Liam yelled. This was going to hurt. Harry ran as fast as he could toward him. He quickly closed the gap between them, and Liam couldn't budge from his position.

Just as Harry was about to hit him, Liam felt the pull grow stronger, and he slid up the fence and over the top. He heard the crash where Harry had hit the boards, but he had more important things on his mind. He hit the ground and slid through someone's backyard. He then slid between two houses and out toward the street. Once out front, the force pulling his body turned him, and he slid down the sidewalk. He could see he wasn't far from home.

He rounded a corner and saw his house up ahead. Some of his neighbors were outside. He hollered for help, but most just took pictures with their phones and yelled that that was the coolest thing they had ever seen.

He slid across the front lawn of his house and up the front steps. He slammed against the front door. Whatever pulled him wanted him in the house. He reached for the handle and slowly turned it. The door flew open, and he tumbled in. The force pulled him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

His parents were both in the kitchen as usual, hard at work baking. Today Liam smelled chocolate chip cookies. There were what looked like fifty dozen cookies all piled up on the counter.

Liam grabbed the counter and held on for dear life. He looked over to see his parents staring at him with a look of curiosity on their faces. He realized it must have been quite the sight. He held onto the counter with both hands, his body and legs extended straight out about three feet above the floor.

His dad spoke up first, "Hmm... that's unusual. You don't normally suspend yourself above the floor like that, Liam, do you?"

"No, Dad, this is new for me," Liam replied.

"How was school, dear?" Liam's mom asked.

Liam couldn't believe how relaxed they appeared to be about the whole, "Liam floating above the ground, held up by nothing but his two hands gripping the counter" thing. He would have thought they would find it all a little more unnerving.

"Help me! I'm being dragged somewhere by some unseen force!"

"That's nice, Liam. Glad school went well today," his mom responded before both parents turned back to the cookies. Liam lost his grip on the counter and continued through the kitchen. On his way, he managed to grab a handful of cookies. He didn't know where he would end up but thought he would need to keep up his energy.

The pull dragged him up the stairs and around the corner. He slid down the hallway and grabbed the doorframe of his bedroom. He held on for a moment and peered inside the room. He was instantly hit by the smell of dirty clothes and poor ventilation. The room looked like someone had gone through everything he owned, dumped out his drawers and tossed everything around. He was comforted to know at least his room was the same as always.

He lost his grip and slid farther down the hallway toward the bathroom. The door was open, and he could see the toilet straight ahead. As he was dragged closer, he looked in horror as the toilet seat slowly raised. Somehow, he knew the pull was dragging him toward the toilet. He cried out in fear. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he did not want to be flushed. He wondered if he could even fit down the toilet drain. He suddenly had an image flash in his mind of a plumber explaining to his parents that there was a thirteen-year-old boy clogging their toilet drain.

As he entered the bathroom, he grabbed for the doorframe. The whole room turned into a windstorm, and he could see that inside the toilet was a swirl of colors. Liam began to scream for help. He hoped someone could hear him above the wind.

The wind grabbed his feet. It pulled one foot into the toilet. Liam imagined his obituary: "Liam, died thirteen years old, sucked into a toilet. Death by flushing. A fitting end for such a young life."

By that time, both feet were well into the toilet. He called again for help, but no one seemed to hear. His fingers held on as long as they could, but his grip began to weaken. With one last yell, Liam went in. His whole body disappeared down the drain.

Liam had been flushed.

I hope you are enjoying the first part of Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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