Cooper Fairbanks flipped his skateboard with the tip of his right sneaker and caught it with his left hand. He sat on the curb under the streetlamp staring at the water surrounding him. It was probably the only good thing about the small town, where people were either kids who were nerdy or adults who were overly strict. The lake surrounded by tall crisp pines was Cooper's favorite place to think, and today he had plenty to ponder.

There was something wrong in the town of Pine Willow, and he was determined to get the bottom of it. Odd things were a daily occurrence now but it was the people who concerned Cooper most. They were truly acting strange—not just small-town quirky strange, but totally and completely out-of-touch weird.

It started in the summer. First Cooper noticed his best friend Grayson's unusual change in attitude. Always cracking jokes, now Gray barely spoke. Then it was the girl next door, Misty Miles. She was the quietest person on earth anyway before Cooper noticed something odd. Suddenly Misty turned kind of…icy. Typically shy, she was never scary and dark. Now she dressed in nothing but black...like Grayson and come to think of it and almost everyone in his school now.

Was it possible that Cooper was the only normal person in all of Pine Willow? Could he be the last normal person left on earth? Cooper was easy-going and talked to everyone, so the change was noticeable to him, and while he agreed black was part of a balanced wardrobe, wearing it daily was a bit maudlin. There’s a difference between style and always funeral-ready attire.

As much as he wanted to sit by the lake all day, classes were starting, and the last thing he needed was a tardy slip during the first week of school. He stepped on his board to ride the hilly streets ten blocks to Pine Willow High--in a small town like this, names of places were not very original. Almost every place was named Pine Willow something...PW Hardware, PW Cafe...

Once he did get to school, he quickly observed there was more wrong than the previous day. Normally it's as loud as a concert in front of the school; kids yelling at each other while filing into the already stuffed halls. But the campus was empty and Cooper could hear a pin drop. When he entered first period Algebra, the seats were empty except for Hanson Diller, probably the smartest kid in school and Lacey Grant, head cheerleader.

Okay, maybe he wasn't the only normal person in Pine Willow. Lacey Grant wore her regular Pink top and skinny jeans, while Hanson Diller wore a red Pine Willow High hoody and baggy jeans with glasses hanging on the end of his nose. At least there were a few of his classmates still standing and not swimming in the pool of Goth.

Their teacher Mr. Brandon was a different story. When he strolled in Cooper noticed his usual short sleeve button down shirt was replaced with a black pullover with black jeans. No need to take attendance today, Cooper thought.

Cooper sat next to Hanson who flinched when he sat down. Hanson suffered from intimacy issues, but Cooper wanted to be close enough to hold a conversation if needed. He was feeling rather alone in the world, and wasn’t sure who to trust. It was reassuring to see Hanson remained unchanged. Lacey sat a few seats in front of them messing with her hair while Mr. Brandon flipped through pieces of paper on his desk, his face void of expression. Without making eye contact with anyone, Mr. Brandon finally said, "Just read chapter three." Then he got up from his chair and left the room.

Hanson did exactly what Mr. Brandon said, pushing his glasses back up his nose, but Lacey and Cooper stared at the spot where Mr. Brandon stood just a minute before.

"Did he just...leave?" Lacey asked, her hair falling from her fingertips.

"Uh, it appears so, "Cooper answered before making the decision to do the same--not to ditch class, but to once and for all get to the bottom of this, flu outbreak? Lacey shrugged and started texting.

Cooper looked over to Hanson whose entire face was concealed inside the math book. Hanson didn't talk much as it was, but with the other twenty three students not there for him to hide behind, Cooper was surprised Hanson didn't have a nervous breakdown. He decided to leave the two classmates to their oblivion, grabbed his board from the back of the room and fled down the hall toward the nearest exit. "Going somewhere Mr. Fairbanks?" Blocking the door he had intended to leave from stood Vice Principal Gorsky, a tall, stern man with sharp pointed features who never smiled anyway. It was harder to tell if Gorsky had changed too.

Cooper squinted at Gorsky's shark eyes hoping they wouldn't shoot daggers in his direction.

"Uh...good morning, Mr. Gorsky. I...I was just going to look for Mr. Brandon." Such a lie. "He just walked out of class--"

"Mr. Brandon's whereabouts isn't any of your concern, Mr. Fairbanks," Mr. Gorsky announced, flinging his finger in Cooper's face, "now get back to class before you end up in detention!"

Cooper didn't think the next part out well. On a typical day it would have been out of character, but before he could really think it through he had turned away from Gorsky, threw down his board, and rode the cement hall to the other side of the building, jumping the six steps once out the door.

He rode the fifteen blocks to his house before unlocking the front door, throwing his board against the closet door, then plopping down the couch. When his hands stopped shaking and his heartbeat steadied things came back in focus. Both his mother and father were working, and his older sister was at one of her college classes, so he had the whole house to himself for the next five or six hours…enough time to think.

Grabbing a pad and pen, he started jotting down the common quirks effecting what seemed to be most of the town now. Black clothing, serious demeanor, little to no talking, lack of eye contact, unfriendly. But what about Lacey and Hanson? They didn't seem that affected by the weird things going on in Pine Willow. He regretted not going back to class to talk to them. Did they notice what he did? Did they care?

The back door slammed making Coopers heart drop five stories. His sister Cammie was talking on her cell...in a strange haunting language with no obvious Latin roots remotely familiar--not to mention Cammie didn't speak anything other than English, and pig Latin when they were kids. When she saw Cooper sitting on the couch, she stopped talking and flipped her phone closed.

"What are you doing home so early?" Cammie questioned, returning to her regular voice and language.

Cooper quickly jot down "Odd speech patterns" on the notepad before saying, "There was nobody at school...so I just left."

Cammie rolled her eyes and sat her phone on the counter.

"Were you speaking English back there?" Cooper asked, eyebrows knitted across his forehead. "Because I know Spanish and that wasn't it and I know you only really know basic English." Cooper regretted that little dig, but he and Cammie typically took playful jabs at each other, and he was desperate for normal, hoping Cammie would take the bait.

Instead Cammie watched Cooper from the kitchen like he had just spoken a different language. "Did I speak English? Cooper, have you been feeling odd lately...like you have a fever?" She tossed her hair back. "Yeah I spoke English, moron. What else would it be?” Her voice trailed off. “So tired…”

Cooper stared at his sister, who seemed to be in some sort of schizo-state of mind. Cammie and Cooper were often mistaken for twins despite the two year age gap, because they both had soft black hair and moss green eyes with a light sprinkle of pale freckles across their noses. But Cooper noticed Cammie's eyes had changed. Her iris was deep purple with flecks of yellow. He cocked his head before responding. "Nope, no fever here but you don't look like yourself." Without taking his eyes from his sister, he wrote about the eyes and fever.

"What do you mean 'I don't look like myself'?" Cammie responded defensively, reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing a Coke. "Looked like this for eighteen years, Coop. Don't know what you're seeing...maybe you need to get your eyes checked."

He choked out a laugh. "Yeah, maybe I do. Why don't you come with me?"

Cammie shook her head, muttering something under her breath before picking up her phone and walking upstairs to her room.

Okay, knowing that Cooper's one and only sister had whatever was going around made his stomach clench. He hadn't heard anything about any deaths in town, but what if that thing becomes deadly? Yeah, his sister is annoying and weird--like any other sister--but she's the only one Cooper had, and this “ailment” was hitting home now.

Cooper sat back down on the couch to jot down more things about what he thought was happening just as the lights went out. "Cammie!" he called, but the house was silent. None of the usual music blasting from upstairs, just cold stillness.

How weird, Cooper thought. He yelled for his sister once more, and when there was no answer he dropped the notepad and ran up the stairs. Cammie's door was closed. When he tried to open it he noticed he couldn't. It was locked.

"Cammie, open the door!" he yelled, pulling on the door handle. Cammie didn't respond, and Cooper got worried.

The house started getting colder, despite it being eighty degrees outside. Cooper felt something inside of him squirm, and he knew something wasn't right. The house felt eerily dark and muggy around Cooper's body.

Cammie's door opened without with a harsh creak, an ear splitting sound that left Cooper shaking. But Cammie wasn't there to greet him, just empty silence.

Cooper stepped into his sister's room. With the lights off and the blinds shut tight, the room was darker than the rest of the house. The wood underneath his feet creaked with every step. Cooper looked around for his sister noticing her unmade bed in the corner, the desk with the blue lamp, her clothes over the chair but no sign of Cammie.

The door slammed shut behind him with a sudden burst of air that made Cooper's insides squirm helplessly. His pulse quickened in his chest, and Cooper knew nothing good would happen. "Hello?" No one answered then Cooper's world went black.

~~~

"He's coming out of it." He heard the voice say as he struggled to open his eyes. Cooper had a horrible headache, similar to when he was waking up after getting his wisdom teeth removed. "Make sure he remains tied down until we make preparations." The deep ominous tone echoed in Cooper's brains. His temples pounded and his mouth was full of a metal taste.

A sharp kick penetrated his ribs, and he rolled to his side with clenched teeth. He felt thick ropes cut deep into the skin of his ankles and wrists, and a cry escaped his dry lips. The world spun around Cooper as three bodies surrounded him--one on his left, the other at his right, and the third standing by his feet. Too dark to see any faces, they appeared to be ghosts standing before him in cloaks of mist coiling around mysterious dark bodies.

"W...who are you?" Cooper croaked out. "What do you want with me?"

The shadowed faces stared at him curiously without saying a word. Their beady eyes were filled with inhuman strength--gnawing at Cooper's very existence. The headache grew worse.

"Who are you?" Copper repeated with very little strength, "What are you?"

The ghost at his right slapped a hand over Cooper's mouth. "He's not responding to the action, sir," the raspy voice rang from the creature near his feet.

"What should we do?" the second asked.

The ghost didn't answer immediately then after a long pause he finally said, "He's not as weak as the others. Probably too strong for his own good."

The two companions looked at each other in question. "What should we do with him?" One asked.

"Put him with the others," the deep voice ordered, "we'll deal with him later."

Action? What action? What was he supposed to respond to? How was he supposed to respond? Who and where were the others? How were they going to deal with him? Cooper’s stomach clenched tighter, not sure he wanted to know the answers.

The hot breath hung over him even as Cooper was lifted off the ground. "I know you're going to be a lot of fun, boy. You're very important," the deep voice bellowed. "I just don't know how I'll turn you. Yet."

A horrid cackle filled the air. Copper was surprised no lightning bolts flashed behind the ghostly figure like they do in the movies when he was able to focus on the features of the horrid beings. Elongated, sharp teeth, shocks of white hair shooting in every possible direction, gray, wrinkled skin like rotted prunes, leathery wings sprouting from their backs, and worst of all purple eyes with yellow specks—the same as Cammie only filled with unspeakable evil. A pattern was forming, and Cooper didn’t like it one bit. He shuddered thinking what would become of his family and friends, and all of Pine Willow for that matter, but he had to keep his cool and think.

Cooper was dragged off into a damp room smelling of mold, dust, and rotting bones. Possibly a dungeon--probably worse. He was thrown down onto the wet ground on his back. As soon as he landed a door slammed shut with a bang that rang in Cooper's ears. There was no light source but a small fire burning in the corner.

The flames illuminated three figures huddled in the darkness, curled up into tight balls. Cooper moved towards what he hoped to be actual human beings. Since he couldn’t detect any hideous features, he moved cautiously closer for a better look. A girl with tangled dark blond hair, a torn pink shirt, and cut jeans came into focus. Lacey Grant. The boy with the scratched glasses hanging off the side of his face was Hanson Diller.

The third, though, was hard to make out. It was obviously a girl in her teens--fifteen, sixteen, possibly older. Unlike Lacey, she wore no make-up. Her long, curly, golden locks fell onto her shoulders carelessly, and her dark brown eyes sparkled despite the frown painted across her face. A heart shaped necklace draped from her neck with the engraved name Iris.

A few moments passed before Lacey and Grant realized Cooper had joined them. Both exhausted from the ordeal, Cooper swore he saw a sweep of relief cross their faces.

"Where are we?" Cooper asked.

"By the looks of it, a place of transition, a holding cell of sorts. The odds of making it out alive are slim." Leave it to Hanson to present this fright night twilight zone dilemma like a math equation, void of emotion with a negative prognosis.

"Well, we need to up the odds and figure a way out, then figure out why the town is overrun with zombie ghosts." Cooper said matter-of-fact. "Let's start by untying each other." He looked at the girl whose name might be Iris. "Is your name Iris?" She returned a shy affirming nod. "Cooper, nice to meet you." Iris looked down. Cooper thought she looked familiar but didn't have time right now to figure that out. First things first.

Cooper noticed Lacey had the loosest knot binding her hands and small wrists. "Lacey, I am going to work on yours first." He sat near Lacey, his own hands bound, and used his fingers to unravel the rope with methodical patience. When they heard crashing outside the door he told everyone to fake sleep until it was quiet again.

After untying Lacey, Cooper told her to untie the ropes on Hanson. She rolled her eyes and scooted towards Hanson with hesitation and disgust she didn't even try to hide. Lacey muttered something under her breath as she moved toward the awkward boy sitting in the corner.

Cooper looked over at Iris, who's attention was directed at the iridescent fire glowing with light that seemed to make the feeling in the pit of Cooper's stomach grow painfully stronger.

When Cooper got closer to Iris, her brown eyes closed in on him -- then quickly shot away.

"Hi, I'm Cooper," Cooper said.

The corners of Iris's lips curved into a smile. "I know," she said with a giggle, "you already told me."

Cooper's cheeks must have burned red, not because of the fire.

"Oh, sorry about that..." Cooper started untying the ropes tied to Iris's wrists, creating an awkward silence between the two. Cooper couldn't stand it."So, Iris, where are you from?" Small talk. One thing Cooper had never been good at.

Untying everyone took awhile mostly because they were cautious about making noise, stopping when any sound was heard—not because the creatures possessed exceptional rope tying skills. The cell grew darker and they maneuvered clumsily. Cooper kept everyone quiet until they finished and could devise the next phase of the plan. First they needed to escape to safety. But really, beyond freeing everyone from bondage, Cooper had no actual plan.

"Why not asking her an intelligent question, there, genius?" Lacey's voice blared from across the room. Cooper looked over his shoulder to glare at her.

"She's been acting like that ever since they threw her in here," Hanson commented. "Sorry."

Cooper knit his eyebrows in confusion. "Ever since you got here? How long has that been?”

Hanson and Lacey's eyes met. "A few minutes after you left class, the electricity when out," Hanson explained.

"Yeah, I know. The electricity went out at home, too,"

"Well, apparently they took Lacey first because I heard her scream. When she screamed I felt my arms and legs getting tied to my desk. I'm pretty sure it was to keep me from running away.”

"Obviously," Lacey commented, "Nice observation, Diller."

Hanson shot a disgusted look at Lacey. She's not a very likable person. "Thanks, Lacey," he said with more sarcasm in his voice than Cooper thought possible. "As I was explaining prior to the interruption, soon after Lacey was taken they took me. They kept talking about actions and strength. They looked like ghosts..."

"It was so scary," Lacey continued for Hanson, "almost like walking into a nightmare. Only, real. I couldn't have been more terrified; just the sight of them makes my insides squirm. We've only been in this prison for a few hours --"

"Seven, to be exact," Hanson said, pointing to his wrist watch.

"Regardless of time," Lacey continued, "even though we've only been in here for 'seven hours', I'm still afraid for my life. I'm confused, and hungry, and freezing. What are we supposed to do?"

Cooper watched Lacey's face turn to mortal terror. The same looked was painted on Hanson and Iris's faces. They were depending on him for answers, and he had none. He was just as helpless, but knew he had to be strong.

"Well,” Cooper said, “seems we all came here about the same way.” He turned to face Iris. "What about you? How long have you been in here?"

Iris didn't make eye contact with anyone, just stared at the fire. "Three months." she said.

“Three months!?” Cooper whispered loudly before catching himself.

"Three months?" Hanson was louder then Cooper, causing everyone to throw him a silent ‘shush.’ Lacey could have killed him. Still, Hanson added, “That can't be true."

"I wish it wasn't, but it is. I was one of their first victims. I guess I'm lucky, though. They took my mother and father, and my little sister. They turned them into ghosts. When it was my turn to be...well, turned, they couldn’t do it. They brought me here and I haven't seen my family since. Now they want one child from every family in one place. I figured out the pattern when they started bringing you all here one by one. And now I see something else, something we all have in common."

"And that is?" Lacey asked, rolling her eyes since she wasn't known for patience and their current predicament wasn't making that better.

Iris looked at Lacey, the first real eye contact made with anyone. She stared unblinking and finally said in a light, low voice, "They are selecting...the smartest kids for experimentation. I’m not from your school but…”

Cooper wondered why Iris didn't look familiar. Regardless, he found her intriguing. "Experimentation for what? And who is their leader and how is this even happening?" Cooper clutched a handful of hair in his fist and spun around, feeling like the world was unraveling faster than he could hold on to a thread.

Iris turned her attention to Cooper which made his stomach flutter, even though their lives were very at risk and they had more urgent matters at hand. "Those are great questions and I think I know. They want their kind to develop higher mental capabilities. When they turn people, IQ's drop for some reason. They want to create a sub-species with higher intelligence. That's why they aren't hurting us...yet."

Cooper thought a minute but he had more questions. He was grateful Iris had paid so much attention to the actions of the creatures that she was able to put pieces together. "But...what ARE they exactly? They look like ghosts, really ugly ghosts."

Iris eyes sparkled for the first time, taking Cooper by surprise. "Isn't it obvious? It's a virus planted by aliens that kills our souls, leaving us with nothing but deteriorating bodies. They want us to help find a way to preserve the body...and develop their minds. If they succeed they will be immortal."

Cooper's eyes widened. He broke into a cold sweat. He gulped before asking Iris, "Do you know how they turn people? I mean...do they...kill their victims first?" Any answer was going to be horrible so Cooper braced for the worst.

"It's an injection," said Iris.

"An injection..." Hanson echoed, "You mean like a shot?"

Iris shook her head. "No, it's not like a shot. A shot is a lot less painful -- just a pinch and it's done." she paused, staring at the fire. Iris sat on her hands, and the look on her face told Cooper she was trying her very best not to cry.

"The injection--they call it the Action--feels more like they're burning you from the inside out. Like I said, it literally kills your soul by burning it. You feel it melt inside you and disappear."

"And how exactly do you know all this?" Lacey countered, fingers curled around her waist.

Iris's light eyes scanned Lacey like she had just appeared in the cell. With slight ease, Iris explained, "I've been here for so long, heard so many things, it's kind of hard not to pick up on stuff. Sometimes I think they don't care what I hear."

Cooper decided to believe her, nodding in response. He recalled them talking about the action when he was regaining conscientiousness.

"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way," he whispered, "we need to figure out a way to get out of here. Anybody got an idea?"

"Well, we do have the option of tricking one of the guards into giving us the keys," Hanson suggested, "but the chances of that working are very slight...and then there's the chance of there being no guard at all. That would obviously make that plan pointless and more so useless. But there is the possibility of…"

"Hanson," Cooper whispered, "enough math talk. No probability or possibility or chances or anything, okay?" Cooper tried to sound patient. Hanson caught enough grief from Lacey.

Hanson looked at each and every person in the room then shrugged. He pushed his glasses up his nose and said, "Okay, just trying to help. I mean, the possibilities could be…"

"Hanson."

"Sorry."

"Does anybody else have an idea?" Cooper asked. Everybody shook their heads. Cooper puffed a sigh. The fire was dying out, and it would grow unbearably cold soon. He rubbed his hands together.

"Maybe we should wait it out," Lacey suggested.

"But for how long?" Cooper asked. "I mean, Iris has been here for three months. I am not going to stay here for three months."

A sudden crash followed by total darkness startled Cooper and sent shivers down his spine. In the distance he heard a doorbell and water running. "Cooper!" The voice calling sounded like his mom. His throat was parched and eyes dry and heavy. The darkness slowly faded, melting with hazy light streaming in the room. Disoriented, he rubbed his eyes looking for the others but what came into focus was the outline of furniture arranged in a familiar way. The last thing he remembered was being in a cold cell with his classmates talking about escape from killer ghosts.

It wasn't until he felt someone shaking him that he realized he had fallen asleep. "Cooper. Someone is here to see you. An Iris. Get up."

"Iris? She's right here." he pointed to his left, but noticed his nightstand stood in that direction.

"Yes, at the door. About school she said." His mother’s voice as curt and anxious, not the usual singing tone he found annoying in the morning.

Cooper was confused but did his best to force himself awake. Struggling to stand he stumbled out his bedroom to the front door still swirling from the very real dream...nightmare he woke from. Scratching his head, he found Iris standing just inside looking extremely stressed.

The serious expression made Cooper automatically join her outside to talk. After crossing the patio and walking down the stairs she pulled him off to the side of the house. Before he could say anything about how utterly confused he was, Iris said, "There's no time to explain. We just had a converging dream and are in danger. We have to go. Come with me."

It was then Cooper knew something had changed. He had heard of converging dreams, but had never talked to Iris before. He had seen her, or she was familiar somehow, but their paths had not crossed until last night—in the dream. Cooper was confused and still groggy. He stared at Iris, trying to focus and noticed her pretty clear eyes and chose to listen instead of question. "Give me two seconds."

Cooper dashed in the house to change clothes, realizing he wore yesterday’s threads, something he often did. After running a toothbrush over his teeth he found his mom in the kitchen. "Going out for awhile to...work on a school project."


Marin Fairchild's back was turned to Cooper. When he spoke to her, she turned to him, smiled and looked at her son through purple eyes with yellow specks. "Ok,” was all she said, and all Cooper needed to see before he took off running faster than he had ever run before. When he reached Iris she immediately matched his pace without missing a beat. "Where are we going?" Cooper asked Iris, blowing hot air out of his nose as they ran together down the street. Iris' nostrils flared when she ran. Cooper found that nice somehow, still not understanding why he kept noticing her physical attributes first while...sleeping and now awake.

"I don't know," she said as Cooper grabbed her hand, "but we aren't staying here."