Into the Beyond Books 1-3

Lines appeared in the air, each with a visibility waning less than the width of a spider's web. Faint as moonbeams, the lines were only observable if looked upon from just the correct angle. Any thinner and they would have ceased to exist in the visible realm altogether. But there they were, unlikely and peculiar, floating in the air like flecks of dust that inexplicably decided to cling together in a perfect row.

The light of dawn flooded in through the bedroom window and lit the improbable scene in a froth of gray that coalesced steadily as the maelstrom of lines unfolded. This was the time of morning when everything blended together—when the sun, though it was still below the horizon, threw its rays across the upper arches of the atmosphere, quickly turning the darkness of night into a new day. With every passing moment the sky brightened a little further and the bleak morning began to rouse even the darkest corners of the room.

Four of the ethereal lines met together, holding a fixed position in the center of the room. They joined at right angles, forming a square about two feet across. It shimmered ever so softly in the stale air. The other lines, each of varying length, began to spiral around this square base like wisps of smoke caught in a convection current. They moved like they were floating through water, but with an eerie intelligence, as if directed in motion by some unseen hand.

The square became more and more discernible as the remaining lines coiled around the ghostly structure. Once all the lines found their positions, the space between the four corners appeared to deaden. Light crossing the square's plane became dull and objects viewed through it were less defined, covered by a filmy haze. This distortion was a property of the air; it rippled here, like waves of heat rising up from asphalt in the distance. Perhaps it was a trick of the light that caused these ripples; a mirage like the ones that brought hope to stranded desert travelers—dashing down one sand-dune and up the next in pursuit of some non-existent oasis.

On the opposite side of the room from where the semi-translucent square danced in silence, a narrow bed with blue sheets marked a very different enigma. The sheets, which appeared more black than blue in the faint morning light, were wrapped tightly around a young man, barely out of boyhood. Lewis Graham was still fast asleep despite the strangeness that was unfolding beside him. He did not look like a remarkable boy—in fact, he looked remarkably unremarkable—but eyes cannot always be relied upon to tell the full story when matters of destiny are involved.

As fate would have it, his life was about to change forever. Not more than six feet away from where he slept, a rift was beginning to open—a connection to the Beyond; to the realm of immortals.

Anyone observing would have seen an ordinary boy who woke up every day to the humdrum of a morning ritual—still half-asleep, he would brush his teeth with a frayed toothbrush and shower behind a mold-speckled shower curtain before drying off with a formerly red towel that had long since faded into a blotchy pink. After his shower he would quickly throw on whatever clothing smelled cleanest out of the pile accumulated in the corner of his bedroom, then run outside to catch the school bus to his high school—that is, assuming it was a weekday. He had done this once on a Saturday, and had since become considerably more careful about keeping track of the date.

He was not popular amongst his peers; not like his younger sister Jenny. Making friends did not come naturally to him like it did for her. Today was going to be the first day of a new school year—sophomore year of high school; a day which he had long been dreading ever since the first night of summer when he realized he would eventually have no choice but to return.

Even before the buzz of the first morning bell he would be thrown back in with the wolves—kids just gnashing their teeth to take a bite out of some easy prey like him. It was camaraderie through exclusion, dog-eat-dog mentality; kids seeking to beat down the weak to reestablish their superiority for the new year. Bullying was an everyday fact of life for Lewis. He was at the very bottom of the pecking order.

Lewis turned slightly in his sleep, pulling the covers up to his chin and shifted his legs so that his knees were bent halfway up to his chest. It was fortunate that he was still asleep, for what was about to unfold would have shaken even the most steadfast of men. Within the rippling air at the center of the square, a shape began to emerge. Nothing more than a blob at first; it was not yet clearly defined, just a dark outline. The space it occupied was un-solid; a flowing static field that flickered in and out of existence. The air throughout the room remained still despite the visual turbulence. There was no sound to indicate that anything unusual was happening.

The dark object sharpened further and further out of the static, as if getting closer. Tiny arms and legs appeared on a long torso. It was some sort of little creature. It remained perfectly still as its form became solid, the creature's face came into view; grotesque features appearing out of the darkness.

On its head were two beady eyes, spread wide and reflective like a cat's, but red in color. They contained no pupils. Below those were two holes which appeared to be nostrils on an otherwise nose-less face. It had a too-wide mouth with very thin lips, and at the top of its head was a tuft of stringy, black hair, all matted up into a tangled mess. The creature wore a little button-down suit which gave it the appearance of a large doll. The jacket was ragged around the edges with bits of frayed cloth sticking out randomly across its stitch lines. The creature's fingers were long and slender. It began to wiggle them ever so slightly as its form finished solidifying in the air.

With a deafening crack the outline of the square shot apart, vanishing in an instant. The creature fell to the ground as the rift closed.

Lewis sat up with a start.

The bedroom window shattered outward and books flew from the shelf. Lewis glanced around in confusion. Upon taking in the broken window, he cursed loudly. His mind had already drawn a logical conclusion as to the series of events that must have transpired. He stood up, pushed on his slippers, and ran over to the window. Scanning his eyes back and forth along the street below, he shouted angrily into the dawn air, "Who did that?" but there was no reply. Lewis walked back across the room, muttering more profanities under his breath before flipping on the light switch located just to the left of his bedroom door. Had he not been so sleepy, he may have noticed the lack of crunching glass beneath his slippers.

The creature was standing in the center of the room now, silently observing the boy. Lewis spotted it as soon as he turned around. "What the hell..." he said. At first he saw nothing more than a creepy doll. Its head was slightly larger in proportion to its body than a human's, and it had alabaster-white skin with a leathery appearance. Lewis approached the creature, unsure what to make of it. He assumed it must have been thrown through the window, though he had no idea how it miraculously landed so that it was standing up on its tiny feet. Lewis stooped his head down low to get a closer look. The creature, perfectly still up until this point, quickly craned its neck upward and looked Lewis right in the face. Lewis jumped backwards, banging his head hard on the dresser before falling to the ground and passing out from the shock.

He came to only moments later. The creature was now standing on his chest. "Lewis Graham," it said in a high-pitched, throaty voice. Lewis was gripped by fear in his chest, making him hold his breath. "Lewis Graham," it repeated, without emotion.

He threw the creature from him and began flailing his legs around in a panic as he scooted backwards towards the wall. The creature grunted as it skidded across the bedroom floor. Lewis was at a complete loss for words. "Who...? What...?" he gasped.

The creature stood up and dusted itself off, then took a couple of steps forwards. Lewis pressed his back up against the wall. "You are Lewis Graham," the creature rasped. It wasn't a question.

"How do you know my name?" asked Lewis.

The creature looked him up and down. "You are important, later," it muttered.

From down the hall outside of the bedroom came the annoyed voice of Lewis's father, Frank. "What's going on in there?" he asked.

"There's a..." Lewis didn't know what to say. "There's a thing in here... come quick!" he said, his voice full of panic.

The creature didn't move. It continued to stare at him from across the room. "No one else can see me," it said simply.

Lewis's father's hurried footsteps sounded down the hall as he rushed to his son's aid. The door swung open and he swept into the room with wide eyes, looking around wildly. His gaze drifted across the creature, unseeing, and didn't stop until it fell upon the shattered window with its glass broken outward.

"Oh, Lewis! What did you do?"

"It wasn't me," he said. "That thing did it!" He pointed at the creature.

"I told you, he can't see me. Can't hear me either," it said. "You're making yourself look foolish."

Lewis's father wasn't amused. "Behaving badly isn't going to get you out of going to your first day of school," he said sternly. "And don't think you won't be paying for the window. It's coming directly out of your allowance." He looked over the damage once more, shaking his head. "I have to get up for work in..." he glanced at the clock on the wall, "thirty minutes." He sighed, as tired as he was irritated. "I'll deal with this later. Keep it down." He walked out of the room without giving Lewis another chance to say a word, shutting the door behind him as he went.

Lewis and the creature continued to stare at one another until after the house fell silent. "What are you?" Lewis finally asked in a hushed voice.

The creature smiled; it was an unnatural expression for its tiny face. "We have been called many things, and will be called many more before the end," it said, "Moirae, Parcae, Fates. My name is Longinus, but you may call me Mr. Gray." The creature smiled again. It... he... appeared to be making the unsettling expression in an attempt to put Lewis at ease rather than from an actual sense of amusement.

Lewis stared at the odd creature, and he stared right back at him, unblinking. "I must still be asleep," said Lewis. It was the only logical conclusion.

"You are not sleeping," said Mr. Gray, "although even in a waking state, humans do have quite a low level of awareness."

Lewis continued to stare blankly at the creature.

"Just like talking to a rock, aren't you?" the little man said, curling his lips up ever so slightly.

Lewis frowned. "What do you want?" he asked.

The creature smiled again, though this time he actually seemed to be amused. He opened his mouth slightly, displaying a set of jagged teeth that looked like splintered wooden pegs. His eyes flashed as he spoke. "It is not a question of what I want," he said, "but rather, what you want." Lewis was confused. Mr. Gray continued, "I am here to guide you. To make sure you fulfill your destiny."

"Destiny?" asked Lewis.

"Don't worry," said Mr. Gray. "There's no reason we can't have some fun in the meantime."

Lewis shook his head slightly, his vision becoming fuzzy as he tried to absorb what was happening. After a moment, he refocused back in on the creature. "What is my destiny?" he asked earnestly.

Mr. Gray waved his hand dismissively. "We'll get to that soon enough," he said. "I'm starving. How about you get me something to eat before it's time to start getting ready for school? It's going to be a good day!"