Vacancy

by Fredric Shernoff

  “Right.”

  “So what happens if we let the day go all the way through instead of resetting it over and over again? Our time there seems to move in just about real time with the full moon in the present. So we’ve got days before the purple darkness comes calling. Way more than enough to let night fall on that day in the past.”

  “That’s really interesting,” Dylan said. “You see the risk though, right?”

  “Of course. There’s no promising we’ll get back. And we don’t know if we’re supposed to be in the store or outside it when Dr. Mike does his thing.”

  “That’s right. So what do we do?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “I guess we could hang out until something weird starts to happen. Or what if we just stop it from happening? Like we talked about back in the past. Convince Dr. Mike to not go through with whatever he’s up to.”

  “I’m willing to try that first.”

  “Praise the lord,” Dylan said. “She’s seeing reason.”

  “Hey, asshole! I’m a perfectly reasonable person. This is just an unreasonable situation.”

  “You’ve got a point there. So phase 1, try to stop Dr. Mike. Phase 2, if we have the balls to go through with it, ride out the day. Is there a phase 3?”

  “I think let’s plan on that stuff for right now.”

  “Okay. Good. So as far as supplies, I was thinking about some sleeping bags and pillows… though I have no idea how to get them down there. I just think if we’re going to live in that store for a while, we should be prepared.”

  “I like it,” Emma said. “Let’s give it some time to figure out how to bring everything.”

  “Yeah, good. Cause honestly, I don’t know how I’m even going to get down there. My parents are watching my movements like a hawk and they sure as hell aren’t going to drive us down there after the whole warning from the CIA.”

  “That is a problem. We’ll figure something out.”

  “I know we will. I like that about you. Your positivity is catching.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The morning of the next full moon, Dylan and Emma met at the Starbucks where they had first discussed the mysterious store. Dylan arrived on his bike, sweaty and exhausted. Emma greeted him with a Java Chip Frappuccino and directed him to the leather chairs in the front corner of the store.

  “You’re a mess,” Emma teased.

  “Thanks. It’s a hot day.”

  “It is. So how did you get out of the house without your parents freaking out on you?” Emma asked.

  “I told them I was going to Matt’s house. Actually went as far as turning in the wrong direction to throw them off the trail. Had to ride the long way around town.” He lifted his arm and pointed at the wet patch underneath. “Hence, the sweat.”

  “Eww! I didn’t need to see that, thanks.”

  “I know, but I gave it to you anyway. Always exceed expectations, that’s what I believe.”

  “You definitely do that,” she said.

  “Anyhow, I don’t think they’ll be following me.”

  “And what if they check with Matt?”

  “I’ve got that covered too,” Dylan said. “Matt just knows I’m having a very important gathering with you. So he’ll make up a cover story.”

  “And what if your parents call you and want to talk to him? Or they call him and want to talk to you?”

  Dylan shook his head. “I don’t know! I couldn’t prepare for every possible thing that could go wrong. I don’t think they will check up that carefully. I’ve legit gone to Matt’s before a few times since the CIA deal and they didn’t bother me.”

  “Okay,” Emma said. “I just want to make sure you don’t get in any trouble for this.”

  “It will be okay, Em. When this is all done it’s going to reset anyway so we don’t know what that will look like.”

  “What about the government? Whoever is watching will see us do another one of those jumps, right?”

  “Maybe, I don’t know. I thought you were the one who really wanted to see this all happen! Aren’t I supposed to be the one coming up with all the reasons we should worry?”

  “Okay, you’ve made your point,” Emma said. “My parents think I’m being picked up here by a couple girls to go camping.” She pointed to a large duffle bag against the wall. “So I got everything we need.”

  “A couple girls? I didn’t realize you’d made that many friends.”

  Emma looked at the floor. “I haven’t.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “For what?”

  “For keeping you with me so much and so focused on this that you haven’t been able to get established or build any kind of social life yet.”

  “It’s fine. I like the social life I’ve built with you. And school hasn’t even started yet. There will be time for everything. Time to be normal. Once we’ve done what we need to do.”

  “Right. So all that remains is figuring out how to get all this stuff down to the store. I don’t know how we can fit both of us and the bag on my bike.”

  Emma held up her phone. “Uber.”

  Dylan started to reply and Emma held up her hand. “Don’t ask,” she said. “Just go with it. I get things done.”

  They stood outside the Starbucks and watched as a big Cadillac Escalade with an Uber tag in the window rolled into the parking lot.

  “Nice,” Dylan said.

  “You ready for this?” Emma asked.

  “I guess so. We’re already on our way.”

  “Hey there Dyl,” said a voice. “Where’re you headed?”

  Dylan wheeled around. Matt was standing at the edge of the parking lot by his car.

  “Matt!” Dylan cried. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Bro. You thought you could tell me you and your girlfriend were having an important meeting, and I wasn’t going to find out what was going on? You are so clearly up to something. It was all over your voice and it’s all over your face. You want me to cover for your ass with your parents, you gotta let me in on whatever you’re doing.”

  “Hey there, Matt,” Emma said.

  “Sup, Emma,” Matt said. “You look lovely for a co-conspirator.”

  “Thanks?” She shook her head and laughed. “Dylan, what should we do about him?”

  “We could kill him,” Dylan said. He turned to Matt. “Like seriously, man, I’m contemplating homicide right now.”

  “You guys ready to go?” the Uber driver called.

  “Let’s just bring him with us now and sort it out down at the store,” Emma said.

  “Store?” Matt said. “What store?”

  “Fuck it,” Dylan said. “Just come along.”

  His mind was racing as they loaded his bike and Emma’s bag into the large SUV. He was already overwhelmed by the possible complications of everything they were about to try to do. He had managed to keep Matt away from this part of his and Emma’s relationship, or so he’d thought. Clearly his poker face was not as good as he’d believed.

  What would it mean to tell someone else about the store? It would certainly mean putting Matt in all kinds of jeopardy, assuming that his knowledge didn’t get erased when he and Emma returned. And that was assuming Matt agreed to stay behind. He knew his friend and he knew human nature. Keeping Matt out of the store seemed like a long shot.

  They piled into the Escalade. The driver, a middle-aged black man with a salt-and-pepper mustache so bushy it looked like it had been bought at a Halloween store, observed the three teenagers with curious eyes.

  “What are you guys doing down in Ambler?” the man, whose name was Terrance, asked.

  “Just going to do some shopping,” Dylan said. He was seated in the front seat, with Emma and Matt in captain’s chairs in the row behind him.

  “Brought a lot of luggage for a shopping spree,” Terrance said.

  There was silence, then Terrance laughed. “I’m just messing with you. What you do is up to you, I always s
ay. Just have fun and be safe, you hear?”

  “We hear,” said Matt. The bubbling enthusiasm in his voice gave Dylan anxiety.

  They all stayed surprisingly quiet during the ride to Butler Avenue. The Escalade pulled up at the corner just past Helen’s. The teenagers exited and thanked Terrance. “You all remember what I said, right? You be safe.”

  Terrance pulled away, leaving them standing on the sidewalk. Dylan held his bicycle by the handle. Matt struggled with the straps of Emma’s duffle bag, and maneuvered it onto his shoulders.

  “Okay,” Matt said. “Where are we taking this stuff? Where’s the store?”

  “Matt,” Dylan pleaded, “I’m gonna be honest with you. We’re in some serious shit and you don’t really want to be caught up in it. I really think you should just walk away.”

  “Dyl, you’re talking crazy,” Matt said. “Nothing can be that bad. I’m damned curious what the hell you two are doing, but more than that, if you’ve got a problem I’ll be there to help. You’re my best friend.”

  “I really appreciate that,” Dylan said. “I just wish you’d think about what I’m saying.”

  “I am thinking about it,” Matt said. “I’m telling you, I’m in. For whatever.”

  “Might as well just let him in on this,” Emma said. “We don’t have that much time to wait around arguing. We might be under surveillance here.”

  Dylan nodded. “We’re definitely under surveillance. It’s just a matter of how long it takes whoever’s watching to realize it’s us or to figure out what we’re up to.”

  “Why would somebody be watching you guys?” Matt asked. “What did you get yourselves into?”

  Dylan sighed. This was all going to come out sooner or later, and Emma was right that time was not on their side in the present or the past.

  “Look at this,” Dylan said. He pulled out his phone and launched the camera app. This was the moment of truth— they would know if the store was accessible in the new full moon. He realized there was a part of him that was excited to show Matt the mystery of the store. That strange, primitive part of him that wanted to be able to share a secret pulsed with enthusiasm. At the same time, the part of him that was responsible for self-protection hoped against hope that the store wouldn’t be there at all.

  He panned the image around as Matt moved closer to get a good view of the screen. When the phone reached the alley, it showed the brick wall of the vacant pharmacy. Seeing it filled Dylan with dismay.

  “Is it there?” Emma asked.

  “What the fuck?” Matt said. He did a double-take, switching his gaze from the phone to the alley and back again. “How is that possible?”

  “I guess that’s my answer,” Emma said. “We don’t know how it’s possible, Matt. It just is.” She pulled out her own phone and aimed the camera. “Yeah. There it is. Hey, look at this!”

  She moved closer to the alley. “Never noticed it before, but the bricks are a slightly different color where the windows of the pharmacy should be. Somebody definitely did work on this place.”

  “You think it was the CIA?” Dylan asked.

  “Jesus Christ, the CIA is watching you guys?” Matt asked. His voice still registered excitement, but there was a note of caution in there as well.

  “Well, yeah,” Dylan said. “I told you not to get involved with this.” He put the phone back in his pocket. “Should we attempt to get inside?”

  “Should be fine,” Emma said. “Makes you wonder, though.”

  “Wonder what?” Dylan asked.

  “If these people watching out for the store walled up the windows and the back room, why wouldn’t they lock the door at the same time?”

  “I don’t know,” Dylan said. “I wish they had.”

  “What is this place?” Matt asked. “What are you guys doing with it?”

  “It was a pharmacy,” Emma said. “A long time ago. Something happened and now it’s this place. It’s a portal to another time. Somewhere that’s really hard to get out of.”

  “And you two have been there? You got out?”

  “Yeah,” Dylan said. “And now we’re going back.”

  “You realize how little sense that makes, right?” Matt asked.

  Dylan and Emma ignored him. “I’ll hold the camera and you turn the knob,” she said.

  “Got it,” Dylan said. He palmed at the air until he felt the wall under his fingertips, then felt around for the door and its strange, smooth knob. “Here we go.”

  He turned the knob and the door opened, presenting the same crease in the air that he’d seen when all of this had started.

  “Oh my God,” Matt said.

  “Yeah,” Dylan said. “Let’s just do what we came to do.”

  He started to push the door open. “Stop what you’re doing,” someone said.

  Dylan turned and saw Agent Stevens and another, shorter man. The two were at the corner, around where Clyde had sat back in the past. Stevens had a hand at his side in a way that Dylan found more than a little threatening. Both men’s faces were grimly serious.

  “Dylan, we talked about this,” Stevens said. “I told you we’d be watching this location. And you promised me you’d stay away.” Stevens said this last with sadness in his voice, as if he considered Dylan lying to him a personal betrayal.

  “I’m sorry, but there’s something we have to do,” Dylan said. He put his hand back on the door and pushed the opening wider. He didn’t know what Emma was thinking about all of this, but she was continuing to point the camera on her phone at the store.

  “Dylan,” Stevens said as he took several steps toward them, “you need to stop. That store is off limits to you.”

  Dylan looked back at Emma. She nodded. He pushed the door all the way open.

  Stevens and the other man moved closer. “Son,” the shorter man said, “you are all breaking the law. I need you to come with us.”

  “Let’s go,” Dylan said. “Matt, grab the things. Now!”

  He turned and grabbed his bike, propping it up on the bottom of the doorway, and gave it a tremendous push. It rolled through the opening, clearing half the store, before it toppled awkwardly over its kickstand and fell to the floor.

  “Step away from the store,” Stevens said. “This is your final warning.”

  Dylan looked, and to his shock saw the men pulling firearms out of hidden holsters. “They’ve got guns!” he yelled.

  Matt approached the doorway with the duffle over his shoulder and stood transfixed. Dylan pushed him, reminding himself of tackling Clyde into the same store. Matt stumbled in and almost teetered over from the weight of the duffle, but was able to stabilize himself and put the bag on the floor.

  “Stop it!” Stevens said. “Don’t make us do this!”

  Emma ran into the store and Dylan jumped in behind her. He began to shut the door and saw Stevens’ hand wrap around the edge of it. The man was stronger than him and despite using all his energy, Dylan saw the door start to open again.

  “Help me!” he cried. Matt and Emma joined him and together they pushed against the door. The hand disappeared, but the resistance remained.

  “He must have his shoulder pressed against it!” Emma said.

  The gun appeared in what remained of the opening.

  “Push!” Dylan yelled.

  They all pushed. The gun fired, its deafening sound echoing in the empty store.

  The next seconds seemed to move in slow motion. The gun fell, dropping to the tiled floor. The door closed all the way. Dylan could feel the latch catching, though his damaged eardrums couldn’t make out the click. The gun hit the floor and fired again.

  Dylan turned and saw Matt slump to the floor clutching his leg. Blood trickled down through his fingers and pooled in between the tiles. He looked at the red stains they had seen on their first trip to the store. Had someone else been injured in there? There was a symmetry to it, Dylan’s panicked mind thought.

  He crouched down next to Matt, and Emma joined him o
n the other side.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “You’re not bleeding that bad, Matt.”

  Dylan pulled off his shirt and tied it around Matt’s leg. The wound was significant, but Emma was right. It didn’t seem to be bleeding that much. It must have missed everything major.

  “We need to get out of here and get him some help,” he said.

  “Fuck man, this really hurts!” Matt cried.

  “Just relax,” Emma said. To Dylan, she said, “I’ll stay here with him. Go out and see if you can get some supplies from the pharmacy.”

  “I can’t go in!” Dylan said. “How can I—”

  His hearing still hadn’t fully returned, but he heard the faint sound of the door opening.

  He looked up and the agents were standing in the doorway.

  Stevens stood in front of his partner, who still had his gun drawn. He looked around the room, saw the gun on the floor, and moved for it quickly. Dylan got up and lunged for it as well. Stevens caught him mid stride and tackled him to the floor.

  “Stop fighting, kid!” Stevens yelled. “Just give it up already.”

  “Haven’t you done enough damage?” Dylan yelled. “You shot someone who didn’t even know about any of this!”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s just another example of why this store must be protected at all costs.”

  “My friend needs help because of you,” Dylan said.

  “Leave now, and I promise to get him medical attention immediately,” Stevens said.

  “I don’t trust you,” Dylan said.

  “Why? Have I not been honest with you? I told you not to come here. I told you I’d leave you alone if you stayed away. You lied to me, Dylan. When I tried to call you off you resisted. You’ve created this situation. You. I’m willing to try to help your friend, but you need to walk out that door with me right this minute.”

  Dylan thought it over. He could go with Stevens, abandoning everything they had set out to do. That would maybe ensure that Matt got proper attention for his leg. Maybe, if Stevens could be believed. But what would happen to him and Emma?