The first thing Derick heard that morning was the incessant blaring of his alarm clock on his nightstand. Without looking, he reached his arm out of bed and attempted to hit the snooze button, failing repeatedly. As his frustration peaked, he finally brought his hand down on the clock, ending its assault on his ears. He lay there in bed for a moment, his state of blissful sleep broken by that tormenting symphony.

With a groan, he turned over in his bed and wearily opened his eyes. The light from the morning sun filtered in through the window, giving his room a bright, golden glow that made him squint. Rubbing away the last traces of sleep, Derick reluctantly sat up in bed and threw off the covers. Setting his feet down on the hardwood floor, he recoiled at the chill before getting up and making his way to the bathroom across the hall. After relieving himself, and performing his other morning routines, he returned to his room to change into fresh clothes.

Leaving his personal domain, he went down the stairs and prepared to start yet another brand-new day. Entering the kitchen, he found his mother eating a banana as she scrolled through the news feeds on her phone.

"Good morning, honey," she greeted him warmly.

"Morning mom," Derick replied as he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and poured some cereal.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad to hear that. Do you have any plans for today?" she asked as she took a bite out of her banana.

Derick shrugged as he sat down at the table. "I don't know, I might head out later with Alvin and Carrie, do some stuff around town, maybe catch a movie or something, I don't know?" he shrugged again as he took a bite of his cereal.

They sat in silence after that, both mother and son quietly eating their breakfast. Drinking the last drops of milk from his bowl, Derick stood up and went to deposit his dirty dishes in the sink.

Derick was rinsing off his hands when his mother spoke from behind him. "Derick, can you go check on your brother? I want to make sure that he's awake and not still in bed."

Derick nodded in response. "Sure mom."

Heading back upstairs, Derick walked down the hall and approached the door just after his. Giving a quick knock, he waited for a reply.

"Come in," he heard Toby call out from the confines of his room.

Turning the knob, Derick opened the door and stepped inside. Toby was an absolute, massive cartoon fan; that fact was further supported by the sheer amount of posters adorning his walls. Phineas and Ferb, Spongbob, My Litte Pony, Gravity Falls, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Adventure time, you name it, they were all up there.

Toby himself sat over at a desk in the corner of the room, typing away at his computer.

"Mom wanted me to come up and check on you, are you going to come down for breakfast?" Derick asked as he walked up to stand next to his brother.

"Soon," Toby replied, eyes never straying from the screen as if they were glued. "Just let me finish this chapter, I'm almost done."

Another thing to know about Toby, he was really into fan fiction. He had quite a knack when it came to writing; his skill with words wasn't something to gawk at. So much so, that he could easily write up a ten-thousand-word story, in just a couple of days. And his published works online received all kinds of praise from those who read them, netting him countless new fans.

"What are you writing?" Derick asked, leaning in to see what his brother was doing. "Is this a new chapter for that Star Wars fic you're doing?"

Toby shook his head. "Nah, I'm updating that on Thursday. No, this is a new story, it's a crossover between My Little Pony and The Dragon Prince. Basically, it just introduces Equestria into the world of the show, adding a whole host of new opportunities."

Derick's eyebrows hiked up his face as he gave an approving nod. "Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out. What's it called"

"I haven't worked out the title just yet."

"Okay, well, come downstairs when you're ready then," Derick said in departure, giving his brother a light pat on the back as he turned and left the room.

The being gathered with the others in a grand hall, the leaders of their nation standing before them. Their ruler stared down at the being from a grand throne, their mane flowing in a non-existent breeze.

"So it is him, he is the one, yes?"

The being replied. "Yes, he is who we've been waiting for; I am without a doubt, that this young human is the pure soul we seek."

The ruler gave a sigh of relief, the features on their alabaster face softening. "Good, I was beginning to grow worried that we wouldn't find them in time. Now that the pure one has been discovered, it is imperative that we begin the necessary preparations at once." They looked down at the group assembled before them with a grave expression in their eyes. "We are almost out of time, the deadline is nearly upon us, and if we can't finish the ritual as soon as possible..." They trailed off, the others all too aware of the stakes.

"Don't worry your majesty, we'll have this ritual underway all quick like." One of the being's companions said with determination, an emotion that all the rest of their group shared.

"Yeah, and once we're done, we'll throw a party to celebrate!"

The leader's face grew relieved once again. "It makes me very happy to hear you all say that. We don't have much time left, so we need to get moving as fast as possible, can I trust you all with this?"

"You can count on us, your majesty." The being said with confidence.

"Good, then I need you all to go and prepare for the ritual to come, it must be ready in time." The group nodded at the leader's words before going off to get ready.

The being was the only one to stay behind, waiting back to speak with the leader in private.

"Is there something more you wished to discuss?" The leader asked.

"Yes," they replied, nodding their head in affirmation. "I'm worried that the old man may try to interfere with our plans again, what with the ritual for the deadline coming up. After all, it was because of him that we failed the first time. And he's no doubt been preparing for our return, he'll do everything he can to stop us." The being asked with concern.

The ruler pursed their lips. "You bring up a good point, my once student. After what happened last time, we must take every precaution; we need to take great care to ensure that he does not catch wind of our plans."

"What if he knows we've chosen a new pure one, he may try to stop us from taking him."

"I appreciate your concerns, but I doubt he knows; even if he does, he would never be able to keep that boy out of our reach for long.

"I'm heading out now," Derick called out, slipping on his sweater as he notified his mom and brother.

"Okay, stay safe honey," his mother replied.

Derick started towards the door before Toby stopped him. "Hey, can you drop me off at the school, I want to help Rachel out with the bakesale fundraiser they're doing. And before you say anything, I already asked Mom, and she's okay with it - she thinks me helping out is a great idea."

"Alright," Derick said simply. "Get your stuff on and meet me outside by the car.

"Got it." Said Toby as he went to get dressed.

With his brother getting ready, Derick opened up the door and went outside. Stepping down the porch and walking up to his car, he got in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition. Hearing the engine roar to life like some beast, he left the vehicle to warm up while he went to check the mail.

Opening their mailbox, he reached in to pull out several letters. Going through them, he found most to be addressed to his mom, most likely just bills and other things. But as he looked, he came to discover that the names on a couple of them were wrong, and weren't for anyone in their household. Derick gave out a groan as he knew what this meant, the delivery guy had made a mistake and given them their neighbor's mail again. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that this neighbor was a bit odd and unpleasant, so he wasn't too thrilled to have to take his mail over.

As Derick was busy obsessing over this news, it was at that moment that Toby exited the house. "What's wrong," Toby asked his older brother as he approached the teen.

"Nothing," Derick said in reply. "It's just.. they gave us Mr. Abernathys mail again," he sighed in defeat.

"Oh," Toby said in understanding, knowing full well about their neighbor.

"You go wait in the car," Derick told Toby as he put their own mail back for the time being. "I'll go and take this over," he said as he turned down the sidewalk.

"Wait, hold on!" Toby cried in objection, catching up with his brother instead of doing as he was told. "You don't have to do this alone, what if something bad happens?"

Derick chuckled dryly. "I appreciate the concern Toby, but it's not necessary; Mr. Abernathy might be a bit grouchy, but he's not dangerous, I'll be fine."

"Alight, but I'd still feel better not letting you go alone," Toby said.

"Okay, if you insist," Derick sighed with reluctance.

The pair of brothers walked down the sidewalk, passing by a couple of other houses, before finally coming upon the last residency on the street. The building was old and in disrepair, and the lack of upkeep was very noticeable.

Derick cautiously parted the gate that barred access to the house, creating an unsettling creak as if the gate was haunted. The yard was overgrown with weeds and the paint that had adorned the home had long since faded, leaving it a depressing gray. Looking up at the foreboding homestead, he couldn't help but feel a shiver come over him. This house was a bit of a local legend among the people of Glacier Creek; rumor had it, that many years ago Mr. Abernathys family died under mysterious circumstances. Some people thought that they had contracted some deadly disease, while some suspected Mr. Abernathy had gone crazy and murdered them. Yet there were some people who had even more radical explanations, such as how they became the target of the devil or some other hostile entity. Ultimately, however, none of these were ever proven and were left as pure speculation among the town's denizens.

Stepping up to the door, Derick felt uneasy as the old wooden floorboards creaked under his weight. Mr. Ambernathy was a shut-in, only ever leaving his home to stock up on food and other amenities. He rarely spoke to anyone, and only interacted with other people if they approached him first; The man gave off a gruff, unwelcoming persona, making it clear he didn't want to be bothered.

Taking a deep breath, Derick feebly attempted to calm his erratically beating heart, the organ pounding in his chest as if it was about to burst. Beside him, he could sense his brother tensing up as well, a nervous air about him as he stood there. Sucking up his anxieties, Derick balled his hand into a fist and rapped his knuckles on the old weathered door.

It took a few moments, but soon, activity could be heard on the other side of the door, as multiple locks were undone.

"What do you want?" Snapped a withered old man as he opened the door. His face was covered in a thin beard that had gone white with age, and his black, wrinkled skin seemed to soak up the sun's rays.

"Hi, Mr. Abernanty," Derick swallowed nervously under the man's searing glare. "Um, my name is Derick Jeter, I don't know if you remember me. I live down the way from you, we've been your neighbors for years actually," Derick started in an effort to be friendly, but when the man's attitude didn't change, he continued. "As I'm sure you're wondering, the reason I'm here is the mail guy accidentally delivered mail addressed to you at our house, so I came to bring it to you," he finished, holding out the letters for the man to take.

The man stared at Derick for a moment, his face unreadable. Finally, he reached up and snatched the documents from Derick's hand. "There, you delivered them, now get lost!" he said gruffly as he turned away from them and prepared to close the door. "I want to be left alone, and I can't do that if people keep-"

Just as he was about to shut the door in their faces, he froze when his eyes landed on Toby for the first time. For once something other than anger, or distrust could be seen on his face. Mr. Abernathy stared at Derick's little brother with a dumbfound expression, a look in the man's eyes as if he had seen a ghost.

"You, you're the ones who live three houses down, right?" He asked suddenly, what sounded to be a quiver of fear in his voice.

Derick raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's us. Why?" he asked with curiosity.

The man looked at Toby, that to Derick, then Toby again, before shaking his head. "Oh it's nothing," he said like nothing was wrong, even though something was clearly bothering him. "Uh, there's something I need to tend to," he said hastily as he retreated back into his home. "You two take care now," he finished as he closed the door behind him, bringing their conversation to an end.

Derick and Toby could only stand there in shock, baffled at the strange turn that had taken. "Well, that was...odd?" Derick said as he cast a look at his brother.

Toby nodded his head. "Yeah, what do you think that was about?"

"I really don't know," Derick shook his head, at a loss for words. "But standing here wondering isn't going to do anything, come on, let's get going," he said, putting a hand on his brother's back as he guided him down the steps, away from the house and its strange owner.

Author's Note

Here's the next chapter everyone, I hope you're all enjoying it so far. I don't know about you all, but I for one would love to have Toby's level of writing skills, sigh maybe one day.

The next part is where things are going to start picking up a little, so stay tuned.