Beyond: Snillotia Trilogy Book One Read online

  Beyond

  Snillotia Trilogy Book One

  Donna Wagner

  Fiore Press

  Copyright © 2016 Donna Wagner

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  For Tori,

  whose love of reading, inspired.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  PROLOGUE

  PART I:

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  PART II:

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  PART III:

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  PART IV:

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Betrayed

  PROLOGUE

  As stories go, this one begins like any other. Once upon a time, there was a happy family, until suddenly tragedy struck, leaving a child parentless and totally alone in the world. And like most stories, of course, the child this one is about is no ordinary child.

  Although he is seemingly no different than anyone else on the outside, as the saying goes, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. So, what started as a tragedy has led us to this moment- the moment when the child is about to embark on an adventure that will change his life forever.

  PART I:

  THE BEGINNING

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tim Tollins squeezed his knees as close to his chest as he could and held his breath. It was getting harder and harder to evade discovery. Each time he thought he was safe, they would appear, looking for him. He swore to himself they would never find him. The house was all he had left of his family and no one- not even Social Services was going to take him away, just to stick him in some crummy place where no one cared about him. This was the seventh time they’d come to the house looking for him. Lucky for him, they didn’t know about the secret door.

  The door wasn’t really a secret. His parents had loved showing it to guests who came to visit. They’d loved the reaction everyone always had, when part of the seemingly solid wall swung open to a dark passageway, which led to a single room. That room was where Tim was now, hoping with every fiber of his being, that one of the Social Services men didn’t notice the light switch that opened the door, and use it, thinking it would turn on a light. Each time they had come looking for him, he had done the same thing- hide in the secret room. Each time he was able to let out a sigh of relief when they didn’t find him and finally left, giving up, but they always came back. He didn’t know why they assumed he’d still be there; he tried to make them think he ran away. He bought a bus ticket, hoping they’d find out about it and leave the house alone. Apparently, it hadn’t worked.

  Tim strained to listen. It seemed like they had gone, or at least moved to another part of the house. He looked around the room. Empty potato chip bags, candy wrappers, and soda bottles littered the floor. An air mattress and some blankets were in the corner, with some other camping supplies that had been in the basement. The room had no windows, but it wasn’t stuffy. He wasn’t quite sure why, but it seemed that fresh air got in somehow. He’d figured it was the safest room to stay in. He could move about freely, without anyone seeing him through any windows, since again, there weren’t any. He only left the room when he absolutely had to and he never turned any lights on in the rest of the house. He didn’t know how long he could live like this- he was only 13 years old, which was why Social Services wanted to take him away, but he knew he had to stay. It was the same unknown reason why he hadn’t actually gotten on that bus. He had to stay with the house.

  Tim heard footsteps, suddenly, running towards him. Panicking, he tried to make himself as small as possible in the corner of the room. He wondered what was going on and why they suddenly were coming back to the part of the house they’d already searched. He heard a loud click. The secret door was unlatched. Someone must have found the switch. Tim franticly looked around the room, wishing with all his might that there was some place to hide, but there wasn’t. He was trapped. He quickly grabbed a blanket, with fleeting hope that with it on top of him, they would think he wasn’t in the room and leave. They were almost to the end of the passageway. He could see the flashlight beams through the blanket. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself closer to the wall, trying to make himself as small as he possibly could. The excited voices came closer. Suddenly, he felt nothing behind him and had the strange sensation that he was falling.

  When the sensation stopped and he hadn’t landed anywhere, he slowly opened his eyes. He could still see the room, but he didn’t seem to be inside it any longer. It was as if he was behind the room, looking through the wall. He shook his head, since that seemed impossible, although he had no explanation as to what was going on. Three men entered the room and looked around and didn’t appear to see him. One of them walked toward him and stopped when he was almost on top of him. The man turned to the others and said, “It looks like we found where he’s been staying all these months, but he’s definitely not here right now. We’ll keep someone posted outside, watching for when he comes back.”

  Tim looked at the man, confused. He was right there, so close that Tim could grab his arm if he just reached out. For some reason, they just couldn’t see him. Tim slowly relaxed and stood up. There was no reaction from the men in the room. He moved a bit closer to the man. Nothing. Tim brought his hand up and reached out to touch the man’s arm. As his hand got closer, his hand and then his arm started to tingle, not unlike the feeling you get when your foot falls asleep. He pulled his hand back and the tingling stopped. He glanced at the men in the room. One of them was staring straight at the wall, eye
s wide, pointing. The man closest turned around and looked right at Tim. Actually, he looked right through Tim. He turned back around. “Jerry, what are you pointing at?”

  “Th- Th- There was a hand!” Jerry exclaimed.

  Both of the other men looked at Jerry closely. “A hand?” the one nearest Tim said, “Where?”

  “I- It came out of the wall,” Jerry said quietly, realizing they weren’t going to believe him.

  The third man in the room came closer and pointed right at Tim and said, “This wall?”

  Jerry nodded. The man stepped directly in front of Tim and stared at the wall closely. He was so close; Tim could see flecks of gold in the man’s brown eyes. He looked very familiar to Tim, but he couldn’t figure out why. Tim held his breath. The man stepped slightly back and brought his hand closer to Tim, until it flattened right in front of his face. “This is solid wall, man.”

  To Tim, the man looked like he was a mime, trapped in an invisible box, flattening his hand back and forth in front of him. Tim was beginning to understand. Somehow, he had gone beyond the wall. He didn’t know how or why it had happened, but he was very grateful it had. The man stopped imitating a mime. “The Tollins kid ain’t here,” he said with a sigh, turning away from the wall.

  The man turned back briefly, giving one last glance at where Tim stood, “Let’s go im stood,” he said, almost sadly, as he walked towards the door.

  The others followed. Tim watched them go, then heard the click of the (not so) secret door shutting. He stood there, breathing a sigh of relief that he’d miraculously evaded discovery again.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tim stood there, staring at the room for what seemed like hours. After the men had left, he had taken a moment to look around to see where he was. There was nothing there. Above him, below him, behind him, and on either side- there was actually nothing but blackness. He had reached out as far as he possibly could in all directions and there was nothing of substance to grab on to. Even below him, although it seemed as though he was standing on solid ground, when he tried to touch it, his hand kept going, past where his feet were planted. Tim knew he couldn’t stay in the emptiness forever. He had to go back to the room. He was afraid, however, that once he did, he would never know why or how he had gotten behind the wall. He was also thinking about his parents, wondering if they knew what this room seemed to be able to do- or what he seemed to be able to do. He didn’t know the answer to that either.

  Deciding it was best to get on with things as quickly as possible, he lunged toward the wall and felt the falling sensation once again and before he could even question it, he was back in the room, in a heap in the middle of the floor. He picked himself up and turned around and looked at the wall. Slowly, he brought his hand up and his fingers felt the smooth plaster. It was solid. Disappointment rose. Tim ran around the perimeter of the room, pushing at different spots, hoping that maybe it was another secret door that had let him through. When he reached the corner he had been trying to hide in before, he stumbled and without even thinking reached out to grab onto something to stop himself from falling but nothing was there. Tim landed on his knees and pain shot through his legs. He slid onto his stomach and laid there, taking a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing, then slowly became aware of the tingling feeling at his stomach. He realized he’d gone through the wall, at least halfway, again.

  Tim’s excitement rose. He pulled himself back into the room and stared at the corner. It appeared to look like any corner where two walls and floor meet, but as Tim pushed his hand through what looked like solid wall and pulled it out again, he knew it wasn’t. After his hand could no longer take the tingling sensation, he stopped and stood up. He had decided this couldn’t be a coincidence. The strange feeling that he could not leave his house, no matter what, had to have something to do with the fact that he could go beyond the wall.

  Tim decided that he needed to look for something, anything, in the main part of the house, that could possibly explain what was happening. He left the room and went through the secret door and found himself in front of the door to his dad’s office. He hadn’t come in here yet, since everything had happened, except to take the cash he knew his dad kept in a vase on the top shelf of his bookcase. He pushed the door open, went over to his dad’s desk, and sat down. He looked around the room. He really didn’t know where to start, since he had no clue what he was even looking for. Tim sighed. He wished for the millionth time that everything was back to normal- that his parents were still alive. He wished they hadn’t decided to take him out the night before his birthday so he could pick out the new bike he’d been begging for. If they had just stayed home, maybe the people who broke in wouldn’t have, since the house wouldn’t have been empty. Then there would have been no way for them to interrupt the robbery that had led to his parents being shot.

  Tim shook his head, trying to force the memory of that night away. It didn’t help. He had been so excited when they got home with his new bike. He begged to be able to ride it down their long driveway and back, even though it was already dark. His parents could see he was excited and agreed, but just once, they had said. The time it took for that quick ride, was all it took. As he parked his bike next to the garage door, he’d heard sirens in the distance, but thought nothing about it. Then he’d seen the front door still standing wide open. As he walked over, he saw his mom lying on the ground, then as he got closer, he saw his dad. He had been confused. Then, before he could even enter the house, he was knocked over as two people he didn’t know rushed out the door and out of sight. As he looked as his parents on the floor, and realized they were dead, things started to fade. He didn’t remember screaming, or the police arriving in response to the house’s alarm going off. He didn’t remember the chaos of the next couple of days as Social Services tried to find a relative to take him in. If they had bothered to ask him, he could have told them not to bother, but they hadn’t asked. His parents had always told him they had no family. They were both only children and their parents had died, and they had no aunts or uncles or cousins. The haziness started clearing around the funeral. He remembered countless faces all telling him they were sorry for his loss. He remembered thinking it was like he had misplaced his parents and could go look for them later. Then he clearly remembered being told he would be placed in a home for boys. That was when he had run away.

  Coming back to the present, Tim opened the drawer in his dad’s desk. Lying right on top was an oversized blue envelope. His name was written on the front of it, in his mom’s pretty handwriting. He slowly picked it up. It was a birthday card. He knew it as soon as he touched it. The first day his life had been turned upside down had been his thirteenth birthday. He didn’t even remember it. It didn’t matter. There was no point to birthdays if you didn’t have anyone to celebrate with. He put the card aside, unopened, and continued looking through the drawer. Nothing. He pulled open another drawer. Nothing. Drawer after drawer, cabinet after cabinet. He found nothing that seemed to explain anything to him. No secret papers. Nothing that stood out as a possible clue. Tim sighed again. He got up and started to walk to the door, then stopped and decided to take the birthday card with him. It was the last thing his parents would ever give him and for that reason alone, it was special.

  After he had taken care of a few things, like getting clean clothes from his bedroom, and gathering the last of the edible food his best friend, Oliver Nichols, had brought for him from the kitchen, he went back to the room behind the secret door. He thought about contacting Ollie as he walked, but was afraid someone would follow him to the house. Ollie was the only person who had known he was hiding in the secret room. Tim briefly thought that Ollie had finally given in and told Social Services where he was. He knew they had questioned him before. After reaching the room, he sat on the air mattress and pulled the card out of his pocket. Thoughts of Ollie fled as he looked at the blue envelope. He stared at his name, but didn’t open it. He wasn’t ready. He knew
his mom always wrote little notes inside cards. He didn’t think he could handle it right now. He put the card on the floor next to the air mattress and yawned. It had been a long night and although his stomach was rumbling, he lay down and fell asleep.

  Hours later he sat up in the darkness. Something had woken him up. He heard the click of the secret door. They had come back a second time in one night! Knowing they wouldn’t find him, he flew to the corner of room and pressed himself into the wall. Almost immediately, he knew he had passed through. As he stood up, he remembered the birthday card. He knew there was no time to go back and get it, but then he had an idea. Slowly he started walking around the walls of the room until he was right behind where the card lay on the floor. As he’d learned earlier, it seemed like you could come out from behind the wall anywhere, even though you could only enter from the corner. The men were in the room now. While their lights were focused on the other side of the room, he reached his arm through the wall and grabbed the card. As he tried to pull it back through, his hand stuck! He started panicking, thinking his hand was stuck through the wall and he’d be caught, but then he realized it was the card. It could only enter from the corner. As fast as he could, he ran, with his hand sticking out of the wall holding the card, to the corner. His wrist felt like it was on fire as he pulled the card behind the wall. Luckily, and somewhat amazingly, the men hadn’t noticed anything.

  Tim ignored them, knowing they would never find him. He stared at the card. Somehow, he could see it, even though he was surrounded by nothing but black. Somehow, he knew this card was important, just as he knew he couldn’t leave the house. He pulled the envelope open and took out the card. It was a normal birthday card, nothing looked special about it. It read, “Happy 13th Birthday to our son” on the front, in colorful letters. Tim opened the card. Something dropped from the card and landed on his foot. He left it there for a moment, his attention more focused on the folded-up piece of paper that was also inside the card.