The Bewitched Box Set

by W. J. May

  “And you’d care?” She couldn’t help asking. What did he really feel? Guilty, because he’d taken her over there in the first place? Or did he feel that same connectedness she felt?

  “Huh?” Confused exasperation slid through his voice. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

  She stared at the floor, a giddy ripple snaking through her body. Maybe he did care. Not that she’d let him know it mattered. “So, we’re good to go?”

  He stared at her. “I still don’t like it, but yes, let’s get moving. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can find a solution to this mess.”

  Storey couldn’t stop her biggest worry from dominating her thoughts. What if the solution was one that didn’t allow either of them to live?

  ****

  Storey and Eric used her drawings to cross the veil to Eric’s world. With his guidance, they crossed via Stanshor mine.

  “You’re sure this is the best entrance?”

  “Yes. It used to be a central meeting point for various city members. They’d travel here via codex,” he said, holding up his wrist. A long metal band covered his skin from elbow to wrist, “and then come to the hall as a group.” He strode into the murky depths of the cavern she’d been happy to forget. He stopped ahead of her and pointed at the ground. “Why did you do this?”

  Storey paused to stare at the crosses she’d marked on that fateful day. Had it only been yesterday? Or the day before? She shook her head. Her sense of time had warped. For the first time, she wondered at the long-term side effects and health problems of crossing the veil multiple times. “I was trying to mark out distances, so I’d be able to find my way back again.”

  “Smart.”

  There it went again. That little wiggle inside. Damned if she knew why she should care about what he thought of her. She followed him through the darkness to a destination only Eric appeared to know. Storey peered through the blackness, yet saw nothing. He glanced from time to time at his codes. “Is that like a GPS or something?”

  “GPS? I don’t understand.”

  “Hmmm.” Rather than try to explain something she didn’t perfectly understand, she asked, “How does the codex work?”

  “It’s a digital map, I guess you could say. You can punch in coordinates or places and it can tell you where you are and direct you to a specific place.”

  “So you just dial up Earth 2.0 and it sends you to a doorway?” She bumped into his back. He held the flashlight in front of him, lighting the immediate space. Everything else appeared to be absolute darkness. “Oomph.”

  He reached around and grabbed her hand, pulling her up beside him without slowing his pace. Keeping her hand in his, he answered, “Kinda. But a lot more complicated than that. With it I can also create a doorway if I need to in an emergency, and it can send me across my world instantly.”

  “Perfect way to evade capture.”

  “Not really. It leaves a signature that is automatically tracked by Paxton’s computers. Wherever I go, they’ll know.”

  She frowned. “Okay, not so great.”

  “We’re here.” Eric stopped on the spot, showing her the flashing colors on his codex.

  She stared at it in disbelief then looked around, “That’s it? Just because the colors are different, you’re willing to trust that little piece of technology. Look around you. We’re nowhere.” Her voice rose at the end and it was all she could do to stop herself from yelling. “That’s a whole lot of trust in nothing.” Her voice echoed on for a long time. She shivered, staring out into black soup that thickened and darkened even as she watched.

  “It’s all right. Everything’s going to be fine.” He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. She didn’t protest. In fact, she couldn’t resist snuggling up to his comforting warmth. The place gave her the creeps.

  “Right,” she muttered. “So now what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She shuddered again. “Why is it so cold all of a sudden? And what do you mean, what do I mean?” she said in exasperation. “Honestly, sometimes I think you’re from another world.”

  “Well technically...”

  With a look of disgust she tried to search her surroundings. The soup had blanketed out everything but Eric, and that’s only because she was right beside him.

  She shivered. “How do we leave then? I’d like to get out of this.”

  “That should happen in about five, four, three...”

  She reared back. “What the–”

  Blue sky beamed down on her.

  ***

  Eric realized he hadn’t considered what the transit must have seemed like for her. Everything in her world was so visual. Billboards, television, trains. And everything took so much time. Look at the long hours he’d been forced to attend her school. What a joke. School on his side of the veil was mornings only. And still they finished in half the time that her school system did. Plus, from what he could see, his schooling system taught the youngsters so much more.

  That’s not to say there weren’t some good things over there, he admitted to himself.

  “We’re here? Just like that?”

  “Yes. That’s why the darkness thickened and swirled around us. You felt the cold because you haven’t had a chance to adapt. I’m used to traveling that way and no longer notice the temperature change.”

  She sniffed the fresh air while he watched. Did it smell the same to her? Cleaner? Fresher? Foreign? Her features shifted and she seemed to take gulping breaths – almost tasting the air. Curious, he watched the expressions flit across her face. What was she thinking?

  “Do you have any pollution here?” She spun around studying the terrain. “Do you have cars? Trains?” She tilted her head back and stared up at the sky. “Airplanes?” With a funny sound that was a cross between a laugh and snort, she added, “Do you even have clouds here? The blue sky looks painted on, it’s so perfect.”

  Spinning around, she tried to take it all in. Her hair flew out in all directions, her t-shirt twisting snugly around her body. Tall compared to the girls he knew, she had an unconscious beauty she made no attempt to capitalize on. Odd, yet endearing. He grinned. Such inquisitiveness. “We don’t need those kinds of transportation because everyone has variations of the codex.”

  “Everything is so different but so much the same.”

  “Exactly. We as a people developed separately, biologically, environmentally, and socially. Our government structure is completely unique. We don’t even have bicycles.”

  “Don’t need them either, do you. Everyone has a codex?”

  He watched the unformed queries blaze in her dark chocolate eyes as they darted from one thing to another. “No,” he corrected patiently. “They have different units, called taprins, that can take them to any of the many transit points we use. Then everyone walks from there. But those units are only good for local travel.”

  “Cool. I like the sound of that.”

  He grinned at her, loving the innocence mingled with eagerness. She had something he hadn’t recognized before. What he’d taken as aggressiveness, or maybe stubbornness was a better word, was actually spirit. So unlike the girls in his world, who were quiet, graceful, yet contained. They didn’t need to be high-spirited. Their lives were easy, peaceful, ordered. But they lacked the spontaneity he’d come to appreciate from Storey.

  Another difference between the girls he knew and Storey was her mind. Hers raced and bounced off different things, stopping to question anything of interest before zipping forward. He admired her. He also liked her. That she was seemingly unaware of her physical appeal made her even more unusual. His brief stint at her school showed the females of her age wore tight clothing, bright colored paint on their faces and decorations in their ears, nose, even eyebrows. Storey wore nothing like that. Through confidence or disdain, he didn’t know. It set her apart. She made no attempt to attract males. In fact, she ignored them all equally.

  Except maybe...him. That he enjoyed her
, respected her...and dare he say...cared for her, was a big surprise he hadn’t considered prior to taking this job. He didn’t see how she could be part of his future, yet he already knew there’d be a gaping hole in his life if she wasn’t.

  “Which way?” Storey waved her arms at the multiple paths stretching out before them.

  Eric studied the bright green and yellow bushes adding a cheerful look to the early morning. Given the number of choices, he quickly picked one of the least traveled paths. They needed to stay under cover as long as they could.

  He glanced around, realizing they could be pounced on by guards at any time. “This way.”

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  Storey followed as Eric hurried toward the trees ahead. He’d gone from standing around to full speed. Weird.

  She made it seconds after him. Still gasping at the unexpected pace, she grabbed his arm, barely slowing him down. “What’s the panic?”

  He twisted to look down at her, that sideways grin sliding her way. “I just remembered that people could be looking for us. Here we are, standing around like ducks in hunting season.”

  A horrible comparison. She shuddered. At least she now knew they had ducks and a hunting season.

  Brushing back the green overgrowth, Eric trotted ahead. “We’ll enter the city by the back gates.”

  “Aren’t they guarded?” She hurried to catch him. His long legs ate up the miles, leaving her sputtering in shock. Normally, she let other people eat her dirt.

  “Not by people,” he said.

  Wincing, she decided not to ask. She’d find out soon enough. “How much further?”

  “Half an hour, give or take.” He headed off again at a quick clip. “Or less, if you’d move a little faster.”

  After that comment, she jogged to keep up. Focused on trying to maintain his grueling pace, she slammed into him when he came to a sudden stop.

  “What’s wrong,” she gasped, staggering back several steps to bend over and catch her breath. She closed her eyes briefly. Damn, she’d developed a stitch in her side. Eric wasn’t even out of breath.

  “We’re here.”

  Thank heavens for that. Straightening, she surveyed the immediate area. Where was here? What could he see that she didn’t? Thick evergreens clogged her view on one side. Not big fat trunks of an old growth forest, but thousands of skinny trees so crowded together she could barely see through them. Everywhere else appeared to be open field. No building. No fence. And certainly no gate. “What am I looking at?”

  “A forest?” Again that superior amusement. It was really starting to piss her off. Glad he thought her ignorance was so funny. Not.

  She shot him a disgusted look. “Yeah. I can see that. What about your gate?”

  “It’s on the other side of this group over there.” He pointed out the trees in question.

  “Is your codex telling you that again?” She shielded her eyes from the bright light to stare where he pointed. It didn’t help.

  “And the fact that I’ve been here before.” He walked toward the invisible gate, a happy bounce to his step.

  She wished she had the same endurance. This last leg of the trip had tired her. The stitch in her side still irritated. Several steps later, she slowed as the blinding sun darkened. The air had taken on a static emptiness, a weird sense of something missing. Shivers slid down her back. “Hey, Eric. What’s with the change in light?”

  “It’s a standard gate warning for anyone approaching. It means we’re here.”

  “Warning? I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Normal for here and not a big deal if you follow the safeguards.”

  “Whoa. What safeguards? What are you talking about?” She cast a quick look behind her. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. “Hey, wait up.”

  “I’m here.”

  “Not here enough.” The blackness swirled around her, making her choke with the thickness of it. She reached out for Eric. He pulled her closer. She gasped and pressed tight against his side. “Don’t you dare let go. I hate this.”

  He chuckled, his warmth breath tickling her cheek. She had to smile. “No worries. Stay close.”

  She snorted. “You think?” She twisted around, that eerie sensation crawling up her back again. Tugging, she tried to get him to move. He planted his feet and resisted.

  “What is your problem?” he burst out in exasperation.

  “Something is watching us.”

  He stilled. “What are you talking about?”

  Peering up at him through the deepening mist, she tried to understand the odd flatness in his voice. “Don’t you feel it?”

  “What? Feel eyes on us?”

  “Yes.” She searched the suffocating blackness. “As long as I can’t see them, they can’t see me. Right?” she joked.

  “In theory. Besides we’re in the gate. Nothing can get us in here.” He wrapped his arms around her to pull her close. She huddled in his arms, her eyes darting in all directions.

  Her stomach was in knots. So were her nerves. “What kind of animals do you have over here?”

  “All kinds of them.” His grin flashed in the dark.

  “That’s not helping. Animal predators?”

  His warm chuckle lifted the hair at her temple, sending a different sensation down her spine. “Of course. You’re really spooked, aren’t you?”

  Lifting her head, she stared up at his laughing blue eyes. Here heart tumbled. She sighed. “Am I overreacting?”

  His chest rumbled against her. “No, not when it’s all new to you.”

  She dropped her forehead against him for a moment, then she asked, “Is the gate like the one in the mine?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Why can’t you give me something other than half an answer?” She’d barely finished when a scream sounded next to her. She half climbed Eric’s tall frame. “What the hell was that?”

  Clasping her tightly to his chest, he whispered into her ear, “Shhhh. An animal hunting. That’s all. Quiet.”

  She stilled. Her heart in her throat, her nerves quietly shattered while her eyes stared into the damn soup. Her nose quivered.

  “Just another minute more.” This time the warmth of his voice wafted against her neck. She shuddered. Eric almost made her forget her surroundings. He squeezed her tighter. Going on instinct, she snuggled closer.

  This was his world. She had no way of defending herself. She didn’t even know what dangers existed. She’d never felt so helpless in her life.

  “Hmmm.”

  Regret nudged her when she realized Eric’s arms were loosening. She lifted her head and looked around, hoping for the blue sky again. Not happening. Black, cloying night surrounded them. She swallowed loudly. “Didn’t it work? Is this where we’re supposed to be?”

  Eric stared down at his codex. “I’m not sure. The codex is flashing that we’ve arrived.”

  “Arrived where? It doesn’t look any different from before.” She waited for the dense fog to clear. It didn’t. “Is your codex broken?”

  “Not likely. It worked fine up until now.”

  She didn’t like the confusion on his face. The silence around them had a muffled sensation to it. Not a clear air type of silence, more of a padded chamber type of thing. “Did it though? You said you’d been here before. Have you physically been at this gate before?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “You haven’t, have you?” She couldn’t believe it. He’d duped her. “So how do you know if any of this is right?” she exclaimed, frustration stiffening her backbone. She pulled back slightly to stare up at him.

  “I’ve seen pictures of this place. I’ve studied the area and the gate itself.” He tried to pull her closer. She resisted, wanting to read the truth in his eyes. “This should have passed by now. But then, all gates take a different amount of time. This one could be slower.”

  “It’s not slower.” She knew it, and again had no idea how or why. “So
mething is wrong.”

  “Not yet it isn’t.”

  “If... something has gone wrong, where would this wrong be?”

  “Huh?”

  “Where would we be if the gate didn’t work?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. It’s never happened before.”

  She disengaged from his grasp, turning to look around at the heavy charcoal colored mist. Better than cloying blackness, but not by much. She wafted the mist around, hoping to clear some of it. “Never? Or never to you?”

  “Never that I know of.”

  “What are the probable things that could go wrong with your codex?”

  “Like dialing the wrong number you mean? Nothing like that. Each is a preset code.” His eyes widened. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. “Stay close.”

  “Could the numbers have been changed? Like by Paxton?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. The codes are old. Well before his time.”

  “But it’s possible. And, I’m just thinking aloud here, is it possible that we’re in some kind of middle zone? No man’s land? A different dimension again?”

  “I really don’t know.” He spun around to look behind him, then turned back to face her. “We could be at a different gate. Lost between gates even. Like I said, it’s never happened before.”

  “Well,” she suggested, “why don’t you dial your codex and take us back to Stanshor Mine and we’ll try a different, more traveled route.”

  Understanding brightened his eyes. He lifted his wrist. No lights flashed. Nothing glowed. Grim-faced, he tapped several buttons. “Now it’s not working at all, apparently.”

  Her stomach sank. Of course it wasn’t. They weren’t meant to go back. “Could Paxton have done this on purpose or could something else have gone wrong that would change the codes?”

  “What could go wrong? Nothing goes wrong in my home.” He winced. “Although my people might say losing the stylus was wrong. But only that.” He rushed to say.

  They stared at each other, puzzled. Then it hit them.