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MidReal Story
The Blackwood Files
Scenario:12 year old Daley joins a new school after his father gets a new job as a caretaker for a really wealthy family. Daley and his new school friends form a secret detective group who plan on finding out more about the mysterious family Daley’s father works for . What they discover will haunt them forever, but through sheer determination and bravery they manage to stop the family’s evil plans to take over the local town through witch craft and evil rituals.
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Daley
He is a 12 year old who recently moved to a new town with his father. He is curious, brave, and determined. Daley discovers that his father works as a caretaker for a mysterious and wealthy family. He befriends a group of kids at his new school and forms a secret detective team to uncover the truth about the family. Daley learns that they are engaging in witchcraft and plans to take over the town. He helps stop them.
Freddy
He is one of Daley's new school friends who joins the secret detective team. He is humorous, brave, and quickthinking. Freddy often lightens the mood with jokes and helps in gathering evidence against the mysterious family. His bravery is evident when he confronts a fierce dog to save his friends, and he plays an essential role in their mission to expose the truth about the family's sinister plans.
Luna
She is a 10 year old who is Daley's new classmate. She is intelligent, friendly, and brave. Luna befriends Daley and joins his secret detective team to investigate the mysterious family. She helps gather information and faces her fears to uncover the truth. Her contributions are invaluable, and she plays a key role in their plan to expose the family's evil plans and save the town from their witchcraft schemes.
My name is Daley, I'm 12 years old.
Three weeks ago my father got a new job, and we had to move to a different town.
My father is a caretaker; he takes care of other people's houses and gardens, and sometimes their swimming pools.
In the past, he always worked for really nice and friendly people.
But this time... I don't know yet if they are nice or not.
Their house is huge, like a castle, and it's located in the middle of nowhere.
I don't even know their names yet.
All I know is that my father seems to be scared of them.
He told me not to tell my mother about this job.
I don't know why; I'm still trying to figure it out.
Yesterday was my first day at a new school.
I made some new friends: Luna, Freddy, Poppy, and me... we are now a team of secret detectives.
We don't know yet what we will investigate, but we are ready for whatever comes next.
Today, while walking back home from school, I decided to tell them my story about my father's new job and our move to this new town.
"Guys, I want to tell you something. You have to promise not to tell anyone else. It has to be a secret."
"Of course, we promise. What is it?"
Luna asked me.
I looked around to make sure no one was listening.
We were walking behind the other kids, and I knew that in a few minutes we would be alone.
I led them to a hidden spot behind the school playground's oak tree.
The other kids were already gone, heading home.
Luna, Freddy, and Poppy huddled close to me.
"Guys, my father got a new job. He works for some rich people who live in a huge mansion. The house is surrounded by massive iron gates and weathered stone walls. The windows are dark, and the front door has strange symbols carved into it."
"Symbols? What kind of symbols?"
Freddy asked me with wide eyes.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like them before. My father always comes home looking exhausted and nervous. He told me not to tell my mother about this job."
"That sounds weird," Poppy said, frowning.
"Yeah, it does," I agreed.
Luna pulled out her notebook and started jotting down some notes.
"Can you describe the symbols again?"
"They're like... they look ancient. I don't know how to describe them."
Poppy spoke up again.
"My grandmother used to clean for the people who lived in that house before. She said they were really nice, but they disappeared suddenly about ten years ago."
"Disappeared? What do you mean?"
Freddy asked, his voice filled with curiosity.
"They just left one day without warning. No one knows where they went or what happened to them." A crow landed on a nearby branch, watching us intently.
Luna quickly tore the page from her notebook and stuffed it into her pocket.
"Let's go to the library after school. We can look for some books about this town's history."
After school, we snuck into the local library.
It was a small, dusty place with shelves upon shelves of old books.
Luna found a quiet corner in the history section and spread her notebook on the wooden table.
Freddy kept watch by the window while Poppy and I scanned the shelves for any books about our town's past.
My fingers ran along the spines of the books, feeling the worn leather and faded titles.
I pulled out an old newspaper collection and began flipping through its yellowed pages.
The articles were all about our town, but they were from fifty years ago.
I saw mentions of the mansion, mysterious deaths, unexplained fires, and people vanishing into thin air.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching.
The librarian was coming our way.
We quickly hid the papers under our backpacks, but not before Luna caught a glimpse of something in one of the photos.
"Wait, Daley, look at this," Luna whispered urgently, pointing to the photo.
I leaned over and squinted at the grainy image.
"That's the same symbol from the mansion door!"
After school, I guided everyone to my backyard.
I made sure no one was following us.
Once we reached the treehouse, Luna pulled out her notebook again.
Freddy climbed up and nailed a thick blanket over the window so no one could see us inside.
We huddled together, our flashlights casting flickering shadows on the walls.
I sketched the symbol from the mansion door on a piece of paper.
Poppy spoke up, her voice filled with excitement.
"We need a proper headquarters for our mystery-solving club. Somewhere we can keep all our clues and notes."
She pulled out a small diary from her backpack.
It was old and worn, but it had a tiny lock on the front.
"This used to belong to my older sister. She never used it. We can make this our official diary for the club."
Luna nodded in agreement.
"Perfect! Let's all sign our names on the first page."
One by one, we took turns signing our names with a flourish.
"The Mystery Solvers Club" was officially formed.
Just then, we heard the sound of a car pulling into our driveway.
It was Dad!
I peered out the treehouse window and saw my father stepping out, his face pale and eyes darting nervously.
After dinner, I waited until Dad fell asleep watching TV.
The house creaked softly as I tiptoed down the stairs.
My heart pounded in my chest.
I reached his home office and stopped in front of the door.
There was an emergency key hidden above the door frame, just like he had shown me.
I pulled out the key and unlocked the door, slipping inside and closing it behind me quietly.
The room was dimly lit by the moonlight filtering through the window.
Dad's desk was covered with papers, files, and books stacked haphazardly.
I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight app, keeping the beam low to avoid detection.
My hands trembled as I began searching through the folders, looking for anything that could give us a clue.
But there was nothing out of the ordinary, just business documents and tax returns.
Just as I was about to give up, my eyes landed on a drawer with a small padlock on it. My heart skipped a beat as I reached for it, touching the cold metal.
Suddenly, headlights swept across the window, casting an eerie glow over the room.
Dad was awake and heading to the bathroom.
I froze, holding my breath as the footsteps approached.
"Daley?" Dad's voice was groggy but alert.
I quickly switched off my flashlight and whispered, "Yeah, Dad, just getting a glass of water."
Back in my room, I sat on my bed, my hands still shaking.
I couldn't believe how close I had come to getting caught.
Through the wall, I could hear Dad's footsteps pacing back and forth in his office.
The floorboards creaked as he moved around, opening and closing drawers.
Then, I heard a metallic click, like the sound of a lock being checked.
He must have been checking the locked drawer I had found.
My phone buzzed with an incoming text.
It was Luna: "Did you find anything?"
Before I could respond, there was a knock on my door.
I quickly hid my phone under my pillow and pretended to be asleep.
The door opened slowly, and Dad stood there watching me for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, he sighed and whispered, "Goodnight, Daley," before closing the door softly behind him.
I walk through the school gates, my backpack heavy with the weight of last night's secret.
The morning fog hasn't lifted yet, making the brick building look ghostly.
Near the bike racks, I spot Luna and Freddy huddled together, but Poppy isn't with them.
Luna waves me over, her face serious.
She pulls out her notebook and shows me a newspaper clipping about another family who worked at the mansion - they vanished without a trace.
My hands shake as I tell them about Dad's locked drawer and his strange behavior.
Behind us, the school bell rings, but we don't move.
After school, I lead Luna and Freddy down the library's basement stairs.
The air is musty, filled with the scent of old books.
Luna pulls out her notebook, and Freddy stands guard at the door.
I scan through dusty filing cabinets until I find a drawer labeled "Old Building Records."
Inside, I find blueprints labeled "Blackwood Estate - 1923."
My heart races as I unroll the large papers on a table.
We huddle around them, our flashlights casting flickering shadows.
The main floor looks normal - a grand foyer, a kitchen, and several bedrooms.
But when we flip to the basement plans, Luna gasps.
Instead of storage rooms or a wine cellar, we see rows of small cells with heavy doors.
Chains are marked on the walls, and in the center is a large chamber labeled "Ritual Space."
We exchanged a silent, determined glance, knowing we had to uncover the truth before it was too late.
I hold the old blueprint steady while Luna carefully peels it from the table.
A metallic glint catches my eye as something falls from the back.
Freddy dives to catch it before it hits the floor, and we all stare in shock at what he's holding - a small brass key with faded tape still attached.
Luna's hands shake as she holds it up to read the label: "Secret Passage."
We huddle closer, examining the worn key against the blueprint.
It matches the style and age of the mansion's architecture.
When footsteps echo from the library stairs, I quickly pocket the key while Luna and Freddy scramble to roll up the blueprint.
Luna whispers urgently, "Do you think this key opens one of those cells?"
Freddy glances nervously at the stairs, then back at us. "If it does, we need to find out what's inside before anyone else does."
I nod, feeling the weight of the key in my pocket. "Tonight, after dark, we'll meet at the mansion."
I lead Luna, Freddy, and Poppy down the cracked sidewalk to Luna's grandmother's small yellow house.
The autumn wind rustles dead leaves around our feet as we approach the creaky porch steps.
Before we can knock, the door swings open, revealing Luna's grandmother in a floral print dress.
Her wrinkled face tightens at the sight of us.
"Come in, come in," she says, ushering us inside.
We enter her dimly lit living room, filled with old photographs and ticking clocks.
She motions for us to sit on the plastic-covered couch while she disappears into the kitchen.
She returns with a plate of stale cookies and a teapot.
As she pours us each a cup, I pull out the mansion's blueprint and the brass key from my pocket.
Her teacup clatters against its saucer when she sees them.
She sets the cup down with trembling hands and shuffles to an old trunk in the corner.
She pulls out a worn leather journal, its pages yellow and brittle.
Opening it carefully, she reveals detailed sketches of the mansion's underground passages.
Her voice quivers as she speaks.
"I drew these forty years ago when I worked at the mansion as a maid. I discovered the cellar door behind a false wall in the wine room."
She traces the path with her finger, showing us exactly where to find it.
Freddy leans forward, his eyes wide.
"What did you find inside?"
Luna's grandmother closes the journal abruptly and turns away from us.
Her voice is barely a whisper.
"Some doors should stay locked forever."
Her words hang in the air when a crash echoes from outside.
Her wrinkled hand grips my arm, freezing me mid-sentence.
Through the lace curtains, I see three dark figures darting between her rose bushes.
My friends huddle closer on the plastic-covered couch as another crash rings out from the back porch.
The journal slides from Luna's grandmother's lap onto the floor, scattering loose papers.
I reach down to gather them, but before I can, fresh muddy footprints appear on her welcome mat outside the front door.
Someone is circling the house, testing every entrance.
Luna's grandmother slowly rises from her chair, shuffling toward the landline phone in the corner.
I grab the fallen papers while she speaks calmly into the phone, giving her address and describing the intruders.
The footsteps circle around to the front window, pressing against the glass.
Freddy helps me stuff the mansion drawings back into my backpack as another crash echoes from the garden.
Through a gap in the curtains, I see a tall figure in a black coat examining the lock on the front window.
Luna clutches her grandmother's free hand, her eyes wide with fear.
Poppy crouches behind the couch, her face hidden in her hands.
The dispatcher promises officers are three minutes away.
A metallic scraping sound comes from the back door.
Through the window, I watch red and blue lights flash across Luna's grandmother's garden.
The dark figures scatter into the shadows, disappearing behind a row of tall hedges.
Muddy footprints remain on the porch.
My heart pounds as two police cars screech to a stop outside.
Two officers rush toward the house with flashlights while others circle the property, searching for signs of the intruders.
Luna's grandmother opens the door with trembling hands.
The officers take her statement while we huddle in the corner, watching their flashlights sweep across her garden.
Before they leave, I notice a small package on the doormat.
It's wrapped in black paper with a symbol drawn in red - the same symbol from the mansion's crest.
We walk in silence beside our friends as we leave Luna's grandmother's house.
The black package weighs heavy in my backpack, the symbol burning a hole through the fabric.
Police cars patrol the streets nearby, their lights casting an eerie glow over the quiet neighborhood.
Darkness creeps in as we walk, shadows stretching across the pavement like skeletal fingers.
I try to focus on the sound of our footsteps, but my mind keeps drifting back to the mansion and the mysterious symbol.
At my house, I tell Dad I was studying at Luna's, but his worried expression tells me he doesn't believe me.
He asks about my backpack, and I brush it off as extra books for school.
After dinner, I hear him on the phone in his bedroom, speaking in hushed tones that send a chill down my spine.
His words are indistinguishable, but the anxiety in his voice is unmistakable.
As the night wears on, I wait for his bedroom light to go out.
It's 11 PM when I finally hear his door creak shut and the soft hum of his alarm clock.
I grab my flashlight and tiptoe toward his office, my heart pounding in my chest.
Luna's voice whispers through the darkness, startling me.
"Did you bring it?" she asks, her tone urgent and laced with fear.
I nod, pulling the black package from my backpack, its symbol glowing faintly in the dim light.
We sit cross-legged on my bedroom floor, the package between us.
Our hands tremble as we unwrap it, the paper crinkling loudly in the dark.
At every sound from Dad's room, we freeze, holding our breath until the silence returns.
Finally, under the beam of my flashlight, we peel back the final layer to reveal an aged piece of parchment.
Strange markings cover its surface, and in the corner, that same red symbol glows faintly.
Luna pulls out her phone to photograph it, but the symbol doesn't show up in the picture.
As we try to unfold it fully, a small metal object falls out and rolls under my bed.
I spread the parchment across my bedroom floor while Luna holds the flashlight steady.
The yellowed paper is covered in sketches of the mansion's layout, including rooms I never knew existed.
Behind the wine cellar, a narrow passage leads to a room labeled "artifacts."
On the second floor, a concealed door in the library opens into a room with no label.
My hands shake as I trace the connected tunnels with my finger.
When we finally unfold the bottom section, a map of the woods surrounding the mansion appears.
Six red crosses mark specific locations among the trees.
Luna's eyes widen as she points to the map, her voice barely a whisper.
"These crosses... do you think they're hiding something there?"
I swallow hard, glancing at the parchment again.
"What if it's not just something, but someone?"
I lead Luna through the darkened mansion, our footsteps echoing on the wooden floor.
Dad left for errands an hour ago, and we have a small window of time before he returns.
The library looms ahead, its tall bookshelves casting long shadows in the dim light.
We compare the parchment's markings to each section, searching for a match.
Luna's trembling hand points to a shelf that matches the map's description: "Third row, mythology section, red spine books."
I run my fingers along the dusty volumes, counting from the left as indicated.
At the seventh book, my hand catches on something metal behind the spine.
Luna leans in closer, her breath catching.
"Is it a key?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
I nod, pulling out a small, ornate key that glints in the dim light.
My hands tremble as I slide the key into a barely visible keyhole behind the seventh red book.
Luna steadies my elbow as I turn it slowly clockwise.
The mechanism makes a series of distinct clicks, each one echoing through the empty library.
We freeze at a sudden creak from upstairs.
Thirty tense seconds pass without another sound, and then I complete the turn.
A soft click follows, and a thin line appears in the wooden paneling.
Cool air rushes out as a narrow door swings inward, revealing stone steps descending into darkness.
We exchange a silent nod, knowing there's no turning back now.
I descend the steps first, Luna close behind.
Our flashlights cast flickering shadows on the walls as we make our way deeper into the earth.
The air thickens with dust and age.
Cobwebs cling to the corners of the stone walls, and ancient symbols are carved into the mortar between them.
At the bottom, we step into a circular chamber lit by flickering candles.
Shelves line the walls, filled with dusty leather-bound books and glass jars containing dark liquids that seem to shift in the light.
My flashlight beam catches a large family tree painted on the far wall, stretching from floor to ceiling.
The Blackwood lineage is etched in bold letters, with each generation branching out in intricate lines.
Every name has a small red symbol next to it, matching the one I found on my mother's locket.
Below the family tree sits an altar with fresh candles and a bowl of dark liquid that seems to be pulsing.
Luna picks up one of the books from a nearby shelf, her hands shaking as she opens it.
The pages are yellowed and filled with handwritten passages in an archaic language we can't understand.
But then she turns to a page with sketches of various plants and herbs, accompanied by notes on their properties and uses. "This is about potions," she whispers, her eyes scanning the text.
"And there are more books like this."
I run my fingers over the spines of several volumes, feeling an eerie connection to whatever lies within them.
As I pull out another book, a piece of paper slips out and falls to the floor.
Luna picks it up, her eyes widening as she reads it aloud:
"Residents of Ravenswood under Blackwood control: John Smith, Sarah Johnson, Emily Davis..."
She pauses at one name that makes my heart skip a beat:
"Michael Blackwood."
I kneel beside Luna at the stone altar, our flashlights illuminating its surface.
While examining the strange symbols carved into its edges, Luna's fingers catch on a loose edge.
She presses it, and there's a click.
A small panel slides open, revealing a leather-bound book wedged inside.
The book's spine bears the initials "E.B." in faded gold letters.
Luna reaches for it just as we hear footsteps above in the library.
My hands shake as I help her carefully extract the diary.
The last page falls out, showing a hastily written message in red ink:
"They're coming. Don't trust anyone."
I scan through the pages with Luna, our flashlights casting flickering shadows on the walls.
The entries are brief, but they speak of a dark presence that has consumed Ravenswood.
The most recent pages list names of townspeople who have been "marked" by the Blackwoods.
Next to each name is a date, and I feel my heart sink when I see Dad's name with yesterday's date.
A note next to it reads: "Phase 1 complete."
Luna finds a page with a detailed schedule.
It lists the names of those who have been marked, along with a specific date and time for each.
Dad's name is listed for tomorrow night at midnight.
Next to his name is a single word: "Ritual."
My hands tremble as I turn the page and find an entry detailing the purpose of the ritual:
"To transfer the free will of the marked person to the Blackwoods, allowing them full control over their actions and decisions."
There's another entry dated today, speaking of other caretakers who "resisted" and disappeared.
As we read, we hear more footsteps above us, growing louder.
I grip the diary tightly under my jacket while Luna slides it back into its hiding place.
We crouch behind the altar, holding our breath as the footsteps stop above us.
Whispered voices echo from the library, but they're too muffled to make out.
Luna points to a narrow passage behind a tapestry.
We studied the blueprints and knew this was our only escape route.
We crawl on our hands and knees through cobwebs and dust, freezing when a floorboard creaks overhead.
The passage slopes upward, leading to what should be the wine cellar.
As we near its end, Luna points to a metal grate.
Voices echo down the stone steps behind us, growing louder.
"Do you think they know we're here?" Luna whispers, her voice barely audible over the pounding of my heart.
"I don't know," I reply, trying to keep my fear in check. "But we can't let them find us before we stop this ritual."
Luna nods, determination replacing the fear in her eyes. "Then we need to warn your dad and the others before it's too late."
I crawl forward, clutching the diary against my chest.
Dust and cobwebs stick to my face, and I can feel the weight of the passage's narrowness pressing down on me.
The air is stale and musty, filled with the scent of old books and decay.
Ahead of me, I see a metal grate that leads to the wine cellar.
But as we get closer, the voices behind us grow louder.
Luna's elbow knocks loose a stone, causing it to roll down the passage and echo off the walls.
We freeze, holding our breath as the voices pause.
Then, footsteps quicken in our direction.
I check my phone - it's 11:15 PM.
Less than an hour until Dad's ritual.
Luna points to a crack of light ahead, indicating a small opening that leads to the library.
But reaching it means crossing directly under where they're searching.
With no time to lose, we make a silent vow to risk everything and dash for the light.