Into the Beyond Books 1-3

Lewis had to stop reading. A pressure was rising inside of him. He didn’t understand what was happening at first; his breathing kept growing faster and it took all the effort he could muster not to scream. Waves of anxiety washed through him. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

A freakin’ panic attack….

He rushed to the door that exited out into the courtyard, but one look outside reminded him of Mr. Bradley’s demise. The Agares were somewhere out there. Overwhelming fear and dread filled his body. He cowered down between the stacks of books and clutched his head between his hands.

Panic like this was a new experience for him. He wasn’t a fan.

I need to breathe slower….

He started trying to push the terrible emotions down, deep inside. It was hard not to think about the monumental opposition set against him. The Agares would erase him from existence, and he was supposed to just stand still and pretend to be frozen—helpless—as the horrors moved past.

After several minutes, Lewis’s heartbeat began to return to a slower, more stable rate. He was grateful the panic attack was finally passing. He sat up, leaning back against one of the stacks as he maintained a steady flow of breaths, in and out.

Once he felt he was calm enough he opened his eyes. He dared to look back in the journal. He still had to read his next task. The Lewis’s that came before had everything laid out for him.

“This next part will be hard, but it is vital! You need to steal Mrs. Davidson’s keys and locate her truck in the staff parking lot before school lets out. You need to hit Landon in the parking lot as he is distracted and steps off the curb at 1:31 pm exactly. Hit him while going exactly 30 20 25 24! miles per hour (too fast and he dies, too slow and he doesn’t get hurt enough). Ditch the truck down the street and get back to Josie’s house quickly. Continue reading once you are there.”

Lewis could hardly believe it. “I hit Landon…” Lewis said to himself.

“Shhhhhhhhhh.” Mrs. Davidson was glaring over at him from the front desk.

At least he wouldn’t have to feel bad about the damage he was going to do to her truck. Maybe Kenzie was right—Mrs. Davidson really did seem to hate kids.

I’m going to need a plan.

Lewis tried to blend in with the other students in the library—mostly upperclassmen with free periods. He held the journal up but peered over the top of it in Mrs. Davidson’s direction, trying to scope out where she might keep her keys. Behind her on an unused stool sat a brown leather purse. He’d be surprised if the keys weren’t inside. He wished Josie was still here helping him. He was going to need a distraction large enough to draw Mrs. Davidson out from behind her desk and keep her out long enough to dig through her purse without being noticed.

Lewis looked around. All the other students were buried in books or doing homework in silence at the various work tables. No one was paying him any attention.

His mind went to pulling the fire alarm, but he knew he wasn’t going to do that because it hadn’t gone off on his first time through the day. Besides, Mrs. Davidson would probably take her purse with her if the alarm went off.

No, he was going to have to get more creative.

He thought about pushing over one of the shelves of books, but the chance of getting caught was too high. Instead he decided to take an infinitely more elegant and simple route. He walked up to the librarian and said: “There’s a kid in the back tearing pages out of a book.”

Mrs. Davidson was on her feet and halfway across the library before Lewis had a chance to move. Everyone else turned to watch Mrs. Davidson’s rampage across the room. Lewis stepped behind the counter, opened the purse and frantically began digging through its contents.

A tube of chapstick, a couple of smushed granola bars, an empty glasses case, a stolen box of colored paper clips, a ball of knotted-up hair ties….

The keys were nowhere to be found.

Lewis started to panic as the seconds ticked by and he still hadn’t found the keys. The lie wouldn’t keep Mrs. Davidson away much longer.

With his arm still elbow deep in the purse, he glanced up to check on Mrs. Davidson’s location and spotted the keys sitting beside a thermos beneath the lip of the upper counter. He dropped the purse, grabbed the keys, and slipped out of the door and into the main hallway in a span of three seconds.

Lewis checked the time. It was twelve thirty-three, which meant the other Lewis was standing just outside the door to the courtyard with Mr. Gray, waiting for one more minute before he was to enter the building and head for the chemistry room. Lewis doubled back before that could happen. He climbed the stairs by the library, approaching the main office from inside, then went out past the theater and woodshop building to one of the staff parking lots.

He began pressing the unlock button on Mrs. Davidson’s key fob as he searched for her truck. It wasn’t there. Lewis kept circling around the school to the next parking lot, down behind the theater building. A beep in the distance told him he’d found the vehicle he was looking for. He hustled over to the beige truck and hopped in.

He was still early, but he needed to move the truck now in case Mrs. Davidson noticed her keys were missing and came out to investigate. His hands were shaking as he buckled his seatbelt and placed the key in the ignition. He’d practiced driving a little bit over the summer with his father, but he wasn’t particularly comfortable behind the wheel even under normal circumstances.

He was relieved to find the truck to be an automatic. He didn’t have any idea how to drive a stick shift. He turned the key and the engine rumbled with a throaty idle. He took a deep breath. His knuckles grew white as he squeezed the steering wheel.

I’ve got this.

He put the truck in reverse and turned to look over his shoulder. Lewis cried out as he jumped halfway out of his seat before being yanked back down by his seatbelt. Mr. Gray was in the back, silently staring at him with his beady eyes. The Parca chuckled. His whole body vibrated like a purring cat while he laughed.

Lewis slammed his foot back down on the brakes, stopping just shy of the line of cars parked behind him.

“How long have you been waiting back there?” Lewis asked.

Mr. Gray shrugged. The creature reached over and buckled himself in to his seat.

It was best not to waste any time. Lewis put the truck in drive and made his way slowly off of school grounds to wait for classes to end. He pulled over around the corner from the school and turned the engine off. He shifted his body to face Mr. Gray once more. “Have you heard what happened?” he asked.

Mr. Gray frowned. “Yes, I met with Adeona. I am glad you were not erased. We will both have to be more vigilant from now on. The Agares know they are close to finding you.”

Lewis stared into Mr. Gray’s face. “This is our last chance, isn’t it?”

Mr. Gray took off his seatbelt and hopped down behind the driver’s seat. “We must make this one count,” he said as he retrieved a cooler bag filled with Mrs. Davidson’s lunch from the floor. He handed a tuna salad sandwich in a baggie up to Lewis, then peeled back the lid of a chocolate pudding cup and dug in straight away with his bare hands.

Lewis didn’t know how Mr. Gray could eat at a time like this. He was too stressed to think about food, despite having not eaten since coming back from the Beyond the first time.

“You must keep up your strength,” insisted Mr. Gray. “Traveling between realms takes much metabolic energy.”

Lewis grimaced. Just the thought of eating tuna made his stomach feel uneasy. He sunk his teeth in anyway and was surprised to find it didn’t taste too bad.

“Stolen food tastes the best,” said Mr. Gray with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Lewis and Mr. Gray enjoyed a leisurely lunch, compliments of Mrs. Davidson. The Parca passed another baggie full of baby carrots up to Lewis while he partook in a sugary soda.

The more Lewis ate, the more ravenous his hunger became. It was almost as if he’d jump started his digestive processes. He finished the carrots, but his stomach growled for more substantial food.

“Could you—?” Lewis started.

“—I’ve got you covered,” Mr. Gray interrupted. The Parca hopped out the open window, landing spryly on his feet before disappearing into the bushes.

He reappeared a little while later with a fast-food bag. Lewis was unfamiliar with the logo—it was from somewhere else in time; past or future, he had no idea when—but the contents smelled divine.

Lewis opened his door and helped Mr. Gray get back into the truck. He reached into the bag and pulled out a strawberry milkshake and a loaded hamburger about the size of his head. His mouth was watering more than he’d ever experienced before in his life.

Mr. Gray sat in the passenger seat, sharing fries out of the bag.

“I feel like I understand you better now,” said Lewis through a mouthful of hamburger. “I didn’t even realize I was this hungry.”

Mr. Gray nodded. “It’s an early symptom of time sickness. It won’t kill you, but you may feel weak if you don’t eat enough to compensate.”

Lewis turned the truck back on to check the time.

“You should practice hitting the right speed,” said Mr. Gray.

Lewis finished the burger. He stuffed the crumpled up wrapper back in the now empty bag and then put the truck in drive again. He drove down past the school, trying to get a feel for going exactly twenty-four miles per hour, as the journal indicated. He turned around on a side street and tried again, starting from a slow speed and accelerating quickly to twenty-four miles per hour this time. He overshot his mark. Twenty-eight. It would have been a death-blow for Landon.

Lewis knew once he turned into the school he wouldn’t have much space to accelerate to the right speed. It was a lot of pressure knowing he only had one shot. If he went too fast and killed Landon, there were no more second chances.

He turned around, going back and forth in front of the school again and again. He was getting better quickly, but he still overshot the speed every third attempt or so.

“It’s time,” said Mr. Gray.

Lewis already knew. He’d been keeping careful track of the time. He circled back around once more and got into position at the end of the driving lane by the student parking lot. He was supposed to hit Landon in three minutes.

All I have to do is wait until he steps off the curb and….

Josie came running out of the school building.

Mr. Gray rolled down the passenger side window and called out to her as she made her way towards the nearby metro bus stop. She changed directions, though her movement was tentative.

“Hey,” she said, leaning into the window. “You’re not far behind me….”

The other Lewis came strolling out of the building right on cue. He looked around but didn’t notice Josie or the truck at the end of the lane.

Josie opened the passenger door. Mr. Gray scooted over as Josie stepped up into the truck.

“Umm… I’m sorry,” said Lewis. “You can’t be in here… I need to… crash into Landon….”

Josie stared at him blankly. “Really?”

Lewis nodded. A nervous tingle started in his abdomen. This was really going to happen. “No one else is supposed to be in the truck.”

Mr. Gray made a strange noise. Lewis and Josie both looked down at him. “That’s not entirely true,” he said. He motioned for Josie to crawl into the backseat with him. “We just can’t be seen.”

The pair climbed over the center console and crouched down on the floor in the back.

Lewis pulled his hood over his head.

He looked over at the school entrance again. The other Lewis was standing at the edge of the driving lane like an idiot with his backpack on the ground beside him.

Landon was already outside. The bully made straight for the other Lewis without hesitating and kicked the open backpack into the lane, scattering school supplies everywhere.

Coach Phillips yelled and pointed at the mess, forcing Landon to pick it all up. It was all happening exactly as Lewis remembered.

Everyone outside huddled along the curb, watching the spectacle.

“Go, go, go!” cried Mr. Gray from the backseat.

Lewis pushed down hard on the accelerator. The engine revved. Time seemed to slow down as the truck picked up speed. Lewis eased off the gas a moment later, just like he’d practiced.

He gripped the wheel tight, his eyes focused intently on the speedometer. He hit twenty-four miles per hour just as Landon turned to face him. Their eyes met for a brief moment just as the grill collided with Landon’s chest and his head was thrown hard against the hood. The sound of the thud was booming.

Lewis slammed his foot down on the brakes as Landon went flying forward. His shoes were ripped from his feet by the force of the impact. He soared through the air before slamming down hard on the pavement in a bloodied heap.

Lewis didn’t wait around.

He yanked the wheel hard to the left and put his foot back on the gas as he sped off through the student parking lot and into the street beyond.