The Bewitched Box Set

by W. J. May

  She clicked on her flashlight sending light slicing through unforgiving darkness. “How could anything be so absent of light and sound?” She frowned. Her voice didn’t even echo. Had it last time? Sure it had. Still it was different now? She didn’t remember much of her science lessons on light and noise, but thought emptiness helped create the echo effect.

  So weird. Standing still, she sent light out as far as it could reach in all directions. Then she checked out the space behind her.

  Nothing. No walls shone back on her. Turning the light onto the floor, she studied the flooring and wondered at the smooth look of the planks. So perfect, they didn’t appear real. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

  Then she checked out the ceiling. The light went into endless darkness. If there was a ceiling, it was so high as to be untouchable. She knew she hadn’t jumped more than eight feet. Her knees hadn’t hurt on landing.

  So, if she’d jumped through the same hole and landed in the same black nothingness, where was the damn door?

  Taking out her chalk, she drew a large circle with an X in the middle of it. She wanted to mark her position so she didn’t get lost. At least this way if she were to jump again, she’d be able to check that she landed at the same place. She didn’t want to consider that she might have ended up somewhere new.

  First things first, she needed to find the door. Last time it had been behind her. With her flashlight showing the way, she turned, searching behind her for the door. Last time that first slice of light had appeared to be a long way away. In truth, it hadn’t been more than thirty or fifty feet.

  She paced off thirty paces and stopped. She couldn’t see anything anywhere. Looking behind her, relief swept through her at the X on the floor in the bright beam of light. Good. She just needed to do this systematically. Taking a deep breath, she moved forward another thirty paces. Still nothing showed in her light. Uneasiness squirmed in her stomach. Keep going forward or try a new direction? Deciding to move another thirty steps, she paced again, and then stopped and drew another big X, labeling it number two. Then she backtracked to her original spot and paced ninety paces in the opposite direction. By the time she finished, she’d created a square with four Xs at the corners and a big X in the middle. Not much help, considering she had yet to find a perimeter wall.

  She stood in the middle of her markings and puzzled over it. What kind of tunnel could have no walls? Not possible. She tried to visualize the space. It had to be a natural cave to require no support beams or walls. Damn. Why hadn’t she brought a bigger flashlight? Annoyance flooded through her. Oh wait, maybe because she didn’t have one!

  Her cell phone rang. Such an ordinary thing, and so normal in the midst of so much abnormal, its very mundaneness surprised her. How could she get reception in here? “Hello?”

  Static filled her ear. Figured. “Hello?”

  She tried answering several more times, then clicked it off, returning it to her pocket. A moment later, the musical notes on her phone sounded again. A text. Hmmm. She clicked on it to read the incoming message.

  Where the hell are you?

  Eric. And pissed.

  She answered. I’m in the mine. I told you to come if you wanted. After she hit send, she waited, a half grin on her face. He wouldn’t take it quietly. Her instinct proved right as a text came right back. I’m on my way. WAIT.

  “Like I have a choice.” She sniffed at his autocratic response. Speaking to the empty space around her she snapped at the missing Eric, “Then hurry up. Where the hell is that door?”

  She passed the time by walking out to each of her circles and spent several minutes studying the darkness around her. There appeared to be nothing there. Walking back to the middle, she sat down to wait. Within minutes another text came through. She hopped to her feet. Eric said he was approaching the door. She waited for the welcoming sliver of light. It never came. Nerves bunched as she waited and worried. What if he couldn’t open the door? He’d done it once. The wait seemed interminable. She chewed her fingernails as she waited and waited.

  Damn it. She sent him another text, reading aloud as her fingers whipped across the keyboard. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve opened the door. Where are you?”

  Shit. She hopped to her feet and spun around looking for the doorway. He wasn’t there. Shakes and shivers wracked her slight frame as she realized the enormity of her situation.

  She’d landed in a different place.

  Eric had come to the rescue. He was at the door to the mine. He’d actually managed to open the locked door again, clearing one of the hurdles she’d worried about, but she wasn’t there.

  So, where the hell was she?

  ***

  Eric stood in the doorway. “Storey? Storey, are you here? Where are you?”

  Leaving the door wide open, Eric stepped inside and took a long look around. He could see the back wall. There was no sign of her. “Shit.” Where had she gone?

  A horrible thought surfaced. She couldn’t have jumped elsewhere. She didn’t know how. At least he didn’t think she did. No, she’d said she was here. So, this is where she thought she was.

  “Storey?”

  No answer. Could she have gotten out? He pulled out his phone. Her incoming text asked where he was. Double shit.

  Where was she? And how could he find her?

  Paxton. Using his codex, he coded in the notes that would allow him to cross the veil where he stood. In seconds he breathed the air of his own world. After a quick glance around, he headed for Paxton’s office.

  “Finally.” Buried in books, eyeglasses perched on the bridge of his nose, Paxton snorted at him. “Your father has been asking about you. I do hope you have the stylus with you.”

  “We’ve got a problem.” Eric raced to the holograph screens. “Storey jumped again. Only she’s gone somewhere else this time and I can’t find her.”

  Paxton came running, his long midnight blue robes flapping in the wind. “Oh dear! This is exactly what we were trying to avoid. We can’t just have a human running loose on our side. There’s no knowing what kind of chaos she could create.”

  “She’s not trying to cause any trouble.” Storey was curious, not a terrorist. Eric was compelled to defend her. “She thinks she’s in the same place as last time, but I just checked and she’s not there.”

  “That’s because she’s here. She’s jumped to Stanshor mine!” Paxton tapped one of the screens on the left.

  Eric peered closer. Sure enough Storey stood in the middle of a different portal. “What? How could she have made it there?”

  “The stylus. It’s trying to go home. That’s the closest jump to the science hall.”

  “How would the stylus know that?”

  “Through its ancient memories. It’s taking her where it wants to go. You have to get her back to Bankhead Mine.”

  Eric snorted. “And how do you expect me to do that? She’s a thousand miles in the wrong direction.” He fisted his hands on his hips and snorted at the monitor. How the hell had she done that?

  “Jump with her.”

  “She’ll know,” Eric warned.

  “Not if you do it right. Jump at the doorway. From one to the other. If you catch it right, she won’t even know what the world outside of Stanshor looks like.”

  Crap. “That’s a lot of ‘ifs.’” He rubbed his temple, trying to work through the process.

  “Too bad. If you can’t keep her under control then you have to clean up her messes.” Paxton motioned behind him. “Use the doorway in my office. You can dial up Stanshor, then let her out like she’s expecting you to.”

  “Right. Good luck with that,” he muttered the last under his breath, loving the new expressions he’d been picking up on the other side. And they were so apt. Storey wasn’t stupid. She’d know something was up.

  Eric walked into Paxton’s office, wondering what he was going to say to her. If he let her know what she’d done was illegal in his world he could kiss his c
areer goodbye. Keeping her in the dark was going to be even harder.

  He set the coordinates for Stanshor and walked through Paxton’s doorway to the entrance of Stanshor Mine. The development here was at least ten times bigger than the one in Bankhead. If she’d gotten lost in here, it could take days to find her. And that’s if he knew where to start.

  The door was locked as per standard practice. Using his soulkey, honored with the highest security, he unlocked the mine door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open. He could only hope she was there.

  He stepped inside, careful to keep the door partially closed so she couldn’t see out.

  “There you are. What took so long?”

  Her voice, sharp and stressed, snapped out at him. Temper? Or something else. Bemused, Eric could only watch as she strode toward him, backpack in hand. He partially closed the door behind him. He couldn’t have her escaping until he’d made the changes. “Well, hi. How are you? Nice of you to come and rescue me. Sorry for being such an idiot and jumping into a cave again without anyone knowing.”

  Good. The sarcasm in his voice garnered him a disgusted look as she went to brush past him. Past him? Shit. He spun to close the door.

  Her hand wrapped around his arm, a last grasp from a dying person. “I have to get out.” A shudder rippled down her and she sucked air through her clenched teeth. Her eyes stared toward the crack of light. Eric studied her finely etched features and narrowed his gaze.

  She was headed for a panic attack. He had to get her out of here and fast. Shit. The timing had to be perfect. “Let me go first.” Not giving her a chance to argue, he stepped in front of her and strode the short distance to the door. Using his codex, Eric shifted the locations until the entrance to Bankhead Mine stood outside and not the entrance to Stanshor Mine. He’d never done this type of shift before. How long would his luck hold?

  “I have to get outside.” Storey burst past him, her voice tight, flat.

  Crap. He grabbed her arm and tugged her back. She spun around and ended up in his arms. Huge chocolate eyes, so close to his own, widened in confusion. It’s not what he’d planned but...he couldn’t help himself. He lowered his head and swallowed her startled response with a quick kiss at the same time as he pushed down on the transporter button.

  At least it was supposed to be quick. And he hadn’t meant it to be hot. At least not that hot. He’d aimed for warmer than friends and cooler than lovers. Instead, sparks flew as flames licked across his skin, burning, searing the taste of her, the feel of her in his arms, forever in his mind.

  He shuddered. Step back. Danger. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Eric pulled back, struggling for air. Storey stared up at him, her eyes the color of molten chocolate, confusion swirling in their depths.

  “Hey.” His voice wavered, just a bit. He recognized it. Thought she might have too. He cleared this throat. “That was an I’m just glad to see you alive kiss. Sorry it got a little out of hand. I was afraid you’d be lost in there forever.” Turning her gently, he nudged her out into her world. She was dangerous. She’d wreak havoc if left on her own in his dimension. She was already wreaking havoc. With his heart.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  Storey wanted to look back on this moment and be proud that she’d acted like Eric’s kiss hadn’t just blown every other kiss out the water. In fact, she now knew she hadn’t been kissed before. At least not properly.

  Yeah, Eric knew how to kiss.

  Come on, Storey, you can do this. Act natural and, for heaven’s sake, close your mouth and quit gawking.

  She forced a smile and lifted her face to the sky. Surely, he couldn’t know about the tumultuous flutter of her heart or stomach. And the shudders wracking her spine were on the inside and not something he could see. She stole a glance his way, grateful he was checking out the entrance to Bankhead Mine and thankful she was outside and not still locked inside. She took several gulps of fresh air and closed her eyes, waiting for her senses to return to normal.

  Why had he kissed her? And why like that? Or had the second part been a surprise for him, too? God, she hoped so. To think her reaction had been one-sided would be one of life’s nastiest jokes.

  Sensing his gaze, she opened her eyes. His blue eyes studied her. With a nonchalance she didn’t feel, she said, “I didn’t realize how wonderful fresh air smells and how warming, how healing, the sun is.”

  Pursing his lips, he gave her an understanding nod. “After being locked in a mine twice, that’s understandable. The real question is – was the experience bad enough to stop you from repeating it?” He waggled his eyebrows and hooked his arm through hers. “Come on. I have to get home.”

  “Oh?” She shrugged. Trying to put more distance between her and that dynamite kiss she added, “I thought I’d stay and explore some more.”

  He grunted. “Damn good thing I closed the door then, isn’t it? Does the law matter to you at all?” His voice rose in exasperation.

  He grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around until she couldn’t miss the sign in front of them. “Can you read that? No Trespassing.” He snorted at her. “Is that simple enough? This is private property. You can’t just wander around here. It’s dangerous.”

  She stood toe-to-toe against him and glared.

  “I got it. Except I’m not a kid anymore and I can make my own decisions. Something weird is going on and I’m going to figure out what it is. You don’t like it. Fine. You don’t have to get involved.” That he was right wasn’t enough to make her stop. She had to sort this out. She could hardly forget the whole thing happened, could she? “Thanks for helping me. Go on and enjoy your don’t-rock-the-boat existence.”

  She stepped back and took a look around. “I wish you’d tell me how to open the damn door.” At his look, she added, “Not going to happen, huh? Fine.” She threw her backpack over her shoulder. “Thanks. I can manage on my own.”

  She strode off in the direction of home, her head and heart a mess. Then she came to a sudden stop. Spinning back around, she asked, “Where were you earlier? When you texted to say you had the door open and where was I?”

  He shrugged, a sheepish look on his face. “I wasn’t here yet. I thought the scare might stop you from playing these dangerous games.”

  She gasped. “That’s so mean.” She strode off, almost running to get away from him. How could he have done something like that? And then there was that damn kiss. Why did he mess with her feelings so badly? Whatever. She didn’t intend to spend time with him anyway.

  The sun shone bright and warm, helping to chase away the last of the uneasiness lingering in her mind. The panic had subsided and the anger had burned through the rest of her nervousness. She took a deep breath and sighed.

  Strong arms grabbed from behind.

  Eric spun her around until she stood facing him. A very pissed off Eric. So why did she have to notice how anger lit the deep blue in his eyes and hollowed out his face, highlighting the strength of his jaw bones? She did so love the dimple in his chin.

  “Are you always so disagreeable?”

  She raised one eyebrow and refused to back down.

  “I guess that means yes, huh?” His jaw clenched as he glared down at her.

  Odd how nice it was to look up at a guy. “That’s not fair. You don’t know everything that’s gone on. You’re judging me without having all the information.”

  “Then talk. Explain it to me.” He stepped back and crossed his arms, waiting.

  She snorted then shifted to look up at the sky. She shouldn’t have brought it up. What to tell him? How much would he believe? No one would believe everything. “I don’t know how much to tell you.”

  “Everything.” There it was again, that dominant, implacable wall.

  She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You won’t believe me.”

  “Try me.”

  There just wasn’t any give in him. “This might take some time.”

  “I have all the ti
me we need.”

  “Really?” she challenged. “I thought you had to go home.”

  “I’ll make my excuses later.”

  She grimaced. Of course he would. “Fine. But I want to sit down somewhere first.”

  “Over there.”

  She checked out where he pointed. Several large rocks sat under the boughs of a blue spruce. “Okay. But don’t blame me if this all sounds a little farfetched,” she warned.

  He sat down, crossed those long legs of his and waited.

  She frowned. “I don’t know where to start.”

  “At the beginning.”

  Well, duh. She sat back and took a deep breath. “Several days ago, well maybe a week now. I don’t know. The days have whipped by so fast.” She chewed her bottom lip, trying to understand how that had happened.

  “And,” he prompted.

  “I found a pencil. That weird one you asked about.”

  “Where?”

  He said it so abruptly she paused, thrown off track. It took her a moment. “On the way to school, I walked through the park and saw it by a rock at the side of the creek. Just lying there.”

  There’d been a sense that she’d been destined to find it. That she had a connection with it. Not that she was going to tell him that. “Anyways, I’ve always done artwork of some kind, only...after getting that pencil, it’s like I’ve been obsessed.” She slid a sidelong glance his way. “I mean really obsessed. I don’t notice when I’m drawing, but it’s like I go into a trance or something. I cover every available space on any page. Sometimes, it’s just doodles and other times it’s really cool stuff. One of the drawings was a door.”

  Eric leaned closer, his eyes narrowing at her words. “What kind of door?”

  She shrugged. “It was scrunched up, so I redrew it on a clean sheet.”

  She paused.

  “And?” Impatience prodded him up off the rocks to pace around before coming back to crouch down in front of her. “What happened next?”

  Storey puzzled over his attitude. But she’d started so she might as well carry on. “I got mad one day because the drawings wouldn’t leave me alone. They wanted me to draw, draw and draw some more. I felt like I was losing it. Or that they were controlling me.” She took a deep breath. “I threw the book down on the floor in my room. I had been on my bed and I was so frustrated, so angry...I don’t know...anyways I stomped on it...and that’s when things got even weirder.”