Beyond: Snillotia Trilogy Book One

by Donna Wagner

Tim groaned. His cousin’s haughty and sarcastic attitude was not going to go over big with Jason, but Tim was slightly touched his cousin was trying to stick up for his mom, even though he’d never actually met her. Jason turned and fully faced Retep for the first time. He stared at him for a moment, and then something in him seemed to deflate. He turned to Tim. “I’m sorry, Tim. I didn’t know it was your mom who wrote the book. It’s actually not that stupid. When I was a kid, I loved the later ones in the series- with all the fighting and stuff.”

  Tim nodded, unsure of how to respond to Jason, who had never spoken to him nicely in all the time he’d known him, really, which, was longer than anyone else. He’d always been basically a jerk, even as a little kid. Suddenly, as Tim watched Jason walk into the house with Anna, a flicker of a memory entered Tim’s thoughts. He saw a small boy with sandy hair, the same shade as Jason’s, maybe five or six years old, in the corner of the playground, crying his eyes out, refusing to go with the older girl who was trying to get him to leave. The boy refused and said he wouldn’t leave until his mommy came to get him. At first, Tim remembered thinking the boy was getting a bit upset at having to leave the playground, but Tim’s mother had seen his staring and told him the boy’s mother was very sick. Tim remembered now that Jason’s mother had died not long after that. Tim had forgotten that, out of all people, Jason probably understood how Tim felt now, more than anyone. Maybe Jason did have feelings for others inside after all.

  He took his head and turned to face his cousin. “Now, tell me about Goldie.”

  “Oh! It was this morning, shortly after I woke up. She was talking to the King and Queen, explaining that this world was affecting her in ways she hadn’t foreseen, even with her never leaving the rooms connected to Storage. She said she had to return, that she didn’t think she could stay here for extended periods of time. She did say she’d come back and check on everyone, though.”

  Tim frowned. He understood why Goldie had left, but it still bothered him slightly that she hadn’t talked to him before she did. Frustrated that they’d have to wait for her to return before getting any more answers, Tim decided to skim his mother’s book again. It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for class tomorrow, after all. Mrs. MacDonald would most likely be expecting him to be an active participant in her discussion. Tim sighed and told Retep he was going inside. They both walked to the house together. Retep stopped on the deck. “I’m going to sit out here for a while. It’s nice, you know. I never really got to go outside back home.”

  Tim nodded and entered the house alone. He made his way to the living room, where he’d left his copy of the book, only to discover, it was standing room only. All the grandparents, Einna, Tre, Adam, and Myra were all scattered around the room while Anna and Jason sat in the middle. It seemed that Jason was getting the third degree.

  All the adults were asking him question after question. What were his plans for the future? College? Careers? What type of people were his family? The questions were non-stop. Even Adam and Myra seemed a bit uncomfortable. His eyes locked with Anna’s. Help!

  What can I do?

  Tim leaned against the wall and watched Jason stammer the answers to everyone’s questions, the best he could. “First time meeting the parents, huh?”

  Tim turned around to see Evan standing behind him, and with a shock, saw Ollie was with him. Tim smirked. “Parents, grandparents, and then some!”

  Despite his brief connection with the guy, just a short while ago, Tim rather enjoyed seeing him squirm a bit. It was short lived. Only a few minutes after Tim entered the room a loud burst of electric guitar filled the room. Jason snatched his phone from his pocket, like it was a life preserver and he was drowning. “Hi, Dad!” he paused, “Yes. Okay. I’ll come home right now.”

  He shoved his phone back in his pocket and practically few out of the house, saying he was so sorry, he had to go, on his way to the door. Once through, the door slammed shut behind him with a loud thud. They heard the car’s engine start and the tires squeal as Jason sped away. “Well, I guess we’ll be finding another away home!” Evan said, loudly.

  Adam saw them standing there. “Hi, guys. I’ll give you a ride home.”

  While Ollie barely looked at Adam, Evan gave him a high five. “Thanks, man!”

  It was always jarring to see Adam and Evan next to one another. They both had dark, almost black hair and light blue eyes. They were about the same height now as well. They looked like they could be brothers.

  Now that the fun was over, and Adam ushered Evan and Ollie toward the garage, Tim grabbed his book and wandered to his room. As he climbed the stairs, he could hear Anna loudly complaining to her parents about the way everyone acted toward Jason. He reached his room and flopped down on his bed. “Ouch!” he exclaimed, realizing he had landed on something more than bed, that was hidden under his blanket.

  Tim reached under the covers and discovered that the walkie-talkie he’d used to contact Goldie was hidden there. Anna! We can still talk to Goldie. Stop complaining and come up to my room!

  Fine!

  Tim heard her annoyance in her thoughts and chuckled to himself. Minutes later Anna appeared in his doorway. “Well, come in,” Tim said.

  Anna hesitated a moment more, then entered the room. Instead of sitting on the bed with Tim, she chose to sit in his desk chair. Once she was settled, Tim held up the walkie-talkie. “Goldie’s medallion is still wired to it. We should be able to talk to her through this, like I did before.”

  Tim filled her in on what Retep had told him about why Goldie left. “So, what should we ask her about first?”

  “Maybe first we should make sure that thing still works.”

  Tim nodded. “Would you like to do the honors this time?” he asked, holding out the walkie-talkie toward Anna.

  Anna took it from him and pressed the button. “Goldie, can you hear me? We have some questions we need to ask you!”

  There was no response. Anna tried again, with the same result. “Let me try,” Tim said, taking it from her.

  First, he checked the medallion and it appeared to be connected correctly. “Goldie! Please answer us! It’s important!”

  “Tim look!” Anna exclaimed, pointing at the device.

  Tim pulled the walkie-talkie away from his mouth and looked at it. The medallion was gone. “What? Where did it go?”

  Tim looked down on his bed, looking for it. He pulled the blanket off and looked on the floor, as well. Meanwhile Anna sat and watched him, shaking her head. “It didn’t fall out! While you were talking into it, it just disappeared!”

  They looked at each other for a moment and wondered what it could possibly mean. Tim was afraid to say it, but he didn’t think it could mean anything good. “Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be connected to a walkie-talkie,” Anna said, trying to offer a plausible explanation.

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  PART III:

  LIFE GOES ON

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  “So, class, we’ve reached the end. Who wants to give their thoughts?”

  Mrs. MacDonald looked at her class, expectantly. Quite a few hands rose into the air. She smiled, loving the participation she was seeing. A very excited hand in the front of the room caught her attention. “Okay, Peter, go ahead.”

  Tim looked up from the notebook he was doodling in. His cousin had changed, somewhat, over the last few months. He was still annoying, but he had completely adapted to this world and he was actually quite happy. He even refused to answer to Retep anymore and insisted everyone call him either Pete or Peter. Tim was barely listening to what his cousin was saying, as he heard his thoughts on the books quite often at home. Suddenly, he felt Anna pull his mind to focus, he looked at her, impressed at the control she’d mastered in the last four months. Her eyes were wide as she looked from him to his cousin. Peter was no longer speaking, but looking at Mrs. MacDonald, as she flipped through her notes. “Peter, while I’m very impressed with your
analysis of the book, I’m quite confused by where you came up with the name of the world- this “Snillotia”. The fact that the worlds aren’t named in the books is actually the topic of many theories that revolve around this story.”

  Before Peter could come up with a response, Tim jumped in. “I told him the name. It’s what my mother always called it. I know it’s not in the books, but we were talking about it at home and I forgot she left it out. She, uh, made these stories up when I was little and told them to me before bed every night, long before she wrote them down.”

  Tim’s voice trailed off. He’d just given way more information than he needed to and felt his face heating up. “Well, that’s an interesting fact, Tim,” Mrs. MacDonald said, “Does it mean anything significant?”

  Tim started to shake his head, but Peter beat him to an answer. “It’s his last name backwards, with an “I-A” at the end.”

  Mrs. MacDonald thought about it for a moment and said, “So it is! How interesting!”

  Tim just nodded and slid down in his seat. He glanced at Anna and saw that she was furious. She was staring at Peter with a murderous glare. Calm down. He made it four months without saying anything. It was bound to happen at some point. At least his opportunity to spill anymore secrets is almost over.

  Anna seemed to relax slightly, but Tim could tell she was still angry. The feeling was radiating off her. Seriously, if you don’t calm down, the whole class may wind up attacking him.

  This caused Anna to break her stare and look at Tim. One of her newfound powers was that she could make those around her feel whatever she was feeling. She could control it, most of the time. She took a few deep breaths and saw Tim nod when he felt her anger dissipate. “Now, for the final assignment!”

  Anna turned her attention to Mrs. MacDonald. “As we discussed on our journey through these books, there are many underlying themes and imagery. Pick something that stood out to you, whether it was discussed in class or not, and using that theme or imagery, you are going to write the next chapter. What do you think would happen next?”

  “But wouldn’t that ruin it, when the last book finally comes out?” a girl in the back of the classroom asked.

  The room became completely silent and Tim could see eyes darting between him and the girl. Tim knew her name was Ashley, but he had never spoken to her before. It didn’t surprise him that she was unaware that there would be no final book in the series. Mrs. MacDonald was also looking at him. She, apparently, was leaving the answer up to him. “Well, my mom died a few years ago so-”

  Ashley gasped, making him stop talking. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know.”

  Tim nodded at her that it was okay. “Wait, don’t authors usually have lots of notes and files and things? Wouldn’t your mom have had some idea of the ending?”

  Tim shrugged, and then said, “Well, honestly, I think she finished the last book, but I don’t have any of her stuff anymore. It, uh, got lost after everything happened.”

  The room was silent, as if waiting for him to explain more. The bell rang, shattering the silence.

  “Well then! It seems our assignment won’t ruin anything! Use your imaginations! You have two weeks from today!” Mrs. MacDonald said as everyone gathered their things to move on to their next class.

  Tim exited as quickly as he could, hoping to avoid another interrogation from Mrs. MacDonald. Since she realized Tim had lunch right after her class, she’d been peppering him with questions almost daily when class was over. Tim breathed a sigh of relief as he slid into the hallway without being stopped. Surprisingly, Anna was waiting for him. “Aren’t you going to be late?” he asked, knowing Anna didn’t have lunch this period.

  “Something happened and we should go home, right now.”

  Tim was shocked. Anna never wanted to miss school, let alone skip any classes once she was there. Tim, on the other hand, didn’t mind at all. “Sure, that’s fine with me!”

  “What’s fine with you?” Peter asked, coming to stand next to Tim.

  “We’re going home early.”

  Peter looked at Anna, clearly as shocked as Tim had been. “But we have a French test this afternoon!”

  Anna shrugged. Tim was even more shocked now, but he hid his reaction. “Okay, if we’re going, let’s go before someone notices!”

  Peter looked torn. “I’m staying here.”

  “That’s fine. Come on, Tim,” Anna said, pulling Tim after her.

  Tim looked at as cousin as he was pulled away. “See you later then, I guess!”

  He saw Peter wave and then head toward the cafeteria. He turned his attention to Anna. She stopped at the door, looking around to make sure no one saw them. “Evan is meeting us at home. He knows, Tim.”

  She pushed the door open and ran towards the gate. Tim could do nothing but follow, his thoughts swirling through his head. Evan knew? Knew what? Anna didn’t stop running until they were a block away from the school. Tim stopped next to her to catch his breath, then said, “You do realize someone is going to be at home, right? We’re not going to be able to get away with leaving school early completely anyway.”

  Anna smiled at him and said, “We’ll see about that!”

  She disappeared right in front of his eyes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Anna?”

  There was no answer. Tim looked around. Anna was nowhere to be seen. He felt a tapping on his shoulder and spun around. No one was behind him. As his surprise lessened, he began to realize Anna had found another power. “Okay, you got me. Now let me see you!”

  Anna popped up right next to him. “Boo!”

  Tim started slightly and Anna laughed. “I knew this would be fun!”

  She grabbed Tim’s hand and pulled him next to a car parked a little further down the street. “Look,” she said, pointing with the hand that wasn’t still holding on to Tim’s.

  Tim saw their reflection in the car window. Slowly Anna faded from view, then before Tim realized it, his reflection had disappeared, as well. He looked down. He could still see himself. He also still felt Anna’s hand in his. He looked at his hand and saw he could see her hand, as well as the rest of her. He checked the car window again. The house behind him was all he saw. “You must have known about this power for a while to know how it works so well.”

  “Actually, I only have for a few days. It’s pretty easy to control, unlike some of the others. I think no one can see me and no one can. If I’m touching something, or someone,” she explained, holding up their joined hands, “they become invisible as well.”

  “Awesome!” Tim exclaimed, “How did you discover this?”

  Anna’s cheeks turned slightly pink as she answered. “Actually, it was by accident. I was talking to Evan but avoiding Jason after school last Friday because I knew he was going to want to make weekend plans and I didn’t want to commit to anything, but I had nowhere to hide when we reach the hallway that his locker is in. I kind of just froze and hoped he wouldn’t notice me. It was only when he stopped right next to me and only spoke to Evan that I realized anything was different. I was standing right in front of a classroom door that was closed and I could clearly see Jason and Evan in the window’s reflection, but I wasn’t next to them, even though I actually was!”

  Tim nodded in understanding. “It sounds like when I discovered my perception power. Actually it kind of sounds like it works the same way. You think it and it happens,” he paused, “So wait, Evan saw you just disappear?”

  Anna nodded. “He’s been asking me questions constantly ever sense. I’ve been trying to avoid answering them, but he won’t let up. This morning I heard him thinking about talking to Ollie about it, since he remembered what Ollie had said when you went through the portal in front of him. I think we need to explain things to him before that happens. I trust him, Tim. He won’t tell anyone if we explain why he shouldn’t.”

  They had started walking as they had been talking and soon discovered that they were in front of their house. Ev
an was standing there waiting for them. Anna held her hands out to both boys. “Secret room?”

  Tim nodded, knowing it would be empty. Only Adam and Myra went in there and it wasn’t very often anymore, plus they were both at work. Tim slowly opened the front door and shut it quickly as they went inside. When they reached the hallway where the secret door was located, Tim flipped the switch and watched the doorway appear. Tim stopped the door before it opened all the way and Anna walked through first. Evan and Tim followed and pulled the door closed behind him with a soft click. They stood quietly for a moment, making sure no one heard the secret door open or close. When it seemed they were safe, they entered the secret room and settled themselves on the couch. Anna looked around then looked down and saw her hand that was still entwined with Tim’s, although she’d let go of Evan’s. She’d almost forgotten she was holding it; it had started to feel so natural. She pulled her hand back and Tim let go. “Right, I guess we don’t need to be invisible anymore,” he said.

  “No, I guess not.”

  There was an awkward silence. Evan spoke first. “So, what is going on? It must be good since you missed a test for it!”

  Anna grimaced slightly, remembering that fact. “Evan, I know you have questions about what you saw. I’ve told Tim and I think we can trust you.”

  “What does Tim have to do with it?”

  “Everything,” she turned to Tim, “How should we do this?”

  “First I want to try something,” Tim said, holding his hand out to Evan.

  Evan gave Tim his hand, which Tim grasped tightly. “Do you promise you will keep what we tell you to yourself. That you will tell no one?”

  “Yes, I promise!”

  Tim felt a brief pass of power leave his hand and enter Evan’s. Evan didn’t react. Feeling better about what they were about to do, Tim released Evan’s hand. Anna was looking at him curiously.

  I bound him. He can’t break his promise, even if he wanted to.