A Way (The Voyagers Book 1)

by Tara Lutz

  With frustration, Dex ran his fingers through his hair. Everything that seemed so positive that afternoon, was quickly vanishing.

  “We told them we would be at the lake, tomorrow. If they show up we can decide what to do; until then, I think we should consider what I proposed. We get Jessie and Sammy to the gateway and we leave. Staying here is too dangerous. If we figured out how to manipulate the passageway, other voyagers will too. I can’t risk losing Jessie again; this time it could be forever.”

  Gerald nodded his head in agreement. Dex descended the porch steps and retreated into the woods on the far edge of the lot. Gerald didn’t like the feeling that sat heavy in his stomach, since he first saw Jessie. Dex would risk everything to get her back to him; even his sister’s sanity. They had to be careful, more vigilant then they had ever been.

  He peeled himself off the plastic chair, made sticky by the warmth of the night, and turned his back on Dex’s vacated spot. Exhaustion enveloped him, he was asleep before Dex returned from his lonely nightly trip to the gateway. Gerald knew the next time he saw the rock, it could be with or without the two souls he adored more than anything else, in all the worlds that it concealed. He didn’t know which option terrified him more.

  CHAPTER 42

  Her dreams were filled with vivid color and images that danced behind her eyes. Jessie was finally able to fall asleep, after tossing and turning, well into the early Sunday morning hours. She drifted between visions of Sammy running away from her, through a field of golden hay, chasing a boy she didn’t know, to one of herself sitting in a cold building, with a boy who had her face. She woke up the last time, before her mind grew tired of keeping up with the nonsensical images, and dreamt of him.

  The next morning, when she skimmed her dream notes, they made no sense to her. A boy with her face? Sure. Jessie rolled her eyes at her jumbled half printing, half scribbles, and kicked the twisted sheets off her legs. She was excited to see the sun streaming into the room; slicing between the lazily closed, carpet clashing, gingham purple curtains. She hopped out of bed to pull them open, wider. It is a perfect day to go to the lake!

  Jessie could see Sammy’s open bedroom door and heard her squeaky childlike voice, wafting through the open window. She looked out and watched her attempt a hand-stand in the dewy grass. Her father’s car wasn’t in the driveway. That was odd, for an early weekend morning. She stopped in the washroom to rinse her face and didn’t bother trying to detangle the mop on her head; then joined her family outside. Her mother turned her pretty, freckled face towards her sleepy daughter, and smiled good morning. Sammy hollered a, “watch this Jessie”, from her upside down positon on the lawn, the distraction causing her to topple over. Jessie flopped into a chair, was about to reach for the teapot, between them on the table, but instead folded her hands into her lap.

  Her mother looked at her, accusingly. “Who did you go to the lake with yesterday? I didn’t recognize the car that picked you up.”

  “I met a couple of weekenders, at the diner. They needed directions, and we were all going out there anyway, so I decided to navigate. They’re nice guys. Sammy really liked them.”

  Her mother spoke softly, but Jessie could tell that she was angry with her daughter’s reckless decision. “You let your sister get in a car with two people you met at the diner? I thought you were smarter than that, Jessie.”

  “Nothing happened. We went to the lake and came home, safe and sound.” She picked up a piece of toast, licked the dripping honey that coated her fingers and took a large bite. While she chewed, her attention turned to Sammy, now doing crooked cartwheels.

  “Not the point, young lady. Careless behavior like that could’ve put you and your sister in danger.”

  Jessie snorted a laugh, a few semi-chewed crumbs landed in her lap. “They were hardly dangerous. Gerry even looked after Sammy while I swam out to the island with Alex.”

  That was the wrong thing to say. Her mother’s shoulders tensed.

  “You went to the island AND left your sister alone?”

  “What’s the big deal about swimming to the island?” Jessie asked, defensively.

  She didn’t have an argument for leaving Sammy with Gerry. Hearing it spoken out loud, maybe it wasn’t the best idea. “Nothing happened,” she repeated.

  She had been accused before of making rash, sometimes borderline bad, decisions; this was the first time one of them included her sister.

  Suddenly, a haziness encompassed her surroundings and even with the morning sun beaming down on the porch, the air felt cold. Startled, Jessie jumped out of her chair. There was a man standing behind her mother, his arms crossed, and an angry scowl on his face.

  “Jessie! What made you think it was a good idea to wander out in the middle of this? You put yourself in danger. You put Dex and your brother in danger.” His voice rushed towards her on a brisk wind and pushed her back into her chair, with a thump.

  Her mother looked over her shoulder, where Jessie was staring. “What?” she asked. “What are you looking at?”

  Jessie swallowed and blinked. The man disappeared as quickly as he appeared, but the words he had spoken, lingered.

  “I thought I….” She shut her eyes more firmly, the mirage burned behind her lids.

  She recognized him. He was about the same age as her father, but was dressed like the actors in the old black and white movies she sometimes watched, late, on Friday nights. His expression reminded her of the times she had been reprimanded by her teacher, when she and Becky showed up late to class. If that wasn’t strange enough, there also seemed to be snowflakes whipping around the menacing figure. The day was as still as a statue, the wind was still asleep, in the early morning. Jessie opened her eyes, slowly, the cold she experienced during the hallucination turning back into summer warmth. There was no indication that anyone had ever been there. She tried to return her breathing to normal and slow her fibrillating heart. It felt like it wanted to join Sammy in the yard to do some back flips.

  “Where’s Dad?” She asked, hoping the change of subject would calm her down. Am I seeing ghosts now?

  “He had a meeting on the other side of town. He’ll be back soon.” Her mother sipped her tea, holding an intense gaze on her jumpy daughter.

  “Are you too angry with me to let me take Sammy to the lake today?”

  Her mother looked like she was about to refuse, but then sighed with resignation. “No you can go.”

  She could never stay mad at her Jessie for long. Her daughter had no idea what had been taken from her, but she still felt some guilt in the part she had played, and was still playing, in removing it. She was devoted to the voyagers, but that didn’t mean she was any less devoted to her children. Dex and Gerald had been stupid enough to find them. She would advise her husband, when he got home, and let him decide what to do.

  “Great!” She leaned down to kiss her mother on the cheek. “You would like Gerry and Alex, they’re really great.

  A darkness crossed over her mother’s face. “Are they also going to be at the lake today?”

  Jessie didn’t know her mother’s ulterior motive for asking this question, and she shrugged nonchalantly. “They may have mentioned it.”

  Her mother nodded tightly, a tenseness still firmly gripped her hunched shoulders.

  “But, it’s Sunday, so they might have already headed back into the city,” Jessie said. This seemed to ease her mother’s trepidation.

  “Right, the city.” She stared off into the distance.

  Sammy joined them and perched herself on the arm of their mother’s chair. “Are we going swimming again, today?” she asked.

  Her mother answered the question that was meant for her sister and Jessie noticed the small tremor that resonated through her voice.

  “You can, but make sure you stay close to Jessie.” She slipped her arm around Sammy’s tiny frame to give her youngest daughter a tight hug.

  Jessie nodded. “Go get your suit on, Dad should be home
soon.”

  Sammy followed her into the house and before the door shut, she thought she heard her mother whisper, “tell Gerald I miss him.” The snap of the screen meeting its clasp, muffled her words enough that Jessie couldn’t be sure. Great, now I’m hearing things too, she thought.

  Sammy exited the back of the house and retrieved both their swimsuits from the clothes line, that ran the length of the backyard. Jessie waited for her, sitting on the bottom step, having words again, with her over active imagination. Her excitable sister dropped Jessie’s bathing suit at her feet and pushed past her, to change into her own.

  Jessie was about to follow Sammy, to get ready for the lake, when she noticed the door to her father’s study, slightly ajar. This was finally an opportunity to look for a notebook, to replace the one on her bedside table, which was filling up rapidly over the last few days. She pushed the door open and padded across the smooth dark wooden floor to the desk. She randomly pulled drawers out of their slots, quickly looked through their contents, until she found what she was looking for. Jessie located a small blank book, perfect for what she needed. A piece of paper was peeking out from under the blotter on the desk and from where she stood, Jessie could tell that it was covered in her hand writing. She pulled the sheet out for a closer look, slightly tearing the top half, then gasped when she realized what it was.

  It was a dream entry she had written; the one she mistakenly left in her textbook, in her locker, at school. What was it doing here? How did it get here? She recalled writing the words, she couldn’t remember the content.

  Jessie scanned over the words on the loose page, a name jumped off of it and smacked her in the face. An invisible force knocked her backwards into her father’s swivel chair. It bounced off the window ledge and knocked over a framed picture of her family. She bent down to pick up the face down frame and took a moment to look at the picture.

  It appeared to be over seven years old; Sammy was just a toddler, Jessie’s hair was lighter than it was now. Her mother had barely changed since the day the picture was taken. To examine it more closely, she brought it up to her face. There was something about her father. She couldn’t get over how much he resembled Gerry; maybe that was why Sammy felt so drawn to him. She turned back to the sheet of paper that was still clutched tightly in her hand, her head throbbing with confusion. Jessie said the name out loud that had startled her off her feet. The name as Sammy had spoken it rang through from one ear to the other. “Dex.” How did I not remember this?

  She thought she had seen a man on the porch, who inexplicably appeared and then vanished. She was almost positive she heard her mother say something that she couldn’t even come close to explaining. Tell Gerald I miss him…. And now this?

  Sammy was calling her from the room above her, “I can’t find any towels.”

  She hastily replaced the paper where she found it and hurried out of the room. There was only one explanation for why the entry was in her father’s study: Becky.

  CHAPTER 43

  “I just need to make one stop before we head to the lake, ok?”

  Jessie kept her eye on the road and answered Sammy’s question about where they were going. She knew that Becky had seen the note that Jessie discovered in her father’s office. Becky also had the combination to her locker. That solved the mystery of how the piece of paper ended up on her father’s desk. The question was, why?

  She parked the car in Becky’s driveway and ignored Sammy’s protests, which reinforced her dislike of Jessie’s untrustworthy friend.

  After she shut the door, Jessie leaned through in the window, “I’ll be right back. Don’t worry, she won’t be with me.”

  Becky swung open the front door and stomped down the stone walkway. She blocked Jessie from going any further with her stare. Becky’s hands were on her hips, which seemed to be her ‘go to’ stance, these days. Jessie wondered what happened in just a week, to turn their relationship into something combative.

  “Hi,” Jessie said, forcing herself to look cheerful.

  “What are you doing here?” Becky did nothing to hide the edge to her voice. Jessie almost winced, she didn’t go there to fight.

  “Sammy and I were just going to the beach,” she lied. Jessie knew Becky wasn’t fond of the beach. If she didn’t know the lake was their true destination, she would be less likely to invite herself.

  “So what are you doing here? It’s that way.” Becky waved a tanned arm in the direction of the beach, then locked it back into position, on her hip.

  “I was just wondering, did you happen go through my locker?” She didn’t know how else to bring up the subject, other than to just ask. She watched as the color slowly seeped out of Becky’s face.

  “I did. I thought you might need your text book. I noticed you didn’t have it with you on Friday. Remember, I brought it to your house yesterday morning? That’s why I dropped by so early.” Becky was talking fast. Jessie knew she did that when she was trying to sound convincing. It wasn’t working.

  “You don’t even know what text books you needed this weekend and you didn’t give me anything when you came to the house. You said you were on the way to Will’s, oh and something about a strange salesman.”

  That uncomfortable feeling she had when Becky stood dripping wet in her house, returned. “Is this about Gerry and Alex?” Her friend started acting strange the moment she spotted Gerry in the diner; since then, everything seemed peculiar.

  “Why would it have anything to do with those two?” Becky stammered.

  Jessie recognized the same shakiness she heard in her mother’s voice. Becky’s denials made her transparent; there was a lot to do with those two.

  “Do you know them, Becky?” Jessie reminded herself that she had a different reason for her visit, but she wanted to hear her friend’s reply.

  “For the last time, I’ve never seen either of them before. I saw Dex for the first time yesterday at the diner.” Her eyes bugged out and flashed back and forth, across Jessie’s.

  “What did you say?” Jessie managed to speak the words with the remaining air that hadn’t been sucked out of her lungs. Dex, again.

  “I said,” Becky stressed impatiently, “I haven’t seen that Alex guy before, or the blond.”

  “You called him Dex. Sammy called him Dex, yesterday.”

  How do I know that name? It didn’t just come up in her dreams, it echoed through her mind. Jessie shook her head and tried to listen to Becky, at the same time she wanted her to shut up.

  “You’re hearing things. Alex, Dex, it doesn’t matter. Aren’t they leaving town today?” Becky spat.

  Jessie’s last nerve unraveled, standing there, exposed to the daggers, shooting from Becky’s eyes. As if sensing her sister grasping for control, Sammy sounded the car’s horn.

  “I don’t know, maybe. That has nothing to do with why you went through my locker!” Jessie snapped, and could feel herself teetering on an emotion stronger than anger. The name Dex screamed through her head.

  “We’re done here.” Becky spun away, so fast she almost lost her balance, and then turned back to Jessie.

  “Maybe you should ask your parents if they know Gerry and AL-ex. I never asked for any of this. You’ve already destroyed my life once! And don’t think I don’t know what they’re up to!”

  Jessie’s mouth fell open, the ferocity in her friend’s words, putting the flames out on her own rage. She watched Becky storm back to the house and slam the door, so hard, the windows vibrated with her wrath.

  In a trance, she walked back to the car, opened the door and lowered herself into the seat. Sammy was watching her, with eyes the size of saucers.

  “Don’t listen to her, Jessie. She’s mean. She’s always been like that.” Sammy reached across to pat Jessie’s hand that felt like it spent the night in a freezer.

  “I’m so confused,” Jessie murmured, more to herself, than her sister. “Why is everyone talking like they know something I don’t? I feel like I’m g
oing crazy.”

  “We should go to the lake,” Sammy said firmly. “Just forget about Becky. She was never your friend.”

  Jessie looked over at her sister. In that moment, Sammy seemed older than she was, her eyes consumed with a certainty that Jessie wished she possessed.

  “Ok,” Jessie said. She backed the vehicle out of the driveway and cautiously, looked back at the house. Becky was watching them through a window on the top floor, fury distorting her features.

  CHAPTER 44

  “I’ve made up my mind Gerald, I’m telling Jessie today.” Dex woke up in a better mood than he’d been in for a long time. “I know she’ll listen.”

  “She might listen, but will she understand?” Gerald was doubtful.

  He was accustomed to playing devil’s advocate. If he didn’t, Dex would’ve walked up to Jessie on the street, weeks ago, and scared the hell out of her. He wasn’t sure today would be any different, but he was tired of trying to convince him otherwise. Gerald missed Jessie and Sammy too. He was starting to lose what little patience he had left. Dex’s had left his in the last realm they searched.

  “She has to. If she doesn’t, then the next step is confronting their protectors, with her there. I’m done wasting time.” Dex was adamant, there were no more points left to argue.

  Gerald felt sick to his stomach when he thought about facing the people, he once thought of, as his parents. He hadn’t seen them since he left the realm, after he found out they betrayed Jessie. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He had underestimated what they would do to save the gateway; there was no indication of what they would do again, and he didn’t want to find out. The easier option was explaining everything to Jessie, hoping she believed them, then letting her decide if she wanted to leave. He had little doubt what Sammy would do, she confirmed that yesterday. The last thing they would have to do, before gaining full control over the gateway, was find Peter. Easier said than done, he thought, considering what they just went through to find his sisters.