The Dink Network

No doubt you guys have been waiting for me to finish typing up The Amulet: The Beginning. I still have yet to do that. Call it laziness, call it enjoying life for the present, I call it 'finishing the idea before finishing typing up the first book'. So, what I'll do is give you guys a story separate from Amulet.
It's called Fallen Moon: Awakening. It's about a boy name Erin Grimm. It's about his sister, Emily. And it's about their father, Jack, who races to protect them from the very thing he is...
Granted, I'm only giving you the Prologue and the First chapter due to size of the story, so I'll post more chapters soon. Comment on it during and after I finish posting.

Prologue:
A cricket chirps as a dark figure makes its way through the forest. It steps on a branch and jumps in fear. It's a bearded man who wears a look of fear in his eyes. He is being hunted. 'Why the hell didn't I listen to that crazy duckhole those few days ago?' he thinks to himself as he wipes the sweat from his brow. He has brown hair, his usually bushy beard is plastered against his jaw and neck. His flannel shirt is soaked with his sweat and his blood. His pants are torn in places. One of his shoes has fallen off, revealing his foot to the harsh terrain. His name is Charles Ford. Charles casts a wary look around the shadowed trees. A twig snaps, causing him to run in fright. He breaks through a tall bush and mutters to himself. "Bullduckingshoot!" He drops to his knees as a large, furry creature walks calmly toward him, its claws sharp and glinting in the full moon's light. The year was 1952, Charles Ford's disappearance would be the first in a long list of Missing Person's Reports. This was when the remote town of Timber Falls would be a small logging town.

Chapter One: Separation
Ever since his mother divorced his father, fifteen-year-old Erin Grimm's life went down what his father called the 'Great Ducking shoothole'. This wasn't exactly what a father would tell his son, but Jack Grimm was the kind of father that would tell his three-year-old daughter where babies really came from. Which he did. Erin had glanced down the street at the car that his father had brought with him into his marriage with Sharon Carver, fought over for custody, and packed the things he was allowed to keep, including the dog he raised from a puppy. Erin and his older sister, Emily, had said their goodbyes to both Sparky and their father. "I'll keep in touch." Jack Grimm had said as he snuck the cellphone Erin was supposed to be grounded from using into his pocket. "Be glad your mother makes enough for me not to pay Child Support, but I'll send something just to piss her off. It'll be for you and your sister to share." Jack embraced his son for what seemed to both of them an eternity, but it was actually ten seconds. "Em?" Jack looked toward his daughter, now aged seventeen, and she looked away, her brown hair that hid half of her face revealed that is was pretty despite the use of make-up. Lots and lots of make-up. There was a line of pink running down her hair. She was tall, skinny. Her breasts were an average size, or what the Seniors at the High School would call a nice rack before getting a broken nose. "Don't call me that." She said. "Em?" Jack started again, but Emily glared at her father with an I shall set you ablaze look. "Just go!" She screamed. Jack had winced at his daughter's coldness, then turned around to see his ex-wife wearing the same look. "Goodbye." She had said. Now Erin's father was gone, leaving him with a pubescent sister who freaked out if she didn't get her way and a cold-hearted mother who had, as she put it, fallen out of love for her husband.
That was a month ago. Now his mother, who had gone back to using her maiden name, had decided to take her children away from the only home Erin had. Not to mention the only friend he could get who wasn't wrapped up in the politics that is popularity. Now all of what he knew was going down his father's proverbial Great Ducking shoothole. "Erin! Time to go!" Erin turned away from his thoughts and looked at his ghost-like reflection in the mirror. He had black hair, his grandfather's hair, big blue eyes, a straight nose, and a mouth that seemed to suggest a hidden secret. Erin picked his backpack up, containing his laptop, journal, and hidden picture of his dad. He took one last glance at his room, and turned away. Turned away from what he thought would be the last normal part of his life...
Deep in a forest sat a remote town, this town was known as Timber Falls because it was once used by a logging company. At least, this was before the disappearances. Detective Julius Caesar Anderson was lounging in his office when a tear-eyed woman stepped in. Julius leaned forward as he listened to the woman. Her name was Faith Allgood, ironic because of her story. Her thirty-four year old husband went missing a week ago hunting. "I didn't think much of it because he always goes for days at a time, but never this long!" She weeped. Julius asked his questions; medical conditions, who would usually go with him, whatever fit the situation. The woman's answers were etched into his brain, and he made different possibilities. One he hoped to God was true. "You will find him, won't you?" She asked. A question he had known would come. "I'll try, and do, my best to find him." This was a truth that he based his whole career as a detective, then later a private-eye. He would do his danged best or die trying. He hoped that the last would never be an option. Faith thanked him and Julius promised he'd call her if anything turned up. When she left, he picked up the phone and punched in the number. "Will, I need a favor." William Jackson was the local sheriff, and a good friend. "Sure, Jules. What d'you need?" Julius then told him of the most recent disappearance. The sixth one this year. This was the twentieth of June...
Erin looked out the window at the trees that flew by as his mother droned on and on about how the move would 'broaden his horizons'. 'Yeah, tell me another one.' He thought as they pulled into a gravel road. In the mirror, he saw his sister shaking her head wildly to some band, most likely Rammstein. "Those guys are soooo ducking hot!" she had said to him when he asked what was so special about them. Her hair flailed wildly, as if each strand had a life of its own. 'Like Medusa.' Erin thought as he remembered his history project on Greek culture. "Look out!" Emily shouted as Erin came out of his thoughts. A man stood in the road, his arms spread out like he was attempting to hug the car. A deep gash cut across his chest. Erin's mother slammed on the breaks, nearly hitting the man. He looked near his forties, and was extremely pale. "Help... Me!" He mouthed before collapsing in front of the car. "We've got to help him!" Emily screeched in Erin's ear, nearly making him deaf. Emily and her mother got out of the car and helped the man in the back...
Julius had spent nearly all of his time in the surrounding forest looking for Faith's husband. Nothing. He sat at his desk, thinking and praying. Mostly praying, but thinking nonetheless. Then, as if God-sent, the phone rang and he answered. It was a nurse from the local clinic. A family; a mother, a daughter, and a son had brought in a wounded man who fit the description of Faith's husband. He hung up, said a quick thanks to God, then called Faith Allgood. "Ma'am, I think we've found your husband..."
Erin had watched the nurses take the man into the clinic, his mother made them stay for lunch. 'We drag a wounded man to a clinic and decide to eat lunch afterward? What the hell?' Erin thought as he picked the onions off of the greasy burger they had served in the clinic's lunchroom, not that he was much hungry. "I'm going to take a walk around, I'm not very hungry." He said as he got up. He left the cafeteria and walked around the Clinic's hallways. He stopped when he saw a sign that notified any people who would happen to have a cellphone to turn it off before entering the ICU. Or what?' He wondered, then added to himself with a bit of wit, Will a ringing phone upset the heart monitors? will it cause a massive heart attack?' He turned around and walked back to the clinic's entrance. He passed a few nurses who asked if he was lost and found the room where the man had been put. "he was hurt pretty badly." Erin muttered to himself. "That gash..." 'was from an animal.' "But what kind?" He wondered. A woman passed by him and entered the room with a doctor. 'His wife? Sister?' "Are you Erin Grimm?" A voice startled him. A man with red hair, blue eyes, and a crooked nose looked at him. "Um, yeah?" The man glanced toward the man in the room. "My name is Detective Julius Anderson. I'm a private detective working with the local sheriff. I'd like to ask a few questions."
Erin, as confused as he was, agreed to the request. "I've already gotten the details from your mother and sister, but I need all sides of the story to make an effective report. Tell me when you're ready." Erin said he was. Julius asked his first question. "When did you first notice the man?" Erin remembered what he saw. "I was thinking about how my sister banging her head like an idiot to her music reminded me of a history project I did when she screamed 'Look out!' in my ear. I saw the man, walking toward us with his arms spread out like he was going to hug the car." Julius jotted down what Erin had said in a notepad. "Is there anything you noticed about the man?" Erin nodded. "A deep gash on his chest. He was pale, most likely from blood loss, but there was fear in his eyes." Again, Julius wrote this down. There seemed to be more to what happened then he thought. Julius then asked one last question. "Did you notice anything else about the area? anything out of the ordinary?" Erin shook his head. Julius had a feeling that the kid would make a great detective. It was a gut feeling. Those feelings were never wrong. "If you see anything unusual around town, call me on my office phone." He gave Erin a business card and turned around to leave. 'That was pretty strange.' Erin thought as he looked at the card. There was nothing special about it, just that the words Julius Caesar Anderson: Private Detective were handwritten alongside a number. Erin absently put it in his pocket and walked back to the cafeteria to meet up with his mother and sister...
Julius relaxed again in his office chair thinking about what the boy had said. The woman and the girl didn't see the man's fear, only the man himself. Erin. A nice name for a boy. "I've got a man who goes missing for a week that suddenly appears just outside of town with a nasty gash on his chest." He muttered to himself. " If only he could see the wound, then maybe things could become clearer. Julius thought Erin had forgotten a detail. No, he feltthat the boy left a detail out. An important one. He picked up the phone and punched in Will's phone number. "Yes?" Will answered. "Will, I need another favor. I need every missing person's report on my desk as soon as possible." Julius said. "This another gut feeling?" Will asked bluntly. "Yes. It's a strong one." A rush of static met Julius' ear as Will sighed. "Fine, Jules. But if you turn out wrong I won't be able to recover from it." "Don't worry, Will. I'll take all the rep from you if I turn out wrong. I'll say I stole them." Will chuckled, Julius could almost see his friend's eyes crinkling around the edges as the light played off of his bald head. "No need, You're a good detective and a better friend. We'll stick like glue." The connection ended and Julius set the phone down. He couldn't relax now, his brain was going over what little information he had in his head like tough jerky...
'This isn't a house.' Erin thought as they pulled into the driveway. 'It's a freakin' mansion!' The 'house' as their mother called it was a two story building with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, six guest rooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a basement. Erin noticed that there was a treehouse in the back yard. It too, was a mansion in comparison to the one he and his father built together. "I love you, Mom!" Emily practically screeched with delight. Erin knew his mother was trying to butter him up. "So?" His mother asked. "So what?" Erin said coldly. He could feel his mother flinch at his coldness. He didn't care. He didn't want this big old empty house, which was as empty as the marriage his parents had. He walked off toward the treehouse. "The treehouse is mine!" He called back. "Just leave him." His sister said as his mother started after him. "He needs time to adjust." Erin climbed up the ladder and up to the highest part of the treehouse. He pulled out his phone and looked for a signal. Four bars. Pretty good for the middle of nowhere. dang good. He punched in a number and listened. "Hello?" Jack Grimm answered the phone. "Dad, It's me, Erin." Halfway across the United States, Jack Grimm smiled. "It's been a while." He said. "Yeah, It has." Erin said, his voice choking up. He cleared his throat and said, "Mom moved us out of the house and brought us to some town called..." He closed his eyes and remembered the broken sign he saw. "Timber something-or-other. It's out in the middle of nowhere. Mom brought us to a huge house, no, mansion to try to butter us up. Emily took the bait but I didn't ." "At least she's taking care of you. Look, I've got to get going. Talk to ya later." "Talk to ya later." Erin repeated. Then he hung up. He leaned against the wooden wall and let tears run down his face. Halfway across the Untied States, Jack Grimm was crying as well. Not because he missed his son terribly, but because he knew where exactly his wife brought his kids. Timber Falls...
Julius looked over the case files and missing person's reports. Many people have been going missing over the years, twelve a year. seventy years of disappearances. Seventy times twelve equals eight hundred forty people missing. "Why the hell hasn't someone launched a search?" He asked himself. Seventy years, twelve people a year, only half of them were found hurt but alive. They would go missing again a few days later. The other half had half found dead, most of them eaten by wolves. "If there is a pattern, then Mr. Allgood is in danger!" He deduced. He contacted Will again. "William, I have a strong reason to believe Mr. Allgood is in danger." Will, not used to being called William, knew that he would have to trust his friend. "I'll send out some deputies to keep an eye on him. Jules, what's going on? What's got you all riled up?" Julius paused for a moment. "I'll tell you later." He said as he hung up. On the other side of town, William Jackson was staring at the receiver, a shocked expression on his face...
Faith Allgood had received a phone call from the clinic. Her husband was healing rather quickly and would be returning home that very night...
Ezekiel Allgood was having nightmares in the clinic that he was being treated in. He saw the full moon, the creature slicing his chest to ribbons, the car with the scared looking family. He awoke knowing something terrible was happening to him. He knew his wife was in danger. There was nothing he could do to help her...