The Beginning

April 12th, 1949. Centralia, Pennsylvania.

Nothing could stop her. Not the change of day to night or the terrible illness she was inflicting upon herself by continuing to do this. Only three more days and then her greatest wish would come true. She could spare three days for him, for her brother, couldn’t she? If she could, then the impossible, the unthinkable would occur. She would be able to talk to Joseph again.

The tragic incident had taken place two years ago, in that terrible month of March. It was just another normal working day in Centralia. Elle Becker’s father and her elder brother, Joseph Becker, were going to work in the coal mines. Those mines frightened little Elle who was not more than five years old. She hated dark and cramped places and so did Joseph but their family was very poor and could not even afford even one proper meal in their tiresome days. There was no other way out of this situation other than by working persistently.

Elle had gone unhappily to school. She did not like to go anywhere without her brother. She did not have any friends, despite how hard she tried to make some. During lunch she was sitting alone, finishing her banana and ignoring the taunts and insults directed towards her from the bullies sitting at a table behind her, when the principal herself came running towards her. Surprised, Elle quickly stood up and greeted the principal, politely. Everyone sitting inside the cafeteria had become very silent. Having the principal specially call you was quite a big thing, but seeing the principal run towards you either meant that you were in deep waters or something terrible had occurred. Elle recalled the events of the previous week and was positive that she had not done anything so wild that the principal herself would come running and panting towards her.

"Follow me please, dear, “said the Principal. Elle prepared herself for the worst, took a deep breath and followed the principal to her office. Inside the office there were two more students present - one was that shy boy, who was always in the corner of the library reading silently and the other was the famous new kid with the large brown eyes. Both of them also looked as puzzled as she did. What was it that the principal wanted? What was so important?

"Mm, dears, I have received some terrifying news, “the Principal stuttered. "You know that coal mine in our area where your parents and some siblings work... yes? “The Principal inquired. We all slowly nodded our heads. "Well, mm, there have been some casualties and a… a part of the mine has exploded” she said. It took a moment for the news to sink in. Once it did, Elle had jumped out of her chair. "Ma'am what are you trying to say?" Elle asked, terrified. The principal didn’t answer, instead she ushered them out of her office to the entrance gate of their school. There they had found their parents waiting for them. All of them had red and swollen eyes rimmed with tears, and handkerchiefs into which they were continuously blowing their noses.

"Mamma, what is going on? I can’t understand anything. Tell me, Mamma," Elle pleaded, desperate. Mrs. Becker just sniffed, dabbed at her eyes to try and prevent the continuous outflow of the tears and instructed Elle to go to the hospital with her. "The hospital?" Elle thought. Were Papa and Joseph injured in the mine explosion? Would they recover? There were so many unanswered questions whirling in her mind at that time. Both of them hurried to the hospital and were shortly followed by the two other boys and their mothers. There was a lot of crowd near the hospital door. Many people were wailing and crying. Others were heaving great sighs of relief. Elle pushed her way to the front of the crowd. There was a list pinned on the door that was titled 'The Lost Ones'. And in that dreadful list Elle found the names of her father and her beloved brother.

Two years after the unforgettable 'Incident' took place; Elle had still not gotten over all of the grief, anger and pain. She had gone to the library, in the 'Restricted Section' and poured over all the books of dark magic and spells with her two new friends- one was Jacob, 'The Book Worm' and the other was Zen, 'The Clod'. All she wanted was to meet her brother just one more time, see him, touch him and talk to him just one more time. All their hard-work finally paid off, in the course of time and they completed designing and sketching out a plan that would allow them to be able to see the dead, all the dead. Nevertheless, that was better than nothing, so they decided to try it out. However, the spell would need total concentration and devotion and need to be worked on for three weeks.

And there, the little trio was just three days away from achieving their goal. The idea and comfort in the fact that they would be able to see the dear lost ones again, boosted their wavering energy. Only three days away.

Little did they know that if they accomplished this, they were going to be the beginners of a completely new race and generation. That if they accomplished this, there were dangers none could escape or even speak of accomplishing. That if they accomplished this, their actions and decisions would be the reason human beings would coexist. For now, the horrors and perils lay before them. For now, they would have to tread carefully.