ALTERED

written and illustrated by Jordan Roach

I dedicate this book to my sister, Aria Roach who has helped me so much throughout this entire project

Maple Leaf Book Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2013

CHAPTER ONE

It all started the day I went exploring in the woods. You see, my house is surrounded by a big forest. My friend Sam and I were bored, so I suggested that we go exploring. It was a nice day and there was a slight breeze in the autumn air. Some leaves were already falling off the trees. Off in the distance there were some birds chirping. I took this all to mean that it would be a peaceful day.

Sam and I started walking along a path that we always used to go on. After a while we came across a rock that I had never seen before. The rock had five pointed edges, a small indent in the center, and was a brownish-tanish color.

”Hey!” said Sam “that kind of looks like a starfish”.

It was strange that I had never seen this rock before. I started examining the rock, running my fingers along the deep crevices of the rough stone. After I had been looking at the rock for a while we decided that we should get on with our walking. After what I thought was about an hour I told Sam that we should start to go back to the house.

“Elliot, I don’t think we have to go back now,” Sam replied.

“Yes we do, we’ve been out here for a while and my parents are probably worried.”

”Fine... I’ll race you!!!”

Everybody knew that I was the slowest kid in the sixth grade, so it was always a big joke when Sam asked me to race him. Except this time Sam started sprinting as fast as he could. I couldn't keep up. I started running after Sam but it was no use, he was way too fast. I was lost. Just like that. It all happened so fast, just so fast. First, I'm in the woods having a good time, then... BANG, I’m lost, just like that.

CHAPTER TWO

I knew that it shouldn’t be too bad. I knew my way around the woods pretty well so I thought that I could get back home soon. Except when I looked at my watch I realized that what I thought was one hour was actually three hours. THREE WHOLE HOURS. I was in the middle of nowhere and I had no idea where I was.

Sam should’ve been somewhere nearby because if we had been out in the woods for a really long time then Sam wouldn’t be home yet. I chose a random path and started sprinting thinking I might have some hope of finding my way.

”Sam!” I called. “Sam!” I became more worried with every step I took. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. Five canines were paused in the middle of the path facing away from me. The dogs started to walk away. I went to hide behind a tree but stepped on a fallen branch which made a loud noise “CRRRRAAACK!!!!” The dogs turned around, snarled all in unison, then..... POUNCED!!! I ran as fast as I could but it was no use. One of them jumped for my leg. It raised its claws, took one swipe, and tore almost all the material off my pant leg.

”AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH” I screamed, afraid that my leg would be next. I scrambled up a nearby tree and watched as the dogs struggled to climb the trunk. One jumped up and started to climb the tree. It came closer and closer. My heart was racing so fast that I could hear it through my chest. I didn’t dare move, it was almost as if I was glued to the branch. The dog was about four feet from me. I had to think fast and decided to just jump. I counted to three in my head.

1...2...3....Jump! I went sailing through the air. I saw a tree branch, focused all my energy on it, and I reached out and felt my hands close around the branch. I hung there for a second, not knowing what to do. I felt a slight drop. I looked up and saw a crack at the base of the branch.

“Oh no!” I said aloud. I heard a loud “CRRRAAAACK” and I was falling through the air. Falling until I hit the ground with a loud THUNK. ”OWWWWWWW!!!” I screamed as the pain seared through me.

CHAPTER THREE

There was a moment where nothing happened. A moment when nothing moved or made a sound. Then I heard the dogs coming towards me as I lay there, motionless. The winds were speeding up now. I heard a loud howl off in the distance and to my surprise the dogs darted away leaving me out in the woods, alone. I was a little frightened by that noise because that animal could be much worse than the dogs since they seemed to be frightened by it.

I started thinking. Thinking about all the people that had no clue where I was or if I was doing okay. I started thinking, I am Elliot Channing and I am lost. Lost. Lost to the point that I didn't have any hope of finding my way. I needed to find out what the heck was going on.

I couldn’t figure out why the woods were altered and so unusually strange. What was going on? If I could figure that out, maybe I could find my way.

I started making landmarks in my head of what I had passed on the way but the only thing I remembered was the starfish rock. I had no idea where it was. If I could find the rock then I would most likely be able to find home. I did remember one other thing. When the dogs had been chasing me I climbed up a tree to save myself. That tree had been an oak tree and the leaves had been unusually shaped and very large. I hadn’t noticed that before because I had been so panicked. If I could find that tree I could follow that path back to the end of the woods.

As I sat there thinking I heard something like footsteps. I was worried that it might be the animal who had howled to scare the dogs away. I got frightened and looked in the direction I thought the noise was coming from. The next thing I knew I was shoved to the ground.

“Sorry,” said the stranger. We helped each other up and as I got better look at the stranger, excitement filled my whole body. He was back! Sam was back!

CHAPTER FOUR

“So,” I said “ Why were you running so fast?”.

“I was looking for you! I got so worried that something happened to you and you were hurt or something like that. But it looks like you’re okay so I guess I was worried for nothing.”

“Well I’m just glad we’ve found each other. How come you didn’t get home yet? You must have been running for hours.”

“Yeah, I have been running for a while, and I didn’t get home because...well I got to the point where the woods should come to your house but there were just more woods.” How had Sam known that that was where my house should have been?

“I knew that it was the end of the woods because at the end of your woods there is a certain tree that is much taller than the rest of the trees and I always remember that so if we ever got lost we’d be able to find our way, but I guess that doesn’t really help now,” Sam said. Actually that kind of did help! If Sam knew what direction the big tree was in then we could have a chance to make some sense out of this whole thing.

“Do you perhaps know what direction the tree was in?” I asked Sam.

“Yeah, it’s that way” Sam said pointing.

“Good,” I said feeling satisfied with the knowledge I had just gained. If I knew where that tree was then I would know what direction the starfish rock was in. I had no idea how that would help me but I figured the starfish rock had something to do with this whole situation since it had never been there before this whole thing happened.

“Sam, we should start making a shelter for tonight,“ I said. “It’s getting pretty dark.” Sam agreed and said he would help me. He was sort of a building genius so I trusted him. He started to collect branches and twigs and started making a little refuge for the night. By the time Sam was finished I was amazed. I had no idea how he did it.

”We should get some sleep,” I said.

“Why?” Sam asked

“Tomorrow we are getting out of here”

CHAPTER FIVE

I woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in my stomach. It was a mix between excitement and nervousness. I looked over at Sam’s “bed” and noticed that he was gone. I started to panic a little, worried that something bad had happened to him. It turned out he was just gathering stuff for us to use if we got into trouble. I did have a plan for how we were going to escape. See, when I was observing the starfish rock I noticed something sort of odd. Right below the spiral in the center there were very faint lines in the shape of a door. I was curious about that and I wanted to find out more about it. I decided that we might as well investigate. That was my plan but it was a 50/50 plan so I thought our odds were pretty good.

After Sam returned we prepared for the trip. We made a map of what we could remember. We started walking off in the direction that we thought was right. After a while and Sam and I were both getting tired. We found a rock to sit on near some bushes and quickly plopped down on it.

“How much longer do you think we have to go?” I asked, anxious to get there.

“I don’t know, probably around ten to fifteen minutes” Sam replied.

Suddenly we heard a rustle in the leaves behind us. Sam and I turned our heads around simultaneously and were shocked at the sight. One of the dogs I had come across yesterday had nosed it’s way into the bushes behind us.

“Sam,” I muttered hoping not to let the dog sense my fear.

“Yeah?” Sam asked me still in shock.

“RUN!!!!!!!” I screamed as loud as I could making sure that Sam could hear me. We both took off running as fast as we could making random turns. We kept running for as long as we could. Surprisingly I kept up with Sam the whole way. We took a short break seeing that the dogs were nowhere in sight. My relief was only brief , however, because soon after all five of the dogs rounded the corner and the chase began again. We bolted down paths making abrupt turns every now and again. We turned one corner and I felt a rush of excitement and then a rush of disappointment. Right in front of us was the starfish rock, however that also meant a dead end. I realized that I hadn't thought my plan through very well. You see, if the lines were in fact a doorway I didn’t know exactly how to get inside of it. I let out a moan of disappointment and apparently Sam heard it.

“You alright?” he asked seeming very concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that I didn’t exactly think our plan through too well. I mea-” I was cut off by the sound of footsteps. I knew what that meant.

“Here come the dogs,” I warned.

We both got prepared to defend ourselves with the twigs and rocks and stuff Sam had found. All five dogs rounded the corner and surrounded us, taking a very threatening stance. Sam and I both shuddered with fear. I gave Sam a large club that I found next to me and a couple stones to defend us while I was figuring out how to get in the rock. He took the and stuff and started swatting and throwing stones at the dogs. I looked at the rock. Nothing seemed to make sense. I started to feel around the rock seeing if there was anything that seemed like a doorway. When I felt in the lower right corner of the rock I felt a crack in between the rock and the corner. I found a flat stick and inserted it in the crack. I moved it around and then heard a very faint noise. The rock swung open.

I yelled for Sam and he immediately slipped into the tunnel. I followed him and quickly closed the rock behind me so the dogs could not get in.

We crawled down the passage until we reached another door. I pushed the door open and we entered.

CHAPTER SIX

The inside of the room was amazing. Controls upon controls with buttons, dials, computers, and lots more technology. Sam and I were observing the computers which showed webcams set up all over the woods. One was set up right in front of our fort that we built for protection. Another one was angled at the dogs that chased us except instead of having regular dog skin the dogs were being disassembled as if they were robots. Right then, right in that moment something clicked in my head. Someone somewhere had altered the woods. Now to figure out why. As I watched all the different cameras angled at different places I got a behind-the-scenes look at what happened in the woods. The place that Sam had remembered my house being was my house, only someone had created something that blocked the exit so you couldn’t get out. From the camera’s point of view you could see through the wall. Also the dogs weren’t real dogs.

They were robots built and created to chase anybody who entered the woods. The cameras saw everything from how the strangeness all worked to everywhere that the dogs were altered to be more powerful. Why this whole thing was happening, I still had no idea. My question was answered very soon when a strange man entered the room. Sam and I were taken so much by surprise that we both jumped.

“Wh- wh- who... are ...you?” I questioned almost too afraid to speak.

“My name,” said the man in a very arrogant tone, “is Victor Boshaft.” That name sounded familiar from somewhere but I couldn’t quite make the connection.

“Why are you here?” asked Sam who did not sound afraid at all.

“I came here from Germany in 1995 when I was thirty (that meant he was forty-seven now) and moved here in-”

“No, I didn’t mean why are you in America,” Sam interrupted “ I meant why are you here, in the starfish rock?”

“Oh, well that’s an easy one, I... uhhh... I am here to inspect it.”

“Yeah right, tell us why you’re really here,” I said gaining confidence in the conversation.

“Well..” announced Victor “I am here for no particular reason at all.” I could sense he was lying. All I knew was he had something to do with our whole predicament. We had a very confusing conversation, then when we least expected it Victor grabbed Sam and I by the arms, shoved us into a room, and locked it from the outside.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I could hear Victor outside of the room. We needed to get out. I had to think of something. Just then I got it. If somehow we made Victor come in here we might be able to hurt him and escape. I discussed this with Sam and soon we had a plan.

Sam began moaning uncontrollably so Victor had to come in. When he leaned over to smack Sam I jumped on him and knocked him out. We ran out of the room. We each reprogrammed the computers so all the walls (and in this case dogs) were disabled. We then ran until we reached my house.

We went straight into the living room of my house. I looked at the clock and it said 12:15 a.m. I then checked the calendar and it said November 17. That was the exact time and date that we left! That was really weird.

“Why back so soon?” my mother asked.

I realized what had happened and said

“It was too cold so we decided to come back inside.”

“Do you guys want some lunch?” my father asked.

“Yeah sure, I’m starving,” Sam replied.

From that day on everything went fairly normal. I never entered the woods again, ever since everything was so altered.

EPILOGUE