There used to be three of us, we were the only kids who lived on Lantern Street, by far

the poorest neighborhood in town. That was a long time ago and I haven't thought about

it in ages, but a few weeks ago something happened that just… well it changed everything,

but to get the full picture we have to take a step back.

Lantern Street originally had another name, but no one calls it that. It was always just

Lantern Street. It was the only street in town where they refused to fix the damn street

lights, so instead the locals put up solar-powered lanterns. It had this dark and ominous feeling

to it. Some parents refused to let the kids play there as it was on the far side of town

and in a poor area. Still, kids interpreted this in the worst way possible. A dark street

at the end of town, were you not supposed to go? Of course there was something wrong

with it. That's where we lived. Me, Dawson, and Abby. Abby was the oldest and had four

years of me. Dawson was about two years older than me. At that age there was numbers

meant something. It was true. Our parents were that well off, but we made do in our own way.

We couldn't play any video games and we had to use the computer at the library, but we didn't mind.

We didn't know any other life. The three of us did pretty much everything together.

I wasn't only child, but I always considered those two to be my brother and sister.

We were the lantern street kids and we stuck together no matter what.

During Halloween we had an ingenious idea. For one night we took down all the lanterns so

we can have a completely dark street. If kids wanted to pass from the north side of town to the

west without crossing the highway, they had to pass by lantern street. We figured we'd make sort

of a toll and really spook the place up. It was the only time of year when kids regularly passed by

after all. See, we had this neighbour. He lived on his own with his two cats and he had these

...