The other thing Jack wanted was a cheeseburger. Badly. He hadn’t eaten since much earlier that morning and all he had time to devour was a single egg and a glass of orange juice. After browsing through the bookstore unsuccessfully more more than twenty minutes, he stepped out into the bright sunshine and walked down to the diner, where he hoped to satisfy his growling stomach with some tasty grub.

He thought back to the morning. The kids were eating cereal and milk and talking about their favorite game, Poptropica. He had remembered his own favorite games from his youth, but those were quaint by today’s standards: a cheap electronic football game from Mattel and an old and battered Atari 2600.

He looked up at the street again and was surprised. There, standing directly across from him was Phil. How long he had been there was a mystery. But the penetrating and menacing stare he wore spoke volumes. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Slowly, he walked down the stony path to the beach. Waves crashed against the rocks and the normally brisk ocean breeze was noticeably absent. Casually, he looked up at the sky and saw tiny puffs of clouds moving lazily across the sky. It reminded him a lot of the island of Maui, one of his favorite family vacation spots. But this was not Hawaii, and he was not on vacation. He let another sigh out and after a few seconds more of gazing across the vast expanse of the crystal-blue ocean, he turned to walk back to the house.

It was then that the Martian spacecraft landed and he was abducted. “Screw this,” he shouted, “I’d rather be playing CastleVille.”

Sometimes, the wind would whip over the hill and strike the house with such force that it would tremble and shake. Other times, the house would sit still, silent under sunny and cloudless skies.

The house held a deep and dark secret.