Into the Beyond Books 1-3

“If I so much as see you looking at her again, there’s gunna be hell to pay.” Landon delivered his threat to Prime.

Lewis pulled his hood over his head and ducked out of the classroom in the opposite direction. Landon and his cronies ignored him as they dragged the original Lewis into the woodshop right behind him. Lewis circled around and slipped out of the building before the bullies were done locking the woodshop door.

That was too close.

Lewis would have to avoid all of them to keep the timeline intact. He wished he had a better disguise than just his hood.

He walked straight across to the main building and entered by the office. It was still lunchtime, at least. Students were all over the place and it was easy for him to blend in. He didn’t know where Landon and the other bullies were going to go after locking Prime in the woodshop, so he sat down in a chair by the main office and kept watch out the window.

After a minute, the bullies came out laughing and headed down the steps to the courtyard, then entered the cafeteria.

Lewis opened his journal to see what was next.

“Go to the chemistry room while it’s still empty and read Entry #2.”

Chemistry was right after lunch. He still had some time, but he wasn’t about to waste any of it. As he stood up to leave, a piece of conversation between a couple of office administrators caught his attention.

“Who was on hall monitor duty this morning?” asked the principal’s assistant.

The main receptionist shrugged.

“Gary just texted me. Someone broke into the custodial closet.”

Lewis felt a pit form in his stomach. He had to know if what Adeona told him was true. He stepped over to the front desk. “Have you seen Mr. Bradley?” he interrupted.

He only received looks of confusion. “Who?”

“Never mind,” said Lewis, walking away from the conversation before any other questions followed. He really is gone.

Lewis hadn’t truly known Mr. Bradley, but now nobody else did either. He wondered if he had a family—a wife or children—and what might have happened to them when he was erased. A shadow fell across Lewis’s heart and the only way to push it away was to stop thinking about the poor man. The concept of not thinking about Mr. Bradley felt tragic in itself. Lewis was the only one left who knew he ever existed. He died in Lewis’s place and Lewis didn’t even know the man’s first name.

This was war.

The whole world—all of humanity—was at stake.

Lewis didn’t know where following the journal would lead, but it was the only thing he could do.

The Agares were death incarnate.

Lewis made his way across the school. He stuck his head into the chemistry room. It was still empty. He went in and flipped open the journal to find out what he had to do next.

“Entry #2: Get the med kit in Mr. Jenkins’ desk and take out the little brown bottle of ipecac. You need to go to the cafeteria and dose Jake Wilson’s drink, then go to the library and read Entry #3.”

Jake was supposed to be Kenzie’s lab partner. Lewis had wrongly assumed Mr. Gray was responsible for Jake’s absence from chemistry. The boy would be barfing for an hour after Lewis was done with him. He snatched up the bottle and placed the med kit back in the desk. Landon was probably still in the cafeteria. Lewis would have to keep a low profile.

When he got to the cafeteria he found Jake seated at the table nearest the entrance. Landon was on the opposite side of the room. Lewis hovered around awkwardly behind Jake for a minute, unsure of how to get the ipecac into his soda can. The ipecac bottle came with a dropper, but there were far too many people around Jake’s table for Lewis to simply lean over and squirt it into his drink.

While still trying to figure out how to administer the dose, Lewis noticed Landon stand up from his table across the way and start walking towards him. Lewis turned away from Landon, keeping his hoodie drawn while also trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

He didn’t see me, did he?

He dared one more glance back. Landon was still coming his way. He was almost upon him!

Lewis spun back around about to flee the cafeteria entirely, but before he could make a move, Landon stopped short and grabbed Jake from behind instead, choking the boy in an awkward headlock.

“What the heck, man?” Jake cried out as Landon pulled him up out of his seat.

They wrestled back and forth for a second, Landon remaining in his position of dominance over Jake.

“Dude, quit it!” Jake gasped.

Lewis knew what he had to do. With all eyes on the shuffling pair, Lewis drew the ipecac bottle out of his pocket and unscrewed the dropper lid. He filled the clear tube with the liquid, then quickly leaned over the table and squirted a heavy dose directly into the soda can. No one noticed a thing. They were all too busy watching Jake get yanked around between the tables.

It was a serendipitous moment, Landon providing the distraction Lewis so desperately needed.

Landon let Jake go a moment later, just as Lewis slinked away from the scene.

“It was just a joke,” said Landon. “Don’t be so butthurt.”

Not wanting to tempt fate, Lewis ducked out of the cafeteria as soon as he saw Jake sit back down and take a large gulp from the tainted can. He felt invincible. His heart was still pounding with adrenaline as he made his way to the library.

He sat down at an empty table, still smiling to himself at his own boldness as he opened up the journal.

“Entry #3: Wait for Josie to arrive and then read this entry together.”

Lewis pursed his lips as he shut the journal again. He was anxious to read on. He glanced over at the library’s main entrance. Fortunately, Josie didn’t make him wait. Within seconds, she came bouncing in through the door. She didn’t notice him at first, but he managed to get her attention with a vigorous wave of his arm. Judging from the surprised look on her face, she hadn’t known they were preordained to have a meeting either. Josie sat down beside him, placing her backpack at her feet.

“How’d you know to find me here?” Lewis asked.

Josie beamed at him. “I didn’t,” she said, “I’m just here to find something to read.”

“Huh. Well, we’re supposed to read this together,” said Lewis, quickly flipping back to the third entry.

The page was heavily edited by a black pen. Much of the original entry was illegible from being heavily scratched out. The black pen wrote: “Don’t worry about all the edits. Just follow along. This journal has been through different versions of our hands more times than even I know. Good luck, me, and my sweet Josie.”

Lewis’s face grew hot. He knew he was blushing, which only made him blush harder. He glanced up at Josie, whose eyes grew slightly larger as she read the words. She didn’t look up, though, so they each continued reading in silence.

“There is a book in this library that is not actually a library book. It has been left for you to find now so that Josie may give it to P later tonight. A Secret History of Parcae. It is located in the farthest back corner of the library, on its side, hidden within a fake cover labeled A Contemporary Guide to Cross-Stitching. Go retrieve it and have Josie hold onto it until she meets with Prime, then read on in this journal alone, Lewis.”

Josie remained quiet when they finished reading. Lewis didn’t think her silence had anything to do with the anti-noise policy of the library. Lewis was unsure whether or not he should bring up the “my sweet Josie” part ever again.

The warning bell rang for fifth period. Josie jumped up. “Hurry, let’s find it now. I have to get to class.”

“I know, Chemistry,” said Lewis. “Don’t worry. You make it there before I do.”

Josie laughed softly and shook her head. He realized he was sounding like Mr. Gray. Lewis got up and followed her through the stacks to the back corner of the library. Josie found the hidden book quickly. It was the only one down on its side. Lewis wondered momentarily who’d left it there for them to find, but questions like that were unanswerable. Everything was so intricately orchestrated by Mr. Gray and all the past versions of himself that it was mind boggling.

Josie knelt down and slipped the book into her backpack. When she was finished zipping it shut she peered up at Lewis, her wide eyes filled with worry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” said Josie, “I read ahead through the last part of the entry that was supposed to be just for you.” She put her backpack over her shoulder as she stood up again. “Just… please be careful.” She ran out of the library before Lewis could rein her back.

The entry must have spooked her. Lewis flipped open the journal. He needed to know, now, what it said.

“Alright. Real talk time. I don’t want Josie reading this part because it would only worry her. You need to be aware, though, that the Agares are trying to track you down before you can complete the tasks in this journal. So far, Gray has managed to mix things up enough that I’ve avoided any run-ins with them. If that is NOT the case for you, and you still exist (duh), then this is our last chance to get things right. Once they track us down, a reset will only leave us more vulnerable. Here’s some advice from a friend you no longer know: Pretend to freeze, and DON’T move after the first one passes. They always come in pairs.”