POND²S ~ A Destiny Silvers' Story

Prologue

“Ben, look at that book. It wasn’t here a minute ago. Someone was trying to take it. I just saw an old and wrinkly hand grab it.”

“Which book Destiny? You’ve gone bonkers. There is no book here and no one is trying to take it. The shadiness of this house is really getting to you. Let’s get going. We have to go back anyway. Come on.”

“Yeah….I may be hallucinating. Let’s leave. ”

The cousins went out of the house and towards the lake. Suddenly, they were stopped, not by a person or by their will, but by a force. What was it?

A knock at a house without a door, a gateway to the ‘End’, an invincible teen. 

Read this story to find out what is in store for Destiny and her small group of friends.

~ Dhwani Jain

Chapter 1

How It All Began…

“What’s this? What are you all doing?” Mary shouted at the kids. “We’ve got so much work to do and you guys are playing here! Start unpacking your bags and meet me downstairs in 15 minutes.”

“Argh!” 

“Why, Oh, Why do you want us to work during a holiday?” 

“No!” 

“We’re on vacation Aunt Mary!” everyone started moaning and shouting. But once Mary had said something, no one would ever dare to disobey her. It was a queer sight when the children, all four of them, were unpacking and doing as they were told…during summer vacations!

“I told you, only Mary can fix them up and make them obey the instructions. Look how nicely they are behaving! They deserve a treat.” Agatha told her husband, John.

“They sure do. Um… Let’s go fishing, we can send the children to explore the old house near the lake….they’re going to love it. Besides, they have to perform the tradition. ”John’s suggestion was splendid and put into action as soon as the children came down.

“Yay! We’re going exploring!” Misty was excited. She was the youngest among the cousins and had never really gone exploring.

The adults- Agatha, John, Mary and Joseph went by the lake to fish while the children went off to the old, abandoned house to do some exploring.

“This house gives me the chills,” Misty said to her sister, Destiny. 

It sure was creepy and shady. Its name was no less; ‘The Gateway’. This was no name for a normal old house. No door, broken windows, a thousand layers of spider webs and more. For a little girl and even for an adult, that house was a nightmare. Legend said that a wizard had tried to put a curse on the house once when it was believed to be haunted by ghosts and spirits, but the wizard himself got burnt to ashes and was now roaming in the forest nearby, to seek revenge from the spirits in the house. Even now, on a full moon night, one could hear the wizard, waiting for the right person to put a stop to ‘The Curse of the Gateway’. 

“Yup. That’s what I felt when I first saw this house a few years ago.” Ben added. 

He was the eldest among all 16 to be exact and was wondering to himself ‘Everyone gets the chills when they first see this house, I got it too when I came here the first time, but today I am having a really bad feeling. Maybe something’s in there. Or someone. I have no idea, but I can’t even consult Destiny….Misty might get scared.’ 

No one noticed that May had already gone in. She had just started middle school and like any other tween, was high on energy and wanted to see everything first-hand.   

“Come on in guys! It’s awesome, just like I remember. Look, it even has our initials on it. That reminds me, it’s time for our ritual, now that Misty is five, she can also write her initials here and then it will be the Silvers’ house forever. ” May was overexcited, as always and habitually, spoke everything in just one go. It took some time for her cousins to comprehend her and then they went inside. 

It had been a Silvers’ tradition that every new member of the family, on turning five was taken for a road trip to their place in the country and then all the children would come together to carve the new member’s initials on the wall of the old, abandoned house, famously known as ‘The Gateway’.

Even Mary and John’s initials were there, although now they had children of their own. It was a memory to be cherished by the Silvers’ children and adults forever. It was a symbol of overcoming one’s weakness and fear of the house and everything shady that lured in one’s imagination when one was five. 

The children went in. Misty’s name was carved like the others and she was accepted to be capable of sharing the children’s secrets. It was all so splendid for the little girl that she forgot all her fear of the house and started enjoying herself. Then suddenly they heard a noise, a knock - at the door. But the door was broken down decades ago! So where was to noise coming from?

“That’s creepy…..did anyone hear that?” May asked.

Everyone held their breath. Tears dribbled down Misty’s face, she was scared to bits. Suddenly, they heard it again. 

It was evident that the noise was coming from the roof now; someone was up there…but whom?

“People say that this house is called ‘The Gateway’ as this is the gateway to The End,” Ben said. The voice continued and then just as it had started, stopped.

“Okay Misty, let’s get out of here. Come on…” May was frightened and took her cousin’s hand.

“You both go. I want to stay here for a bit; something tells me that it isn’t what we’re thinking it is. Ben, would you like to stay with me?” Destiny was determined to find something about this strange knocking.

“Sure. May, Misty, go to the lake and wait. We’ll be there in a few minutes. It wouldn’t take long to search under all this debris.”

The young girls went out as soon as their feet could take them. 

Destiny looked around and said, “Now let’s see….there isn’t much left here, and the noise appeared to be coming from the roof. Let’s go upstairs and find out.”

The duo went upstairs, but that was easier said than done, it was really a task to find the stairs that were not about to break and kill the kids. Finally, they reached the roof. It was the only area of the house untouched and unexplored by the children. They were ready for anything but what was coming up.

Like many teens, Ben and Destiny thought that they were just imagining things at once, or maybe someone was playing a prank on them. Whatever was going on in their minds, they knew that there weren’t any ghosts and what they had heard wasn’t real and that it was just some high thought-out illusions. They were wrong, very wrong, and were soon going to find out something that would change everything.