of the young couple and the shadow, and he shook his head to clear it of the remnants of sleep. What a weird dream that was, he thought as he got up to eject the tape from the VCR. He’d let his sisters handle rewinding the tape next time they wanted to watch it. I wonder what that big shadow was?

As he turned off his TV, Ninten caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the black screen. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, so his striped shirt had gotten a bit wrinkly. Luckily, his bright red hat had remained atop his head of dark hair throughout his entire nap. He always kept his hat on.

While placing the tape back into its box, he heard a scream from his sister’s room. He jumped, startled at the alarm in her voice. Without a second thought, he dropped the tape and ran for his door to go see what was the matter.

Before his hand even touched the doorknob, he heard vibration-like movement coming from the chair he had just been sitting in. He looked over to see the lamp shaking. He froze, fearing the possibility of an earthquake, but to his bewilderment, the lamp unplugged itself and began flying around the room… and then straight at him!

“Aaah!” Ninten ducked as the lamp narrowly missed his head. “What’s happening?!”

The lamp made another pass around the room and flew at him a second time, only this time, Ninten was ready. He swatted the lamp out of the air and kicked it across the room for good measure. The lamp fell to the floor and shattered, and it moved no more.

Ninten cringed. His mother wouldn’t be happy about him breaking the lamp, and who knows if she would believe him if he told her it had attacked?

He heard his sister scream again, and that brought him back to the situation at hand. He dashed out into the hallway and burst into his sister’s bedroom down the hall. Upon entering, he saw her cowering in the far corner of the room, and he followed her line of sight to find the culprit: a small baby doll that was causing all kinds of havoc with his sister’s belongings. Countless items were strewn about the floor as the doll flew around the room like Ninten’s lamp had done, only the doll was knocking over furniture and precious trinkets that rested on the shelves and dressers.

“You’re a menace,” Ninten said as he approached the crazed doll. He attempted to knock it out the same way as he had his lamp, but the doll’s movements were much more sporadic, and he got hit a few times as it made its way around the room. Resigning himself to the fact that he would be waking up with bruises the next day, he swatted at the flying doll once more, this time connecting with his target. The impact slowed the doll enough that he was able to get another hit in, and once the doll hit the floor, he stomped on it until it cracked and was still.

Ninten breathed a sigh of relief, as did his sister, Mimmie.

“Thank you for saving me,” she said, still shaking from the shock of what just happened.

“Don’t mention it,” Ninten replied. “What in the world is going on? The lamp in my room attacked me, and your doll was flying around like it had jet engines attached to it. It’s beyond weird.”

His other sister, Minnie, popped her head into the room. “My lamp was attacking me too. It stopped when I heard a crash in here.” She lingered by the door, prepared to bolt if she needed to.

“That was probably this weird doll.” Ninten looked down at the cracked baby doll on the floor. Now that it was harmless, its broken body was a sad sight. Something shiny inside of the remains caught his eye. “Hey, there’s something inside.”

He knelt down and cleared away the pieces of porcelain to reveal a tiny music box resting inside what had been the body of the doll. When he bent to pick it up, the music box began playing a song all on its own. It was a very short melody, no more than five notes, but it was beautiful all the same. Ninten had the sense that he had heard the tune somewhere before.

“I’m going to tell Mom about all this. Maybe she’ll know what to do,” he said. Mimmie and Minnie gave him a box of orange juice as thanks for rescuing them, and he headed downstairs to explain to their mother what just happened while his sisters began work on putting their bedrooms back in order.

“Mom?” Ninten started, looking all around the living room to see if anything weird was happening there too.

“Are you alright, sweetie?” His mother was standing by the front door, looking pale. Her light-colored hair was disheveled and her eyes were wide, though Ninten could see the relief in them when she realized he was unharmed. “What is happening to our house? I wish your dad were here right now. Maybe—”

The telephone rang, interrupting her train of thought.

“Oh, why must the phone ring at a time like this? Ninten, could you please get that for me?” she requested as she righted a floor lamp which had fallen over. Ninten wondered briefly if it had been attacking her just a minute ago.

Ninten picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“This is your dad. It’s good to hear you, son. How is everything?” Ninten’s father spoke with a jovial voice from the other end of the line. He was completely unaware that anything had happened. Ninten quickly filled him in, and his tone soon changed to one more fitting for the serious situation. “Hmm… Inanimate objects suddenly attacking? Well, it seems like a poltergeist. I’m not sure exactly how to deal with a paranormal attack, but your great-grandfather studied PSI. I think something like that may work.”

Ninten furrowed his brow in confusion. Was PSI something that could be used to exorcise spirits?

His dad continued, “You might find something in the basement to help.” That sounded more reasonable. “But I left the basement key someplace… I can’t remember exactly where.”

Good old reliable Dad, Ninten thought, rolling his eyes.

“Anyhow, son, I believe in you. It’s time for you to go on a little adventure and explore the potential of your powers. However, your powers are not to be taken lightly. Do your best, but remember to come back and check on our family. Bye, now.” Ninten moved to hang up the phone, but he heard his father say something else, so he put it back up to his ear. “Phone me, and I’ll keep a record of your deeds. Call me whenever you want.” With that, his father hung up, and Ninten followed suit.

He sighed. He was used to his father’s tendency to ramble, and he rarely made much sense. His dad spoke like a non-player character in an old video game. In any case, Ninten would have to trust that his dad knew what he was talking about and find the basement key so he could get… whatever is in the basement.

As Ninten began searching around the house, he thought more about what his father had said. He didn’t actually know much about his great-grandfather beyond what he had been told by his parents and the people living in town. He had died before Ninten was born, and before that, he was said to be very reclusive, so even those who had known him couldn’t say very much. All Ninten had been told for sure was that his great-grandfather was obsessed with studying strange mental abilities, which he called “PSI”.

It was found out at an early age that Ninten possessed some form of these abilities, though they seemed very weak. He never thought much about it until now, but it seemed like his dad thought it would help them figure out what was going on with the house.

“I looked everywhere!” Ninten cried in exasperation. He had been searching the house for the basement key for what felt like years but had probably only been twenty minutes.

“Did you try looking outside?” his mother suggested.

“Why would it be outside?” Ninten asked with more than a little sass, but he begrudgingly went out the front door anyway. Knowing his dad, he probably misplaced it somewhere unusual.

Once outside, the family dog, Mick, came up to greet him with a wagging tail. Ninten smiled. One of the things he could do with his PSI was talk to animals, and it was one of his favorite pastimes.

“Hey there, boy.” He gave Mick an affectionate pat on the head. “Some weird things have been going on around here.” Mick licked Ninten’s hand as a way of reassuring him, and Ninten grinned. “Do you think you can use your nose to help me find something?”

“There’s no need for that,” Mick the dog replied by speaking directly into Ninten’s mind. “I know what you’re looking for. Why don’t you check me out?” Mick sat, lifting his head to proudly show off his collar—the same collar he had had since Ninten was a baby. There on his collar was the basement key!

“Good boy,” Ninten said as he carefully unhooked the key. “Thanks!” He quickly ran inside and shared his triumph with his mom before unlocking the basement door and going inside.

The basement was darker than Ninten expected, and a thick layer of dust from years of neglect covered every surface. Ninten could feel it tickle his nose as he made his way down.

At the bottom of the old stairs was a desk with some worn-out papers and notebooks on it. On the other side of the room were a box full of toys from Ninten’s younger days and a loaf of bread that was miraculously intact after all these years, likely loaded with manufactured preservatives. Other than that, there wasn’t much to see or even much room to move around. The room was small and poorly lit. He couldn’t believe his great-grandfather would spend hours upon hours down in this musty old chamber every day. He dedicated so much of his life to the pursuit of knowledge that no one but himself could understand.

Ninten walked over to the desk and began looking through the notebooks in curiosity. While the handwriting was more old-fashioned than what Ninten was used to, the words read clear as day to him. They told all about PSI, and Ninten gained a greater understanding of his own capabilities, though the notebook stated that he would have to discover new powers on his own over time.

As he was reading, Ninten heard a rustling sound by his feet. He looked down to see… rats. He should have figured they would be down here, given how long this basement had been abandoned, but that didn’t make it any less gross.

He sprang back from the desk so his feet would be clearly visible and easier to keep away from vermin, and he frantically searched the room for anything he could use to stave off the rodents which were now amassing quite a large army against him. He thought of using the bread as a decoy, but since it was completely untouched, it seemed like even the rats didn’t want to chance eating it. The best he could do was produce a plastic bat from the box of toys.

Ninten clutched the bat tightly and faced the rats with all the courage one could muster when faced with a wave of furry, bright-eyed beasts. He took a deep breath as the small creatures came at him.

A single rat jumped up to attack, but Ninten swung the bat just in time to knock it away. The other rats hissed, and a few uttered something nasty, which Ninten heard with his PSI.

“Look, I don’t want to fight,” Ninten explained, “I’m just trying to figure out why things are flying around in my house.”

The rats chattered amongst themselves, squeaking in a fury. “We’ve seen the things you say. It can only be the result of PSI!”

“Everyone’s talking about that now, but I don’t even know what it is.”

“That man had them too—those strange powers. He could close his eyes and be across the room in an instant,” said the rats. “He could put creatures to sleep just by looking at them. He would steal their energy… for what purpose, we do not know. These are the horrific stories passed down to us by our rat ancestors. Now we know that you can communicate with us, which means you have PSI too, and we will not allow such a threat to terrorize our colony!”

The rats came at Ninten again, and he did his best to fight them off, but it seemed like, no matter how many he knocked back, more came out of the woodwork to battle him. He had to retreat; he sprinted back up the rickety old wooden stairs two steps at a time and slammed the door shut, relocking it behind him.

His mother approached him with concern in her eyes. “What’s wrong, dear?” Her eyes wandered to the bat in his hand. “Where did you get that?”

(to be continued on Wattpad because of the character limit. Sorry!)