I'm just an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl. One with deep honey colored hair, green eyes and a light suntan. And I'm living an ordinary life. Nothing surprising happens in my life, ever. It's usually to the point of boring. But I'm enjoying myself either way. I'm not into wild adventures; at least that's what I kept telling myself for a long time. It all changed when one day, my world was turned upside down. It went as followed:

I tap my foot on the floor and bob my head up and down on the soft music coming from the speakers of my pc. Sometimes I hum along with the tune, but am often interrupted by my own mind focusing back on my homework. When I finally finish, I jump up from my seat and do a twirl on the last notes of one of my current favorite songs as I can finally release the energy that has been building by sitting down for so long.

I end with my arms outstretched and facing the outside as the large windows of my room stand wide open to let in the warm breeze. To my surprise, I find two curious eyes staring at me from the tree outside. I giggle and curtsy before the onlooker. In reply they ruffle their feathers and lean forward a bit as if to copy the gesture. I can't help but find it very coincidental and amusing.

I round my lips at the bird and take a deep breath. "Whooo." I coo towards the owl, just for the hell of it. It appears to be a barn owl from the looks of it.

I wasn't expecting a reply, but was met by a "Who?" making my eyes narrow in amusement as I snort lightly.

"Whooo." I repeat and once more it seems to reply.

"Who?" How funny.

"No, you silly bird. It's 'whooo' not 'who?'" I scold it lightly, watching as it gets distracted for a moment. I hear pots rattling downstairs, signaling that mom has started on dinner. When it looks back at me, it repeats its questioning 'who' once more, unconcerned at me trying to correct it.

"Alright then. If you insist." I sigh. "My name is Isabel." I introduce, watching it simply stare at me. "You are supposed to introduce yourself now." I tell it after a moment, but it only tilts its head in reply before flying off shamelessly.

"How rude you are!" I call after it before feeling suddenly feeling very silly for having a conversation with a bird. Aren't I getting too old for this?

The next day, I have already put it out of my mind as I set my bike down in my brother's front lawn. "Finally. I was just about to call you." my brother scolds me as he walks out of the house, carrying a suitcase.

I watch him stuff it in the car. "You said ten, it's nine-fifty. You're just impatient." I counter.

"He's just nervous about leaving without the kids. You know how he gets." my sister-in-law shrugs as she walks outside to supervise my brother's packing. She pecks my cheek in greeting.

My brother walks up to me after shutting the truck of the car. "You know the rules right? No snacking in the evenings and don't let them jump on the couch. Last time they knocked heads. And call us from time to time. And…." I quickly slap my hand across his mouth to stop him from rambling on about things he told me a million times before.

"Yeah yeah. Get going already. I can handle the monsters, David." I assure my older brother by eight years, ushering him out the door behind my sister-in-law. They haven't been away with just the two of them for years. It was about time that they did. That left me with the twins as I was the only one available to babysit them for a whole weekend.

Normally our parents would take care of it, but they couldn't get a few days off from work at the moment. My dad is a firefighter while my mom writes plays. She's in the middle of creating one right now. She used to act in plays herself before she had my brother and I. When I asked her why she quit, she told me that family was more important than a career. I figured she didn't want to be like her mother whom she never saw again after she left to make it in Hollywood.

Anyway, it's all fine by me though. It's not like I have a lot going on right now. I'm just enjoying my free time before college starts. I don't actually mind spending time with my nephews.

My sister-in-law gives me one final thankful smile before getting in the car, waiting impatiently for her husband to follow suit. He finally does so, and as he starts the car, they give a last wave to the two rascals that are half-hanging out of the open window on the first floor.

I wave the couple off as I watch them turn the corner at the end of the street, wincing as my brother honks the car's horn loudly, causing the lady across the street to look out of her window annoyed. I decide it best to ignore her.

Sighing, I turn on my heel, preparing to face the twins. I love them to death, but they know how to tire me out with their endless supply of energy. When I come upstairs, I find the two five-year-old boys still looking out the window, chatting animatedly.

I have to do a double check to see who's who from this angle. I finally recognize Jake as he's slightly taller than his brother. They're easier to tell apart from the front. Tyler's head is more rounded and his eyes larger. It also help that my sister-in-law refuses to dress them up in the same outfit, encouraging their individual nature. Bless her.

Luckily their characters are also different from each other. Jake is a little shy, but despite that can be very strong-willed. Tyler however likes meeting new people and is a real suck-up. He just loves to hug.

"They're not going to be coming back any sooner if you keep standing there." I remark, patting their blonde heads as they crawl down from the kiddy chairs. "So…have you thought on what you want to do today?" I ask, looking down at the two of them.

Every time I look at them, I'm surprised at how much they look like my brother when he was their age. If you showed anyone a toddler picture of him and next the twins, no one would tell them apart. Their dirty blonde hair and grey-blue eyes are exactly the same.

"I want to go to the zoo!" Jake calls out without even taking the time to think it over. Tyler nods his head enthusiastically in agreement.

Their smiles quickly drop as I shake my head. "No dice. I don't have a car to drive us there and I'm certainly not going on a two-hour train ride when you can't even sit still for five minutes. You will have to think up of something more close to home." I tell them, only to be met with blank faces.

"How about the playground?" I suggest when they come up short. "We can get ice cream at the shop afterwards." I continue, smiling as their eyes light up in excitement. "Bathroom first!" I call out as they rush out of the room and down the stairs, laughing loudly.

Soon enough we find ourselves at the park. It's not busy at all and I find myself joining in on their silly games and on the play sets, okay with behaving a little childish if there's no one to see. I would probably be too self-conscious otherwise. Heck, I'm already feeling self-conscious at the sight of the barn owl staring at me from the tree line. I feel like its eyes are just drilling into me. I might as well be a mouse. Vaguely I wonder it it's the same one as the day before, but quickly dismiss it. That would be far stretched, because of territory and all that.

After a decent amount of time in the playground, I take them to get ice cream, as promised. They eat theirs happily, sometimes letting the other have a bite of their flavor.

It's so different from how my brother and I used to act towards each other. We fought each other over just about anything. Mom and dad had their hands full on us. Though I like to remember my brother being a bigger bother than myself. Of course I'm biased.

Back at home, the boys are too tired to be rambunctious any longer and settle in front of the TV, watching their favorite cartoons until dinner. I take that opportunity to clean up a little, not wanting to trip over their toys.

That evening, I settle them in bed, thankfully without many objections. They share a relatively large room, beds on opposite blue walls. Next to the entryway is a door to a spacy closet, filled with clothes and shoes for the both of them. A chest of toys sits below the wide bay window.

I turn to the boys, smiling as they're nested deep in the covers. "Goodnight you two." I call out, about to switch off the light.

"Wait auntie!" Tyler calls out, making me turn to him to see a pair of puppy dog eyes staring back at me. He sits up, pulling out a red bound book from under his pillow. "One story?" he pleads.

Not seeing the harm, I nod. "If you go to sleep right afterwards." I tell them as I watch his brother scramble out of his bed to join Tyler under the covers. They nod, agreeing to the terms laid out for them.

Satisfied I take the book, looking at it curiously. It doesn't seem very appealing to five-year-olds if I look at it from the outside. The only thing on the cover is the silver printed title: 'Labyrinth'. Seems innocent enough.

Opening the cover, I look to find my mother's name scrawled in the upper right corner. Weird, I don't remember seeing this book at home. Did she keep it somewhere out of reach? Because I'm sure I went through everything in the house at some point.

'Does it contain smut?" I think horrified, before shaking my head. 'Yeah right, not with that title.' Finally I shrug, telling myself that if I find anything age inappropriate, I'll just cut the story short and improvise.

Sitting down on the floor beside the bed, I open up the book, my eyes raking over the words quickly. I'm happy to find the typical fairy-tale words: 'Once upon a time', and start to read the words out loud.

Twenty minutes into the story, I have the boys hooked. I admit I find it pretty interesting myself, but I still wonder how Tyler came across this book. It's not what mom would give him as it has too tiny letters for him to read and no pictures to look at.

I glance up, dropping my voice for the oncoming suspension. "Looking at the baby, she finally speaks the words the Goblins were waiting to hear….I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now!" I exclaim the last part loudly and with no little amount of drama.

"That's mean!" Jake calls out immediately, making me laugh.

"It's just a fairy-tale sweetie. There is always a happy ending." I assure him, making him smile a little.

I startle as Taylor jumps up suddenly, laughing. "I wish the Goblins would come and take YOU away right now!" he shouts, repeating the words exactly while pointing at his brother, who giggles in return.

"No! I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now!" he counters, joining his brother in jumping on the bed.

I sigh, shaking my head in defeat. They reached the end of their ability to concentrate. "I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now, if you don't get back in your own beds and go to sleep right away." I threaten, ignoring the groans of dismay.

As I practically drag Jake back to the other side of the room, I feel a chill going up my spine. Looking up from tucking the boy in, I see the curtains swaying in the breeze. 'I don't remember the window being open.'

Frowning, I step up and pull aside the curtains to close the window. However, when I do that, I squeak in surprise, seeing the large eyes of a familiar owl on me as it sits on a branch overhanging the garden. It ruffles its golden white feathers as if ready to take off. Maybe it is the same one? But that would make little sense.

Momentarily entranced by the creature, I'm shocked when the boys suddenly start to scream loudly. Whipping around, I find them both out of bed, hugging each other. I was about to scold them, when I notice something moving under their covers. High-pitched laughter follows suit.

Disturbed, I quickly rush at the boys, stepping in between them and whatever creature decided to crawl in their beds. What could be so big? Definitely no insect. Besides, insects don't laugh, at least not that I know of.

Out of the necessity of protecting my nephews, I put on a bold front. No doubt I would have ran off if they weren't with me, but now, I must face whatever hides there.

Taking two large steps to the nearest bed, which happens to be Jake's, I reach for the covers with the Lightning McQueen picture on it. I tear it off in one fluid motion, jumping in fright when a dark figure darts past me, making the boys shriek. I jump again when the closet door slams shut.

I feel a sweat break out and my heartbeat picks up as fear grips me. 'What the heck was that?!' I scream to myself. I hardly got a look at it. I take one step towards the closet, but stop there, unsure.

"Auntie Isabel! Let's just go!" Tyler begs, his voice cracking as tears gather in the corners of his eyes. Breathing hard, I nod in agreement, feeling like I'm in over my head.

Taking their hands, I rush for the door, planning to get them out of here and maybe…just maybe…if I'm brave enough, I'll find a bat and go after whatever is in this room. But after I call dad first.

However, it seems we will be going nowhere as the door is slammed shut in our faces. Again a figure darts in and out of sight, cackling menacingly. The boys are clinging to me for dear life now, crying. But I find myself at a loss on what to do, on how to protect them. 'What's happening?!'

I turn around, dragging the two tiny bodies with me as they hang at my waist, when a loud hoot comes from the window. I am just in time to see the owl from before swoop in through the open windows. And if that isn't amazing enough, it changes form right after in a flurry of glitter, morphing into..into..a man!