• Chapter 1

    The scare

    There once was a nice family named the Crosses living somewhere in Castings Town Ohio. The family was a family of 8. They were a nice little family who often did things together. The Children’s names were Mark, Nina, Alexandria,(but she likes to be called alex) Adam, and Katie. Mark, was always very polite. He was around 16 or so and wanted to be more like his father. He had brown hair Green eyes and he was tall and also read the news paper and was almost always was with his dad in the little workshop his dad owned. Nina, was a girl who also was one of the oldest of the children. She had black hair and sparkling brown eyes. She was a very smart girl also and was 14 years old. Alex, was about twelve and was very loud. She had brown hair and brown eyes and she was tall. Her brother Adam was very different from her he was so quiet that the family many times forgot him at school or other places he was short. Also he was Eleven years old and a little muscular. One bright Monday morning Mark was reading the news paper. He wanted to know when the science fair started. He was flipping past the
    obituaries when he felt a shock so intense it almost made him jump. The ten faces that were family members were seen in the obituaries.


    Chapter 2 The beginning of horror
    Mark running for his life to his dad was almost weeping looked at the paper again there were more names then there had ever been in the paper. He ran to his dad, their idea was to run away from this town they said they were leaving that very second with nothing but the clothes on their back they ran from their house just running, As they walk though the town they see no cars at all.
    The town was completely empty. Not a single person was seen, not a single thing heard. As they ran they heard loud sounds terrible loud sounds the sound burned marks ear. The world began spinning changing colors. Im going to die Mark thought. Just then Alex screamed and dropped to the floor. They carried her the rest of the way all that was going though Marks mind was”breath in breath out”.

    Chapter 3
    The house

    The family walked a mile before stopping”Dad are we going to die out here I am hungry” said Mark.”No at least I hope not” not far off was a house a big house white shutters the main color was brick and was a very nice looking house with a fountain in the front. When they saw it Mike look at the house then his wife.”I guess it is ok” she said as they walked there was no sound at all you could hear a pen drop. Alex was ok now after a good sleep as they walked up to the marble steps they heard a slight humming. They finally were at the door the father lightly tapped on the door an old lady stood there about sixty years old wearing a nice robe with bright brown eye’s looking happy.”Ma’am I am sorry to disturb you” .”That’s ok you all look tired what’s wrong? She said please come in. The house was bigger from the inside then on the out side. The old lady brought some tea and biscuits and then sat down starting to knit right away. They all were half crazy but mark was able to push out words first.”Mam may I know you name?”. “Yes my name is Valerie you may call me val”.”thank you miss val”said mark.”May I have some tea?”asked mark half starving.”Yes you may. So now please tell me your story”.

    Chapter4
    Her story

    They told her their story about what mark had seen and how the town was deserted and about what had happened to Alex. After the whole story had come out she took them to a computer
    and said “my husband is a scientist and has been waiting for this day a tear shed. Sadly he was the first to die.” “What do you mean how did he die I do not fully understand this.” “It was like this. One day we were dancing and rejoicing over him finding certain caves that led to useful mineral’s .Such as ore and graphite and things you would need to build something and use around the house. We heard a strange noise like a warning or a siren something was not right George went to the computer and saw this.100 little green square’s but the number was going down. George began to panic he grabbed his coat wrote something down on a piece of paper when I asked ‘where are you going?’ he just said ‘if am not back in one hour I am either dead or lost’.Of course I was not ready for that but he had taken off already.”So what happened”.”He never came back.” Everybody sat thinking what became of the this woman’s husband.
    Then mark asked the very question everyone was thinking.”What was written on the piece of paper?”.”Ah yes” she said in a rather slow manner.”I did not understand it. It was some kind of code or key. It had about five different things on it a number which was 1734956-890933. I had no idea what this number meant. The next thing was a year. As I read is says the year 1989 and the year 2000 also it said ZXYM-N38MN and a company which I have never heard of called. OTE .INC. “Mam is that all?”.”Yes, he never came back”.”I am so sorry about your husband” comforted Marks mom.”Well its getting late would you like to stay here for the night?”.“Yes please, but we must leave soon. We have plans for tomorrow. We also have a lot thinking about those numbers and that OTE .INC...Their room’s were all very cozy and mostly had an. Arm chair, and a nice little place where if you stood you could feel the fire place below. Mark had asked about night clothes and Miss Val had said she had some his size. The Last thing Mark remembered hit him by surprise he was shocked that in small letters on the bottom of the obituaries he remembered he saw the letters ZXYM-N38MN.




    Chapter 5
    More Questions

    The next Morning Mark had told his dad about what he had remembered his dad said “Yes that’s great!.But what does it mean?”.”Maybe it’s a code of some sort to someone else”.”Yes maybe but who?.”Then all of a sudden they heard a beautiful voice saying “Rise and shine all! Its time for breakfast!” they were all hungry from all that running yesterday. Than Mark asked “dad? Why did we run from the town?” I don’t his dad paused in his tracks wait a second we have someone who needs us.”What?”said mark “Look Mark!” said his dad he read the morning headlines:
    Casting Town Ohio Completely Gone! “What?” he read more


    Casting Town Ohio Completely gone!
    On July fifteenth almost the whole town of casting town has been destroyed early one morning James Lock was driving to casting town when he saw people running away with something “All I remember was the world spinning and a loud noise. The next thing I saw was a police man helping me out of my upside-down car.” “Wow dad” mark said “yes son wow”.....Just then Nina came running down to see her father.”Alex is getting better!.” “what was wrong with her?” her dad said startled “Something went wrong with her she can’t remember much at all.” Nina said sadly “How strange” said her father “Its like she’s lost it she can’t full remember how to dress herself.” They walked up stairs to see the half broken Alex lying on the floor. “Alex what’s wrong with you?” her father asked.”I am fine you are my dad right?” Alex asked “Yes Alex I am “I can’t see him dad.” Alex said breathing heavily.”You can’t see who?”.”Dad He’s behind
    you!!” Alex screamed.

    Chapter 6
    Starting to investigate

    From that day on after each meal each family member would take turns checking on Alex and wondering what had happened that one night before. The family wanted split up and try to investigate and get to the bottom of the mess they were in. Jason(The dad) was going to take the boys while Sara(The mom) would take the girls. The boys had a craving to go to their old town which they once lived in not many days before . A large number of police men had been sent to find remaining’s and they agreed to let the Hoffman’s come with them. When they came to the town there were just big blocks lying on the roads and everywhere. There were lots of bricks everywhere. The place was a mess things blown across the road and on the fields or anywhere else you would be able to walk. They wanted to know more about how this happened but they did not know how their father thought. Just then the loudest three words Adam has ever said came out(and he barely talk’s even when he needs to) “I FOUND SOMETHING” were those three words. At those very words everybody raced to him wanting to know what he had found. When everybody had come even the police he began.”I have found something very important” just then he said “please come let me show you”. At that very second he started to walk toward the house behind him.”Look at the name plate” Adam said.”George D Williams” Mark read.”Amazing this must be his old hut” Mark had remembered that in one of Ms. Val’s story’s she told mark that her husband George had a small hut on the outskirts of Casting’s Town for study of something, he never told her. Then Adam had a bright idea like he always did because even thou he did not talk much he thought of all the possibility’s and then said his wonderful idea . “Hey how about we check all over this hut and see if we find something there will be tons of things that could be useful clues here!”.At that very words everyone sprinted into a full scout out of the entire hut they looked like ants at vacant dinner table searching for food. It was not that small of a hut but from the outside it looked small. They then realized that they could not look through the entire place in one day so they decided to go home. Everybody got in the police car and they departed from the ruins. That same day when all were seated in the house of Mrs. Val there were many story’s to tell.

    Chapter 7
    A story and an answer

    When all were seated at the table the first story began. Mom started “We went around town to ask some questions and we found something . When were we looking for a single clue something hit us. We would have liked to know the news paper company.” Dad replied “For what reason?” “ For the reason that our names were found in the obituaries Jason.” She calmly replied back. “We found the news press and asked the man at the desk about the article it seemed that was hard to answer the question. At first he wasn’t going to give me any information but he eventually told me something. He told me this ‘This some of the things that happen here are strange some of the people are more than just writers. Some of the people here show up with a secret background and may work here for ages and never get caught.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant but I knew we had just barely scratched the cover on this mystery. The next day everyone woke early being excited to investigate the mystery on their hands.



    Chapter 8
    The ruins secret told

    When the boys of the family came to the ruins the went back to the hut. Then they realized that they had just found something right under their nose! They found a secret compartment that held a secret to it but none had cracked the confusing code. Numbers were on a dial in the drawer with different numbers and symbols which nobody in the room knew what it meant. Adam stepped forward and inspected the dial. As he looked down he smiled. His hand shot out and turned in many directions until he heard a click and stepped back for others to look at what he had done. Everyone so surprised no one was able to ask how he knew the combination. Seconds after everyone had inspected the strange dial Adam stepped forward again and pushed one of the draws in all of a sudden everyone heard a loud noise and everyone turned and saw that the wall behind them was a sliding door and had opened. Mark looked inside the small tunnel he said “Its safe to go inside.”

    The girl side of the family went to the newspaper press to do some investigating. Alex had felt good enough to go to with the rest of the girls the effect of whatever hurt her had worn off. They had a plan since the mother was the only one old enough to apply for a job at the press the rest of the girls had to be spy’s. They equipped themselfs with walkie-talkies a sound recorder. Sarah the mom gave them strict instruction’s she kissed them and she entered the press.

    Back on the boys side mark and Jason(the dad) had figured out how to move everything out of the way and finally had gotten into the tunnel one by one safely. When they entered the tunnel it was very dark but Jason managed to get some light. As they walked further into the tunnel they saw a light under the light was some writing it was encrypted no one knew what the writing said Jason pulled out his pistol for he had a feeling he would need it


    Chapter 9

    Story’s Connect

    The tunnel was at a dead end but Jason had a feeling he couldn’t stop here the writing meant something he wrote down what the writing said and told everyone to see if anything here could push or pull. Mark leaned against one of the blocks in the wall and all of a sudden the floor came out and everyone fell in they fell for about a mile it felt like for they were falling for almost 45 seconds. When they landed in a small room nothing was broken or hurt. Adam found it strange that the fall they took did not break anything “Where are we?” Adam asked. “I believe under the news paper press building” as he said loading his gun.

    Back with the lady’s Sarah walked through the press as someone showed her around the building and the many rooms. Katie was the first to move she dashed to and fro around the press building eventually Sarah and the greeter had stopped to look at something Katie found a place where she could not be seen. Next Nina on her walkie-talkie asked Katie what was happening Katie said “They had stopped to look at something I need a better view “ Nina signaled Alex and she entered the building she went up to the table and put up a list of complaints eventually Alex yelled at the clerk “I WANT TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER”. The clerk dashed off rather quickly and Nina dashed to see what was in the desk. That wasn’t her best choice of words but that’s all she could think of.

    Back With The Boys Side of the Family Jason Zigenhiver Loaded his gun while walking directly under the press building not knowing what was to come of the next corner every turn was an exciting adventure. Adam led the way he turned the corner when mark asked. “How do you know all this stuff Adam?. Its like you’ve been here before”. Adam took a slight turn and said.”I feel that I have”. Only they walked on and on. Jason froze when he turned the next corner Half in delight half in horror. There was a row of desk’s against the wall printers. Also the lighting changed I different light came through the room a sad blue light as if they were walking on the ocean floor. Mark Stepped forward and looked at some of the desks so did the others. Jason inspected one of the desks and found blueprints for the building when mark called him. He came over just to see what caused This story to fall in it’s unfortunate series of events. The Article. Also Mark said “I found something else”. Adam lifted his small head “what” mark said “remember the letters and the numbers on the small piece of paper from Ms val?. Its Everywhere its even on the printers but what strikes me most is...” Mark pointed to the opposing wall in the room and there were the letters:
    OTE .INC
    BUILDING NUMBER 05406-AXEYU

    Chapter 10
    A massive breakout but still some questions

    Nina held her breath looking through the desk but all she found was the mundane thing you may find in a desk. When the manager came he was disturbed for the few seconds he was conscious Nina had made a little concoction of ammonia and bleach and the manager passed out with his guard. She took the guards belt and gun and ran into the Security room looking for a clue or some kind of guide. Alex on the outside watched all while Katie was sitting in her spot. Katie turned on you talkie.”Alex?” Alex answered the call “yes?” “ Do you have the smoke screen Ready?” Katie questioned. “No not yet it will be done in a minute”. Sarah was almost ready to scratch the cover on the beginning of the newspaper people all they needed was Nina’s information.

    Jason looked around the room and said there’s a break shaft next room over he said. “What’s that?” Adam asked in a squeaky voice. Jason answered boldly “I don’t know but I know what’s in there”.

    Alex said over her talkie “Smoke screen is ready im ready when you are”. Katie dashed over behind a desk and gave Sarah the sign. That same instant Sarah did a karate Flip kick Knocking out the man Sarah said over her talkie “Nina, meet me at the reporter records”

    When Jason had reached the shaft he found what he was looking for explosives. Jason turned around when he realized that the police were not with him he wonder what had happened to them but that was beside the question “Adam come here we’re gonna blow this shaft”

    Sarah, Alex, Katie And Nina all met at the Reporter Records room. Sarah snatched up the article of her own “Death” and Found the reporters She found his record as she flipped through his record she found something strange. It said the company he works for is S.I.A. and OTE.inc the question came over her where is he now? Just then she thought of Jason she called him on her cell phone.”Jason where are you?” she asked nervously. “About Three-thousand yards below Ground”. Sarah was puzzled.

    Jason on his cell phone still was on the bridge of blowing up the building but he waited “Where are you?” “In the news paper building” “ have you found any information? I could use some right now and get whatever you can in getting ready to blow up the building.

    Sarah Grabbed the article and the reporter record instantly she was running out when she was told “Turn around! With your hands in the air” it was a security officer with a gun pointed at her.

    Jason was counting down over the phone as he was stepping back 5
    4
    3
    2
    1
    Sarah Grabbed the gun off of Katie belt and dropped it stepped back about 20 feet as she said “our work here is done” Instantly the whole building came crashing down in flame’s

    Jason saw the damaged and found an escape route out through the debris.

    Sarah saw her husband coming out of the debris she ran forward and kissed him.

    END OF PART ONE